Dear Blog, I know it's been almost a year since I've been here and I'm sorry but life got in the way. I know, I know. You're going to say "that's not an excuse" but it is and it's real. Things that happened in 2016: the day job changed I became a mom But I miss you and hope to make time for you this year. Kissy kissy, Alicia

Dear Blog, I know. Today's supposed to be Accountability Monday, but it's NaNoWriMo time and I forgot to pre-game the post. I'll be back next week with an update. My goal for this week is to hit 12,000 words. Cross all the things. Xoxo, Alicia

Dear Blog, Holy hand grenades! I definitely didn't mean to neglect you for as long as I have. This quick note to you (and The Lurkdom) is to let you know that starting this week, I am coming back. I have books to share and things to ponder. Love, Alicia

Dear Blog, This is to let you know that you and I won't be seeing each other as much over the next few weeks. Please know this has nothing to do with you, but everything to do with revisions. I'm five weeks behind my self-inflicted revision schedule. (My original plan was to use EdMo to revise my NaNoWriMo '11 project.) Don't worry, Blog. This isn't goodbye and I'll come back when something inspiring strikes. Most likely this will be when I have more brain power to do so. Love, Alicia

Dear Blog, I'm sorry I've neglected you in recent months. You should know that this isn't intentional on my part, but more of lack of motivation paired with not being chained to a desk 40 hours a week. I promise that I will work out a schedule that will suit both of our needs while entertaining The Lurkdom. Please know I've enjoyed our time together and that you've taught me a lot in the last few years. Since we've renewed our partnership with vigor, I will not abandon you now. Of course, revisions have also pushed you to the backburner and I'm sorry for that. In the spirit of total disclosure, you should know that you are here to enhance my writing career, not become it. Much love, Alicia PS: While I'm slaving over revisions, you can be mesmerized by The White One's sweater.

My apologies for the radio silence this week. I'm taking a temporary blog writing and reading hiatus until mid-next week. The White One had surgery Monday, which equals a lot of stress at Chez Gregoire. I encourage you to poke around the archives while Hubs and I get our life back on track. Hopefully the hiatus will jump start my brain and I'll be able to give you all in The Lurkdom some fantastic posts full of (deep) thoughts.

I have plenty excuses for things: exercise, legitimate blog posts, laundry. When it comes to writing, I can't think of anything though I'm sure there's something I use. *racks brain* *plays Bejeweled* If I had one excuse it involves cash. Since I'm half of the Gregoire-Poirier super force, all finances are shared. This means that even if I want to take that 10-week course on short story writing, I need to weigh it against things like bills. That's one excuse I'd love to chuck aside, but my other half might get upset. Thoughts like that are depressing, not to mention it's Friday, so let's lighten it up. Only the classics help you become a better writer. I've thrown this out long ago. You can learn just as much about pacing, conflict, and tension from novels that deal with quivering members and heaving bosoms. Bejeweled helps me brainstorm. No it doesn't, freewriting works better. There's too much TV to watch. There is, but sacri...

If you're reading this, that means two things: Your internet is working. I've managed to blog. Sadly, it's not a real post. Something called the day job has handed my ass to me on a stack of emails platter. Instead, enjoy a picture of these happy little scarecrows. Current NaNoWriMo word count : 4,017 words*. What is yours? * Yeah, my day off didn't yield shit. ______ Last.fm hit of the day: Rose by A Perfect Circle

Happy Monday Lurkdom! I want to apologize for the radio silence last week. The 9 to 5 job was in overdrive which triggered a minor meltdown for  yours truly. I think this week will be better, but send me some calorie-free chocolate anyway just in case. So what's been happening? A lot. Fun stuff, I hope. Saturday was fun. Hubby and I went to New England's annual Rock and Shock Convention in Worcester. Rock and Shock is an almost-three-day horror convention/massive rock show. It was our first time going and the only reason we did was so I could see Fangirl Crush Numero Uno perform. Murderdolls opened for Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie, and all three sets were worth all the fees Ticketmaster forces. I'll talk more about the con later. Anything else going on? Personally, nothing I feel like reporting. *But* there are a lot of contests happening right now. TH Mafi is giving away $100 worth of books and you can enter until tomorrow. Writers' Ally is having a Freaky Wr...

I've noticed there are a few more people in the Lurkdom as of late. *waves to all new faces* Because of this - and my lack of attention span - I want you guys to talk. Introduce yourself and tell me what brought you here. Tell me about your hobbies and if you blog, what you blog about. With 50 plus of you in the Lurkdom, there's no reason for not talking. Even if I know you, tell me something below. You could win some music , after all. I write YA and am seeking representation on my contemporary novel, FALLING TO NORMAL. I blog about writing, cats, my imaginary child, and anything else that amuses me. I have a co-host, Miranda, who runs the show on Thursdays where it's all things zombie. Now it's your turn. Tell me about yourself . ____ Last.fm hit of the day : ACT I: King of the Franks by Christopher Lee

It's Friday and the event planning dragons are totally breathing down my neck. What does that mean? If you're just joining the part that means no true post today. Well, that stinks. I know. Are you sure you're not in a Bejeweled vortex? While I have taken a Bejeweled break, I'm no way stuck in a vortex. I don't really believe you, but will play along. Thanks. So now what? A picture. Because that's how I roll. How awesome is this sign? It was on the lemur display at the Southwick Zoo. Unfortunately, we didn't see any babies wandering around, but there were tons of other cool things going on that I promise to blog about someday soon. Lurkdom, do you have any zoo stories for me? ____ Last.fm hit of the day : Evening by Calabrese

Dear Blog, It's been a while since my last letter. I hope you've been well. The last two weeks have been rough and I've tried to not let it intefere with my blogging schedule, but I've lost. While I recuperate from life, I'd like to show you what I get to look forward to on August 31. *squees in excitement* Love, Me PS: You should comment on the choose your own adventure . Tell me what happens to Sidney. _________ Last.fm hit of the day : Cuts 'n' Bruises by Son of Sam

One of my goals to achieve by the solstice was to drop a pants size. This didn't happen in part to Fat Kid Logic. Fat Kid Logic is when you justify eating things that aren't healthy, like ice cream for breakfast. D introduced me to this concept several years ago when we both lost a lot of weight. It was summertime and I wanted ice cream. D had rationalized that since ice cream is dairy, it's good for you. The key element of FKL is to ignore the downsides of the food. Think of it as food optimism. Common Rationales Found in Fat Kid Logic After turkey pie has no calories. (Applicable only on holidays.) Splitting desserts = zero calories = zero guilt. Banana bread is good for you because bananas are fruit. On your birthday, calories don't count. When you walk to ice cream/milkshake/etc, you've worked off the calories. If I have a wicked healthy lunch, ice cream is an acceptable dinner.* Dining with friends = calorie-free fiesta! As great as FKL is in reg...

Editing is still happening and I'm in the final push towards the end. This means nothing to my late-in-life development of self-diagnosed ADD. Nor does this mean anything to all the shiny television I'm overdue to watch. This also means shit to my furry children who clamor for attention the instant there is a pen in hand. Fortunate for me, Stripey just likes to cute it up and stare. It's like a furry reminder to buckle down. The White One, as always, is a different story. He likes to march stalk across the table, bed, or whatever surface is currently acting as my desk and give a vicious headbutt. Then he likes to stretch out across my papers. With his butt directly on my workspace. For an example of this behavior, see left. For an additional roadblock, he likes to steal the pen out of my hand. (Yes, I still longhand.) No matter how focused I am though, The White One loves to stop my process. Click the play button below to see him wrestle with my notebook containing...

Today is errand day. I'm at Grub Street's Muse and the Marketplace writer's conference all weekend and I have things to do that are normally weekend things. So, no post. Besides, the weather in Boston is gorgeous, which means I should be outside anyway. The White One however isn't allowed outside. He'll chill out someplace non-cat approved. (See below.) ______ Last.fm hit of the day : On Your Marks, Get Set, Rock by Crazy Lixx

Dear Blog, I'm sorry that I can't work on you today, but I'm busy recovering from last night's HIM show. To say Finnish bands have a tendency to kick my rocking ass is an understatement. See?

Today's blogging schedule yet again has been interrupted by life. As a token of my regret, enjoy a video of a tiger loving it's lunch complete with Hubby editorial comments. The video was taken when Hubby and I went on vacation in October. We visited the Land of Where? and their only zoo - the Brandywine . Facts About the Brandywine Zoo -  It's park of Brandywine Park, which was designed by the same guy who did Central Park. -  Next to the National Zoo, it's probably the cheapest one on the East Coast. -  It's the only zoo I've been too that has binturons . -  They have lazy otters. -  They exercise their Flemish Giant (the rabbit mentioned in the video) behind the owl display.

I just love this, don't you? Just an inch past 30 days since my last week in review , we're doing another one. Sad to say, I did have an awesome post lined up, but work being work exploded and made a very sticky, nasty mess all over my workspace. So without anymore bullshit... Alicia's Week in Review  Work Hubby left on Monday morning for a not fun-filled week worth of business trips. Since Hubby snuck his luggage out of the house when it was kitty-cat nap time, it took Lucky longer to realize that he was down one human. When he did realize it, that meant that I had to deal with a grieving cat . Monday also saw me scrambling around the office to get an RFP out. I won't go into too much detail, but it ended with me leaving after almost 11 hours of work and my boss showing up to the UPS warehouse to drop off our package. RFP Hell took up the majority of my week, the culmination was today with the bonus RFP. By 9 this morning, I clocked my forty hours of w...

  Alicia's Week in Review Image compliments of verydemotivational.com My brain is fried after an extremely busy week. To be fair, it's been a busy week since January 1. (Who knew that the sales cycle picks up after the holidays?) Monday Holiday. Birthday lunch with good friend and blog reader, D. Tuesday My work Monday - the busiest day of the week. Also trying to finalize a 3 day orientation schedule that by today completely got thrown out the window. Wednesday My actual birthday. New hire orientation at day job. This translates into "Alicia, please host the new hire." Downside: working on birthday. Upside: complimentary lunch. Birthday dinner with ICE CREAM. (I will always take ICE CREAM over cake. The exception, as always, is ICE CREAM cake. Take note.) Thursday Continuing new hire orientation. Today Completing new hire orientation plus wrapping up end of week stuff. Birthday dinner number two tonight. This time with Hubby. Through this a...

First, a big thank you to Miranda for yesterday's guest post . I hope you all enjoyed it. This post originally was going to be about how different musical genres work with different writing genres, but now I'm thinking it should be about food. That I'm thinking food isn't surprise. At times, it runs my life. This week is a prime example as it seemed I announced to Hubby every time I saw him "Am hungry. Want food." This is bad because 1) I don't need to eat that much and 2) Hubby and I work together. (Note: when you work in the same office as your husband always request to sit far away from him. I did.) Also, the office has an affinity with food. I found blueberry pie in the kitchen earlier this week and we had waffles this morning. Waffles. And not those frozen out of the yellow Eggo box kind, but the kind you need a waffle iron for. When this happens and the entire space smells like a good and proper pancake house, it's hard to resist. And with...