Introducing Petra Cor

I’ve been finishing my mythic creature short stories that will be published under a pen name of Petra Cor. Why use a pen name? So, those style of stories (which are creature/human erotic romance) are not confused with my regular romance that will be under my own name. Obviously , I wouldn’t be blogging about it if I were worried about people knowing that Petra Cor is a pen name I use. Like Nora Roberts writing her Eve Dallas futuristic cop stories under the name of J.D. Robb. We all know they are both Nora Roberts, but the genres are different enough that she probably wanted to avoid confusion for her readers.

Readers can be really loyal beasties and we fear change, so if you write something different than what we’re expecting, we may come at you with pitchforks  and fire reminiscent of the mobs going after Frankenstein’s monster (or maybe that’s just me).  So looking at it from the reader’s perspective, I am using a pen name.  Coming from the writer side, it makes little difference to me.

So, I guess what I’m saying is that coming in the near future will be some Petra Cor (aka me) shorts. Yay! I’m excited that I’m finally being productive and will finally have something published to show for it.

Depression is a terrible thing that robs one of all motivation even for the things that one loves.  So, when one (aka me) finally starts feeling better and finally finds a little motivation and finally is being productive and finally feels as though the cloud smothering your brain has dissipated, then one has to celebrate. So here I am talking about myself in some weird 3^rd person fashion celebrating with you that I’m feeling more human every day. Yay and YAY!!

I’ll let ya’ll know when something is officially out and available for sell. And thank you to everyone who was encouraging or supportive in any way (past, present or future).

Part 2: I Survived the Road Trip

Day 5
We headed toward Las Vegas to visit friends but weren't in a hurry so, we stopped in Holbrook, AZ to check out the WigWam Motel.  The minute we stopped there I knew deep down in my bones that this place had to be at least part of the inspiration for Disney's Cars movie. Seriously! Sitting in front of the hotel was an old tow-truck ... totally 'Mater'.. see what I'm talking about?  Each wigwam was a hotel room and in front of each was a vintage car. It was cool. Didn't stay there - maybe next time. We did stay in Holbrook though. They aren't far from a Petrified Forest, so there were loads of rock shops and such. We got some cool things there. And I got to relax and rest before another day of driving.

Day 6
We headed toward Las Vegas again. On the way, we stopped at the Meteor Crater. It was a little

pricey to enter, but it was worth it. This is fascinating. We watched a short movie on the crater and looked through the museum. We skipped the free tour because it would take an hour, but we walked out and took loads of pictures of it. It's huge! You can see my guy there for some kind of reference. It's a mile across in diameter. At the top edge on the far left of this pic, the first little piece that juts up is actually the size of a house. Huge crater. Any way we were glad we went.

Continuing on, we had, HAD to stop when we saw a sign for The Roadkill Cafe. It's in a little town off the Old Route 66 called Seligman. It was a cute town and we drove up and down a couple times just to see the Americana. The menu was priceless. We both had No-Brake Steak (aka Chicken-fried Steak). I'll add the menu at the bottom in a larger size in case you're interested. The food was good, the waitstaff friendly and on top of things and the ambiance charming.

We got to Vegas and hung out with our friends that night. Got to meet their new baby, Jax. What a cutie-pie. And any of you who know me well know I'm not much into kids, especially babies, but Jax stole my heart. :)

Day 7
Remember the tight calve and swollen leg I mentioned (I hope) from day one?  Well it was still tight and sore and my whole right leg was so swollen up. My left was only a little swollen, but my right looked like I had elephantitus or something.  So, my guy insists I call and make an appointment with my doctor to check it. It's Friday... we have to be home by 4:00pm cuz my guy has a mission critical class he has to be at by six... I know the earliest appointment will be on Monday... and it's already been like this for six days and 3000 miles... but I acquiesce because he's worried (I'm a little worried too - cuz of the blood clot back in December). I call and make an appointment for Monday- as expected - and get busy packing to head home. Ten minutes later they call me back and say I should go to the ER and have an ultrasound on that leg. They say go now, do not leave Las Vegas, do not pass Go or collect $200. I say I will go to the ER. But I think to myself... we don't have time for this here... my guy needs to get back to SLC for said critical class... it's already been this way for a week and I haven't died yet, so what's another 420 miles? So, we get on the road, get home, unload the car in record time, and thirty minutes later my guy heads off to a shower before his class and I head straight to the ER.

They were a little concerned at the ER too cuz my right leg was a full inch and a half bigger than my left. Ultrasound is done. No blood clot - yay! So crisis averted. I know some of ya'll are out there shaking your heads sadly at me and you have every right. It was probably dumb to ignore what could have been a blood clot for a week, but since I didn't die or actually have a blood clot, I'm gonna say  -- No Worries :)

Road trip successfully accomplished, no blood was spilled, no people were heaved out of car at breakneck speeds, no fights occurred, no blood clot was formed and no one died (me or by me). So good job, Clancy!

And now for the promised menu.... so funny!

I Survived our 3500 mile Road-trip

So, back on April 25th, my guy and I left with a friend to help her move to Texas. Loaded the car up with two ferrets, one cat and every spare space in the car filled with friend's belongings. Two days and 1500 miles away from the greater Houston area of Texas.

The first two days were spent driving like madmen to make the 750 miles needed to get friend there in two days, but we did it.

Day 1
It was some seriously intense twelve hour drive days. States covered day one - Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. Spent the night in Santa Rosa, NM. we ate a local diner that was filled with teenagers in their Prom finery. TOh to be that young again. Or not.... I've decided youth is wasted on the young. But I'm getting old so maybe I'm biased. There was a cactus by the parking lot and only my guy could manage to pretend to back into it and actually do it!  Had to pick cactus spines out of his ass. Bonding at it's finest... lol.

I kind of hosed up my leg by actively driving the entire twelve hours without the sensible use of cruise control. That night my right calf was as hard as brick and my leg was completely swollen (yes - that was the knee I recently had surgery one and the leg that recently had a blood clot). Feel free to shake your head sadly in dismay at my own stupidity. We did try to make frequent stops but could have used more I guess.

Day 2
Anywho... the second day was about the same except I was now using cruise control (thank you car industry). Day two only covered New Mexico and Texas.  We got friend to her destination and unloaded the car. Now my guy and I had more room than needed. Can I just say I had forgotten how humid it is in Houston area. I mean holy-cow, it's like trying to breath underwater. Super happy to leave that behind.

Day 3
All day in Texas. We headed over to San Antonio so my guy could see the Alamo. The grounds there are so pretty. On our way we found this creek that had a great name (see pic). Afterward we cruised on up to Midland to see a friend I haven't seen in twenty years. Good grief! Time flies when your living your life. It was so great to see her and meet her children. That night, it was so cold and windy. I was happy to leave Midland, if not my friend, the next day.

Day 4
We had planned to go to Carlsbad Caverns but changed our minds what with our knees being totally jacked up. So we just went straight to Roswell, New Mexico and stayed the night there. Roswell is such a pretty little town. We spent all our souvenir budget on Alien shirts and stuff :)

Spent several hours in the UFO Museum reading all the stuff and enjoying myself. Last time I went I only had an hour in there and it was not nearly enough. This time I took all the time I wanted and it was great. In case you were wondering, I totally believe! I wish I could stay in Roswell for a week and spend time in their research library upstairs from the museum and study like mad. How awesome would that be? After the museum we ate ate Whataburger (I miss them) and chilled out in the hotel. Our trip back was far more relaxed than the mad dash to Texas. We needed it the rest, so it was nice.

More road-trip on Friday's post.

Crocheting vs Eating

In the evenings when I like to watch TV, I have a tendency to snack (which hints at a smaller quantity than the amount of food I actually consume). I have found however that if I am doing something with my hands then I do not eat. One of my besties suggested masturbation (I just shook my head sadly) which I think is impractical anyway considering the hours I watch TV.

I have however found something to do with those hours that not only keeps me from nibbling (rolling my eyes) but also strengthens my hands and wrist so I am not having any pain when I type all day. 

Crocheting. Yes, crocheting. People who know me well may find this incongruous with their concepts of me, but there it is. I love to crochet. I never learned how to knit. And counted cross-stitch (which is my mom's choice of TV watching hobbies) takes too much attention away from my viewing attention. Crocheting does not. And it really gives my hands and wrists a workout. 

The downside is that now that I've made tons of scarves and hats and other things for friends and family, I'm now searching for projects to work on. The other downside is the dollars spent on yarn. So, I've now decided to take orders and sell some stuff so I can sustain my hobby as well as keep busy. I'm also starting to write some patterns for the stuff I make up from pictures. Sometimes it takes a few times to get it right, but I'm making progress. Thought I'd share some of the latest projects.

The top is a plaid I've made in a load of different colors. I think these are quite pretty. Next is one I based off the Leather Pride Flag. I've made it in two different widths and a variety of lengths.

I've made a bunch of stuffed animal things like My Little Ponies and Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles but I've done some other things that are.... I dunno.

A boob coozie that a friend saw in a catalog and requested. This one's bizarre to me, but no judgyness. 

And then there's the daisy for my friend Daisy. I love this one.

In the works are a few more hats. But I'm always looking for more projects to take on so I can continue to not snack. 

BTW - the chip moratorium is going well. Wasn't even craving any until the last week, so that's good. Got another week to go. Hopefully when I am off the moratorium, I won't binge. Hopefully, I can go forward with some normal type of moderation. Mind over matter, that will be my mantra.

What do ya'll do to keep busy?

The Genius in All of Us and The Talent Code

David Shenk wrote this book called The Genius in All of Us.  I recently finished reading it and liked it a lot because it picked up (sort of) where The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle left off.  It gave a more in depth look at how we create what we call genius. So, I liked that.

The Talent Code had loads of cool examples of hot spots of genius and talked some about how they grew there. Genius explains a little more how to accomplish that if you wanted to raise a genius.

The one thing both books speak to is that genius is not entirely in the genes but rather is cultivated through environment (which includes training). Genius talks more about the environment + genes = genius. And Code talks more about the training side of genius. Neither dismiss natural ability, but they both support the idea that genius doesn't just appear. It takes many components to accomplish what looks like genius.

And we aren't just talking brainiacs, we're talking writing, sports, musicians, singers, etc. It's a combination of things, like being raised in an environment that exposes one to that skill, having the support and encouragement to do the training necessary to gain the muscle memory of that skill, and having a passion that gives you the drive necessary to attain that skill almost to the exclusion of everything else.

The thing I like about these books is that we're breaking away from the idea that genius just happens so if you aren't born to be the best 'X' ever, you never will be. But that's bunk, as research is beginning to show. If I want to be the best 'X' ever, I need to practice it like crazy for years on end, practice in a way that enhances my skill, have motivation to do it, and have emotional and physical support in order to do the above.

But that's great news for any average Joe. We don't have to be average. Genius can be ours with enough time and effort. I love that it opens doors for everyone and that we're de-mystifying 'genius'.

Any other books in this area that ya'll can suggest?

Kismet

Over the weekend, I was watching Kismet (1955) with  Howard Keel and Ann Blythe. Mind you I had just watched these two in Rose Marie (made only a year earlier) where they played a romantic part (sort of) with each other. Then the next year they made Kismet and they play father and daughter - so that was a little weird. Could have been worse had I watched in the reverse order, then it would have been way weird.

It's a cute comedy of errors and I love those. Best ever I think is The Importance of being Earnest. Which I totally love! But today we're talking Kismet.

It also has some really great (and memorable) songs in it, like "Stramger in Paradise". The musical is set in a fictional Baghdad in the times of the Arabian Nights. During one of the earlier songs where they're going on about how amazing Baghdad is, it has this whole Las Vegas type jazz to it which totally cracked me up. That was the downside, which I'm still laughing about.

But, on the good side, Kismet  has some gorgeous songs in it and I think I like Howard Keel best in this movie over the rest of his. Not that I don't like him in others, I do. But I liked him, personally, best in this role. And I just was talking about Seven Brides last week which he was also in. And we recently talked about Rose Marie too. Another Howard Keel film. I think they were celebrating Howard Keel on AMC which is why I recently saw so many.

I think they also did a Doris Day celebration so loads of hers as well. Yummy.

 It was a good week for musicals on the AMC channel. And I do love me some musicals. Who's with me?

Consistency and planning ahead and no internet

I know that over the next week I will not have internet connection, so the blogs for next week are being pre-written and scheduled to post. I will not be available to put up a notice on twitter or Facebook though, so if you're interested, here's the link.

Have a great week everyone!