The damage is astounding.

http://www.statesman.com/news/mediahub/media/slideshow/index.jsp?tId=119336

NEVER buy the off-brand labels. Because, quite frankly, the suck. They smudge and they’re super hard to get off the sheet.

ALWAYS buy the Avery labels. Spend the extra $2-3 and get them. They’re worth it. They don’t smudge, the toner doesn’t fall off them and they come off the sheet way easier.

Yeah. I bought the store brand. NEVER AGAIN! I should have just spent the extra $2 for the Avery. That’s what I get for trying to save a few bucks…

Ike made landfall last night at about 2:15 am in Galveston. There’s lots of flooding and 3 million people are without power right now. The water is over the seawall, flooding into the streets. Approximately 140,000 folks stayed behind in Galveston Bay area; looks like they’ll need to be rescued.

Ike is now traveling northward and they expect him to take a turn toward the east and then go northeast through East Texas.

In downtown Houston, high rises have been hit with the high winds (50 mph gusts). There are broken windows and metal has been sheared off the buildings. Wind gusts are 55 mph in Henderson County, which is just north/northwest of Houston.

Most of the really bad rain and wind is on the east side of Ike. They expect it to hit here in a few hours.

Right now – cloudy and windy. They thing we’ll have wind gusts of up to 25 mph. Looks like our part of the state dodged a bullet, but I’m worried about my family scattered along the eastern side of the state. Hopefully, all will be well with them.

Will post more later as the day wears on.

For those of you who read YA fiction, check out these lovely ladies, Anne and May. Happy reading!

I can’t believe it’s Friday already! Whew! Time sure does fly.

I’m glad I posted the pictures in remembrance of 9/11. I have to admit, when I was searching for photos for yesterday’s entry, seeing those burning towers again got me all weepy. I had a really hard time with it – harder than I had ever anticipated. I will never forget – as I’m sure no one else will forget - where I was that morning. My sweet baby was barely 2 weeks old (and now he’s an obnoxious 7 year old! haha).

Anyway, got home yesterday afternoon and started dinner. I had intended to make this chicken recipe only to realize it would take TWO hours to bake in the oven! Forget that. I didn’t want to hold up dinner until 8 pm. That’s dumb. So instead, I cooked my improvised version of chicken fricasse. It actually came out good. Kiddo cleaned his plate – always a good sign.

Then I watched two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I saw one I had never seen called Genesis and it completely freaked me out. The crew was infected by a strange virus that made them de-evolve. Even Data’s cat turned into an iguana. Weirdness. Data, of course, was the only one who couldn’t get sick and had to save them all but it was TOTALLY weird.

So since I’ve been watching STTNG again lately, I’ve been getting these little pieces of inspiration. I’ve always wanted to write science fiction… well, maybe someday.

We’re still Hurrican Ike. It is creeping closer to the coast. It looks to hit Galveston. The weather models are showing it turning right once it makes landfall, which will put us on the outer edge of it. We’ll get rain, but they’re still saying we’ll have gusty winds up to 70 mph. I’m kinda scared by that. It’ll be headed for East Texas after that – I have family out there so I’m worried about them. I also have family down in Houston and Beaumont, so that adds to that worry.

Our RWA meeting was canceled on Saturday and I’m hoping the soccer folks have the same idea. I would HATE to be sitting in a soccer field when Ike decided to show up and kick the ball.

Anyway – keep your fingers crossed for us down here. Pray Ike decides to take a hike at the last minute (though I don’t think that’ll happen…). It should be a VERY rocky weekend…

A picture speaks a thousand words…and those above speak volumes. God bless our troops in Iraq. If you see a soldier today (or any day), thank them for serving our country and keeping our freedom safe.

We will never forget.

Check this out. Man photograhed in the wild! A rare opportunity for sure. I can’t believe I got him to do it, to be honest. But … aren’t we cute? There are actually more pictures posted on my MySpace page, you know… in case you get really curious and want to see more.

In other news… well, it’s been raining here. Which is rather nice since it means I don’t have to water the yard. However, on the other side of that it means I’ll have to mow soon (boo).

Looks like Ike is going to make landfall near Corpus Christi. If that happens, then we’re supposed to get some nasty weather up here by the weekend. Which means, most likely, we’ll have a rain out on the soccer game for Saturday.

I’m just waiting for cooler weather – we are supposed to get a cool front this weekend with the rain which means it’ll be a balmy 80 degrees.

Monday night, I didn’t quite reach my 4 page a night goal. I made it to three. But last night I DID make it to my goal. Of course, it’s a lot of raw material with lots of dialogue and he said/she said so that will have to be fixed later. I still have contest entries to judge and I SO have to get on it with that. I want to get the out of the way so I can get on to the stuff I need to critique. I need 36 hours in the day sometimes.

It’s soccer practice nice… and I have a meeting in Dallas today. Egads. It’s going to be another busy day!

First – I’m blogging over at RomErotica today! Stop by and check out my post here.

…a CAT-CAT. Can you see him? He thinks he’s invisible while he hides from the kiddo. It cracks me up. I love the way his front paws are right together and the way he’s still up straight and completely still. hehe

Man came by last night. He’s grown fond of Sampson and he’s been giving me hell about what I feed him. Okay, I admit – I’m on a budget so I choose to buy food that is sort of in the middle of the price range. So… Man gave me money and told me to buy the Cat-Cat “better” food.

I did. And the cat seems happier, too. When I put his food in his dish the first time, he sniffed, took a bite, then mewed this little tiny meow. hehe It’s hairball control, so hopefully I won’t find disgusting presents on the carpet now.

Anyway… so I have a happy cat.

So my goal for finishing the YA Fantasy is November 1. I’ve also committed myself to writing at least 4 pages a day. I would like to shoot for finishing a chapter a week. That might be rather lofty, though, so I figured to start out with 4 pages.

Okay that’s it for me – it’s off to work and school!

…Just so everyone knows… I am NOT the Michelle Miles who had a sex change operation (from Michael to Michelle). I have been and always shall be 100 percent female. I have the Girl Card to prove it – just look in my closet. And, if you’re still in doubt, you can ask Man about how girly I am. He even said you could email him.

The book signing was a lot of fun on Saturday. Here’s a picture of what the table looked like after I got there. (Please note the appearance of Carly under the table – LOL).

There was a steady stream of people from the time I got there until the time I left. In fact, I got there about thirty minutes early. I have to say, the lady in charge of these sorts of things at the book store was AWESOME. A big thank you to Georgette for all her hard work and making this even so much fun! And the table looked great, too.

Anyway, I was pretty excited to see my own little poster. There were actually two – one for each side (and somehow my big brother got off with both of them…hm…).

Here’s another picture of me actually signing a book. This was actually taken by one of my friends who came to the signing and bought a book. I look so…author-ish. HAHA

The chocolate was a hit and the drawing worked out great. I even made a little sign ( you can see it in the foreground of this picture). It was a very 1950s looking sign.

And I’m happy to report I sold every book on the table! That’s about 18 or so. There were still two on the self in Romance, which I forgot to go sign. I’ll have to get by there tonight on the way home to do that. I’m thrilled I sold out! It was rather unexpected. The last book was gone by 4 pm so we packed up and headed out.

It’s some serious motivation for writing, that’s for sure.

Afterwards, the family and I headed out to Chili’s for an early dinner and then I drove Mom home.

Sunday was another busy day. I had to grocery shop and it proved to be the beating it always is. I love Wal-Mart but sometimes, the people in the store live in a bubble. I hate having to dodge them, but what can you do? The ones that park their basket in the middle of the aisle and the STAND in front of the one thing I need REALLY get on my nerves.

Got home, unloaded groceries, ate lunch. Then I cleaned house. All.Damn.Day. It was filthy but it needed to be done. I even fixed my vacuum cleaner – it had been over-heating. I was worried it was busted and I would have to take it in for warranty work. Turns out, it was just gunked up. So I took it apart, cleaned it out, and put it all back together. It works just like new now!

I even roasted a whole chicken and it was delish. After I got dinner and dishes done, I literally collapsed on the couch. i think I needed some downtime since it was such a hectic weekend. I plan to get back to the writing tonight for sure, though. I have set a goal to finish the book by November 1. I don’t want to stop and make edits, either. I’m just going to try and write it straight through to the end. We’ll see how I do.

And that’s it for me. Gotta get the kiddo up and ready for school. And then it’s back to work… sigh

Well, tomorrow is the day – my book signing at Barnes & Noble! So if you’re in the DFW Area (or, more specifically Hurst), then come on out and meet me and snag a signed copy of my new book, A Break In Time!

I’m doing a drawing for a signed copy of the first book, A Bend In Time, so if you haven’t read the first one, you can get your name in the hat to win that. Need not be present to win!

Here’s all the information:

Barnes & Noble
Shops at North East Mall
861 NE Mall Blvd
Hurst, TX 76053

I’ll be signing from 2 pm – 4 pm.

Hope to see you there!

As the day wore on yesterday, I felt better. I think fatigue and allergies just played a large part in my feeling crummy. The throat still feels…weird. But I know it’s just whatever is in the air. I’m sneezing; Kid is sneezing; Man is sneezing. Yeah – Gustav blew something into the air, I think.

And speaking of that – it’s been SO NICE! Cloudy, cool and windy… The high was only 72 yesterday and it got down into the 60s last night. GLORIOUS! I had the windows open when I got home from work. Oh, and yes, took some allergy meds. It’s like a hint of Fall and I love that. COME ON cooler weather!

We had soccer practice last night and I chatted with one of the other moms who is a lawyer. I told her about the book signing on Saturday and she was all fired up. She said he was going to come – so cool! More book sales for me! hehe I sure hope people show up and I’m not sitting there like a dufus. I’ve been trying to come up with something to do – like a giveaway or something. I think I’m going to have a sign up for a drawing to win the first book and then put those winners on my newsletter list. I’ll have a check box on there so they can check whether or not they want to be added. Think I’ll buy some chocolate, too, to lure folks to the table. I better get busy with that – especially since I’ll be busy Friday night and Saturday morning!

Now I just have to decide what I’m going to wear…

Did edits last night on MAGIC. I’m planning the next section out. I feel like I really have to take my time with this story because it’s so complex. There are a lot of subplots that will turn into full-length novels later on so I have to make sure I get the characters right and the story right. I have it in my head exactly how I want it to go. Now I have to make sure I pull it off that way.

I’ve also been thinking about a pen name for the YA Fantasy stuff. I had originally thought I’d go with something completely different. But…there’s something about that rush of seeing your name on a book cover. So. I think I may end up going with the first initial of my first name, my middle name, and my last name. Besides – Miles is right smack in the middle of the alphabet. That’s good shelf space, right?

Hopefully I’ll have some news regarding a submission by the end of the month. In the meantime, I’m judging another contest and doing some critiques. It’s so helping me learn!

I think I’m coming down with something. Either that or the allergies are hitting me hard and heavy. My throat feels scratchy and I’ve been having headaches. And I’m so extremely tired I can barely stand it.

Facing today it like facing a mountain. I’m not sure I have the energy to climb.

I did some minor editing yesterday and that was about it. Disappointing. The story, though, is still very much in my head. I really want to get back to it tonight. It’s soccer practice night. Maybe I’ll take my AlphaSmart with me.

And I have a sick laptop. I’m going to have to take it to Man to get fixed. It’s super slow and needs to be completely reloaded. Blah!

Very short entry here today as I just don’t have the brain power. I need coffee…

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! I didn’t do much – I was alone most of the weekend and it was kind of nice. The birthday party went good on Saturday. I sure was tired by the time I got home. I collapsed after the kiddo went with this dad.

I did get some writing done this weekend, which was great. I got in about 1800 words and finished writing chapter 7 and proofing it. I just have to keep the momentum going now. The plot board has helped immensely, even though I’ve already veered off track. Not too much, just a little. It’s nice to see where i’m going all laid out for me. You will note the word meter has moved.

Also got the chapter newsletter out. Now I need to get mine written and set up to send.

Monday was an all day Star Trek: The Next Generation marathon. Yes, I sat and watched it most of the day. I was bad. However, it gave me so many ideas for stories! That’s the wonderful thing about Star Trek. It’s inspirational. And I missed that show quite a bit. It was nice to revisit with the crew of the Enterprise. I don’t know who I love more: Picard or Riker.

I also did manage to get the jungle in the back mowed. It was a beast, too. I pulled a muscle in my back doing it. The grass was still dewy and it kept clogging the mower. I turned it over to get the grass out and then it smoked like crazy. I think some of the oil must have leaked or something. Anyway, there was a big white cloud coming out of it and I had to let it sit for a while before I went back to mowing. Took me over an hour (with two breaks) to get the blasted yard mowed, but I got it done.

Instead of cleaning house this weekend, I wrote. My house is filthy – especially the bathrooms – but I negleted it anyway and opted to write. I figured it could wait at least one or two more days.

Let’s see…what else. I made tremendous hamburgers for dinner on Monday. I broiled them instead of grilling them. They came out good! Kiddo came home with a large box of a Lego Star Wars At-Ap Walker that – guess what? – had to be put together. All 352 pieces of it. I started on it. I have the lower half done but it’s not finished yet. You’d think building stuff with Legos would be fun…

It’s too bad I have to go back to work today. I thoroughly enjoyed my extra day off rattling around the house. Ah well. At least it’s a short week!