Who’s Your Bookish Boyfriend?

The famous, or is it infamous, Julia Rachel Barrett tagged me with this meme. Thanks, I think.

When I read the title of the post, the first man I thought of is Jamie Fraser from Outlander. He's not the type I'd pick for this article, but then, he's Jamie. Enough said.

So here's how this works according to Julia:  We all have our favorite book boyfriends and now you have the chance to create one just for yourself and your fantasies! How do you play? Fill out the quiz bellow, post a picture of sexy man and tag five (5) other book addicts to do the same. Don’t forget to pop over to their blogs and let them know they have been tagged! Once tagged… you have to do the same, answer the questions and keep it rolling! But don’t forget the picture of the sexy man!

Here are the questions.

Hair color and style:  Dark brown and needing a haircut.

Eye color and facial features:  Light blue eyes and a strong jaw. Not too pretty. Handsome in a rugged way.

Height and body type:  Five feet ten inches or so.  I'm short, and if he's too tall, I get a crick in the neck from looking up. I love muscular shoulders but not the overblown muscle man type. Lean and fit is perfect.

Visible age:  My husband’s age – whatever it happens to be at the time. I agree with Julia on this.

Bangability?  Kinky?  Bi?  Etc?:  What? No, No, No. He has to be all mine, all the time.

Interests:  Rodeo, Team Roping, Barrel Racing, Reading my work, being outside.

Human or Alien or Shifter?:  Human all the way.

Paranormal skills: Being able to fly when the cows are out to round them up. Have super strength when I need to rehang a gate.

Natural habitat:  The great outdoors.  On the farm or in the mountains. Living as far from others as we could get.

Special skills:  Like superman skills? Able to communicate with horses and dogs and me on occasion, Able to talk me off the ceiling.
                                                      
                                                                        

 Here's the picture.



I tag…Amberly Smith, Jennifer Kellie, Renea Mason and Nicky Pentilla.

Blogging and The Cowboy and the Trophy Gopher

I struggle when it comes to writing blog posts. I know. You’d think someone who can talk non-stop to anyone and anything would be able to put a few words down on a paper once a month. I panic just thinking about crafting an article on subjects the social media experts tell me are important. Among their suggestions are writing about craft, research, my process or my books. Heck, I have no idea what my process is, much less how to teach it to someone else.

I’ve resorted to trolling the websites of people I follow and scanning the newspaper for interesting ideas, but as soon as my mind hears blog post, it goes blank. The only time I have writer’s block is when I try to update my website or post here.

So when I read Kristen Lamb’s Blog http://buff.ly/11gLDJV titled Blogging for Authors, and How A Banana Slicer Saved My Marriage, I didn’t expect to have a light-bulb moment. It was more like a flashbulb moment. I’ve got to admit, I clicked on Kristen’s page to see what the banana slicer was all about, because she’s really funny and I was trying to write this and needed a laugh. Instead I realized I’ve been going about this blogging thing all wrong.

Thanks to Kristen’s eye-opening information, I realized my inspiration needed to come from the things I know and enjoy. Instead of struggling to blog about how to persevere, or setting writing goals, I have a treasure trove of subjects at my fingertips. Cowboys, rodeo, training horses, barrel racing adventures and misadventures with the best and craziest traveling partners on the face of the earth are all subjects I’m not only familiar with but have lived through, thank my lucky stars.  

To quote the question and answer that slapped me upside the head, Kristen asks, “Why are we trying to build a following/fan base for a right-brain product with a left-brain TOOL?”

Her answer: Craft, the industry, our process, and our research are our tools for our art, but they ARE NOT our art. Writers are artists. A writer’s expertise is looking at the world in a unique way mere mortals can’t. THAT is what readers (fans) gravitate to.”

Looking back on my miniscule blogging experience, my most popular blog is The Cowboy and The Trophy Gopher, one of the many true adventures I’ve had since marrying the Bronc Rider, oh so many years ago. Instead of blogging about a subject I’m still learning--writing, I am excited to write about all of the amazing, stupid, exhilarating and downright mindboggling things I done. What better subject could I have to write about than cowboys and cowgirls?

Walking Poles or How I found out I wasn’t Superwoman

     I first saw walking poles on a morning TV show and thought about them for my mother. She’s been having trouble with her balance, and what better way to help her exercise safely. Of course, Mom has her own ideas, and walking poles weren’t on her list. She's too busy quilting, playing cards and volunteering at the old folks home and the library. 

     My dad, however, decided to try them. He lasted one week then he kindly gave them to me. Dad always did like me best.

     If you haven’t heard of them, walking poles are like adjustable ski poles, and the exercise is like cross country skiing without the skis. When I mentioned them on Twitter, a friend in Montana said she was designing a program for the elderly at the medical center where she works. She messaged me a week later to say the walking poles were kicking her . . . assets.

     Now she’s a much younger woman than I am, who owns a ranch, runs barrels, and ropes. She even skis, for goodness sake. She’s in much better shape than I am, but did I listen to her? No, I thought she was making an elderly joke at my expense. Elderly, me? I had more of a vision of Superwoman for myself.

     Did I listen when the brochure said these poles will give you a full body workout, and the user should take it slow in the beginning. No I did not. See the Superwoman picture above. Why would I have trouble with some stinking poles?

     The first time I walked with the poles was a couple of days after Christmas. I had a wonderful time. The snow was about six inches deep, and the poles, by reducing the chance of slipping, made walking easier. I went the whole mile and a half around our place.

     I walk a lot. It’s my major form of exercise, so I figured I’d just use the poles when the ground was slick. You can see this coming, can’t you? Again, reference the Superwoman fantasy.

     When I woke the next morning, I felt like I’d been run over by a herd of wild horses then backed over by a Dodge Ram 3500. Every part of my body was sore. I had to wear slip-on shoes for two days, because I couldn’t bend over to touch my feet. It was the fault of the evil poles. My friend should have cautioned me. There should have been warning labels on the poles. 

     Oh yea, she did and there were.

     I’ve been using the poles a couple of times a week since then, and I’m getting in better shape, but I have yet to walk even a short distance without feeling it the next day. The amazing thing is that when I’m walking, I never get tired or winded, so I walk farther than I intended. 

     Superwoman is still my inner goddess, but she's changed just a bit. She's tackling life's little problems in smaller bites, but make no mistake, the poles are going down just as soon as she and I rest up.