A little about someone I love deeply.

So normally I blog about whatever is on my mind. In reality, this time is no different.

This particular blog is going to be about the woman who means the most to me in the world.

My wife. *To be known as 'C' to protect the innocent.*

Ever since I met my wife almost 8 years ago I have noticed she is different than other woman. Yes, of course she is you say. Well, this time it is more true than you might think, and it was only just last week that we found out how different she really is.
She would try to explain to me how her mind worked. A troubling area to be sure, for a man can never really know the inner workings of a woman's mind. Yet, I did my best to understand regardless. She dumbed it down for me by saying that often when she would see something, someone, or hear a song, the stimulus isn't important, it would trigger a ton of memories tied into that 'thing'. The best way to think of it would be looking at the very same computer screen you are seeing this on, and having a whole bunch of computer windows popping up with every different area of stimuli. Often those windows would just open more windows and your computer (mind) would be overcome with a myriad of thoughts, images and memories.
Pretty hard to take in right?
So my response was, well stop thinking about it! (a pretty typical male response, it would work for me, being able to turn off my brain with ease) Thing is, she can't. I stumbled across what she actually has.

Hyperthmesia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperthymesia

Yes, she really does have this. Now before you start thinking, whoa whoa whoa, there is no way anyone can have that. Check it out a little deeper. It is rare, and she isn't a full blown case. I can't give her a date for her to recall every little detail on. BUT, there are 1000's of days that she can remember.

So what does that mean you say? Well, here you go. It means that when someone did a kind act, she remembers what was said, by who, wearing what. If it was raining that day, what time of day it was, what song was on the radio, all of that is in there.

On the flip side...

If someone wronged her, let her down, was a snob, ignored her, gave the silent treatment, put her in their 'bad books' called her a name... ANYTHING. She remembers it, to a T. What they were wearing, the color of their hair, what stuffed animals were arranged in the background. Everything.

I love my wife to death. When I said the words 'I do' I meant them from the bottom of my heart and I will live my entire life dedicated to making her life happier, and better. So how do I do this when people of the world today care only about themselves, and the thoughts of others are pushed aside on a whim? It is very hard. You see, those things that most people can ignore, shove aside, forget all together or even kid themselves into thinking never really happened. When you do it to C, they aren't forgotten. The words can cut deeper than any blade can, and the cuts take a very, very long time to heal.
How will I protect my wife from people that don't care?
I will care even more.

Decisions of an Author, self pub or query again...

So I ran across an artist last night that likes to do book covers. Her work looks awesome and I figured, "Hey, why not chat this person up and see if you can sucker err convince them to give your whopper of a story a book cover.
She was agreeable and asked me to send over my synopsis to see what she thought of it...
Oh yeah, synopsis, I have one of those somewhere...

*Digs through my writing folder and pulls out my old synopsis file*
*Reads the four versions I used to think were pretty good*
*Quickly scraps all four, empties the trash folder, and burns computer*
 *Slams open Word to write out a new one that hopefully doesn't suck*

Yes, they were that bad. It was like reading a list of medical ingredients to a grade 3 class. How I ever thought they would interest anyone really amazes me. But! Don't despair! I was in a creative mood, my old synopsis(s)? <--Do you really plural that word? were so so far gone from my memory that I started fresh and made a really new one. Even I liked it.
So I grabbed my nearest beta reader. AKA My wife, and forced err asked her to read it. She knew of my prior failures and cringed at the thought, but after a quick read she said.

Wow! I like that one! I would even grab that book off a shelf.

Glowing praise for a woman that really doesn't read the genre I tend to write in.

So without further ado, I offer my scribbling for you to tear apart err read and critique. Hit me with your worst, what do you think about it? Would you pull this book off a shelf? Would you pay 9.95 (or 12.95 in Canada since the dollar is soooo far apart right now *not*)
Here we go...

Children's stories tell us the world we now live in used to be a different place. Some call it Gaia; others call it Eden, none of that matters to Shade or Dawn. Now they call it home.

The people of earth didn't use the planet, they misused it, and the unusual solar flare from the sun almost destroyed it. Only a lucky few managed to survive. Most of humanity paid with their lives, and they must now learn to adapt to a world where electricity refuses to flow, and the broken remains of the moon litter the surface of the earth with a fresh magic. Even humans are changing, their bodies reverting, reviving the fairy tales of youth.

The skies no longer drop rain. Fires burn indefinitely and the creatures of our past walk again. In pockets of paradise, humanity begins anew while the rest of the world weeps.

Donovan doesn't care about any of that. All he wants is to kill his sister so he can do everything "the rules" said he couldn't do before. Everything was working exactly as he planned until the undead beauty, Silvia, stepped into his web of destruction…all because of a can of beans.

Share it with your writer friends. Tear it up if you feel the need, or let me know what you would change. This might be the last kick at the cat for this book before it goes Indie and I would love to hear your input.

The Weather Network killed my inner child.

Do you remember when you were a child? You would wake up in the morning, throw open the curtains and look out at the brand new, fresh, sparkling layer of deep and perfect snow. It was all you could do to contain yourself as your mother forced you to wolf down some kind of breakfast. Those mornings it didn't even matter if what you were being forced to eat was puffed wheat. (Yes we ate that, no it didn't have fruit in it) You ate it quickly, only to rush to the door and start pulling on that 20 pounds of snow gear.
The back door bursts open and you dove headfirst into a field of fun. Eventually your friends would all show up, or you would go to their places, and the group of you would march off to that sweet spot... The one place you all knew about where the hills were steep, the snow was deep, and an inevitable snowball fight would commence...
Fast forward to today...
I don't leap out of bed anymore, it's more of a slow roll. I don't throw open the curtains to a field of white, since I watched, read, used my smart phone, anything to get the weather report last night, and it said that there was no chance of any precipitation. Same as the day before. We all know the weather can't really be predicted longer than a day or two, but within the next 24 hours they seem to have it pretty close, most of the time. So the magic of finding over a foot of the white stuff has turned to the doldrums of knowing it did nothing.
Of course sometimes they get it wrong...
But not last night. In fact as far as snow goes we have received the short end of the stick this winter. My kids don't seem to mind, but they are still young enough to not really know what they are missing. If we ever did get a real snowfall around here, it would blow their minds!
I guess it is a good thing I have some friends in high places to help them out.

My friend works for the city and it seems they don't mind helping kids having a little fun now and again. With a little bit of convincing, (not much at all really) he dropped a few scoops of the white stuff on my sparse front lawn. It already has provided a few hours of entertainment for my little ones and should the weather man ever tell us to expect more, it will make a great base.

So what is the most special, most magical thing you can remember being a child in the winter time? Did you even have snow? Are your winters full of sand and surf? I would love to hear from you.