Category: Uncategorized

  • New Job Today!

    I\’m at the Writer\’s Retreat today, sharing some thoughts on working and writing.  Come on by!

    Writer\’s Retreat Blog

    Write on!

  • Sunday Box Talk

    I like to start my week on Sunday, since that\’s what makes the most sense to me for how my schedule works.  Sunday is a day of rest for our family, but we don\’t necessarily mean rest as in nothing to do.  Typically large laundry day (sheets and such), we don\’t tend to get out of our pajamas most of, or all of, the day.  It\’s a day for large projects like knitting or photo editing (my husband\’s a professional photographer), web development, and family feast meal.  Sometimes we\’ll do a movie.

    It\’s also the day I start my Artist\’s Way week, when I read the essays for the week and get started on the tasks.  It\’s a more contemplative time since I don\’t schedule anything for this day and my friends know that.  I provides a nice break between the week that was and the week that is coming.

    What kinds of routines do you establish for yourself for the week?  When we\’re in school, this is done for us; but when we graduate, there are no more quarters and semesters, finals, and back-to-school.  Even if we have kids of our own for whom we do these tasks, they don\’t really apply to us and it\’s very easy for one day to bleed into the next.

    Richard Nelson Bolles, in his book The Three Boxes of Life and How to Get Out of Them talks about Learning, Working, and Leisure or Play.  The way most of us organize our lives is we play as children, we learn in school and university, and then we spend the rest of our lives working.  But one way to accomplish balance is to re-think what\’s possible in our daily round.  This week, think about these three concepts and how you develop them in your own life.  Even if you haven\’t yet set aside time for all three, just thinking about how you might begin to do so can open doors for you in terms of your personal planning.

    Do you have a routine during your week?  I\’d love to know; tell me in the comments.

  • MJ Frederick is at Knoontime Knitting Today!

    Stop by for another in my series of Author Interviews, today with author and seamstress MJ Frederick.  MJ talks about her passion for sewing, which is almost as deep as her passion for writing.  She shares pictures of a skirt she made that she even wore on the plane recently.  Stop by and leave a comment today!

    Saturday Showcase – MJ Frederick Talks About Her Passion – the Other One!

  • The Liebster Award

    My online friend from Beeline Clothings blog nominated me for the Liebster Award today!  She lives in Ghana and hopes one day to travel to China.  She writes about fashion and all sorts of things and I was really pleased to be chosen by her for the award.

    As part of the award, you nominate others and answer questions – both in general and from your nominator.  It\’s a fun way to get better acquainted with other bloggers and I thought I\’d share that here.

    The Liebster Blog Award is an award offered to upcoming bloggers. The german word Liebster is a word for favorite, dearest, beloved, sweetest, cutest, nicest, kind, and pleasant.
    I think this is a lovely way to support and encourage each other as fellow bloggers.
    Well, my nominator tells me that this award comes with some rules, which are:
    Each nominated blogger must
    1. post 11 things about yourself
    2. answer the questions that the nominator has set for you and create 11 questions for the people you\’ve tagged to answer
    3. choose 5 people and link them in your post
    4. Go to their blogs and tell them in a comment
    REMEMBER, No tag backs!
    11 Things About the Noony
    1. I love coffee.  I love learning about it, tasting it, trying different varietals and, like wine, identifying where the beans are from.
    2. I am NOT a morning person.  My best and most productive time is the middle of the night, after 10:00 P.M. (20:00).  It\’s very easy for my body-clock to get thrown off if I stay up too late and, since I work a day job, I can\’t afford that.  My dream is to one day live a lifestyle that allows me to stay up at night and sleep during the mornings.
    3. I love to knit.  Knitting is applied magic.  By creating repetitive knots in yarn, I can create a fabric that will stay together.  I even started a blog dedicated to my knitting and other crafts called Knoontime Knitting, because I love to explore 2-D/3-D art.
    4. I love to write.  I feel connected to the universe when I write.
    5. I love to journal, as well as use a computer.  I get different results depending on whether I write by hand or by keyboard.
    6. I realized I love to write essays.  One of my favorite classical authors is Michel Montaigne, and I didn\’t realize that I like to do what he does, though I\’m nowhere near his level of skill.
    7. I love cats and dogs.  Some people say they\’re a dog person, or a cat person; honestly, I like them both equally.  I live with 3 cats and a dog and they\’re all very special to me.
    8. I love to travel, but I believe in traveling where one lives.  So many times, people will say to me, \”Oh, I\’ve lived in Chicago for years but have never gone up in the Sears Tower.\”  That\’s silly!  We have so many riches around us, if we just open our eyes to it.
    9. I love mustard and, mostly, hate ketchup.  (I occasionally get a taste for it, which always surprises me because I\’ve not liked it since I was a child.)  I like spicier mustards better than bland yellow mustard; German styles are my favorite though I\’m partial to Japanese ones as well.
    10. I don\’t \”get\” Twitter, but I manage many Twitter feeds.  I have my main one, @acatherinenoon, but I also started one for @knoontimeknit, and we have 2 for Evanston Writers Workshop, @evanstonwriters and @ewwconference.
    11. My phone is smarter than I am.  I just got an HTC Rezound and it baffles me.

    Answers to my nominator\’s questions

    1. Why did you start blogging?
      Good question.  I started this blog, \”Explore the Worlds of A. Catherine Noon,\” because I wanted a place to put my personal short stories and to play.  I\’ve always loved doing newsletters and such and this allowed me a potentially unlimited audience.  It also let me create a website without knowing how to program HTML.  Now, I have many blogs and I enjoy them.
    2. How has blogging affected your life?
      It\’s brought me new friends and fans, but it\’s also helped me trust that I have a voice and something to say.  I realized that I\’m an essayist in addition to being a novelist, and that essays are like letters to a good friend in which we talk about things about which we are passionate.  As long as we trust that, we can create a blog that rocks.
    3. Would you call yourself a \’blog-addict\’?
      Not really, but since I either manage or am part of over 15 blogs, then I suppose yes, I might be called one.
    4. Which two words describe your personal style perfectly?
      Elegant and artistic.
    5. What is your favorite time of the day and why?
      The middle of the night.  It\’s quiet and I can get things done.
    6. What is your inspiration in life?
      The novels I read as a child transported me to other worlds.  I have wanted to do that since I was nine years old.  I love writing and reading.
    7. How do you plan to spend the next three years?
      I plan to write many more books, both in the Chicagoland Shifters universe and the Persis Cycle.  I also plan to release, with my coauthor Rachel Wilder, Bloodlines and our Psychic Detective series.  I want to buy a house with some land and raise alpacas.
    8. What is your favorite time of the day? Why?
      Oops, I think this is the same as question 5.  I\’ll answer, instead, my favorite meal.  I love breakfast!  Eggs, bacon, potatoes, and bagels are some of my favorites, as are hobo plates, grits, biscuits and gravy, Belgian waffles, and quiche.
    9. Which blogger inspires you the most in the blogging world?
      Delilah Devlin.  She has a website jam-packed with interesting articles, fun content, books and other things that fans can enjoy.  She\’s a bestselling author and I look up to her as a role model.
    10. What is your favorite TV series?
      That\’s easy – NCIS!

    11. What is your favorite electronic gadget?
      I\’m awfully partial to my computer, actually, and my internet router since it lets me see the amazing, wide world of blogging!

    My Nominations

    1. Passionate Fiction
    2. The Puzzling Mind of Jason Runnels
    3. Writer & Cat
    4. Jean Marie Ward
    5. Two Voices

  • Walking In This World – Friends

    Today, as I prepare for our barbecue, I am reminded of the people in my life.  My friends bring me so much, not the least of which is the process of drawing myself out of myself and into this world, this physical, concrete place in which I live.  I am grateful to my friends for so many things, but this perhaps is one of the most important.

    Thank you.

  • Tue Cent Twosday – Research

    The Nine Naughty Novelists blog hosts Rachel and I today and we talk about the pitfalls of research, as well as tips for success.  Join us!  \”Researching Beyond the Internet.\”

  • Join the Two Tauruses today! (and say that 10 times fast…)

    Stop by the Noon and Wilder Blog, Taurus and Taurus, for my thoughts on the perils of research.  I hope you enjoy!

  • Join the Conversation! An Interview with Jennifer Colgan, Author and Artist

    I had the opportunity to interview Jennifer Colgan about her artistic pursuits in addition to her authorial ones.  She does many different crafts and gave me some awesome pictures for examples.  Come on by and see what Zentangle is!  It\’s on my craft blog, Knoontime Knitting.  While you\’re there, consider subscribing to the blog; the button is at the bottom of the blog.

    Enjoy your Saturday!

  • Welcome to the Summer Solstice Blog Hop!

    Welcome to the Summer Solstice Blog Hop!  I\’m glad you stopped by.  I\’m Noony, and I\’ll be one of your hosts during your visit.  Remember to stay inside the hop; if at any time you lose the navbar then go back to the website, here, and start over.  Be sure to comment on each blog to be entered to win a number of prizes, including a NOOK Simple Touch with Glowlight!

    For this hop, I decided to accept Alanna Coco\’s challenge and use the JustRomance.me scene generator!  It gave me the following scene:

    These are your characters:
    Veterinarian, Butler, Astronaut

    These adjectives describe them.
    Assign one to each character.
    Wise, Creepy, Sweet

    This is your setting:
    Studio set

    See if you can guess which adjective I assigned to which person.  Have fun!

    “Channel five news tonight with Cari Ann Layton and Steve Talman. In suburban Redwing today…”

    Chandler tuned out the rest of the droning voice as it went through the litany of the day’s highlights. He didn’t like the unfettered negativity. He came around the corner of the snack table and almost ran into Sandoval.

    “Pardon me, sir. I didn’t see you there.” Sandoval’s hands, full of four neat stacks of papers clipped with black binder clips, spread in apology.

    “Do you need a hand with that stuff?” Chandler reached out to catch the top pile as it leaned toward the floor.

    “Thank you.” Sandoval smiled, his brown eyes tired. “They’re for Mr. Kincaid’s butler.”

    “Oh.” Chandler tried to keep the distaste out of his voice. “I see.” The trouble with that lay with the fact that Chandler didn’t want to see William, the butler, but avoiding him meant he’d lose out on spending time with Sandoval.

    Sandoval, though, seemed oblivious. “Well, you have a nice evening.”

    Chandler slipped the top stack off the pile and held it. “I’ll come with you and help.” He started walking, just to get Sandoval moving. “What is all this stuff, anyway?”

    “Breeding records for the stable that Mr. Kincaid is thinking of buying. I’ve been chief veterinarian there for the last eight years and have all the records since its founding.” He paused, mouth twitching like he’d frown. “It took me three hours to copy everything, but I didn’t want to give any of the originals to William.”

    “Wise thought.” Chandler glanced at Sandoval out of the corner of his eye, trying to be subtle, and caught Sandoval watching him. The vet flushed a rich red, like a strawberry margarita, and looked away.

    “What brings you to the station?” Sandoval asked.

    “I had an interview today about my time on the shuttle.” Chandler scratched his chin, the makeup they’d made him wear still itching even though he’d washed his face. Twice.

    “Your skin bothering you?”

    “I wore that crap they make you wear on camera and it won’t seem to come off.”

    Sandoval watched him for a few steps and then looked down, as though he wanted to say something but didn’t quite dare.

    “What is it? You can trust me.”

    “I have something that will help, if you’d let me use it on you.” Sandoval flushed again. “It’s not like it…” He trailed off. “It’s a facial steam with some herbs.”

    A facial steam? What did Sandoval think he was? Of course, his skin really itched. Then the light bulb went on. They’d get to spend time alone together. In Chandler’s bathroom. Alone. “Okay.” He tried to act casual, not let on the way his heart thumped in his throat or his palms started to sweat. Casual.

    Right.

    Man, that butler better hurry up.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog during the blog hop.  Be sure to visit our other participating authors over the next several days.  The hop runs from Wednesday, 06/20/2012 through Sunday, 06/24/2012.

    Happy Summer Solstice!

  • Setting the Scene

    For the blog hop, here\’s what the scene generator gave me:

    These are your characters:
    Veterinarian, Butler, Astronaut
     These adjectives describe them.
    Assign one to each character.
    Wise, Creepy, Sweet
     This is your setting:
    Studio set

    We shall see what this prompts.  ~typity~

  • It\’s Coming…

    We are gearing up to do another Blog Hop!  I\’m very excited.  This time, we\’re doing a Summer Solstice hop and giving away another e-reader!  Wowsers.  Plus, individual authors will give away stuff too.  It\’s a lot of fun.

    The focus of this blog hop is to either post an excerpt or short story, or to use a scene generator and write a flash story specifically for the hop.  I think I might try that.  o.O…  Stay tuned, the festivities start Wednesday and run through the weekend.

    If you haven\’t participated before, the way it works is that the hop will go live on Wednesday, 06/21/2012.  Readers go through the hop, visiting each blog and leaving a comment.  Everyone who comments on each blog is entered in the grand prize drawing, and one lucky someone will win their very own e-reader.  Plus, you get to read some new material from favorite authors, and meet some new authors you haven\’t read before.  It\’s a lot of fun and a good way to find out what\’s available to you as a reader.

    Stay tuned!

  • Into the Field for Father\’s Day

    Happy Father\’s Day to all you dads out there!  We\’re going to the Field Museum today.  I want to see their exhibit on rubies from Myanmar (Burma).

    What about you?  What\’s up for your Sunday?