Hope everybody in the U.S. had a lovely Thanksgiving and for those living not in the U.S. I hope you just had a wonderful weekend!

Today’s mug seems pretty boring. There’s no cute picture, no clever witticisms or anything. Just your standard issue blue coffee mug. So, why is it here?

This is one of four mugs that my husband and I got for our wedding 12 years ago. It’s one of the few things we have from the very beginning of our marriage, which makes it pretty special.

So fill me in…how was your week last week? Any NaNo’ers out there finish? If not, no worries, neither did I, but I did get into a good writing rhythm, so it was worth it. Let me know what else is going on!

A little late with the mug shot today. I pulled something in my back whilst taking out the recyclables, so I’m moving a little slow in general today. I’m sure there are a variety of self-deprecating remarks I could put here, but I’ll leave that up to you guys! Please, feel free to have a laugh at my expense. Goodness knows I did as did the other members of my household.

On with the show…

Today’s mug, as you’ll see is from the fine eating establishment of Denny’s. Famed home of such artery clogging treasures such as Moons Over My Hammy and of course the Grand Slam Breakfast. My then boyfriend, now husband and I used to frequent Denny’s back in our carefree college days, mostly because it was open 24 hours, so we could sit and drink coffee and play board games. Yes, we were wild and crazy kids, weren’t we?

So today’s mug is a tribute to the younger years, back in the years between 199(mumble-mumble), the years when I probably wouldn’t have injured myself while trying to do my bit to help the environment. *Sigh*

So how was your weekend? NaNos…how is your Nanoing going? PiBoIdMos, how’s that going? Anybody else working on any other something, something MO, how’s THAT going?

I got up before the sun, opened my NaNoWriMo project and wrote a total of five words. It would appear I’ve been “second weeked.” I had no idea such a condition existed, but apparently it’s fairly common during NaNo. Go like gangbusters the first week and then like Wiley Coyote, crash headlong into the fake tunnel painted on the brick wall by the Road Runner. I’m going to try and catch up, and I think I can. It’s one of those bridge sections I’m stuck on. I know what scene I need to get to, I just don’t quite know how to get there. When that happens, I do a lot of staring out the window and working things out in my head. So believe it or not, a lot of writing got done this morning, it just hasn’t found its way onto the page/screen yet. Such is the writing process.

So, for anybody participating in NaNo, how’s it going? I see a lot of people are doing really well, a few people I  know are even going for two books during the month! That’s spectacular!

Another thing that happened this week, (which I thought was pretty cool and part of why I love the Internet so much), was a couple of Monday Mug Shots springing up at other blogs! Check them out here and here. I love the stories behind their mugs and the mugs themselves. They’re great. It’s also a great example of how the Internet, in ways you could never imagine, can bring people together. Of course it can tear people apart too, but I’m going for a more happy vibe today. So anyway, let’s see more mugs and hear more stories!

So how was your week? Any news or insights? Have a great weekend!!

Mugs always make good gifts. Or, at least I like to get them. And as I was out shopping this weekend and seeing that retailers are taking Christmas even more seriously this year than they typically do, (from Halloween to Christmas in 1.2 seconds!) I was reminded of of a mug I got for Christmas one year. Today’s featured mug was not only given to me, but MADE by my beautiful niece Brandy. I like this one a lot, she did a wonderful job with it. Thanks, Brandy!!

So this weekend saw very little #NaNoWriMo writing, but I can catch up. How is everybody else’s #NaNo? Sounds a little personal, but you know what I mean. If you aren’t participating this year, how are your other various projects going?

Another Monday, another Mug Shot. And technically this is a tea cup, not a coffee mug, but I drink coffee out of it all the same. I got this in a Yankee gift swap at the Christmas Party for my day job. It was the first year I’d been there, which was 10 years ago now!! Although I didn’t know the lady who donated this beautiful cup to the gift exchange very well then, she is now one of my closest friends. So every time I see this mug, I think of her and what a beautiful person she is.

In other news, NaNo started at midnight. I didn’t start then, but I got up this morning and got clickety- clacking away on the keyboard. I made it well past my daily goal, which I’ll have to keep doing, so I can have a cushion. With Thanksgiving and all, I’m sure there will be days I don’t make my daily goal. So, so far, so good. Anybody who is participating this year, feel free to add me as a friend. Here I am.

So, how was your weekend? Did you have a good Halloween or did you leave the celebrating alone this year?

This is a new feature, I thought would be kind of fun, so we’ll see where it goes. Contrary to what you might be thinking, it’s not a collection of my various mug shots…believe me, you don’t want to see those. I figure since coffee plays an important part in my writing process, I’d share a little of my java side and show off some of my more interesting coffee mugs.

I picked this one to go first since it’s the Halloween season. I think you’ll agree, it fits the bill.

Young Frankenstein the Musical, based on Mel Brooks’ famous movie of the same name…If you have a chance to see it, check it out. My sister and I saw it in NY, and this was her Christmas gift to me that year. A fun reminder of one of our adventures to NY. And there, is your Monday Mug Shot. Hope everybody had a good weekend and has a productive week. I did quite a bit of outlining for NaNo this weekend as well as some Artist’s Way lessons. Good stuff.

Pumpkin and a Palm Tree

Fall. I love it. Even though, this year, it’s totally different. Down here in the land of palm trees and beaches, there are no apple orchards or pumpkin patches. There are scads of haunted houses, but a hayride just isn’t the same when you’re wearing shorts and it’s in the 80′s. I’m not complaining about the warm weather mind you, it’s not bad, it’s just different. The one thing that is the same is the feeling of fall.  It takes a little more digging to find it when there aren’t colorful leaves crunching beneath your feet, but it’s still there.

Much like springtime, it’s a feeling of change, of excitement, of something wonderful just around the corner. And there are many wonderful things around the corner…

Well, one already passed the corner and that was The Muse Online Writer’s Conference. It was great. Last year was my first year and I was so overwhelmed I didn’t get as much out of it as I had wanted. No fault of the conference, just my own disorganization working against me. This year was totally different. I learned so much and it really helped put me back on track as far as what I need to focus on with my writing. If you haven’t checked it out yet, 2011 registration is already open. Do yourself a favor and sign up. It’s FREE and you will definitely get a lot out of it. The agent/publisher chats alone are worth checking out.

Next month is NaNoWriMo. I’ve already started outlining my story and am looking forward to getting the first draft down on paper. If you are participating this year, be my buddy! I’m vrleavitt. (I know, really original.)

Last but not least, I’m excited to have Cheryl Malandrinos here to talk about her new book, “Little Shepherd.” It’s out now from Guardian Angel Publishing and is available for purchase at Guardian Angel’s website, Amazon, Barnesandnoble.com, and Indiebound.org. So look for her guest post next week on October 27th.

Oh, and on Monday, be sure and stop by… a new series called “Monday Mug Shot” will be revealed.

So, what do you have coming up? Let me know.

Alas, no #fridayflash this week, but that’s ok. I’ve been prepping myself for the start of my new writing life, starting Monday. I’m very excited and am grateful for your help. And for those that have joined the gentle butt kicking fest, (Karen, I’m looking at you) this’ll be great. Let’s do this!

Ok, time to hop off my overly optimistic happy box there before I make myself sick or burp a rainbow or something. No, but really, looking forward to getting stuff done. That will be a great thing.

So, I’ve seen other people asking about NaNoWriMo, the crazy psycho month long novel writing fest in November. I did it once a few years ago. I didn’t get to the 50,000 words, but I made good progress on what I was working on. It wasn’t even something I think I’d ever want published, but it was a nice feeling to just get up and write and make progress on a project. Have you ever done the NaNoWriMo? Are you going to this year?

I am considering it, because I have something in mind, and it would be nice to get the first draft done. But considering it took me two years to do the first draft of “Shaping Fate” I just don’t know if I operate on that fast track. I still might give it a go though, just for the sake of the first draft. I’m also a different writer than I was during the first draft of “Shaping Fate” so it might be a good experience. We’ll see.

Anyway, I hope you have a great weekend and I’ll leave you with this link from Penguin Books, UK. Seems that they are accepting unsolicited submissions until the end of October. Anybody hear about this or going to submit?  Click here for the link.