Author: JodiLea

I don't pretend to be who/what I'm not. I will be honest here unless I publish under the category "This could be news," which is 99% fiction and a wee bit sarcastic. ;-) I want readers who come here to have as much fun as I do. Not all subjects can be fun, but most can be funny if I do my job right ;-) My inner child is reflected in my logo and will change at a moment's notice.

My Wishful List

~ JodiLea

Paperwork Mountian

I do not have a Bucket List.  My days are filled with too many lists as it is.  Well, it’s more like one list and too many things listed upon it.  I often overestimate my level of energy and underestimate how much time I have to accomplish everything on the stupid list.

I instead have a “Wishful List”.  This list would not be like your routine bucket list, you know, things you want to do before you die. (i.e. you now have a deadline!)  A Wishful List is where you write down the things you want to happen – to you or other people.

This list is for my imagination and amusement only.  Occasionally, I may share items from my list with my wonderful readers, but some of my items will be private.  I know y’all will understand.

  1.  Write a post worthy of being Freshly Pressed.  It could happen.  I have no idea what gets you Freshly Pressed because NONE of my 958 posts have qualified. Yet.
  2.  Go on a date to interview Channing Tatum.  He would need a chaperone – just sayin’.
  3.  Get a small part in the 4th Thor movie. I’m pretty sure there will be another. No, wait!  Co-write the screenplay – that would be so fun.
  4. Swoon Reads falls in love with my manuscript and fixes the link to read it, OR, asks me to resubmit it.  I already sent them 2 emails, so I will not send another. Sigh.  It’s the waiting that kills your soul!
  5. I wake up missing 30 pounds and every outfit in my closet fits me.  Some are too big.
  6. If I have to break off another tooth – let it be the sweet-tooth this time.
  7. I’m successful in training my dog to dance with me
  8. Something, not brain damage or anything, makes my hubby want to spoil and romance me like never before.

Some are more likely than others.  The point is to entertain me.  Try it sometime and see for yourself.  I would love you to share them with me!

♥  TTFN  ♥

 

 

STOP! What’s Your Last Word?

~ JodiLea

When I was a kid, pre-high school, one of the most memorable summers ever experienced was when my cousin flew to visit our grandma & pa who lived in California. My cuz, Mags, and I had been pen-pals for a few years and I could not wait to meet her in person.  It was BFF’s at first sight.

We had so many things in common it was eerie. One of our ‘things’ was writing.  Both of us had spiral notebooks full of poems, short stories, episodes of our favorite TV shows.  I was working on a new episode for “Emergency!” and I think Mags was working on one for Alias Smith & Jones.  It was a Western romance – that I remember. 

We were busy scribbling and all of a sudden, Mags yells “STOP!”

“What?!  What’s wrong?”

“What’s your last word?”

I looked at my notebook and the last word written before her scream is “thready”

“Hmm.”  she contemplates.

“What is yours?”  two can play at this game.

“muscles,” she said.

“Ohh,” I say.  “You win.”

We must have laughed for 20 minutes.  Then we refilled our sodas, grabbed a snack, and went back to work.  When I noticed Mags hitting a roll with her focused scribbling, I hollered out, “What’s your last sentence?”  Only one word at a time was not giving me any clue about where her story was going.  Yes, even back then, I was impatient.

I wished that I could remember that episode!  I knew it had to be juvenile and corny – it was corny back then.  Curious, I dug into my file drawer that had research, old drafts, and false starts.  And there it was. My old blue THEMEBOOK 100.   Five short stories were listed on the second-page table of contents.  (Table of Contents!?)   I laughed when I found “Code I LUV U”.  That had to be the infamous Emergency! episode.  42 pages (front and back) of pure corn.  Beyond corny, corn.  Copywrite 1972.  The summer between junior high and high school.   I was 14. 

The last sentence?  My character was singing, “Everything’s all right, yes, everything’s fine.”

I’m still smiling about that.  

I hope that Mags can find hers.

 

♥  TTFN  ♥

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Under Construction

~ JodiLea

You may have noticed weirdness here at JodiLeasPlace.  Not the usual weirdness, that is my brain, but technical changes, design & color changes. 
Since I have my own domain now – jodileasplace.blog, it is time to reinvent and decorate the place.  

The plan is to make things more readable, and aesthetically pleasing.  In other words: cooler than before.  And, I need a mental break between finishing one novel and choosing one of the 3 I found waiting in my filing cabinet to work on. All three are worth a second go.  The dilemma I have is – I really want to start Something Incredibly Different. 

Tomorrow is April 1st and Camp NaNoWriMo.  I know that the best course for me is to work on a thorough outline so I can stay on track with the story. Taking nine years to finish the last novel has taught me that -Ha!  Do I outline one of the filed 3 and play it safe OR do I jump out of my comfort zone and go for it?

Please, faithful Reader, help me out here!  Send me your professional opinion via the comment section!  

♥  TTFN  ♥

BTW: No rodents were harmed in the designing of the blog header.