Summer Scare-A-thon 2019

Hello, fellow bloggers! I hope that this finds everyone doing well and enjoying the beautiful summer weather. As a Georgia girl, I don't always get sunshine days. We get a lot of rain in the months of May and June. However, I love when that sun comes out.  Summer is here!

While it already feels like summer to many, the first day of the summer on the calendar falls on June 21st this year. In my list of goals, I mentioned that one of my goals was to start the summer Scare-a-thon. And here it comes!

For those of you who don't know, the summer Scare-a-thon is something I did last summer where I watched a horror movie for every day of summer on the calendar and post my thoughts on the movies. Click here to see the original post. You can also click on the Scare-a-thon label to see additional posts.

This year's Scare-a-thon will run from June 21, 2019 to September 22, 2019. That is a total of 94 horror movies. This year I will be challenging myself not to include things that I included last year or something that I have watched a hundred times. If you have any suggestions, be sure to put them out there. I hope you will join me for the fun!

Character Inspiration Writing Tag

This tag comes from my bestie, Mary. Be sure to click on the link and read her answers.

For my answers, I'm going to use my The Other Side of You (which I refer to quite frequently as Tosoy.) This is a current work in progress.



1. Post pics or name actors who physically resemble your characters.

My novel has two main characters. For the male, I mostly picture Jason Momoa when I write about him. The female I normally picture Emilia Clarke (as a brunette). the main reason I picked these two is because of the chemistry I see in pictures when I was researching online. My main female has had quite a few faces. Emilia Clarke is just the one I used to answer this question.



2. How did your characters come into existence?

I was in the shower listening to a song and trying to figure out what I was going to do with two characters that had been haunting my mind for years. Finally it hit me like a ton of bricks and the characters they are now were born for Tosoy.


3. How have your characters evolved over time? Have their names changed? Do they look different? Have different traits? Switched genders? Are they older or younger?


Quite a few things about my main character have changed. He is a character that I developed years ago. His looks have changed, who he is has changed. The only thing that has stayed constant are parts of his personality. For my female, she has pretty much stayed the same for the past few years. I took her from another story I tossed because she fit better in this one.


4. What sources do you use for character inspiration? Do you Google pictures or look them up on Pinterest? Do you watch movies or TV shows? Cut pics from magazines?

I will sometimes google pictures, but mostly music is where my character inspiration comes from. I think of how I want the story to go and I can picture characters and how I want them as the music plays. I have a tendency to paste pictures in my notes for quick references of actors or actresses that resemble my character. When I say resemble, this could be same hair color or eye color, body style, etc.



5. How much of your main character's personality is based on your own?

None



6. Is your MC a cooler, more awesome, more badass version of yourself, the person you fantasize about being?


No.


7. Are any of your characters based on people you know in real life?

Not really. There are a few personality traits from different people in my life, but not really any one character based on one particular person. Not in Tosoy.



8. Do you or have you ever people-watched in a public place (park, library, restaurant), and if so, has it ever resulted in the creation of a character or characters?


I have. That is originally where Devon (the main male character of Tosoy) came from before I ever made any changes to him. I have to admit that I have taken notes on mannerisms and facial expressions. I'm kind of wondering how I have never been arrested for being creepy.


9. Do you ever think about fictionally killing someone you don't like in real life? Have you actually written such a scene?


 Can I lie to protect myself? Is it illegal to murder someone on paper? Uhm, next question.


10. Are you secretly (or openly) in love with your MC or MC's love interest?

When I picture my main male character, I picture Jason Momoa. Of course, I am.

I hope you enjoyed my answers. Try this tag yourself and see what happens. Considering I got it from Mary, I can't really tag her so I will just say that I tag you fellow bloggers. Show me what you got.

June 2019 Goals

Keeping with the monthly tradition I have started for myself, I am listing my goals for the month of June.


1. Read 5 Books
2. Go on a camping trip
3. Save $500
4. Get Contacts
5. 20,000 words on novel
6. Write 5 blog posts
7. Watch 5 Disney movie favorites
8. Notes & rough outline for 2nd novel
9. Film 2 videos
10. Catch up my scrapbook
11. Complete a pantry month
12. Workout 2x per week
13. Lose 4lbs
14. Schedule mother/daughter day
15. Replace bird feeders
16. Finish living room/bedroom spring clean
17. Finish kitchen spring clean
18. Get husband's oil changed
19. Complete no eat out month
20. Eat breakfast daily
21. Walk Buddy around neighborhood twice a week
22. Day @ the park
23. Drink more water
24. Stick to budget
25. Do not buy any notebooks or planner supplies
26. Start summer scare-a-thon
27. Schedule mother/son day
28. Get hair & nails done

Twenty-eight goals is quite a lot and I'm sure you may recognize some repeats from last month. However, with May being as busy as it was I do not feel guilty at all for having to move some of my goals to this month. I have always seen goals as guidelines for things I would love to accomplish. Wish me luck on a better goal completion this month!

May 2019 Goals Recap

Before you look at the list below, I have to tell you that I feel like I bombed this month big time. I was super busy with lots going on, but I still should have worked harder on reaching my goals. But I will do better next time.

The ones that have a strike through them are the completed goals.

1. Read 5 Books

2. Watch 5 Disney movies

3. Write 5 Blog posts

4. Have a cookout

5. Watch Avengers Endgame

6. Reach 20,000 words on my novel

7. Film 2 videos

8. Catch up my scrapbook

9. Complete a pantry month

10. Workout 2x per week

11. Lose 4lbs

12. Schedule a mother/daughter day

13. Save $300

14. Get Contacts

15. Replace bird feeders

16. Finish living room/bedroom spring clean

17. Get husband's oil changed in truck

18. Spend day at library

19. Cook list of meals I've created

20. Complete no eat out challenge

21. Eat breakfast every day

22. Stay below grocery budget

23. Walk Buddy around neighborhood more often

24. Day at the park

25. Drink more water

26. Average 7,000 steps per day

27. Book July hotel

28. Reserve June camping spot

7 out of 28 isn't exactly something to celebrate over, but it could have been worse. Wish me luck next month guys!

The Great Smoky Mountains

My family and I just enjoyed a wonderful Memorial Day weekend in the Smokies. This is one of my favorite places to go when we take family trips. I thought I might share some of the photos we took while there and some of my thoughts on things we did.

This picture was taken in the Cherokee Indian Museum located in Cherokee, NC. I believe the admission was $12 per adult to walk through the museum. It was very interesting and full of facts and history. The artifacts and paintings were beautiful. I took a lot more pictures than just this one, but this is one of my favorites. We enjoyed the museum and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys learning about history.

This bear was positioned outside the museum. I had a fit over the designs and the fact that it has a pipe in its mouth. This is one of my favorite pictures as well. Throughout Cherokee, you can find different bears with different designs and all of them are beautiful. However, I have to admit that this is one of my favorites.

The Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride is located in Pigeon Forge, TN. It was $14 per person to ride. This ride would have been okay for smaller kids, but I was disappointed with it. My son and husband didn't like it too much either. My daughter, who is an overgrown child, liked it. I think that smaller children would really be impressed with the effects.

"The Island" is also located in Pigeon Forge. This place was impressive. They have free parking and you ride a trolley in to the attraction part of it. There are stores, the giant Ferris Wheel, and lights on the water that dance to music. We didn't spend a lot of time here and the kids couldn't talk me into riding the wheel. Maybe next time.

 Of course one of the main reasons I love the Smokies is the view. While there, I was actually talked into riding the Tram up to Ober Gatlinburg. While the ride on the tram up there and back was exciting and there were many opportunities to take pictures, I wasn't that impressed with Ober Gatlinburg. There was one part that I liked and I will share that in a minute.

My son enjoyed riding this chair lift up to the top of the mountain. This is one of the ride opportunities at Ober Gatlinburg. To be honest, this park strikes me as something that is either for very small children or for people who like to ski. However, my son did enjoy this chair lift.

This was my favorite part of Ober Gatlinburg. They have a wildlife area. It is $8 an adult to see this or you can buy their expensive bracelets that let you do the other things in the park. I wanted to see the animals so this is the only thing that I did. This is one of the five bears that they had just enjoying the summer sun.

My favorite part of the wildlife area was the otter exhibit. These animals were so cute and playful. I took many pics and videos. I spent quite a bit of time enjoying watching them.

This fountain is located in the Village in Gatlinburg. We walked through there looking in many different shops. I got my peanut butter fudge, which is a must, and my husband got his new leather wallet.

Hubby even got to hang out with the Duke for awhile in one of the shops we stopped in. Hubby was a great sport in carrying all the purchases as well as my fanny pack which we jokingly called his man purse.

And I enjoyed the company of Pennywise the dancing clown.  While hanging with Pennywise, I picked up an awesome Freddy Kreuger notebook that just might be my next bullet journal.

I also got to spend some time with Negan and discuss his unhealthy attachment to his bat. I considered allowing Negan to come home with me, but it was quickly determined that he would not fit in our already crowded vehicle. He was nice enough, however, to point us in the direction of one of my husband's favorite places in Gatlinburg.

I listened to the band while my husband taste tested the moonshine. After his thirteen different flavor shots, I was awarded the keys to the car. We are all about safety people.





In all this was an awesome trip. I had a lot of fun and so did my family. Of course, I can't leave you without adding one more picture. This is by far my favorite picture that I took while there and I must admit the main reason that I am so fond of the Smokies.

The Smoky Mountains has the most beautiful views and I have been going there since I was a kid. I hope for many more trips to what is one of my favorite places in the world.

May 2019 Goals

Hello everyone! Welcome to May. I hope that everyone is getting excited about the summer months coming. I thought I would go ahead and post my May goals. You might recognize some of the goals from April because I moved them over. Once again, I am shooting for at least half of these, but maybe I can do better! Wish me luck!

1. Read 5 Books
2. Watch 5 Disney movies
3. Write 5 Blog posts
4. Have a cookout
5. Watch Avengers Endgame
6. Reach 20,000 words on my novel
7. Film 2 videos
8. Catch up my scrapbook
9. Complete a pantry month
10. Workout 2x per week
11. Lose 4lbs
12. Schedule a mother/daughter day
13. Save $300
14. Get Contacts
15. Replace bird feeders
16. Finish living room/bedroom spring clean
17. Get husband's oil changed in truck
18. Spend day at library
19. Cook list of meals I've created
20. Complete no eat out challenge
21. Eat breakfast every day
22. Stay below grocery budget
23. Walk Buddy around neighborhood more often
24. Day at the park
25. Drink more water
26. Average 7,000 steps per day
27. Book July hotel
28. Reserve June camping spot

Well, there you have it. Don't forget to check back at the end of May or beginning of June to see how I did. Happy blogging!