This was in July of 2001, the last year that I went to BreyerFest, it is the annual gathering of Breyer Model Horse fans each year at the last weekend of July in Lexington, KY at the Kentucky Horse Park personally. I had already gone through the store to get my special runs for that year. I got what I wanted and didn't really need my other two tickets. While I was standing in line waiting to pick up the celebration models, I was chatting with couple girls who were trying to figure out the time on their watch as they had just arrived at the park.
I said hang on I'll get the time, and flipped open my phone and called my dad who was parked nearby and asked him the time. I gave the time to the girls and one of the girls cried out we missed the ticket line for the 10:30 to 11:00am! The time was 11:10am.
I was sorry for the girls as they only had one tent ticket and they missed their chance. I had two tickets for other times that day. I pulled them both out and said here use mine. They looked at me shocked that I was going to give them my tickets and they said so too. I told them I already got what I wanted from the tent and these were just going to waste. They were so excited that they hugged me both. I don't know who they are or what they got from the tent but I was very glad that I was able to make their BreyerFest that much more memorable by my gift of my last two tent tickets.
And that is one of my BreyerFest memories that truly stand out beyond my first one with my late brother David in 1999.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Friday, June 19, 2015
My underwear issues have been solved.
Back in March 1st, I complained about what the underwear company Just My Size did with their underwear. Well, a friend told me to look online for underwear companies - well it took me no more than five minutes to find that the place I get my pants and shorts from Woman Within was the company I needed to get my underwear from.
They had what I wanted and liked! Satin underwear that went above my waist, not where they hit my hips and that's it. They had waist huggers not just hip huggers which showed off your belly button, but the type that hid your belly button.
I'm talking underwear of old days like back in the 80's and 90's.
This is what they look like.
The first size I got was size 15, I went for that size since that was what I was going for in Just My Size if they didn't quit making them. Well, the size was too big for me by a long shot, so I returned it for a smaller size, size 11. When I got it back about a week later, I tried it on and hoped that it fit, which it ended up doing perfectly. The panties didn't ride up or bite into my legs anymore. They were perfect!
About three weeks after I got them, I ordered two more so I would not have to wash each pair over and over again as I change underwear every time I shower. I have not been disappointed in the underwear or the company that I now get them from. I no longer look in the underwear department for my underwear as I just go online to get them now.
I highly recommend Woman Within's underwear, pants and shorts for your clothing needs. The returns and exchanges are smooth as silk and the people are great to talk with and they are totally understanding.
They had what I wanted and liked! Satin underwear that went above my waist, not where they hit my hips and that's it. They had waist huggers not just hip huggers which showed off your belly button, but the type that hid your belly button.
I'm talking underwear of old days like back in the 80's and 90's.
This is what they look like.
The first size I got was size 15, I went for that size since that was what I was going for in Just My Size if they didn't quit making them. Well, the size was too big for me by a long shot, so I returned it for a smaller size, size 11. When I got it back about a week later, I tried it on and hoped that it fit, which it ended up doing perfectly. The panties didn't ride up or bite into my legs anymore. They were perfect!
About three weeks after I got them, I ordered two more so I would not have to wash each pair over and over again as I change underwear every time I shower. I have not been disappointed in the underwear or the company that I now get them from. I no longer look in the underwear department for my underwear as I just go online to get them now.
I highly recommend Woman Within's underwear, pants and shorts for your clothing needs. The returns and exchanges are smooth as silk and the people are great to talk with and they are totally understanding.
Sunday, March 1, 2015
What have the underwear companies done to their sizes?
Yeah, in this blog, I'm going to touch on underwear that us ladies wear.
Men, if you do not wish to read this, please pass it by.
For the last two years, I've been wearing the same size 13 underwear from Jenny's Just My Size. I have gotten more packages of size 13 underwear from Jenny's Just My Size at Wal Mart, two more to add to my declining amount of underwear. I have three underwear left from three dozen undies. The reason why? They were all size 10 which I wore since 1998, but no longer fit my waist, hips or butt. I tossed them out in 2007 and got size 12 in Jenny's JMS till the year 2012 when I noticed that size 12's no longer fit me comfortably anymore they were extremely snug to where if I sat down, they would split or rub my legs till they were red and sore, mainly they would rub me red and sore. So I get the size up which is size 13.
I go about opening my new undies, flap them to get the wrinkles out and to check them all out to make sure that there are no rips, tears or any other defect that they may have missed. I place them on my bed and I immediately know that there is a big difference to the sizes. They say that they're a size 13 for people sized 30. That's what it says on the packages. I wear pants size 30. I'm not thin or lightly chubby, but I weigh around 267 pounds. Yes, I am a heavy woman, not proud of my weight but that's a topic for another time. I looked at the underwear on my bedspread and I know something is off in the sizes. I grab one of my three underwear that I know fits me comfortably. I lay it down on the bed and then placed one of the new pairs on top of it for size comparison. I immediately know right then and there that what I have in my hands is not size 13 underwear, but a misprinted set of size 10 underwear. Each one is given the size test to find that each one from both new packages are not size 13 but size 10. There is like about two inches of fabric missing from each one. I repackage them and return them to Wal Mart and tell them that they are returned for being two sizes too small as they claim that they are size 13, when they are not as I wear a size 13 and they do not fit me comfortably but extremely tight to where I cannot sit without ripping them open.
I have decided to go to a size 14 since that might give me the right size as I do not want to go to the specialty bra and underwear stores as they will charge you $40 for one single underwear. I don't want to buy almost three hundred dollars worth of underwear only to have about 7 pairs of underwear. That's a car payment and at least a tank of gas!
I just learned that Jenny's Just My Size is now discontinuing the underwear that I have loved for the last twenty some years. I might just have to take apart one of my underwear that I like add about four inches all around and sow my own underwear myself. The one thing that I do not like about that option is that I don't have a sewing machine nor do I know how to sow by using a sewing machine or by needle and thread. I guess the bottom line is that I better start learning how to.
Men, if you do not wish to read this, please pass it by.
For the last two years, I've been wearing the same size 13 underwear from Jenny's Just My Size. I have gotten more packages of size 13 underwear from Jenny's Just My Size at Wal Mart, two more to add to my declining amount of underwear. I have three underwear left from three dozen undies. The reason why? They were all size 10 which I wore since 1998, but no longer fit my waist, hips or butt. I tossed them out in 2007 and got size 12 in Jenny's JMS till the year 2012 when I noticed that size 12's no longer fit me comfortably anymore they were extremely snug to where if I sat down, they would split or rub my legs till they were red and sore, mainly they would rub me red and sore. So I get the size up which is size 13.
I go about opening my new undies, flap them to get the wrinkles out and to check them all out to make sure that there are no rips, tears or any other defect that they may have missed. I place them on my bed and I immediately know that there is a big difference to the sizes. They say that they're a size 13 for people sized 30. That's what it says on the packages. I wear pants size 30. I'm not thin or lightly chubby, but I weigh around 267 pounds. Yes, I am a heavy woman, not proud of my weight but that's a topic for another time. I looked at the underwear on my bedspread and I know something is off in the sizes. I grab one of my three underwear that I know fits me comfortably. I lay it down on the bed and then placed one of the new pairs on top of it for size comparison. I immediately know right then and there that what I have in my hands is not size 13 underwear, but a misprinted set of size 10 underwear. Each one is given the size test to find that each one from both new packages are not size 13 but size 10. There is like about two inches of fabric missing from each one. I repackage them and return them to Wal Mart and tell them that they are returned for being two sizes too small as they claim that they are size 13, when they are not as I wear a size 13 and they do not fit me comfortably but extremely tight to where I cannot sit without ripping them open.
I have decided to go to a size 14 since that might give me the right size as I do not want to go to the specialty bra and underwear stores as they will charge you $40 for one single underwear. I don't want to buy almost three hundred dollars worth of underwear only to have about 7 pairs of underwear. That's a car payment and at least a tank of gas!
I just learned that Jenny's Just My Size is now discontinuing the underwear that I have loved for the last twenty some years. I might just have to take apart one of my underwear that I like add about four inches all around and sow my own underwear myself. The one thing that I do not like about that option is that I don't have a sewing machine nor do I know how to sow by using a sewing machine or by needle and thread. I guess the bottom line is that I better start learning how to.
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Not a good agent Royal Gillette - Con Artist!
One of my e-mail groups spoke about agents. I had to say something about my own personal experience with one and why I'm now going to the self-publishing side of things. This will be a long story to tell.
It was 1996, I read the ads in Writer's Digest and found a literary agency called Sunrise Literary Group searching for unpublished writers. They wanted three chapters, I sent in three chapters of my The Storyteller's Tale. I got word from them about a week and half later, they couldn't take me on but their friend and associate Royal Gillette read over the chapters and he was interested in becoming my agent, here's his info.
So I called him up and spoke with him with my father by my side. He loved the story and said that I had a real good chance of getting it published. We agreed and he said (this should have been our red flag) he needed $1,500 to become my agent. I'm like I need to see some authors books that you have gotten published. He rattled off some names - fake names of book titles and authors.
We went to our local bookstore and asked for the book titles and authors to find no one by that name or book titles in their book shelf on their computers. We called him up and told him what we found. He came up with the smaller stores wouldn't have them yet as they're in the big stores. We believed that and we sent the money, not once did we use our search engines for him and the books he had said.
A few days, I got the contract and signed it, sent it back to him. He did tell me that he sent my manuscript off to Del Ray by Fed Ex, but when I called them and asked if an agent by the name of Royal Gillette sent anything to them by Fed Ex, the lady on the phone said no, never heard of him before. I thanked her and told my dad what she said. My dad told me to call Royal. I did but got only his answering machine. I left a message stating I need to talk to you urgently about my book. He didn't call me back for at least three days. I told him that I had called Del Ray to make sure that the manuscript got to them, they said that they never got anything from you. You said that they were interested. He came back with well, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing there. They have the manuscript and we're in contact about it. Just hang tight, Beth. I'll call you when we get the news.
After that, I never got anything from him about any rejections or acceptances till January of the following year, stating that he was moving closer to New York City to get closer to the big publishers and if your contracts expire during the move, when we are settled in our new building, we will renew them.
I never got anything back, so I put his name into the search engine and found several people who had him as an agent and every single one of them got asked money first and then the contract and then they heard nothing from him and they found out that he was a con artist. I was devastated by this information. I sent him a letter demanding an explanation of the claims from these other clients of his claiming that he just ripped them off of their money and their time in searching for an agent who was not a con. My letter was returned unknown recipient. I sent another letter to the company I got him from, same thing happened.
I had spent a year not searching for an agent because I thought I had one, when all I had was a con artist.
The first red flag on this was that he asked for money upfront - no agents get money up front, they get their money from the royalties that come from your book being sold and published.
The second red flag was that the authors and the books they wrote never existed at all - when your bookstore says there is no one by that name or the book, you need to get to your computer and put them into your search engines. I didn't find anything on the authors or the books Royal had told me that he got published.
I got conned as did my father who believed his cons. I lost $1,500 to this person and a year of searching for an agent.
The moral of this is when they ask for money upfront and the authors and books that they say do not come up in any searches, run as far as you can, they are not legit agents.
It was 1996, I read the ads in Writer's Digest and found a literary agency called Sunrise Literary Group searching for unpublished writers. They wanted three chapters, I sent in three chapters of my The Storyteller's Tale. I got word from them about a week and half later, they couldn't take me on but their friend and associate Royal Gillette read over the chapters and he was interested in becoming my agent, here's his info.
So I called him up and spoke with him with my father by my side. He loved the story and said that I had a real good chance of getting it published. We agreed and he said (this should have been our red flag) he needed $1,500 to become my agent. I'm like I need to see some authors books that you have gotten published. He rattled off some names - fake names of book titles and authors.
We went to our local bookstore and asked for the book titles and authors to find no one by that name or book titles in their book shelf on their computers. We called him up and told him what we found. He came up with the smaller stores wouldn't have them yet as they're in the big stores. We believed that and we sent the money, not once did we use our search engines for him and the books he had said.
A few days, I got the contract and signed it, sent it back to him. He did tell me that he sent my manuscript off to Del Ray by Fed Ex, but when I called them and asked if an agent by the name of Royal Gillette sent anything to them by Fed Ex, the lady on the phone said no, never heard of him before. I thanked her and told my dad what she said. My dad told me to call Royal. I did but got only his answering machine. I left a message stating I need to talk to you urgently about my book. He didn't call me back for at least three days. I told him that I had called Del Ray to make sure that the manuscript got to them, they said that they never got anything from you. You said that they were interested. He came back with well, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing there. They have the manuscript and we're in contact about it. Just hang tight, Beth. I'll call you when we get the news.
After that, I never got anything from him about any rejections or acceptances till January of the following year, stating that he was moving closer to New York City to get closer to the big publishers and if your contracts expire during the move, when we are settled in our new building, we will renew them.
I never got anything back, so I put his name into the search engine and found several people who had him as an agent and every single one of them got asked money first and then the contract and then they heard nothing from him and they found out that he was a con artist. I was devastated by this information. I sent him a letter demanding an explanation of the claims from these other clients of his claiming that he just ripped them off of their money and their time in searching for an agent who was not a con. My letter was returned unknown recipient. I sent another letter to the company I got him from, same thing happened.
I had spent a year not searching for an agent because I thought I had one, when all I had was a con artist.
The first red flag on this was that he asked for money upfront - no agents get money up front, they get their money from the royalties that come from your book being sold and published.
The second red flag was that the authors and the books they wrote never existed at all - when your bookstore says there is no one by that name or the book, you need to get to your computer and put them into your search engines. I didn't find anything on the authors or the books Royal had told me that he got published.
I got conned as did my father who believed his cons. I lost $1,500 to this person and a year of searching for an agent.
The moral of this is when they ask for money upfront and the authors and books that they say do not come up in any searches, run as far as you can, they are not legit agents.
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Cheaters never win.
For the most part they don't, but they can try.
A friend of mine held a poll of a group of ten original characters created by ten people to find out which one would be drawn with her original character from the Transformers fandom. This one girl, who I will call Sue, decided that she would stack the deck against everyone else and win the honor of having her character drawn by my friend. Sue did a journal post on her account telling everyone to go vote for her character to win this polling contest. Now, that is not cheating, but none of the other entries did that, except for Sue. To really stack the deck to where she would win, she created up to seven fake accounts all to vote for her character to win, which she did but because the seven accounts were found to be fakes and that Sue had intentionally told every one of her friends and watchers to vote for her instead of telling them to vote for the one who deserves it more and that she doesn't care if it isn't her who wins, for there might be other contests from her. My friend figured it all out and called her out on it and revealed her for being a cheat.
To which Sue, basically said that's how the politicians do it. True, some do cheat and win, but for the most part, they do give people a good reason to vote for them, but the moment she created seven fake accounts and within minutes of joining the site, vote in my friend's poll voting for Sue's character to win, which they did, that was when she became a cheater. My friend disqualified her for cheating and put the second place person as the winner. She posted a journal about it and Sue whined about really wanting to have her character drawn with my friend's character. But the thing is, Sue did it the wrong way, instead of creating those seven fake accounts and made a journal encouraging her friends to vote for her. She should have just asked my friend if she could promote the contest on her page in a journal to get everyone to vote for who should get it and did it fair and square, but she would rather cheat than do it legit.
Cheaters think that they can win, but in the end, they will lose as someone would see what they are doing and spill the beans on them. So don't cheat at what you are doing, it will always end up being bad for you.
A friend of mine held a poll of a group of ten original characters created by ten people to find out which one would be drawn with her original character from the Transformers fandom. This one girl, who I will call Sue, decided that she would stack the deck against everyone else and win the honor of having her character drawn by my friend. Sue did a journal post on her account telling everyone to go vote for her character to win this polling contest. Now, that is not cheating, but none of the other entries did that, except for Sue. To really stack the deck to where she would win, she created up to seven fake accounts all to vote for her character to win, which she did but because the seven accounts were found to be fakes and that Sue had intentionally told every one of her friends and watchers to vote for her instead of telling them to vote for the one who deserves it more and that she doesn't care if it isn't her who wins, for there might be other contests from her. My friend figured it all out and called her out on it and revealed her for being a cheat.
To which Sue, basically said that's how the politicians do it. True, some do cheat and win, but for the most part, they do give people a good reason to vote for them, but the moment she created seven fake accounts and within minutes of joining the site, vote in my friend's poll voting for Sue's character to win, which they did, that was when she became a cheater. My friend disqualified her for cheating and put the second place person as the winner. She posted a journal about it and Sue whined about really wanting to have her character drawn with my friend's character. But the thing is, Sue did it the wrong way, instead of creating those seven fake accounts and made a journal encouraging her friends to vote for her. She should have just asked my friend if she could promote the contest on her page in a journal to get everyone to vote for who should get it and did it fair and square, but she would rather cheat than do it legit.
Cheaters think that they can win, but in the end, they will lose as someone would see what they are doing and spill the beans on them. So don't cheat at what you are doing, it will always end up being bad for you.
Friday, August 29, 2014
Where oh where are the beta readers gone?
Over the past decade, I have had a lot of beta readers. Almost all of them have dumped me after doing about three to four chapters of my stories. I had really good ones that I liked, just up and vanish on me without a word to those who I also liked would lie to my face stating that real life is being hard for them at the moment and that they need to pull back and focus on that for a while (which I found for the most part to be nothing but lies).
I accept that and then later, on the same writing message group on Yahoo, I get a message from my now departed beta reader asking for new work, when he or she had real life issues pop up and suddenly, they're asking for new work. I go in and state that so and so beta reader will drop you three chapters into the work, with the claim of real life problems popped up and they can't finish editing my work. They end up getting questions posted on the group why did they drop an editing job when it was not finished. The person never answered the questions and quickly removed themselves from the group itself.
I never took on another beta reader after that, which was back in 2006. I never took a beta reader to work on my stories because they tend to dump me soon after getting to the third chapter and have to create lies to get out of working on my stories. I really love getting my stories edited to where I can get them ready for publication.
I do have one beta reader that I really like a lot and I cannot wait till she gets to the next chapters of my story as I am doing at least three edits and rewrites of each chapter before I move onto the next chapter. I hope this one doesn't leave me as I really like her a lot.
I accept that and then later, on the same writing message group on Yahoo, I get a message from my now departed beta reader asking for new work, when he or she had real life issues pop up and suddenly, they're asking for new work. I go in and state that so and so beta reader will drop you three chapters into the work, with the claim of real life problems popped up and they can't finish editing my work. They end up getting questions posted on the group why did they drop an editing job when it was not finished. The person never answered the questions and quickly removed themselves from the group itself.
I never took on another beta reader after that, which was back in 2006. I never took a beta reader to work on my stories because they tend to dump me soon after getting to the third chapter and have to create lies to get out of working on my stories. I really love getting my stories edited to where I can get them ready for publication.
I do have one beta reader that I really like a lot and I cannot wait till she gets to the next chapters of my story as I am doing at least three edits and rewrites of each chapter before I move onto the next chapter. I hope this one doesn't leave me as I really like her a lot.
Thursday, August 28, 2014
I present to you for your reading pleasure....
I did some rewrites of the beginning of Chapter Three of Warrior Princess. I kept the old version as I think I will probably rewrite it to fit how the story is flowing with more dialogue than scenery, probably flesh out the character more.
So here is the old version of Chapter Three.
And now, I present to you the newer version of Chapter Three of Warrior Princess.
I'm thinking about blending the old version in with the new version after maybe a rewrite of the scene to flesh it out more. But what do you think of the beginning of both versions, which one suits the beginning of the chapter better? The old one or the new version?
Thanks.
So here is the old version of Chapter Three.
Tarisn woke to the smell of wet grass and dirt. She raised herself up seeing that she still had hold of the sword that she had brought into the gate that it had created along with her flute case. She looked around to find herself in a strange area, nothing like the forest around her home. Her first thought was - is there enough oxygen in this planet for her to breathe in as she looked at the fauna that surrounded her. She realized that the air was cleaner and it had enough oxygen to support her. Tarisn rolled herself over to where she could stand without problems as she looked around to find no one was around, just forest. She walked away from the spot she landed at trying to figure out where exactly was she. She glanced at the sword. I hope you can lead me to whoever opened that gate or maybe I’ll wake up from this dream and find myself on the floor of my bed.
And now, I present to you the newer version of Chapter Three of Warrior Princess.
Aderyn stepped from her hut over looking the huts as a group of men and women sat around the fire. One of them was stirring the kettle over the fire, she looked up and smiled. “Morning Aderyn, come have some broth,”
“Morning Amelia,” Aderyn said, with a smile on her face. “But I cannot for I need to be elsewhere at this moment.”
“Very well, we shall keep it warm for you if you return before we start making our noon meal.” Amelia turned her attention back to the broth as the sorceress walked towards the group.
“Rhiannon, we need to go now,” Aderyn spoke as she looked at the woman.
“Why and where?” Rhiannon asked, as she stood up from the log.
“I will explain on the way,” Aderyn stated, as she looked at the bag by her feet. “Did you get what I asked you to gather?”
“Yes,”
“Good,” Aderyn replied. “Did he bother you about it?”
“No,” Rhiannon said. “He hasn't emerged from his hut since she was captured,”
“Good.”
“I don't know why you asked me to get clothes from Tatyana's hut for,” As she bent down to pick the bag of clothes up.
“You will see when we get there,” Aderyn replied. “Now, we need to hurry.”
“Hurry to where?” Rhiannon asked, as they hurried out of camp and into the woods, heading for where Rhiannon not know.
I'm thinking about blending the old version in with the new version after maybe a rewrite of the scene to flesh it out more. But what do you think of the beginning of both versions, which one suits the beginning of the chapter better? The old one or the new version?
Thanks.
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