layla

Thank you

I was trying to post a new story, and found that the create a story page seems to have changed some and I can't figure out why it won't let me save what I put in. It keeps saying fill in the fields, but the boxes are already blue so what is there to fill in?

I haven't been around much, but then, over the course of the last year, I haven't really done much in the way of writing. Most day, I feel like as soon as I get started i'm too tired to keep going and when I read what I wrote it reads like gibberish to me. For awhile there, I started to think that I shouldn't bother anymore, but then story ideas started flowing on to storyboards around my office, and I decided to leave the cork boards up to see if anything got done. Ech, it's slow, but something is trying to emerge. its funny, because some days I will have all these ideas and inspiration, but the get up and go dies right out of the gate and meh, its easier to sit in my easy chair beside my dog and watch tv instead of create something. I probably need to get out more and most likely rambling here, but a few weeks back I remembered how much I used to look forward to popping in here, hanging out on the chat and in the forums and interacting with people, and kicked myself for letting time get so far away from me. This whole year has felt like it's slipped away, or maybe it was just the meds I've been on making things seem out of sorts, I don't know i'm still trying to figure that part out. anyway, I'm back, put up a new story, fingers crossed I finish it. If anyone wanted to read anything else I've done that's not here, you can find it under Layla Dorine, there's some novels and stories and stuff out there. Happy reading. Drop me a line and say hi if you'd like, I need to crawl back out of my shell again. The Places You Enter Tell me what you fear And I’ll tell you what I am What you are what is coming Prophesy My white eye sees death My green one the depth of your shriveled soul I walk paths of cobblestone Footsteps splashing puddles tracing echoes of memory Shattered by cawing crows Black wings tipped with red Fluttering Falling without souls to curry No words to carry on I ride nightmares in a distant holler Searching for a place to hide To change grow shifting Evolving You know you can’t destroy me Killing what I am Would be killing what you’ll be When it all crashes to an end Enter Hold the door what you gain may be less than what you leave behind

this one right here is what i'm currently writing to, its going to be the theme for my next book.

I have three piercings with plans to get at least two more. Right now I have my eyebrows and lebret pierced. I also have six tattoo, with plans to get several more. I've got a dragon on my ankle, an anarchy sign on my thigh, the green man with a woven celtic knot band of vines around my arm, a semi colon inside of a celtic know on my wrist, tigger on one shoulder and a Pegasus on the other.

Not new, but haven't been around for awhile. planning to drop in more frequently moving forward though.

In June, it will have been a year since the release of my first novel, Guitars and Cages, through Wayward Ink, something that I never would have ever imagined, but that I am immensely proud of. it meant the fulfilling of a dream, it meant that no matter what, i would be able to say that i was a published novelist and no one could ever take that away. Since then, Broken Prince Mismatched Eyes and Desolation Angel have been released and I am in the middle of edits for Roadhouse Reds, these four novels were born here on GA and its only fitting that they be my introductions to the publishing world. I know i've been fortunate, all of my experiences so far have been wonderful. This year i finally decided to start submitting to anthologies, first with Wayward Ink, but i also have one coming out that will be through MLRPress. That story was a particularly hard one to write as it deals with suicide and I found myself remembering a friendship from my young adulthood and a young man who choose to end his life shortly before he might have graduated. He was funny, kind, tough as nails, an amazing dancer, a wonderful listener, a deep thinker and a loyal friend, which always left me wondering how he could feel that was the answer. I don't know, but i know that when i write i carry a lot of the people i've known into my stories. Sometimes I hold back, I've been striving not to do that anymore. i feel like writing has allowed me to tap into the courage i had when i was younger, but started to hide as an adult, as if i was trying to be someone other than me just to fit someone else's mold. Breaking out of that is hard, but in the process, I've discovered that it feels good to be true to myself. it feels good not to have to hide what I write either. I love my pen name, but once my mother discovered it and read Guitars and Cages that was pretty much it. even if i don't tell people what i write, she does, and I'm starting to be okay with that. I'm wrapping up a new book, in the middle of two anthology submissions, it also means the next two weeks are going to be insanely busy since i'm heading on a roadtrip on may 11 that's set to last a month and I'm excited. just got back from BDSM Con too and wow did i learn a ton. Being sick though has slowed me down this week, but i;ve made progress on my photographs at the pioneer cemetaries too, something I'm handling for my local paper. Got a traveling computer so i could keep up on the road, and my daughter whose my youngest child is finally at an age where she's excited to see what i'll bring her, rather than crying and begging me not to go away. In truth that's whats kept me pinned closer to home these last few years. I wrote out a draft for a new novel on the bus ride to everett last month, won't have time to work on it for awhile, but it will likely be my next freebie friday story once this one is done. I've got more ideas than time at the moment ,which sometimes sucks. Or maybe i just need to focus better. its likely a mix between the two. Anyway, I'm going to get back to writing now. Hope everyone has a wonderful weakened.

As a fellow writer, I would not want someone to 'finish' my story for me, be it a sequel or a continuation from where I left off, primarily because I have had stories sit half-finished for years, before the rest of it finally clicked in my head and I was able to write it. Just because an author has not worked on a story for awhile, doesn't mean that they have no intention of finishing it. I started a story in Colorado 4 years ago. Excitedly, i wrote the beginning, and even had a few people read it and give me pointers. I revised, wrote a little more, and then got stuck. It would have seemed as if I'd abandoned it all within four months of starting. Then last year the rest just hit me, and in a few months I had the rest of the first draft written, now it is under contract with my publisher, but it took 4 years to get all the pieces to come together, and in that four years I was making notes and collecting data and watching dirtbike races for inspiration since the main character was a rider. So no, i would never want another author to finish my story for me.

I've been meaning to do a new blog post for awhile, but now I have a bunch of things to share. As those who have been reading ....And All Shall Fade To Black have seen, i have finally started working on a new story after more than a year. This doesn't mean that I've forgotten my other works, I have plans to finish them all, as time frees itself up. About a month ago I landed a job with the local newspaper, something i had initially applied for when I first got to town a decade ago. It's a thrill to be doing journalism again, it's also helped me deal with some social anxiety issues, including talking to people I don't know, especially since I have to call people on the phone or actually approach them for quotes and interviews. In the meantime, Broken Prince, Mismatched Eyes was released as an ebook through Wayward ink, the amazon link can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Prince-Mismatched-Eyes-Mauritanian-ebook/dp/B017WXGBM8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1454191356&sr=1-1 I created an author website with links to all of my ongoing projects : http://layladorine13.wix.com/layladorineauthor And Desolation Angel, one of my first stories here on GA was picked up by Wayward Ink as well, in fact, they have also accepted for publication, Guitars 2, Roadhouse Reds, and the dirtbike story I never had the chance to place on GA. It's sometimes kinda surreal, to think someone enjoyed my work that much to want to publish so many pieces of it. I wanted to do ...And All Shall Fade because it was a chance to work on something I could share 'in the process' again, and because the encouragement and support I received here was the only thing that made me dare show my writing to a publisher in the first place. It's great to be back sharing stories on GA, and I hope some of you will consider supporting my Thunderclap campaign to better promote my author website, it's free to support it, just a click of the link and a choice of which social media to support-share through. https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/37020-guitars-broken-prince-n-more I've also been writing short stories since I've been away, with one appearing in March's Mix and match anthology through Wayward ink and another that just got picked up by MLR press. I'm hopefully of being able to take part in one of GAs anthologies this year too as i finally feel like I've gotten my mojo back writing again.

Happy Birthday Mann!!!!

Dislike it a great deal. The B word is not only used as derogitory towards women, but towards those others feel are smaller, weaker, insignificent. It should only be used to describe a female dog of breeding age.

I spent my 4th of July photographing out town parade, then attending the town and country picnic, checking out the classic car and having some amazing food, then heading to the rodeo and photographing that. Came home, had some BBQ with the family, then started reading a new book.

I have to admit, I cringed trying to write my first intimate scene, I just, didn't want it to seem meaningless or cliche. I wanted to convey what the characters felt and didn't feel as if I could do it justice. Move ahead a few books and I am more comfortable expressing it in ways that aren't too graphic but get across the connection between the characters and how they respond to each other in the moment. i still do not add in very many, only when the build up of a scene takes me there, which, with my characters, isn't very often. I don't think i could get really graphically down and dirty with it, though I have read some novels where the author could and did and it didn't read as gratuitous of shocking. I guess its all in the way its handled.

Thank you

Today is the day! Guitars and Cages (formerly known as Guitars and Crossdressers) was released today by wayward ink. I cannot thank enough those who followed, liked, encouraged, reviewed and got behind Asher's story as it was being created. I am including here a link to my blog with book trailer, link and expert from the novel, as well as in invite to join me in a quick happy dance. This is a dream come true. http://rainbowlyricsandmellowmushrooms.blogspot.com/2015/06/guitars-and-cages-release-day-author.html

my order of completion: Phase 1, phase 4, phase 2, phase 4, phase 3, phase four, phase 4, phase 4

Just run with it. Take whatever thought and idea you have and see where it takes you. Don't worry about the technicalities, or what you don't think you know about structure, worry about tapping into that voice inside you that is desperate to get out and freeing it. Follow it and you will learn so much from the journey and in the end, come to realize that yes, indeed, you are a writer.

Guitars two will certainly get finished, not sure entirely on when at the moment, but it will get done.

Hi Lisa, I have so missed talking to you. No april birthday, July 14, i'll be 39 this year. so soonish, its creeping up on me.

It’s been almost a year since I posted a blog entry, but what a different place I find myself in now to where I was a year ago which was kinda dark and more than just a little bit scary. When I read those last few blog entries I can see how much I was retreating inside myself, letting negativity and self-doubt take over and keep me from doing the things I loved. I’d stepped away from martial arts, stepped away from writing, stepped away from almost every online community I belonged to and just sort of isolated myself from the world. I’ll always be grateful to those who kept sending me PMs asking how I was and hoping I would finish Broken Prince, because at that point I really didn’t think that I ever would finish it or anything, but the constant encouragement was just the motivation I needed to get it completed. Thank you. I missed wandering the message boards, engaging in conversation in chats and threads and taking part in the anthology, but like many other things I abandoned when I was struggling, returning has been difficult. Some days I feel like the shy kid in the corner, people watching but still hesitant to take part but the thing is, the best thing I ever did was take part in this sight because it taught me not to be afraid to write what I wanted to write. In the past year, as I’ve pulled myself together, I’ve been more active in my writing group in my community, even helping to organize book signings for my fellow authors as well as being part of the committee to help set up open mic night in our town. What a huge leap for the girl who liked to hide in her darkened studio all day. I’ve attended workshops and retreats, traveled and even started attending historical events again, as well as getting back to fossil and mushroom hunting which I loved but couldn’t even manage to drag myself out of my house for last year. I’ve also been submitting my stories, thanks to Mann Ramblings for letting me know about Wayward Ink, and I wanted to share with you all that the story formally known as Guitars and Crossdressers, now know as Guitars and Cages would be appearing sometime in June. They have also accepted for publication Broken Prince, as well as Desolation Angel. I’m blown away by that, still, and know that would never have been possible without all those who read the stories as they were being created and left such wonderful feedback and comments. In the last three months I’ve completed three unfinished stories that have been languishing on my desk for the better part of the last two years, and am slowly working towards getting back to the incomplete stories I have here on the site. I won’t be posting chapters for awhile, I’ve learned a valuable lesson about not posting until I finish writing, but I wanted to let readers of those stories know they haven’t been forgotten. Didn’t mean for the blog to go so long this morning, really just wanted to say thank you to the wonderful friends and readers I have met here, and say how much I am looking forward to getting back into being active on the site again.

USA and Australian, and even they were a little too pretty boy for me.

Well, let's see: 3 chickens, Henny Penny, Little Red and Margaret. 18 Quails: all with superhero names thanks to my kids 5 cats: Thor, Pirate, Sweety Pie, Wisdom and Lilyfur

http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2014/04/the-word-stunner-does-not-appear-in-this-post

Nope, no intention, guess it just came out that way

first love was my high school sweetheart he was also my best friend, we were together 4 years off and on...he was the other guitarist in our band.