It's the simple things in life that give you pleasure...

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:34:50 GMT

Two questions.

How do we feel about stories told through flashbacks?

And I have some Japanese natives on my f-list, don't I? Could you raise a hand?

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:35:50 GMT

I'm curious to know how many people loved Michael Jackson this much the day before he died.

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:24:41 GMT

Available July 30th in eBook:

Someone is playing games in the wealthy suburbs of Miami, using the people of Coral Gables as their chess pieces and murder as their checkmate. When Reggie Bainbridge, the owner and director of The Country Club of Coral Gables, dies unexpectedly, his sons are left to deal with the aftermath: the daily operation of the Club and an unwelcome police investigation into his death. When the brothers realize that someone will be going down for old Reggie's murder, they find themselves playing the game, wondering who to trust and trying to stay out of danger, even if it means playing the game to the end.

The original version had roughly 22,000 words. The new version has over 35k. I hope that's enough incentive to give it a try!

For more news at my author journal.

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:30:58 GMT

I have very little to report lately.

I'm going to Richmond Friday to help Nathan pack up the condo. This is both exciting and not, since we still don't know when he's coming home and it will result in a serious overflow of furniture in the house!

I'm spinning my wheels as far as writing goes, so I've spent the afternoon fixing up my author site on LJ, as opposed to IJ since InsaneJournal has gone sort of dead, if anyone wants to friend that one. abigail_roux.

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 04:48:21 GMT

Tomorrow afternoon there will be a review of Caught Running posted at Reviews by Jessewave, which will then be followed by a discussion with myself (as Abigail Roux, of course) and with Madeleine Urban regarding upcoming novels, the ones we have out now, and probably anything else under the sun.

If you decide to drop by, all I ask is that Abigail and Amanda remain two different people! I don't mind people in the real world knowing I'm Abigail, and they all do so some of them will probably at least follow the discussion, I just don't want them tracing me back to this LJ!

Also, I have set up a Twitter account as Abigail Roux. It's basically just me there, but under the author name. That's about as far into Twitter as I will get if you want to follow me there.

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:42:23 GMT

One thing I really miss about writing is the feedback and interaction with readers. Being published, I still get a little bit of that, but nowhere near the level I did when I was writing fanfic. I miss it. So I have a little bitty reader's poll to make myself feel nostalgic (and get myself out of the writer's block funk.)

View Poll: #1409929

I have so many half-written stories, but I refuse to start or work on anything else new until I get all of these done! Dammit!

Sat, 23 May 2009 19:39:54 GMT

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes and cards. It's been kind of a crappy birthday, so they were much appreciated.

We're heading off for the beach tomorrow. I will have internet access, but let's face it, I don't have much to say these days anyway so who cares, right? All I want is cheap liquor and a tan.

Sat, 16 May 2009 01:09:38 GMT

The Tale of How I Gave Diarrhea to an Entire Wedding Party

I dare you not to laugh out loud while reading this.

Fri, 15 May 2009 03:24:16 GMT

My thoughts on the episode in bullet form, because I'm too lazy to do anything but cut/paste from MSN right now.

-if there is baby eating in this I'm done

-there was no baby eating. we're good

-poor dean

-I love Cas. Dean needs to just screw him already

-'Ali/Forman on a slightly larger scale.' *dies*

-how the hell did this show make angels into bad guys? Zachariah just became my favorite character ever.

-so basically the angels have gone off the reservation

-(Dean hits Cas) AHAHAHA!

-Dean and Castiel have some serious eye chemistry going on

-I really hope Ruby's mission all along was to corrupt Sam into this thing they needed

-dammit Cas!!

-(Sam kills the uberdemon) stupid fucker

-yeah Sam just got his asshat handed to him

-(Ruby gets it) HA!

-a whiny little puppy dog eyed 'I'm sorry' doesn't really cut it for single-handedly raising Lucifer from hell.....

-GODDAMMIT! I HATE SEASON FINALES!

Thu, 14 May 2009 03:50:33 GMT

Dear LOST,

Fuck you and the plane you rode in on.

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:17:20 GMT

#1:

#2:

View Poll: Tattoos

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:55:27 GMT

Looking over the the Dreamwidth site gives me the urge to start fresh with something. Anyone got any invites hanging around?

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 23:04:59 GMT

Please follow the link to read an interview with myself, Madeleine Urban, and Rhianne Aile, and participate in the ensuing discussion!

CLICK HERE.

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 02:01:23 GMT

BASEBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!

OPENING DAY BASEBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!

/*squee*

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 01:13:55 GMT

My cousin Jody at last years' tricycle race. He's the second guy shown, putting the helmet on his head and riding the Dora the Explorer tricycle....

I know I've bitched about Jody in the past regarding money issues, but he's a good guy. He's a great guy, in fact, and he was always my hero when I was little. He's very easy going and he's very much like my grandfather was; everyone loves him and he always has a smile and joke.

He's a middle school P.E. teacher. Every year they do this thing called Hoops for Hearts, or something like that. He always tells the kids that he'll shave his head if they reach a certain goal, and they always do a day of fun kind of stuff to reward the kids when the campaign is over.

Today they did their thing, and Jody and the lady P.E teacher dressed up in those big sumo wrestler outfits and apparently had a wrestling match. He was practically bouncing when he was telling us about it. He said they rehearsed for days and it was obvious that they had fun. In the end, Jody lost and got his head shaved. He has an inverted mohawk right now. I understand there is video, and that it will be up on YouTube soon. I'm going to post it when it's available.

Go Tar Heels! I was looking forward to a UNC/Duke showdown, but oh well.

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 23:01:59 GMT

My eye is swollen half shut. Two separate infections, neither of which is apparently the one Boomer has.

I have no peripheral vision. I have no depth perception. I have a headache from not being able to see. The eye infection has given me a fever, which is opening up room for the cold everyone has, and I could lose the sight in this eye if it gets much worse, but it won't because I'm antibiotics that make me sick and drops that burn like fuck.

On top of all this, my shoulder has finally given out. I can no longer lift Natalie, scoop ice cream, pull up my jeans, brush my teeth, wash my hair, change the radio station in the car, reach out to take something someone hands me, or any other menial task that may require the use of your shoulder to perform.

Tuesday I'm going to go to the doctor. He's going to give me a cortizone shot, possibly give me painkillers that I may or may not get hooked on because I have little willpower when it comes to those, and most likely schedule me for an MRI that will cost half a house payment. After that, I'm going to have to figure out how to take care of a small baby with one hand until I rehab it, surgery or not. Whether it will be during softball season or after is another question that I can't really be bothered with right now. What I truly worry about is that surgery won't fix it. Because nothing else will, rehab is no longer an option.

If there's too much structural damage from the previous 4 surgeries, it will never be fixed. It will hurt me for the rest of my fucking life and there's a chance that I'll be looking at a full shoulder replacement at the age of 26. My daughter will only get bigger, and if I can't carry her around right now at 18 pounds, will I ever be able to again? I can hold her in my left arm, but that one is still fucked up from whatever I did to it during labor and it tends to go weak without warning. What the hell am I supposed to do?

Oh! And get this. Andrew, the lazy, whiny bastard that complained until they kicked him out of the National Guard, is going to get Disability payments for his fucking scoliosis. Can you fucking believe that? Where the hell is the justice in that?

My laptop is beeping at me like it's going to die, and Nathan is still stuck in Richmond and I want him back home, goddammit!

The only good thing that's come of this week is the fact that the hole in my hand from the needle I stuck through my fucking palm didn't get infected.

I have music to share with you fucking people, though, because I think of others before I ask my mommy to make my house payment...

Addicted - Saving Abel
Marry for Money - Trace Adkins
Charmed Life - Mick Jagger
You Lie You Cheat - Marc Broussard

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 17:54:21 GMT

galor5 says she hates that people are worried about her, but that she's okay and she appreciates everyone's thoughts and concerns.

I have no other comments regarding the way people treat each other, on the internet or in real life. I've become severely disillusioned by my fucktarded family, so nothing really shocks me anymore.

There is baseball on TV today. Life's not so bad.

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 19:35:52 GMT

The reviewers at The Long and the Short of It have selected the books they consider the best of 2008. This year, one of the books or stories awarded a "best book" rating by their reviewers will be chosen by their readers as "Best Book of 2008."

Caught Running is one of the choices! Click here to read their review.

The Best Book of 2008 poll will run from Monday, February 2, through Saturday, February 14. You can find the poll here!

Winners will be announced on The Long and the Short of It's front page on Monday, February 16.

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:37:34 GMT

For anyone who is regularly buying diapers, formula, or any baby/toddler supplies, ect.

If you go to diapers.com, not only do you get 1% back if you're a member of Upromise, but you can also get an additional $10 off your order if you enter this code: MAND7773 or my e-mail address: mandarou@gmail.com

They have free shipping, and the same prices as most stores. It's worth it just to not have to go out all the time if you ask me!

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 16:33:56 GMT

I need answers from anyone familiar with the National Guard.

My cousin's son, Andrew, joined the National Guard not long ago thinking he was going to 'get rich for doing nothing.' I'm not going to go into the details of what an asshole idiot he is, so I'll just say that he lies, lies like a brick on cement, and we never know when he's telling the truth or when he's bullshitting and thinks we're just too stupid to know. So usually I'm asked to research whatever it is he's telling us to see how much he's lying.

He left the 4th of January for boot camp (he used his last phonecall to tell us he'd forgotten his boots, the dumbass.) On the 16th, he called to tell us that they were sending him home because he has scoliosis. He said it would take 4-6 weeks for him to get home.

Now, our questions are these:

Would a mild case of scoliosis not be caught during his physical before he was sent? And if it wasn't and they found it at boot camp, would it prevent them from accepting him, or was it more likely the open container ticket he got just before he left? He was also overheard telling someone that if they thought he was gay they would kick him out, and I would not put it past him to fake it if he realized he'd gotten himself in over his head. But would they really send him home for that?

Why would it take 4-6 weeks for him to get home?

And how much of the money he's already gotten will they let him keep? He claims they'll still give him all the money, which I know is patently untrue, but I'd like to know how much he will keep.

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 04:03:42 GMT

Cut & Run has been nominated in the Preditors & Editors Readers Poll for Best Mystery!

Follow the link to vote in the poll!

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:08:52 GMT

For anyone needing help with their resolutions this year, these are some pretty cool websites.

Mint <-- money management and organization. I cannot express in words how awesome this thing is.

FitDay <-- food, exercise, measurement, ect. log, will track daily intake and weekly/monthly/daily weight loss. I haven't fiddled with it much, but it looks pretty useful.

And both are free.

My New Year's Resolutions are to lose at least 5 pounds every month this year, to spend money only on things that are necessary, and to write at least one new story. I share those with you because then I have the shame of public failure to motivate me...

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 21:25:14 GMT

2009. Bring it on, bitch.

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 02:54:10 GMT

I'm transferring some music again and there's no reason not share.

The Big Sleep - Oliver Future *give this one about 10-15 seconds before you decide*

Let It Rock - Kevin Rudolf

Roll With Me - Montgomery Gentry

Silly Boy - The Blue Van

Wizards In Winter - Trans Siberian Orchestra

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:56:09 GMT

Available now at the following stores:

Or on eBook in the following formats:

Available soon from: