Hockey: The beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Hello all, it's me PK! To some I am Ayden's wifey and to be honest that title is one I am proud of. More so than anything else I have been called, being Ayden's wifey means several different things but to truly understand the meaning we need to travel back in time to the beginning.

*hops into Doc Brown's Delorean and flies off back to the day I met A.K. Morgan*

You see, I am a fanfic writer or at this present time, was, since I am suffering from writer's block.

*secretly knows when Ayden reads this she will be beta'ing it in her head*

Anyway, I had mustered up the courage to write my first fic and didn't have a beta. I was introduced to Ayden through a mutual friend and our love for hockey is what brought us together at first..actually it was the pretty but regardless hockey was one of the first things I remember about Ayden. She was the first and only other woman I had met that was a true fan of the sport. But then I found out the ugly truth. She was a Black Hawks fan. I know, I know, everyone just calm down! It's okay, I forgave her instantly for the transgression and it spurred a series of events where we would watch our favorite teams play and comment to one another on twitter.

Then there was THE fic...

Emancipation Proclamation. Better known as EP

I bring this up because what better way to forge a friendship than through the love of someone's writing. Do you remember the anticipation of the next update or the little things that stick out from a book or a fic that instantly reminds you of it? Ayden and I have shared those same experiences over the last few years through several fics but I think EP is the one that really bound us completely.

When Ayden asked if I wanted to contribute to the blog I said absolutely. The reason? Just so I could let you all know how I truly feel about her. Ayden has been there for me through a lot of rough patches in my life. She has always been there to lend a hand not only to me but to others in every way possible and then some. One of my fondest memories was two years when we did Fandom4Preemies and I can honestly say it was one of the most important things I have ever done in my life thus far. That is because of Ayden. She has this way about her that moves you to want to help. I can't speak for anyone else, but for me, she can lift my spirits with just a simple Hi or hello. She has always been my cheerleader when I have been at my lowest of the low and even though I haven't always been there for her like I should have been she has never given up on me. Her encouragement to try hard and to never give up is an inspiration to me and I can only hope for those of you that have the honor of talking with her know what a true friend and amazing person she is.

So in closing, I ask you all to do one thing. Everyone has a wifey, a best friend, your other half or a sister from another mister, go to them and hug them tight. Tell them that you love them and you appreciate them for making your life richer, tell them thank you for never giving up on you and that you hold their friendship in your heart like the precious jewel that they are.

Thank you all for taking the time to read this and I wish you all a blessed day!

Sempre, wifey...

Kindness

*waves* Hi. It's Bella, Ay's friend from the adult romance sphere. I've known Ayden a long time... three almost four years now (feeling old now). When she asked if I'd do a blog while she was away I was kind of freaked out since I figured I had nothing to say. Usually when I write, something inspires me. I see a picture, hear a song, or one of my muses sends me something that sets off a spark. This was going to be hard for me because I didn't have one of those. So I thought to myself, what would be a good thing to focus on... Hmmm?

This is what I came up with. Hope you enjoy.

~Bella Leone

kind·ness

   [kahynd-nis]  Show IPA

noun

1.

the state or quality of being kind: kindness to animals.

2.

a kind  act; favor: his many kindnesses to me.

3.

kind  behavior: I will never forget your kindness.

4.

friendly feeling; liking.

(from dictionary.reference.com)

So what is kindness?

When I think about it, I know there are many examples in our world, but sometimes, we forget to look for them. We're all very good at finding the negative, the downside, the black cloud. I am one of the guilty, I assure you. Everyone has moments where all they see are the dark, and all the rays of light are hidden. I think that's part of being human, no?

But another part of being human, is humanity. What separates us from the predators of the jungle or the beasts in the closets of our mind? It is our ability to affect others. Our ways of connecting. The simple smile, the hand held out, the laughter brought to others.

We all have our struggles and stumbles and stresses... it's when you stop thinking about yours and begin thinking of others... that's when we rise above our negativity and create a positive motion. The old Pay It Forward idea. Do for someone else so they'll do something for the next in line and someday you'll get it back in return.
How true it is. When you stop focusing on your hurt to help another, your hurt dissipates. No, it's not gone. No, it's not perfect. But yes, you can make it better for another and in return, help yourself.

I think Ayden gives us all a good example as she still has her moments of eyes down and drudging, but she also loves to help others and encourages us to do the same. She could fall down and cry, but she doesn't stay down. I find that admirable. I often want to curl into a little ball and pretend the boogie man isn't there, pretend the water isn't rising, like a good little ostrich... but to stand up and say, "What can I do to help?" Rather than hiding and pretending all is well, I can make a difference to someone else, even if my world isn't full of sunshine. It takes just one break in the storm to allow the sun to warm us.

And sometimes... the rain is just what we need to wash out the bad and allow for something new.

It's not always easy, it's not always fun, it's not always possible... but if you feel at the end of your tether, someone else might be in the same position, and by you offering a shoulder, sending a note, or dropping by with a smile, you could shift everything.

Just one drop can create a wave.

Think about what kind of wave you want to be to the others around you. You are a drop in the ocean amongst all the others. We can create waves that bring water into a draught, we can be a tsunami washing away a beach. We get to choose by our actions. Our decisions dictate how others perceive us, how others react to us, how others regard us.

Drop in the Ocean - Ron Pope

Whether you have a higher power, no matter the power's name, we can all agree that we're here together and we can be positive or we can be negative. We can be a gale force wind of change or we can rip through and leave destruction in our wake. 

It is ours to decide.

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." -Anne Frank

Thank you to all of you who made it to the bottom and thank you to Ayden for allowing me to play on her blog. If you'd like more of me, I'm at www.bellaleonebooks.com and @bellaleone. I might write adult stuff that not everyone enjoys, but I'm fairly fun to tweet with!

<3

Fairy Tale Endings

When Ayden asked me to be a part of this takeover, I jumped at the opportunity. She is, after all, one of my best friends. We've been in everything from powdered sugar to formal dresses together (and that was just in one week). But when it actually came time to sit down and write this blog, I struggled with what to write about.

Then it hit me. You've heard Ayden talk about her inspiration behind her characters, including the one that was named and modeled after me. How about characters that are modeled after other fictional characters?

It was NaNo 2009. Ayden and I were both crazy busy with life at the time (I was taking care of my two youngest sisters and applying for grad school while working full time, while Ayden was knee deep in the dozens of activities she was involved in at the time). So, we didn't think that we could manage the 50K word count on our own, and decided to team up to write a novel together. There was a contest going on somewhere at the time for fairy tale retellings, so we planned and wrote a modern-day Beauty and the Beast.

The easiest way for us to write together, with our wacky schedules, was to each write from the perspective of one of the main characters. So, we developed our characters, shared our notes for those scenes where they were together, and then traded e-mails back and forth for the rest of the month.

My character was Mira Cordova, a publicist with the Children's Advocacy Center (fictional) of a town somewhere in the South. She had a difficult history with children involving her ex-husband, and fled Los Angeles to work for a non-profit. She's made a bit of a name for herself working with the Center, and is a generally pleasant woman, but can be quite the spitfire when she's challenged.

Ayden's character was Caelen Worden, a lawyer who took no prisoners in the courtroom, and got the murderer of one of the most respected women in town out of jail and back onto the streets. Consequently, he's not the most liked person in town. This negative attention has made him very angry and cynical, and he's quick to lash out at people.

They are thrown in each other's paths after Caelen is sentenced to 200 hours of community service at the Center for getting into a physical fight in the courtroom.

Irritation flared, taking his hold on his temper with it. He’d had just about enough of this woman summarily dismissing him. He slammed the door behind him and strode further into the room. “We need to talk.”

“Obviously,” Mira tossed the papers onto the desk and scowled up at him, her brown eyes shooting sparks. “This is a children’s advocacy center. These kids have been abused, neglected and God knows what else. You will not slam doors. You will not yell. You will not stomp through here like a wounded bear looking to pick a fight. You will not-“

“I will not,” Caelen broke in harshly, “languish in some back room licking envelopes until kingdom come while you and your holier than thou staff snicker about the mighty lawyer you’ve put in his place.”

“While we-“ Mira blinked, confusion clouding her eyes. “What?”

“If I have to be here, fine, I’ll be here. But not to be your errand boy while those with no education actually manage to do something useful around here. Give me something real to do or take the damn check and let me go.” There. That was clear enough.

What I loved best about this project is that whenever one of us would get writer's block, the other would pick up the story flawlessly. We never hated the way the other handled our character, and kept them true to our original plan.

Sadly, it's been over two years since we really touched the manuscript. Maybe after Ayden finishes her thing with Fade we can smooth it out a little more.

Chelle Lynn is a writer at heart, but finds school gets in the way far more often than it should. You can read some of her stuff over at Fiction by Chelle Lynn.

Living Life

When Ayden asked me to write on her blog I immediately thought about my Aunt Sharon. She passed away last Saturday. She had cancer so we knew it was coming but it is still hard. To say it has been an emotional week is an understatement. I absolutely loved my aunt. She was awesome. She was a photographer, a singer, a gardener, a seamstress, a Mom, an Aunt, a Sister, a friend. She did all of it to perfection. I will miss her immensely.  Although it was hard, it was nice to get together with everyone to remember her. I must admit that I never understood the importance of funerals but after going through it, I do feel much more at peace with her passing.

Now you might be wondering why I called this post "Living Life" when I am talking about my relative's death. That was actually my attempt at a "battle cry" so to speak. What this whole situation has taught me is that life is short; she was only 64 when she passed. You have to do what makes you happy. Living a life of misery and hate is not worth it. However you have to reach out and grab it. It will not just come to you. I know that is easier said that done but start with the little things. You don't have to massively overhaul your entire life in one fell swoop but you can take baby steps to get there. Eventually you will reach your destination. I'm trying to follow that philosophy right now and I am much happier for it.

So when you are done reading go tell someone who is important in your life that you love them. *waits patiently while you run off to tell someone you love them* There, see, you just took a baby step. Happiness is on its way.

Thanks for reading. Love you Aunt Sharon & I will miss you.

Blog Takeover! You Know You Live With a Writer If...

Ayden is getting ready for her weekend getaway, and all of her friends have staged a takeover of her blog in her absence! Since she's not here to protest anything we've planned, we're going to start the festivities off with a little game from her awesome sister.

You know you live with a writer if...

- They get so engrossed with what they are doing that you have to repeat yourself to be heard. Did you hear that? I said you have to repeat yourself to be heard.
- You ask them a question and they respond with "One more chapter" or "One more page"
- "One more chapter" or "One more page" really means "Ill answer you when I find out what happened in the story" even if that ends up being 17 chapters or 23 pages later.
- The question "What do you want for dinner?" is usually answered with silence, you know, because they are too busy reading that last page, or writing that last chapter.
- They say incredibly large words, like hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobi, and they know what they mean! (They probably even know what that one means!)
- They bring books along for road trips.
- They spend their Novembers couped up inside striving for that 50,000 word goal. (And they know without having to google that the number is 50,000 and not 30,000 like I originally wrote)
- They get annoyed with lack of proper punctuation as witnessed in this blog.
- They re-read the same books over and over again
- They always carry a book with them
- They actually *enjoy* researching things for characters or story plots.
- They know the difference between words like "their" and "there" and "your" and "you're"
- They like to take shopping trips to bookstores.

      and finally:

- The keys on their keyboard have been worn off from over-use.
Courtney blogs over at Life as a Convert and *used* to live with a writer. She now knows she does not live with a writer because she can mix up words like their and there and not get corrected, and doesnt have to ask what large words like circumlocution mean.