Roses Are Blue

I am here and I am writing, but I've been working mainly on my novel. I've also been spending a lot of time looking for a job. But I am here. I'm not abondoning this site; I'm just working on other things for the time being. If I had more readers here, then this site might take priority over my novel; but since that isn't the case...

If you're wondering why I've been gone for the past few months, there are several reasons. I was busy finishing up the last semester of my undergrad studies, graduating, applying to grad school (which takes up a hell of a lot of time), and dealing with a dying computer. Yes, my dear computer, which I affectionately named Deep Blue, bit the dust nearly a month ago and gaining access to other computers in the mean time has been a little difficult. But now I have a new computer and I'm dying to get back to writing again. But first, I need to take care of some broken links on the site; I'll be rearranging some things (pages will change names) so just be patient while I try to get everything into working order again. Thanks!

Chapter 7 of Weeping Willows is now up. I had to rearrange the pages to make it all fit (little did I know, but I can only have ten pages other than my home page before I have to pay for the site). But everything's fine now. Here's a preview of the new chapter, The Riddle of the Wook:

       “I can’t have my employees away for weeks on end,” said the voice on the other end of the phone.

       “I understand that, sir,” Jake replied. “We just had a minor setback here that required my attention.”

        “That’s the problem, Jake; you’re spendin’ too much time on this diner business that I’m afraid you’ll start neglecting your real job.”

        Jake was annoyed by the way his boss stressed the word “real”. “I’ve been completing all of my work and faxing it to you on time,” he argued. “It’s no different than if I were there in New York.”

        “You’re missin’ the point,” his boss said, raising his voice. “I need to know that you are committed to this company; I need to know that the work I give you is receiving your full undivided attention. You’re one of my best employees, Jake. I don’t want to lose you over some diner in Sticksville, USA. But I’m tellin’ you right now that if you aren’t back here by Monday, I’m gonna have to find someone to take your place—and I don’t mean temporarily.”

        “Yes, s—” Jake began, but he heard the click of the disconnection before he could finish.

        It had been three weeks since the spoiled-food incident, and the four diner owners finally turned enough profit to make up for the loss. (Lindsay’s parents were unwilling to pay the diner for the costs of their daughter’s mistake.) To add to their hardship, the beginning of the fall semester at the university in Volkstadt left the diner shorthanded as Aidan, Aminah, Jen, and Signy were all taking classes and could, therefore, only work part time. After much pleading from Sam, Jake begrudgingly allowed Szabella to work as a busgirl. Szabella still hadn’t heard from the Weeping Willows Weekly about her job interview, and she was becoming anxious.

Click here to read more.

I know over a month ago I said I would have the next chapter of Weeping Willows up soon. Well, I had surgery and it took me about two weeks longer than I expected to recover. So, sorry for the delay, but the new chapter will be up soon (and I mean it this time).

I'm out of sulk-mode and back into writing again. I haven't finished Chapter 7 of Weeping Willows yet, but I'm working on it. I'm also trying to focus more on my novel that I've been putting off for far too long. So there's nothing new on the site yet, but there will be soon.

I've been a little preoccupied lately; with the Mississippi River overflowing and all, I've been staying with my parents for a few weeks until things are back to normal. Writing hasn't been on the forefront of my mind, but I will get back to it eventually.

I've been working on a research project and haven't had time to write anything, so no new chapters of Weeping Willows yet. But the Roses Are Blue message board will be merging with the Blue Flame board, so say bye-bye to our board.

The 6th chapter of Weeping Willows is finally done and up on the site. In case you're wondering why Ramadan is mentioned, it's because I started writing this chapter back in August (yes, I've been that busy). Here's a small preview:

        On Tuesday morning, Jen was sweeping the floor of the diner while Aidan leisurely read one of his tabloid papers.

        “How can you just sit there like a bump on a log while I’m rushing around trying to clean this place before it opens?” Jen asked, sounding fed-up.

        “Easy; like this,” Aidan said, turning back to his paper.

        “You are completely useless,” Jen griped.

        “Useless?” he said. “The past two days, I was the only one doing any cleaning! This is my well deserved break.”

        “Whatever,” she said, rejecting his excuse.

        The door opened and Sam walked into the diner with a mischievous grin on her face. “Well, Jen,” she said, approaching her friend. “I went a whole day without saying the words ‘dude’ or ‘man’, so pay up, dude!”

Click here to read more.

Okay, so I haven't been around in quite some time, but I was really frikkin' busy for a good long while. Now I'm back, and I've slightly reformatted the Weeping Willows page. Chapter 6 of Weeping Willows will be released soon. I am working on a number of other writings, though, so updates are still going to be slow. I'm trying to write a novel, but I have such little time that whenever a free moment arrives, Weeping Willows gets pushed to the side so I can work on my novel instead. But I'm hoping there will never be another 3-month hiatus like this again.

Last update for a month or so. Chapter 5 of Weeping Willows is now up. Here's a preview:

        “Two hours!” Sam said. “Two hours I was trapped in that grave!”

        The people in the diner snickered as she told the story.

        “It’s not funny!” she said, confronting the laughers.

        “You’re just too close to it,” Aminah said. “Give it a week; you’ll think it’s funny then.”

        “But Chris can turn me in at any time,” Sam told them.

        “Just stay on his good side,” Aidan suggested.

        “Aidan, it’s Sam you’re talking to,” Jen said. “Even at her nicest, she could never get on his good side.”

        “What did you do while you were stuck down there?” Aminah asked Sam.

        “Well, the soil was wet, so it was too slippery for me to climb up the sides. So I spent the whole time jumping up and down, trying to reach the ladder.”

        “The hippie hobbit was hippity hopping?” Lindsay said with glee.

        “The what now?” Sam asked. A look of awkwardness came over her friends faces.

        “Um, well,” Aminah said timidly. “In high school, a lot of people called you ‘the hippie hobbit’...when you weren’t in the room.”

Read more here.