The Blue Rose Bouquet

Phases of the Moon Update

Pamela Rice Hahn — Sun, 02 May 2010 17:55:22 +0000

There are now 7 chapters online for the popular Twilight Saga/New Moon-related fanfiction book Phases of the Moon. (There’s already the infamous “cliff jumping” incident involved and Team Jacob fans will be happy to hear that the “L”-word has shown up on occasion! If you’re curious whether or not college — or perhaps even another prom — will be a part of Bella’s future, you’ll want to read Phases of the Moon.

Phases of the Moon fans now also have a FaceBook Fan Page.

Phases of the Moon fans also now have their own t-shirt and gift idea design! (Notice how the wolf has imprinted on that special someone’s heart.) Please take the time to visit the Phases of the Moon T-Shirt and Gift Ideas Shop.

Phases of the Moon Update is a post from: The Blue Rose Bouquet

Announcing New Moon Fanfiction The Blue Rose Bouquet proudly announces the publication of the...

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Announcing New Moon Fanfiction

Pamela Rice Hahn — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 05:00:37 +0000

The Blue Rose Bouquet proudly announces the publication of the new Twilight Saga/New Moon-related fanfiction: Phases of the Moon.

Phases of the Moon

by Larisa Dawn

When asked if she was Team Edward or Team Jacob, Stephanie Meyer responded, “I am Team ‘You Don’t Have to Choose When it’s Fiction.’ “ –Stephenie Meyer questions and answers post Nov. 16, 2009

When I first read the Twilight Series, I couldn’t wait for Edward to return in New Moon. Because I did not read the books until all four books had been published, I already knew there were two more books to follow about Bella and Edward. However, the more I thought about the story later, the more I really started to believe that Jacob would have been better for Bella. I began writing this story as a result of those thoughts.

You see, I don’t consider myself Team Jacob or Team Edward either. I consider myself a fan of a good story. And a truly good story can have more than one excellent ending.

This story begins during the chapter Pressure in New Moon. Bella is lonely, and thinks of going cliff diving without Jacob. We all know what happened in Stephenie Meyer’s version of the story. This is my version….

Proceed to Chapter 1: Pressure-Released

Phases of the Moon Table of Contents

Announcing New Moon Fanfiction is a post from: The Blue Rose Bouquet

Phases of the Moon Update There are now 7 chapters online for the popular Twilight...

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Muse Abuse Designs

Pamela Rice Hahn — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 01:15:40 +0000

by Pamela Rice Hahn

Short-sighted sites like m-w.com and Wikipedia limit their definition of a muse as any of the nine sister goddesses in Greek mythology who presided over song, poetry, and the arts and sciences. Things have evolved since the day of the Zeus excuse. (Evidence)

Each of the writing designs below is available in an assortment of shirt styles, greeting cards, coffee mugs, and other items. This means you can create a writing gift set with a t-shirt and a matching coffee mug, for example. — Click on the images in the middle or right columns to navigate to complete index for that design. (Each T-Shirt design image link will open a new window to the index for that design.)
Has your muse gone incognito disguised as a man to fool you? Or is he the child of a muse? Or maybe he evolved to that state. Regardless of how he got that way, if you’re abused by a muse who amuses himself by avoiding you, then you’ll love these blue muse abuse designs!	Shop for this Design	Shop for this Design
If you’re abused by a muse who amuses herself by avoiding you, then you’ll love these blue muse abuse designs! (Check out the muse’s designer dress!)	Shop for this Design	Shop for this Design
Does your muse abuse you — like make you think of things like the color mauve and then skip out on you? If you’re abused by a muse who amuses herself by avoiding you when you need her, then you’ll love these mauve muse abuse designs!	Shop for this Design	Shop for this Design
Does your muse like to make you come up with an idea, promptly make you forget it, and then leave? If you’re abused by a muse who amuses herself by avoiding you when you need her, you’ll love this these pink muse abuse designs!	Shop for this Design	Shop for this Design
Does it drive you crazy that because of today’s emphasis on non-sexist language your muse keeps posing as a non-gender-specific, gender-neutral influence? Then you’ll love these brown muse abuse designs!	Shop for this Design	Shop for this Design

You can find other Blue Rose Bouquet writing gift ideas designs on the Writing Woes Gift Gear page.

You can see other designs by Pamela Rice Hahn at TShirtCollections.com and Chronic-Illness.org.

Muse Abuse Designs is a post from: The Blue Rose Bouquet

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5 Ways to Tell if You Have What It Takes to be a Professional Writer

Pamela Rice Hahn — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:30:34 +0000

by Pamela Rice Hahn

A writing career as a professional writer requires more than just the ability and desire to string words together in an interesting and compelling way.

Even if you’ve had publishing success already, there are still questions that you must (or should) answer before you can realistically make the decision as to whether or not you have what it takes to be a professional writer.

1. Do you possess enough time management discipline to meet your goals and obligations?

In this case, goals do not refer to that wish list of resolutions you set for yourself on New Year’s Day. (Most people have trouble sticking to a diet and not every successful dieter can carry that discipline over to other areas of his or her life.)

When it comes to a writing career, your goals will need to include aspects of your work that you may find tedious or boring. Pick your least favorite part of writing – such as editing, proofreading, or promotion – and then truthfully determine whether or not you can picture being able to force yourself to perform that chore or those chores on a regular basis.

Your primary writing obligation will involve meeting or exceeding deadlines. In addition to the deadlines for which you are obligated by contract to meet, you’ll also need to allow time to do the work that it’ll take to get the work you’ll need once you meet your current work project deadline. Unless you start off with a million dollar book deal right out of the gate, the reality of a writing career is that it can often require more work (in the form of query letters and book proposals, self-promotion online and in person, and so forth) to get the work than it takes to do the work.

2. Do you have a reasonable expectation of what it will take to meet your financial obligations?

Allow me to get personal for a moment:
Prior to my diagnosis with a disabling physical condition that has now exacerbated to the point to where I can no longer work outside my home, I maintained a full-time job along with a full-time writing career. The job paid the bills; the writing paid for the extras and fun stuff. I now often joke that after spending several years getting disability [lack of] income I was able to write my way into [the lousy cash flow of] a full-time freelance writing career.

Regardless of what type of freelance writing career you pursue, you’ll face the same realities that I do, which require that you possess:

The trust that editors who receive their paychecks according to a predetermined schedule will remember that they have to put in the formal request that you receive your check
The patience to wait the time that it takes for your check request to work its way through the often weeks-long maze it takes to arrive at the desk of the person who will actually issue the check
More patience while you wait for your check to arrive in the mail or get deposited into your account
A reasonable expectation about the amount of time that will lapse once you have this fat check in your hand before the next one arrives

(In an ideal world, you’ll have enough money on hand to act as a cushion you can use to fund your writing career. This cushion will allow you to draw regular paychecks from the amount on hand so that you’re depositing new checks into that fund rather than spending the money as it arrives. This allows you to have a margin of error that allows for late checks, nonpaying clients, or canceled contracts and still maintain your financial stability. Unfortunately, I wasn’t blessed with an ideal world. I work without that margin, yet I still make or am the victim of errors.)

A professional writing career is stressful enough. Having that cushion of the amount of money it will take you to maintain your lifestyle for a minimum of six months can help you avoid adding financial stress to your life.

As you budget for that needed six months-worth of money in reserve, keep in mind that once you become your own boss, your financial obligations will include additional things like purchasing and maintaining your own office equipment. It’s true that you may receive checks larger than any that you ever received at your previous full-time job, but chances are there will be longer periods of time between when you receive one check and then the next. Feast or famine.

Once you get a large advance check or one arrives for a completed writing project, you’ll naturally want to reward yourself. Even if you have the luxury of a working spouse or partner, you’ll need to possess the financial discipline necessary to recognize what you can budget for a reward and what monetary amount constitutes an unnecessary indulgence.

3. Is everything all about you?

You need to make a realistic assessment about whether or not you need direct supervision to be productive.

If you were a guest on a talk show, are you the type who could maintain your composure once you’ve moved down the sofa?

Or are you more like the guest who, once he or she’s moved off of the seat for the featured guest, feels compelled to continue to crack jokes and interrupt the host or the new guest in order to focus attention back to him- or herself?

Some people simply need immediate and somewhat constant supervision or feedback. There’s nothing wrong with admitting that about yourself if you fall into that category. There are plenty of careers available that allow you to work full time, write [whatever] according to assignment, and then hand your work over to a supervisor whose feedback will help make you feel like you’re always in the spotlight as the featured guest.

Granted, there are ways that a freelance writer can introduce immediate feedback into his or her writing life. Bloggers who’ve managed to reach the point where they receive numerous comments on each of their posts are somewhat in this position, although the comments they receive aren’t always as indulgent as those that can come from a boss who’s working toward the same goals you are. A more productive alternative to having the immediate feedback from a boss is to develop a reciprocal online or writer’s group relationship with another trusted writer.

The immediate support and feedback from a boss can also help you if you’re the type who is prone to procrastinate or digress. Although those gifted at avoiding work can always find ways to do it, it’s more difficult to spend time playing computer games or any of those other things you’d rather be doing if there’s the risk of a boss catching you in the act.

4. Do you know the difference between reasons and excuses?

Few things in life ever go exactly according to schedule. Accept that and plan accordingly.

Of course you can’t plan for every contingency. An extended electrical outage due to a storm is a reason. A death in the family is a reason. But, multiple reasons strung together can (and do) constitute moving beyond having reasons for not getting the work done and making excuses to try to justify your lack of discipline.

Recognize the difference and work accordingly.

5. Do you have more reasons why you can and should be a professional writer than you have excuses for why it’d never work?

If you do, then do it!

5 Ways to Tell if You Have What It Takes to be a Professional Writer is a post from: The Blue Rose Bouquet

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BILL GATES HATES THIS SITE

Pamela Rice Hahn — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 02:59:15 +0000

For reasons known only to Bill Gates and the CSS fairy, Internet Explorer doesn’t correctly display the contents of this page.

Therefore, to view this page design correctly, you’ll need to use Firefox (Firefox features) or Google Chrome (Google Chrome features).

(I am demanding that Billy G personally apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.)

BILL GATES HATES THIS SITE is a post from: The Blue Rose Bouquet

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Welcome to the New Home for The Blue Rose Bouquet

Pamela Rice Hahn — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 06:18:54 +0000

by Pamela Rice Hahn

The online magazine The Blue Rose Bouquet published its first issue in 1998, which was back in the day when it was known as a ‘zine. The Internet has evolved tremendously since that time. In an effort to bring the magazine up to date and create more user-friendly navigation, over the next few months The Blue Rose Bouquet will move to its new home at this location.

In the meantime, you can continue to view the original content at www.blueroses.com. Just keep in mind as you view those pages that any that have been updated and migrated to this new home will automatically update to that story or article’s location. During this transition period, you’ll have to rely on the back button to take you back to your starting point if that starting point was on BlueRoses.com. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

If all goes as planned, all content will be migrated to this site by the end of 2008 and there will be an announcement about the exciting new and improved mission for The Blue Rose Bouquet for 2009 and beyond.

Thank you for your patience during this transition.

[Submission date edited to keep this post at the top during magazine transition.]

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