The other day a reader and good friend of mine asked me, "So why Wavyscribe?" referring to the screen name I use for AOL and various social sites. I've had readers mention it in passing (some were sure it was an homage to gay romance, as in not straight but "wavy"), but until my friend asked I didn't give much thought that people might actually be curious about it. I'm afraid the truth behind it isn't nearly as exciting as some of my readers seem to believe.
It's all about my hair.
Vanity, thy name is Sara. I took my screen name from my hair. Now, lest you think me a narcissistic creature who loves her hair so much she stands in front of the mirror each night, brush in hand delivering a hundred even strokes like a maiden in a castle tower, um…no. My hair and I, we have a love/hate relationship. I love the fact that I still have hair after all the crap I've done to it over the years; hate the fact that I still can't do a darned thing with it after all the coloring, taunting, taming, and teasing. But that still hasn't answered the question about my screen name, so here goes.
For the first twenty-five years of my life, my hair was straight as a stick. We're talking hair that wouldn't hold a curl if you looped it into a swirl and stapled it there. I spent years sleeping on curlers, hot-rolling it, having it permed (God save us from the spiral perms of the 90s), and using every size curling iron known to man trying to get my hair to hold some kind of wave. The perms would last about a month; the curlers about half an hour. No matter what I tried, my hair was going to be straight and that's all there was to that.
Then, about ten years ago, I noticed the texture of my hair beginning to change. At the time, I chalked it up the stress. I had a one-year-old and a three-year-old. Didn't get much more stressful than that. Soon, though, the texture wasn't all that changed. It seems like overnight (though my doctor assures me it was really a process) my hair curled up like Shirley Temple.
For years I was baffled by the phenomenon. And me being the fickle female that I am, I finally had the curls I thought I'd always wanted and now I couldn't do a thing with them. I live in Alabama--land of the 120% humidity--so no matter what I do, my hair is going to frizz like a poodle in clothes dryer. I've tried blow drying it straight, flat ironing it, and dousing it with every product Sally's Beauty Supply has in their arsenal. The minute I step outside this house it's ringlet city.
Took me some time to get to the bottom of it all, but I now know the change in my hair is a by- product of my MS. Seems no part of your system remains untouched, including your hair. I'm doing so well with the disease (in remission, thank you very much) if this is my only side effect, I'll happily deal. Of course, I still threaten to shave my head at least once a week, and I'm a big fan of the ponytail, but at least I got a fun screen name out of it.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
First Ever Reed Contest
About six months ago, I decided it was time to go back to Reed, the setting of my first two books. I was ready to do the third book in the series, I told myself, and despite the time that had passed since I'd written a Reed book, I began my task with a take-no-prisoners attitude and a fire in my belly. I chose Mitch, Ben Lewis's brother from The Way You Say My Name to be my main character and off I went.
I was about four pages in when I realized I just wasn't feeling it.
It happens that way sometimes with writers. We're all gung-ho until we're glued to our chairs staring at the blank page of death. I did some soul searching, worked on some other projects, and finally figured out that while Mitch should and will eventually get a story, the reason I couldn't write for him right now is because it wasn't his time yet. When you're cooking for an ensemble cast like the folks of Reed, sometimes the stories have to simmer on the backburner before they're seasoned enough to taste.
Once I figured it out I felt better but I still had a decision to make: who should I write about next? After going round and round about it in my head, I came to the conclusion the best way to chose would be by letting my readers do the picking. After all, I've kept you all waiting five years for a Reed story. I figure you're due a say.
But readers, they can be shy creatures and some don't like to speak their minds without an incentive. That's where the idea of the first ever Reed Contest comes from. I'll be giving away two signed sets of Reed books to two different winners (a name-in-the-hat drawing kind of deal). From now until September 30th, readers can enter the contest by emailing me with the answer to the following question:
Whose story would you like to see as the next book in The Reed Series:
1) Seth Morris
2) Mitch Harding
3) Randy Nash
4) Ashton Barnes
5) Dexter Carson
Like all contests, there are a few rules. You have to be at least eighteen to enter, you can only enter once, and you have to pick only one answer for it to be a valid entry. Also, you have to live in a place where it's legal to receive spicy gay romances via the mail. Oh, and you can't be allergic to dog hair because I guarantee your books are liable to have a few stray hairs stuck in the pages (I love my dogs but it's fuzz city around this joint).
That's pretty much the gist of the contest. I've already gotten a slew of entries through my yahoo group (Seth's leading but Randy Nash is coming in a strong second). So far it's shaping up to be an interesting contest. Who knew these things were so much fun?
I was about four pages in when I realized I just wasn't feeling it.
It happens that way sometimes with writers. We're all gung-ho until we're glued to our chairs staring at the blank page of death. I did some soul searching, worked on some other projects, and finally figured out that while Mitch should and will eventually get a story, the reason I couldn't write for him right now is because it wasn't his time yet. When you're cooking for an ensemble cast like the folks of Reed, sometimes the stories have to simmer on the backburner before they're seasoned enough to taste.
Once I figured it out I felt better but I still had a decision to make: who should I write about next? After going round and round about it in my head, I came to the conclusion the best way to chose would be by letting my readers do the picking. After all, I've kept you all waiting five years for a Reed story. I figure you're due a say.
But readers, they can be shy creatures and some don't like to speak their minds without an incentive. That's where the idea of the first ever Reed Contest comes from. I'll be giving away two signed sets of Reed books to two different winners (a name-in-the-hat drawing kind of deal). From now until September 30th, readers can enter the contest by emailing me with the answer to the following question:
Whose story would you like to see as the next book in The Reed Series:
1) Seth Morris
2) Mitch Harding
3) Randy Nash
4) Ashton Barnes
5) Dexter Carson
Like all contests, there are a few rules. You have to be at least eighteen to enter, you can only enter once, and you have to pick only one answer for it to be a valid entry. Also, you have to live in a place where it's legal to receive spicy gay romances via the mail. Oh, and you can't be allergic to dog hair because I guarantee your books are liable to have a few stray hairs stuck in the pages (I love my dogs but it's fuzz city around this joint).
That's pretty much the gist of the contest. I've already gotten a slew of entries through my yahoo group (Seth's leading but Randy Nash is coming in a strong second). So far it's shaping up to be an interesting contest. Who knew these things were so much fun?
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