Jul 28, 2014

Making some changes

Heya folks,

I've been fiddling with my blog for a few days now, and I've made some major changes. I hope they will work out the way I intend them to, because I'm definitely not "tech savvy" at all and wouldn't know how to fix it if it didn't work out.

First of all, I've changed the colors a bit, hopefully these will make for a better reading comfort.

Next, I've added extra pages and have (hopefully) linked the posts to the "appropriate" pages so things will show up on certain pages instead of having everything on the "main" page. There might be some issues with that, as I'm still trying to figure out how to do it and get everything where I want it.
Initially, I figured I could add a page, which I could then use in the same way as the main page, but it doesn't work that way, so I had to remove the pages I had created, and create a "link page" instead. As I've said, not very tech savvy at all, so I might not have everything set the way it should be.

I'll have to wait and see what happens.
So far, everything seems to be where I would want it to go.


I've added these new categories:

* Moody - This is where I will post stuff about me, my life, my son, my dog, etc
* Dreams - Need I explain?? I'll be posting about my dreams, wild and other, and maybe help you dream a little as well
* Published Work - This is where I'll be bragging my butt off .... once I get something published that is ... LOL
* 24 Fan Fic - Instead of having everything slapped together, I decided to filter my posts for you and here is where you'll find my fan fic
* Erotic - The secret little nook, the adult section of my blog. You *must* be in legal age to browse it, stories will be both in Dutch and in English, so if you're looking for some inspiration, here's where to get it ... LOL

More might follow at a later stage.
For now, this is it.

I hope you'll all enjoy the new set-up and if you have any comments, remarks or requests, I'll be happy to read about it in the comment section.

Moody

It's a word.
It's a name.
It's a state of mind.

But where did it come from?

Here's the place for you to find out more about me.

Who is Moody?

I guess everyone can be moody at times, but no one can be as moody as Moody is. LOL
Now, where did it come from?

A few years ago ... okay, fine, over a *decade* ago, I worked at Disneyland Paris.



I'm not sure how people feel about that, but I don't really care. I had a blast. I worked there for 3 years, starting in 1995. The main reason why they hired me, is because I speak 4 languages and Main Street is the one place where they need that most since all visitors come through there at least twice every. The more languages you speak, the more visitors you can assist, so the choice was logical. After a year and a half approximately, I moved on to Discoveryland before moving out of the park and into one of the hotels about 6 months later, where my languages still opened all the doors. At the Sequoia Lodge hotel, I was also "noticed" by the Parade manager, which resulted in this:

 

It's hard to tell (and maybe even harder to believe), but that's me (oh, but don't tell the kids, okay!!!!)

I had an absolute BLAST, even though it wasn't always easy. The feeling you get when all those kids rush you, happy smiles on their faces and magic in their eyes .... you can be depressed when you walk out "on stage", but it sure doesn't last long. Before you know it, there's an ear-to-ear smile on your face that just won't go away, no matter what.

It's excellent therapy!!!

Something else I did while in Disney, was spend a lot (a whole heck of a lot actually!!!) time in the Village, more specifically at Billy Bob's Country and Western Saloon. It still exists nowadays, but things have changed so much since they added the second park, I don't think I would still enjoy it as much as I used to. The one reason why I spent so much time at Billy Bob's, is the fact they had live country music every night. The band's name: The Moody Brothers.


In this picture, from left to right: Billy Helms, Marcc Nutter and Brian (sorry, can't remember your last name), in the back, behind the drums is Greg Auch.

These guys rock in more than one ways.

When I returned home after 3 years, I wanted to do something to keep the memory alive. I started using the internet and when I was prompted to enter a username, I adopted "moodywizz" as a name. It later morphed into simply "Moody" and more recently into "Moody Val".

Bottom line, Moody Val is a total fruit loop who likes to run around in costumes, making little kids happy and loves country music so much, she didn't want the memory of a great bunch of musicians to fade away.

Stick around to learn more about me.
I promise you, there's a LOT more to come.

Toodles for now!

Dreams - A new page

A place for me to share my dreams with you.A place for you to dream along with me.

Welcome to the Land of Dreams.


Jul 27, 2014

Fancy!!

How do you like the new look of my blog??
I've been fiddling with it for the past hour or so, and it's looking pretty fancy to me.

So what do you think??
Do you agree?
Or do you think it looks cheeky? Childish maybe?
How do you like the colors?
Does it improve the reading comfort/quality at all?

I'll be looking into a different cover page photo as well, but don't expect to see a huge pic of me sitting there in the near future, that's not gonna happen. EVER!!!

Feel free to drop me a note if you'd like, any feedback is highly appreciated.

I've also added new pages (took me a while to figure out how to actually make them show up, but hey, I did it!!!) so tell me what you think.
Is there anything else you would like to see here?
Or is it too much already??

LOL

Looking forward to reading some feedback!

Imagine - A novel update

Might as well give it its own post.

I finally got back to editing my novel, even though I'm still waiting for my beta readers to get back to me with their feedback. Having only 1 person comment on the first 50 pages isn't going to cut it, but there's not much I can do aside from asking them every other week or so. Unfortunately, I keep getting the same answer and still no "full" feedback.
One of them admitted to having stopped reading "for some reason" at about the halfway point, but upon reflexion, he said it was probably due to the fact he had been reading it on his computer screen. He promised he would transfer the file to his e-reader for a more comfortable read and he also told me he had a 1-week vacation coming up, during which he would finish the read and send me feedback .... but I can't remember which week he said ... lol
He did however, give me some general feedback already, along with a pretty massive compliment I never saw coming. It felt great hearing it, even though I immediately had to put things back into perspective. Yes, my English is really good and yes, I do master my craft, but to say I'm better than native writers .... I'm not gonna go that far, even though he sure did. Makes me wonder what kind of books he is usually reading .... LOLLLLL!!!

Okay, back to the update.

Last night, I went over chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5 with a fine comb, filtering out 1 typo (yep, just one in 4 chapters and it wasn't even *really* a typo, I just put "the" where it should've been "he") and changing 1 action scene (which I had been given feedback on, and agreed to the fullest) and 1 description (which actually gave me more trouble than it's worth!!!).

So now, I'm about to tackle chapter 6. Hopefully I'll be able to work my way through a few more and get it polished a little more, then I can sit back and wait for the feedback, which will - again, hopefully - enable me to make the story shine even more.
Once I've rubbed enough wax on and off again, I'll be sending it off for professional formatting. It's the perk I chose "in exchange" of my contribution to a project that ran on the FWG Facebook page. When all is said and done, I'm hoping to get my cover finalized as well (and I am once again looking at the possibility of having a hand-drawn front cover .... whooop whooop!!!) at which point my first novel *will* be ready for publishing.

I also hope having "broken the spell" on the writing side of things, I'll be able to work up the energy (and catch the flow) to get back to writing book 2 in this series. I still have 3 stories planned with the same MC, so I really need to get busy on this.

Bye bye for now.

Neglect!

It's the only correct word for it: Neglect!
I have neglected a lot of things lately.
This blog in the first place.

I had so many things I wanted to blog about. So much stuff I wanted to share or just "throw out there". I ended up doing no such thing. And this just made me think of one of my co-workers, because he always gets it wrong, he says "I will do not such thing" .... blahhh. Yes, I keep correcting him and yes, he keeps getting it wrong. Smartass!!

But no, work is not something I wanted to blog about, nor are my colleagues, I have to deal with that 5 days a week already, I'd rather not think about it/them when I don't have to.

I might be flooding this little area with posts in the next few hours, get those things off my chest/mind/hands that I've been meaning to get off and maybe - hopefully - find my "inner peace" again. Maybe that's what's been keeping me awake at night, or maybe it was just the heat. I don't know, and I don't really care. Bottom line is: I have been extremely tired lately.
I have no idea what caused it or how I can "fix" it again, but I do know I can't stay like this much longer. I'm starting to see two words wash in and out of focus at times and they're not inspiring confidence .... at all.

The first one is "Burned".
The second one is "Out".

Together, they scare the hell out of me!

I'm 42, I shouldn't be facing those two just yet.
But here I am, neglecting everything and everyone just the same.
Like I said, I have no idea what caused it, nor do I know how to stop those words from becoming reality.

Thing is, I've got things going for me. I have a job that pays reasonably well, I have a place to live and food in the fridge, running water and electricity, a bed to sleep in (even though I *really* need a new mattress!) and a connection to all of my buddies out there. I have finished writing what will be my first novel, my kid is growing up real nice and my mom is helping me out in everything she can. So, what's wrong with me? Why are those two words sneaking up on me? Where did they come from? And how the *hell* do I wipe them away?

Do I need a vacation? (I know I do, but is that going to solve "the problem")
Or do I need professional assistance? What kind? A doctor? A shrink? An exorcist??
Or do I just need to kick my ass into gear and break the spell? Is that going to keep them at bay? And if so, for how long?? Will they just draw back into the shadows and wait for another chance to sneak up on me?
Am I better off breaking the routine?
Getting away from the "drag" of life?
But how can I?
Quit the job? Take up sports? Force myself to go out more?

For now, I've gotten back to my writing project, which is good since I've neglected that for far too long already. Now, if only my beta readers would get their butts in gear as well, it would help me make this thing better yet. Without their input, all I can really do, is filter out any typos I may have left in (found 1 last night in the 4 chapters I edited) and edit bits and pieces that don't feel or sound right, or that flirt with the surreal a little too much. Keeping in mind this story started out as another one of my 24-fan fics, it goes without saying the power of the Bauer is greater than anyone else's (HA!!) which is why I had to change a few scenes that Jack Bauer might've gotten away with, but no "normal mortal" would. Like shooting at the military (oops!) and blowing out a headlight with a single well-aimed shot (yes, Jack Bauer *can* and *will* do that!!)

I'm happy I decided to leave the 24-fandom though, because it enabled me to create my own character, make up his background, think up a family situation and build up from there. Granted, Brian Tucker is a lot like Jack Bauer, in many ways, but he *is* an original character with a mind of his own. He will also have adventures of his own. Yes, you'll probably *feel* a little Jack Bauer in my books, but hey, I wrote about the man for over a decade, what do you expect???

So much for neglect.
I'm gonna get back to it and see if I can put a lid on those two words.

Catch ya later!!