Nicki Elson's Not-So-Deep Thoughts

On Chuck vs. the Goodbye: The set-up:  Under General Beckman's chair is a bomb set to go off as soon as the music stops...and the symphony's about to end. To the rescue: Jeffster (a rock band comprising Jeff and Lester, two disturbing nerds who work at the Buy More).   Of all the day-saving, climax-worthy songs they could've chosen to belt out at this most crucial moment---the final mission by NBC's Team Bartowski after 5 seasons ---Jeffster chose....  Rock on, Jeffster. If that got you jonesing for the 80s, might I suggest you take a gander at the Tumble 4 Ya blogfest ?  Much thanks to everyone who's already joined!  I can't wait to see everyone's choices.

Celery Tree, that cozy on-line bookstore , is wrapping up it's January blog tour and I get to be one of the final stops.  If you haven't heard of Celery Tree yet, I suggest you stop over to check it out . If you have a book out and are interested in adding it to the Celery Tree collection, contact Karen Gowen at karen@celerytree.com.  The gracious Theresa Milstein and Sheri Larsen both had me as their guest this month---thank you, ladies!---and I promised a follow-up to my post at Sheri's place.  I asked her followers what topics they'd like to see discussed at the Celery Tree forums and there was a lot of interest in information regarding submitting short stories to magazines as well as paid freelance writing opportunities, so I've opened up as a forum topic and provided some links I hope you'll find helpful. It's (not so) cleverly titled:     Submitting Fiction to Magazines and Paid Freelance  You can bop on over to read my post, and if you have so...

With my children now teenagers, it appears I'm woefully uninformed on what's currently hot in Toddler Pop Culture. So how surprised was I to walk into my niece's third birthday party this weekend and find the place decked out in that sweetie from the 80s---Strawberry Shortcake! To be honest, I probably would've been oblivious to the fruit-themed confection throughout the 80s too if I hadn't had a younger sister who was way into her.  My only personal memory of the Fraulein of Fraises is a vague recollection of one of my sister's dolls smelling like blueberries.   Anyhow, she's baaaack---with a few choice updates, like trading in the Laura Ingalls look for a snappy mini-dress, poufy newsboy cap, and sassy mary-janes, and losing the stubby red yarn in favor of lucious pink waves.  Does the strawberry princess hold a special place in your memories? Have you spotted her anywhere while you've been out & about lately? What do you think of her makeo...

You know how there are people who, although you've never met them in person, you just know they're not only cool but a really nice person who'd be totally fun to hang out with?  Well, Jennifer Lane , fellow Omnific Publishing author, is one of those people. So I'm thrilled to have her visit today---and I'm even thrilldeder to get to meet her in person in a few months! I recently read her novel, With Good Behavior , book #1 in the CONduct series , and here's a snippet of my Goodreads review (click to read the whole shebang). And here's my interview with her, in which you'll notice I focused on questions about my sweet home Chicago: 1. I know you have family in Chicago and have spent a lot of time there, but I also know that you're a pretty frequent traveler and have been to many other fabulous places, so what made you choose Chicago above all those other places as a setting? After growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio, I love Chicago because ...

The marvelous SA Larsen is hosting me at her place today to talk a bit more about Celery Tree. I'm looking for input from writers and readers regarding the Celery Tree forums.  So please do make a quick pit-stop over and let me know what you think. And if you're interested in something fun & silly to do on February 10th---a pre-VD celebration, if you will---you need scroll no further than the post below. ;)

For my very first ever blogfest, I've teamed up w/ fellow 80s girls Suze from Analog Breakfast & M. Pax from Wistful Nebulae  to ask you one simple question:   Who was/is your 80s celebrity crush? Please tell us on February, 10 in the Tumble 4 Ya Blogfest!  (Much thanks to Suze for designing our awesome fest icon) All you have to do is sign up in the Linky below, and then on Friday, February 10 post a picture, video, or whatever of the celebrity you most tumbled for in the 80s.  We'd also love to know just what it was that made ya tumble 4 them. If you weren't of crushing age during the 80s, no problem---fess up to which 80s star most makes you tumble now.  Basically, we're just looking for a few pre-Valentine's Day laughs. ;) <p><p><p><p&amp...

Hey, I'm over at Theresa Milstein's today talking about Celery Tree, a brand new site for readers and authors.  Please stop by if you have a moment. Also, thank you to everyone who weighed in on my book titles yesterday.  I think what I get from the feedback is that I need to go back to the drawing board.  The Angel Sin's appears to be the most zippy, but I'm not sure it will catch the right fish, as Suze so eloquently put it.  So, my new carrot to dangle as I chisel away on draft #2 will be to come back to y'all with a morsel of description and a new set of titles. Except I'm going to think of the carrot as celery because carrots are gross. Aaand, just to give you a reason to look forward to Monday---Suze, M.Pax, and I have decided to break our Blogfest cherries as a threesome and will bring you a flirty, fun & freaking-awesome fest that you are, like, totally going to want to join. ;)    

Your gaze randomly wanders over the crowded room until he catches your eye.  You've never seen him before, but something about his look appeals to you.  Then he smiles---not at you, but the parting of his lips and the way his head tilts nevertheless incites a small smile of your own. You're intrigued.  Enough so that you wander closer, and soon the two of you are talking. You like him; he's interesting and he makes you laugh. So you decide to deliberately spend more time together...and if that goes well, you'll do it some more. There you have my typical library/bookstore experience.  What?  No!  I'm not picking up guys!  Sheesh.  I'm talking about selecting a book. The cover is what "catches your eye," right?  And then you read the title---that's the smile.  And if it intrigues you, you "wander closer," pick it up, and read the back cover.  If it's "interesting," maybe "makes you laugh," then perhaps you "de...

A couple insecurities ago, group therapy at my place focused on finding time for writing.  We all seemed to  agree that you just gotta do it.  Which is awesome, but once you give yourself over to writing the problem becomes...how do you find the time to do everything else?  Fret not, my darling blog friends, for I have the answer: You don't.   There's no way you can do everything your heart desires and your life demands, so set your priorities, ax what needs to go and be okay with that.  For example, last night I realized I had an IWSG post this morning, but I just didn't have time to write something brilliant and insightful.  So what did I do? I didn't. (But thanks for stopping by anyway. ;)  And thanks for hosting, Alex )

Happy New Year!  I'm starting right off w/ one of my resolutions---and that's to live up to the 80s portion of my Blogger byline.   All last year I noted 80s references popping up everywhere, and this year, whenever I find one of note, I'm gonna tell you about it.  Lucky you, eh? Last week I went to see The Muppets---which was so awesome. If you were ever a Muppets fan you must see it---and I was tickled to see brand new character, 80s Robot .  I was even more happy to find this short clip of the "modem" scene to share with you (note the Top 40 song from 1980 playing in the background---can you name the song & artist?):