Nicki Elson's Not-So-Deep Thoughts

Soooo...can we all forget that thing I said last week about Keith having game? He wasn't strategizing when he voted for Reed last week; he was just following orders. *sigh* I don't know why I so badly wanted him to turn out to be some kind of latent genius. But his comment at his week's tribal - you know the one - proved beyond a doubt that while he may have a good, practical mind, he ain't got no game. It's pretty rare that we get to see the precise moment, the exact words that sway an outcome, but Keith sure did provide us with that. It wasn't Jon he swayed, though - it looked like Johnny boy didn't plan to use that idol until after Natalie told him to. Do you think she actually thought the vote was going to go toward him or do you think she was just using his shaken confidence to get the idol out of his hands? Ever since the merge, there have been a lot of small, strange, un-Survivor-ike moments that have impacted whose torch has gotten snuffed: 1

Saving Poughkeepsie Debra Anastasia Add Saving Poughkeepsie to: Goodreads   On 11/22 Buy from: Amazon   | Barnes and Noble Beckett Taylor’s quest to be a better man has brought Eve Hartt back into his life, but sometimes it feels like they’re bound together with barbed wire. Though he longs to love her without causing pain, the wreckage of their past continues to crash down around them. Yet with the help of this brothers—and for his brothers—Beckett won’t stop trying. He’s determined to make them all a family, to make a life they want to live, and to make Poughkeepsie a place that’s safe to live it. He can feel their futures balanced precariously on his shoulders: Blake and Livia and their children, Cole and Kyle and the new baby they’ve just brought home, and Eve…always Eve. He wants their dreams to be real. But murderers don’t just get Happily Ever After handed to them. They have to wrench it away from Satan himself. Good thing Beckett is prepared to

NOW we're playing Survivor! I have to say they gave the show an excellent edit this week. I was GOLing (gasping out loud) during the reading of the votes. I can not believe Missy flipped so easily. I'm not sure what her strategy was with that. Jeremy was an obvious threat to take the million, so I can see why she'd want him gone at some point, but there are still too many players left in the game to give up a solid ally like that. And for who? Jon & Jaclyn? They've already flipped...how many times now? Why would she trust them to stick with her? I like to think that if I'd been in Missy's place, I'd have gone to Jeremy with the news of Jon's idol so we could make a plan to flush it out. I hope future contestants were taking notes this week. Never ever give away your reward thinking it will cement you in someone's favor. Here's why: #1 It's blatant suck uppage. Nobody likes a blatant suck up #2 Because of #1 it shows your tribem

How perfect is it that the cover reveal for LH Nicole's Claiming Excalibur is the very same day I get to give out prizes for the Wisdom of the Creative Realms event at the Realms Faire? Oh, how I love a theme. I'm awarding one of the five owl bookmarks pictured at the left to each of the five bloggers who shared the most wisdoms last week. They go to: Janie Junebug Mary Pax Alex J. Cavanaugh Michelle Wallace Tyrean Martinson   Can I get a little Kermit style cheering? Next we have two eBook winners of Legendary by LH Nicole (book #1 of the series for which Claiming Excalibur is book #2). Winners were chosen randomly from all comments during the week of Realms Faire. Liz Blocker Alex J. Cavanaugh Our final two randomly-chosen winners will receive an eBook of Shades of Avalon by Carol Oates. Sheena-kay Graham Michelle Wallace   Congrats to all the winners & thank you so, so much for stopping by to share your wisdom during the Faire.

Click image to watch this week's episode of KNOW-IT-ALLS Well, Josh bit the dust. He had such a good game going before the merge, though it looks like his vote for Baylor in episode one may have played a role in his doom. She cited that vote as something that held her back from trusting him. So if he'd written a different name down at the very firt tribal (and really, why didn't he??), could he have built up that trust with her enough that she would've done more to work with him post merge? Maybe if they had a more solid relationship he wouldn't have resorted to playing that impotent you-owe-me card. My soft spot for Keith is gone. He, Wes, and Alec are such dumbasses. Have they never watched a season of Survivor? Do they not have a freakin' clue that the social game matters? And that women's votes count? I'm happy happy with the way the vote went down because three weeks from now, I'd much rather watch Jeremy, Missy & Natalie strategize th

It's the final day of M. Pax's Realms Faire ! As you know, all week long I've hosted the Wisdom of the Creative Realms . Through the ages, the arts have spoken truth and wisdom in a way that resonates far deeper than the words from any textbook can. King Arthur's table was round to encourage equality and open sharing of opinions. From November 10-14, consider my blog to be a round table at which I invite you to sit and share wisdom from the creative arts. Today we're finding bits of wisdom from Jester's Choce: any wisdom from any of the creative arts . ~.~.~.~.~ Either in the comments here or at your own blog, share with the round table a quote or piece of wisdom from any of the creative arts. Here's mine: Monet's Series of Haystacks  famously depicts the mundane subject matter of, you guessed it---haystacks---at different times of day and in different seasons to capture the effects of varying light. The wisdoms I see here are: #1 The sa

It's Day 4 of M. Pax's Realms Faire ! I'm hosting the Wisdom of the Creative Realms . It has been so much fun---as well as enlightening---to read all of the great quotes you're posting in the comments. I can feel myself getting wiser already. Thank you, thank you! Through the ages, the arts have spoken truth and wisdom in a way that resonates far deeper than the words from any textbook can. King Arthur's table was round to encourage equality and open sharing of opinions. From November 10-14, consider my blog to be a round table at which I invite you to sit and share wisdom from the creative arts. Today we're finding bits of wisdom from Music . ~.~.~.~.~ Either in the comments here or at your own blog, share with the round table a quote or piece of wisdom from a piece of music. Here's mine: The whole song is rife with practicality and keen observations on the various walks of mankind. If you don't have time to listen to the whole song, her

It's Day 3 of M. Pax's Realms Faire ! Here I'm hosting the Wisdom of the Creative Realms . Through the ages, the arts have spoken truth and wisdom in a way that resonates far deeper than the words from any textbook can. King Arthur's table was round to encourage equality and open sharing of opinions. From November 10-14, consider my blog to be a round table at which I invite you to sit and share wisdom from the creative arts. Today we're finding bits of wisdom from Movies . ~.~.~.~.~ Either in the comments here or at your own blog, share with the round table a quote or piece of wisdom from any movie you've watched during your lifetime. Here's mine: (The wisdom starts at 13 seconds in) Because really, if we don't just say "What the heck " every one in a while, what's the point of anything? Sure, sometimes it ends up being a huge mistake, but then we face our consequences (as discussed in yesterday's post) and grow wi

It's Day 2 of M. Pax's Realms Faire! Today, the fiesty Liesel from Hans & Greta has been challenged to a duel over at Cassandra Webb's. She needs your help! Please go throw some votes to Liesel and her lethal stilettos at Dueling Bards . I'm hosting the Wisdom of the Creative Realms . Through the ages, the arts have spoken truth and wisdom in a way that resonates far deeper than the words from any textbook can. King Arthur's table was round to encourage equality and open sharing of opinions. From November 10-14, consider my blog to be a round table at which I invite you to sit and share wisdom from the creative arts. Today we're finding bits of wisdom from Books . ~.~.~.~.~ Either in the comments here or at your own blog, share with the Round Table a quote or piece of wisdom from any book you have read---or written!---during your lifetime. My wisdom is a quote from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. When I first read this one, the tr

M. Pax's Realms Faire  starts today & runs till Friday, November 14. Last year many of you, my loyal knaves, cheered me on to champion the Joust, and it was so much fun, I decided to host my own event this year: The Wisdom of the Creative Realms .  Through the ages, the arts have spoken truth and wisdom in away that resonates far deeper than the words from any textbook can. King Arthur's table was round to encourage equality and open sharing of opinions, From November 10-14, consider my blog to be a round table at which I invite you to sit and share wisdom from the creative arts. I shall richly reward you for your wisdom with prizes.  Each day will feature a different media, a follows: Tuesday, November 11: Books Either in the comments here or at your own blog, share with the round table a quote or piece of wisdom from any book you have read during your lifetime. Wednesday, November 12: Movies Either in the comments here or at your own blog, share with the roun

Well, the woman who it seems only wants to be known as "John Rocker's girlfriend" fulfilled every pre-judment anyone at the island may have made about her. And she ruined any chance of seeing if any of my predictions would've actually gone down. Let's take a look and see how I did: The Natalie, Baylor, Missy alliance came right together with Jon and Jaclyn joining them---at first. But it looks like the happy couple from MI enjoys playing the swing vote and is already eager to jump ship. What I hadn't expected was for Jeremy to be so tight with Missy and Jon right away. Keith did, in fact, feel betrayed and jumped right to Wes & Alec. As suspected, Baylor didn't stay loyal to her bond with Josh, and he & Reed jumped over to the KWA alliance. Jeremy and John Rocker's girlfriend would've voted together if she hadn't wussed. Jeremy was indeed gunning for Josh & Reed, but that was a really nice twist when Josh actually seemed to

For this month's contribution to the Insecure Writers Support Group , founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh , I give you my personal approach to National Novel Writing Month . I'm not a social writer. What I am is an easily distracted writer. So I don't think it would be a good idea for me to officially sign up for NaNo---I'd get too caught up in the stats and checking in w/ others and all that. What I need to do is keep my head down and make some damn progress in my WIP, so I'm doing my own version of NaNo. I won't put pressure on word count but will simply require myself to shut off the rest of the world for at least 90 consecutive minutes every day and pound out something . What I really hope to regain is discipline that will carry into the future. I'll likely be (even) less active on the internets throughout the month, but you'll see me next week for M. Pax's super fun Realms Faire from Nov. 10 - 14! Last year many of you, my loyal knaves, cheered me