Hello, Stranger!

I have recently started up a new blog. Please swing by and follow me there!

www.ajrhodesblog.wordpress.com

I figured I would stop by over here and share the first post.

Hi, my name is AJ Rhodes

Allow me to introduce myself.  I'm a barely domesticated mom of two, holding down a full-time job, and a life that is a bit disjointed at the moment. I'm an addict of self-help books and am full of great ideas on how to improve other people's lives, but struggle with my own.

Now, I haven't always been a total mess. At various times in my life, I have had my shit together: checkbook balanced, dedicated exercise routine, time for friends and passions, a rockstar at work, a healthy eater, clean house, well-adjusted kids - all of it. I wrote blogs and books. I showed up to writing conferences. I practiced capoeria. I was the queen of How Does She Do It.

Then, about two years ago, my husband and I split up. We split up the belongings, the bills, the time with the kids -- everything. Damn near 50/50. It was the right decision, but often times, right doesn't mean easy. It is a unique experience to go from doing half the stuff 100% of the time to doing 100% of the stuff 100% of the time. There were things that I had to learn, and things I am STILL learning. Despite not being properly prepared to deal with it, things would pop  up and scream, "Um, well you have to deal with it--- so suck it up!"

It was like learning how to juggle all over again. I quickly realized that I had to put a few things down and just start with the basics. Kids, Work, and Home - those were the three things I needed to focus on. I had to put down writing, capoeira, exercise breaks, time with friends, etc. I was in survival mode.

Once I had my arms wrapped around that a bit more, then I needed to work on healing. I did this is a very private space. Alone.

I am now ready to move to the next chapter. To create a life that I love. One that includes the things that are important to me. I would love for you to join me. Maybe it will help you get to that next level, too. My goal is to share my struggles, my accomplishments, my writing, and my soul in the hopes of touching others who struggle with similar issues. In future posts, I plan to share books, music, articles, recipes, life hacks, inspiration, humorous stories, and most importantly, my truth.

Welcome to  A LIFE CREATED...

Pick and Pull: Recycling for a New Story

Photo from http://www.motiont.com/carfinder/Resources/CheapAutoParts.aspx

Back in 2010, I talked about a story that started off as a project that I loved but was yet terrified of trying to write, and later was sent to the Scrap Pile. I couldn't pull the story together. As much as I love those characters, I just could not make that story work. In the above mentioned post, I said that I was sending it the scrap pile. "I will leave it in tact like a car in the junkyard to be sold for parts when needed. Who knows, maybe Jared and Caitlin will find happiness in another story that is more my style. They deserve it after all I’ve put them through."

Well, guess what. Exactly what I said would happen, happened. They are no longer Jared and Caitlin, and are now Amanda and Nate. Her backstory is almost exactly the same. His has changed a great deal. The deep connection between them is the same, well, actually stronger. They are no longer facing the end of the world, but were brought together by a wish that could mean death for one of them. But someone is pulling the strings and bringing these two together.

The stakes are high, the love is deep, and the characters are full of dimension. I am currently calling the story The Wish, but that will probably change. It's already changed once from Local Lore, I had picked that name, because of it's connection to Brazilian folklore. I felt the name was too weak, and didn't connect the reader to the story properly.

I say all this to say--it can happen. Those discarded darlings can be revived. It takes time. I had to step away from the project for two years, discover a new culture, and experience life from a new perspective.

I cannot use all of the 10K words that I dedicated to Touch of Light, but I have found a home for a love story that needed proper attention. Maybe you have a few stories in the scrap pile that feel abandoned. Sometimes that is where they stay. But, sometimes, they will see the light again. We just have to give them time to breathe.


Have you ever saved a story from the scrap pile? Do you still miss some of your discarded darlings? Do you try to revive them, or do you accept their new home in the junkyard? 

Introducing Musical Mondays

http://www.layoutsparks.com/pictures/music-notes-6

I've written about music many times on my blog. It is an important part of my life, my writing, heck, even my sanity. And I've often said that sharing music is a way for me to share love, like a baker wants to share their cookies.

Introducing Musical Mondays. Every Monday, I will share my music of the week. Sometimes it will be brand new music, sometimes hidden tunes that I've uncovered, and other times just an old song that re-appeared begging for a replay. There will be times I will have commentary and other times, I will just give you the music. My music appreciation is far reaching and covers many genres. So, not a fan of this week's pics, stop by next week. :-)

But let's go a step farther. On Musical Mondays, you can also share. What song have you been wearing out that week? What new tune have you uncovered or rediscovered? You can post the link in the comment section, or just the song title and band name, or maybe it is a playlist on Pandora, Songza, or Spotify. Also, please provide feedback, if you'd like. Do you like the songs that I've suggested, hated them, downloaded them? Let me know.

***

For this week, I will give you three female voices that you may not have heard.

Come Along by Vicci Martinez (featuring Cee Lo Green)

The first comes from a contestant on The Voice. This is starting to get radio play, so you may have heard it. The song itself was originally released in 2001 by Titiyo, a Swedish pop singer. (source) The recent released version is beyond similar, so I hope she is receiving a pretty dime for it. :-) The version below is performed by Vicci Martinez and Cee Lo Green. Vicci came in third on The Voice in 2011.

Sunlight by Helena

I found and fell for Helena, an India-born songwriter, who is a strong storyteller. How her talents
were found and nurtured are quite interesting to me. Here in her words from her website is a bit of insight into her childhood. “My parents were very open-minded, but they were also pretty strict,” she says. “We weren’t raised with any popular music at all. The only CD I ever wanted was Christina Aguilera’s, but my parents thought that music was frivolous, so I grew up listening to Indian and Western classical music, Byzantine chanting, and religious Buddhist chanting. We had a television, but we were only allowed to watch movies once a week. We had three: The Secret Garden, The Little Princess, and Gulliver's Travels. I would tell my parents, ‘I'm bored.’ And they'd be like, ‘No, you're just boring.’ So I created my own little worlds. I’d go into the forest and create a fairy habitat instead of watching television on Sunday.”

She has other songs available that you should explore, but this was the song that brought me to her.

All the Way by Leslie Hunt

Leslie Hunt was in the top 10 girls on American Idol during Season 6.  She was voted off before the top 10 finalists, and well before she truly found her voice. That was not the end for her though. She has been performing in Chicago (her hometown) ever since, both as a solo act and in a band titled District 97. She released two albums, one in May of 2012 titled "Wait For It" and the second back in 2009 titled "Your Hair is on Fire."  (source)  I stumbled across this song while listening to a playlist on thesixtyone.com and shortly after, added it to my collection.


Let me know what you think of these songs. And as mentioned, please share your favorite songs that you've been listening to this week.

New Directions

(This post has nothing to do with Glee)

Let me start by saying--I'm not dead. My writing might have disintegrated to near nothingness, but I'm still kicking. Those who know me or see the statuses on Facebook have seen the stresses of kids, work, school, marriage, and the complete lack of writing.

I've picked up my trusty notebook and jotted down the occasional notes along the way, but the idea of completing a second book at this point in time seems about as likely as quitting my job and joining the Peace Corp. But I do miss it, and more importantly, I miss you guys. I've partially kept up with many of you, but it's just not the same.

This blog was originally designed to be a place to write about writing from a newbie's perspective. Well, if I'm not doing much writing, then I am certainly not doing much writing about writing. So, since I don't have time for both, this domain is paid for and is collecting dust, and I miss writing and my fellow writers; I've decided to convert this blog to a place where I can let the creative spirit's flag fly.

I plan to make it a place where I can record life's strange moments, publish short stories,
let chapters of books see daylight, and most importantly, relate and interact. So, be it a story on the hilarious perils of motherhood, venting about being the wife of a grad student, asking the tough questions like "what is that brownish green substance in the back of the fridge", or a simple, "hey I love this song-do you?", I want this to be a place of my own and as freaking random as I am. The only thing off limits is my work, and that's their rules not mine.

So, welcome to the new Eyes 2 Page: Randomly Delicious Anecdotes. I had to get the Hubs and offspring to sign waivers giving me permission to post stories and commentary that may not always portray them in the best light. But I've promised to be fair and embarrass myself along the way. Trust me, I'm quite good at that.

I hope you enjoy, and I look forward to this until the wind blows my flitty nature in another new direction.

Hi, My name is...

Today marks my 50^th post. There was cake here earlier. Sorry you missed it. But… only two more weeks until the next Keep It Going Contest – so there’s something.

Yesterday, I finished up my most recent round of edits.  It is now tucked away in a folder titled - Do Not Open Until April 15^th. Based on the feedback I have received, I am hoping that I will be able to do light clean up (mostly line edits), and then start querying. To prepare (and to keep my hands off the manuscript), I will be spending the next month focusing on marketing, perfecting the query letter, and writing the *shivers* synopsis.

The first step of marketing is figuring out who you are. When I started this blog, I set it up as A.J. Frey. I did so, because I wasn’t sure about having my name out there with a bright neon sign saying that I was writing. I was still a little afraid. Going by my initials helped me step out and start publishing this blog.

This weekend, I decided to google myself, well A.J. Frey. Here’s what came up.

Do you see the second item? OMG! I don’t want to do die of some horrible disease. Ahh!  And Hockey?! The facebook is not even mine. I don’t exist.

So, then I searched my maiden name. Well, I won’t post that. She’s in the adult industry. Don’t want us to get confused – so that’s a no.

Lastly, I decided to see what happens when I search my own name. My real name. I mean everybody I know already knows that I write – so the secret’s out. 

Five results. All five belong to me. When I googled it originally, it was only one – and that was from when I made the Dean’s List. (Yep, I’m a nerd.)

Now, you have the blog, the dean’s list, my entry into the Dear Lucky Agent contest, and a comment I made on Nathan Bransford’s blog today.

I don’t know that if/when I get published I will want to be so accessible, but while I am trying to become published – yes, yes, I do.  If they are looking, I want it to be easy for an agent to find me. But with this comes added responsibility. I have to keep my name clean.

I have locked in my slice of the web. So, now if you type in  www.aliciajfrey.com – you will get me. (Google will redirect you if you continue to use aj-frey.blogspot.com) I’ve started playing around with the pages. The “About Me” is the only one that is currently active, but I will be adding to them each day until I get it like I like it.

So, hello all – My name is Alicia!

So, are you using your real name? What do you think of the About Me section? Are you using Blogger’s pages? If so, are you doing it in lieu of a separate website?

Randomly Delicious

Happy Friday all! It’s been one heck of a week. Knee deep in those revisions, and loving every minute of it. It’s all starting to come together except for one scene, which I have moved four times. Stupid sneaky scene!

Anyhoo, I have decided to revise this blog like I revise my manuscript, one step at a time. Got me one of those fancy Shelfari thingies. (Went with the black. Thanks, Michael!) But I’m not just talking about looks. No, no – we talkin’ content.

One thing that I have been working on is a blogging schedule. I admire you Mon-thru-Frid’ers, but Momma’s got one crazy life. I am dedicated to this blog, but there have been weeks where getting a single post is labor intensive. But I think I have come up with a way to give you a Mon, Wed, and Friday line up.

I am really excited about two new things that I am rolling out next week. So excited and I just can’t hide it, nor would I try. Can’t lie to you people.

First, on Monday, I am announcing a contest that I will be hosting right here on Eyes 2 Page. It’s a unique spin on an old game. One that should prove to be a lot of fun, and with three prizes up for grabs –no less. (Insert girl squeal, manly “Yea, that’s cool,” or YA unimpressed teenage angsty “Whateves”) So, tune in Monday and wear your creative jeans.

Second, starting this next Wednesday, I will be starting “Whatcha Say Wednesdays.” It’s a great chance for us all to learn more about our peers, and hopefully even more about ourselves. Topics will range from serious to daydreaming to downright silly. But I will not ask you your favorite color, because, well, I don’t have one, and I will be sharing too.

So, I ask you my fine penned friends, what else would you like to see from this blog? What posts have you enjoyed? What’s your favorite color? Haha, Jus’ kitten!

Ok, stepping away from the coffee now...