Crystal Jordan :: Blog

I’m almost ready to start writing my young adult novel The (Mis)Adventures of Supersize Girl. Now, when I write, I like to have a picture, a muse, of my characters. (If for no other reason than that I don’t mess up the description throughout the book). The problem with this book is that there aren’t that many plus-sized teen actresses. I’m using America Ferrerra right now (Real Women Have Curves and Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants)

However, she’s a little skinny and I’m having trouble picturing her in the Supergirl outfit. That’s where the stepmom comes in. She does wicked-awesome graphic art stuff and she’s agreed to (eventually) do a pic of Supersize Girl for me. Here’s some of her work. (Check out her site Raven207b)

This one’s of Van Helsing called “Eyes of the Hunter”

Where people never grow up.

I’ll be out of town for a few days. Hope you all enjoy your week before New Year.

Good news: My book has been given to some more critiquers. Hopefully, they will break it down so I can build it up. It needs some work, but I’ll get there.

Yeay! I pass the quarter century mark today! Woo-hoo! I hit the road today with the Mad Madam M to visit the indomitable sqveege. (Her mom gave her that nickname. I claim no credit and plead the fifth on all knowledge) Fun, fun, FUN! The weather is supposed to get a bit nasty. I’m a tish bit worried, but I’ll hope for the best. If worse comes to worst, the Mad Madam M and I will just be camped out on the side of the highway in grams’ minivan eating Pringles. The storm will pass eventually (fingers, toes, and eye crossed!). Hope my birthday is great for everyone else, too!

Take the Crystalism Quiz! Test your knowledge of all things Crystal. Tell me what you got!

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday to meeeeee, happy birthday to me!

Today, I’m going where no Crystal (me) has ever gone before. The lovely and talented Tonya (my hair goddess whom I worship faithfully) will be dyeing my hair brown. Now, I’ve been a red head, I’ve been a blonde, but I have never been a brunette. I have always avoided the color because I thought it would look horrid with my naturally pasty skin tone. However, I’m taking a leap of faith here that Tonya would never, never let me walk out of her shop looking like a freak (if for no other reason than it’s bad advertisement).

I will have to post pictures of this monumental hair moment in the history of Crystal. If I remember. Wish me luck because I also have to learn to maintain it while back in Tennessee. I am a low-maintenance-hair chick. Stay tuned for the first day I have to do this to myself. Comedy will ensue, I have no doubt.

Christmas to do list:

1. breakfast with grams & gramps/grams’ bro and his live-in
2. call Texas relatives, call East Coast friends, Mad Madam M to wish Merry Xmas (one-handed while driving to my scary hometown in the Bay Area)
3. lunch with mom & stepdad
4. call West Coast friends & relatives to wish Merry Xmas (one-handed while driving to the town NEXT to my scary hometown)
5. dinner with dad/stepmom/stepbro/older bro/niece/aunt/cousins/uncle/uncle’s girlfriend/Mema (other grams) & grandad (other gramps)
6. Call Mad Madam M to debrief on happenings (i.e. family cat fights) of the day (one-handed while driving back to Sacramento)

This week: spend time with grandparentals, breakfast with Tonya, Tonya’s sister, & Mad Madam M, get my hair cut and dyed (I’m going brunette), visit with mom again, go visit sqveege for my birthday, turn 25, go on a road trip, watch freakishly-talented-at-everything cousin win at wrestling tournament, visit older bro for his 26th birthday, go to New Years’ Eve party, fly home.

I want to see everyone, really, I do, but this week sounds like “Go, Crystal, go!” I wish I could say, “Go, go, Crystal time saving gadget!”

P.S. Dad apparently has some software where I can scan the stuff that I write (because I write my stories by hand) and he can transfer it into a word doc without me having to type it. Don’t know if it’ll work, but I’m definitely taking him up on it.

Shyeah! Go, go, Gadget Dad!

Take the Christmas Quiz! Test your knowledge. This thing is wicked hard. You can try the novice level or the expert level. The regular level was hard enough for me, let me tell you.

Plus, NORAD tracks Santa around the planet. There’s a good use of our tax dollars.

Merry Christmas!!

Also, Chanukah begins at sundown. Take the Chanukah Quiz. This one’s pretty tough, too. Good luck.

Happy Chanukah!!

Today, I mentioned to Grandma that I knew of a few fantasy/sci-fi romances that she’d love. I told her Robin D. Owens had a “new” batch of books called The Summoning series. I also said I’d found a new author that she might want to check out, Gena Showalter. Here’s the Me & Grandma Show:

Me: “Robin’s Summoning books are supposed to be even better that her Heart books. And you know how much you looooved those.”

Grams: “Oh, yes. She’s the cat’s meow.”

Me: “And! And! Gena’s got a series about Atlantis where the Gods stashed their mistakes. Then there’s the one about a warrior-turned-sex-genie-in-a-box. He’s got, you know, a very big knife. Or maybe you’ll like the one about the kick-a$$ alien huntress. I haven’t read all of them, but you should try one.”

Grams: “Okay, get on Amazon and put in an order.”

Me: “For which one?”

Grams: “All of them, of course.”

Me: “Um. Can we maybe get expedited shipping so I can read them while I’m home for Christmas?”

Grams: “Beg.”

The Mad Madam M is home for the holidays! Woo-hoo! I mean, we talk on the phone daily (or bi-daily, tri-daily, etc.) but nothing beats seeing your best friend in person. Especially considering we had the waving-madly-running-through-the-airport-hug scene. It almost coulda been slow-mo, except Mad Madam M and I are chubby and the visual of slow-mo chubby girls running is not good. It’s rough living on opposite coasts, ya know?

Anyway, the writing is going well. I came up with an excellent fight scene between my hero and heroine, but am having trouble getting a lead-in scene for how/why the fight happened. Darn! I’ve pondered this long and hard and I’m coming up empty. She avoids complications in her life and is impetuous, sarcastic, light, and funny. He has a complicated job (cop) and is rock solid, controlled, anal, overprotective, slightly dark, and also sarcastic and funny. Disagreements will ensue, but I need a linchpin to make the break-up scene happen.

This is where having a critique partner would come in handy. I should maybe look into getting one of those.

On December 22. Fitting, I guess.

This post is going to be about work. I was asked to complete a project by mid-February. Then I was told I had all of next year to complete it. Now, it seems, I have until January 6th to have it finished. The thing is, I only have it half-done because I thought I had another year! On my already-overflowing plate of projects, I thought I could set this one aside for a bit and dig into the others. Not so much. If I say I only have it half-done, I appear lazy. If I don’t get it in on time, I appear incompetent. Basically, I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t. As much as I love being a librarian, sometimes I hate my job. **sigh**

That’s my Catch-22 today. Hope everyone else’s day is going better!