Congrats, E. Michels!!!
Belated congrats as we found out a couple of days ago, but I’m posting my jubilation on my blog anyway! :D
Happy wishes to you and your new-best-friend-in-a-business-way, Michelle Grajkowski of 3 Seas Literary Agency!
Over the past year since we’ve become critique partners (and part of a larger critique circle of writer friends, the CRWbadgirlz) you have become one of my closest friends and a confidante. I could not continue to write without your support and encouragement, and I wouldn’t want to succeed in this business without you or any of our CRWbadgirlz, but especially you, Elizabeth Michels.
You pulled me into the circle when I was too shy to realize I had an open invitation at the fun table. I have never been friends with the coolest girl in the room, the Cheerleading Captain, as my rightful place has always been the scary-distant-eccentric chick. It’s a role I relish and I never thought of trying to be friends. Obviously you were having too much fun to need another in the mimosa party! But we did become friends and our friendship has taught me all over again that the outward appearance of a person across a room for four hours once a month is nothing to judge on. You are one of the coolest, sweetest, most talented people I know and I am so happy to have played a small part in your growing success.
<3 Darcy
You and Your Skin aka Yucky Daily Moisturizer Experience
If you are reading this blog entry, then you are not finding moi in a very happy (also make-up less) state. Why?
Because I tried out a new daily face moisturizer, that’s why!
It was like this Fage Greek yogurt was sitting on of my face, smelling faintly of pseudo-citrus and sunscreen.
Yeah. Gross.
Daily moisturizer is one of those things that dissatisfaction in any shape or amount is not to be tolerated. Whether you pay $5 or $150, buy the facial moisturizer that does what you need and feels great on your skin. This is different for everyone because, well, nobody’s skin is the same. The face is especially sensitive.
Frequently I am complimented that I have great skin, and it’s the truth! I do have great skin. I never even had acne! My maternal great-grandmother had a face like porcelain. My mom has good skin, though she was lucky enough not to get the freaking-pale-as-death tone. My mom grew up in Northern Florida in a time when tanning was considered healthy, so there is some sun damage, but that is unimportant as when I am a famous writer (snort-giggle) my mom will have all the spa time she wants!
Back to my good skin. My fucking good skin. It honestly doesn’t matter how good my skin is genetically if I do not take care of it. Maybe because I have good skin makes me want to take freakishly amazing care of it, so I don’t lose one of the few advantages my genes popped out.
I think every woman has good skin! Why? It’s YOUR skin! It’s unique to you and it just wants to be loved, even if when it’s contrary and breaks out. If it’s more temperamental than mine, then finding the best way to take care of it may be more difficult, but we all have to go through mishaps to find the perfect regime for our skin.
Do you think I can slap whatever I want on my “good” skin?
Ha… ha… ha…
My skin is just as picky as yours! All skin is, whether you realize it or not, and you may have just been lucky up to this point. But why am I making such a big deal out of this? It’s just skin. It’s just your face.
You have to look at your face every day. The signs of your life experiences as time passes will never reflect more keenly than there. While aging can be a beautiful thing, I believe in having control over the process. I will allow dignified crow’s feet, but no whole flock is going to take up roost around MY eyes!
Now, if you have a serious skin condition, like cystic acne, then ask your dermatologist for help. You can’t always love your skin by yourself. But then, loving your skin is all about the tools you have. ….’tools’ and ‘loving’ don’t feel right together in the same sentence. Uhm, pretend I said ‘flowers and chocolates’!
Aging will happen, but a solid skincare regime will give you control. The lines will come, but there is a stark difference between someone who has ignored and abused their face than another who has doted and lavished attention. Be loving to your skin and it will love you back.
Oh, hey, I finaled in something… again…
My Science Fiction Romance (hence the aliens graphic above) finaled in NHRWA’s Query Quandary contest!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m FREAKING EXCITED! But I also know that lately my blog has been a bit… self-centered… rather than blogging about cool things. I like blogging about cool things! So, that being said, prepare for cool things to be blogged about… later? Later!
Oh gods my dad is the worst kind of music snob.
He’s always like YOU SHOULD JUST LISTEN TO ETTA JAMES AND ARETHA AND SADE ALL DAY, JUST 24/7, NEVER STOP, THIS IS ~~~REAL~~~ MUSIC
And I’m like daddy go away I just want to listen to Korean pop LET ME LISTEN TO KOREAN POP
And he’s all NO WHY DO YOU LIKE AWFUL MUSIC IT’S NOT REAL MUSIC THIS IS REAL MUSIC
So I counter with hey remember all those years aka your life up until now when all you listened to was Satanic death metal, remember when you were hardcore daddy, why aren’t you hardcore anymore
And he goes to reply but then Family Feud comes on so we have to stop talking
This is so much like my father. IT HURTS!
Source: voicestockingallthetime
Daphne Finalist? Me? ……Srsly?!!
Cough. Ahem.
It’s true! My little baby Victoria Saint has finaled in Kiss of Death’s Daphne du Maurier annual contest! You can check out the entire list of unpublished finalists here and see my name in the Paranormal Romantic Mystery/Suspense category.
Between helping my mom have a ‘Say Yes to the Car’ moment (her red Nissan Versa is her new baby), landing a new job, and now finaling in an awesome contest… I think my week rocked!
brunch-on-sunday replied to your post: Life in Progress
Good for you! I know at our age it’s hard to feel in control all the time, but it’s important to be in charge of your own life. And I’m so proud of you for doing it.
Thank you!
Life in Progress
Tomorrow it’s going to be exactly three weeks since I woke up at 5AM with intense chest pains. My lungs felt like they were on fire. Breathing was a struggle and it seemed as if an invisible hand was slowly choking the life out of me. Unable to come up with an answer to what was going on, I summoned a greater power — my mom, of course.
I wasn’t scared until my mom made the quick decision to take me to the ER. She thought I might be having a heart attack. I will be twenty-four in August, but with our family history of heart disease, it wasn’t out of the question.
It was overwhelming. Not even twenty-four and I could be having a heart attack?
What the fuck had I done?!
Turn back the clock to the day before, March 18th and a beautiful Sunday in the Carolinas. I was driving home from Greenville after spending a wonderful St. Patty’s Day with a friend and visiting the Georgia chapter of RWA in Atlanta. The weekend felt like exactly what I needed to unwind.
Over the past eight months, I have been working very hard at taking control of my own life. I have always given those closest to me way too much power and they were abusing the trust I had placed in them. You know, one or both of your parents, an aunt maybe, or your sister or grandmother. There’s always someone it seems. They had too much say over everything in my life and had beaten my self-esteem into a juicy pulp.
I am blessed that my mom is my best friend and I know she would do anything for me, but this wasn’t something she could do for me. I had to do it.
It was time to take the power back.
When I returned home on March 18th, I had no intention of that being the day the gloves came off. But then it just… happened. There were no tears. There was no screaming. Instead I systematically took back the power and control over my life.
No one else is allowed to bring me down or make me feel like I am not perfect. I know I am not perfect! But I love my imperfections and I want to be the best imperfect me that I can be!
I’m funny and fun to be around. My mom calls me the Salad Whisperer, because nobody can create an amazing salad like I can from almost nothing! I’m a talented writer and I love the industry with my entire heart. People think I am a good listener and I don’t know if that’s true, but I’ll take their word for it and keep every secret shared.
If you’re going to tell me that you love me and want to build a personal relationship with me, then you have to accept what’s good and what’s bad about me. They’re only flaws! It’s not like denying they exist erases them and I don’t want to erase them anymore anyway.
Yes, I know I can be bossy! But I am self-aware enough to recognize it and keep it from hurting people’s feelings. If I wasn’t bossy, so much wouldn’t get done. And I’m not just saying that as an excuse. I’ve tried to erase my bossiness or ignore it, when I should have been embracing it. All my imperfections are really just tools I needed for the life I was meant to live.
No longer am I wanting around for someone (or two in this case) to accept me. I have given enough chances and power to make me feel unwanted. It’s done. It’s over. I knew that three weeks ago and the stress… which is odd because I thought I would feel relief… the stress put me into the ER.
Seriously, it was all stress. No heart attack. No acid reflux. No blood clot to the lung. Just good ole stress.
Now, finally, three weeks later… I am beginning to feel the relief. No one has control over the way I feel about myself but me. For the first time in… my whole life… I feel free.
And I am writing this, well, confessing publicly on my blog, for the reason that I hope it will be enough to shake me out. I have felt like a hibernating bear, unable to write or focus or care, after the big leap I made. Everything needed to catch up to the same point.
While I am terrified of the future, as I think many people are, I am no longer afraid of my imperfections. I love that I can be direct, bossy, clumsy, and silly. The list goes on and on, like sorority sisters I’ll carry around with me forever. I may not like them all the time, but I love to live with them.
I pray after writing about my personal journey, I will be rejuvenated. It’s worth a try, right?
