Amanda Harris

“It’s like somebody took knife, edgy and dull and cut a six inch gash in the middle of my soul.” I’m On Fire- Bruce Springsteen. I love that song, that saying. It feels that way to me sometimes, like my soul is gashed. I don’t know what causes this displacement of feelings, this spiritual torn in half horrible feeling, I just know that sometimes it happens. I love songs or even out of context lines from songs that get my mood. The rest of the song is pretty good as well, but that line I love.  I would post a link to the video, but I find the video to be horribly tacky. The song is about lust. The video is about lust between a married rich women and her mechanic. I am sorry if I am old fashioned but a romance between a married women and someone other than her husband is just gross. Love or lust or whatever should not involve a spouse who is left at home, torn in half. Love should not involve hurting someone and breaking vows. Even in my fantasies I cannot muster the i...

4th of July with my family. Dad's cajun boil... so good!

So I am up at midnight, the house is silent and dark. Everyone has been kissed, hugged, and snugglebugged. It is just me and the soft glow of my computer. I am editing Slip, and I come to the scene where the little girl is huddled in a small closet as her captor makes his way down the hall to her and the doornob rattles. Suddenly I find I am not so comfortable editing in a dark house at midnight. It seems that I should be over being able to scare myself. But I guess I am just a kid at heart. This is not the first time I found I had to stop writing because of fear, the other time was when I was working on 13 Months and the main character dragged me through a swamp at midnight. Somehow this feels even creepier because the monsters in a swamp pale in comparison to what humans can do to eachother. So now the lights are on, and I think I am going to wrap up the editing for the night. I am super excited about getting Slip done. I have really enjoyed writing it and can't wait for some...

Free Deal Monday: http://usernameamanda.hubpages.com/hub/Sometimes-You-Need-A-Hand Do you want a free edit or a frank opinion of your writing? Click on link.

"It is easy to look at the choices of another person and think, “I would not have done that.” And you will be telling yourself the truth. YOU would not have done that if you were her, you with your unique set of life experiences would have made a different choice in her place, but if you truly were her, not some “walk a mile in her shoes” cliché but with only her life to draw from it is likely you (yes even you) would have made the same mistakes exactly. A slider knows this, and in this one way we are better equipped to deal with diversity than the rest of the world. Sometimes I think it is the only way. " -Miranda (Main Character of "Slip")

American Honey. I love that song. :) And I love our bees because two or three times a year we get yummy honey. This is a fall batch compared to a summer batch. The difference in shade is due to the flowers available at different times of year. There is a subtle taste difference as well.

“All men fear death. It’s a natural fear that consumes us all. We fear death because we feel that we haven’t loved well enough or loved at all, which ultimately are one and the same. However, when you make love with a truly great woman, one that deserves the utmost respect in this world and one that makes you feel truly powerful, that fear of death completely disappears. Because when you are sharing your body and heart with a great woman the world fades away. You two are the only ones in the entire universe. You conquer what most lesser men have never conquered before, you have conquered a great woman’s heart, the most vulnerable thing she can offer to another. Death no longer lingers in the mind. Fear no longer clouds your heart. Only passion for living, and for loving, become your sole reality. This is no easy task for it takes insurmountable courage. But remember this, for that moment when you are making love with a woman of true greatness you will feel immortal.” — Ernest Hem...

Don't Forget to Write... Sometimes even if is seems clear, it still needs to be said. Don't forget to write. Every day. Please. If you are going to try to become a published author, you have to write. I am guilty of this too, I will write for some other website, or for school, or my blog, but not work on my own novel. The one thing that I actually enjoy will fall to between the cracks of so many other things that need to be done. Even if your only doing a page a day, don't forget to do it. Show up! Do if for you, because no one else can get that story that is locked up inside of you out. So get to work. Go on... Get to it!

Beginning of "Star Crossed" By Amanda Harris   I have never been out of Miami. Until I was seven I lived in a hundred year old house by the sea. Then my Mom died and I was swept into the penthouse at the top of Daddy’s downtown skyscraper. I have lived at the top of this tower for eleven years. Two of the walls in my room are made of glass. When I was a small girl I used to pretend that I was a princess, high over the ocean, preparing for the day when the sea creatures would crown me their Queen. A prince charming never came in to play in these fantasies. I never felt the need to be saved, even if I was a lonely princess high in a tower. Dad hired Lorelei to take care of me. She was only fourteen when she came to us, twice my age but still too young. She had trouble with human languages, but she was well versed in the magic, and Brazilian jujitsu. My Dad saw her as a natural fit as a nanny/body guard/ best friend/ Mother figure.  Dad always treated  her like a...

I started an Author page on Facebook.  I love the writing, and even the editing, but the marketing? Not so much. But I need to figure it out and I have been told that Facebook is the place to start for networking. So here is the link: Amanda Harris  "Like" me if you would like. ;)

Iris Johanson's Bonnie  will be released in a month. I don't remember the last time I was so eager for a book release. If anyone is looking for a new author and have not tried Iris Johanson, her thrillers are addictive. I will put down anything and everything when I find her books. Her character Eve Duncan is a forensic sculptor (the best in the country) who is fueled by her own personal tragedy. The new book Bonnie is supposed to answer all the questions that the reader has from reading the rest of the Eve Duncan books.  If you browsing for a new author or if you already love Iris Johanson be sure to finish up the Eve Duncan series for when Bonnie is released in October. The first Eve Duncan book is: There are many in between, and Bonnie is coming out in October!

I have switched schools, and majors. This is exciting for me for many reasons, the least of which being the fact that I have eight glorious weeks off. During my eight weeks I plan to write, write, and write! Without regard to perfection, and even if my muse is lazy. Real writers write regardless of how they feel. I am so happy to be able to do this. I still have a lot on my plate with the kids but I will use this time wisely because it really is a gift. At the end of the eight weeks I am finishing my last bit of school up for my AA. Then starting on my BA in Psychology. I decided to switch because a degree in English, or a liberal arts degree is a very limited degree. I will have all the knowledge with a  Psychology degree that I would have with an English or Liberal Arts degree, yet I will be able to get a job with out any additional certification, whereas  if I stayed on my original path I would have had to get additional certific...

It has been two months since I have been here. A few times I sat down with something to say, but deleted it all because it is not something I would want to read. My life has been pretty normal lately. Just finished my summer courses with all A's, I am enduring the Florida August, and dreading the fall semester to the point that I am tempted to skip it. But considering I started college about seven years later than everyone else, I really can not afford to skip a semester. But the burn out I am facing, and the book I am trying to write, make me feel like I cannot afford not to. Meanwhile I will keep trying to improve my grammar, because a dear friend, and a book critic, both informed me that it could use a bit of work. I am eager to get one of the projects i am working on done and I know that when school starts it will grind to a halt... but still I am somewhat excited about learning Biology, Spanish, Math, and Magazine Writing in the fall.... so...

Just Let Go... I need to take my own advice. I think it to myself often, I tell my kids, I tell my writer friends... Just let go of trying to be perfect. Show up do your best and worry about the rest later. I have not been taking my own advice. In fact I have been terrified to write for a while now. Why? I dunno, I guess because I am a perfectionist. But I don't let my kids wad up their work when they make a mistake. I don't let them quit because it is hard and they feel small to the task. So why have I let my fear cripple me? I dunno. But on that note I am going to bed. I know... I know it would more inspirational to say on that note I am starting on my book as soon as I am done with this post, but I have a ton of homework to do tomorrow and the kids are having a sleep over tonight at my house so I need to rest at twelve thirty a.m. Tomorrow, though... tomorrow I will let go of the fear and I will just do it... or some other cliche ... whatever. Goodnight.

BAH Rejections, bad reviews, bad days, writers block,low to no pay. Life won't go on hold so I can perfect my writing, and there don't seem to be a great deal of encouragement these days. I will keep on and cheer up soon. Today though... I just want to give up.

Anna Nicole Smith makes me ..... Hungry?   So I bought a stack of magazines from the thrift store, I was reading through a 2002 article with Anna Nicole Smith and reporter describes how she insisted he eat her jalapeno stuffed olives, and then follow them up with lemon soaked pickles. I can't get the combination out of my mind. I was never a fan of her, but after tasting the jalapeno olives... maybe she should have had a food network show. And the lemon soaked pickles? I have not been brave enough yet, not sure my taste buds could withstand such horror Nirvana. :)

BLOOD I gave blood today. Not sure why they insist on using such big a** needles. I guess so the blood flows faster. I was focused on my daughter so I did not notice the needle till after the deed was done. This is a good thing. Now I have a big comfy t-shirt to show for my effort. Yep.

BURN OUT!   I really wanted to spend the summer writing... But NO I had to take summer classes... In such a hurry to Graduate........... WHY???? So I can be qualified to write? I am not sure this is leading me there. In fact I am pretty sure that all of my college classes combined did not help my writing as much as when I just sat down each day and forced myself to write, then edit edit edit.  I am getting a little burned out and cynical about college all together.

I am addicted to Never Shout Never. They don't need my vote or publicity but I just had to share anyways.  "Shine outward not inward. You've been a selfish little girl." -The Lousy Truth NSN. "I'm only as tall as my heart will let me be, I am only as small as the world will make me seem." The Bright Side NSN "Every thing you do is super f*#king cute and I can't stand it. " I can't stand it NSN "We got a hard day coming if can't work out all the pissy little problems we've been fighting about." Love is our Weapon NSN