Free At Last!!

Free of what you ask? Well to most of you, this will seem really silly, but to me it's been a major battle all my life. My arms.

I have always hated my arms with a passion, still do. They are one of the first things I look at on a person, if you can believe that. Even though most people I've ever talked to say they could care less about someone's arms and never notice them.... I do!!

I've been in this prison of, "Oh no, I can't wear that...my arms will show!" or "I can't take my jacket or sweater off (even though I have sweat slipping down my forehead and my back), I have a sleeveless shirt under this and someone will see my arms!" Even putting on a swimsuit has been traumatic for me. Not because my stomach is big enough to reach California, or my cottage cheese thighs are in full view...but because my arms will show! How dumb is that?

It's really been a problem for many, many years and one I thought I'd never get rid of. However, I've been free now for about 2 weeks! I finally woke up, looked around and discovered that NO ONE CARES BUT ME. I so desperately wanted to be that woman in Walmart who looks confident of herself, even though her arms were in full view. Or my neighbor down the street who is even bigger than me and her arms are swinging in the breeze, however it's not bothering her one bit. I am finally tired of sweating to death just so I can cover my arms. Until now, I've always worn long or half sleeves in the dead of summer in Louisiana!! I even had a hard time just wearing short sleeves let alone sleeveless.

But now, I've broken out of that prison and realized 85% of the people out there, have ugly, flabby arms just like mine, and some are even worse! So what am I wearing sitting here typing this "ever so important" blog posting? A sleeveless shirt! Woo hoo! I'm free at last! And since it's 97 degrees out, guess it's time, huh. I'd post a picture for everyone's nightmares enjoyment but I don't want the internet to crash.

I'd love to hear that I'm not the only insane person out there. How about you? Do you have any kind of weird phobia you wish you could get over?

So What?

I hate to admit this, but as usual, I can't help it. It irritates me when I read a children's book where it's so obvious that the author did not do their homework before writing the story. There's no plot, there's no conflict and most of all, there's no story going on. I recently read one that left me saying to myself, "So? Big deal, the kid took a bath!" And trust me, that is completely all the story is about.  And I don't believe a traditional publisher would have ever given it a second look. I have nothing against self-publishing, heck I'm getting ready to release one Sept. 1, but it's books like the one I just read, that give self-publishing a bad rap. It wasn't well thought out and to be blunt, only a 1 yr. old would like it.

The illustrations in the book I mentioned are beautiful, otherwise this would not be a book. I do believe that good illustrations are vital to a good picture book, however a good story is even more important. The story needs to capture a child's imagination. They need their "giggly" side to come out once in awhile. And they need to learn something or at least have a reason to want it read to them again and again.

I'm not trying to say that all my stories are perfect, that they capture everything they should, but I sure give them my best try and I've done my homework. We should all take pride in what we write and make sure there's some substance, even in a children's book.

Do you find that you get irritated when you read a book and are left thinking, "So what!!?"