Category: Vacation

Leigh Baxton Saves The World…And Goes On Vacation?

by Lindsey Loucks, posted in Cody Wyoming, Indie Summer Blog Tour, Leigh, PJ Blog Tours, The Grave Winner, Vacation, What Gifts She Carried

Hey. Leigh Baxton here, the main character from Lindsey’s The Grave Winner. I’m taking over her blog today because she said she’d kill off everyone in the sequel if I didn’t. Yeah, I know. She’s been in kind of a bad mood lately. She may or may not be mad at me because I gave her the run-around on book two for so long because I didn’t want to relive all those nightmares again. Can you really blame me? Someone needs electroshock treatment on her brain or a ten gallon bucket of rainbows, unicorns, and chocolate, and her name rhymes with Pindsey.

 

Anyway.

 

She wants me to say where I’d like to go on vacation. Hello? Anyone in there, Ms. Pindsey? I don’t have time for vacation! There are bad, bad things crawling through Krapper, Kansas. Didn’t you learn anything in The Grave Winner?

 

Uh-oh, guys. She’s giving me that look she gives her cat when he barfs up a fur ball on her pillow. Okay fine. CODY, WYOMING. That’s where I’d go. After I checked and rechecked and checked and rechecked again that no one was trying to kill me or my family or my friends and that the dead were resting peacefully in their graves. Then and only then would I go.

 

Why Cody, Wyoming? That’s where Tram used to live. He just told me in book two that it’s where his parents live, too. He talked about them like he really missed them, and they sound like really great people. I guess they’d have to be to have a hot and mysterious son like Tram. Also, it’s where the sorceress named Two is from. Coincidence? I’d like to find that out.

 

Oh, and also? I’m finished telling Ms. Pindsey what happened in book two. She just has to make it readable or whatever. A couple songs are helping her with the flow and tying it all together. The songs are actually kind of cool. This one’s “Oh Death” by Jen Titus:

 

 

And this one’s a creepy little number called “Come, Little Children” by Erutan.

Okay, I’m leaving now. Don’t forget to leave your flowers and other gifts for your dead loved ones at home, people. And never go to the graveyard at night.

 

Oh, one more thing! Ms. Pindsey is giving away 2 signed print copies, 2 e-copies, and 2 signed bookmarks, all international!!! Check out the Rafflecopter below.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

(This is part of PJ Blog Tours Indie Summer Group Blog Tour. For the full tour schedule, click here and don’t forget to enter to win a Kindle Fire HD and gift cards!)

My Vacation: I Know Where the Hobbits Live

by Lindsey Loucks, posted in Edward Pulaski, Hobbits, Idaho, Manito Park, Mordor, Vacation, Washington, Washington DC

No, I didn’t travel to New Zealand, but you know where I did go? Washington, as in the state, not D.C. like I did last year. Which reminds me, why is it that when I say I’m vacationing in Washington, people look at me like they’re waiting for me to finish my sentence? For example:

 

Person: Oh, you’re going on vacation! How exciting. Where to?

Me: Washington.

Person: *lifts eyebrows and blinks expectantly*

Me: *sighs* The state of Washington.

 

Let’s all pull out our world atlases and look at the United States. See Washington? It’s Washington, right? Not the State of Washington? Can you find Washington, D.C.? If I was going to Washington, D.C., I swear on my life I would add the D.C. part right after I said Washington. Okay, /rant. I’m usually sooooooooooo easy-going, but that makes me want to light my face on fire.

 

Anyway. Let’s move on to the actual vacation. We flew out of the Denver International Airport, and let me tell you something: If going through security before made me feel kind of guilty, like maybe I was hiding something and I didn’t even know it, now it makes me feel like I’m definitely a terrorist. Security makes you walk through a new scanner thingy where you have to raise your arms over your head like you’re about to be arrested. Guess what? It beeped when I walked through. The buckle on the back of my shorts was made of metal, and I completely forgot about it. So I had to be patted down while I turned fifty shades of red.

 

Yes, I understand the point of increased security. I really do. But if I had taken that buckle off, my shorts would have fallen to my ankles and everyone would have seen my granny panties. No fun for anyone.

 

Okay, back to the vacation part. My parents were the reason I was vacationing in Washington, and my BF reminded me why I’m definitely their daughter. My parents are hobbits, you see. They live to eat, but neither are overweight. They live in a cozy home with a fireplace and walls full of bookshelves. They go a lot of places, but they prefer to stay at home with their books and cheeses and cakes. They don’t, however, have big hairy feet. Yep. I’m definitely my parents’ daughter.

 

Oh, and we also went to Mordor. It was a perilous journey full of climbing, hiking, dodging snakes, and following the leprechaun to a patch of four leaf clovers. You might think I’m kidding, but I’m really, really not.

 

See? They're a little dried up, but they still count.
See? They’re a little dried up, but they still count.

 

This is the foresty part on the way to Mordor.
This is the foresty part on the way to Mordor.

 

I didn’t get a picture of the snake because I was too busy running away, in case you were wondering.

 

Okay, so we weren’t really going to Mordor. We were actually in Wallace, Idaho, which is close to where my parents live. The largest forest fire in the history of the United States swept through this small town and destroyed a third of it in 1910. Wallace resident and forest ranger Edward Pulaski saved thirty-eight men from the fire by leading them to safety into an old mine. The path we walked winds around the above stream and leads close to the mine. On the way there, we saw towering trees with black marks scorched right up the sides of them.

 

We couldn't go inside the entrance to the mine. :(
We couldn’t go inside the entrance to the mine. 🙁

 

We also visited Manito Park in Spokane, Washington. It was gorgeous.

 

This...whatever it is looks like furry red cat tails!
This…whatever it is looks like furry red cat tails!

 

The view from the Japanese Gardens. So pretty!
The view from the Japanese Gardens. So pretty!

 

Since I come from a family of hobbits, it should come as no surprise that we ate. A lot.

 

This giant sundae was one of the many, many things we devoured. That's my mom behind it wondering if we have big enough spoons.
This giant sundae was one of the many, many things we devoured. That’s my mom behind it wondering if we have big enough spoons.

 

It was so much fun to visit with my parents, but because I’m a hobbit, I also enjoyed coming home.

 

Have you gone on any summer adventures? Do you know where any hobbits live?

 

All Packed Up and Ready to Go: I’m DC Bound!

by Lindsey Loucks, posted in Vacation, Washington DC

In a few days, I leave for Washington DC for vacation! I’ve never been there so it should be a lot of fun. We only have a few days to see all the sights and eat all the food, so those of you who are in the know, do you have any recommendations for what I absolutely must do/eat/see?

Gearing Up For Vacation #2

by Lindsey Loucks, posted in Contests, Jesse, Vacation

After four email robot rejections, I finally was able to submit my first 250 words in the contest. Email robots are picky, even more than all my English teachers combined. Only twenty-five people can enter through the time window – I was number twenty-five. The robot told me so. There was a second window later in the day, but my internet connection crapped out on me, and I wouldn’t have been able to enter. So it was close. Too close. I feel a story brewing with email robots and time windows and cutting things close… Hmm. I’ll file that away for later.

In other news, I’ve started writing the sequel to The Grave Winner, which is titled What Gifts She Carried. It would be an understatement to say I was excited. I have to know what happens to these characters because even darker, more horrible things will drop in their paths. (I’m giving the computer an evil squint as I type this).

And, oh yeah, I’m going on another vacation! I leave Thursday to visit my parents in Liberty Lake, Washington, a small but super cute town outside of Spokane. I haven’t seen my parents in almost a year, which is way too long. Last time I visited, they put real estate brochures all over their house in their not-so-subtle attempt to get me to move out there. I’d go if I could bring my job with me…

So, I’ll be MIA for awhile, but don’t worry. The BF and I put this video together of cute pictures of Jesse. If you watch it enough times, you’ll be so smitten with His Majesty’s cuteness, you won’t even miss me. The music comes from the soundtrack to the TV show Cowboy Bebop. The second song is meant to be sleepy-sounding, not sad. Even though Jesse just knocked over the trash can and used coffee grounds flew all over the carpet, he’s not dead.

Pack Up the Dead Body and Take It To New York City!

by Lindsey Loucks, posted in Characters, Vacation

Hee-hee. This is just a bit of vacation humor. I recently took a trip to NYC, and on the beautifully wooded drive to tour West Point, I made the I’m-just-joking remark, “This would be a good place to dump a dead body.” Open mouth. Insert shoe. Someday I’ll learn that not all my thoughts need to be spoken aloud. That was my writerly brain working, as it always does, and I was thinking those deep woods would be a good place to dump a dead body fictionally. Not for real, yo.

Thankfully the people who were with me were able to laugh. Then they told me about the Harlem Suitcase Murder. Who needs a wooded area to dump a dead body when you can just stuff them in a suitcase?

More about stuffing things in suitcases later. Here’s a picture of West Point:

Pretttttty.
And since this is kind of a murderous post, here’s a picture of Napoleon’s guns and swords at West Point:
And to show you that I’m not all murdery, here’s a picture of the Peace Fountain:



Now back to stuffing things in suitcases. If your MC was going on a trip, what would they take with them? What would they pack it all in? This might be a good way to get to know your characters. My MC Leigh would pack her Ipod, Grrrl t-shirt, black eyeliner, leather studded wristbands her mom gave her, the family photo that still has a little bit of dirt on it, and some spare band-aids in case she gets bitten by a spider again. She’d throw it all in her backpack, then she’d be ready to go. No dead bodies – not for this MC.

Your turn!

Gearing Up for Vacation #1

by Lindsey Loucks, posted in Jesse, Vacation

My brain is a bit scattered because Vacation #1 is right around the corner. So I will leave you for a couple weeks with the following video of Special Agent Jesse on an important mission: