Many of you probably don't know I have Asperger's. I look totally normal. I'm not freaky looking and I don't have any weird hand tics. See? Here is me:

I'm just incredibly shy and socially awkward in the extreme. I hate talking on the phone. I hate going to stores. I dread anything where I will have to speak to a stranger, or even someone I know. There are four people in the whole world I can talk to comfortably--my friend since the 5th grade, a friend in Altus, Oklahoma, a neighbor friend, and my husband. Even my mom is not on the list. But, online, you would never know I have this. I can express myself well on a blog, and the Asperger's doesn't affect my editing, although I am a little shy when it comes to posting on the loops. I am trying to overcome that, though. I have a hard time standing or sitting still, and to edit, I need ADHD medication (currently on Strattera after a bad experience with Vyvanse). Anyway, sometimes I may say some inappropriate or seemingly uncaring things, but I do care very deeply about people, and sometimes I can't even watch the news because I have a lot of empathy. The recent finding of the body of Caylee Anthony had me awake all night the day it happened. But, I also think people are in charge of their lives. You reap what you sow. I had a hard time crying after my father's death at 65, because he drank and smoked and that killed him. I tried all my life to get him to quit. So, when he got deathly ill, I wasn't surprised, and I kept thinking he is just suffering the consequences of his actions. I wasn't able to cry for him until Steve Irwin died. I know, it's weird. But when Steve Irwin died, I cried my eyes out, and realized that night, not only was I crying for Steve, but I was also crying for my dad.

Now, for my writing tip of the day (part of my Asperger's/ADHD is that I will jump from one subject to the next in the space of a heartbeat):

He felt/heard/saw/realized/decided/knew/figured, etc: I have seen this in almost every single story I've edited. You don't usually need these phrases at all. When you are in a character's point of view, the reader knows this is what the character saw/felt etc.

For example, "Jenny knew Nick would knock on her door after dinner." You don't need "Jenny knew" because we are in her POV (point of view), and the sentence is much less distracting and deeper in her POV when it reads, "Nick would knock on her door after dinner."

Another example: “Jenny heard Nick fall down the stairs.”

How boring. Look at how much better this is: “Nick thudded and thumped down the stairs, heel over butt, shouting a slurred curse as his head cracked on the bottom concrete step.” We can figure out lots of things from this sentence, first and foremost that Jenny actually heard this happening. We can tell the fall hurt (his curse), and we can tell he was probably drunk (slurred speech). The reader can actually picture the scene in their head with the second example.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great Sunday! Go Bucs!