Tweet. Tweet. Tuesday! Top Tweets of the week!

*Don't forget to scroll down for the TOP TWEET OF THE WEEK!*
@Leadershipfreak : Before offering solutions be sure you're solving the right problem. #leadership
@elizabethscraig :The Right Tools for Planning a Writing Group: http://bit.ly/jFzAkS #amwriting
@Freedom4unow: Remember "They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel." Carl W. Buechner
@Elizabethscraig: POV confusion? Helpful links: http://bit.ly/hJZD8n #amwriting
@Kimcormack: Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you. ~Colin Sautar #quotes
@Bcwilliamsbooks: Trouble with getting a grande mocha coconut Frappuccino is that a week later you're hungry again.
@Booksandwine: I secretly love the song Friday! KICKIN IN THE FRONT SEAT...... *rocks out til 5 p.m.*
@kate_mckean: You all care passionately about punctuation. And that's why I love you. #serialcommawars
@BubbleCow:  Metaphors vs. Similes - http://bit.ly/kOxst4
@Jimmarks: Great Post! 12 things to do after you’ve written your blog post... http://bit.ly/jJDlcq
@Randomhouse: D'oh--forgot the link. Now, watch Children’s Poet Laureate Mary Ann Hoberman read from Lear's Complete Book of Nonsense: http://ow.ly/4T3Iw
@MyraMcEntire: Did my agent just send me a Dance Break recommendation? And did it involve Nicki Minaj? Yes and yes, two reasons why @hroot is BOSS.
@Bookmarketer:  How the "New" Facebook Affects Authors http://bit.ly/jOcn6k #book #marketing
@Cjredwine: If you mix her with 3 cans of cold water, she's delicious with waffles in the morning. #evilconcentrate #nopulp
@Hroot: Like, if you magically got Tom Cruise's agent, you wouldn't have his career. Work on the work, not the trappings.
@Valeriestorey: Today's creative prompt: take 5 objects in your immediate surroundings. Give them superpowers--what can they do? Freewrite.

TOP TWEET OF THE WEEK!!!

@Cjredwine:  SOLD!! (a few more details on my exciting news) http://t.co/nBlD2sK 

CONGRATULATIONS, CJ on the top tweet honor and the THE COURIER'S DAUGHTER trilogy Sale!!!!

MONDAY!!!!

It's Monday and there are so many ways to start the week.
The mini's usually grumble, "How many days to Friday?" before they pull the covers over their head.
My mom always loved Monday's; it was her day to garden and cook.
My brothers would take on the mini's sentiment.
But for me...
I guess it depended on the weather. If it was sunny outside, Monday was going to be great. If it was cloudy, well, I'd do the pull the covers maneuver.
For those of you who don't know my Italian-spark plug-always-happy mother, It should come as no surprised that a ton of my optimism and push-on-through mentality comes from her.
It should also not surprise you that she tends to give "motivational" speeches.

Not the "Down by the river" Saturday Night Live motivational speeches, but ones that make you sit back and say, Hmmm ... and then Oh *insert sigh*.
She owns a real estate company with a 150 agents, who--right about now given the past 5 years of Real Estate drought--tend to look at her as the silver lining around the dark recession clouds.  I can't tell you how many times I heard growing up, "You're so lucky to be Carol's daughter." or "Everything must be OK with a mom like that."
They're right.
I am lucky to be Carol's daughter.
and
If my momma's smiling... everything must be OK.
It's a lot of blind faith and I never really knew what made my mom tick until she shared this video in one of her office meetings.
Then it it all made sense...
Hope you enjoy:

Thursday Throwback that Rolled into Friday.

Alright, they the second time is always better so I will try …again… to post Thursday’s Throwback song on Friday. C’mon Blogger, NO WHAMMIES!!!!
RECAP:
On Wednesday: I, along with the rest of my besties, had a CRAP day. Heads down we weathered the storm. I wrote a poor me blog post, crawled into bed and threw the covers over my head like every good, yet slightly defeated, writer/mommy needs to do every now and again.

On Thursday: I woke up, which is always a plus, with a much better attitude.  After giving the test-the-waters morning a mommy glare along with the don ‘t-try-it head tilt, I wracked my brains for a Thursday Throwback. 
Scouring Youtube is such a hard task!
Nope, didn’t say that with a straight face. 
After, what seemed like HOURS of searching … OK I found the song in two clicks but got hung up on book trailers… I came up with:

DA-DA-DA-DUM!!!!!

Chumbawumba’s Tubthumping!!!!!

I know!

You can’t say it without smiling!!!
Wrote the post, attached the you tube video and scheduled the launch.
I picked up the mini-me’s, cooked dinner, checked homework, played networked on twitter, climbed into bed and asked my darling hubby:

 “Did you like my Thursday Throwback?” He’s a Chumbawamba fan.

“No?”

“You didn’t?”

“No, I didn’t see a post.

Bed covers went flying as I ran into my office pulled up Blogger to see when did I have that post scheduled for and found this:

To get Blogger back to normal, all posts since 7:37am PDT on Weds, 5/11 have been temporarily removed. We expect everything to be back to normal soon. Sorry for the delay.

Posted by at 04:25 PDT

Somebody screamed.

Somebody said, “Mindy, don’t scream you’ll wake up the kids.”

So… without any further ado…

Throwback Thursday/FanFlippinFreakinTastic Friday’s Video is:

 Chumbawamba's Tubthumping aka I Get Knocked Down

Ps… not your normal music video and
Pss… I have a feeling the mini’s were watching this video. There’s a hoop in my kitchen.

Gone Fishing!

Have you ever noticed that if you tell someone you’re “on a roll” or “the words are flowing like a river” fate steps in and kicks ya square in the teeth?    How ‘bout this one: “If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans.”

I’ve been working on super cool project codename: EC and uttered the words, “Holy cow, I think this’ll be done in a couple of weeks.” So … yep, God, fate and the mini-mes got together and whammied me! 
The past couple of weeks have been, well, hell would be a nice place.
Tartaros!!!
That’s where Zeus and the mega brother’s sent their daddy’s chopped up little pieces. Think my kids may have paid a little bit too much attention to Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief. 
Why?
All three of the Ruiz mini-me’s have played a roll in the double whammy, send mommy batty, kick her in the teeth before we send her to a very hot place plan. 
So what’s the point of this mindless, sleep deprived post you ask?
Simple.
Next time I feel the urge to say, “Holy Cow! *insert whatever great news I’m holy cowing*, I’ll just hang a sign that says… 
Gone Fishing.
Not even the fish pay attention when ya say that!

Tweet. Tweet. Tuesday!

 Twitter!!!! Ahhhhhh!!!!
There are some priceless gems on Twitter. Gems of advice, Industry tips, Web tips and over all Roll On The Floor Laugh Out Loud moments.  I’m a re-tweet queen and love when the people that follow me, re-tweet my re-tweets!
All of that got me thinking.
How cool would it be if you could take a weeks worth of awesomeness tweets and find them on a specific day at a specific site!
My ah-ha + Twitter + Tuesday and BAM!!!!
You get the launch of  Tweet. Tweet. Tuesday!!!!
Here goes.

@MarkoRubel: The best way to gain self-confidence is to do what you are afraid to do. ~Author Unknown #quotes

@4KidLit: Ever noticed that mother's get the bum rep in fairy tales? http://bit.ly/jbuBlv #amwriting #writing
@cjredwine: Am heading in to run a new hire orientation. Last week, I was lectured about an imminent apocalypse & microwave ovens. Today? Who knows.
@hroot: Some mornings you will walk the streets of Manhattan carrying a full-size Highland claymore. #normal #fullserviceagency
@OnlyEG: Alicia Silverstone named her son BEAR. I think she misses eating meat?
@ReadingTeen2: Reading Teen: ATTENTION FANS: We have a guest post from "TIMELESS" author Alexandra Monir http://bit.ly/k8Bgmr
@TeensInLove: Just because it's not what you were expecting, doesn't mean it's not everything you've been waiting for.
@DreamingReviews: That's okay. My metaphors are only worse this late at night.
@mstiefvater: Because I was lazy, I just ate a Stouffer's stuffed pepper. What I would like, very much, is to never eat that again. Ever
@inluvwithbookz: @YAFantasyGuide http://twitpic.com/4vo09f - Oh wow!!! yay!!! Love Cassie Clare... <3
@scott_tracey: The only thing it lacks is Judd Nelson pumping his fist in the air, but if you listen closely...it's there.
@GoblinWriter: Lots of comments on "Pricing Your Ebook at 99 Cents: Pros and Cons" http://bit.ly/k3OVqt Come join the debate. :) #epublishing
@elizlaprade: When the student is ready, the master appears. ~Buddhist Proverb
@galleysmith:  Ok, so what is this I hear about the 21st being doomsday? Um, no...I'll be on the way to BEA , doomsday is unacceptable
@PublishersWkly: Stanley Tucci cast as Caesar Flickerman in The Hunger Games (via @LionsgateNews)
@elizabethscraig: The ABCs (and Ds and Es) of Plot Development:  http://bit.ly/lLXN7p  #writetip
@Sports_Greats: It is not how big you are, it's how big you play. -Unknown
@valeriestorey: Today's creative prompt: take 5 objects in your immediate surroundings. Give them superpowers--what can they do? Freewrite.

So if you have any suggestions or anything you see and think is TTT worthy, lemme know!

Sex & The City ... Twitter style

I’ve never hidden the fact that I LOVE TWITTER.  I love it.  In 140 characters, usually less, I have made some of the most amazing friends.  I have found a community of writers that love to share their thoughts & their opinions.  They have the same snarky wit as I do and these people genuinely care about each other’s lives outside of the writing realm.
A couple of days ago my friend Hope needed a blog post to make her laugh. 
NO pressure, right?
I tried writing about my adventures in the Royal Wedding.
Talked about wearing my barrette Tiara to a political dinner for my husband’s city commission.
The minis ALWAYS provide enough antics for a funny blog post …
BUT...
None it felt right.
Last night, as I was going through Wills n Kate Royal wedding withdrawal, I flipped across Sex and the City, the first movie.  Of course, every writer sees themselves in the Carrie roll; published books stacking up on a bookshelf, Big making an ass of himself, and then there was the part where Carrie was stood up at the altar. It made me sit up and, yes, I cried.   Not because she was left at the altar, but because she had three friends that rallied around her. They got rid of the guests, went on the honeymoon, and moved Carrie back into her old, sold apartment while Carrie was catatonic. 
I have friends like these.
I have friends in the real world like those women and I have friends in the Twitter world like these women.
*cue the funny girls*
Run-down of my Sex and the City Twitter cast.

Samantha  = Beth.  Good lord this woman can turn your cheeks to a blush in no time.  She’ll talk hand jobs right next to blowing bubbles with the kiddies.  Beth is a bulldozer marketer that is constantly working to better the people around her, encourage them to push through the hard times (no pun there) and genuinely sees that her success is not only in the publishing of her books, but in the publishing and nurturing of others.  She’s no nonsense and, yes, she’s working her way on to the naughty list one lump of coal at a time.

Charlotte = Hope. Two words, hooohaaa and hand-mirror.  Don’t know what I’m talking about??? It’s a Sex and the City episode you must Netflix, Hulu or you tube because that episode IS my darling friend, Hope.  I say erotica: she blushes. I say stiff upper lip: she blushes. I say bow-chica-wow-wow … yep, she blushes.  I would have it no other way!  This woman loves her family. She loves her children and she loves her friends.  If there were a Big in our world she would stomp a foot and say, “I rue the day you were born.”  Of course, she’d probably pee her pants instead of going into labor.  She’s a self-proclaimed socially awkward person—which, on a side note, is a load of horse doodie— carving out pieces of time to write a novel that I KNOW will make you gasp & possibly blush.  You’re perfect Hope. Embrace the awkward and own it.

Miranda – Trisha. Work , work, work, work, work.  I promise you this woman has the Seven Dwarfs theme song running loops in her head. Positive and perky she’s always figuring out ways to write and promote her book and the works of others. She runs a book blog and she’s always there to run a fresh set of eyes over your WIP.  All of this and she’s an amazing mother to a teen age boy. *gasp* yes, a teenager and a boy with no nanny!?!

My twitter world is growing and growing. I’ve met amazing book bloggers like Brandi Kosiner,  Julie B. (she’s like Cher & Madonna, first name only.) , Andye & Amy and Jenn, just to name a few! So many wonderful people that I’ve had the privilege of meeting all in 140 characters or less.

MWAH, Tweeple.  And a special MWAH, Hope.