You can't make things right all the time no matter how bad you want to.....


Fate has a funny way of stepping in and bringing people into your life if only for awhile with no guarantee they will stay. Sometimes just long enough to bring you the answers that you needed in order to move forward. You can’t cry over misguided fate more then once ............. after that its time to move on........


Its okay to drop your guard sometimes and trust even when you’re terrified of the consequences…………..It may be that life lesson or cherished memory you’ll carry with you the rest of your life………..You’ll never know until you take that step……….


Don’t be afraid to love with all you have…….if its worth fighting for then it’s worth facing it head on…………….

Hi guys I just had to share the events of this past Saturday night. After a day of shopping with the family we all decided to eat dinner at Masters Wok here in Anderson.  The meal was great and as you all know at the end of the meal at a Chinese restaurant the waitress brings around the fortune cookies.  The following events and dialogue are true and in no way should be attempted unless your life is in chaos like mine!

While the waitress was in the process of handing the cookies out, I looked at my sister Kathy and said  "You know the way my life is going, maybe she should leave me the bucket!

We laughed it off thinking nothing about my comment.  Well I open my cookie and it said "Good fortune is yours when you stock tons of fortune cookies!"

I promise! Those were the exact words typed on that tiny piece of paper! I looked at my sister and we both lost our breath laughing. So, I sneak a peek over at my niece Bailee and notice she has an extra cookie and since she thinks her Mimi hung the moon and stars in the sky,

I give her my sweetest smile and say, "Bailee Ann you should give Mimi that extra cookie, she needs a do over."

In which Bailee responds "Mimi you can't have this fortune I've already touched this one so it won’t really be yours but I'll read it to you anyway. She began to read out loud and the whole table was in shock at its contents.

"A love one that you have not seen in months will show up at your front door showering love and joy."

Again I looked at my sister and given my current situation I began shaking my head and backing away from that cookie.   Noooooooo, that is not my fortune either.  The last thing I need right now is a lost love showing up at my door to further complicate my life and since we could all guess who that meant, we ditched that cookie as if it were on fire!

At this point I think my brother-in-law, bless his heart, saw my distress and realized I am once again  grasping at straws for some kind of guidance in my life ask the waitress for another batch of cookies.

Round TWO coming up as she dove into her bucket and pulled out another handful and placed them on the table!  This time I took my time to select the perfect cookie,  the one that would tell me where my life is heading with certainty!   I opened it and there is was........NOTHING! NO FORTUNE!   I looked at my sister this time and noticed she was trying hard not to fall out laughing again!  I demanded to know what an empty cookie meant........

Trying to make myself feel better at this point I say, “Okay, so maybe this means I can make my own fortune.”

My sister who like me never pulls punches,  sat back and smiled, looking at me she said "It was empty Duck, you don't get to make your own besides, there wasn't enough room on the paper for that fortune to begin to be able to tell you what the hell is going on in your life at the moment!"

Moral of this story in times of mass confusion in your life………DON’T COUNT ON A COOKIE!

Okay I want to hear from all of you that have ever resorted to fortune cookies, horoscopes and stopped yourself before visiting a Psychic!

Secondly, I know a lot of you probably have wondered why Talina is no longer at the blog. It’s basically very simple, While she and I will always remain friends, how can you not, when you have laughed, cried and shared as much as we have since we met. We were kind of like two star crossed authors- to- be streaking through the winter midnight sky like shooting stars heading straight for a crash landing, both so caught up in finding someone who understood and shared a love for writing, we both were oblivious to the clash our real lives would have on our make believe ones.

The truth is our writing partnership just wasn’t cutting it. It wasn’t because we couldn’t get along but something as simple as having very different lifestyles and ways of dealing with them day to day. I don’t think this caused our partnership to dissolve, we chose to do that. I do however think that in spending day after day on the computer, we were standing in the way of each other and our individual goals. When you have a friendship/partnership all in the same place (in our case the computer) it’s hard sometimes to know how to separate the two. It’s not like we could go out to lunch on Friday and hash out our personal issues over the salad and move on to the main course and writing ten minutes later. We live in different countries, it just wasn’t possible.

I personally think that sometimes we became each other’s life line to the writing world all the while trying to maintain a semi normal day to day life. And believe me it took a toll on us both. We both knew success would never come for either of us while trying to maintain a working relationship. So we simply decided to go our separate ways with our writing careers.

We hope that as followers of Over the Clothes Line, you guys will continue to visit no matter where our careers take us. I only wish Talina the best in everything she chooses to do and I still stand behind her in wherever her words and dreams lead her. I will always be thankful to her for making me a stronger believer in the world and characters my mind has created.

And lastly back to me. I have chosen to take a break and sort out every aspect of my life but with each new day I find that Nik and Abby seem to want to come out and play, so as humbly as I can possibly say it, I will be going it alone here at Over the Clothes Line and as I pick myself up and dust off the dirt and treat the battle scars I sincerely hope that all of you that have been here from the beginning and all of you who will visit in the future will continue to stick around and come by every now and again to see the new and exciting things that are happening. I promise it will be worth the time that it took me and my characters to return.

Hoping your dreams will always come true,

Donna M. Fitzgerald

             

What can I say it's mama Monday so this is going to be short and sweet.  I have been on the road since 3:00 p.m. today.  First I had to pick Jacob up at school and then head straight over to the other side of town to meet my brother-in-law to hand off my child for weight training.

Yes, it's that time, High School Football is around the corner and thus it begins. Shuffling Jacob to practice, weight training all added to the usual places he has to go to maintain  his social status! ;p

So, again today was short because I was busy doing the most important role in my life....being that wonderful teen's mama!  I have posted his picture so you'll all see that smile that I can't say no to!

So until next time, drop us a line and let us know what duties you have being a mom!

I’m usually at the keyboard writing away or chatting with Talina about plots, characters and sometimes nothing!

Since I live in a home that is always full of music, the steady clicking of the keys on the computer keyboard and chatter, I sometimes wonder if other people could come into our surroundings and function as a unit as well as we do.

The boys will sit just yards away from my writing nook and watch a movie without ever going “hey mama/honey could you stop that racket.” I think they have grown immune to the sound of my fingers tapping along with the ideas flying through my brain and I sit here working away while the background sounds of Bob and Jacob playing anything from tunes from the 80's to Joe Satriani in the garage to watching a fast paced action thriller on the TV. Perfect example they sat down with their dinner last night to Avatar blaring on the big screen and yes EXTRA stereo surround sound while I sat silently in my nook and worked on my WIP. The truth is when the house is quiet and they aren’t in the background, I find it hard to write.

The comforts of my family, moving along in the background, doing what they normally do whether it’s the music or stopping by my nook to chat are the greatest creative noises I know. It’s the sound of a house full of love and mutual respect for the individual things that we all love to do.

Now that I’ve given you a glimpse into the fabulous Friday here in the Fitzgerald home, I would love to know what our bloggers consider to be a fabulous Friday in your home. So drop us a comment and let us know.

Here’s hoping that regardless of the individual hobbies you may have, your home is filled with as much love and happiness my home is always filled with.

Happy Fabulous Friday everyone!

Welcome to our first novice writer interview!!!! Today I have composed a few questions for writer Donna Fitzgerald to answer for us so that we can get to know a little about her and her style.


So let’s get this party started!!!

1) If you could write a blurb starring you, how would it read?

A. Donna Fitzgerald may look like the five foot petite blonde Southern Belle but sometimes looks can be deceiving! With a tongue that can cut you to shreds one minute and make you forget she ever insulted you the next. It will be so quick you’ll wonder if it were an insult or if she just handed you a compliment!


If you don’t want her honest opinion then for heaven’s sake don’t ask! Despite the fiery temper that can be ignited if she is wronged, her unconditional love and gentleness will almost always give you the benefit of the doubt.


She strives to give it her all no matter the situation, whether it’s loving, writing or just living life. Once her mind is made up she will take the journey to accomplish whatever she set out to do!




2) What three words would you use to describe your writers’ voice?

A. Wit, Heart and Guts.



3) Tell us a little about your WIP. What kind of word count are you aiming for?

A. Word count to me is just a number. To me it’s over when all the twists and turns have been wrapped up to form that bow of Happily Ever After.



4) Can you tell us what genre you write? How did you choose that genre or did it choose you?

A. I knew Talina would try and get me on this one! As of right now it’s still up for debate in almost every chat we have! And just to give you the honest truth, the genre definitely chose me.



5) What does your day normally look like? How do you fit in writing with everything else you have to do?

A. I get up and take Jacob to school around 7:30 a.m, Come home and straighten the house, and start up the computer. I write off and on until bedtime taking time out for cooking dinner, laundry picking up Jacob and family time until I fall into bed and get ready to do it all again!



6) IS there anything that you have found out about your writing process that you would like to share with us today?

A. For me it’s listening to your heart. Don’t worry when you sit down to write and the chapter takes a turn that you didn’t see coming. That to me is when the magic happens. Sometimes music can be your best inspiration. And lastly writing is not easy but if you truly love your story enough that you cry and laugh in all the right places at the end of the day you’ve done what you set out to do and that’s makes someone feel good even if at this early point in your writing its yourself. At the end of your manuscript being happy with the story you tell is what’s makes the journey worthwhile.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” He asks alarmed.

“It’s Abby.” I reply.

He sits down and you can see the confusion written all over his face. He’s franticly trying to remember without asking me which side of the “family” this relative is on.

All the while still maintaining his sympathetic look, he asks. “What happened to her?”

Ah, the opening I’ve been waiting for and I’m off! I begin telling him how I want her to do this, but she looks down her nose at me and stubbornly shakes her head no. Then I ask her kindly if she will meet me in the middle and she has the nerve to smile, because she knows she has me right where she wants me-over a barrel. That is when I agree to a 60/40 compromise on what I wanted her to do.

I let out an exasperated sigh. By this time I’ve worked myself into a lather.

“You know,” I say “she’s forgetting who created her!”

Insert blank look on husbands face here. Girls have you ever seen your husband’s face when the buddy next door gets the golf clubs he’s been eyeing all year long? Yep, that’s the one. That’s the look I get. The one of disbelief because he’s just realized that I am not talking about a relative in dire need, but a character in my current WIP. Of course, he doesn’t think I notice that his look has now changed from concern to amusement, but I do. He wants to smile but he doesn’t. He just politely stands up and bends down, gently placing a kiss on my head as if to say “you poor tortured soul.” I grin to myself because I know I am home free-again! He’s left the door wide open and as I follow him into the kitchen he hears my voice trailing behind him.

“And honey, just wait until you hear what William is trying to pull!”



The moral of this story you may be wondering? It’s simple really. Let your characters be as real to you as the everyday people in your life. The ones you love and depend on and could not do without and oh yeah, every once in a while give them that 60/40 compromise because they are what makes the beautiful world we create for them go round.

Welcome to our blogging site where you'll find our views on anything and everything depending on which one of us is blogging and what the day calls for. We're friends, writing partners, friends, plotting partners, friends, mothers, friends ... well you get the gist.

Back in the day- a time when laundry wasn't the only thing hanging out in the backyard - women would venture out to their clothes line for their daily dose of gossip, forming lasting friendships that withstood the test of time.

Although times have changed, women still gather together to share and form friendships over our own sometimes unique clothes lines - at dance class, little league, work or online and yes, even still in our own backyards while hanging out the wash. Friendships are forged sometimes in the most unlikely of places, but no matter the place the bond is still the same. This blog is a tribute to the many versions of todays women - the writers, mothers, wives, sisters, aunts, grandmothers and the single ladies! And of course you guys out there are just as welcomed!!! We hope you visit often and enjoy the friendly atmosphere here at Over The Clothes Line.

We can't tell you whether we'll be talking about our families, our writing, or the latest gossip, but we can tell you to stay tuned in here at OTCL for everything from our tales of waxings-gone-wrong to shopping catastophies that could only happen in a small town in South Carolina or Mexico!

So we hope you'll come back every day to see what's hanging out on the clothes line!