Salinye

Hi guys! I uploaded the amazing picture that Yui did for me years ago as my signature again, but it's HUGE. Does anyone know how I make it smaller? Thanks, ~Sal

fyi My skype has broken! Grrrr...It's frustrating as my entire business is run off it! I'm working with their support to get it back up in a jiffy! Just a heads up so no one thinks I"m ignoring them (Patrick and Wyvie!) ~Sali

ahh, well pm me your skype id. I'll add you. Will be fun to hear from you again. ~Sal

Everyone keeps saying that, but I pretty much only use skype these days. I'll have to see if I even have msn on this laptop! lol ~Shelby

It smelled like summer this weekend and I've been GREAT! ~Sal

Drop the knife Scream into the wind Drop to your knees Say a prayer Bathe in the sun Renew your soul See the beauty Love liberally Release your demons Hello, Patrick, friend. ~Salinye

I always love your poems, Crypt. I hardly ever drop in here anymore, but it's so nice to see your writings when I do. I think the only thing you do that matches your beautiful words is your amazing photography! I'm still determined to land in NZ one day and do a photo shoot with the fam. I especially like how you capture the women you've photographed. You catch them in a way they are meant to be seen. I think you often are able to do that with your writing as well. Capture a moment and express it in the way it's meant to be felt. yeesh. I hope that made sense. I should start going to bed earlier! Night, friend. ~Salinye

Nice to see you writing, Mira. ~Sal

I hope all you mommies get spoiled and those of you who have mom's do the spoiling. ~Shelby Mom of FIVE

I'm helping run a conference in Austin this weekend, so I leave Thurs morning to fly out there. I don't have much control of my schedule Friday/Saturday and I fly home Sat night, but I do get to meet up with Yui and Aegon for dinner, so that's EXCITING. In another day, Yui was my partner in crime here around The Pen... ~Sali

Odd. I tested them both, I get a lot of email daily. Here are the three that will get to us: wahmoadmin@gmail.com wahmoutsource@gmail.com sblwrites@gmail.com My company used to be called wahmoutsource. I need to get all the addy's switched over to the new name. ~Salinye

I write with senora elsewhere, but I updated my last post with a piece that shows her empathy "episodes". :0) ~Salinye

This was from a Cliche creative writing exercise. :0) (This was written silly and spur of the moment. *grins at Wyvern* I hope I didn't do you an injustice. OH, and I broke a rule, my saying IS in the story. blech can't even obey my own rules!!) Kevin was quite impressed at all the beautiful baked goods that he saw through the shop window. hmmm perhaps we could buy our wedding cake here. He thought to himself as he pulled the glass entrance door open. A resounding "Bah-BING" rang through the small shop as he entered causing a rustle and shuffle to be heard from the unseen back store rooms. Kevin stood admiring a tall wall full of cakes when a scaly winged almost dragon appeared behind the counter. "Hello, I see you are interested in my many WONDERFUL and equally fair priced cakes." Wyvern said to his newest vict—customer. Kevin smiled. "Yes you do good work. I especially like this one." He said pointing to a three tier white cake edged with burgundy roses. "Oh yes, yes. You have good taste, that is an especially fine one, which is why it's twice as expensive." The almost dragon said with a sly smile. "Twice as expensive!!" The patron exclaimed. "What makes this cake so much finer than say, that one?" He asked pointing to another three tier cake equally as beautiful but edged in Blue. Wyveryn looked to the second cake the man pointed out. "OH, that one is a different story altogether. THAT particular cake is triple the price of a normal cake." He stated matter of factly. "Really, a bargain if you ask me." The man could not believe what he was hearing. "You know, you're not much of a salesman. Don't you have any cakes that are normal priced, or on sale?" The almost dragon fluttered his wings at the word "sale" as cutting prices to please the patrons was deeply against his beliefs. Besides, he felt that the Triple the price WAS a sale! "Well, if you are looking for bargain cakes, you may wish to view the wall behind you." Turning the man looked at the array of cakes on the wall behind him seemingly identical to the ones on the wall before him. "These cakes look exactly the same, why are they priced so much lower?" He asked flustered. "Well, those cakes are rubber." Wyvern walked over to give one of the two tiered cakes a squeeze resulting in a loud "Squeak". "Although, the squeak costs extra." He informed the man. Kevin ran an impatient hand through his hair trying to remain calm with the swindler before him. "Are THESE cakes made of rubber as well?" He asked pointing back to the original wall of cakes he was observing. Wyvern scurried back to that wall. "Oh no no no, those cakes are quite edible." He said coughing a small puff of black smoke seeping from the corner of his toothy mouth. The man looked a bit relieved. "Well okay, so I’m only interested in edible wedding cakes. What is your starting price." Wyvern's eyes lit up at the word price, one of his favorite words. "Well, these FINE can't find anywhere else wedding cakes with luscious frosting, delectable filling and the softest spongy cake in town could be yours for only six hundred geld." "WHAT? SIX HUNDRED GELD?" The man cried out exasperated. "Per tier." Wyvern added nonchalantly. "YOU, sir. Are INSANE!" The man proclaimed as he spun on his heels to leave the scheme of a cake shop he was in. "I guess it is true what they say, you can’t have your cake and eat it to." Wyvern scurried behind the man calling out to him, "Oh yes you can, for the right amount of geld, of course."

Wow...No one took this one on yet. :0) Usually I wait to post my own answers until other people have run with it, but I find myself with some time to spare before dance class. 1. What are the things that you feel you MUST have in your life to be comfortable on a day to day basis. I'm going to be completely honest with this. I used to require MUCH less to feel comfortable than I do now. However, I would like to preface that with comfortable does not mean happy. There are very few things that I must retain in order to have true happiness on a day to day basis. However, to me, comfortable would mean not having fear or worry. Since I am the mother of 5 children, in order to not have fear or worry, I require things I would not have required previously. I need to have a good house in a safe neighborhood, I need my husband to have a secure job with a steady paycheck. I need a car that will function without fear of it breaking down. I need to have enough financial stability to pay the bills and provide for the necessities. ...and that's just the materialistic list. I need my husband to love me. I need the Gospel as part of our every day lives. I need my children to feel loved and happy. I need my friends. Truthfully, with my new business, I need my project manager and administrative assistant or I'd be a stress case. I need to feel safe, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Long list, eh? When did I become so high maintenance?? 2. If you are uncomfortable, but not from pain or loss, but more because you're outside your bubble or element, what do you do to overcome this and find comfort? This is a discomfort that would most likely be situational. (awkward, shy, overwhelmed, etc.) This one took some thought for me. I think one of the hardest situations for me to handle is when someone brings negative or mean public attention to me. For instance, if someone is trying to make me look stupid or saying rude things in front of other people, or embarrassing me in a way that is mean instead of funny. This is very difficult for me. I actually had this happen to me recently and I actually didn't find comfort. I didn't want to cause a scene by walking away and I didn't want them to know they had gotten to me, so I just silently endured it and then let it eat myself up in anger the rest of the night. that's really not a good way to handle things. Thinking back, I think I would have rather said something brilliant and clever and then walked away with my head held high. One thing I know for sure is that holding onto anger and letting it ruin your night is a BAD coping measure. The person who was mean didn't think a second about it after the incident and yet I let it ruin my night. So I suppose learning to let go of things I can't control would be good for me. 3. How do you handle true, deep, devestating pain or loss? Soul Shattering pain. How do you find Solace. Truthfully, this was the easiest one for me to answer. There really are only 2 things that really work for me when I have that level of pain. God and my husband. No one else can reach the spots within me that can be hurt like that. Okay, there you go. All my vulnerabilities laid out for you!!! I know you all are great at answering these questions, so I thought I'd dive in first for once instead of making you take the hot seat first! ~Sal

Have you missed these?? I want to know what you do to find true personal comfort and I want to know this on 3 levels. 1. What are the things that you feel you MUST have in your life to be comfortable on a day to day basis. 2. If you are uncomfortable, but not from pain or loss, but more because you're outside your bubble or element, what do you do to overcome this and find comfort? This is a discomfort that would most likely be situational. (awkward, shy, overwhelmed, etc.) 3. How do you handle true, deep, devestating pain or loss? Soul Shattering pain. How do you find Solace. Please remember, these questions are designed to make you think and give you an opportunity to share a piece of you with us. We are always mindful not to stomp on other people's belief systems. We don't all believe the same or feel the same way, so it's important to share your thoughts about you and how you feel and find comfort while not belittling other people's methods. NOT that any of you would. I'm just always careful to add disclaimers. :0) I love the things you all share with these questions. :0) Someone needs to update the consolidated projects list to include the last few of these life questions. Ready, Set...Share! ~Salinye

Whoa... When I decide to drop into the pen, I guess I start epic threads without meaning to!! It was neat reading through this thread and hearing updates from newer people I don't know and some amazing old timers that I haven't heard from in a long while. :0) I drop in when my fevered muse can be restrained no more, but often can't find writing companions to satisfy it. Hard to just drop in and demand interractive rp lol!! Then I end up getting sucked away into life and don't return for awhile because I failed to get involved in anything that kept my muse going. So I'm making a real effort to start or jump into something this time around. :0) My professional life is based around writing, but not this creative writing that I so love. I think my favorite is interractive RP, but I like the storylines that have a little bit of guidance so that it doesn't dwindle into chaos or nothingness. PIcky, picky, I know. :0) I can't believe this thread has 72 posts! I would respond in character, but Sal is technically not at The Pen at the moment. But I'm working on bringing her back. She technically disappeared during the battle in "The Hunt". I would enjoy a Salinye sighting, though. Anyway, lovely to hear from you all. ~Salinye

**This quick free write stemmed from coming back to the board and reading things I have written in the past. Each one stirs strong memory and longing to write. Sort of like the raindrops I speak of. You know how free writes are. They just sort of come out. For good or bad. They are what they are. For me the tree represents The Pen, the woman my muse and the rain drops past writings that I've dropped in on and read for the first time in a long while.** My hand drags down the wet bark of a tree as I glance up into its majestic branches grateful for the few minutes that it was willing to bear my weight as I paused to breathe. Raindrops of remembrance and clarity dripped down from the branches running down my face like cold forgotten tears. What am I looking for again? Bringing my gaze back down I see a figure ahead shrouded in the mist created by the cold rain on the hot summer ground of what was. She seems to be beckoning me forward and despite my hesitation I cannot resist her allure. I never could… As I approach her I tilt my head to the side in wonderment and awe. You would think it would be her beauty and elegance that made my breath catch in my throat, but it was not. It was the fact that despite the downpour, she stood before me dry and untouched. My drenched and homely appearance was all the more noticeable in the shadow of her glory. Welcome flames ignite a numb recognition. Without spoken word, she wraps her arms around me and until that moment I didn’t know how much my soul longed for her, ached for her. Within me a hungry recognition stirred. I closed my eyes in anguish as I realized I was among the forgotten. As if reading my thoughts, she whispered to me. I have not forgotten you. You have forgotten me. I tried to draw her closer to me, but before I could even open my eyes she was no longer entwined within my arms. She ran playfully away from me a smile in her eyes, her lovely locks blowing in a warm breeze I could not feel. It was the moment I realized that she was not something I could keep. She would be something I would always have to pursue. At least I can feel the rain again.

**This quick free write stemmed from coming back to the board and reading things I have written in the past. Each one stirs strong memory and longing to write. Sort of like the raindrops I speak of. You know how free writes are. They just sort of come out. For good or bad. They are what they are. For me the tree represents The Pen, the woman my muse and the rain drops past writings that I've dropped in on and read for the first time in a long while.** My hand drags down the wet bark of a tree as I glance up into its majestic branches grateful for the few minutes that it was willing to bear my weight as I paused to breathe. Raindrops of remembrance and clarity dripped down from the branches running down my face like cold forgotten tears. What am I looking for again? Bringing my gaze back down I see a figure ahead shrouded in the mist created by the cold rain on the hot summer ground of what was. She seems to be beckoning me forward and despite my hesitation I cannot resist her allure. I never could… As I approach her I tilt my head to the side in wonderment and awe. You would think it would be her beauty and elegance that made my breath catch in my throat, but it was not. It was the fact that despite the downpour, she stood before me dry and untouched. My drenched and homely appearance was all the more noticeable in the shadow of her glory. She represents passion and my mind sees the practical. Without spoken word, she wraps her arms around me and until that moment I didn’t know how much my soul longed for her, ached for her. Within me a hungry recognition stirred. I closed my eyes in anguish as I realized I was among the forgotten. As if reading my thoughts, she whispered to me. I have not forgotten you. You have forgotten me. I tried to draw her closer to me, but before I could even open my eyes she was no longer entwined within my arms. She ran playfully away from me a smile in her eyes, her lovely locks blowing in a warm breeze I could not feel. It was the moment I realized that she was not something I could keep. She would be something I would always have to pursue. At least I can feel the rain again.

Hey guys! Just a quick note. Please include your real name when you contact us. :0) Your Pen name helps ME know who you are, but only confuses my admin and we'll need your real name in order for you to be able to work for us anyway. :0) Thanks! ~Shelby

Yes, I have samples. Please email me at sblwrites@gmail.com and I'll forward you an example. This is also a GREAT opportunity to learn the type of writing that people are paying for. i found the hardest adjustment was just learning that they like things formatted a certain way and it goes against all my natural writing instincts to format it the way they like it online! Rev, you are the PERFECT candidate for this type of work. :0) Research and prep time is always included in the writing projects timeline and often times the research and prep is already done for you and handed to you. They just want you to make sense of it on paper for them. We get asked to write on everything from Tools, to business topics, to HEY one guy even asked for a month's worth of "Anti-Hillary Clinton" articles. You just NEVER know what will come down that project pipeline. :0) ~Sal

You get paid on a per project basis. I have standard pricing for article packs, reports, ebooks, etc. :0) 1099 is what I'm required to send to everyone stating how much I paid them that year for my taxes. You're considered an independent contractor. :0) Cheers! ~Sal

OH! I forgot to mention. I have a HUGE, GINORMOUS need for writers who are also World of Warcraft players. I have had a LOT of requests for this and it just isn't a topic you can research and fake as the true players will sniff you out and eat you for dinner. Just thought I would put that out there. :0) ~Shelbinye :fairy

Awww thanks, Tzim. :0) To answer your question, being US based is not a requirement, but English as a first language is. I have had a lot of AWESOME writers approach me and I WISH I could write as well as them in a language that is not my native tongue. However, I haven't been able to use any of them yet just because people write differently when English isn't a first language. Phraseology, terms, it's different. I have picky clients. :0) Although, if I could find someone who could write well enough to fool the clients, then kudos to them. I wouldn't turn them away for sure. European English is even touchy sometimes due to different spelling, etc. However, the editors can fix that. :0) The only time that becomes an issue is if the topic is something that's Very "American" but that's okay because we have PLENTY of topics that come in that are quite international. :0) I hope this will arrive as a good opportunity for people. :0) It's neat when you can get paid for doing what you love. ~Shelby (Salinye) :fairy

Hey Pennites! The title of this post probably made me sound like a board troll, eh? Some of you probably know that I started a company outsourcing writers to companies about a year ago. It's grown OUT OF CONTROL. I've had a hiring freeze on for all of 2008 and now I'm recruiting like CRAZY. :0) Here's the skinny: My company can be found at www.contentdivas.com The homepage is sort of a bandaid page. I don't have all of the tabs up and my blog etc as I did a redesign and haven't gotten content to my designers yet because I'm too busy managing content for everyone else! The main things we write are article packages, reports and ebooks. We also do press releases, but that's not something everyone can write on. We get asked to write on every topic you can think of, except we don't do adult only (XXX) topics (Wyvern wishes) or gambling topics (Again with Wyvern). I know making money from home on the internet can be scary because there are so many scams out there, so if you need references, ask any of the long-time respected pennites or elders about me. I'm ethical to a T and if you've ever wanted to make money from home writing, this is a GREAT opportunity for that. I pay my writers well and I can also help show you how to freelance outside of my company if you're interested in doing more work than my company can provide. If you've wanted to freelance, but never knew how to break into it, my company is a great way to get your feet wet in a friendly safe environment. That being said, we do have standards, you've got to do a good job and deadlines are really important. :0) If you're interested in learning more information, you're not going to want to contact me (although you're welcome to do that as well) you'll want to email my admin Heather at wahmoadmin@gmailcom as she gets all new writers set up and processed. Also, be sure to let her know you're from The Pen. In addition, if you are under 18, I'll need to have your parents permission to work for me because I'm accountable to send you 1099's at the end of the year for your contracted work. It's up to you whether or not you report your earnings, but I do have to issue 1099's at the end of the year. So, I just want to make sure it's alright that you're working for me and so they know I'm not an internet stalker/predator (Wyvern wishes) etc. :0) Anyway. Feel free to pass the word along to anyone else you feel might do a good job and appreciate this type of work from home opportunity. This is really great for stay home moms and college students as well. :0) Talk soon! ~Shelby (Salinye)

LOL When did this thread get so big. I swear, I step away for FIVE minutes.... I tried to revive an rp here, but it got bottlenecked by a certain someone *you know who you are!* My writing business is taking off like CRAZY! I'm pretty excited, if it continues at this pace, my husband will be able to quit his job and we can work the business full time together. What a dream!! *hugs to all* ~Salinye