Miss Snark…She is just too funny

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Charlotte Copper

Hi all, for this week’s blog I am borrowing (with permission) from another blogger. ..Miss Snark.
I look forward, with anticipation, to Miss Snark’s posts popping up in my in-basket because she makes me laugh, and sometimes even cry out loud “yes, yes, I’m not alone”. What is so funny is that she talks about everyday life, often focused around her husband & children. Below is her blog from today, but Friday was just as funny, so visit her at http://melissasnark.blogspot.com and consider signing up for her blog.

And now, from Miss Snark:
After Marriage Arthritis

Mrs. Snark: “Dear, I have washed and folded a basket of laundry. Please put it away when you have a chance.”
Mr. Snark: “I’ll get right on that.”

Three weeks later:

Mrs. Snark: “Mr. John LazyBones Snark! It’s been three weeks and you still haven’t put away that basket of laundry! I’ve added fresh clean laundry to it every day since I first asked. Now it is stacked to the ceiling and teetering at a crazy angle!”
Mr. Snark: “I’ll get right on that.”

Does this exchange sound familiar? What many newlywed wives are just realizing, and old married ladies have known for years, is that this male behavior is indicative of a much greater ailment.
What is After Marriage Arthritis?
After Marriage Arthritis (AMA) is defined as a man’s inability to perform a task–simple or complex–that his wife has requested be completed. While most often associated with married adult men, a similar strain of this condition has been known to affect bachelors and young males. During the courtship period, the man may hide or disguise his condition from his sweetheart by being extra helpful. The term “lazy” was once loosely used to imply the same disorder.
How common is it?
After Marriage Arthritis is extremely common. According to the Maryland Institute of Male Behavioral Studies, AMA is the most common ailment known to afflict married men. Comprehensive clinical trials designed to measure male noncompliance to female requests have revealed that AMA affects vast segments of the population. In fact, an estimated 99% of married men suffer from some degree of After Marriage Arthritis (classified as mild, moderate or severe).
What is mild vs. severe?
The mild AMA dysfunction typically occurs when a man is able to follow simple instructions, which results in the assigned task achieving some measurable degree of completeness. Severe dysfunction is where a husband cannot accomplish a task at all. The actual severity of the condition may be considered a subjective problem. Some wives may be willing to accept a lower level of compliance than others.
After Marriage Arthritis Causes: Psychological/Physical
Psychological factors account for about 99.99% of AMA problems and often result from lethargy, laziness or simple unwillingness. These factors may result in sinks full of unwashed dishes and a variety of household chores going unperformed.
Adverse Effects on Daily Life
A woman with a man affected by AMA may experience feelings of frustration and anger. Meanwhile, the man affected may experience secret feelings of smugness and accomplishment for having accomplished nothing. Personal relationships can be adversely affected if it is left untreated.
Importance of Proactively Treating After Marriage Arthritis
Unfortunately, there is no known cure for AMA at this time. Sometimes, nagging has been observed to act as a remedy. Other times, the suspension of coitus privileges has been demonstrated to temporarily alleviate the symptoms of AMA. A motivated penis makes for a more motivated husband.

(End of Miss Snark’s blog)

I would like to add that after months of trying to get The Husband to put away his laundry, I simply bought another laundry basket which I put in the bottom of his closet. After laundry is done, I drop his clean folded clothes into the basket. Sometimes there will be 3 or 4 weeks of clean clothing tumbling out of the basket, but at least I don’t have to look at it every day.

The evolution of a pen name…

Posted on January 26, 2013 by Charlotte Copper

So for those of you that don’t know me personally, I have a confession…Charlotte Copper is not my real name. It is a pen name. Why a pen name? I have to admit, I did want to see MY name (my real name) on the cover of my book, but I chose a pen name because in this world where everything can be found on the internet, I wanted a little bit of privacy. Not a lot, because I know I can still be found…but a little.

So how did I come up with Charlotte Copper? It was an accident actually.

My soon-to-be released book is titled Silver Blade. All the other stories I’ve written, am writing, and hope to publish, have colors in their titles, too. I’ve submitted Golden Star to Wild Rose Press in hopes of getting a second novella published, and Red Forever was my first (sob, sob) rejection letter. Based on this trend, I decided I wanted a color in my name.

The first name I decided upon was Amber Rose. How perfect! Colors in both first and last, and (in my opinion) a true romance writer name. However, as some of you may know, Amber Rose is also the name of (according to Wikipedia, anyway) a model and actress. Yes, I could still use it, but I decided to keep looking.

Then I moved to Amber Lee. Good name, keeps the Amber, puts me in the middle of the alphabet on book lists. Again, thanks to the internet, I found out Amber Lee is also a model. This Amber, however, is known to model bathing suits, lingerie, and less. Moving on…

I threw around ideas like Roni Rose, Wendy White, Velvet Green. I was rambling on about this one day in the car to The Daughter, when I said, “I should just use my grandmother’s name, Charlotte Cowper.” “Why don’t you?” she asked. “Because I want a color,” was my answer.

A couple of days later, I’m lying on The Daughter’s bed as I try to wake her up for school, and I’m rambling once again about trying to find a pen name. The Daughter, who is not truly awake and is simply trying to get rid of me says “Why don’t you just use your grandmother’s name. Charlotte Cowper. Or Charlotte Copper. Or whatever!”

And voila! A tribute to my grandmother. A color in my name.
A pen name…and author…were created.

Writing does not have to be a solitary act

Posted on January 13, 2013 by Charlotte Copper

They say writing is a solitary act. That is true, and yet there is a lot of support out there if you look.

For a few years now, I have been a member of the Writers’ Community of Durham Region (WCDR); an amazing group of writers who are very supportive and encouraging. Some are multi-published, some are just thinking about writing, and many are in the business (editors, teachers, etc).

I joined the WCDR after I wrote my first novel. “Wrote” mind you…not submitted, not published. I joined to find out how to get it published, and I learned a lot. The one thing I learned is that the book will likely never see the light of day. Although my first book ended up being shelved (or more correctly removed from my computer to a USB key), what I gained resulted in Silver Blade being seen and accepted.

The one thing that seemed to be lacking from my WCDR experience was other romance writers. Romance is the largest book market out there, and yet I felt like I didn’t belong with these writers. “What do you write?” I’d ask and get answers like poetry, non-fiction, and memoir. “What about you?” they would ask. “Paranormal Romance” I’d say and feel like I wasn’t a serious writer.

Now let me clarify that no one…ever…at WCDR made me feel that way. It was all of my own doing, and yet I decided I needed some more interaction with like-minded individuals. So this year I decided to spread my wings and join the Romance Writers of America (RWA) and the TRW (Toronto Romance Writers)…you must join the RWA before you can join the TRW. And both memberships were Christmas gifts from my mom – thanks mom!

Anyway, my first TRW meeting was yesterday, and it couldn’t have been better. Yes, it was 95% women (and I think 2 of the men were there simply because they drove their wives) but just listening to some of the women talk, I knew I was in the write place (pun intended).
What made it even better, was that Kelley Armstrong was the speaker at my first TRW meeting. She spoke from 9 – 4 about the business end of writing, as well as her own personal writing. I’ve got her entire Otherworld series, and can’t wait for her new adult Cainsville series to come out in August. Here is a photo of me with Kelley. (Yes, I did ask her permission to post her photo on my blog.)

I’m looking forward to learning and sharing with these women (and men). If I could achieve a fraction of Kelley’s success with my books, I’d be happy. As I said before, as a romance writer, I believe in happy endings!