To all my faithful followers: I know I've been very lax in the past month about posting here, and I'm sorry about that. But it will probably be another month, early June, before I get here again. In two days I'm having surgery, the first of two this month, and I won't be able to use my eyes for about 4 weeks. It's really a bummer, messes up my writing schedule badly, but can't be helped.
So for now, good bye for a few weeks. Be good and play nice, and I'll see you in June.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
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Monday, May 9, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Book Review: Water For Elephants
One of the best books I've read in a very long time is Water For Elephants, by Sara Gruen. It is a romantic historical fiction, set in the days of the Great Depression. For those of you who like historical fiction, it may come as a surprise to know that before she started her research into circuses, Ms. Gruen had never been to one, large or small. She did a year's research, even tracking down circus performers for interviews, before she began this book.
This is the story of Jacob Jankowski, who happens to be ninety. Or ninety- three, depending upon whom you believe. Jacob is living out his days in a nursing home, which he hates with a passion. All he has left of his life are his memories of the traveling circus, The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, and thus the meat of the story is told in flashbacks.
The story opens with twenty-one year old Jacob sitting in the food tent as the show for the evening is over, and the roustabouts are getting ready to tear everything down. Suddenly, there is a clash of cymbals, a cacophony of brass, reed, and percussion instruments, and then the loud strains of "Stars and Stripes Forevcr" blast forward. This is the Disaster March...the animals have escaped their cages, stalls, and handlers and are racing pellmell through the midway. Jacob dashes out of the tent, searching for the young woman he has fallen in love with. But he is stopped in his tracks, as he witnesses the murder of the very man he has grown to not only fear, but to hate.
Jacob Jankowski is ready to sit for his final exams in the Veterinary School of Medicine at Cornell University, when he is called out of the room by the head of the school. He learns that his parents have been killed in a horrible accident. When he returns home, he finds that there is nothing left for him, as his parents had mortgaged their house and his father's Vet Clinic in order to pay for his university education. He returns to Cornell, but doesn't write a word on his exams. He walks out, and soon finds himself running along side a train filled with men he believes to be hobos. He swings himself up, and that is the beginning of the next seven years of his life, working with the animals in the Benzini Brothers Circus.
There is Uncle Al, the gross, often cruel circus impressario who thinks of no one but himself, and who will dispatch in the most horrendous way, anyone who disagrees with him or refuses to do what he tells them to. There is Marlena, the beautiful, young star who trains and loves the horses she rides to perfection in her act...and with whom Jacob falls in love. This becomes disasterous, as Marlena is married to August, the animal trainer who is also deranged, and whose flights into madness can focus on the animals, Marlena, or Jacob. Then there is Rosie, the bull elephant who seems to be untrainable, thereby incuring August's wrath many times, until Jacob accidentally stumbles upon a way to get through to her, and get her to obey commands. Slyly, through the book, Rosie comes to love Jacob and Marlena, but quickly learns to hate August...she is merely waiting her turn. Which does come.
The thrust of the story is the love between Marlena and Jacob, Marlena's love of her horses and Rosie, and the shaky relationship Jacob has with the other people in the circus. The ending may surprise you.
Ms. Gruen did her research well. Her descriptions of the filth and squalor of the living quarters the roustabouts and circus people live in; her depictions of the mistreated animals who are fed rotten food and mangy hay; her way of humanizing the "freaks" of the show...all bring to life in the reader's mind, the wonderful, terrible, beautiful, horrifying life of a traveling circus in the 1930s.
One of the most interesting and compelling features of this book is the author's total grasp of the circus vocabulary: the roustabouts, the workers, the impressario, the grifters, rubes, Jamacian ginger paralysis, cooch tent, the Disaster March when something bad occurs, the set-up and take-down of the circus tents, the Midway games, how the "revenoors" ( cops) run the circus out of town, and, perhaps most terrifying of all, the "Red lighting" of those who don't conform to life in a less-than-second-rate traveling circus.
Water for Elephants has a surprising twist, and perhaps a less than totally believable ending, but you will be IN the time and place of this story. You will smell the smells, and breathe in the sometimes sweet and more often fetid air of the Big Top and the Midway, you will see the pathetic animals come to life, and you will hear the band playing the Opening March as animals and performers rise to the occasion as they parade around the Center Ring. You will believe the pagentry, you will laugh and you will cry as the story unfolds, and at the end, you will know exactly who the people were that populated the traveling circuses in small-town America during the Great Depression.
Read the book before you see the movie. I've read the reviews of the movie, and if they can be believed, Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattison do not come close to the intensity and the depth of emotion displayed in the book between Jacob and Marlena.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
This is the story of Jacob Jankowski, who happens to be ninety. Or ninety- three, depending upon whom you believe. Jacob is living out his days in a nursing home, which he hates with a passion. All he has left of his life are his memories of the traveling circus, The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, and thus the meat of the story is told in flashbacks.
The story opens with twenty-one year old Jacob sitting in the food tent as the show for the evening is over, and the roustabouts are getting ready to tear everything down. Suddenly, there is a clash of cymbals, a cacophony of brass, reed, and percussion instruments, and then the loud strains of "Stars and Stripes Forevcr" blast forward. This is the Disaster March...the animals have escaped their cages, stalls, and handlers and are racing pellmell through the midway. Jacob dashes out of the tent, searching for the young woman he has fallen in love with. But he is stopped in his tracks, as he witnesses the murder of the very man he has grown to not only fear, but to hate.
Jacob Jankowski is ready to sit for his final exams in the Veterinary School of Medicine at Cornell University, when he is called out of the room by the head of the school. He learns that his parents have been killed in a horrible accident. When he returns home, he finds that there is nothing left for him, as his parents had mortgaged their house and his father's Vet Clinic in order to pay for his university education. He returns to Cornell, but doesn't write a word on his exams. He walks out, and soon finds himself running along side a train filled with men he believes to be hobos. He swings himself up, and that is the beginning of the next seven years of his life, working with the animals in the Benzini Brothers Circus.
There is Uncle Al, the gross, often cruel circus impressario who thinks of no one but himself, and who will dispatch in the most horrendous way, anyone who disagrees with him or refuses to do what he tells them to. There is Marlena, the beautiful, young star who trains and loves the horses she rides to perfection in her act...and with whom Jacob falls in love. This becomes disasterous, as Marlena is married to August, the animal trainer who is also deranged, and whose flights into madness can focus on the animals, Marlena, or Jacob. Then there is Rosie, the bull elephant who seems to be untrainable, thereby incuring August's wrath many times, until Jacob accidentally stumbles upon a way to get through to her, and get her to obey commands. Slyly, through the book, Rosie comes to love Jacob and Marlena, but quickly learns to hate August...she is merely waiting her turn. Which does come.
The thrust of the story is the love between Marlena and Jacob, Marlena's love of her horses and Rosie, and the shaky relationship Jacob has with the other people in the circus. The ending may surprise you.
Ms. Gruen did her research well. Her descriptions of the filth and squalor of the living quarters the roustabouts and circus people live in; her depictions of the mistreated animals who are fed rotten food and mangy hay; her way of humanizing the "freaks" of the show...all bring to life in the reader's mind, the wonderful, terrible, beautiful, horrifying life of a traveling circus in the 1930s.
One of the most interesting and compelling features of this book is the author's total grasp of the circus vocabulary: the roustabouts, the workers, the impressario, the grifters, rubes, Jamacian ginger paralysis, cooch tent, the Disaster March when something bad occurs, the set-up and take-down of the circus tents, the Midway games, how the "revenoors" ( cops) run the circus out of town, and, perhaps most terrifying of all, the "Red lighting" of those who don't conform to life in a less-than-second-rate traveling circus.
Water for Elephants has a surprising twist, and perhaps a less than totally believable ending, but you will be IN the time and place of this story. You will smell the smells, and breathe in the sometimes sweet and more often fetid air of the Big Top and the Midway, you will see the pathetic animals come to life, and you will hear the band playing the Opening March as animals and performers rise to the occasion as they parade around the Center Ring. You will believe the pagentry, you will laugh and you will cry as the story unfolds, and at the end, you will know exactly who the people were that populated the traveling circuses in small-town America during the Great Depression.
Read the book before you see the movie. I've read the reviews of the movie, and if they can be believed, Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattison do not come close to the intensity and the depth of emotion displayed in the book between Jacob and Marlena.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
Monday, April 25, 2011
An Award and a New Way to Outline
I was recently awarded the Versatile Blogger Award by a writer friend, Allyn Stotz. Thank you, Allyn! Be sure to check out her blog at: www.allynstotz.blogspot.com, and watch for her upcoming picture book, The Pea in Peanut Butter. Now I have to pass this award on to some deserving friends, and then tell you something about myself you might not know...or even want to!
Seven Things About Me You May Not Know:
1. I trained my first unbroken 2 year old filly at age 10.
2. I had my first poem published at age 10, and my first short story at age 12.
3. I sang at the Hollywood Bowl ( Hollywood, CA) when I was 16.
4. I am deathly afraid of spiders and snakes, all kinds, shapes, sizes, colors, and poisonous or not. Daddy Longlegs give me the creeps.
5. I published a book of Haiku poetry when I was in college.
6. I have traveled to 34 states, and traveled to or lived in 9 foreign countries.
7. I have three weaknesses: my husband, my Corgi, and chocolate.
Now to pay it forward: here are the blogs I've nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award:
www.claudsy.wordpress.com
www.terriehope.com
www.ellekennen.wordpress.com
www.kara-writeaway.blogspot.com
Many writers hate to outline. Have you ever thought about doing your plot outline as a three act structure? We all have to have a Beginning, Middle, and End to our stories, so why not think of these elements as a three act play? For example:
Act I
Opening hook
Introduction of the main character
Introduction of the secondary characters
Show the relationships between all the characters: most of your secondary characters are introduced in the beginning of your story, so there is a relationship there, even if minor.
Establish time line or era, and setting of the story
Describe the beginning of the major conflict: what the MC wants or needs
First Act Climax: here is where something unexpected happens to turn things around and possibly send the story or the MC in a new direction.
Act II
Develop the relationship between the characters more strongly
Develop the sub plot or plots
Develop these subplots to show how they and the secondary characters affect the MC, and whether they are, in effect, "friends or foes"...working to help her or working behind the scenes to hinder her
Describe and develop the external and internal conflicts the MC is going to face and have to overcome
Describe and develop the steps the MC has to take to overcome her conflicts
Describe and develop the events which occur that cause tension and conflict, and which hinder the MC in her attempts to achieve her goals
Second Act Climax: This should be the high point of the story, the action-packed scenes which cause the MC to either succeed in her attempts to reach her goals, or to have some kind of action or event that will prohibit her from doing so.
Act III
The third act is the "End" of the story, where all the loose ends are gathered up and tied in a pretty little knot. Here you make sure that your characters, their intermingled relationships, and the subplots have all interwoven perfectly, and that nothing is left to the imagination that should not be. It's one thing to leave your readers wondering or hoping that there might be a sequel to see what could have happened next, but you should never leave them up in the air about some event or issue that should have been resolved within the story. The conclusion is showing how the MC deals with either having succeeded in resolving the external and internal conflicts, or how she comes to terms with having failed at resolving either, or perhaps both. Remember, all stories do not have to have a happy ending, just a satisfactory one that leaves nothing unsaid or undone.
"Plot as a Three Act Structure" does not have to be followed step by step, but it does give you an idea of how to go about planning your story without actually doing an outline. If you're like me and hate to outline, this has been an easier way for me to decide what scenes and actions should go where.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
Seven Things About Me You May Not Know:
1. I trained my first unbroken 2 year old filly at age 10.
2. I had my first poem published at age 10, and my first short story at age 12.
3. I sang at the Hollywood Bowl ( Hollywood, CA) when I was 16.
4. I am deathly afraid of spiders and snakes, all kinds, shapes, sizes, colors, and poisonous or not. Daddy Longlegs give me the creeps.
5. I published a book of Haiku poetry when I was in college.
6. I have traveled to 34 states, and traveled to or lived in 9 foreign countries.
7. I have three weaknesses: my husband, my Corgi, and chocolate.
Now to pay it forward: here are the blogs I've nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award:
www.claudsy.wordpress.com
www.terriehope.com
www.ellekennen.wordpress.com
www.kara-writeaway.blogspot.com
Many writers hate to outline. Have you ever thought about doing your plot outline as a three act structure? We all have to have a Beginning, Middle, and End to our stories, so why not think of these elements as a three act play? For example:
Act I
Opening hook
Introduction of the main character
Introduction of the secondary characters
Show the relationships between all the characters: most of your secondary characters are introduced in the beginning of your story, so there is a relationship there, even if minor.
Establish time line or era, and setting of the story
Describe the beginning of the major conflict: what the MC wants or needs
First Act Climax: here is where something unexpected happens to turn things around and possibly send the story or the MC in a new direction.
Act II
Develop the relationship between the characters more strongly
Develop the sub plot or plots
Develop these subplots to show how they and the secondary characters affect the MC, and whether they are, in effect, "friends or foes"...working to help her or working behind the scenes to hinder her
Describe and develop the external and internal conflicts the MC is going to face and have to overcome
Describe and develop the steps the MC has to take to overcome her conflicts
Describe and develop the events which occur that cause tension and conflict, and which hinder the MC in her attempts to achieve her goals
Second Act Climax: This should be the high point of the story, the action-packed scenes which cause the MC to either succeed in her attempts to reach her goals, or to have some kind of action or event that will prohibit her from doing so.
Act III
The third act is the "End" of the story, where all the loose ends are gathered up and tied in a pretty little knot. Here you make sure that your characters, their intermingled relationships, and the subplots have all interwoven perfectly, and that nothing is left to the imagination that should not be. It's one thing to leave your readers wondering or hoping that there might be a sequel to see what could have happened next, but you should never leave them up in the air about some event or issue that should have been resolved within the story. The conclusion is showing how the MC deals with either having succeeded in resolving the external and internal conflicts, or how she comes to terms with having failed at resolving either, or perhaps both. Remember, all stories do not have to have a happy ending, just a satisfactory one that leaves nothing unsaid or undone.
"Plot as a Three Act Structure" does not have to be followed step by step, but it does give you an idea of how to go about planning your story without actually doing an outline. If you're like me and hate to outline, this has been an easier way for me to decide what scenes and actions should go where.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Frustration!
It's been three weeks since I posted and those have been filled with one frustration after another. I've been trying to establish a website, and nothing works right! Now I know I'm probably the second most technologically challenged person in the US ( the first being my husband), but come on! I'm not stupid! Honest, I'm not. I read the directions, do exactly what it says to do, and voila! NOTHING! NYET! NADA! NO'SING!
So I'm still working on it, and basically getting no where. The problem is I've paid for it for a year, so I have to get it up and going somehow. In the meantime, my frustration level is getting lower and lower. :(
Frustration and writing: how do you deal with that? What if your characters simply don't do or won't do what you intend for them to do? One writer I know says when that happens, she just eliminates the character, and puts a new one in place. Oh wow! if I did that when one of mine decided to develop a will of her or his own, I'd never get a story written, much less a novel. I've had characters wake me up in the middle of the night to tell me they don't like the direction I have them going, and I'd better do something different.
Do you get frustrated when your writing seems to be going well, and then you come to a stumbling block in the middle of a scene, or you realize your plot is going off into an entirely new direction that you hadn't intended? For me, that is frustration at its highest. I seldom want to delete the scene, yet editing it or rewriting it completely to make it all come together at just the right time seems to take forever. On the other hand, there have been times when I've found that the stumbling block, whatever it might be, has in fact made me realize the entire scene is either out of place, or really doesn't need to be there at all.
It's when the plot branches off all on its own, that my frustration level reaches its highest point. I've just had that happen in a steampunk novel ( my first and probably my last !) that I'm working on. It has suddenly become NOT steampunk. It started off as a steampunk mystery, and has now veered off into a fantasy-mystery. I have gone back over the beginning again and again, and it just doesn't stay "steampunk." Yet the mystery, and even the fantasy part, are strong and well-thought out. So now what? Do we ( this is a collaboration) go back to the beginning and rethink/rewrite that part, or stick with that, and rethink/rewrite the latter part of the beginning and the first of the middle? At the moment, the only response I have to that question is: G R R R!
How do you deal with frustration in your writing? Do you leave the story alone for awhile, and when you go back find that things go together after all? Do you just bulldoze your way through, determined things are going to go the way you want, no matter what? Do you settle down, rethink and then rewrite? Do you delete the scene, dialogue, or the part of the plot that seems destined to disrupt your thought and writing process? Or do you take a break, steal some chocolate out of your secret hoard, and just give your muse a rest? What works best for you when frustration pokes a hole in your creativity?
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
So I'm still working on it, and basically getting no where. The problem is I've paid for it for a year, so I have to get it up and going somehow. In the meantime, my frustration level is getting lower and lower. :(
Frustration and writing: how do you deal with that? What if your characters simply don't do or won't do what you intend for them to do? One writer I know says when that happens, she just eliminates the character, and puts a new one in place. Oh wow! if I did that when one of mine decided to develop a will of her or his own, I'd never get a story written, much less a novel. I've had characters wake me up in the middle of the night to tell me they don't like the direction I have them going, and I'd better do something different.
Do you get frustrated when your writing seems to be going well, and then you come to a stumbling block in the middle of a scene, or you realize your plot is going off into an entirely new direction that you hadn't intended? For me, that is frustration at its highest. I seldom want to delete the scene, yet editing it or rewriting it completely to make it all come together at just the right time seems to take forever. On the other hand, there have been times when I've found that the stumbling block, whatever it might be, has in fact made me realize the entire scene is either out of place, or really doesn't need to be there at all.
It's when the plot branches off all on its own, that my frustration level reaches its highest point. I've just had that happen in a steampunk novel ( my first and probably my last !) that I'm working on. It has suddenly become NOT steampunk. It started off as a steampunk mystery, and has now veered off into a fantasy-mystery. I have gone back over the beginning again and again, and it just doesn't stay "steampunk." Yet the mystery, and even the fantasy part, are strong and well-thought out. So now what? Do we ( this is a collaboration) go back to the beginning and rethink/rewrite that part, or stick with that, and rethink/rewrite the latter part of the beginning and the first of the middle? At the moment, the only response I have to that question is: G R R R!
How do you deal with frustration in your writing? Do you leave the story alone for awhile, and when you go back find that things go together after all? Do you just bulldoze your way through, determined things are going to go the way you want, no matter what? Do you settle down, rethink and then rewrite? Do you delete the scene, dialogue, or the part of the plot that seems destined to disrupt your thought and writing process? Or do you take a break, steal some chocolate out of your secret hoard, and just give your muse a rest? What works best for you when frustration pokes a hole in your creativity?
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Awards and Aardvarks
A writer friend just nominated me for the One Lovely Blog Award. Isn't that great? And what a nice compliment! Thank you, Allyn Stotz. Please check out her blog at http://www.allynstotz.blogspot.com/ for all kinds of neat stuff.
The award carries with it some rules, which are:
1. Accept the award and post it on your blog with the name of the person who nominated you, and give their link.
2. Pass the award on to 15 others you have discovered recently.
3. Notify the bloggers that they have been selected for this award.
So here are my nominees:
http://www.claudsy.wordpress.com/
http://www.pimpmynovel.blogspot.com/
http://www.wordplay-kmweiland.blogspot.com/
http://www.kellyhashway.com/
http://www.ctnyrene.blogspot.com/
http://www.katrinadelallo.blogspot.com/
http://www.childrenspublishing.blogspot.com/
http://www.cynthialeitishsmith.blogspot.com/
http://www.caseylmccormick.blogspot.com/
http://www.thebookshelfmuse.blogspot.com/
http://www.katielclark.webs.com/
http://www.terriehope.com/
http://www.aleerily.blogspot.com/
Do you know what an aardvark is? Seriously. You probably know that he eats ants and termites. You probably know he lives in South Africa. But did you know that an aardvark is a living fossil, because he is the only living species of the order Tubulidentata, which was a prehistoric animal species? Did you know that he has no known relatives, or that there is no other animal even close to him, other than possibly the very rare elephant shrew?
Hmm, you are saying. So what does an aardvark have to do with writing? Well, think about if for a moment. There are two ways to look at an aardcvark from a writer's point of view. The first is that in many ways, an aardvark is an obscure creature: aren't there times when we, as writers, feel very obscure? We look at some of the "big" names in children't literature...Stephanie Meyer, JK Rowling, Laurie Halse Anderson, Ellen Hopkins...and we wonder if we will ever be on equal footing with them, or will we be forever obscure in our own little corner of the writing world? I don't know about you, but there are many times when I feel very obscure, very much out of the mainstream of writing and publishing, and wonder if I will ever wallk through that portal that separates those who are known in the writing world and those who are not.
The other way to look at the aardvark is that he is an unique animal. Unique in appearance, in method of operation in so far as his hunting and burrowing rites are concerned, and certainly unique in that there is no other animal like him. So...are we not also unique in our writing? In what we write, how we approach writing, the twist we put on our stories, the sometimes strange ideas we come up with, which, when put on the printed page, turn into marvelous works of literary art? Is it not to our advantage to consider ourselves as kin to the unique aardvark, who has no equal in the animal universe?
Hmm...well, as you can see, I'm very...um...nostalgic, melancholy, or maybe...just off the wall in my introspection this morning. Maybe it's the tsunami that is threatening to destroy our beautiful Central Coast.
Until next time,
Thats a wrap.
The award carries with it some rules, which are:
1. Accept the award and post it on your blog with the name of the person who nominated you, and give their link.
2. Pass the award on to 15 others you have discovered recently.
3. Notify the bloggers that they have been selected for this award.
So here are my nominees:
http://www.claudsy.wordpress.com/
http://www.pimpmynovel.blogspot.com/
http://www.wordplay-kmweiland.blogspot.com/
http://www.kellyhashway.com/
http://www.ctnyrene.blogspot.com/
http://www.katrinadelallo.blogspot.com/
http://www.childrenspublishing.blogspot.com/
http://www.cynthialeitishsmith.blogspot.com/
http://www.caseylmccormick.blogspot.com/
http://www.thebookshelfmuse.blogspot.com/
http://www.katielclark.webs.com/
http://www.terriehope.com/
http://www.aleerily.blogspot.com/
Do you know what an aardvark is? Seriously. You probably know that he eats ants and termites. You probably know he lives in South Africa. But did you know that an aardvark is a living fossil, because he is the only living species of the order Tubulidentata, which was a prehistoric animal species? Did you know that he has no known relatives, or that there is no other animal even close to him, other than possibly the very rare elephant shrew?
Hmm, you are saying. So what does an aardvark have to do with writing? Well, think about if for a moment. There are two ways to look at an aardcvark from a writer's point of view. The first is that in many ways, an aardvark is an obscure creature: aren't there times when we, as writers, feel very obscure? We look at some of the "big" names in children't literature...Stephanie Meyer, JK Rowling, Laurie Halse Anderson, Ellen Hopkins...and we wonder if we will ever be on equal footing with them, or will we be forever obscure in our own little corner of the writing world? I don't know about you, but there are many times when I feel very obscure, very much out of the mainstream of writing and publishing, and wonder if I will ever wallk through that portal that separates those who are known in the writing world and those who are not.
The other way to look at the aardvark is that he is an unique animal. Unique in appearance, in method of operation in so far as his hunting and burrowing rites are concerned, and certainly unique in that there is no other animal like him. So...are we not also unique in our writing? In what we write, how we approach writing, the twist we put on our stories, the sometimes strange ideas we come up with, which, when put on the printed page, turn into marvelous works of literary art? Is it not to our advantage to consider ourselves as kin to the unique aardvark, who has no equal in the animal universe?
Hmm...well, as you can see, I'm very...um...nostalgic, melancholy, or maybe...just off the wall in my introspection this morning. Maybe it's the tsunami that is threatening to destroy our beautiful Central Coast.
Until next time,
Thats a wrap.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Monday Miscellany
Today is Monday, time for miscellany, since my thoughts today are not focused on any one thing. Indeed, they're really not focused at all!
First off is the fact that I've just received my second novel diploma from the Institute of Children's Literature, which means that my historical novel is finished. Along with that accomplishment, however, came the realization that the first five chapters of the novel needed to be condensed into two, so what was chapter six could become chapter three. That whole thing is a long story I'm not going to get into here, but at least I was finally able to do it.
This, of course, means I have to get my posterior in gear and start sending out queries. That brings up a question: no matter if you're querying an agent or a publisher, you know how the submission guidelines always give you a time limit for them to respond to you? ONLY if they're interested, that is. But for example, a lot of the publishers say they will respond in 3 months. How do they know that? How do they know it's going to be 3 months, or 2 months, or 6 months? When a query comes in, and is read by the first reader (editor, assistant editor, or who knows who), and it supposedly goes to the "real" editor, then what...if the editor gets it on the 7th of March ( today), do they put it into a pile that says "7th of June?" On the 7th of June, do they go through the pile and pick out the ones they want to respond to, or do they do it earlier? Later, maybe? How do they know they are responding within the time frame they give in the guidelines? I'd like to know the answer to that, wouldn't you?
There are days when I have so many ideas running around in my head that I can't get them all sorted out and written down. Then there are other days when I try to think of something interesting or unique or at least different to write about, and my brain is as dry as a cotton field in mid-summer. Do you ever have days like that? In case you do, here are a few tidbits that you might make something out of:
1. Ninety percent of the world's ice covers Antartica, but this is the driest continent on the planet, having an annual percipitation of about 2 inches a year and an absolute humidity lower than that of the Gobi Desert.
2. The Great Pyramids of Egypt have shifted 3 miles south due to the shift in the Earth's surface over the last 4,500 years.
3. Babies are born without kneecaps. ( Did you know that??) Their knee caps are fully formed between the ages of 2 and 4 years.
4. In the 1600, thermometers were filled with brandy rather than mercury. ( People probably weren't too careful about not breaking them, either ! )
5. Emus can't walk backwards. They are the second largest member of the flightless bird family called ratites. They are 5 to 7 feet tall, and can run 40 mph with single strides over 9 feet.
6. A poison arrow frog contains enough poison to kill 2,200 people. They are indigenous to rain forests, are only about 1/2 inch in length, and have bright, distinctive colors. ( I wonder how they figured out that one frog could kill 2,200 people...do you suppose they had a test group ? )
These facts are courtesy of Marni McNiff.
Did anyone watch The Apprentice last night? That's one of the better reality shows on TV, if you can get past The Donald's hair. But seriously, I like both him and the show. Last night was a bummer, however, when it came to who got fired. David Cassidy bit the dust, when it should have been Richard Hatch. Remember him from the first season of Survivor ? Well, he's still the same old arrogant a...well, you know. I guess 4 years of prison didn't teach him anything. I like the show because of the challenges they have to do...it sure brings out the best in some, and the worst in others, but it's always interesting.
Last, but most definitely not least, I've just received the One Lovely Blog Award from a fellow writer. How great! Now I have to come up with a number of newly found blogs that I've read, and can provide links to. Hmm...that's going to take some thought, but I'll do it!
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
First off is the fact that I've just received my second novel diploma from the Institute of Children's Literature, which means that my historical novel is finished. Along with that accomplishment, however, came the realization that the first five chapters of the novel needed to be condensed into two, so what was chapter six could become chapter three. That whole thing is a long story I'm not going to get into here, but at least I was finally able to do it.
This, of course, means I have to get my posterior in gear and start sending out queries. That brings up a question: no matter if you're querying an agent or a publisher, you know how the submission guidelines always give you a time limit for them to respond to you? ONLY if they're interested, that is. But for example, a lot of the publishers say they will respond in 3 months. How do they know that? How do they know it's going to be 3 months, or 2 months, or 6 months? When a query comes in, and is read by the first reader (editor, assistant editor, or who knows who), and it supposedly goes to the "real" editor, then what...if the editor gets it on the 7th of March ( today), do they put it into a pile that says "7th of June?" On the 7th of June, do they go through the pile and pick out the ones they want to respond to, or do they do it earlier? Later, maybe? How do they know they are responding within the time frame they give in the guidelines? I'd like to know the answer to that, wouldn't you?
There are days when I have so many ideas running around in my head that I can't get them all sorted out and written down. Then there are other days when I try to think of something interesting or unique or at least different to write about, and my brain is as dry as a cotton field in mid-summer. Do you ever have days like that? In case you do, here are a few tidbits that you might make something out of:
1. Ninety percent of the world's ice covers Antartica, but this is the driest continent on the planet, having an annual percipitation of about 2 inches a year and an absolute humidity lower than that of the Gobi Desert.
2. The Great Pyramids of Egypt have shifted 3 miles south due to the shift in the Earth's surface over the last 4,500 years.
3. Babies are born without kneecaps. ( Did you know that??) Their knee caps are fully formed between the ages of 2 and 4 years.
4. In the 1600, thermometers were filled with brandy rather than mercury. ( People probably weren't too careful about not breaking them, either ! )
5. Emus can't walk backwards. They are the second largest member of the flightless bird family called ratites. They are 5 to 7 feet tall, and can run 40 mph with single strides over 9 feet.
6. A poison arrow frog contains enough poison to kill 2,200 people. They are indigenous to rain forests, are only about 1/2 inch in length, and have bright, distinctive colors. ( I wonder how they figured out that one frog could kill 2,200 people...do you suppose they had a test group ? )
These facts are courtesy of Marni McNiff.
Did anyone watch The Apprentice last night? That's one of the better reality shows on TV, if you can get past The Donald's hair. But seriously, I like both him and the show. Last night was a bummer, however, when it came to who got fired. David Cassidy bit the dust, when it should have been Richard Hatch. Remember him from the first season of Survivor ? Well, he's still the same old arrogant a...well, you know. I guess 4 years of prison didn't teach him anything. I like the show because of the challenges they have to do...it sure brings out the best in some, and the worst in others, but it's always interesting.
Last, but most definitely not least, I've just received the One Lovely Blog Award from a fellow writer. How great! Now I have to come up with a number of newly found blogs that I've read, and can provide links to. Hmm...that's going to take some thought, but I'll do it!
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Writing Prompts
Today it is raining...again...so it's supposed to be a good kind of day for writing, right? Wrong! I love the rain, love the cold, damp air, the streets that shine in the cars' headlights as though they had been spread with olive oil, love the bare limbs of the trees as they sway back and forth, brushing thin naked branches against window panes. I love our tiny house finches who gather around the bird feeder, shaking drops from brown or golden or red or black wing feathers. I love watching the dogwalkers, dressed in rain gear and carrying umbrellas, hurrying down the street with a variety of dogs, each dressed in his or her own rain outfit, usually matching that of the owner.
And so I sit at my desk, in front of my big bay window, and watch. Watch, not write! It makes me wonder how many of you do the same thing, according to the weather...do the seasons of the year, and their accompanying weather phases, make you stare out of a window or off into space, submersing yourself in what is happening on the outside, instead of concentrating on what should be happening on the inside, i.e, your mind and thoughts?
If that's so, how about having a little fun...just for the heck of it! How about taking some of the following prompts, and writng a couple of paragraphs...just for fun, nothing serious...but who knows? With a little luck ( and a little less window-watching), you might have the gleam of a real story idea ! Here goes:
1) Remember when you were a kid, and you mother was always around? How she could be sweet and loving and understanding one minute, and the next be bossy and demanding and irritating? Okay...take one or more of these names, and build a short scenario about this person when he or she was a kid, and how his or her mother was acting at that particular moment.
a. Florence Nightingale
b. James Dean
c. Theodore Roosevelt
d. Cleopatra
e. Calamity Jane
f. Wyatt Earp
g. Sinclare Lewis
h.Joan of Arc
i. Shakespeare
j. The Wicked Witch of the West
k. Agatha Christie
Oh, but that's not all! With so many reality shows on TV today, pretend you are going to be on one. Select one of the shows below, and write a scenario showing how you would act in this one, and why. (You don't have to have watched them, to be able to place yourself in one.)
a. Survivor
b. The Great Race
c. The Real Housewives of Atlanta ( or wherever.)
d. The Apprentice
e. Dancing With the Stars
f. American Idol
And finally... let's let real life meet reel life, but in another way. Select one of the shows below ( even if you've never watched it or it was "before your time"), and write a scenario with you as a family member.
a. The Flintstones
b Criminal Minds
c. Happy Days
d. Hawaii 5-0 ( the new show)
e. Smallville
d. Blue Bloods
e. Gilmore Girls
f. The Waltons
g. House
h. The Twilight Zone
i. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
j. The Good Wife
If these prompts don't give you a warm, fuzzy feeling for that rainy or snowy or sunshiny day, nothing will !!
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
And so I sit at my desk, in front of my big bay window, and watch. Watch, not write! It makes me wonder how many of you do the same thing, according to the weather...do the seasons of the year, and their accompanying weather phases, make you stare out of a window or off into space, submersing yourself in what is happening on the outside, instead of concentrating on what should be happening on the inside, i.e, your mind and thoughts?
If that's so, how about having a little fun...just for the heck of it! How about taking some of the following prompts, and writng a couple of paragraphs...just for fun, nothing serious...but who knows? With a little luck ( and a little less window-watching), you might have the gleam of a real story idea ! Here goes:
1) Remember when you were a kid, and you mother was always around? How she could be sweet and loving and understanding one minute, and the next be bossy and demanding and irritating? Okay...take one or more of these names, and build a short scenario about this person when he or she was a kid, and how his or her mother was acting at that particular moment.
a. Florence Nightingale
b. James Dean
c. Theodore Roosevelt
d. Cleopatra
e. Calamity Jane
f. Wyatt Earp
g. Sinclare Lewis
h.Joan of Arc
i. Shakespeare
j. The Wicked Witch of the West
k. Agatha Christie
Oh, but that's not all! With so many reality shows on TV today, pretend you are going to be on one. Select one of the shows below, and write a scenario showing how you would act in this one, and why. (You don't have to have watched them, to be able to place yourself in one.)
a. Survivor
b. The Great Race
c. The Real Housewives of Atlanta ( or wherever.)
d. The Apprentice
e. Dancing With the Stars
f. American Idol
And finally... let's let real life meet reel life, but in another way. Select one of the shows below ( even if you've never watched it or it was "before your time"), and write a scenario with you as a family member.
a. The Flintstones
b Criminal Minds
c. Happy Days
d. Hawaii 5-0 ( the new show)
e. Smallville
d. Blue Bloods
e. Gilmore Girls
f. The Waltons
g. House
h. The Twilight Zone
i. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
j. The Good Wife
If these prompts don't give you a warm, fuzzy feeling for that rainy or snowy or sunshiny day, nothing will !!
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
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