August 11, 2014 · 5:43 pm

Wisdom & Grace – Obtaining and Giving Both

It is my habit to go to a triage on Sundays. I get together with a bunch of other humans who have failed at being perfect and give it another go at getting better, getting closer to the creator. Some people call it church, a term that many people assign a lot of negative stereotypes. I find that after I question critics about it, they usually have never read the Bible or they have been hurt by someone who wasn’t perfect–and went to church. The people I meet at church are pretty similar to the ones that I meet at my writer’s clubs, folks that are trying to get better. (Funny how the struggling writers don’t get called hypocrites. Hmmm. Getting off the soap box now…)

I was delighted to have wonderful speakers at two venues this Sunday. Award winning Katy Pye* opened our minds and exposed us to contest opportunities for writers and how they can lend authority to your writing. Her topics covered prioritization and a marketing plan as well as helpful tips and checklists. She was very open about the mistakes she made, she prefers to call them missed opportunities. Ms. Pye read a passage from her book “Elizabeth’s Landing”. The role of the grandfather drew me in right away. He could have been my mother. Elizabeth is a precocious teenager trying to find her way with mostly absent parents as she discovers some threatened sea turtles. I left the Redwood Writer’s Club meeting with an autographed copy of her book that I can’t wait to finish. Elizabeth’s Landing captured a 2013 1st Place in all Fiction for the Writer’s Digest Self Published e-Book Awards, the 2013 Silver Nautilus Book Award for YA Fiction and the Category Winner for 2014 Children’s/Juvenile Fiction from the Indie Book Awards.

Pastor Bill** (PB) spoke about Making Wise Choices and Living in Grace. If you listen to PB enough, one thing will become very clear. He will speak on your favorite sin and it will most likely feel like he has videotaping services on you. He doesn’t and we shine the lights on him on Sunday so he can’t see you squirm in the seats so stay with me here. PB talks about real things, not abstracts; things that we need to be at peace. It fits right into my concept of church as triage. I don’t really need to hear about something that is lofty and filled with so many churchy words that I can’t see how they work in my everyday life. PB started off with my favorite sin so he had my attention right away, I was careful not to fidget too much so people wouldn’t identify me with my favorite bad choice. He moved on to other topics like credit cards and gambling. Just a sentence or two but enough to let you know what God says about those “acceptable sins”. I am free to drink but not get drunk but if I drink in front of an alcoholic, that is a sin. It might cause them to sin. You are smart, you get the idea and can apply that to other things. I couldn’t help but look sideways at my good friend who has a big gambling problem. My friend was sitting stone still like a statue, looking straight ahead. Hmmm, I’ll have to remember that freezing is as bad as squirming too much. Heaven forbid that someone know I might need help! I’m not outing my friend and I know they won’t out me so the public humiliation will be limited to the times I put my foot into my mouth and try to function!

For now, I will be confessing my problem to my accountability partner, who I trust. I plan on investing some prayer time and good old effort and hard work in getting better at both writing and my “favorite” sin. Romans 6 deserves another read this week since I am far from being perfect. But, I sure like that grace method for flawed folks like me! Grace is getting what I don’t deserve and Mercy is not getting what I deserve. Wow, free gifts and free payments, thank you Jesus!

*Download sample chapters and read her blog at katypye.com.

**1108 Washington Street, Fairfield, CA or online at http://www.fbc-fairfield.org to download PB’s podcasts. PB’s lineup for August: 17th Loving Unconditionally, 24th Living in Personal Freedom, 31st Letting Others Be Themselves

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August 4, 2014 · 9:23 pm

Changing the World – One Book at a Time

Woot! How exciting, I have been invited back to volunteer at the Writing for a Change Seminar hosted by the San Francisco Writer’s Conference. This is a smaller version of the main conference and focuses on change. The invitation is a great honor! Writing for Change is just one day and is limited to 100 attendees while the President’s weekend event hosts over 600 participants, vendors, editors, agents and volunteers.

The attendees are all over the map in style, subject and beliefs. I LOVE IT! Some are a little rigid in their beliefs and express them almost as if you have no right to believe anything else, their passion shows. I don’t find it offensive at all and you do have the right to not engage those individuals in a conversation but then you miss out on the experience. The setting is professional and I enjoy hearing about other writer’s projects and especially about those the writer is passionate about. I’ve learned so many new things in the few years I have been attending.

I feel especially honored to be one of the very few volunteers invited back to help. To quote their website: “The theme of the conference is “Changing the World One Book at a Time,” and the goal is to encompass business, politics, technology, social issues, the environment, culture, the law, and much more.” The keynoter this year is Adam Hochschild, author of To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion 1914 – 1918. Check out the other speakers at:

https://sfwriters.org/writing-for-change-registration/

Follow Michael Larsen’s blog for writing tips, he has so much energy! http://sfwriters.org/blog/

September 6, 2014 is just around the corner!

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August 4, 2014 · 1:50 pm

Exhausted But Still Writing

July was a good month, writing wise. It was my second attempt at writing 50,000 words in one month this year. I signed up for the April Camp NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and succeeded in writing 30,000 words, that’s 30K more than I would have written with no effort. May and June were busy personal months with my home undergoing repairs, clearing out my beloved’s robotic “scraps” and learning to live without him. July 1 rolled around and I decided to push for that 50K again! I made it! The last 20,000 words look pretty slushy, weak plot flow, and underfed ideas.
But fear not! One of the prizes for achieving the 50K is a very low cost copy of Scrivener software. It has a nice index card or “cork board” feature that will help my major problems. My female protagonist is still an undefined, barely visible ghost of a character. She is not a ghost so this needs some real work. Once I develop more character depth and the plotline flows smoother, I think I might be closer to 80K length and have a respectable novel and then the real editing begins. One of the things I have learned from NaNoWriMo is to turn off the inner editor and just go for it. I am a technical writer during the day so this is an extremely difficult thing for me to do. The bottom line here is that I achieved the 50K!
My birthday is the first of August so I celebrated by going out to dinner and a movie with a friend. I didn’t want a lot of hoopla about my birthday and my friend didn’t know it was my birthday. I really just wanted something very quiet to spend alone with memories of my beloved. I bought one of those cake slices for two, chocolate for my beloved of course, and filled a cut crystal mug with milk. I watched the sun go down from my back patio. The day ended with cake and reflection of wonderful memories. I feel so blessed to have been loved by such an exceptional man and to have loved him in the few short years he had. He believed in me and my writing ability when no one else did. He continues to give me strength because of that belief and love. I am so glad that he had a personal relationship with Jesus and I will see him again with my other treasures in heaven.
Now, on to my next writing goal. A new idea, a new book, 50,000 more words and the November official National Novel Writing Month. I am fundraising to attend the Night of Writing Dangerously at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco’s Financial District. The theme is film noir and costume is not required but oh so appreciated. A successful November will mean I have written well over 130,000 words this year for myself. 🙂
If you would like to help send me to a full night of writing…. http://www.stayclassy.org/TessaBertoldi Investing in myself is something I am still getting used to.

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July 7, 2014 · 11:00 pm

National Novel Writing Month is Coming this November

Last year was my first year at the on-line writer’s word frenzy known as National Novel Writing Month.  It reaches across the United States to almost every part of the globe.  I didn’t quite make the 50,000 word count but did end with a smashing 30,000!  This year I am going for it again!  I have a few ideas for the 50K but I haven’t decided on the winning project yet!

One of the really fun things about the event is the Night of Writing Dangerously, November 16th at the fabulous Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco.  We bring our laptops and plug in for word sprints, word wars and the famous candy bar.  Please consider sponsoring me for this non-profit, tax deductible event.  The funds support writers and the young writers program.

Read more about it at my fundraising page:

http://www.stayclassy.org/TessaBertoldi

Thank you all for your time!

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May 12, 2014 · 9:45 pm

Water – Water

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I took a trip to the Valley this past weekend to see my daughter and the property her agricultural friends just purchased.  I loved the visit and am so excited for the happy couple who are proud owners of their first acreage, right in the middle of a drought.  They are being smart about the property.  The garden area is half the size it was in past years and the irrigation is on drip.  Livestock has been kept to a minimum and air conditioning means opening the house up at 5:00 a.m. and closing it up again at 7:30 a.m.  I’ve been told it means a 10 degree difference in the temperature of the house.  My hostess was charming and we drove all around getting to know the town and the spots she knew I would love.

What continues to haunt me from my trip is the situation the farmers and ranchers find themselves in.  The drive down Highway 99 is peppered with political signs that have sayings like No Water = No Jobs or No Water = No Food and many more.  I am naturally curious and tried not to step into a proverbial cow pie and asked about the water situation.  What I learned was heartbreaking.  It seems the farmers and ranchers must pay in advance for their water.  Even if they have paid 100%, the government is only going to release 5% to them and keep the difference of the 95% payment.  No refunds.

So what are the land owners doing?  They are bulldozing their trees, planting cover crops to let the fields go fallow and buckling down to try and do anything to hang on to their property for the future.  Major corporations are just waiting to scoop any defaulted properties.  I’m not a conspiracy theory person, but it sounds like the makings of an excellent Sci Fi book doesn’t it?

A picture truly does say a thousand words so I snapped a few for you.  These photos show an existing field struggling from lack of adequate water and the trees in their prime that were pulled out.  It is the California Valley region and burning is not allowed so the dead trees will just lay there.  I drove past at least 20 destroyed fields, all orange trees, without going off my route there or home.  The California Aqueduct sending water to Los Angeles could be clearly viewed when standing in at least two separate fields that were destroyed.   The Aqueduct is full.  Now that is heartbreaking!

I’m thinking Southern California needs to start thinking more about desalinization plants and less on dependence on the Aqueduct.  This will not be the last drought year, it is the third in my lifetime and my parents remember that many in their lifetimes.  My beloved is either a sixth or seventh generation Californian (depending on which side you count from) and remembers his grandfather talking about droughts.  It is a cycle and they will come again and go again.  What seems to be wrong is when you take water away from food producers to fill swimming pools in Southern California.  Don’t believe me, try Google Maps and check out the pools.

I don’t want oranges from Brazil; I want home grown ones that are fresh and not irradiated to kill pests. The cost of those killed trees will be seen shortly in your grocery store.  Oh, and the motel in the Valley town I stayed in had drained their swimming pool and had no plans to fill it any time soon.

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April 4, 2014 · 9:44 pm

Foster State of Mind – Looking for Aged Out Foster Children

This week I am tutoring a former foster child.  She is an adult with children of her own.  Her education is more like a collander with holes in it.  I so very proud of her, when she graduated from high school and aged out of the foster system, her education was more like swiss cheese.  Lots of big holes…

Why the holes you might ask?  Think about it, when you have to go to court, you miss a day of class, maybe two.  When you are moved from one foster home to another, you might miss a week of class.  Then there is the foster home that really doesn’t care if you make it to school on time, hey you got there right?  Foster kids have many more absences that children from stable two parent homes.  Two parent homes may not be perfect but to a foster child, they look pretty darn perfect to them.  The very concept of unconditional love is not something they find growing up unless they are very lucky.  Yes it may be a sterotype and I actually do know someone who grew up in two different foster homes and excelled and felt loved at both homes.  He is the exception.

Are you an adult and/or a former/current foster child?  Tell me what fell through your (or someone you know) holes, what you wish you knew but didn’t.  For my current friend, she wishes someone had clued her in about the entire banking system.  She never had a bank account until her employer required her to have one to direct deposit her paycheck.

Please send me your ideas, simple/direct answers or longer ones, anything is welcome.

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March 19, 2014 · 9:25 pm

Peckish About My Lost Pict

It’s been nineteen months since my beloved was called home to help out Jesus. My beloved was always serving others, I don’t know of a time when he refused to help another. He had the gift of mercy down pat. Me, not so much. I struggle with a sense of right and fair.
I am constantly reminding myself that God never said life would be fair but that we should be. Mercy was my beloved’s best quality and the one that often frustrated me. You see it cost him his life, he kept nothing back and gave it all to others. He tried to follow Christ’s teachings as much as he could. I go from missing him terribly to being furious with him for not balancing his energies and saving something for himself.
I have come to grips with the realization that the people that manipulated him into helping them move while he was suffering from pneumonia will never express remorse or apology. I am choosing to believe that they cared for him and feel remorse; they too may have problems dealing with his loss at 52 years.
My beloved did not love perfectly, but he loved me. Our marriage had a couple of bumps in the road and one rocky patch where I almost gave up. I’m glad I didn’t. He was so sick and was making bad choices, everyone said I should leave him and cut my losses, that the illness would only get worse. For better or worse, right. We made the choice to love each other and our marriage found a new plateau. I loved nothing better than just laying in bed, feeling his arms around me. Now, I have good memories and no regrets. My mother is in her eighties, I may have twenty three plus years left to find peace and balance in my life. I’m working on it!
This emotional tug of war saps my strength. If only I could just wash the emo away with a good cry!
I saw a grief counselor for a brief time. She said people who love deeply, grieve deeply and I should be kinder to myself. I get depressed from time to time but refuse to stay there. He would hate that. I have his ashes on the floor next to my shoes. Mostly because I have to wait to do what I want with them. For now, when I behave badly, I simply roll him over in his grave, laugh, and go on as he would want me to with a, “Top of the Day to You” and a “I live to serve”.
St. Patrick’s Day was a big holiday for my Celtic lover. We didn’t celebrate St. Patrick as much as all things Celtic; he was all Pict as he used to say. He was seventh generation native Californian but still all Pict. His ancestors lived in the mountains and were sheep herders and lumbermen and later a purveyor of fine (and not so fine) Scots whiskey!
My Great Scot is gone (for now) and so ends his pict line. The little Irish girl in me abstained from the yummy soda bread and the St. Paddy’s fixin’s, maybe next year. I did wear green and an Irish sweater, drank pots and pots of tea, and cried for his loss. Maybe next year I’ll bake the Soda Bread with currants.
Sleep well my love; you have earned your rest!
Ti Amo, Tanta Ti Amo Mi Amore!

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February 25, 2014 · 8:12 pm

Mental Overload from the SFWC

Loved, Loved, Loved the San Francisco Writer’s Conference. There was so much to take in, I am looking at ordering some of the recorded sessions.
Best ever session was Sheldon Siegel’s session on Blood Money. http://www.sheldonsiegel.com/ Crime and mystery is not my genre but I knew my manuscript was too nice and sweet. The late evening session was poorly attended due to the overload of info and party fatigue 🙂 Lucky me, it was like having a three-hour personal tutoring session with a NYT Best Selling Author! By the time the session was over, I had bled ink all over my manuscript, killed someone in the first page, caused major misdirection between the main characters in the third chapter and generally added a lot of excitement in the novel. Oh, the re-writes!
A Conference attendee, Karl (The Tavern Priestess, http://www.gkarlkumfert.com/books/), turned me onto a SciFi novel by Hugh Howey called Wool, it’s 1,000 pages of pure page turning. I zipped through it on my Nook in two nights. Then, I discovered there are 2,000 pages more, Shift and Dust. I made it through Shift (a necessary prequel) and am now 300 pages into Dust. I’ll sleep later! I wonder why my eyes seem to be sore…
This was the best session ever in the five years I have been attending. Awesome location, awesome people, tons of information! Thank you Harvey Pawl for the excellent hosted dinners at great SF venues!

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January 23, 2014 · 6:24 pm

Let the Writing Begin!

Mark HopkinsI am still pushing through the extreme lack of energy after being ill. But, there is one event I would not want to miss. It’s time for the annual San Francisco Writer’s Conference, I understand there are only about 50 slots left.
This year NoViolet Bulawayo (We Need New Names), Julie Kagawa (The Iron Fey series), Rhys Bowen, (Molly Murphy Mysteries), Barry Eisler (Rain/Treven series), Chitra Divakaruni (Mistress of Spices) and Dan Millman (Peaceful Warrior) will be Featured Speakers. The director’s are all wonderful but Michael Larsen always has the most energy and punniest jokes.  In addition, over 100 other authors, agents, editors and publishers will be there. Many favorites will be back as well. The conference asks attendees to review the event and the contributors that earn great reviews are often asked back.

The InterContinental Mark Hopkins is a grand dame that sits on top of San Francisco’s Nob Hill. It was built on the site of the original Mark Hopkins mansion which survived the 1906 earthquake, but not the three day fire that ravaged the city afterwards. Lovers from around the world travel to the Top of the Mark lounge to view the city through its glass walls, my parents included!

I will be at the SFO Writer’s Conference as part of the volunteer staff. SFO is the city of my birth and a short drive in for me. I can’t decide if I want to check-in to the hotel or drive in each day. I’ve posted for either a roommate or a car pooler, we will see what happens.

This event always gets my writing flowing and energizes me. I’m especially excited this year because I have asked to staff Grant Faulkner‘s session. Grant is the executive director of the National Novel Writing Month and the founding editor of 100 Word Story. I attended the “Night of Writing Dangerously” this year at the beautiful Julia Morgan Ballroom. Can you say, “I NaNoWriMo?”

Check it out! SFWriters.org This year the conference is bigger than ever.  Please check back for a post after the President’s Weekend event.

 

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January 23, 2014 · 5:32 pm

Rosie and the Bird Brain

Framing Begins

Concrete Walks on concrete

Concrete Walks on concrete

What have I been up to lately? Well H1N1 has been making it’s way around my office, so far everyone except one employee has recovered. It’s surprising that a very fit 30 something woman has been so very ill. It just goes to show, you can never take your health for granted.
Work goes on at the little homestead! My handyperson, Dahve, (pronounced Da-ah-ve) has been guiding me through the steps to build a 10 x 12 shed for my gardening equipment. It will be wonderful to have my rototiller, lawnmower and gardening hand tools all in one place and out of my garage. My goal is to be able to actually park in said 2 car garage!!!
Dahve loaned me the slab frames and put them up with help from my future son-in-law. We hauled rock from the other side of the property and filled the frame with loose aggregate. We poured the concrete and just after it was finished, my hen named Concrete had to add her signature. I didn’t have the heart to smooth out Concrete’s footprint in the concrete!
The next Saturday it was time to start framing. Not as much work as I expected with Dahve’s air driven nail gun! It took two Saturday’s for us to frame all four walls. I can’t wait, this Saturday we will frame in the window and start with the concrete siding. Yes, more concrete, since the shed is up against a neighboring fence, we decided to go with the most flame retardant material there was, concrete paneling.
The hardest part so far, unloading the truck with the paneling and studs!

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