One of my fears is that I will get stuck in a rut. That’s not likely to happen, at least until I can’t get around anymore. I subscribe to Trivia Today to help spark new and interesting ideas. Mostly, I get a sense of hmmm, that’s interesting. Sometimes a quote or piece of trivia provokes a rabbit trail of thought. Occasionally, I will take a thought and pen a quick 500 words as a writing exercise. Today’s random tidbits included the origins of matchbox cars, Gumby, Frisbee, Twister, and the game Operation. There’s usually something there to spark interest in a writer’s soul! Gophercentral.com has the Trivia Today ezine as well as others if you want to check it out.
Today, Melissa mentioned a friend who passed away at the age of 32. Her friend’s sister chose to honor her sister’s birthday by 32 random acts of kindness for complete strangers. Melissa was inspired to try a few acts of kindness herself and her cousin joined in. Saturday October 19th is Sweetest Day, or so the florists and Hallmark tell me. I’m in a reduce/recycle mode right now and tonight I will be looking around for something that a random stranger might need. Last night I gave away a bag of empty aluminum cans to an older gentleman who makes his social security check stretch by recycling. That was without thinking. I think I can do better than that to celebrate Sweetest Day and not have to worry about the calories! What is gathering dust in your home that someone needs? Can you think of a random act of kindness to lift someone up? Go Forth and Be Random! (and rut free)
Tag Archives: writing
Sweetest Day – October 19th
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More Writing Prompts – Photos for Thoughts/Words
Outstanding photographer’s blog you might enjoy. Especially for those writing friends that don’t know what to write about. Try putting yourself in one of these great pictures and write about it. Simply beautiful!
Filed under Photography, Stress Reduction, Travel, Writing
Writers Perk
Writer’s in the Storm has a post today that you can plug your projects on, check it out!
http://writersinthestorm.wordpress.com/2013/07/31/promopalooza-at-wits/
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Re-Entry
I’m back from my vacation to Alaska! Re-Entry has been an extreme problem. I just can’t seem to catch my stride yet. The packing and repacking to leave pretty much wrecked the house and the 3 cats (mine and a friends) were less than happy to be left behind. It’s been a week and the “surprises” have been tapering off and the bad kitty behavior seems to be settling down now. They get to sleep all day while I have to go back to work. It takes me until 9:00 a.m. to get my eyes fully open. I did manage to squeeze in about 1,500 words yesterday on my post apocalyptic story.
The weather in Alaska was very similar to SFO Bay Area so we felt right at home. We tromped all over Ketchikan, Skagway, Juno and Vancouver. Back on board our cruise ship, it was great to just lay in a deck chair and stare out at the glaciers while sipping hot cocoa and eating ice cream! I was very apprehensive about a Cruise Ship with all the bad press. I have to say that being onboard the Diamond Princess was nothing but a great experience!
Internet connections were scarce or costly during the trip so I will write in a later post more about our trip to fill you in. My traveling companion was Sarah Mocchini (www.hookedonfiber.com) and she was so much fun! Everywhere we had a port of call she dragged me to all the yarn and fabric shops. Oh darn, had to buy some fabric to bring home! I learned all about Qiviut (musk ox yarn) and actually got to touch some of the unspun fibers and fondle the finished yarn and products. It is a hollow fiber without scales. That means that it will not felt like wool and it is incredibly light and soft. It is one of the rarest fibers in the world and is a homegrown Alaskan (and Greenland) commodity. The musk ox does not like to be domesticated so they fence off a large area and pick the fibers up from bushes and herd them through a shoot to pull the fibers free as the oxen travel through.
The musk ox is called “oomingmak” by the Alaskan Natives which means “the bearded one”. The musk ox is an ice age mammal that was once endangered and is now thriving in the semi-domesticated farms in Alaska and Greenland. It is the softest fiber I have ever touched and its insulating capability far exceeds that of wool!
Filed under All Things Crafty, Stress Reduction, Travel, Writing
Bees – How Sweet They Are
Bees in Hive Box with 2 Supers
Last night I finally gave up procrastinating and made the trek, all 150′ of it, to check on my Bees. It’s a good thing I did, No danger of colony collapse disorder here! More like danger of swarm because there was NO ROOM left in the hive box. Full to capacity with wax, honey and of course beeeezz. I pulled about 30 lbs. as a band aid last night and gave them another Super to roam in. I scraped out the honey and comb from the frames I pulled and will give the frames back to the hive box tonight. The bees clean up the frames of left over honey and wax and begin again. I love watching them as they lick up the honey. These are Italian bees, what else would I have? They are so soothing. I love putting my hands on the sides of the hive in the hot summer and feeling the life inside as they fan their wings to cool the box.
I think my bees just might have to play a supporting role in my little romance story.
There were several discussions on the proper use of dialog at the SFWC this year. Many new authors struggle with it. I will be sure to put this on my editing checklist! Good advice.
The vast majority of writers make errors when punctuating the dialog in their novels. Many writers who make these errors think they have a firm grasp on dialog punctuation.
Though it probably won’t get you rejected by an agent or editor, incorrect punctuation can put them in a very nasty mood (the last thing you want when they’re handling your precious novel).
Commas
Commas are always used with dialog tags, whether they come before or after the dialog. For example:
“Look at the dog,” he said. [RIGHT]
He said, “Look at the dog.” [RIGHT]
“Look at the dog.” He said. [WRONG]
He said. “Look at the dog.” [WRONG]
If an exclamation point or question mark is used and the dialog tag comes after the dialog, then there should be no comma and the dialog tag should not be capitalized. For example:
“Did you see the dog?” he asked. [RIGHT]
“Did…
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Bringing Justice in Romance Writing?
I’ve written Sci Fi, read Sci Fi/Fantasy, watched all the Sci Fi shows…etc. So now I find myself writing something new, a romance. Did you know that there are rules? New to me but, far be it that I should not comply.
My protagonists are moving along just fine and are the main story line. My female enters the story in a setting new to her. She arrives as she is fleeing a stalker abusive ex-boyfriend. He isn’t the main story but I have been advised that since I introduced him as a secondary but strong story line, I must bring justice to his ways.
I think killing him works just fine for me, but that may be my own baggage and not the best for the story. (and no, I didn’t kill my stalker, didn’t even try, I did move three counties away though)
Big Al thinks the Sherriff should not be the avenger but the town homeless vet. Hmmmm, suffering from PTSD and the stalker does the wrong thing at the wrong time???? What could this be that would not screw the vet?
My beloved had a bad case of PTSD when we first married, hit the floor when the phone rings folks! (Changed that ring tone fast.) So glad it diminished every year, I have a friend who lives with fear every day, but she loves him. She has gotten good at predicting the unpredictable. She gets the sacrifice her husband made defending liberty. I get her sacrifice.
So what do you think, should this act of justice be carried out by the homeless vet? And what about justice for the vet? I think it would be picking on him, having trouble with this whole justice thing. With Sci Fi, I could just suck him out a vent into space, much easier….
Comments?
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Information Overload
Wow! Another great year at the San Francisco Writers Conference. I was very tired, in information overload and almost did not go to dinner with the last stragglers. We numbered eight and dined at Cafe LaPresse on the corner of Grant Street and Bush Streets in SFO. The conversation was priceless as we shared details on our latest projects, digital covers and more. Do Michael Larsen and Harvey Pawl ever run out of energy? The food and wine were wonderful topped off with Grand Marnier Creme Brulee, Yum!
So sad that I have to wait until next year to do it again, until then, keep writing 🙂
Tessa Bertoldi 