Quotes - Words of Wisdom, Truth and Nostalgia

December 9, 2009

No matter how I try, life takes control and I find I've been lax with my blog! Alas. I think Robert Burns may have had me in mind when he wrote, 'The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.'

Let's see now, what has happened since my last blog. Gosh that statement brings another quote to mind. My old confession lead in, 'Bless me Father for I have sinned, it's been ages since my last confession.' LOL That does, indeed, bring back a myriad of memories of the old days in Chicago and all the friends of my childhood. Life is just going to dang fast!

I've been working on 'The Woman Between' every day and the plot is in an interesting segment right now with Stephen saying 'enough' and moving on with his life. I'm still hoping that I'm managing to keep him a sympathetic, not pathetic, character. Manipulating characters is so much fun and requires so many writing techniques. Dave and I haven't been able to do our one-on-one crits for a few weeks, so I'm not sure how I'm doing. We meet on Friday, so I'll find out if I'm on the right track then.

I attended a women's network meeting last Thursday. What a dynamic bunch of women who have made it almost an art to showcase their 'product'. I met Realtors, on-line retailers, mortgage brokers, website specialists and so on. I was encouraged to talk about my books and I sold three! I can ask to be the speaker at one of their meetings after the first of the year, so that will be a big opportunity when 'Hannah' becomes available in print.

Had our first bi-monthly meeting of my local writer's group on Saturday. It was short for some reason. Lots of absent members and little feedback on our submissions. In fact, my sub of 'She, Not He' didn't receive a single verbal comment. Some folks wrote things when they handed my story back to me, but overall it was disappointing that mine wasn't discussed. I think the problem with the subs of this past week was the topic. It was very complicated and involved using a deck of 'prompt' cards that were picked at random. There were several characters, a genre and a plot to be dealt with in 250 words or less. My story started out at over 600 words, but by the time I cut it back to 250, there were some holes. I do think the 250 word exercise is worthwhile, but it must be a simple topic. President Do has provided a list of all the topics for 2009 and we're back to basics with just a word or two.

I finally gave up trying to make my own business cards. Went to Staples and, within 30 minutes, they had them designed, printed, cut up and delivered to me. The orangy-tan colored cards, kind of like the color on my website, have a brief picture of both books, my website, my blogsite and tele. nbr. I decided that since I'm really getting some good internet coverage, almost daily, the cards will come in handy. I'll be interested to see if all this marketing will bring in more book sales.

I came across a quote the other day that says so much about what we writers face with the criticism of our work. 'If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.' - Henry David Thoreau. Our own 'drummer' may or not get us published, but it sure gives us a sense of satisfaction. Now go write something and have a great day!

One Down, Two to Go

Thanksgiving has come and gone. My house was full of kids, grandkids, siblings and friends. The food was great, the turkey juicy, the wine excellent and the pies coated in lush whip cream! And, no dishes to do. You see, my kitchen sink decided to clog up late Wednesday night. Bless my son-in-law Gary's heart, he tried his best, but no luck. I called the plumber early Thursday a.m., but they were off line for the holiday. My daughter Kim and I cleaned the turkey in the shower before we buttered and stuffed it. We kept big bowls in both sinks and my desert plants had a great Thanksgiving enjoying the lots of water poured on them during the day. Then, we stacked the dishes and spent the rest of the evening talking and playing games. The next day, I had an early a.m. appointment and while I was gone, my daughter-in-law Leslie organized a 'wash the dishes' brigade. She had the grandkids, my son Rob and Gary haul the dishes outside, then she 'campground' cleaned them and had the gang tote them back inside. Yahoo! A Thanksgiving with no dishes! The plumber didn't call back until this morning, Monday. So, by early this afternoon, I'll have use of my sink again. Everyone has a Thanksgiving story or two to tell, so now I have another to add to my memory pages.

So Thanksgiving 2008 is in the books, now on to Christmas and New Year's.

Now, back to writing items. I haven't had much chance to work on 'The Woman Between'. Pulled it out last night and added another 700 some words. Felt good. I have a meeting with Dave tomorrow, but I won't have much to give him to crit.

As for my on-line groups, I think they were enjoying the holiday too, as there weren't many entries. Until, yesterday. My DD site took off like crazy with many subs and crits. Many of the DDers were involved with the NaNoWriMo project to write a novel of 50,000 words in the month of November. I've never tried. For me, Novembers are way to busy to make such a commitment.

Went to see 'Bolt'. Cute movie. The hampster Rhino was the star of the picture! Loved his 'can do' attitude.

Let me sign off today with a quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald - "There was never a good biography of a good novelist. There couldn't be. He (or she) is too many people if he's (she's) any good." AMEN!!