tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92229331050444461512024-02-02T00:17:10.864-05:00Writing BlogI have moved to arielswan.comAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-24347419720950255172013-12-08T14:11:00.000-05:002013-12-08T14:11:28.553-05:00Change of Venue, Books and The TreeAs of today, I am officially (sort of) switching over to WordPress.com for my blogging needs - although I am writing this in blogger. So if you are reading this please follow me at <a href="http://arielswan.com/">arielswan.com</a>. I like the sharing capabilities over there better as Blogger only wants me to share with Google friends now. If you have any thoughts on using WordPress please let me know. <br />
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So, I have a question for you. Do you buy books mostly or are you a library patron? When I was small, and we were poor, my mother used to bring me to the library on a weekly basis. I remember taking the bus in the winter afternoons when it was already getting dark, just like it is now in Massachusetts. I remember being able to get an arm load of books, as many as I could carry. My mother is a reader and I have told my students time and time again that one of the best things she ever did for me was to bring me to that library. So, I have always been a library patron and just like when I was little, I am accustomed to leaving with an arm load of books. I read like a literary agent, the books scattered in every room. I pick one up and if I keep turning the pages, I keep reading. If I don't I let it go. Well, actually, this is how I was doing things. This summer, I read Anna Karenina, and I had an old copy that fell to pieces and then I took one home from school. It took me a long time to get through it and after that, strangely, I started to feel rushed by the library. If there was more than one book I wanted to read from the pile I brought home, it was an issue to have to keep renewing it. I found that I returned books just to get them off my list of things to do. Also, I received a gift certificate to my local bookstore from a generous family member last year that had me buying books for months. Now, I would rather buy them. Which is of course much better karma for me as a writer, because buying books is what keeps novelists fed. Right?<br />
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I have been reading Donna Tartt's not most recent book <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/775346.The_Little_Friend" target="_blank">The Little Friend</a>. I loved <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29044.The_Secret_History?from_search=true" target="_blank">The Secret History</a> and would actually like to read it again. The Secret History was about college students in an elite group of eccentric Classics study and whose extracurricular activities lead to murder. It was mysterious and intelligent and I loved its 90s flavor. So far The Little Friend is also intelligent and beautifully written with a mystery slowly emerging around the death of the narrator's brother 12 years before. She has recently released another book, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17333223-the-goldfinch?from_search=true" target="_blank">The Goldfinch</a>, which I will certainly pick up soon. I just love her author photo too.<br />
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Somehow it inspires me and makes me feel writerly. Strange?<br />
I am also reading <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/168668.Catch_22?ac=1" target="_blank">Catch 22</a> with a group of fellow teachers at school. Never am I reading one book.<br />
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In other news, keep your eyes open for some guest bloggers who also write paranormal and scifi works, all represented by my lovely agent Victoria Lee of the <a href="http://aponteliterary.com/about-the-agency/" target="_blank">Aponte Literary Agency</a>. <br />
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What are you reading? Are you looking forward to the holidays? My husband is putting up the tree right now. It is dark and cold in New England these days, time to bring in the evergreen and adorn it with light to remind us that soon the sun will begin its return. <br />
Thanks for reading.<br />
And remember follow me at <a href="http://arielswan.com./">arielswan.com.</a><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-7958540116519522632013-10-06T15:41:00.000-04:002013-10-06T15:49:23.551-04:00The Story We Tell Ourselves<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been a while. It does not surprise me that the last time I posted was the start of July. I spent the summer studying the human condition in literature and in doing so I reflected on my own story and the story I am trying to tell. I became lost in it, as is necessary when plotting a novel. It was a meditative summer. One of imposed solitude and some focused discipline. I ran and I read and I wrote. I should have done more of the last, but I did spend a span of time sequestered on the lake I grew up on, in a small town in central Massachusetts, gathering evidence and inspiration for my WIP, in addition to writing. And all that I thought about, took in, and studied this summer ultimately will serve the purpose of making Cold Spring Fire a better novel.<br />
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What I Read: I read a lot of things, but the centerpiece, the tome that drove me mad with mix feelings and took up many hours of my summer was Anna Karenina. Have you read it? Or just watched the movie? I had wanted to see the new film, but thought I should read the book first. Or re-read it actually. I "read" it in college and not surprisingly, as is the case when you are given a week to read such a work, I remembered little of the details. So, I sat down and took it in again through the heat waves and slow afternoons of July and August. Periodically, I would toss the book aside in disgust at the double standard for men and women in the novel and at the breakdown of the title character whom I wanted to be stronger, to be more self-confident, to own her decisions without hating herself for them. In the end, I felt sad for her, but I was surprised when I did. Up until that point I was eager for that train to come. But that lack of sympathy told me I was fighting against the trope of the crazy woman, consumed with self-doubt and irrational emotions. I have known that woman. And I wanted this MC to be less...true. In all, the characters were fairly unlikable because they were so human, but this was the beauty of the novel and why I did come to see it as a true and remarkable work of classic fiction. It revealed, unabashedly, the good, the bad, and the ugly of the intimate human sphere. It was a great experience and I recommend it to anyone willing to take a long and serious look at the human condition. But what I wonder is how possible that is in contemporary<i> commercial</i> fiction. We, as modern readers, want our protagonists to offer us an escape, at least in much of the women's fiction I read. Men tend to read more realism, and how they can stand it, I don't know. "Good Fiction" is realism - right? I thought a lot about men and women in fiction this summer, and the variation of how they are portrayed by male and female authors. I also thought about the difference between men and women readers. But that is the topic for another post.<br />
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What I saw: I spent time in the Oxbow National Wildlife Reserve in my hometown. It was beautiful and looked exactly as I wanted it to, as if it could hold secrets and be the setting for strange goings on. I woke up every day (for a period) on a lovely lake with a heron perched on the dock, the sun rising behind him. I walked again in woods that smelled of earth and something like sandalwood where the knock of the pileated woodpecker marked the slow burn of an August day. I saw old friends come to the rescue when their own old friends were in need, listening to the darkness, to the irrational, to the dreams, the desires, and the sadness that consumes us all. It was interesting to see old friends and realize that after almost two decades, though our stories have gone in different directions, we were all experiencing some the of the same crisis of faith in ourselves, in our decisions, and in the paths we were on.<br />
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These are the threads that were already plotted for Cold Spring Fire and at every turn it was as if the universe was speaking to me, telling me I was on the right track, even when so much of it felt uncertain. And when lightening struck the tree next to my house in early September, it was again, an omen, that the story I am telling both in my life and in my WIP is meant to be.<br />
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One last thing that came from all of this - this truth that I have been sharing as much as I can ever since, is that the story we tell ourselves is the story the comes true. So, as a writer, and as a human, I urge everyone to always re-read and re-vision that story you tell yourself. When we chose to write our own stories we can avoid or at least re-arrange some of the old tropes and create something new and beautiful and right. <br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-60944260364371070662013-07-01T15:09:00.000-04:002013-07-01T15:09:07.500-04:00Sex & Death - The Human Condition
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 13.7pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I am writing the first draft of Cold Spring Fire. It is
going well and I am thinking about themes. One element I have focused on
recently is…well…the one that is really in every story: the human condition. A
tag line line of Cold Spring Fire has always been a story of the devil we
love. It is about two women struggling with their past and present; the demons
that have followed them due to the choices they’ve made as well as their
upbringings. </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 13.7pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So I have been thinking a lot about sin, guilt, desire and
destruction. This year, in writing my speech for graduation, I considered the many
lessons of the literature I teach. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At first,
I was thinking many characters often show us what not to do, and surely that is
true on the one hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, the idea that
we must completely avoid the pitfalls of passion, obsession, foolishness,
despair and destruction in order to be happy, struck me as fallacy. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 13.7pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sure, we don’t want to cause harm, and we want to be as good
as we can be, but the human condition gets us every time. What is the human
condition anyway? Well, I think it can be boiled down to two broad subjects –
the two events that drive our beings in all ranges of emotions. Sex and death.
Now sex may seem base, but understand that it is the driving force behind
romantic love. It is a chemical reaction in the brain intended to drive us to
procreate. This causes all sorts of good things and bad things in our lives. It
is a powerful drive and yes, we do have institutions and morals to keep it in
check rather than becoming a complete mess all the time. But people sure do
find ways to make a mess of it anyway. So, sex leads to babies, leads to families,
leads to the real love, the one that has nothing to do with sex - except it
does, because that is where it started in our brains.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 13.7pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Death is the other end. Sex creates life and death is the
end of it. We are obsessed with it. We watch horror, we buy anti-aging
products, we have anxiety, we have religion and thus ideas of the afterlife. Death
becomes us.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 13.7pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And so, obsession, passion, foolishness, despair, these are
what make up life. These are the bridges, along with happiness and joy of
course, that lead us from one end to the other. And while I continue to write, read
and think about what makes us human, and the idea that it is not only our base urges,
but our ability to examine them and make decisions based on a higher sense of
our beings, I still stand up for those emotions that make us flawed. Because
drama after all is what makes a good story, whether it is real life or fiction.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-64276299046419859062013-06-16T14:33:00.001-04:002013-06-16T14:33:28.360-04:00How to Start Writing a Novel
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">You might be
wondering, how does someone write a novel? Not everyone does it
the same way, of course. There are plotters and pantsers. I am a plotter. (Pantsers
fly by the seat of their pants and just let it flow). I do a little of that too as I am actually creating. Sometimes things happen or characters arrive that I had no idea were coming. But, I thought it might be
interesting to share the process I am about to embark upon, as I gear up to write book #2. Whether you are a
writer or a reader, either way, I think it is interesting know how
a particular writer does the deed.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Step 1 - read what I
have.</strong></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have already written a beginning, but I wrote it a year ago and I will most likely change
elements, as the story has evolved in my head over time. So, first I will read
what I have and see what I still like.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Step 2 - go over
notes.</strong></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I also have written pages of notes already –
again over the last year. I have a character list, and a rough plot outline, at
least where I thought it was going then. So again, I will read them and see
what I still like and refresh my memory.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Step 3 – write more
notes.</strong> </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I will revision my
plan and come up with a working outline. I write my outline in the computer, so
I can change it as I go. But I write notes and ideas and diagrams and mini
outlines in a large artist’s sketchbook. By the end, I have lots of notes and
outlines. My outlines are living. They change and evolve. As I write, I go back
to the outline and flesh out ideas in a list. Events, emotions, and purpose.
For me, every chapter has to have a goal of what I want to get across. I
remember the first draft of DISTILLATION, before I had learned this, had whole
chapters of description and what I thought was character development, but no
action, nothing to move the plot foreword. Now, I consider the purpose of every
chapter. Often, when I finish writing for the day, I will cut and
paste the next part of the outline below my stopping point, so I know where I
am going the next day.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Step 4 – write chapters.</strong>
</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is of course
the longest process. At somewhere around 100 pages I will go back and read through,
and usually edit and revise that, as well as my outline, before I move on. For
COLD SPRING FIRE, I have a past and a present to deal with. Two separate arcs
of intertwined plot. This is the challenge for me this time around. Weaving
those two sets of events will be the primary focus of my work. Depending on how caught up in the story I get, I can write a hundred pages in about a week. Or, a hundred pages can take me a month. We will see...</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, that is how I
write a novel. Or at least how I get started. There are twists and turns and music and pictures and a lot of pacing along the way too.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">How do you do it?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As a reader, do you
like books that have past and present? </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What kind of plot
structures turn you off or on?</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-65890353525579293812013-06-02T15:20:00.002-04:002013-06-02T15:20:48.337-04:00Truth in Fiction<br />
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Come the end of June, I can finally focus again on writing. Happy to have found representation for my DISTILALTION, this summer I will work on one of two new novels I began over the past two years and maybe come close to completing a draft. I have chosen to work on the one tentatively titled COLD SPRING FIRE, and for the past few months I have been considering what I have so far and where I want to go with it. Much of what I have been thinking about is the truths I will spin into the fiction of that story, and how that fiction will make sense out of a variety of "truths" that haunt me.<br />
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I write fiction to exorcise demons and dreams. Writing fiction is a way for me to process places and experiences from the near or recent past and to turn them in to something completely different, something that turns my impressions into a new truth. There is no one truth. All different perspectives make up a varied truth. An individual truth can never be true to anyone but the person who creates it. And a person's truth about a single experience can change over time. <br />
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In DISTILLATION, I delved into my time spent in a little town in western, Massachusetts. The events in the novel have nothing to do with my life there, but the shapes of the characters and the especially the main character's feelings, issues, and personality were spun from real life. No one in the novel portrays a real person though, and so when people ask me if they are in my novel, I can say of course, or I can say no. Both are true. Interestingly, people like to hear they are in the novel, but even more interestingly, they often miss the qualities sprinkled here and there that I actually took from what is my truth about them, because it is not the truth they see for themselves.<br />
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COLD SPRING FIRE is based on my formative years. My teenage years. I spend a lot of time with teenagers, and one of the reasons I went in to teaching was because I liked being a teenager. It was great fun. But it was also a time, as it is for all adolescents, of great insecurity, great risks, great fear, and many mistakes. The world comes at you like an onslaught. It is hard to understand why things happen as they do, or to make rational decisions about your options when you are young. Scott Fitzgerald called youth a form of chemical madness. I have to agree with this. Teenagers push the limits just to find out where the edge of the world is. Teenagers have a love affair with darkness. They want to rebel and to seek an identity all their own, but are of course shaped more than they know by the identities of their parents, even as they defy everything their parents want. And the ways in which teens often try to control their destinies and deal with their emotions appear to those on the outside as madness or destruction. Both perspectives of course are true.<br />
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The new novel will again be about living in a small town, just as DISTILLATION was. I love the atmosphere and mystery of small towns, especially rural ones where there seems to be nothing but trees. In towns like this the school is often the center of life. There are families that come and go, and those that have been there forever. There are appearances to keep and secrets behind every neatly mown lawn. <br />
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What I look forward to most is the weaving. When I write I become entranced by a river of shining threads. They originate from my memories, my fantasies, my day to day experiences. The sound of the wind in the trees. A remembered moment passing between two people without words, spoken just with the eyes. Laughter from another room. The dry heat and cedar smell of a forest on an August afternoon. Moonlight on water, soaked with the stink of pond. A black and white photograph hiding a secret. The smell of fire in the spring. <br />
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It is like a visual, auditory, and olfactory symphony in my head and it consumes me once I really get going. It is interesting too that sound and smell play such a large part in both my memory and my writing. I am very affected by these senses, more so than most it seems at times. These are how my truths take shape. This is how I turn my truth into fiction. Or perhaps, how I turn my fiction into truth.<br />
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How do you define truth?<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-2233206149230086072013-05-05T17:22:00.001-04:002013-05-05T17:24:41.154-04:00The Great Gatsby - Life is But a Dream<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
My favorite line from <em>The Great Gatsby</em> is: "In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars." It is of course one of the most famous lines. Evoking ephemeral, romantic images is one of Fitzgerald's great gifts to literature.<br />
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As you may know, I am an American Literature teacher and it is Gatsby season. In five days the new movie comes out. My students are so worked up over this novel. But this novel has, this year, come full circle for me. After ten years of teaching it, I feel I have a deeper understanding of the work, the author, and its place in the canon because of its relevancy across generations.<br />
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Over the past year, I read <em>The Paris Wife</em>, <em>Tender is the Night</em>, and most recently, <em>Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald</em>. And what I come away from it all with is that truth is as diaphanous as dreams. What is truth? Can there be one truth? Or is truth different for different people? Can a truth change? <br />
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<br />
Scott was my first literary love. And as I have read and taught Fitzgerald's works, though I often ask my students to examine the novel through a feminist lens for at least one lesson, I have always laughed at his portrayal of women. How absurd they are. Daisy is vapid, Myrtle tragically trashy, Jordan haughty. All of them careless. The men treat them as objects and yet are so utterly wounded by the ultimate betrayals and downfalls of these women, and we somehow end up feeling bad for them. The men. Especially Gatsby.<br />
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Like Daisy and Myrtle, I had always believed it was Zelda who had ruined Scott, or at least had been the unstable one. Scott Fitzgerald was to me Jay Gatsby, a sad romantic whose dreams were never quite as real as he strove for them to be, mostly due to alcohol and his wife's need for a high life style he could barely provide. Interestingly, in <em>Z</em>, Therese Anne Fowler takes the opposite argument. In her notes, she acknowledges that there are two camps. One that claims Zelda ruined Scott (fueled mostly by the tales of Ernest Hemingway who infamously believed Zelda was jealous of Scott and trying to undermine his work). Then there is the camp that believes it was the other way around, and if anything it was Hemingway for all his over the top manliness that was jealous of Zelda's relationship with her husband. <br />
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Could the truth I had been fed for so many years by the male literary establishment, be so misconstrued? Granted the two feminist point of view books are fiction. But so is <em>Tender is the Night</em>. So is <em>The Great Gatsby</em>. So is <em>For Whom the Bell Tolls</em>. Both Scott and Hemingway unapologetically used the very real events and conversations of their lives the people they knew in their writing, sometimes barely fictionalizing it at all. So, where does the line between fiction and truth lie? Is there even such a thing?<br />
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I say there is no such thing as truth. Truth is a fabrication. All of life is a story, one we write for ourselves and one others write with us in it. What is real to one person, might not even exist for another. What an individual imagines can be their whole world, made true only by their undying belief. Could Daisy love Tom and Gatsby both? Could both Zelda's story and Scott be true? Can our dreams be as true as our realities? And if we die still believing in our own truth, who is to say we anything less than what we imagined?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-58846892792802957422013-04-28T17:12:00.000-04:002013-04-29T13:17:41.140-04:00Better than Ever - Big News!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Well, it has officially been (just about) a year since I was blogging. After last year's Muse and the Marketplace Conference, I took a hiatus to, among other things, query DISTILLATION and to see what played out. In that time a lot happened in my life. Good and bad. One of the great things was I threw myself whole-heartedly into teaching this year, which I think has been my best year ever. It was a nice to think about that costume for a while and to stretch my wings. I think in the end I am a better teacher for it and more in love with my day job than I ever thought I could be. I have to admit the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rARN6agiW7o" target="_blank">new film for Gatsby</a> has helped a lot. But, I am now rounding out another school year with a new perspective, and more than ready to put my writer hat back on. <br />
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As it happens, when you are busy paying attention to something else, other things tend to work themselves out. And so...I have news. Big news. I HAVE AN AGENT. I am happy to say that I am now represented by <a href="http://aponteliterary.com/about-us/" target="_blank">Victoria Lea of the Natalia Aponte</a> Literary Agency. It happened so fast. I sent a query and a month or so later she responded saying she was liking it and asked to know more about me as a writer. A week later, she offered representation. For all of you who I know have waited and struggled and written and rewritten and picked yourself up again and again after each rejection, I don't know what to say, except that when it happens it happens so fast, it leaves you speechless and stunned. <br />
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I am ecstatic to have someone on my team. Someone who believes in DISTILLATION, who liked the story and thinks editors will too. It is the next stage and I am ready to get to work. Thank goodness summer is right around the corner. <br />
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For those of you not in the writing world, I should explain. As I have told friends and family that I have secured an agent for DISTILLATION, they almost invariably respond with: So when is the book coming out? <br />
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It doesn't work that way. In this day and age one needs an agent to approach publishers. Agents are the gate keepers. Most publishers don't even look at a manuscript that is unagented. So...getting an agent is a major step and, for many, that step is a long and difficult process. As I have said before, they are not kidding when they say you need a thick skin and perseverance beyond all reason. Now that I have an agent, editors will take a look. That is one of the amazing things an agent does for a writer, they pitch the book, they share the love. Agents also handle contracts and all the rights to the work, including foreign, digital, and film rights, if such things come up, which often they do in one form or another. <br />
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So, from here, my agent will query and send out my book to editors she has relationships with and hopefully one will fall in love with DISTILLATION too. I am keeping my fingers crossed. I have two other novels brewing (more on that another time) and one of those I will throw myself into this summer, now that DISTILLATION is in good hands. Although, I will also have to do some more work for that book of course. The real work is just beginning in fact. <br />
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I am officially on the agency website, under <a href="http://aponteliterary.com/about-the-agency/" target="_blank">"Our Authors."</a> This has been the most exciting part so far. My picture is above, but you will have to stop by their site to read the bio. It has been reviewed by my fans as giving an "impish" impression. Which I think is fitting. The whole bio and author photo makes me feel official. I also loved talking with other authors, <a href="http://mvfreeman.com/" target="_blank">M.V. Freeman </a>and <a href="http://aponteliterary.com/our-authors/debbie-herbert/" target="_blank">Debbie Herbert</a>, also represented by Victoria. They made me feel welcome and excited about the whole deal. So check out the agency website when you get a chance and from here on in, I am back, blogging again. Say hello and I'll stop by to see you all soon.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-27674334347416198052012-05-05T21:47:00.003-04:002013-01-30T07:58:45.540-05:00Muse 2012<br />
What I learned today at this year's Muse and the Marketplace Writing Conference put on by Grub Street Writers in Boston:<br />
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1. Grub Street really does a great job in helping writers write and understand the market. I am consistently impressed, every year, with how much thought and care is put into the line up. The conference is big and it is grand. I highly recommend it.<br />
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2. Agents and editors are people too. I knew this already of course, but this year I signed up to eat lunch at a table with two agents, an author, and an editor. I thought it might be awkward, but all were warm and friendly. It was perhaps the most comfortable and chatty lunch I have ever had at the Muse. Rotating seats was a great idea too, as the four writers who were at the table to network got to talk to different people. I really think the lunch was the best event of the day.<br />
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3. Agents differ in opinion on a lot of things. I was surprised to see two agents disagree on the etiquette of the "no response means no" rule that is more and more common these days. One thought it was down right rude, where as the other defended the need to allocate time where it was most useful. I also heard variances about whether a writer should offer a genre at all or comp titles in a query. It does put a writer in a category that might influence the agent's expectations, but then again if the comp or genre is right on, it might help.<br />
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4. I learned that there are debut authors out there who have gone through the slush pile. They experienced the same ups and down I know many aspiring authors do. It was really encouraging to hear their success stories and to feel understood.<br />
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5. Authors are much less critical of writing than agents, perhaps understandably so. I attended two "Idol" sessions, where writers submit one page anonymously and it is read in front of a panel of "judges" (authors or agents respectively). They listen and when they feel they would stop reading, each one, individually, raises a hand, two or three and the reader is told to stop and the group explains their reasoning. This was very insightful. The authors were much more inclined to listen to the whole page and then offer positives and negatives, as if they were in a critique group. The agents found fault almost immediately. This give a lot of insight into their mind frame and their process.<br />
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6. Lastly, I learned, or remembered, how great it is to go to a conference with other writers and people in the industry. It is rejuvenating and gives me a chance to connect with people who love the same things that I love: books and writing. What a great experience going to a conference is. It is worth it to put your brave costume on and to walk up to an agent and introduce yourself. It is awesome to sit next to an author you admire and talk to them not only about their work, but your own.<br />
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I highly recommend that anyone who is writing a book go to a conference like The Muse and The Marketplace. It can add definition, purpose, and knowledge to your endeavor. <br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-52244186797123274962012-04-29T12:02:00.000-04:002013-01-30T07:59:01.730-05:00X-ed Off, Yikes!, and ZzzzzzI admit it. I am pooped. This whole A-Z challenge started with great optimism and high hopes and the challenge certainly lived up to them. My own personal world, not so much. I had some let downs this month and some rough spots, but I am getting my ducks back in a row. Although I am in a state of regrouping, tentatively tipping my toe in the torrent, it does not mean I can't finish this thing. But I am going to cheat. Here goes:<br />
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<strong>X is for X that one off my list. </strong>Has anyone else who is querying come across this disclaimer on agency sites that the querant must acknowledge before submitting? <br />
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"Said Agency and/or any of its clients may have created, may create, or may otherwise have access to materials, ideas, and creative works which may be similar or <u>identical</u> to the Material with regard to theme, motif, plots, characters, formats, or other attributes; and (v) I shall not be entitled to any compensation because of the proposed use or use of any such similar or identical material that may be or may have been created by Said Agency and/or any of its clients..."<br />
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I know people still submit to these agencies, and perhaps it is totally kosher, but I shy away, even when there seem to be some awesome agents at "Said Agency." Why do they include this? All the other disclaimers seem appropriate, but this just screams, "...in case we steal your story." Which I certainly don't think reputable agencies would do, but then why include this? <strong>What do you think a writer should make of this?</strong><br />
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<strong>Y is for Yikes!</strong> I am going to a pretty big writing conference next weekend, <a href="http://www.grubstreet.org/index.php?id=173">The Muse and the Marketplace</a>. I will probably blog about it. It is very exciting. The attendees get to hob knob with agents and well known writers. There are seminars and panels and talks and keynote speakers. You can meet with an agent for a manuscript consultation. You can eat lunch at an assigned table with editors, agents, and NYT Bestselling authors. It is awesome, but it is also really intimidating. This year my Muse friend is not attending. So, I am flying solo. I have made a plan to approach a few specific people and introduce myself, just to put a face (mine) to a name (my query). I am excited to meet one of my fav authors, <a href="http://katherinehowe.com/">Katherine Howe</a> (check out her awesome website), and I am excited to learn about a whole lot of different writing related things. But YIKES! I have to psych myself up and put on my Brave Girl Costume. <strong>Do you attend any awesome writing conferences, or other special interest events?</strong><br />
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<strong>Z is for ZZZZZ</strong>. Sleeping is so important and I haven't been doing it well lately. In fact, I have noticed that many of my fellow bloggers and writers suffer from insomnia. Actually, a lot of my students do too. Why is this? Are we over stimulated with electronics? Is the modern world too fast paced? Are we stressed with information overload. I know too much and therefore I worry all the time. <strong>Are you a good sleeper?</strong><br />
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So there you go. I did it. I made it through, with a little cheating. It was so great to meet all of you knew and interesting bloggers. Thanks for stopping by and visit again soon.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-56312114797475746352012-04-26T06:00:00.000-04:002013-01-30T07:59:44.149-05:00Western Massachusetts<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
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I have noticed that many of the people visiting my blog are coming from places all of the United States and even all over the world! Since, very few of you are from Massachusetts, and probably think of Boston as the ONLY place in this state, I thought I might tell you a little bit about where I live. WESTERN Massachusetts.<br />
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As you will see if you look at the map above and to the left, these people didn't think it necessary to put my town on this map. In fact the entire area where I live has nothing labeled. Find Holyoke (pronounced Holy Oak - not Holly Oky - which I once heard someone say) Springfield and Northampton. Between Holyoke and Northampton is a small set of mountains or really hills called the Holyoke Range. Around here it is known as the Tofu Curtain. South of the Holyoke Range is a very different place than North of it. Northampton is an awesome, hip, college town. So from there, head North. To the left of the Quabbin (more on that later) and keep going. Follow the Connecticut River to the place where Massachusetts and the river meet Vermont and New Hampshire. Now back down a half an inch. THAT is where I live. <br />
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Massachusetts is really divided into at least three portions. Boston - urban, cultured, steal our water. Central, MA - a lot of commuters to Boston. Flat. Where I grew up. Western MA - which is really western central - also known as The Pioneer Valley and hill towns surrounding the Connecticut River Valley. This is where I live. Then there are the Berkshires - where the Berkshire Mountains are - & what I see as a place where New Yorkers go on vacation. I can't really speak for any of those other places. But I do know western MA.<br />
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I came here for college. UMass, Butterfield Alumni. I never left. I never left because the valley has a much different pace than where I grew up. Though there were rural sections of central Ma, there was still a mall, chain restaurant, fast paced, Boston oriented, mentality. Out in the valley we are much more rural except for our few semi-urban areas. For a long time I lived in a hill town on top of a plateau that was, for most, out in the boonies. But I can tell you, out here, 30 minutes to the store was not much compared to those who live between the hill towns and the Berkshires.<br />
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The book and the plow are the emblems of Amherst College and I think that fits this area well. It is both a farming and an academic community. There are professors mixing with good ole boys. The locavore movement is very strong here. Local foods, local products. Small family farms are flourishing and the art community is wonderful. <br />
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People in Boston think we are a place to visit. My family, who still lives East of here, always says, I'd move out there, but there are no jobs. Maybe not the kind of urban jobs they think of, but there is a different cost of living here and the slower pace, the organic lifestyle, the prevalence of sheep, chickens, gardens, and sugar shacks (which is where Maple syrup is boiled) is worth it. I am a teacher and my husband works for a large corporation that makes...scented candles. Can you guess which one?<br />
It works out well for us. <br />
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In 2006, we moved from the hills into the valley because we were priced out of houses at the height of the boom. We hope to move back up there before too long. But we bought a house in the "city" of Greenfield. It is really a town. We live on a rural highway, but we have nearly two acres of land abutting 60 acres of undeveloped town land and 40 acres of Christmas Tree farm. We have 5 chickens, with three chicks on the way. We hope to have sheep, goat, and alpacas one day - but in the hills.<br />
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My husband is a native of the area, and about the Quabbin and Boston stealing our water thing. His family, descended from Salem (one of the executed witches), moved westward and settled in Dana. If you look on a map, you won't find Dana. It is under water. The Quabbin Reservoir flooded a few towns for Boston's water. Those families relocated. My husband's to New Salem, but not before his grandfather was one of the men who dug up the graves of the generations of people who had lived in Dana and moved them. Believe it or not, the people of that area still have a grudge against Boston. <br />
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So if you ever visit Massachusetts, don't just do Boston. Come West and stop in the Pioneer Valley. <br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-45022035179063600242012-04-25T06:00:00.002-04:002013-02-23T09:35:55.882-05:00Voracious Reader<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHmMSOMSBMcNcEHOcvFGnZ6u1CIupqgXT6OhNUgewDGrWhtyCHYnqz9_s-3cB5eXrzU9HvJHeMjleIMrJuoyC1cczQs57XwaRyxB5dbBcJORvXaZKnaqytdd19FF5lPoHzvs8-kogvMR0/s1600/Spring+&+Books+012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHmMSOMSBMcNcEHOcvFGnZ6u1CIupqgXT6OhNUgewDGrWhtyCHYnqz9_s-3cB5eXrzU9HvJHeMjleIMrJuoyC1cczQs57XwaRyxB5dbBcJORvXaZKnaqytdd19FF5lPoHzvs8-kogvMR0/s200/Spring+&+Books+012.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5EM5YFx66VnTrVbu-91MKPQBvcjpkFq56GVSg5HDaBLkGdBr16DvYoc8C6wkBekscKUZVPEpQN5O1Rqqd06IFBv7lFsFmOTQq_Ud_HY6r6ggN36t8gm7r0ZXvQQUfeVsfEfuglStbKk/s1600/Spring+&+Books+014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5EM5YFx66VnTrVbu-91MKPQBvcjpkFq56GVSg5HDaBLkGdBr16DvYoc8C6wkBekscKUZVPEpQN5O1Rqqd06IFBv7lFsFmOTQq_Ud_HY6r6ggN36t8gm7r0ZXvQQUfeVsfEfuglStbKk/s200/Spring+&+Books+014.JPG" width="200" /></a>I am a voracious reader and the book problem is getting out of hand. For a long time I have had the policy that I only bought books that I seriously wanted to own as part of my library, which meant that I usually had already read them. This helped keep the piles down, but lately I have begun to buy books just for the sake of buying them again. This is part of author good karma and I am happy to do it.<br />
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I am also an avid library supporter and so I go to the library on a weekly basis and usually come away with an armload of books. I don't always read each one, but, I read until I am bored or it loses my interest. Often, I am reading four or five books at once, and the one or two I keep reading until the end, wins the competition. (I imagine that is what it is like with agents and manuscript submissions).<br />
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Also, I have been going to used bookstores. We have some great ones. The Montague Bookmill being one of the best. "Books you don't need in a place you can't find." When I go to these places, I pick up books I have been wanting to add to my collection and books that are just for general interest, especially to visitors. <br />
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I love it when I walk into a house and there are piles of books. So, I have started to let that happen in my own home. I am not a clutterbug and I have had people come in to my house and say where is all your stuff. Well, I am letting the books and magazines clutter things. It is worth it. Although I really do just need another bookshelf.<br />
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Another spring feeding our Voracious Reading is my husband and I like to support our local book store and even if we aren't buying books, occasionally we go and select a few magazines from their varied collection. I am not talking about Cosmo or Better Homes and Gardens (although I do like that one), I am talking about Writer's magazines, or Beer Brewing magazines, or Farming magazines, or Art magazines. Supporting small publications, small book stores and our interests all at once. It is great. And then I keep them around for others to enjoy when they come to our house. <br />
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What do you read? Do you have piles around your house? What is in your bookshelf? I love seeing other people's bookshelves. (Lostinsidethecovers - that is a shout out to you!)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-62274833510342421112012-04-24T06:00:00.000-04:002012-04-24T06:00:05.736-04:00Unitarian UniversalistI do not ever talk about religion. In fact, I am a "None." In my day job, as a teacher of literature, religion comes into play a lot with the context of many classic works, but I am very non-denominational. <br />
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Having struggled to come up with a U post, though, I found myself continuously coming back to the initials U.U. which stands for Unitarian Universalist and since many people do not know about Unitarianism and since I do have a connection to it, I thought I might offer a bit of information.<br />
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When I was ten, we moved to a new town. To meet people and become part of the community, my mother thought it would be good for us to join a church. She had been raised Catholic, so we joined the town's Catholic church. I made my first communion, a little late, but when it came time to be confirmed, I declined. I was a teenager and becoming more and more rebellious. So, I did something pretty drastic. I joined the Unitarian Church on my own.<br />
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There was a large contingency in my town of U.U. kids and there was a youth group that was very active. This youth group was part of a larger regional youth collective that very much favored free spirits and alternative views. Piercing, tattoos, Doc Martins, dyed hair, boys in hippie skirts, clove cigarettes. That was us. Alternative. It was a very open and accepting community and it fit with my values. People of all sorts were welcome and in a time when the LBT community was still pretty quiet in high schools and such, it was a place where people who identified differently than the mainstream could feel welcome. I approved of this message and was happy to be a part of the community in general.<br />
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We would attend U.U. Conferences which would take us to Unitarian Churches around New England where we would stay from Friday night to Sunday morning. There was no religiousness at all, at least not that I can remember. But values of self-respect, community building, kindness, giving, sharing, and understanding were taught via group workshops like Stone Soup, where everyone would bring something (an object of meaning to them) to the "pot" and share it with others. We would take shifts in the kitchen and be responsible for cooking meals and cleaning up. We would stay up all night and make friends from new places. There were no drugs allowed at these conferences and people were generally respectful of that. It was a place where kids from all over got to be different and accepted at once and part of something bigger.<br />
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Today, I am not part of the local Unitarian Church, as I said, I am a "none" mostly because I am not a joiner. If I were to attend any church though, it would certainly be Unitarian. Both my mother and my sister have since changed from going to Catholic Church to going to Unitarian meetings. Some U.U. churches lean more towards the Christian side of things, as they are traditionally a part of the Protestant collection. Nineteenth century American thinkers like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Bronson Alcott and Henry David Thoreau were part of the early Unitarian movement. Some U.U. churches today lean to a true universalist meeting where all faiths and spiritualism are welcome and openly celebrated in a mixed forum.<br />
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Diversity and cooperative community are the aspects of Unitarian Universalism that I most revere and so, that is my U post.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-29906117816484617342012-04-23T06:00:00.000-04:002012-04-23T06:00:17.885-04:00TwitterAre you on Twitter? I have been for about a year now and I have to say I really like it. It is easy to post and easy to follow people. Getting followers is also much easier than Blogger. One of the problems with blogging is that you put so much time into it and then people don't follow. Or people do, but they do in other ways than the Follow button and then you don't really know how many people are following. I try not to dwell on the numbers, but obviously it is something I like, because I like that on Twitter is it easier to garner followers.<br />
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The draw back to Twitter is that there are a lot of people who are just trying to sell things- especially their self-published books - which I understand, but still I'd like to hear about the people and their interests too. I alternately leave my feed open or close it to only people I accept as followers. This allows me to decline those who are just trawling.<br />
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The other fun thing about Twitter is the focused interest following of political or celebrity personalities. I enjoy seeing Alec Baldwin tween with Mia Farrow about Rosemary's Baby. It makes me feel like I am seeing behind the scenes. <br />
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With so many social media outlets, we all have to choose which ones work best for us. Honestly, I started a blog to chronicle my writing journey. If I do "make it," I am thinking an author FB page and a website would be more manageable. And I would keep Twitter, but blogging is like a whole other job and if I had a book published, I would want to focus on the book and not tangential material. I can see why for non-fiction or memoir authors it works well, though.<br />
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What are your favorite social media outlets and why? On Twitter? Follow me @AMSwanAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-52423139612568635722012-04-21T09:49:00.003-04:002012-04-26T14:12:15.109-04:00Sass Master and the Stars<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
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So I have been hearing a lot about personality lately. And there is something strange going on. Somehow people are missing my personality. This has got me thinking. In life, I am known for having...shall I say...a strong personality? So, I am going to talk about my personality today. It all begins with my sign. <br />
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I am a Cancer on the cusp of Gemini. I also have a Cancer moon and Gemini rising. So - these two signs are me. The problem with being on the cusp is that I have what seems like contradictory personality traits. Half of those being Gemini (the twins) makes it even worse. At heart, I am a Cancer. I love home and food and comfort. I am soft, sensitive, emotional, creative, and easily hurt. I love animals and nature. Like a Crab, I maintain a hard exterior shell to protect my very soft insides. Also like a Crab I can be a bit snippy if I feel threatened and those claws can be dangerous.<br />
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Now conversely, on the outside I can appear to be very Gemini - especially in certain situations. I can walk in to a room of strangers and work the crowd. I can dazzle people with my wit. I can make new friends and talk up strangers. I am not afraid to put myself out there. Or so it seems. When I am feeling particularly Gemini-ish - like a bird in motion - my eyes turn green (from blue). No kidding.<br />
When I am feeling very watery - like a Cancer - they are blue as the ocean on a sunny day.<br />
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In my professional life I am known for my sometimes biting wit. I am a sass master. I am sharp and quick and a straight shooter. I am the go to person when someone needs to be told something no one else wants to tell them. I say it like it is and I mean what I say. I am articulate, logical and speak with conviction. I am enthusiastic and communicative, helpful, and friendly. But I can be sarcastic with a very dry sense of humor.I am also quiet. I choose my moments. <br />
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I am less than five feet tall, but I am a lion, subtle, quick, and either dazzling or dangerous, afraid of no one. I can also be a know-it -all and alternately totally insecure, but I try to keep those moments under wraps. In fact, I have made an art out of hiding in plain site until I want to be seen, because all of my life I have had the unnerving feeling that when I speak, people stop and stare. Somehow I come across as bold and having something to say, even when I don't feel it inside. My voice probably has a lot to do with it, which you don't hear here. I don't mean my articulation, I mean my actual pitch and tone. I have always had a "tone" problem, though I have mostly learned to keep it under control. I think you'd have to meet me to understand this. <br />
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So that is my personality. On-line I try to keep it bright and light. As a writer approaching agents and other writers, I am humble, thankful, polite, professional, kind and encouraging and that is a public persona I will always cultivate. In my daily life, I am all of these things too, but like the ocean I am changeable, sometimes like glass, sometimes stormy, and what lies beneath is far deeper, darker, and more wondrous than the surface reveals. <br />
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So, hey baby, what's your sign?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-83293201561800361682012-04-20T06:00:00.002-04:002013-01-30T08:00:27.269-05:00Riches<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
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So, just for fun, today I am going to fantasize about what I would do if I were rich and I invite you to do the same. If I had a million dollars... (you know the tune, hum along with me)...<br />
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After I paid off my student loan and my credit card, I'd build an addition on my house. It would be a family room on the first floor, complete with a pellet stove and a windowy wall for lots of plants to live. Above would be a master bedroom and another bathroom. Maybe a spiral staircase, a cool cast iron one, to connect the two rooms.<br />
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Speaking of bathrooms, I'd also gut and redo both of the ones I have.<br />
I'd buy a pick up truck and new furniture especiaa whole new king bedroom set.<br />
Next, while I am doing the first addition, might as well blow out the kitchen and add some space and a screened in porch on the shady side of things.<br />
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I'd build a patio and install an outdoor hot tub. I'd have some serious landscaping done.<br />
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I'd go on vacation. To Europe. I'd hike along the moores of England and go to the English seaside. Visit castles and ruins, museums and cafes. <br />
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I'd buy tools to keep my husband busy and clothes and new appliances for me.<br />
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Maybe I'd just sell my house and buy another one with a barn. Yeah that would be better. We need a barn so we can have animals. Then, I guess I'd buy some animals. Alpacas! Of course this new house would have to have the patio, the porch, the sun room and the hot tub. Not to mention new kitchen and bathrooms. <br />
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What would you do with a million dollars or two or ten? <br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-35999203999201455732012-04-19T06:00:00.001-04:002012-04-19T06:00:02.877-04:00QuerySo, I am thinking about rewriting my query. It has worked quite well, but I want it to work better. Since, I think I will be continuing on with this current query batch, though the book is out with a handful still, I was wondering if anyone would care to comment. Any thoughts? Advice? Here is my current query:<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>I am seeking representation for my novel DISTILLATION, supernatural women’s fiction with New England flavor. DISTILLATION would appeal to readers who have enjoyed Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic and Katherine Howe’s The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></em></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><em> </em></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>Alice Towne has been trying to get pregnant and to be a good wife, but the smell of the dead is getting in the way. She smells their memories, sweet and sour, essences of life hanging on with the soul. When her husband can’t accept her for who she is and his disdain borders on abuse, Alice finds the strength to leave. With few options, she agrees to do a favor for her mother, caretaking a house in the hills of western, Massachusetts, where she hopes to exorcise her demons and come to terms with her curse in solitude. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></em></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><em> </em></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>Ashfield is beautiful and quaint, filled with history and an air of enchantment. Everyone in town, however, seems to have a secret to share or one to hide. Alice is wary of the witchy women who own the hardware store, friends of her mother, but knows their spells are what has kept the old house’s past at bay. Alice’s presence, though, seems to wash away that protection. The odor of peppermint lingers in every corner and the spirit of a woman lurks beside the garden, seemingly aware Alice can sense her and waiting to be heard. In the middle of it all, is Josephine, her mother, pushing Alice to stay the course and embrace her gift. But, when Alice unearths the preserved bones of an infant buried in the cellar, and discovers an ancient symbol that ties her own family to the house’s history, she knows she must learn the truth of what happened on Watts’ Hill, if she ever wants to understand herself. <o:p></o:p></em></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><em> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">From an alchemist damned, to a distillery that launched a pharmaceutical giant, Alice will sift through history and legend uncovering a betrayal and a love that echo across time. In doing so, she also discovers who she truly is and just what eternity really means.</span></em></span></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-1794763093661690462012-04-18T06:00:00.000-04:002013-01-30T08:00:51.621-05:00Princess Bride<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
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There are many P posts I have thought of. One of them being personality, one of them being persistence, one of them being pain in the ass. But, I thought I would instead go the safe route, forget about my troubles for a while and post about something that has been near and dear to my heart for a very long time. <br />
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The Princess Bride. I saw this movie in the theater when it first came out. I owned a VHS copy for years. Recently I bought the 20th anniversary DVD. At the end of the school year, if we finish with time, or perhaps in a study hall, I show the film. Kids of late, boys especially, say, "Oh, God, do you mean The Princess Diaries?" I always reply with something along the like of Peter Falk's line about pirates and giants, sword fighting and revenge. This usually perks them up. <br />
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I am known for quoting this film as it applies to life. One of my favorites being an adaptation of Westley saying to Buttercup, when he is in that oh so tricky disguise of a mask: "Life is pain, your highness. Anyone who tells you differently is selling something." I use this a lot with the replacement of unfair for pain, whenever students whine about something being unfair.<br />
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In, I think, tenth grade or maybe ninth, I was ejected from Sunday School one day for giddily reciting lines from this film with my best friend. It was making us giggle like crazy. For some reason, I think it was just the name "Princess Buttercup" as said by the Impressive Clergyman Peter Cook. Or perhaps it was Carol Kane saying Humperdinck over and over. Either way, it was worth the reprimand. <br />
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I of course loved Cary Elwes as Westley and Robin Wright as Buttercup, but Inigo and Fezzick (Mandy Pitinkin and Andre the Giant), Count Rugen and Prince Humperdinck (Christopher Guest and Chris Sarandon) and of course Miracle Max (Billy Crystal) were just so much fun. I didn't know then, but would later discover that Christopher Guest is of course from then Spinal Tap and now such lovable comedies as Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman. <br />
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I even read the book, which had a whole ruse about its creation and the lost pages or something like that. Anyway, here are some favorite quotes.<br />
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Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die. <br />
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We are men of action, lies do not become us.<br />
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I do not mean to pry, but you don't by any chance happen to have six fingers on your right hand?<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000705/"><strong>Buttercup</strong></a>: We'll never succeed. We may as well die here. <br />
<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000144/">Westley</a></b>: No, no. We have already succeeded. I mean, what are the three terrors of the Fire Swamp? One, the flame spurt - no problem. There's a popping sound preceding each; we can avoid that. Two, the lightning sand, which you were clever enough to discover what that looks like, so in the future we can avoid that too. <br />
<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000705/">Buttercup</a></b>: Westley, what about the R.O.U.S.'s? <br />
<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000144/">Westley</a></b>: Rodents Of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist.<br />
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I'm not a witch, I'm your wife. <br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001697/"><strong>Prince Humperdinck</strong></a>:Surrender. <br />
<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000144/">Westley</a></b>: You mean you wish to surrender to me? Very well, I accept.<br />
<span class="linksoda"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093779/quotes?qt0482740"></a></span><br />
<span class="linksoda"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000144/"><strong>Westley</strong></a>: Give us the gate key. <br />
<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0832695/">Yellin</a></b>: I have no gate key. <br />
<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001597/">Inigo Montoya</a></b>: Fezzik, tear his arms off. <br />
<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0832695/">Yellin</a></b>: Oh, you mean *this* gate key.<br />
<span class="linksoda"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093779/quotes?qt0482748"></a></span></span><br />
<span class="linksoda"><span class="linksoda"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0556834/"><strong>The Ancient Booer</strong></a>: Boo. Boo. Boo. <br />
<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000705/">Buttercup</a></b>: Why do you do this? <br />
<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0556834/">The Ancient Booer</a></b>: Because you had love in your hands, and you gave it up. <br />
<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000705/">Buttercup</a></b>: But they would have killed Westley if I hadn't done it. <br />
<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0556834/">The Ancient Booer</a></b>: Your true love lives. And you marry another. True Love saved her in the Fire Swamp, and she treated it like garbage. And that's what she is, the Queen of Refuse. So bow down to her if you want, bow to her. Bow to the Queen of Slime, the Queen of Filth, the Queen of Putrescence. Boo. Boo. Rubbish. Filth. Slime. Muck. Boo. Boo. Boo.<br />
<span class="linksoda"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093779/quotes?qt0482758"></a></span></span></span><br />
(There are just too many good ones.)<br />
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Since the invention of the kiss there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind. The End.<br />
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<b></b><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-25153764965135980482012-04-17T06:00:00.000-04:002013-01-30T08:01:03.380-05:00Owl LoreI have been interested in owls lately. I am thinking some owl lore will be featured in my WIP. So, I thought for today's post I would share some.<br />
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"Owls are one of the oldest species of vertebrate animal in existence, fossils have been found dating back 60 million years, showing the bird to have changed very little in that time.<br />
Throughout the history of mankind, the owl has featured significantly in mythology & folklore. Owls are one of the few birds that have been found in prehistoric cave paintings. Owls have been both revered & feared throughout many civilisations from ancient to more recent times." <a href="http://www.pauldfrost.co.uk/intro_o2.html">(source)</a><br />
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Owls are messengers. How appropriate then they carry the mail in <em>Harry Potter</em>. In historic lore however, people being the fearful creatures we are, often they were seen as messengers of death. This may be because of their eerie calls in the night. A voice in the night is always chilling.<br />
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"In ancient Greece, owls were often seen as a symbol of good fortune. The idea of the 'wise old owl' may have come into being from the association of the <a href="http://www.pauldfrost.co.uk/littleowl.html#folklore"><span style="color: black;">Little Owl</span></a> with the Greek goddess of wisdom, Athene.<br />
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In contrast, the Romans saw owls as omens of impending disaster. Hearing the hoot of an owl indicated an imminent death, it is thought that the deaths of many famous Romans was predicted by the hoot of an owl, including Julius Caesar, Augustus & Agrippa. While the Greeks believed that sight of an owl predicted victory for their armies, the Romans saw it as a sign of defeat. They believed that a dream of an owl could be an omen of shipwreck for sailors & of being robbed. To ward off the evil caused by an owl, it was believed that the offending owl should be killed & nailed to the door of the affected house.<br />
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Beliefs on owls varied between ancient American Indian tribes. Some tribes viewed owls as harbingers of sickness & death. Other tribes saw them as protective spirits, others believed them to be the souls of living or recently departed people & should be treated with respect. Some tribes even saw the owls as earthly incarnations of their gods, the Hopis believed the <a href="http://www.pauldfrost.co.uk/burrowowl.html#folklore"><span style="color: black;">Burrowing Owl</span></a> to be their god of the dead. The Inuit explain the flat face & short beak of owls, in the story of a beautiful young girl who was magically changed into an owl with a long beak, as an owl, she became frightened & flew into the wall of her house & flattened her face & beak. Some tribes referred to death as "crossing the owls bridge".<br />
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Some people believed that owls were particular bad to children, in Malaya it was believed that owls ate new-born babies, the Swahili believed that owls brought sickness to children, in Arabia it was believed that owls were evil spirits that carried children off in the night.<br />
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Some people believed that owls had magic powers, in Arabia it was thought that each female Owl laid two eggs - one with the power to make hair fall out, the other with the power to restore it. In Algeria, it was believed that if the right eye of an Eagle Owl was placed in the hand of a sleeping woman, that she would tell everything you wanted to know (<i>now that is stretching the imagination too far</i>).<br />
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British beliefs about owls include the Welsh belief that if a owl is heard amongst houses then an unmarried girl has lost her virginity. Another Welsh belief is that if a pregnant woman hears an owl, her child will be blessed. In Yorkshire owl broth is believed to cure whooping cough, amongst other things. Because of its ability to turns its head so far & its habit of watching things intently, it was believed that you could get an owl to effectively wring its own neck by walking in circles around it." <a href="http://www.pauldfrost.co.uk/intro_o2.html">(source)</a><br />
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Owls can be symbolic of psychic power, or supernatural knowledge. <a href="http://hoaryredpoll.wordpress.com/2007/08/07/athenas-owl/">One site</a> notes that perhaps the glow of an owl's eyes could have been seen as the inner light of wisdom. Owls can also be spirits of the dead especially when heard calling from cemeteries. Owls are old souls. They regurgitate what they have consumed and thus represent a reckoning of sorts.<br />
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In one way or another, owls are associated with fate. As night birds, as predators, as beautiful creatures with expressive eyes, it is no wonder they have perched so in our collective imaginations.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-56323995178529445072012-04-14T06:00:00.000-04:002013-01-30T08:01:57.542-05:00MOJITO - Yay for M<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
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DISTILLATION is all about peppermint. Well, it is about a lot more, but everything centers on the essence of peppermint. In the book there is actually a scene where Teddy, my beloved town historian, makes a mojito. I love mojitoes and drink them all summer. So...here is the recipe. Tried and true.<br />
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First of all - you must buy freshly picked or - better yet - grow your own -peppermint. I grow peppermint just for this one reason.<br />
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<li>Tall glass with fingers full of peppermint leaves squeezed or shredded into the bottom</li>
<li>Ice to fill glass 1/2 to 3/4 full</li>
<li>Bacardi Rum - a shot and a half per drink - depending on how much of a lush you are. Pour the shot+ over the ice.</li>
<li>Lots of FRESH lime - half to a whole lime per drink - as per your taste. Squeeze the lime over the ice. I like to put the squeezed out lime right in the glass so I can poke it with my straw.</li>
<li>1 Tbs Simple Syrup (make in advance)- take a cup of sugar and pour it into a small sauce pan with a cup of water. Heat on medium low stirring occasionally until the sugar and water are completely mixed. Pour into a Ball jar and let cool. Refridgerate and keep for all the mojitoes you can drink. Pour the syrup over the ice.</li>
<li>Fill the rest of the glass with Tonic water. </li>
<li>Use a brightly colored straw to crush and stir the whole shebang together and...sip! </li>
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Lovely.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-26142749051698415332012-04-13T06:00:00.004-04:002012-04-26T13:59:25.585-04:00Lessons LearnedAs you may or may not know, I am a writer. I started out with nothing but a dream. I wrote a lot in high school and college, but in my early 20s fell out of practice. I was mostly a poet, and honestly sucked at short story writing. But, I had ideas and I am a voracious reader. When I couldn't find books in the genre I loved, I decided to write more of them. And so it began. <br />
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This post is about the lessons I have learned along the way. This is only a selected list. I am sure I could think of more. <br />
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1) Writing a book is the easy part. Everyone has written a book it seems. The cliche is that every HS English teacher has a novel tucked away in a desk drawer. It is probably true. NANOWRIMO, or whatever it is called, is also evidence of this. Whacking out a "novel" can be done, but making it readable and worthy of an audience is a whole other story.<br />
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2) Editing is actually writing. Just when I think I can't edit it any more, I do it some more. <br />
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3) Finding an agent is a long process for most. Yes there are those who get one with five queries or in six months. But let me tell you, as agents are of course monumentally busy, the pace of response is geologic. I am not a patient person and at times I have thought I would die from waiting.<br />
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4) Karma (see yesterday's post) is real and it is important. Do not think you are the center of the universe - ever. Be nice and act like a professional no matter how much you feel you've been slighted. <br />
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5) A FULL ms request does not mean you are really close to getting an agent. Sorry folks. This is a hard one. Everyone squees when they get a Full request. See Query Tracker. Requesting a full ms is just requesting pages. If you hold your breath, you will die. Write another book and forget about it. (I am still trying to master this lesson myself).<br />
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6) Have a thick skin and be ready to walk through the desert - alone. Even those who are supportive will become sheepish or sick of hearing about it as time goes by. If you want to succeed and don't right away, it is you and you alone who has to pick yourself up again and again and keep going. Revise, Rewrite, Write Another Book. Whatever. But you have to make yourself keep going. <br />
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7) Listen to your Beta Readers. Definitely have beta readers. <br />
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8) Enjoy the process. Love writing for the writing. Create worlds and characters that make the rest of life pale in comparison. Take time to smell the peppermint and drink a mojito for goodness sakes. More on that tomorrow. Love the hope, the lives you create, the small deaths you suffer, and the rebirth, that...if you are a trooper, will happen again and again, until you get it right and reach...Nirvana.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-54068339461592014062012-04-12T06:00:00.001-04:002013-01-30T08:02:13.607-05:00Karma<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
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Karma is defined as the effect of a person's actions during the successive phases of the person's life, regarded as determining the person's destiny. (American Heritage Dictionary Fourth Edition)<br />
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I believe in Karma. What goes around comes around. In life, as in literature, what we put out into the world comes back at us. If we are kind, kindness is returned. Not necessesarily, immediately, but it pays off. If we are rude, the same rule follows true. <br />
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I think Karma is a word we should all know. It has nothing to do with religion. It is about being a good human being. And when we are wanting, wishing, waiting - it is so easy to get frustrated. It is so easy to be angry. What is hard is remembering that the world does not center on us. You and me are just tiny pin points in a universe of mess. Sometimes that mess gets all over us and we want to splash it back in the face of life and say F-you. Sometimes we actually do. <br />
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But today, if only for a moment, consider the butterfly effect. Every action has an opposite and equal reaction. Your energy gets put out into the world and it affects another and they pay it forward. Take a deep breath and think ahead a few steps and maybe your Karma will help win you that simple twist of fate you have been waiting for.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-6618674852251294592012-04-11T06:00:00.000-04:002013-01-30T08:02:27.734-05:00Jane's Addiction<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
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Jane's Addiction - much love. From commercial to subversive. Beautiful and hard. Central to my 90s teen identity. Two of these songs are Jane's covers of the Dead and the Stones - and they are both covers that stand firmly beside the original as a new and equally powerful version of that song. Perry Farrell - forever. <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By6eEI93_0w">Summer Time Rolls</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PzoKyv9fvk">Jane Says</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzHq336EdVw&feature=related">Ripple</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrwjiO1MCVs&ob=av2n">Been Caught Stealin' Video</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2xmvBAm2Ak">Sympathy for the Devil</a><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-91152315878313916412012-04-10T06:00:00.000-04:002013-01-30T08:02:37.006-05:00Initials - what's with the trend in author names as initials?<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
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I have noticed for a long time now, the trend of authors to use two initials in place of a first name. It is not a new phenomenon, but as I have met more people around the blogosphere who are aspiring or debut authors, it seems the trend continues. I wonder why this is.<br />
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Here are some example, both past and present.<br />
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J.K. Rowling<br />
A.S. Byatt<br />
E.M. Forster<br />
<a href="http://aghoward.com/">A.G. Howard</a><br />
E.B. White<br />
C.S. Lewis<br />
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Even I, as you can tell by my blog handle, have considered the two initial first name. But, in recent times I have thought I might not use A.M., but just plain Ariel. And what about the first name initial and then use of the middle name. As in F. Scott Fitzgerald. No one called him F or Francis, which was his first name after is ancestor Francis Scott Key. So, I guess it made sense. He went by the name Scott. But perhaps some authors might take that as a cue. A. Marie Swan. Hmmm. No, it doesn't have quite the same ring to it.<br />
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I think using the two initials might create a buffer between the reader and the author. It is a bit of anonymity. Although in the Internet age it is near impossible to keep anything secret. Or perhaps people use it because of the air of mystery or the sound of professionalism, since so many great writers have also assumed the initialed name. What do you think?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-64154741170620817272012-04-09T06:00:00.000-04:002013-01-30T08:02:53.122-05:00Heathers<br />
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This is cheating a bit. <em>Heathers</em> came out in 1988, but I am sure it didn't reach me until 89 or 90, so I am counting it as another 90s flashback. <br />
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I was definitely young when I watched Heathers, because I watched it so many times I memorized the lines. Incongruously, I can recite almost verbatim both <em>Heathers</em> an <em>The Princess Bride</em> .<br />
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The dark angst of Christian Slater and Wynona Ryder and the black comedy of the whole high school farce definitely formed part of my identity. I was not the Rah Rah type of high-schooler. I very much identified with Veronica and was anti Heather and pro JD, even if he was psychotic. Cow tipping meat head jocks were the worst of all. I think anyone in high school can find some aspect of this movie to relate to, because it is about the absurdly disgusting cliquishness, popularity contest, insecurity, and secret desperation that riddles the age.<br />
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Even today, as a teacher, every time we have a pep rally I think of this movie. Though I keep my cynical thoughts to myself. But, this film is I think, perhaps even more relevant today than it was in the late 80s or early 90s. Issues of bullying, peer pressure, vacuous parent and teacher awareness, and dangerously marginalized anger are still ever present.<br />
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Some Quotes:<br />
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<em>What is your damage, Heather?</em></div>
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<em>It's one thing to want someone out of your life, but it's another thing to serve them a wake-up cup full of liquid drainer.</em></div>
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<em>Chaos was what killed the dinosaurs, darling.</em></div>
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<em>Lick it up, baby. Lick. It. Up.</em></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222933105044446151.post-9366324540202120522012-04-07T06:00:00.003-04:002012-04-07T06:00:04.295-04:00Garden Time<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNQ1cSrJAZITMEPaMZmGfuRVA3bXUo_8F6d_utLMNW58UouZO_OqdHMZ5JRmWx_fGU8NUTws2nFyRb0nqrihCD_ekhjaYszFJUVAixpzjABovj-kB-fGBdDwROolE9-i_zrotSvrfCOI/s1600/058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNQ1cSrJAZITMEPaMZmGfuRVA3bXUo_8F6d_utLMNW58UouZO_OqdHMZ5JRmWx_fGU8NUTws2nFyRb0nqrihCD_ekhjaYszFJUVAixpzjABovj-kB-fGBdDwROolE9-i_zrotSvrfCOI/s320/058.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJJCScPQhNExic8cKmuR54E8m2BLqTzx1X5DSzszv8CQ3WGuoI1Wx4jDIp_u-cRgv699KxeHmf62IFm0MO1VvnaDHsusjCq5LRpmhzPN3qnUFCxNQwzASIry0XvTg68vgGJbTTKhglYg/s1600/051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJJCScPQhNExic8cKmuR54E8m2BLqTzx1X5DSzszv8CQ3WGuoI1Wx4jDIp_u-cRgv699KxeHmf62IFm0MO1VvnaDHsusjCq5LRpmhzPN3qnUFCxNQwzASIry0XvTg68vgGJbTTKhglYg/s200/051.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>Yay, it is almost garden time. The smell of damp earth, the caked dirt crammed beneath my finger and toe nails, the aching backs of my legs...wait that doesn't sound so great. Oh, but it is. When the earth is tilled and I tromp bare foot for the first time in a season, I know the true meaning of spring. <br />
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Every year my husband and I plant a garden with great expectations. A few years ago we began to focus our efforts and grew mostly a soup garden. Onions, celery, carrots, potatoes, parsley, cilantro, hot peppers, tomatoes, and so much more. Of course there are the obligatory cucumbers and summer squash. They always grow all at once and we have more than we know what to do with. I always loved Garrison Keillor's story about leaving zucchini on the front seat of a parked car. Please take it off my hands!!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJJCScPQhNExic8cKmuR54E8m2BLqTzx1X5DSzszv8CQ3WGuoI1Wx4jDIp_u-cRgv699KxeHmf62IFm0MO1VvnaDHsusjCq5LRpmhzPN3qnUFCxNQwzASIry0XvTg68vgGJbTTKhglYg/s1600/051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJJCScPQhNExic8cKmuR54E8m2BLqTzx1X5DSzszv8CQ3WGuoI1Wx4jDIp_u-cRgv699KxeHmf62IFm0MO1VvnaDHsusjCq5LRpmhzPN3qnUFCxNQwzASIry0XvTg68vgGJbTTKhglYg/s200/051.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>Of course, now that we have chickens, the gardening situation is even better. What we don't eat or can't give away we feed to them. Happily they nom nom nom it and then...poop it out again to make excellent fertilizer. Chicken poop really makes things grow. Thanks to them our strawberries and concord grapes are flourishing. <br />
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In our yard, we are also lucky to have blueberry bushes, that need some poop this year, and a wicked raspberry patch that does so well and is thankfully controlled by the lawn getting mowed around it. Hint for growing raspberries: plant them out in the open so you can mow around them. It keeps them from taking over everything. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBwEZa8_IqURovY9__CydMpO14qiuL3bez2kgTcalVvz5Xtg9ncoi0sJdrr0tp1TloPoW48MHyq4y5hTVw1OJL9Dp7HxZpgaS_r2RBgD561kineh8DHpirRW6jg1KViPZNzTljGewJ6Pw/s1600/074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBwEZa8_IqURovY9__CydMpO14qiuL3bez2kgTcalVvz5Xtg9ncoi0sJdrr0tp1TloPoW48MHyq4y5hTVw1OJL9Dp7HxZpgaS_r2RBgD561kineh8DHpirRW6jg1KViPZNzTljGewJ6Pw/s200/074.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5-nUQvhVz43bOjWkdiiaqLQ7WtAf1i8l-aYG6GEh0fYsssefJnn1-m0W2xGfkg_YkK6A1V4rqN0ib-__cfma-0Cxt9w9Cv52YL1LK3ZoGBk0BKLKQARsP0RvYQFcvGS7xNRb7tObKGbU/s1600/069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5-nUQvhVz43bOjWkdiiaqLQ7WtAf1i8l-aYG6GEh0fYsssefJnn1-m0W2xGfkg_YkK6A1V4rqN0ib-__cfma-0Cxt9w9Cv52YL1LK3ZoGBk0BKLKQARsP0RvYQFcvGS7xNRb7tObKGbU/s200/069.JPG" width="200" /></a>What we don't grow, I get at the local farmer's market (see yesterday's post.) So this is my favorite time of year. Before the weeds begin, before I am cucumber and zucchini-ed out. Before the pumpkins have been eaten by deer. (Yes we also have a pumpkin patch that shares a home with the asparagus patch). The thought of growing my own food, even if it bests me every year in the end, is just the sweetest things about spring and the summer to come. <br />
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<strong>Do you garden? What are your favorite garden recipes? Have any tips?</strong>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16104430835416581184noreply@blogger.com4