And There Was Light

     I don't know about you, but I love Christmas! It's my favorite holiday. Today, I think I will be occupied all morning cleaning the freshly painted bathroom (mint green!), making last-minute presents, and baking sweets (not getting any writing done...) before the rest of the family gets here. In all the excitement, I don't want to forget it is the coming of the Light that I am celebrating.

 Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Free photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Happy Christmas, everybody

and all the best in 2014!

Winner Swag

     I try to get my posts up by midnight on Wednesdays, but today I'm taking advantage of my Christmas Break to deviate from my schedule a little bit and relax. I hope you are, too!

   
     As part of the NaNoWriMo winner swag, I get a special offer: two copies of my novel printed and bound for free! I want it to be brushed, washed, and presentable to a preliminary audience for that, but right now Wynna: Dragon Rider is one act and ~100 pages short of a full-length novel. The printing deal expires June 2014. So, new Goal:

❧ within the next six months, finish novel and complete round 1 editing ❧

     Now, for a backward glance. It was crazy busy the past two weeks, but I spent half a Saturday writing. Somehow my rumination on everyday miracles turned into another poem about writing poetry. Click to read "The Laboring Poet," and be sure to leave a comment below!

The Song of the Cold Sea

     One English Literature II semester project required that we pick a poem from the syllabus and use it as a springboard to something new. Some of my classmates wrote parody poems, others made paintings. I decided to arrange Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "Break, Break, Break" to music. I did the piano/voice/recording/mixing, and that's my sister playing the violin. This song was a lot of work--I'm so thankful for the snow days and deadline extension that let me finish it! Time is a great gift.
Here is:

"The Song of the Cold Sea"

made on Apple GarageBand

Free image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

NaNoWriMo Winner

   

  

     Yay! I did it!

    "Winner" means that I achieved my goal by writing at least 50,000 words between November 1st and 30th. 

     I'm going to celebrate, once Christmas break starts, by sleeping. I've got two busy weeks of school left before then. Speaking of which, here's a funny poem to brighten your day:

For a Student Sleeping in a Poetry Workshop by David Wagoner : Poetry Magazine

     50,625 is a BIG step in the process, but Wynna: Dragon Rider, my NaNo novella, is still in its earliest beginnings. Even with 50k+ words down, I'm only at the climax of Act II in my plot outline. That means I have 50-100 more pages to indulge in before my first draft is finished.

     In the meantime, here are a few things I learned from NaNoWriMo:

Happy Thanksgiving!

     I love holidays. I look forward to seeing my globe-traveling family (Korea, Japan, Philippines, Italy, &c) all at once, to taking the 3-hour road trip, to sleeping in the living room of my sister's house,  to shopping, and to eating turkey, dressing, pumpkin pie, and cranberry bread. I know it's a very special thing; not everyone gets to celebrate Thanksgiving like this!
     Today, a few things I am thankful for are:

What about you?

Deadlines and Freewrites

          It's a good time of year to be thankful, and I'm thankful today for deadlines. They make me work. There's the end of the month for NaNo, the end of the semester for college, and the end of this week for my creative writing group. I decided to submit a poem, rather than a short story, since I can write them in a shorter amount of time.

          With poems I usually start by free writing. I try a few different themes or descriptive phrases until they come to dead ends or I find one that yields to my shaping. Riding my bike to and from campus almost every day, I've gotten to see fall turning to winter step by step. From the leaves starting to turning red to them getting brown and curling, every change is beautiful, and beauty is the theme of my poem, "Maker." It is a spin off of a very strange, modern Gertrude Stein's prose poem called "Picasso," an excerpt of which you can read here.

To read "Maker" click here.

What are you thankful for today? 

Day 12: A Late Start

     Look! I'm actually writing! What with the conference and not being able to decide whether or not to really do NaNo this year, I got a late start, but started I have!

     I spent the first 8 days character-sketching and outlining. Inventing the major plot points was the hardest part, and now that it's over…I still have the whole mountain to climb! I'm a slow writer, and 50,000 words is a lot.

    But, I am glad I'm at the point of writing. I'm glad I decided to try this. And now that I've begun, I hope the rest will come easier.

     The novel I'm writing is about Wynna, the dragon-rider. As part of my pre-writing I studied the driving factor of fantasy novels: conflict. This is something I'm bad at writing. I tend to take recycle the same conflicts (war brewing, the people unhappy with the monarch because of heavy taxing), or I just keep my characters happy and far from discomfort.
     This blog post: Conflict in Fantasy, was really helpful in establishing that conflict is necessary and in showing what it is, the different types it can be broken down into, and how they all work.

   Even if you're not writing fantasy, check it out! And let me end with an inspiring quote for this frigid Wednesday:

"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."

--Robert F. Kennedy

Poetry: October

     Reading poetry in front of an audience was somehow different from making speeches in public speaking class. My hands almost didn't shake, and I actually enjoyed it. I felt like I was telling my poems they were at last really ready to go out into the world. Which is really providential, since it wasn't until six a.m. the morning of the literature conference that I finished writing 2 of the 3 poems I read.

      Interesting fact: I learned in American Lit II today that there is no such thing as silent reading. Even when your lips aren't moving, your larynx is vibrating.

       With that in mind...

As for NaNoWriMo, I decided I'd rather try and fail than not even try simply because I'm afraid I might fail. I'm not off to a great start, I'm at zero words right now, but I'm not going to freak out.  I created my writing space, I'm getting solid pre-writing done, and I have a Saturday on which to novelthon. Besides, nothing's impossible, is it?

And the Results...

     ...I placed! I'll be reading "Many Are the Masters" at the university literature conference on Saturday (plus two more poems, if I can speed-polish them in time). :D

NaNoWriMo: No More Excuses

      Seems like I'm always writing about the passage of time, but really, November is right around the corner. That means we're only a week away from National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo.

     NaNoWriMo begins at midnight on November 1st and ends midnight of the 30th. Those daring souls who embark on this adventure write furiously to meet the daunting word count of 50,000 before the deadline. That's 1666 words, or around 10 pages double-spaced, per day. NaNo isn't about polish or beautiful turns of phrase--it's about getting the words onto the page. Editing can come later.

    The pressure and accountability from NaNoWriMo might just be my ticket. I've made way too many excuses not to write. But as the last October days drop like flies and the time to register grows nearer, I alternately have imaginations of myself half-asleep and squinting at the manuscript on my computer screen in the silence of 2 and 3 a.m., and a less triumphant version in which I'm shamefacedly writing a post about how I just didn't have the time and..."maybe next year."

     I gave myself a test today. I did the writing prompt from a few days ago on The Write Practice, where you lock in and write a complete work in one hour. I ended up with three-fourths of a page of exposition and about a page of outline for a short story. It didn't boost my confidence.
     I'm afraid I'll start half-heartedly and not end up doing it. But that'll be a stinky little excuse when December rolls around and Wynna's story is still trapped in my head.

     How do you commit to big endeavors?

A Vision of Your Own: William Wordsworth

free image of Tweed River
courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

     The Solitary Reaper" is one of my favorite poems. Today I found out it's part of a collection of 16 of Wordsworth's poems inspired by his trip to Scotland in 1803. In that collection I discovered "Yarrow Unvisited," an interesting reflection on the difference between imagination and reality. In it, the speaker and his friends are traveling all over Scotland, and one of them wants to see the famous River Yarrow. But the speaker says toward the end of the poem:

"Let beeves and home-bred kine* partake

The sweets of Burn-mill meadow;

The swan on still St. Mary's Lake

Float double, swan and shadow!

We will not see them; will not go,

To-day, nor yet to-morrow,

Enough if in our hearts we know

There's such a place as Yarrow.

"Be Yarrow stream unseen, unknown!

It must, or we shall rue it:

We have a vision of our own;

Ah! why should we undo it?

The treasured dreams of times long past,

We'll keep them, winsome Marrow!

For when we're there, although 'tis fair,

'Twill be another Yarrow!"

What's  your Yarrow?

*beeves and kine/beef (pl) and cows

Poetry: Many Are the Master of the Beasts

     It almost seems like a trademark of the British romantic poets to have radical theological and philosophical views. I was rather shocked when I met them at the beginning of the semester. And as an English major I feel bad to say so, but most of their work is gibberish to me. I think Wordsworth's in "Preface to Lyrical Ballads" and Shelley in his "Defense of Poetry," are digging too deep and being too analytical.

     Despite my muddled response to 17th century British literature, I hope I will end up taking something meaningful or useful away from it. I did sort of connect with one of Blake's ideas in his poem "London," to which I make an intertextual reference in my latest poem "XX."

     "XX" is posted below. I know it is rather pensive, and I hope to someday be inspired to write the more uplifting counterpart, but until then it stands alone. I ask you to read, reflect, and (in the actual sense of the words) RSVP, répondez s'il vous plaît, answer or respond, if you please. I'm turning this in to the university creative writing contest on the 15th and appreciate your criticism!

free image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

This Time It's a No

     October is here! And the campus-wide literature conference is coming up, which means the deadline for the creative writing contest looms near. Why do I only have one new poem and a mini-story/scene? Not knowing what to write is part of it, but mostly I haven't had time. Really! I think of my homework as a train that picks me up on Monday and rockets through the week to Friday, letting me off at Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday just long enough to go to class and a couple of events like cultural coffeehouse and creative writing club. I could use a little bit less homework and a little more time management.

✥ four of my lovely birthday presents ✥

      In her book I Dare You: Embrace Life With Passion, Joyce Myer says that being busy isn't always the same as being productive. We have to learn to focus our energy on the things that really matter and learn to say no to the things that may be good in and of themselves but, with the time and resources that we have, will weigh us down.

Spreading Vines: Bloglovin

Free image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

     The Well is sending out its vines--I'm now on Bloglovin.com. As you probably guessed, it's a site dedicated to browsing for and following your favorite blogs. If you're the blogohog type, check it out!




Please excuse this reference--it's linking the Well to bloglovin.
<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/10860963/?claim=xuepac9yrkt">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Come Fount: Songwriting

     Here is the first out of three hymn arrangements I've written. It's a minor key spin on one of my favorite hymns, Come Thou Fount. I wrote it spring semester and recorded it during the summer but never got around to posting it. Enjoy!

Come Fount

free image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

An Arsenal of Good

Free image courtesy of  freedigitalphotos.net

     Future assignments, the approach of work later in the week, deadlines for homework, words or silence I wish I could take back...some days I feel like I'm buried in gray clouds. I get long-faced and glum, even though--despite the little bumps along the road--I have so many reasons to smile. I just forget about them. So I started a list of 14 good things I can remember and draw upon to help me "when the bee stings" or the "dog bites."

1-peaches so ripe the juice drips down my chin

2-shady spots on my walk home

3-blueberry muffin for breakfast

4-the bigness of the blue sky when I look at it lying on my back

5-anything delivered by snail mail

6-good dreams

August Bookshelf

     Hope you had a good Labor Day weekend + Cherokee National Holiday! Can you believe August is over? I'm glad. I've always liked September better than August.

     Last month I finished three good books. Let me tell you why they're worth reading.

Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys

   This young adult historical fiction novel reminded me that writing is more than entertainment or escape.
     We all know of the genocide of the Jews during World War II, but through this novel Ruta exposes the little-known story of the extermination of millions of Lithuanians.
    Between Shades of Gray is told from 15-year-old Lina's point of view. Her family, like many others whose fathers are professors, musicians, and doctors, are torn from their homeland and forced to labor under horrifying conditions. On her nightmarish journey, Lina finds expression through a series of carvings and sketches that leave a record of the truth.
     Why read? This is overall a testament to the power of love, although Ms. Sepetys doesn't gloss over the grim facts in this meticulously researched novel.

Writer's Pox

     Χαῖρε! Greetings. I got through the first week of the semester and am on to the second. Today I had breakfast at the caf at 8:00 and traditional grammar and usage at 9:00. I have New Testament Greek at 1:00. I think I'm going to love Mondays.

Free image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

     But not everything in my garden is sunny. If you haven't noticed, I've been rather inconsistent with my posts lately. Some might call it lazy, some might call it writer's block. I'm going to call it writer's pox. I'm suffering from writer's pox. Again.

     Writer's Pox: an affliction characterized by difficulty in putting words down either in pen or pencil or on the computer, often accompanied by an acute sensation of doubt about whether or not one really wants to be a writer

     All the writing advice books in the world will do me no good if I'm not writing. Polished stories and poems don't appear overnight like dandelions. So I crank out words that mean nothing to me because they're so wrong--the right ones slip through my fingers like thrashing, slimy eels.

     *I want to write for the love of it, but I've forgotten how.

Learning to Pretend

   

     The Patrol Tower

     Readers are supposed to suspend disbelief. They're supposed to pretend that the people and occurrences on the page are real. If they don't there's no point in reading.

      After all, I highly doubt J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit expecting people would clutch their bellies laughing, "Ha! Bilbo didn't talk to Smaug. Dragons don't talk. Even if they did, Biblo and Smaug don't even exist! They're just ink on a page!"

     It's pretty easy to pretend when you're reading someone else's writing. But sometimes I have trouble with my own. I'm the one writing them, and I'm the one who sees all the tangled fancies on the inside of my brain before they spill out onto the page.

     Two things I've found out that help me. The first is making bits of my story into drawings or models. My characters and settings feel more real when I can see them. The second thing that helps is detail, knowing everything about the world of my story, and knowing all about even secondary and tertiary characters.

❀ ❀ ❀

What helps you pretend?

     

Character Scaffolding

(Free image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

 I'm sorry readers that the Well you've been wishing in is collecting cobwebs and dust--I'm back to brush them away.

***

     There are ten core characters in my Wynna story: the dragon-riding members of the Winged Patrol. For a long time I only really knew three: the Captain (or Ecipol, as Dorinthian rank goes), Wynna, and her friend Filip. The other seven were just empty boots, and I didn't know how to fill them.

     So I looked to a master of character-creating: Julian Fellowes. I made a list of each of his unique and likable Downton Abbey staff members. Beside each name I wrote an epithet that summed up their character or their role as a whole (troublemaker, loyal one, witty one). Then I parceled out some of those tags to the Winged Patrol. That balanced out the group and gave me a scaffold on which to build their personalities. Now their backstories can trickle in, and my story can move on.

From left to right: Sivvan, Justus, Lejn, Oskar, Wynna

Filemus, Ecipol Tannebelte, Filip, Dirkartha, Phoenix

How do you create new characters?

A Brown and Orange Week

    My one-month Huluplus subscription was an accident, but at least The Adventures of Tartu was good. I've totally neglected my Dundalk research, but I did peruse all the opening pages of the Chronicles of Narnia to study style. I got next to nothing written on Wynna, but I did draw a satisfactory picture of her mother and uncle. I messed up on the sleeves to the Red Cross nurse dress, but the apron is turning out nice!

     As you can see it's been a sort of brown and orange week. Here are three things I learned from it.

1. True tests of how nice one is and how good one's temper is come at home.

2. I am a night writer. (I'm useless in the afternoon, and I can't get up early enough to write mornings.)

3. I seriously have to shut myself away from people to write.

How has your week been, and has it taught you anything?

Jack of Songwriting

     Hello, Well-Wishers. I missed my Saturday post, but I'm back with a recording of my first original worship song. It's inspired by one of my fave hymns, "As the Deer." These words mean something to me, and I hope they will to you, too.

Lyrics/vocals/piano: me
Violin: Rina
Recording: iPod touch
Mixing: Garageband

"Deer Song"

Jumping Hurdles

     For me, world-building is the best and worst part of writing fantasy. It's the best because writing fantasy means that the details of the world are entirely up to you. If you decide that only royalty eat with their hands or that mermaids inhabit all freshwater lakes or that the Northeastern hillsides are smattered with little white flowers called yipparis, then that's how it is. But with creative freedom comes a few hurdles.

Hurdle #1: You might not have to look up facts in a book, but you do have to make up all those facts out of your own head.
Jumping the Hurdle: Everything is based on real life, so look for inspiration. For example, every culture has music. I got a lot of ideas for instruments in Wynna's world in my World Music class.

Hurdle #2: The world you create has to be plausible, if not possible. Readers notice and get pulled out of the story if things don't work in a logical manner.
Example of plausibility: In C.S. Lewis's Horse and His Boy, the two horses Bree and Hwin journey across the desert. As Bree says, galloping all day and night isn't horsely possible, so although it might seem less dramatic, they walk and trot their way to the other side (it's quite thrilling in the end).
Jumping the Hurdle: Maybe you do have to look up some of your facts.

Free image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Hurdle #3: Since fantasy is such an established genre, if you don't do something very unique your story will end up generic, like a cardboard props. But sometimes those clichés seem unavoidable. Take Wynna as an example. Travel cloaks are one of the same-old same-olds of medieval fantasy, but I can't get rid of it! Wynna needs a cloak when she's blasting through the clouds on dragonback at over sixty miles an hour.
Jumping the Hurdle:  Weave the cloak from the threads of glowworms, because it makes Wynna stand out from the Coal Lizard riders black camouflage. Give it details that make it specific to your story and your world.

Hard as it is, world-building can be done! J.R.R. Tolkien is a classic successful example. K.M. Weiland who wrote Dreamlander is also a fantastic world-builder. So, there is hope.

What do you find hardest about world-building?

Gone Researching

      My plan to have the full story of O' Donnell up this week went to shambles after I sent it off for review. I now have a big research/rewriting project on my hands, because as it is my story is too theme-heavy. Since it's realistic fiction and relies mostly on dialogue, I really need to expand on my two characters--know them and where they come from. So I'm going to immerse myself in Dundalk, Ireland  and then read up on ranching and country churches in the 1940's.

Have you ever finished a project, feeling quite proud of it, only to find out it had major issues?

Book Review: Dreamlander

   

          Chris Redston, a harrowed young man who struggles with grief and bitterness finds out that he of all people is the Gifted, one chosen to live two lives and remember both. When his body goes to sleep in Chicago, he wakes up in the land of his dreams. Thrown into a medieval world on the edge of disaster, he unwittingly creates his own archenemy and throws off the balance of the universe. In order to right what he’s wronged, he must make a choice. Walk away like he always has, or trust in a higher plan and face his own greatest weaknesses head on.

Image used with permission by author

Rating: 4.5 stars  

Creative, ambitious, and unafraid, Dreamlander is quite a ride. K.M. Weiland's fantasy novel hinges on complexity and character. The straggeringly detailed world of her imagination is scenic and has a rich history and clear geography, sprinkled with unique technology like travel by skycar. And just when I thought the plot was as thick as it could get, it got even thicker!
            Out of a large cast of characters, my top three (all secondary characters) were:

Duke Eroll- fashionable, carefree, gallant friend of Princess Allara who reminded me of Bertie Wooster (of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves tales)

The Garowai- Chris’s mysterious but reticent and sneezy guide

Orias- a pale-skinned, blue-blooded warrior of the Cherazim race

            In spite of its complexity, Dreamlander reads clearly and smoothly (often eloquently), and  as a follower of K.M. Weiland's advice blog, I see that she's entitled to give it. But after all my glowing praise, let me explain why I didn't give Dreamlander 5 stars.

1. The surprises and plot-twists had me wishing for smooth, or at least, straightforward, sailing by the end

 2. With its Three Musketeers 17th century Europe feel, the occasional cowboyish colloquialisms jarred me a bit

3. The figurate descriptions grew a little heavy and distracting at points

           I did like this book a lot. The ending made me teary, which is almost worth a whole star! Dreamlander addresses a plethora of human issues, and in the end it’s really a story about redemption, one that left me pondering my own choice to do right. 

Stepping Into Nurse Crawley's Shoes

     You never get too old for dress up. I'm sure that's one reason Halloween is such a popular holiday. Here is a Downton Inspired Nurse Sybil Crawley costume. Everything is handmade. The dress was originally sewn for a Wynna movie that didn't happen, and the apron was part of a Halloween maidservant costume.

     Call it escapism or whatever you like, but that desire to try being someone else is what I think is at the root of fiction. We invent characters and make things happen to them because it allows us to experience the exciting, the novel, the out-of-the-ordinary, all from a safe distance.

Drawt or Draft?

     After I wrote the lyrics to my new arrangement of the hymn "As the Deer" I realized that I didn't know how to pronounce one of the words. It's "draught," meaning the act of taking a drink. I've been pronouncing it "drawt," but I only now discovered that it's supposed to be "draft" or "droft!" Apparently, I'm not the only one who's confused. There was quite a conversation going on on answerbag.com. Now I even more don't know what to do! Go with what I've been saying, or use the dictionary pronunciation that most people don't know?

Snippet: O'Donnell

    Well, for a number of reasons, the least of which was procrastination, I did not get a post up on Saturday. But I'm back with a snippet from my latest short story. It's a historical fiction piece that grew from a writing prompt (Day 16 of a 30-Day Creative Writing Challenge).
      I've been wanting to incorporate another culture into my writing for a long time, and thanks to Downton, the winner is: Ireland! "O'Donnell" (working title--I'm taking suggestions) is about an Irishman from Dundalk and an American from Oklahoma both waiting for treatment in a make-shift church hospital. It takes place in Holland in June of 1944. Click on the title below to read and enjoy!

"O'Donnell" (excerpt)

     (Dear Irish readers: please tell me if I have any glaring inaccuracies on any point concerning O'Donnell.)

Favorite Quotes+An Answer

     My recent two favorite quotes are both from period dramas. The first is from Wives and Daughters.

"I'm not saying she's very silly, but one of us was silly, and it wasn't me." --Squire Hambley

Especially when said in a completely matter-of-fact tone, I just think that's hilarious. I had to rewind and listen to it again when I heard it the first time.


The second quote is from Downton. What a fun use of the word "jolly!"

     "Have you done something jolly with your hair?" --Sir Anthony Strallan to Edith

     On a side note, do you remember my laments about hating to write but loving to have written? Well I found an answer in the form a post on The Write Practice. How to Fall in Love With Writing Again. Check it out!

What is your favorite period drama quote?

Facing My Fear: At the Silver Stag

Free image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

    According to Wikipedia, 1,000 words is the cutoff for flash fiction. My latest story, "At the Silver Stag" went over by 55 words, but compared to most of what I write (number of words and time span) it's very, very brief. Managing the length was hard since my tales tend to sprawl, but that wasn't my main focus. This story is me taking the challenge and facing my fear! Because I always build up to scenes like this one and then avoid them.
     Click the title below to read.

 "At the Silver Stag"

Enjoy. Face your fear. Report back. 

Jack of All Trades, Master of One

     I'm a kind of a Jack of all Trades, Master of One. I play piano, I sing, I draw, I sew, I cook, I shoot, I play tennis. I speak one language fluently and three not so well. I've dreamed of acting, of teaching, of being a federal agent. And yet, the only thing I'm good enough at to make a career out of is writing.
     But sometimes I wonder, do I really want to be an author? Because that means writing, and a lot of times I want to do anything but write. Often I just can't seem to get a single sentence onto the page, much less  beautiful prose. It's like trying to squeeze a pea-sized drop out of an empty sample tube of moisturizer.

    Last year in August I wrote a post about a quote by Gloria Steinem. "I do not like to write; I like to have written." I ran across a nearly identical quote in The Write Practice, and it's by Dorothy Parker (20th century American writer). "I hate writing; I love having written." It's comforting to know I'm not alone and that feeling love and hate for writing doesn't mean I shouldn't become an author. Especially because I have no idea what I could do besides write...

     Here is the post where I found the quote: What is the Most Satisfying Part of Writing?

Do you ever hate what you love to do?

Happy 1st Birthday!

     Today is the first birthday of the Well in the Wood. I didn't realize until I put this list of pieces together how productive this year has been, or how much more poetry I've written than fiction. Hmm...
     Anyway, help me celebrate by finding something below that catches your interest, and leave a comment!

Free photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

POETRY

"Goodbye Long Summer"

"Something More Than Dye"

"Assignment One"

"The Centaur"

"By Definition, Gentleman"

"For Goodness' Sake"

"Prisoner's Lament"

"Umeboshi"

"I Know Why the Groundhog Hides"

"February"

"The Lark"

"i can only lay my thanks"

"Sonnet One: Memories"

FICTION

A snippet from: "The Soldier"

"The Umbrella" Part I (audiosnippet)

"The Umbrella" Part II (audiosnippet)

"The Presidential Endeavor"

"Charles and Winifred" (audiosnippet)

A snippet from: "The Cricket Apocalypse"

NON-FICTION/EXERCISES
"The Igloo" Part I
"The Igloo" Part II
"The Igloo" Part III
"The Igloo Part IV"
"The Sweet Taste of Success"
Fun Facts

"Boot Polishing" a snippet about Wynna

King Anders & Sir Sventall (dialogue)

On Board the HMV Lark (setting)

Map from "Eleanor, Princess of Atlace"
"You Never See Them Coming"
 And the author interview isn't really my "work" but it was a memorable post from this year. 5 Questions for Heather Dixon About Entwined

D-Day Tribute

i can only lay my thanks

at times like this i try

to feel the weight of grief

and comprehend sacrifice

at times like this i think

of victory

and white-marked fields

with beauty we remember bloodshed

with the weak we honor the strong

and at times like this

i can only lay my thanks

on this field of white

The Delights of Downton

    Here's something for you to mull over. What do Downton Abbey, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and high school bands have in common? I'll give you a minute.

     When I was small, I wished and wished that I could be a maidservant and wear a cap, a collared dress and a white, frilly apron. I wanted to walk around with good posture and curtsy to the ladies and gentlemen. I wanted to serve tea and carry trays of delicacies.
    Watching Downton Abbey is reviving my dream! If you've never seen it, it's a period drama that begins in 1912. It's about the intertwined yet separate lives of the Grantham family and their servants. There are some bits I would leave out (and some casting changes I would make), but all in all, Downton is my dream show. I understand why everyone loves it! Besides the alluring historical setting and everything that comes with good writing (conflict, suspense, secrets, irony, etc.), there's a special key aspect about Downton that makes it so lovable.
     Was that minute long enough?
     I've thought about it, and I think the answer has a lot to do with Downton's success. The show, the movies, the books, and the organizations all have in common a large but selective group of friends. Or in other words, a "fellowship" or a "family," the kind of thing to which we all want to belong. Downton hits that spot by following not only one or two but 16 close-knit primary characters. They all interact with each other according to their personalities, like a family. Not only that, an array of viewers can relate to their favorite or second-favorite be it self-sacrificing Bates, gullible Daisy, spirited Lady Sibyl, or down-to-earth Matthew Crawley.

In your mulling, what did you come up with as a common factor? What else do you think contributes to Downton's appeal?

You Never See Them Coming

*free photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

How do you learn how to say goodbye when they're different every time? There's the stretched out goodbye. Watching until you can no longer see the waving hand, or seeing 86-year-old Baba run to the other side of the bus station to see you one last time. Other times it’s a missed goodbye, like Grandpa getting to the departure gate too late, or your whisper-shout not being heard in the hall.  And then there’s the incomplete goodbye, when you put off writing that last letter until it was too late to send, or when you were too shy to go back to the kitchen for one last hug. And then the indefinite goodbye when soon miles of land or sea will separate you, and every word or handshake might be “last.” They're all different; they’re all the same. Like the unexpected knob at the end of the banister they make you bleary-eyed and somehow you never see them coming.

Walking and Rhyming: Resources to Share

(free photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

    Did she perambulate? Did she sashay? Did she traipse? Walking style tells a lot about a character's mood, motives, and personality. "60 Synonyms for Walk" on dailywritingtips.com is a handy article you can bookmark for reference.

     Is your goose obtuse, or is it a sleuth in a waterproof booth? Perhaps it's aloof toward the youths. Rhymebrain has plenty of perfect and near-rhymes to help you decide.