Beth's Musings

MaXIMIze Karma

2012-01-29T11:41:00.000-08:00

With all that is going on in life right now, MaXIMIzing karma - the good kind - is much on my mind.

This concept whether it be described as karma or the rule of three or the Golden Rule, is prevalent in many of the belief systems around the world. What you put out in the world is what you get back - sometimes in spades. Personally, I prefer to get good things coming to me in my life, not bad, so over the past several months I have taken a hard look at myself and what I am doing in my life and what that is bringing into my life.

Now that is not to say that once you truly change your mindset and your ways that all of what you have put in out in the world previously will suddenly not continue on its path back to you. Just as the ripples caused by a stone dropped in a body of water continue to move towards shore long after the stone has settled on the bottom, the actions you put out in the world ripple through until they return to you. And if you continually put the same actions out into the world, those are the actions you will continually get back.

We change the world by changing ourselves. So what would you like to have come back to you today?

MaXIMIzing Life

2012-01-22T12:24:00.000-08:00

MaXIMIze life by living by your values and virtues. For me, that means honesty, respect, dignity and honor. If you are not treating yourself and others with those four items to start with - and there are others, such as love, loyalty, fidelity...you get the drift - then you are not living life to its MaXIMum potential.

In fact you are shortchanging yourself and others and causing much more pain in the world than there truly needs to be. And believe you me, there is more than enough pain in the world to go around and definitely not enough love.

There is a saying that goes oh, what a tangled web we weave when we first practice to deceive. And once you get tangled up in such a web of lies, disrespect, dishonor, faithlessness and such, it is very hard to untangle yourself from it and you get drawn deeper and deeper more often than not.

So, do yourself and everyone your life touches a favor and MaXIMIze the virtues mentioned above.

An honest life is not always a peaceful life, however it is truly a kinder life to give to those around you and to yourself.

MaXIMIze Your Dream

2012-01-16T15:33:00.001-08:00

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his "I Have a Dream" speech, today's blog is about MaXIMIzing your dream - whatever it may be.

If we can conceive it, we can achieve it. Or put another way, nothing is impossible, just improbable (one of my mother's favorite sayings). You cannot win if you do not play.

So, in order for you to achieve your dreams, whatever they may be, do not be afraid to seek advice - whether it is from friends and relations, a counselor or therapist, or in the form of self-help books and blogs and other information available through a variety of venues.

I may have noted in an earlier blog that one of my goals is to work through Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way - well, my good intentions have come to naught as yet, beyond reading the first chapter in the book again. Now, do I beat myself up for not being "on track" and "with the program"? No - I just pick up and begin again. We are not perfect, we are human beings - and it is okay to fall from time to time. This is not failure. Failure is not getting back up and moving again.

I have worked through other books over the years, and I will share a few of them here with you:

Self Matters, Dr. Phil McGraw (yes, he has a last name)

Take Time for Your Life, Cheryl Richardson (the copy I have is from 1999, and when I was in the book store yesterday I saw the most recent iteration on the shelf)

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Dr. Steven Covey (another timeless classic)

Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill (originally published in, I believe, 1937 - again, timeless)

Now, I have found pearls of wisdom in all sorts of places - novels I have read, subject-specific (mainly writing) books and articles, etc. - that are applicable over a wide variety of scenarios and subjects - not just the specific one that article or book was written for.

Move ahead with your dreams, even as you are seeking advice and counsel - remember you cannot win if you do not play. Motion begets motion; stagnation begets stagnation. Therefore, by continuing learning, growing, and stretching your wings, you will be fulfilling your dreams, whatever they may be!

MaXIMIze by Minimizing

2012-01-08T10:09:00.000-08:00

You can MaXIMIze your life by minimizing the baggage you carry through it - both physically and otherwise. Sometimes though, you need to work through the otherwise to be able to minimize the physical baggage.

Whether you have an issue with collecting things - perhaps not to the extent of ending up on that show about hoarders, but enough that your obsession with owning things shuts out other things in life - or collecting non-so physical things like credit card debt, most of these habits can be traced back to things you experienced early in life.

And yes, doing the work to recognize and deal with the issues that led to these habits is not easy - you will find I rarely say anything is truly easy - however, your life will be much enriched by relieving yourself of excess baggage, no matter the source.

I may or may not get back to this subject during the course of this MaXIMIzing year, so I will give you some resources that have helped me over the years:

Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn (pronounced "decision") - three books gleaned from a newsletter she used to publish.

FlyLady.net - a friend at work turned me on to this site over ten years ago now - one little gleaning I remember is that you can spend 15 minutes doing anything. I've used that for housework, exercise, writing, anything I want to accomplish but sometimes feel is too big to tackle.

Patricia V. Davis - a more recent find and author of Harlot's Sauce and The Diva Doctrine.

Learning yoga - the holistic teaching of yoga, not just a gym class (although I did take this as the PE requirement in college - the teacher, however, taught it holistically).

Developing your support network - garnering mentors, joining groups that do things you enjoy or who help you grow (My Girlfriends' Garden in Auburn and Roseville do this for me!), etc.

These are just some of the things that have worked for me over the years to get from where I was ten years ago or so to now - and I'm still growing and shedding unneeded baggage as I go!

MMXII - MaXIMIze for 2012

2012-01-02T14:56:00.000-08:00

I enjoy those daily calendars very much, and this year I have one called the MENSA Puzzle Calendar. The entry for today, 2 January 2012, stated that 2012 equals MMXII in Roman numerals. It then asked the reader to think of a common eight-letter word containing those letters. The word is MaXIMIze - a good theme for this year!

So I hereby dub the year 2012 as the year to MaXIMIze your self and MaXIMIze your life!

Rather than making New Year's resolutions, I prefer to develop goals and objectives to work towards for. This year, I will be working towards goals that bring more of what I want to see in my life to me - love, laughter, happiness, joy. I will also be working towards goals which help myself others become and/or continue to be/grow as healthy, happy, responsible human beings.

So, let's start with some food for thought, shall we?

What DO you want to see more of in your life?

Set out at least three things you want to maximize this year - describe how these things will manifest in your life - look, feel, taste, smell, sound. And remember, feel is both physical and emotional.

Now, think about what you can do to bring these things - the maximizing of these things - to fruition.

Set smaller goals (sometimes called objectives in "work" speak) - monthly, weekly, daily. Write them down and keep them where you can see them and reflect on them constantly. I use a white board for this purpose.

Most important of all - follow through! Don't beat yourself up because you missed a goal for a specific time (day, week, etc.). Reset yourself instead - analyze why you missed the goal and figure out how to attain that goal (if the goal is truly something you want to maximize!).

Some of the things I want to see more of in my life in concrete form are:

Writing Daily Pages (from Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way)

Going on an Artist Date - enjoying and nurturing my inner child, seeing the world through those eyes instead of these old "adult" eyes all the time (again from Julia Cameron)

Exercise - I enjoy riding my bike, hiking, bird walks, and so many other things.

Yoga and/or meditation - I know I feel better and more at peace when I practice yoga, so why don' t I have more of it in my life?

These are the things I will be working on (as well as some others) during the course of this MaXIMIzing year! What will you be working on?

Sharing Knowledge

2011-10-04T17:31:00.000-07:00

This is one of several essays that came my way today...

“If you have knowledge, let others light their candles on it.” - Margaret Fuller

“This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine…” How many of us remember that from church or grade school?

“Knowledge shared is knowledge squared.” Another favorite quote of mine.

Knowledge is power, a power that grows by sharing it with others. The way I’m sharing my knowledge, my life learning, with you via this essay, this blog, and all my other ramblings and writings.

Knowledge can also be power lost. We lose it by hoarding it, refusing to share it, taking it with us when we leave. We also lose it by destroying it, as was done to the library of Alexandria, or by the senseless killings of wise men and women accused of crimes they did not commit, as has been done in the name of religion or political and material greed.

Knowledge can be destroyed or placed under a bushel by fear. Fear of the unknown seeking to be known. Fear of change, of growth, of loss. Fears that come from a place of lack, that dark place that shuns the light.

Knowledge brings light, the light at the end of the tunnel, the light that illuminates the darkness and chases away the demons of ignorance. Knowledge brings the light of abundance in its wake.

So, I’m going to let this little light of mine shine, lighting the way for others or lighting their candles to illuminate their own ways out of the darkness.

New Month, New Year, Different Choices

2011-10-03T17:01:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is now October, a new month. Also, it is a new year for me - fiscal year that is - currently being a Federal civilian employee.

With all the newness, and thanks to the challenge Michelle Brunmier posted on her Facebook page (the one you can like to follow...), I've decided to do New Month Resolutions. On the post I'm referring to, she writes, "This month, my goal is to exercise and meditate at least 4 times a week (one more than last month), to read every day, and to write in my gratitude journal every night. Being grateful is key...I think we get lost in our "situations" and forget all the wonderful things we have."

As those of you who've known me for a while know, my life has not been the easiest these last nearly six months. I've done a lot of soul-searching, and am in the process of climbing up that long tunnel towards the light I can see shining brightly at the end - even though sometimes it only shines as a pinprick in the cavern of darkness I feel like I'm in at times, rather than as a window shining in the front room of life...one could say I have a tendency to "get lost in (my) 'situation(s)' and forget all the wonderful things (I) have."

So my first resolution is to keep in the front of my mind all the things I am grateful for - today, it is having a job, my wonderful husband, my adorable and brilliant children, grandchildren, step-children, and children of my heart, my expanding network of Girlfriends -both through My Girlfriends Garden and other areas, the rest of my family - brothers, sisters-in-law, nieces, cousins, et al, the rain that is moving through our area right now - lightly at the moment, my cat always happy to see me at the end of the day, my wonderful team mates at work (both Corps and sponsor/stakeholder team mates) who helped propel my little program to execute at 96% of what we expected - making us Green in the lingo of the Corps, my health, my hunger, desire, need to write that never goes away, and the many avenues I have to express and share what flows through me onto the page (like this one, for example!).

I could focus on the dark things in life, but why? Life is too short and too grand and too full of things full of light to allow the dark to overtake me for more than a very short time. The dismals is not where I want to dwell, not now, not ever!

My second resolution is to do things to propel the career I will have after I retire to fruition - writing prose, poetry, and essays, self-publishing where necessary, looking at venues to sell my wares - both writing and photography, looking into what it takes to become a yoga instructor and life coach (perhaps I should have said careers - plural???), and start building the connections now to make this all a reality sooner rather than later.

And those two resolutions are enough - for now! ; )

Another Season Done - Turn, Turn, Turn

2011-09-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

Wow - it's been a long time since I posted a blog here. Life has had more than its share of downs this summer season - and some ups as well - and those are what I prefer to dwell on. As long as I can still see the light at the end of the tunnel, I know I can get there!

And speaking of getting there - yesterday was the day of the 100 Thousand Poets for Change events hosted all over the world - in over 90 countries - WOW!!! Here's the article from the local paper, the Sacramento Bee, on the event I participated in yesterday. Yes, you read that right, participated in. I actually got up and read one of my poems during the first open mic session of this event. And...I wasn't even nervous! Usually when I get up to speak in any type of public forum, I am quaking and shaking in my figurative boots - not this time - I said it loud and I said it strong - WOW again!!!

And that wasn't all I did writing-related yesterday, oh no was not all (BTW, yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the passing of Dr Seuss - the man who introduced me to poetry at my mother's knee in the 1960s).

I also entered NPR's Three-Minute Fiction contest - edited down one of my favorite short stories and sent it off on its merry way.

Back to the poetry reading yesterday - there were some awesome artists there sharing!

Mario Ellis Hill- WOW!

John Allen Cann - I will find a copy of the 24 Caprices he published in 1992 - they are as relevant today as they were there (and perhaps even more so!).

Sean King - again, WOW!

And Lawrence Dinkins - double, triple WOW!

And of course, Abe Sass (sorry, new website found with just info on him or an example of him reading...sigh...) - dude, Dr. Seuss may have drawn me into poetry, but it was Langston Hughes who touched my soul with back in 6th grade, when Miss Desmangles assigned him to me to research and write a report on. Awesomeness!

These were just a few from the first installment in Capitol Park - I was not able to follow to Fremont Park to hear the rest of the readings., which included Frances Kakugawa, a fellow NCPA member - although she did read a Thank You to Poets poem during the second open mic session at Capitol Park.

Not the Best Week

2011-06-05T13:03:00.000-07:00

Well, as I reviewed my posting from last week, I noted that I meant, I really did, I meant to post another blog over the long weekend on the art of writing.

Well, somewhere between intention and action, my life turned to mush between work deadlines, and gettting sick (somehow I managed to pick up a cold or somesuch thing with a lingering cough - first time I've gotten sick from traveling in ages). And there are other things going on as well...aren't there always? Today is the first day since that post that I have felt fully with it - am still weak, but did manage to get to the grocery and am thankful the laundry pretty much does it self.

I haven't even written my Daily Pages focused on the craft of writing since the 31st. Sigh...

So I guess today's blog could be about how one's greatest intentions can get seriously derailed by life in general, and sometimes one has to ride the wave of that derailment to the best of one's ability while determining the best way to change course to get back to what is important in life.

Wow, that's a bit deep, even for me.

I'll end this week's entry on a lighter note, then.

We have a black and white tomcat named Oliver in our neighborhood who thinks he's all that and a bag of chips - our cats are afraid of him, even in our own backyard. So, when he comes in the yard, they dive for the cat door like the scaredy cats they are, and one of us humans has to go and chase him over the fence.

Well, twice this week I discovered we have an ally in this endeavor - a mockingbird who has apparently set up nest somewhere nearby. I wished I'd had my camera at the ready (tells you how sick I've been - I love taking pictures of things like this!)!

Oliver is scurrying along the top of the fence, looking for a safe place to jump down in the next door neighbor's yard as this screeching mockingbird is dive bombing him and all he can do is hiss and keep moving!

Too funny!

Last Weekend of May and Some Pictographs

2011-05-29T08:19:00.000-07:00

...and it's a dreary one here! Hard to believe summer is less than a month away with this unseasonably cool and wet weather. Theoretically we should see sun today - we'll see...I miss it!

Last week's trip to UT and CO - flying into Salt Lake City, visiting nine project sites, in places like Vernal UT, Grand Junction, Paonia, and Breckenridge CO, along the Green, Colorado, and Blue Rivers (among others), was time well spent. We even got to sight see a little bit on our way through at a place called Canyon Pintado National Historic District on Highway 64 out of Rangley CO.

We stopped at four of the sites along the route:

East Four mile Site … mile post 61.3

Yes that is a bullet hole above the pictographs!

See the horse?

Canyon Pintado Site … mile post 56.0 Those of you who know me, know that Kokopelli is one of my favorite, if not THE favorite, mythological creature!

Waving Hands Site … mile post 53.5

Carrot Man Site … mile post 11.6

This demonish-looking fellow is called the Guardian - don't know why...

These stops were a nice break along the drive - this is definitely somewhere I want to explore more in-depth when I can get back to this neck of the woods on some personal time!

I think that's enough for this posting - will probably post again tomorrow on writing - am still cogitating on that one!

Another Week Gone By

2011-05-22T07:46:00.000-07:00

...and gone by too fast! This past week is all a blur to me. Work was extremely busy! However, I did manage to go to My Girlfriends Garden in Auburn on Monday, where we had an excellent guest speaker who led us through a very telling writing exercise. The speaker was Jennifer Basye Sander, who co-authored The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Published, Hot Flash Haiku, and the Martini Diet, just to name a few. I bought a copy of Hot Flash Haiku and laughed all the way through it - so true, so true!

And of course, since we were at Villa Fiorente, I bought two bottles of Fortezza's Viognier!

And then yesterday, I went on the monthly birdwalk at Heritage Oak Winery with David Yee. We had got the count of birds sighted or heard up to 51, and then he counted 5 more before lunch was over! Here is the bird list, which I know Tom Hoffman is updating again, since we added an Olive-Sided Flycatcher to the list yesterday!

I've been writing my Daily Pages, but haven't got back to the short story I'm writing in response to The First Line's next contest, entries for which are due by August 1st.

And today I am off to fly the friendly skies to visit project sites in Utah and Colorado for work. Another busy week for this girl!

Until next time, I bid you adieu...

Wild and Wooly Weather for May

2011-05-15T12:24:00.000-07:00

Yes, I took last week off from this blog - instead I spent Saturday at the Sacramento Scottish Games in Woodland dancing to two of my favorites bands - Tempest and Wicked Tinkers. Sunday, was Mother's Day, and we were entertaining his mother, brother and sister-in-law here, so my morning was spent cleaning like a mad woman and making sure tables were set, flowers were cut, etc. We had a lovely visit with them and as a bonus, my son, his lady, and my adorable grandbabies came by.

In the end, I went back to work on Monday to recover from a very busy and fun-filled weekend!

This weekend is a bit more sedate. We had dinner at his ex-wife's house on Friday to celebrate the 28th birthday of his oldest son - dinner was outside and my allergies decided to hit full force for the first time all season. Needless to say, meds were on the menu when we got home that evening! Yesterday I attended the NCPA meeting and then we headed up to Grass Valley for his niece's wedding. We stayed in the Marilyn Monroe Room at this adorable B&B called the Victorian Lady Inn.

Now, this is where the wild and wooly weather comes in...you'd think a May wedding would have beautiful, if perhaps a bit warmish, weather. Well, for this one, we were lucky that the weather held - it was breezy, with clouds passing overhead, and bits of sun here and there. The ceremony was held outdoors, and the poor bride and her party had goosebumps!

The rain even held off until after the reception, which ended about 11pm. It came soon after though, and then, by the time we woke up, it was snowing! Not heavy, but nice, flowing between light drops to big flakes to what my husband called "corn snow" - and small bits of hail at times as well. So, we got to eat a wonderful breakfast watching the snow come down - beautiful!

On the drive back down the hill, we hit heavy rain in Auburn, and by the time we got back down to Rocklin, we were experiencing thunderstorms - very cool! And we got hit with a bit more hail, both in Auburn and then again after we got home. And now, the sun is peeking through now and again, and the weather is rather sedate - light breeze, gusting at times, some clouds going over.

The AMGEN Tour of California even had to reschedule the start of today's leg and shorten in by nearly 2/3ds the distance due to this wild and wicked weather!

This Week in Life - 1 May 11

2011-05-01T17:17:00.001-07:00

Wow, it's hard to believe it is already May Day - Beltane - a sure sign that summer is on it's way. Although we are not complaining about the weather this year, we're really not (she says as she looks to the heavens) - we need the water after all!

I was successful (I think...waiting on word from the daughter) in finding a dress for her wedding in November. I'll post pics AFTER the event. Here are some of the losers of the year though, to tide you over! Oh, yeah, and I figured out the self-timer on my camera in order to take those pics, BTW...yeay for me!!

And wow - I really did write over 30 poems during the month of April - National Poetry Month, as evidenced on my other blog, titled Butterflies of Possibility after a writing prompt I picked up around the time we found out my first grandchild (a boy, Benjamin, now three years old and very adorable and fun to take to the zoo etc.) was expected!

Our latest excursion was to Effie Yeaw Nature Center at Ancil Hoffman Park in Carmichael, CA. Saw turkeys, does and a buck during our walk, as well as some butterflies and acorn woodpeckers. Autumn Rose, my 18-month old granddaughter was fascinated by the kestrel in the Center, and the trees and oak leaves littering the paths. She hasn't quite got the hang of talking yet, but man, she loved Rocky the resident kestrel!

I finally figured out, sort of, how to get things where I want them to be in the blog - pics et al. Okay, now off to make ham, cheese, and spinach crepes for dinner, with a mustard vinaigrette - yum!

Thoughts for Today - 24 Apr 11

2011-04-24T09:35:00.000-07:00

I thought about going on an educational tirade on the origins of the symbolism used for the holiday that is today - Easter - and how the meanings of the symbols have been lost over the years, as we have turned from a society, community, etc., tied to nature and the Earth to one that loves technology and the almighty currency - be it dollar, Euro or yen - to the detriment of the most important tenet in life - love thy neighbor as thyself. All the symbols come from ancient pagan religions, and have been - subjugated is not the right word, but only what comes to mind - borrowed for want of something more in line with what I really want to say by the newer religions.

However, instead I will focus on my thoughts about mating rituals and long-term relationship building and a few other tidbits gleaned from the birdwalk I participated in at Heritage Oak Winery yesterday.

In bird life, the females are the drab ones and the males are the colorful ones. The males are the ones that primp and preen and compete for a female's attention. They also help in the house hunting - whether looking at bird boxes or looking for another suitable nesting area - last year's bluebirds reminded me of human house-hunting, going from property to property, until she finds just the right one - I could even imagine the hen-pecked male asking just what was really wrong with birdbox A only to be told it was too close to those darned tree swallows and you just KNOW what they're like! This year, we watched a few Brewer's blackbirds go through their ritual - I wrote this up in yesterday's poem, complete with pictures. Too funny!

Some birds, particularly the raptors and larger water fowl, mate for life. They are constantly attentive to their relationship, doing everything together, even sharing the responsibilities of next-building, egg-incubating, and fledgling-feeding through the breeding season. You won't find a male red-tailed hawk off playing golf with his buddies or down at the bar while the little lady stays and home with the brood of chicks to tend too! He might just find himself mate-less next season if he pulled a stunt like that. Once they are mated, they become each other's best friends and constant companions. Just step outside and watch them as they soar and swoop this time of year, in perfect tandem at times - why can't we humans be more like that?

And on a lighter note, I watched a lot of Merry Melodies and other assorted cartoons when I was younger. One depicted the California quail as constantly blowing its drooping top feathers out of it's face. Well, hearing them yesterday, I see where the artist got the inspiration for that sound/image combination. And then there's Woody Woodpecker's memorable laugh...the call of an acorn woodpecker was the inspiration for that I bet!

So, y'all enjoy the painted Easter eggs, the chocolate rabbits (especially the ears!), and most importantly the gathering of family at whatever your traditional meal of the day is...I think we're having ham!

17 Apr 11 Post

2011-04-17T12:26:00.000-07:00

Last week, I was beseeching the members of Congress to do their job and pass a budget for this fiscal year - well they did so. Now, I'm waiting for the news that the President has signed said budget - really a Continuing Resolution that funds the government through 30 September 2011.

So, is it business as usual come tomorrow, or are we still on pins and needles here? But for the want of a signature...sigh...

On to the rest of life.

The picture above was taken at Hidden Falls Regional Park in Auburn CA, and was the impetus (along with the hike I took) for my poetry offering yesterday on my poetry blog. I've managed to write a poem a day for 16 days so far this month, which happens to be National Poetry Month!

I've written free verse, sapphic verse, tankas, haikus and senyrus. I feel most drawn to the 5/7/5 tempo of the haiku and senyru, but also the 5/7/5/7/7 tempo of the tanka. I'll see what other traditional styles I can fit in over the next 14 offerings.

And, like several weeks recently, the hike is the only exercise I've gotten around to this week. Am likely to pay for it with stiff calves for the next few days!

Next week, however, I am looking forward to a My Girlfriends Garden event in Roseville - the second session of Creative to the Core: Peeling Back the Layers - on Thursday!

And, I have a job interview on Wednesday for a potential promotion. Wish me luck! The job would be very challenging, but I feel that I am up for it!

Watching the Sun Rise

2011-04-10T06:55:00.000-07:00

I don't normally quote from the Bible, but as I wrote today's post, this part of a verse came to mind: "Inashmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me" - Matthew 25:40

I sit here watching the sky turn from dark to light, wondering what I am doing up so early on a Sunday morning. The stress of waiting to see what Congress is going to do with the budget (among other things) has me wiped out by early evening. At least I’ve been sleeping through the night the last couple of nights, instead of waking up halfway through and tossing and turning the rest of the night.

The last time we had a furlough, I was the lone admin person (out of five) that was left working. And all of us got paid. This time, if a furlough had been implemented, all the employees graded GS-9 or below (non-excepted employees) would have been sent home, and there was no guarantee of back-pay.

Last time, I was the one raising three children on a GS-4 salary. This time, I watched our support staff, many of them raising children, some of them single parents, get the news late Friday afternoon that they would be the ones not coming into work beyond a few hours on Monday. Remembering how tight money was when I was there, my heart broke for them.

I was also watching most folks take either the ostrich sticking its head in the sand approach or the Pollyanna approach, neither way really believing that Congress would allow the Government to shut down. As the eleventh hour approached – as Wednesday, then Thursday, then the end of the work day Friday passed – and watching the rhetoric being thrown about and the verbiage of the bills being introduced, it became clear that this was a clear and present threat to the financial well-being of nearly 800,000 Federal workers across the country.

A clear and present threat cause by men and women in the ivory tower called Capitol Hill back in Washington DC. People who either have never lived on the razor’s edge financially, or who have been away from it so long they have truly forgotten the hollow feeling when you cannot pay your bills or feed your children.

And no, the working stiffs in these financially precarious positions do no choose to be there – these economic times have made it very difficult for folks to find work, plain and simple.

Congressmen and women and Senators, I beseech you – do your job, pass the budget, but do so with care and thoughtfulness on how your actions affect the least of us in this once great nation – the children, the poor, the elderly – those with less of a voice than others.

The elders are our past, the children our future – would you jeopardize either for the fleeting glory of the present?

4 Apr 11 - Poetry Month

2011-04-03T11:54:00.000-07:00

This week has been busy, yet not. Four days of day job work, one day of grocery shopping and grandchildren, and one day of bicycling and enjoying Nature and music. And today - a day of languid stillness.

Also this week, we saw the beginning of a new month, April, which is also National Poetry Month. As I stated in my last blog, I've started a new blog dedicated to poetry and the art thereof. Here is the link for today's poem - Savoring the Stillness.

And, I'll share a quote and a couple of pictures I've run across/taken this week:

"Inside myself is a place where I live all alone and that's where you renew your springs that never dry up." ~Pearl Buck

The two cabins are along the route of Party Pardee, the bike ride I went on yesterday. I love my iPhone! ; )

The time spent with my grandchildren was at Fairytale Town and the Sacramento Zoo - it was a beautiful day, the weather had been clear enough that all the attractions were dry, and the carousel was running at the Zoo! Somehow the last time we were at the Zoo, we missed a whole row of animals, even though we walked around the grounds three times that day!

As for the nus and bolts of the exercise/writing/et al this week...

The only real exercise was the nearly 29 miles I rode yesterday for the Party Pardee, which starts at Charles Howard Park in Ione, CA and winds around near Lake Camanche and Lake Pardee in Amador County. No gym, no trainer, and no yoga. : (

I've managed the Daily Pages, even when I've totally spaced them in the AM. The languidness and stillness of the day came to me as I was writing the ones for today.

I also attended a really cool session of My Girlfriends Garden in Roseville this week - this group is doing a program called "Creative to the Core; Peeling Back the Layers" over the next six months or so.

Thanks for reading, and we'll see you next week!

National Poetry Month 2011

2011-04-01T07:14:00.000-07:00

I've started a new blog - Butterflies of Possibility - just for National Poetry Month. At least to start with.

My challenge to myself: Write poetry and/or poetry-related items everyday for a month.

The first one came easy this morning...we'll see how the month progresses!

Ides of March

2011-03-27T09:51:00.000-07:00

Alex Trebek noted the Ides of March on Jeopardy this past week - my first thought was that we are past mid-month (beware the Ides of March from Julius Caesar). Today, I think I ought to consult the dictionary - the Merriam-Webster Dictionary to be exact, 2004 copyright:

"ides - the 15th day of March, May, July or October, or the 13th day of any other month in the ancient Roman calendar."

I'm a-thinking what ever tidings the ides bring, they have brought the whole month through for March 2011. So much has happened this month, and the ripples and repercussions of what has happened will ring through for years to come.

Haven't done much this week in relation to exercise - I was down sick Wednesday and Thursday, fighting off what has gone around the office for the last month so I could enjoy spending time with my darling daughter shopping for her wedding dress on Friday. She found THE ONE and she looks beautiful in it - and will again in November on the day of her nuptials.

Saturday (yesterday) was my grandson's third birthday - he and his sister are so adorable! He's a little man instead of a toddler - wow where does the time go?

As for writing -have done the Daily Pages, and am sending off two short stories to the CWC Sacramento Branch 2011 Short, Short Story Contest. I find I tend to be more verbose than a mere 750 words, but I have two stories that say what need to be said within that word-count limit. We'll see if they win me any accolades (and a bit of cash!).

April is National Poetry Month, and I am challenging myself to write either a poem or about poetry each day -perhaps I'll put up a poetry blog for the month - and link it here!

Laundry beckons - so I bid you adieu for this week.

Spring Equinox and Super Full Moon

2011-03-20T09:26:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday, the first day of Spring (official at 1621 PDT), and last night was the first Super Moon in 18 years. Last week a large earthquake offshore of Japan caused a tsunami felt all across the Pacific Ocean. We are still watching Japan's nuclear power plants with wary eyes. Many still remember the effects of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the incidents at the power plants of Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, and wait to see how the effects our use of that destructive power for domestic uses will ripple across the globe this time.

Here on the West Coast of the United States, last night was the night of wicked winds and more rain dumping on already saturated ground. Flood control structures such as floodgates and weirs are in operation again for the first time in five years.

The U.S. and several allies instituted a no-fly zone over Libya yesterday, which means we are now covering conflict and combat on three fronts, yet we are still not taking care of the home front - the most important front. We still have no Federal budget for 2011, even though we are nearly 1/2 way through the fiscal year, limping along on Continuing Resolution (CR) after CR after CR. The blame game continues on the Hill - business as usual.

And still, I find I desperately want to have faith in my fellow man, to believe that we can all acknowledge we are human beings first and all else second, and from that common ground come to a common understanding in order to chart a path forward through all this chaos back to being the responsible stewards of this planet that we are supposed to be - no matter which religion you follow.

My puny efforts at exercise and writing seem tiny indeed when put against the workers at the Japanese nuclear power plant who are willing to take the risk to their own lives in order to save the lives and health of the many.

Their actions remind me of the Star Trek movie "The Wrath of Khan" where Spock give his life to save his shipmates. The lines "the needs of the many outweigh...the needs of the few...or the one" reverberate through my head.

On that thought, Namaste.

To the First Day of DST in 2011

2011-03-13T17:17:00.000-07:00

From the last weekend in February to the first day of Daylight Savings Time for 2011. Where did the last two weeks go?

Well, last weekend was one of playing (imbibing) too much - something that is getting harder to recover from the older I get! We attended Barrel Tasting Weekend along the Russian River Wine Road in Sonoma County, and I overtasted...oops! Had a great dinner at Bistro 29 in Santa Rosa on Friday night before the overindulgence though!

This weekend was one of attending the Northern California Publishers and Authors (NCPA) meeting, with one fantastic speaker! Rachel Dillon - an author/illustrator based on Folsom - discussed her series of books comprised of poetry and artwork based on endangered species. How they came to be, her style of artwork (which is fascinating!), and process - of art, of writing, of getting from draft to finished product (published!).

During the work week(s), work has been challenging, playing number games, waiting for Congress to do their job and work out a Federal budget for 2011 (which was due to be in place by last October). At least the threat of a governmental shutdown seems to have been averted, but the final fallout has yet to be determined, both in the short term (the rest of this fiscal year) and in the long term (good old ripple effect to be felt for years to come). Working on long-term studies and projects - where we are expected to stay on schedule and within budget (without taking into account too much on the schedule slip/added cost to ramp down and then ramp back up instead of working straight through to completion) - when we don't know what funding we are really getting year to year is not an easy way to do business. And in today's climate, we cannot necessarily rely on what has happened in the past continuing into the future. Living in interesting times seems more of a curse then a blessing right now.

And in the midst of all this, my heart goes out to the people from Japan to the West Coast of the United States who have lost lives and livelihoods due to the recent earthquake and accompanying tsunami.

And back to the personal side...checking on the accomplishment of the weekly goals.

Exercise - did not do much either week. Think I did yoga three times and the trainer and the gym once each last week, and did yoga and a bike ride once each this past week. Mother Nature reminded me I'm female and knocked me off my game...sigh...

Writing - fell off the wagon two or three days during the last two weeks. And this poor blog was neglected last week as well. Perhaps Percopotomus took more out of me this year than I expected! ; ) Actually I think it was more related to work stress and Mother Nature's friendly (?) reminder of my femaleness.

I leave you this week focusing on those who have lost lives and livelihoods due to recent natural disasters throughout the world. We are all human beings first and all else comes second.

Namaste.

The Last Sunday in February

2011-02-27T10:23:00.000-08:00

Sunny and chilly. It is still winter after all. There was even talk of snow on the Hollywood Hills for the Oscars - likely to be a non-starter though.

Still waiting tensely for Congress to do their job and get the budget done - the budget, which, by the way, was supposed to be ready to go 1 October 2010. It is now six months later, and still no budget. And the current crop of freshmen folks on the Hill do not get it. And they also do not get that this will NOT be forgotten come the next election cycle. This fiasco is square on the backs of the Republican-run House of Representatives.

Oh, and yes, the budget is Congress' job - read the Constitution.

And here's something else to chew on - for every dollar that folks get in their paycheck and are able to spend, $1.20 is generated in the local economy - no paycheck, no helping the local economy, which means no helping the national economy, and so on and so on.

So, let's play a numbers game - 800,000 Federal employees were furloughed for an average of two weeks during the Gingrich-led shutdown (told you I don't forget!). Say that is also the case with this potential furlough. Say the average Federal employee brings home $26,000 per year - that's $1,000 per paycheck (26 payperiods in a year). That's $1,200 per employee that is lost for one two-week period - times 800,000 employees - $960,000,000 - nearly $1 Billion lost in the local economies throughout the country, not to mention tax revenue at the local, state and federal levels - not only from the Federal employees, but also those in the local economy who benefit from their paychecks - and the cost of getting back on one's feet for those living paycheck to paycheck - and I know from experience, that at the lower end of the Federal payscale, many do. The stones thrown into the pond by a furlough of this size will cause ripples that will be felt for a very long time, and the economy will stall once again.

You know, I wish the national papers would do with the Federal budget what the Sacramento Bee is doing with California's State budget - put it all out there and let folks see what is really being spent where and let them see where they would truly be willing to cut. Of course, you would need to know not only what the spending plan is, but also where the funds come from for the various pieces of the budget pie. And then you need to look at where your priorities lie - taking care of the home front or taking care of everyone else first? And can you really take care of everyone else if you are not taking care of yourself first?

Okay, off the soapbox for the week (at least on this blog).

Back to normal life (my life). My oldest son had a job interview this morning. He's been unemployed for the last six months, and with two children and one on the way, he really needs a job! So, I'm sending out good vibes to him (as well as sending him the information in the way of jobs I come across - which is how he got this interview - saw the job post on the news and sent it to him!).

As for the exercise, writing et al this week...

I hit the gym once, did the bike trainer twice, did yoga twice, and managed a walk in conjunction with the gym.

I'm participating in Percopotomus through the CHPercolators writing group on Yahoo. Ten days of generating something and sharing with the group - made five so far, five to go. That and writing the Daily Pages is what I've managed this week. No Artist Date - being the weather wimp I am, the mere threat of snow kept me from what was undoubtedly a grand show in Folsom by a young man named Evan Zee.

And now the sixth entry in Percopotomus beckons...until next week, adieu.

Sun after Storms - 20 Feb 11

2011-02-20T10:34:00.000-08:00

Or perhaps more storms to come? With the budget woes not abating in Washington, I and many of my fellow Federal civilian employees may be furloughed - which will not help the economy, since we will not have funds to spend if we are furloughed. And it disturbs me to see the programs that the gentlemen and women of Congress are looking to cut - mainly domestic programs that help the poor and underprivileged, particularly women and children. Make no mistake - this is still very much a man's world, as evidenced by these proposed cuts.

I say this to Congress - I have voted every election since 1982, and I strong encourage everyone to vote - particularly those who say their vote doesn't count. This is my country too, dagnabit, and my children's and my grandchildren's! I say Nay to the Tea Partiers, Nay to the Birthers, Nay to those who will not take care of their brothers and sisters here in the United States of America first before extending the hand to others!

If we allow our internal infrastructure - both people and things - to decay, crumble and fail - we will no longer be able to return to the First World Country status we have enjoyed in the past. In fact, we will fall to Third World Country status in short order.

Do not balance the budget and pay down the National Debt on the backs and lives of those who live here and pay the taxes that pay the bills of our Nation. Take care of us first, or we will not be able to afford to pay these bills much longer!

Okay, off the soap box now...back to normal life - my life. This past week was stressful at work, not so much due to the budget as yet, but due to other things.

I did get to the gym once, did the trainer twice, and did yoga thrice. Perhaps I'll go for a walk or a bike ride today, f the weather holds - right now it's sunny with no wind - perfect for me!

I have done the Daily Pages - not always in the Morning, but at least daily...

And, I found pictures of the critters in How the Elephant Got It's Trunk (and determined that the Limpopo River does exist - and is located in what is now South Africa), so I can hopefully finish that project before my grandson's birthday next month!

Unfortunately, due to the weather, I was not able to have an Artist's Date - unless you wish to count (and I suppose I could) the pictures I took of the Oregon Juncos flitting to and fro in my backyard earlier this week in the rain - silly birds!

And now, laundry beckons...so adieu until next week...

Weekly Rambling - 13 Feb 11

2011-02-13T08:51:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, but we celebrated last night. Split a lovely dinner at Il Fornaio in Roseville. They change their regional menu monthly, and this month is Puglia! Lots of seafood - we had Insalata di Mare alla Pugliese, Spaghetti del Gargano, and Grigliata di Pesce Misto. Dessert was Torta alle Madorle. We also each got a wine flight - for the white, he had the Chardonnay del Salento, Cantele, 2009, and I had the Alticelli Fiano, Cantele, 2009. The reds were Primitivo, Cantele, 2008 and Salice Salentino Riserva, Cantele, 2007. Everything was excellent! We also started the evening with a glass of Orvieto at the very busy bar - apparently they need to revise the work schedule to have people come on shift before the rush...the bar staff was moving at light speed!

Today we may go wine tasting at some of the Placer County wineries - they (as well as other California wine regions - like Lodi) are doing a wine and chocolate weekend. Villa Fiorente posted a lovely picture of their offerings on Facebook yesterday!

On to this week's goals...

Exercise: I went to the gym twice - met that goal for the week. Trainer - zero times - oops! Only did yoga one day this week. Did manage two walks (I counted the eight-block round trip to the Dive Bar after work on Tuesday...which is why the trainer was neglected this week) though - so that goal was met!

Writing: Well, I have done the Daily Pages, but did not work on my writing so much. Need to find pictures of the animals named in the Rudyard Kipling Just So Story of How the Elephant Got It's Trunk, so I can finish the book for my grandson before his birthday next month! (Kipling's work is in the public domain now...and the Just So Stories are something I want to share with my grandchildren, since I remember them well from my childhood.)

Artist Date(s): Well, I had three of those this week - My Girlfriends Garden at Villa Fiorente on Wednesday - great fashion show by a gal from Nordstrom Rack (the one at Howe about Arden shopping center in Sacramento) and a surprise musical guest -Evan Zee! This kid is smoking! He did a rendition of Christopher Robin by Kenny Loggins that had several of us sighing in the audience! Then I saw Tempest at Constable Jacks in Newcastle on Friday - great show, as always! And I attended the NCPA meeting on Saturday, where Mark Leonard of Davis & Leonard, LLP, educated us on copyright and trademark laws. I also sold a copy of Papacita to a fellow member - my first sale!

All in all a good week!

Jan-Feb 2011 - Winter to Spring

2011-02-06T09:59:00.000-08:00

It's the 6th of February, the birds are chattering away in the trees, and the temperature is supposed to be in the mid-70s today. The calendar says Winter, but the weather says Spring.

We have Oregon Juncos, finches, and Red-Winged Blackbirds visiting at the moment. The Red-Winged Blackbird is my favorite bird - I remember seeing them along the highways and byways when we'd go out driving around when I was a kid.

Another bird I find fascinating is the Tawny frogmouth. It hails from places Down Under, and emits a low thrum much like a bullfrog does. We discovered it as well as the Lady Ross' turaco (a lively bird with beautiful striking colors !) at the Sacramento Zoo when I took my grandchildren there this week!

Yes, I had a wonderful 2 1/2 visit with the grandbabies at the Sacramento Zoo this week. We saw every animal there at least once, and some two or three times! Some were active and some were melancholy - the gibbons were just sitting in the small pool of sunshine touching their enclosure, not noticing the humans milling around the place. It's amazing to see the world through the eyes of a child!

And last night, I went to the Cozmic Cafe in Placerville to see my favorite band - Tempest. Neat venue, lively crowd, great energy! Hope they play there again in the future!

As for my weekly goals of writing and exercise - I was 100% on the exercise and on accomplishing the Morning Pages. And I even wrote a bit on a short story idea yesterday. So this was a good week all around!

Thoughts on a Rainy Sunday

2011-01-30T10:20:00.000-08:00

I heard the usual flock of finches earlier, and when I stepped out to empty the garbage there were a couple of sparrows sitting in my neighbor's tree. Today started off with rain, but is now just overcast. Glad to see the rain after the nearly endless fog we've had for most of the month. Change is good!

Well, this week the only thing I did consistently was write the Morning Pages - ofttimes in the afternoon or in the evening however, so perhaps not so consistently after all! After last week's post, I hit the gym - amazing how empty it was - oh, yeah, playoff weekend for the NFL! I did manage to get all the machines I like to use...so, go Packers! Then I did manage to hit my trainer on Monday and again yesterday. In between, life struck. Mother Nature reminded me this week that I am still a fertile female via the monthly cleansing (which nixes several yoga asanas, going to the gym, and even the trainer for at least two days!). I will be glad when that particular part of life is over. I decided long ago no more kids after I hit 30 - and now with two adorable grandchildren who are full of energy, I'm glad I stuck to that resolution!

This week, I am posting prompts on the CHPercolators Yahoo group. I get to do this every six to eight weeks or so through the year. It's fun to see what everyone comes up with as prompts and how they present them!

My Artist Date was a cleansing of a different sort - I cleaned out and reorganized three-fourths of my office. Sorted through magazines, kept the articles I wanted, tossed the rest. Have a pile to head to the break room at work to find use in someone else's hands. Have all my yoga routines in one spot for easy reference, and started my travel dream book, collecting info on all the places I'd like to go and things I'd like to do in the future. All cleaning I've been meaning to do, but haven't made the time to until yesterday. My office feels so much lighter, even though most of that stuff was in the closet, hidden from view! Amazing how the things that are out of sight or below the surface can still weigh us down.

I did finish Julia Cameron's book this week - The Sound of Paper, Starting from Scratch. She gave me lots to think about and several exercises to weave into my writing/retrospection on life, including the Morning Pages.

23 Jan 11 - This Week In Life

2011-01-23T13:14:00.001-08:00

Well, let's see...I now have a weekly goals whiteboard staring at me through the leaves of the African violet on my desk. It has my goals for exercise (gym/trainer/walks/yoga), writing (morning pages, project(s)), and events (Artist Dates, etc.) for the week.

I can tell you exercise is my dismal spot - 33% completion rate there - must do better! Writing and Events garnered 100% completion rate - yeay! Now to keep that up!

To date, I have done two weeks straight of the morning pages as recommended by Julia Cameron, and I find them to be helpful in centering me. I have rules for these pages - no personal angst (or not much anyway), to start with. Do them daily - even if I can't do them first thing in the morning. This gives commitment to my writing and, perhaps like exercise for other folks I've known in my life, I will get cranky and have to write the pages if I miss a day or so!

I believe I touched on attending a My Girlfriends Garden event in last week's post. I did attend the event, and it was great! I felt so at home with this group of gals. Just meeting them all and feeling accepted - wow! Robyn McCann, http://www.elephantsdance.org/, the speaker, was great! She shared how she was raised in a strict religious home yet always felt guided by animals in her life, even when she didn't realize that's what was happening. She opened herself to the experience and has led a wonderful life because of it. Another gal I met, Kari Hagensmith, has this really cool book - The Girlfriend Will. Her card says "I'm gone. You're here. Someone's got to clean up this mess." I know several women in my life that would get a kick out of this book! And I can't close this paragraph without telling you about Lisa Mann, owner of Fortezza Winery. She put up with my questions about her wine, and poured for all of us. She was just so nice and friendly - a definite keeper on the winery list (and good wines too!!)!

The other event I attended this weekend was a birdwalk at Heritage Oak Winery in Lodi, CA. David Yee, local bird enthusiast (among other things), leads monthly birdwalks on the property, which backs up to the Mokelumne River. We are so blessed that Tom Hoffman, the winery owner, allows us to use his property for these events. His family has maintained a balance between the vineyards and the riparian areas that yields magnificient habitat for many species of birds either stopping off for a rest and a bite to eat during migration or looking for a place to nest for the season.

All of the creative and accepting energy that I was blessed to be with this week led to me starting another writing project using the sentence for the current contest for the publication, The First Line. The sentence is: Sam was a loyal employee. How the story works out...well, if I manage to get it written/edited/submitted by 31 Jan 11 - I'll still have to wait until the periodical is published either way - that's the rules! I will tell you this though...it's another story set in the Character Realm!

Wow! That's a lot for a week's time...

First Post of 2011

2011-01-17T10:43:00.000-08:00

Well, again, it's been over a month since my last post. As a writer and publisher, I really should do better. And of course, this year, I once again resolve to do just that! My goal is to post to this blog weekly. We'll see how I do...

I'm currently reading Julia Cameron's The Sound of Paper, subtitled Starting from Scratch. Since the 9th of this month, I have taken the morning pages to heart (although they may not always be in the morning, depending on what life is throwing at me that day), and done that daily since - 9 days and counting!

My artist date last week was a humble one. I picked up the latest copy of the Sacramento News and Review to read on my way back to the office from Starbucks. This week's artist date is attending the monthly My Girlfriends Garden event at Villa Fiorente - a winery in Auburn - on Thursday evening. This month, Robynn McCann (The Opal Within Us, Understanding Animal Voices) is speaking on the topic of Finding Our Journey. Last month, Persia Woolley - the Guinevere trilogy - spoke. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend that event.

Ms. Cameron also recommends walks for inspiration, which I am re-incorporating as part of getting back into my fitness routine. We are blessed to have a small nature area with a walking/biking trail near the house, so I walk there and see many species of birds come through, as well as other critters. Last week, there was this adorable Siamese-like cat with the prettiest blue eyes! Many times I'll see a white egret pausing in the large clearing by the road and always there are the smaller birds that dwell in the area as well.

There is a story calling to me in the Belkher Chronicles series, based on happenings along the Wise Canal in Auburn. Six men have drowned in that canal since January of 2009, many of them inebriated transients - but not all. Very much like the story line I was taking in a work tentatively titled Watery Death. Papacita started that way as well - a newspaper story caught my eye and sparked my imagination and off we went!

I have gotten as far as typing up How the Elephant Got Its Trunk from Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories series as well. Now I need to sketch the animals involved, get the layout done and get 'er published! I'm aiming to have that done by my grandson's birthday in late March.

Well, that's all the news that is news at this time - will do my best to see you again next week!

Lots of News Since Last Post

2010-12-10T14:47:00.001-08:00

Let's see, where to begin!

I have a logo for my publishing company - Green Haired Lady Publications - done by AbsolutMudd at logodesignguru.com.

I have five published works, available here: http://stores.lulu.com/bethane41

The titles are:

Tales from the Character Realm, 2010 Edition

Theft by Character

Evicted by Darkness

Death by Delusion

Papacita

The first four are from the Tales from the Character Realm series, and Papacita is from the Belkher Chronicles series.

I also have website for Green Haired Lady Publications, here: http://greenhairedladypublications.com/

which has links to lulu.com, this blog, and the CafePress store I set up, also accessible here: http://www.cafepress.com/greenhairedladypublications

And...I have my inspiration for the next Belkher Chronicles story!

Now to just get through the holidays!

Long Time, No Post

2010-11-13T16:02:00.000-08:00

I've really got to stop doing that - going months without posting. Bad writer!

What brought me back this time? Attending an NCPA meeting this morning and hearing a wonderful discussion on chapbooks. Did you know they are not just for poetry? I didn't before today.

Now I have a way to publish and share my work as I complete it instead of waiting until I have a novel (or novella or novelette) or a large enough collection of short stories or poetry for a full-length book.

I will do my best to blog more often and share my thoughts and experiences as I move along this newly discovered potential publishing path.

Look Up - Trust #2

2010-05-11T20:28:00.000-07:00

Trust is a sacred thing, and once lost is very hard to find again. Feeling second best is never a good feeling, especially when you know you were not someone's first choice, and you get that message repeated throughout your relationship. Life is too short to be second choice in anyone's book. Find where you are truly first choice, and live there. It's that Sheryl Crow song again about looking up and looking down. No one should look down on you, and you should look down on no one else in your life, especially if they are supposed to be your life partner.

Look Up - Trust

2010-05-11T05:35:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I didn't blog yesterday. Life struck and I didn't get that far. So, here's one entry for today, and I'll probably post another one this evening.

Trust, like a building, is built up brick by brick. Things happen to destroy that trust - small things that may take out a window or a door, and large things that may demolish an entire floor. After repeatedly blows, trust is destroyed.

You can rebuild trust, just as you can rebuild a building, but there will always be something missing, something just not right anymore. And then you have to decide if you can live with missing that something, or if it's time to move one.

Look Up - in LA - Day 3

2010-05-09T19:50:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day was very, very good to me! My daughter fixed pancakes, eggs, and strawberries for breakfast. Then we were off to see Iron Man 2 - better than the first one, and wait - don't leave until after the credits roll. You'll miss something important...

Then we had lunch at Fuddrucker's. Then, two bookstores, and then home to relax. Ah!!!

Tomorrow, back on the road again.

Look Up - in LA - Day 2

2010-05-08T21:47:00.000-07:00

My daughter and I did the 21 mile route on the Cruising the Canejos today. Everyone was friendly and supportive. It was her first ride, and she did great! On the way, we passed a Habitat for Humanity project. The cacaphony of tools going was very uplifting! We are, after all, one big family - and family is what matters!

Looking Up - LA

2010-05-07T19:37:00.001-07:00

Made it to LA in one piece with no major traffic hang-ups. First time over the Grapevine and that was easier than driving the Altamont Pass or up I-80 to Reno/Tahoe!

Spending the Mother's Day weekend withy my beautiful and talented daughter - the boys get to deal with the other moms in their lives - the "spare" mom for my youngest and the mother of my grandchildren for the eldest.

Life is good!

Looking Up - Family

2010-05-06T22:11:00.001-07:00

I was blessed to have my son and my grandchildren over for a few hours this evening. The grandson turned 2 in March and the granddaughter is 6 months old. My generation is now the elder generation with the passing of my aunt in February. And the grandbabies are the up and coming generation. Family is a blessing and a port in the storm when you truly need one. We may harangue you and give you our strongly worded opinions, but we do love you and will stand by you when need be. That is what family is for, after all.

Looking Up - Oops!

2010-05-05T21:30:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot to blog today! I just finished watching Iron Man with my youngest son so I can see Iron Man 2 with my daughter for Mother's Day. Family - that's what it's all about. I've got three kids, two of which have significant others, and one of which has two children. And I've got three step-kids, all currently unattached. And I've got an extended blood and chosen family as well. I have "spare" children, who add joy to my life as I watch theirs unfold along with my own chldren's lives. The circle of life - ain't it grand!

Looking Up - Becoming More

2010-05-04T20:32:00.000-07:00

We can have more than we've got because we can become more than we are - Jim Rohn

I love Twitter. PhenomenalLife has some really great quotes, which I share here and on Facebook. This is one of three I found this evening as I roamed Twitterland.

Becoming more than we are. Wow. I could have stayed a high school drop out welfare mom, or an administrative assistant, or a budget analyst, but now, I'm a program and project manager. Why? I really don't know. Well, that's not exactly true. I was on welfare (AFDC - Aid to Families with Dependent Children) because my mother was in her last years, dying of emphysema brought on by a lifetime of smoking cigarettes. However, her philosophy was that welfare was a hand up, not a hand out, and that it was not a lifestyle, but rather a lifeline when needed.

After she passed, I went back to school through the JTPA (Jobs Training Partnership Act) and got a clerical certificate. I took the exam to get on the Federal job roles and started my career as a GS-2 military personnel clerk at one of our local air force bases. From 1988 to 1997, I worked for the Air Force, and moved up from a GS-2 to a GS-6. In 1997, I transferred to the Army Corps of Engineers as a GS-5, and have worked my way up from being an administrative assistant (GS-5/6), to a budget analyst (GS-7/9/11) to a program and project manager (GS-12).

My education beyond high school consists of that clerical certificate that got my foot in the door, two associates degrees - one in general business and one in financial accounting, and various classes provided by my employers.

I was not one of those kids who had a grand plan. My parents divorced when I was 10, my dad died of lung cancer when I was 13, I'm a high school dropout with a GED. My mom died when I was 22 and my older two children were 2 1/2 and six months old. They are now 26 and 23. I had one more child, who is now getting ready to embark on college. I've been through three divorces, and am finally content in my fourth marriage.

What I've been blessed by in my life is people who see my potential and continue to encourage me (and at times push me) even when I don't see it for myself. And I've been blessed with supervisors who allow and encourage their employees to grow, even when that means they may lose them to higher level jobs.

I truly believe if I can do it, so can others. I never said easy. I said it can be done. And I'm proof of that.

Looking Up - Can't Never Did Nothing

2010-05-03T20:14:00.000-07:00

"Can't never did nothing" was perhaps the only grammatically incorrect phrase I ever heard from my mother's mouth. We went rounds when I was in junior high/middle school and started using the word "ain't." She'd say, "Ain't ain't a word" and I'd counter that it was in the dictionary and that made it a word. I guess that's why I think there is nothing a person cannot do if they are willing to work for it. Now, there may be other limitations, however, even most of those can be conquered with patience and perseverance. Note I said most, not all. One also has to realize when to give up and move on. Sometimes you have to do that. You have to recognize that one door has closed, but many are still open. You just have to walk through them.

Looking Up - Day 2

2010-05-02T12:26:00.000-07:00

For some reason as I pondered on the theme today, a Sheryl Crow song came to mind - Soak Up the Sun (lyrics to be found here: http://new.music.yahoo.com/sheryl-crow/tracks/soak-up-the-sun-radio-edit--2009357).

The line that always gets me is the one about buying the things it takes to get her some of his love. And then there is the one about when she's looking up, he's looking down. But then she counters with "I'm still the king of me."

That's the message, I think, that we are each "the king of me" and no one can take that away from us. No one can take away your dignity or your honor without your permission. Every one of us is a human being, first and foremost, and therefore precious and part of a large family that spans the globe.

So, go forth, practice random acts of kindness, pay it forward, look for the good in first yourself and then in others. For you cannot love others if you do not love yourself.

Namaste and Peace be with You.

Ok, Interesting Ads

2010-05-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

I posted my last post, checked my blog site, and there were these ads for WalMart in my stream. Wow! Yes, I put in/allowed ads in this blog, just to see if they really were passive revenue makers. Haven't seen a dime yet, but it is interesting to see the process.

Daily Posting Target for May 2010

2010-05-01T15:38:00.000-07:00

So, ScriptFrenzy ended with my accomplishing 82 pages - 18 short of the goal. Now, what to turn my attention to for May? A friend suggested this website: http://www.nablopomo.com/, so I joined it. The theme for May is "Look Up." Interesting, since the quotes I've been pulling off Twitter are in the same theme. Here is the latest quote I pulled from Twitter, submitted by PhenomenalLife:

High expectations are the key to everything - Sam Walton

This guy founded WalMart and Sam's Club, which spread across the country before he died. They were open in Europe for a short time as well (we saw at least one there in 2005), but Europe has similar style stores (Carrefour comes to mind in France), so WalMart pulled back to the States.

So, my thought for the 1st of May (May Day, Beltane in the older pagan religions) is this: What do you want to grow in life and/or art this year? See it, taste it, touch it, go for it! You cannot win if you do not play!

Belkher Chronicles Update

2010-03-06T10:52:00.000-08:00

I am still working away on Papacita - and if you look to the right side of this blog, you will see a link to the blog specifically dedicated to the Belkher Chronicles.

Papacita Revisted

2010-01-10T16:39:00.000-08:00

Well, to make good on my goals for 2010, it's time for me to get butt in chair and work on using the Snowflake Method to help me work the kinks out of several stories in the Belkher Chronicles line-up. I decided to start with Papacita, since it is the most nearly complete story of the series.

I don't like my one-sentence summary at this point, but it sounds better than the other one I came up with today. Here they both are:

The current one: The murder of a grandpa gone a-courting sends familial threads unraveling through three generations.

The one I came up with today: A boy's loss is no-one's gain when the man kills his grandfather over his father's death.

The second one better fits what happens in the story, but I guess I'll have to work on the story itself and let the summary cogitate from there.

Ah, 2010 - A New Year Begins Again

2010-01-01T13:21:00.000-08:00

And of course most of us tend to make resolutions at this time of year. Here are mine, couched as goals rather than resolutions...

Use the Snowflake Method on any new stories I embark upon (am already doing this...)

Use the Snowflake Method on existing stories to help see where the gaps are

Enter contests - starting with The First Line, a quarterly contest that costs nothing to enter

Join the California Writers' Club (CWC)

Attend at least two writers' conferences - NCPA (Northern California Publishers and Authors) in April and the Redwood Writers (a branch of CWC) in October. Did both last year and gained a lot of knowledge and ideas!

Edit and submit two short stories written in the last year

Branch out into poetry

Participate in NaNoWriMo again

Since I now have two grandbabies, and I believe Kipling's Just So Stories are public domain, put together a book of these as told by me with photos to go along with the stories (and exercise my other artistic bent) - perhaps even create a video to go with them!

Create a book trailer for Theft by Character to put on YouTube

Purchase some ISBNs so I can self-publish (beyond the short story I have on lulu.com)

Sort out previous writings - grist for the mill or for refinement

And then, at the end of 2010, look over this list and see what I really accomplished!

(BTW, I already have my first submission written for The First Line contest...I' m letting it rest until the end of the month before I give it the final looksee/tweaks and send it in - submissions are due by 1 Feb 10 for the first quarter)

AND - Yes I do tend to dream big!!!

End of NaNoWriMo 2009; on to the Holidays!

2009-11-30T10:41:00.000-08:00

Well, I tried again this year to write 50,000 words during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), however I didn't get out more than 25% of that number. And only about half of those words are the actual story. I have a tendency to brainstorm as I write, which means I end up with a notebook full of notes and story written in longhand, and two computer files - one with the notebook in it and one with just the story in it.

But, now I know the snowflake method is successful (see my previous input on this subject during August/September), and will use it to review/revise/resuscitate my other current work, as well as start new work in the coming year.

Now it is time to let everything sit (as much as that's possible when one is a writer and ideas/characters decide when they want to drop in on you - sigh...) and enjoy the holiday season with family et al. I have two grandbabies to shower attention on now (don't know if I posted that the grandson was born in Mar 08 and the granddaughter was born in Nov 09), which has led my writer's mind down another path - writing holiday stories for them and collecting family traditions (recipes, rituals, etc.) to put in printed form (probably out on lulu.com by this time next year and updated annually). See what I mean about ideas???

Poetry Contest Results

2009-09-19T13:34:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday I received the news - none of the poems I entered in the Redwood Writers Poetry Contest placed. The rejection e-mail was very sweet and thoughtful, which makes the non-placement much easier to swallow. The other contest I had entered my work in I have not heard on, but am assuming I did not place there either, since they said the winners would be notified by 15 Sep 09, which has come and gone. Oh, well - there are more contests to enter and more writing to be done...tomorrow is another day!

Snowflake Method - Expanded Proposal/Summary

2009-09-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

The next step in the Snowflake Method is to take the one-page synopsis and expand it to a four-page synopsis. Here is my take on expanding the first paragraph of the shorter synposis:

Para #1

Nick Aceret is a crime novelist with a penchant for creating characters who are more than they seem to be on the page. He doesn’t realize his characters have a tendency to become more than he created him to be. Take Millie – short for Millicent Marianna Freedman – for example. Who would have thought that a one-dimensional character who barely appeared in three scenes in one novel would have the audacity, let alone the ability, to force another author’s essence out of said author’s body and move her own essence in? Millie’s freedom from the character realm only lasted a few months, and the team from the Asylum for Miscreant Characters was able to return the author to her rightful body, but still – who’d have thought this type of situation was possible at all?

Keep in mind, Millie was one of dozens of less notable characters who existed for a few scenes here or there in Nick’s Diabolical Soul crime series. Nick also created Malcolm Price, the antagonist in the series, and Marlena Kevan, a character used as a foil for Malcolm until she was written off the page at the end of the third novel. Or so Nick thought. Marlena had actually developed over the course of the three novels to a point that Malcolm saw her as a serious threat, and influenced Nick to write her out of the series. Neither Nick nor Marlena realized what was happening to them due to Malcolm’s influence!

After the incident with Millie, Tracey Averdue, an agent with the Character Stabilization Unit at the Asylum, studied the flow of Nick’s series, noting where Malcolm had encouraged Millie’s delusions of grandeur as well as how he managed to get Marlena written off the page. Agent Averdue also discovered Malcolm’s plot to switch places with Nick and brought this to the attention of Mr. Von Schutzel, the director of the Asylum.

Mr. Von Schutzel attempted to gain Nick’s attention and inform him of Malcolm’s machinations, but to no avail. Nick was deep in the throes of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on this particular novel, hell, this particular series, and nothing was going to distract him from reaching that light! Nick put Von Schutzel’s voice in his head down to lack of sleep, overcaffeination, and finally letting go of the character who had been his bread and butter for the last ten years.

Snowflake Method - Other Important Characters

2009-09-19T13:25:00.000-07:00

Since I last posted, I have told the story from two other important characters - Agent Tracy Averdue and Mr. Von Schutzel, both from the Asylum for Miscreant Characters. Here is the story through their eyes.

Agent Tracy Averdue – POV

The basics of this case were as follows: The perp – Malcolm Price – was plotting to change places with his creator – Nick Aceret – and then kill Aceret off. We discovered the plot after Millicent Marianna Freedman succeeded (for a short time) in taking over her author’s body by basically pushing the author’s essence – her soul, if you will – out into the ether so Freedman could enter her body. Since Aceret had created Freedman prior to her author’s use, and since the other characters created by Aceret seem to become more than he created them to be at a higher ratio than that of other authors’ creations, we decided to review Aceret’s work to find out why. What we discovered instead was Price’s plot and the machinations he’d already accomplished to this point – encouraging Freedman’s delusions of grandeur to a dangerous point and working to get Marlena Kevan written off the page when she became a threat to his how delusion of being the superior character.

I brought this information to the attention of Mr. Von Schutzel, the director of the Asylum for Miscreant Characters. He attempted to gain Aceret’s attention and inform him of Price’s plot, but to no avail. After reviewing our options against the severity of the threat, we decided to assign Agent Kevan the task of ensuring Price’s plot did not succeed as well as the task of bringing Price to justice.

At first, Agent Kevan was a bit reluctant to take on these tasks due to her previous dealings with both men. Additionally, she did not agree with the assessment that it was Price, no Aceret, who had her written off the page in the third book of Aceret’s series. However, when she perceived the threat to both the character realm and the realm of reality, she accomplished the task at hand like any good field agent would. Successfully.

Mr. Von Schutzel – POV

When Agent Averdue brought Malcolm’s plotting to my attention, I was alarmed! We’d had other cases of characters attempting this sort of maneuver, but managed to abort the attempts before they were visible even to the other characters in the story lines – at least until Millie came along. Her brief stint in the realm of reality alerted us to look more closely at Nick Aceret’s characters – for some reason, the characters he creates have a higher rate of being more than he created them to be than those of other authors. Agent Averdue reviewed Mr. Aceret’s work and found the markers, warning signs, clues, however you wish to describe them, where Malcolm had influenced not only Millie in her delusions of grandeur, but also where he convinced Mr. Aceret that Marlena was no longer an asset to the storyline. There were also indications of his plot to switch his essence (his soul) with that of Mr. Aceret, so it would actually have been Mr. Aceret that died at the end of book five in his series, not Malcolm.

I tried to tell Mr. Aceret, to warn him, but to no avail. He was too wrapped up in his story – authors tend to get extreme tunnel vision when they are close to finishing their projects we’ve noticed – to listen to anyone, let alone a voice from the character realm – he likely thought I was his inner critic, who’d never really liked Malcolm from the start – that should have been a major indication, Mr. Aceret! – oh well.

After reviewing our options on how to best deal with the situation, we decided to bring Marlena in to work the case. She’d done a remarkable job with fetching Millie back to the Asylum and getting that poor author back into her own body after hanging about her library watching Millie nearly make a muddle of the author’s writing career – so we though Marlena would be perfect for the job, her previous dealings with the two men not withstanding. We did not expect her to be so reticent about accepting the task at hand however! Agent Averdue did an exceptional job laying out the facts to her, but Marlena had to reconcile her head with what she’d lived through, and we didn’t realize how much of a debate that would be! It was nearly too late when she finally agreed to take on the task! If it hadn’t been for Mr. Aceret’s over-caffeinating ways, we would have been too late!

Be that as it may, Marlena, the dear girl, came through and we got Malcolm back in his proper spot just in the nick of time. That is one character that will never attempt any such thing again! Oh, and we saved Mr. Aceret as well. I believe he is still on sabbatical from writing however.

Snowflake Method - Marlena's POV

2009-09-07T16:56:00.000-07:00

As I stated in an earlier post, I'm in the process of telling the story from each character's POV - at least for the major and important characters. Marlena is the most important character apparently, since her POV is the longest of the three major characters. Enjoy!

Marlena Kevan – POV

I received the summons from Von Schutzel as I was hanging about in the corner of the library of the author we rescued from Millicent Marianna Freedman – aka Millie – a few months back. Man, I really like her writing style! The summons was simply that a serious situation was in the making, one that required my unique talents.

Once I arrived back at the Asylum for Miscreant Characters, Von Schutzel and Agent Averdue of the Character Stabilization Unit informed me that Malcolm Price appeared to be planning a similar feat to Millie’s – changing bodies with his creator, author Nick Aceret. They need my ability to change gender in order to throw Malcolm enough off-kilter to bring him back to the page to finish his story, and, if necessary to face his fate at the Asylum.

Von Schutzel knew that Nick had created me, but he was not aware of the circumstances of our parting, nor of the history between Malcolm and me. Agent Averdue had reviewed Nick’s previous work, but didn’t see things quite the same as I did – having lived them and all.

Being the compliant character that I am – which annoys me to no end at times like these, but then again I don’t want to end up in the Asylum myself – I agreed to the assignment with a strong sense of foreboding. You see, I wasn’t just a bit character in Nick’s storyline. I was an integral part of it, closely involved with Malcolm, first as his victim, then as his lover and accomplice. Malcolm and I made a good team, but for some reason Nick decided I didn’t fit anymore, so my character went into the river at the end of book three of the series, and I came to work for the Character Stabilization Unit at the Asylum for Miscreant Characters.

Anyway, back to the situation at hand. After reviewing the information Agent Averdue had collected, I could see very well that Malcolm was not only planning to move into Nick’s body, but also to trade places with Nick, so that Nick would be the one killed off in the book – in Malcolm’s body of course.

You see, when a character is killed off easily – gunshot or other quick method of causing death – the essence of that character simply moves out of the body and waits to be reassigned to a new story with another name and a few cosmetic changes. But when a character goes through multiple and massive trauma such as Nick is putting Malcolm through, usually the character’s essence is reduced to a quivering glob of sludge only good to feed the creative ether with. So Malcolm’s plan was to make Nick’s essence into compost (and vice versa, although Nick probably doesn’t realize what happens to characters when they are written out of existence in a storyline – most authors don’t).

So, my assignment was to stop Malcolm and save Nick. My head knew that, in general, characters have to fall in line with what their creators, the authors, planned for them to do in a storyline. Everyone has their place, but that is not to say there was no potential for growth – that depended on the character/author interaction – but in any given storyline, the author decided the level of growth, not the character. Malcolm was planning to use his place in the storyline to his own ends, though – by switching places with Nick and, in essence, committing murder. Even in the character realm, murder is considered a capital crime when committed outside the bounds of a storyline – and to have the audacity to even attempt to kill your creator – what that’s just unheard of! At least it had been until now. But it’s wrong, and my head knows it’s very wrong!

But my heart thinks in personal particulars, and my particulars in this case were that Malcolm and I had a good thing going. We made a good team when all was said and done – and for whatever reason Nick decided I no longer fit the storyline and dumped me in the river at the end of book three. So, my heart was rooting for Malcolm (even though it too knew that was he was planning was wrong, very, very wrong). About Nick – ambivalence tinged with hurt – he created me (and I’m very thankful for that, of course), put me in plenty of situations where I grew into a multidimensional character (thankful for that too) – then he wrote me off the page. Ouch! I didn’t even see that coming! Most authors at least have the decency to use foreshadowing to warn their characters who are about to get the axe – but not Nick – at least not for me! He even treated Millie with more than that, and she was a bit character who lasted maybe three scenes in book two. Sheesh!

Of course, by the time I’d worked through my qualms about the case, it was nearly too late. Malcolm had changed bodies with Nick and was writing the rest of the storyline. At least he was smart enough to know that the flow had to match, so he had to go back and review Nick’s previous work to match his ending with the already-in-progress story. That gave Nick the time he needed to make his way out of the scene and into the sewer before Malcolm sent Riley Brown – the detective created to stop Malcolm in the series - looking for the body. And, at least Nick was smart enough to know that Riley, based on a two-dimensional model, would look at the obvious escape routes first – especially considering the fall Nick’s new body had just endured – so Nick had time to move towards the (further away river) instead of the (closer river). Which is where I caught up with him – in the sewer system heading towards the (further away river).

To say Nick was surprised to see me was a bit of an understatement. But, to his credit, he recovered quickly. He was a bit arrogant and annoying, not wanting to believe we could do what we said we were going to do – a bit ungrateful when someone you wrote off the page comes to your rescue there, dear! That is until we actually engineered the switch.

When Malcolm re-entered his own body, he thought he could send Riley off balance with a bit of cajoling about Sherlock Holmes killing off his Moriarity – wasn’t done in that series, you know. He was a bit shocked to realize I was impersonating Riley and I had a gun trained square on his head. As he lunged at me, I fired and down he went. Dead.

Snowflake Method - Characters' POVs

2009-08-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

The next step is to write the story synopsis from each character's point of view, allowing a full page for each major character and a half page for each important character.

I've let Nick and Malcolm tell the story from their viewpoints thus far. There is, of course, more information I need to tease out of them, but here is what they've given me to date:

Nick Aceret – POV

There I was, working furiously to finish my novel, and BAM! The next thing I know, I wake up in a body that feels like it’s been put through the wringer and then crushed like a junked car. It took me a few moments to get my bearings, and then I heard a voice I’d only heard in my head before say, “I think the body fell over here, Sarge.” Oh my God – that’s Riley! I struggled to my feet, looked down at my body – the one I woke up in – and realized something with either very wrong or I’d been on this writing binge way too long! Note to self – 75 hours is the wall! Don’t hit the wall! I shook my head to clear the scene and refocus on the print of (insert name of painting) by (insert name of artist) hanging on the wall in front of my desk. Big mistake! The world went fuzzy, and I had to sit down before I fell down! Choking back the vomit rising in my throat, I realized – Nick, you’re not in Kansas anymore! – I was actually living Malcolm’s final moments – wait a minute, if I’m here, where is Malcolm? I heard Riley coming closer and looked for a place to hide, a way to escape. I knew his intent was to stop Malcolm, by deadly force if necessary (and for the purposes of my novel that’s exactly what was necessary – this was Malcolm’s last appearance in my work – he’d become too disturbing a character even for me, and it was time to move on). Ah, salvation! An entrance to the city’s sewer system. All I had to do was get in there without leaving too much of a trail for Riley to follow. Just got to power through this body’s injuries – come on grate! Ah, success! Ok, one foot below the other on the ladder, pull the grate back into place, gently. Good. Now down the ladder – close the eyes, one foot at a time, ah – the bottom. Breathe – ouch! – maybe some busted ribs there – focus – go down the darkest path – there, to the left – quietly – ah, a turn to the right – stop! Listen – nothing coming – find a dry spot to rest for a while. At least it was only a two story tumble – and Malcolm does – did – know how to land – injured ribs, slight concussion – major bruises, but no other damage to internal organs as far as I can tell – arms and legs still work. Should have thought to devise a schematic for the sewer system – oh well, with the way the city grew out, it’s probably a hodgepodge anyway – focus – where’d we land again? That’s right, off the highway bridge that goes over the big park near the river. Think – what would Riley be doing now? How close were we to the river? That’s too expected – Riley would have the entrances to the system near the river covered, as well as the ones in the park – damn! Hey wait – I went left, then right – if I keep going until I hit another left, I should be able to daylight in the city somewhere – got to keep moving. Ok, enough of the inch by inch stuff…I start hearing voices as I’m making my way through the system – wait – that’s a female voice – a familiar female voice – Marlena? But – I wrote you off the page and into the drink at the end of the third novel – how did you? Never mind – why are you here now?

You know, if I wasn’t living it, I’d still ignore the warnings about Malcolm – how could I have been so blind? And how in Hades do I get out of this mess?

Oh, right, you’re going to distract Malcolm long enough and strong enough for Agent Averdue and his team to do a reverse transfer? You know he grew tired of you, right? That’s why I/we threw you in the river at the end of the third novel. So what makes you think you can distract him without fear of recognition now? Ah, oh, okay – that’s a neat trick – too bad you can’t switch with Riley Brown, the lead detective now.

You think you can?

Oh, now you’re telling me to step back and let you do your job? Okay, okay – yes, I want my body and my reality back. Don’t hurt him too bad, I need him for my next book! Wow – identical! Ok, off I go – Pop!

Whoa – gingerly moves head and takes slow, deep breath – looks around writing room to see the print of (need name of painting) hanging on the wall in front of my desk. Looks down at the manuscript to find that Riley Brown has tracked the injured Malcolm Price through the sewer system with the help of the cadaver dogs.

“I’m sorry old chap.”

As Malcolm gathers and lunges at Riley Brown, a shot rings out and Malcolm falls to the filthy floor of the sewer tunnel. Dead for real this time.

Nick felt the tension go out of his body as he hears Marlena whisper in a smoky male voice, “Got him!”

POV – Malcolm Price

It was the perfect plan – switch spots with Nick and I’d be home free – after Riley finished me, I mean him, off, of course.

Nick should have died when he went into the body he’d run off the bridge anyway, as bruised and broken as it was – how was I to know that his caffeinating ways would restart everything?

I paused to take a glance around my new abode and the sucker finds his way into the sewer system, slithering away as fast as he can before Riley Brown – the detective type he thought would be able to finish me off – Please! Riley’s not that wily! – got to the spot where the body landed!

So, Riley spent some time poking through the sewer system on the (name of river) River side before deducing that Nick was heading towards the (name of another river) River – makes sense – Nick’s actions, not Riley’s – I would have done the same. Then I caught this familiar flavor in the story, like….Marlena was back – but she couldn’t be – I mean, we dumped her in the river at the end of the third novel – and even I with caffeinated Nick’s help couldn’t have survived That Fall! I shook it off – turns out I should have paid attention that time – as I was enjoying a sumptuous meal of veal with a nice chianti and some fava beans, Riley allowed himself to be knocked out cold, and then somehow Marlena took his identity - the base flavor was still there, but muskier, stronger, now – then I felt a bit light-headed – figured it was the wine, until I heard Von Schutzel’s voice – just as annoying as when he was trying to convince Nick I was dangerous – should have listened to him, Nick, old boy! – Hey, I’m slipping – nooo! Damn! They figured out my plan – come on Riley, you’re not really going to kill off your Moriarity, are you? Wait! You’re not Riley! You’re, you’re – Marlena!

Pop! World fades to black.

Book Proposal using the Snowflake Method

2009-08-23T17:02:00.000-07:00

And here is what expanding the summary paragraph into a proposal ended up like:

Book Proposal - Untitled as Yet

Nick Aceret is a crime novelist with a penchant for creating characters who are more than they seem on the page. During the course of writing his Diabolical Soul crime series, Nick created both Malcolm Price, his antagonist throughout the series, and Marlena Kevan, a character used as a foil for Malcolm until she was written off the page at the end of the third novel, as well as other less notable characters that existed for a few scenes here and there. While Nick was writing the fourth novel in the series, Tracy Averdue, a security agent working with the Asylum for Miscreant Characters, noticed that several of Nick’s characters were much more than he had created them to be. One particular character, Millicent Marianna Freedman, had the audacity to push the essence of the author using her at the time out of the author’s body to hang about in the library until Mr. Von Schutzel, the Asylum’s director, recruited Marlena as part of the team to deflate Millicent’s ego, allowing the author’s essence to move back into her own body and enabling the team to move Millicent back to the Asylum without incident. As Agent Averdue studied the flow of Nick’s series, he noted that Malcolm was a more devious character than Millicent had grown to be, and brought his concerns to Mr. Von Schutzel. Mr. Von Schutzel tried to gain Nick’s attention about the situation, but Nick put the voice in his head down to the natural process of letting go of a character he had spent the better part of the last ten years with.

While working on the final novel in his latest series, Nick suffers a momentary blackout as he delivers the final death blow to the series’ antagonist, Malcolm Price. During the course of the last two novels, after his small success in getting Marlena written off at the end of the third novel of the series, Malcolm had studied Nick’s creative method in order to plot how to switch realities with his creator. He’d heard about Millicent’s escapade, and figured if a one-dimensional character that had barely made it through three scenes in the fourth novel of the series could get as far as she did, surely he, being more fully evolved, could succeed where Millicent had failed. Malcolm realized he would not only have to push Nick’s essence out of his body in order to fill it with his own, but also to put Nick’s essence into the body of his character on the page in order to be able to kill Nick off and keep Nick’s reality for his own. What Malcolm didn’t count on was Nick’s heavy caffeine habit during the final writing phases of his novels having the ability to restart a newly dead heart and bring his character back to life in the novel!

When Nick comes to, he finds his essence is now in the body previously occupied by Malcolm in the novel and he has to move quickly not only to stay alive but also to figure out what happened and get back to his own reality. Though the body he now inhabited was a mass of bruises, and probably even a fractured bone or two, Nick knew he had to keep moving in order to stay ahead of the protagonist in the novel, Riley Brown, the latest agent assigned to stop Malcolm. He also knew he had to cover his tracks very well until he could figure out what the hell happened and how he was supposed to get back to his own reality. He’d created Riley to be the one to finish Malcolm off in this novel after all! Nick moved to the sewer system, where he knew only by bringing in the cadaver dogs could Riley stand a chance of finding him. He only hoped one of the denizens of the system didn’t make the dogs’ job easier by making him an actual cadaver!

Enter Marlena Kevan, a character Nick wrote off in the third novel of the series, and who is now assigned to save his life and bring Malcolm to justice. After failing to gain Nick’s attention about the situation with Malcolm, Mr. Von Schutzel and Agent Averdue confer, deciding to bring Marlena in to work the case. Agent Averdue knows Marlena was created and then discarded by Nick; however, she is the best chance they have to stop Malcolm in his tracks. What neither of them considered was Marlena’s reaction to having to face her past and how it might affect her being able to complete the mission at hand.

Marlena, who had developed a talent for changing genders to fit the circumstances, has to face her past and resolve her feelings for both Malcolm and Nick in order to accomplish her mission. Being created to go from kidnapping victim to lover and accomplice, Marlena was already well versed in changing roles by the time Nick wrote her off the page at the end of the third novel in his crime series. Marlena took that talent to the next level by becoming an androgynous character, able to be female in one scene and male in the next. This ability was quite useful in dealing with Millicent Marianna Freedman, the only other character to attempt what Malcolm was plotting. Being away from Malcolm and Nick and finding her niche as a field agent for the Asylum for Miscreant Characters, Marlena was able to ignore her past. Now she must face it and, with Agent Averdue’s help, realize that it was Malcolm, not Nick, who had tossed her aside when she became too much of an equal in the series. By facing the truth of the matter, Marlena finds the key to returning Malcolm to the page to face his fate and get Nick back to his own reality.

Snowflake Method of Writing

2009-08-22T15:20:00.000-07:00

As you can see from my Twitter feeds, I'm working my next novel/story via the Snowflake Method.

To date, I've worked through the following steps:

A one-sentence summary of the story: A gender-switching character comes back to the page to save the author who wrote her off.

A paragraph summary of the story: Nick Aceret is a crime novelist with a penchant for creating characters who are more than they seem on the page. While working on the final novel in his latest series, Nick suffers a momentary blackout as he delivers the final death blow to the series’ antagonist, Malcolm Price. When Nick comes to, he finds his essence is now in the body previously occupied by Malcolm in the novel and he has to move quickly not only to stay alive but also to figure out what happened and get back to his own reality. Enter Marlena Kevan, a character Nick wrote off in the third novel of the series, and who is now assigned to save his life and bring Malcolm to justice. Marlena, who had developed a talent for changing genders to fit the circumstances, has to face her past and resolve her feelings for both Malcolm and Nick in order to accomplish her mission.

Character summaries for the major characters (as follows):

Name: Nick Aceret

One-sentence Storyline: Author Nick Aceret finds himself looking at his characters in a new light after one takes over his body and tries to write him off the page.

Motivation: to stay alive

Goal: to regain his reality

Conflict: Malcolm has his body and he has to find a way to get it back with the help of Marlena.

Epiphany: He realizes words truly do have power

One-paragraph Summary: Nick Aceret finds himself looking at the characters he creates in a new way when Malcolm Price, the antagonist in his crime series, switches bodies with him. Nick momentarily blacks out when he is writing the scene where Malcolm is being dealt his death blow. When Nick comes to, he discovers he is now in Malcolm’s body and has to move quickly to stay ahead of the novel’s protagonist who is trying to kill him. He also has to work with Marlena Kevan, a character he had previously written off the page, to find his way back to his own reality. During the course of their efforts to stay one step ahead of the protagonist and figure out how to get Nick back to his own reality and Malcolm back on the page, Nick discovers that Marlena is much more than he created her to be. He faces up to his callous treatment of his characters and the effects it has on them.

Name: Marlena Kevan

One-sentence Storyline: Marlena has to face her feelings toward the author she is sent to save and the character she must put back on the page to face his fate.

Motivation: Peace

Goal: To save Nick Aceret and put Malcolm Price back on the page to face his fate.

Conflict: Her feelings towards both men and herself.

Epiphany: Marlena realizes she is more than what others think of her.

One-paragraph Summary: Marlena Kevan’s assignment is to help Nick Aceret, the author who created her and then wrote her off the page during the course of the first three novels of his series, regain his body and his reality from Malcolm Price, first her kidnapper and then her lover in the series. In order to do so, Marlena must face her past, conquer her fears, and deal with her feelings towards both men, all the while using her talents, including changing genders, to outwit both the protagonist in the novel and Malcolm in order to return Nick to his reality and put Malcolm back on the page to face his fate. During the course of these events, Marlena realizes she has much more to offer than anyone ever gave her credit for, including herself.

Name: Malcolm Price.

One-sentence Storyline: Malcolm Price discovers how to step off the page into reality only to have the woman he tossed aside return him to the page to face his fate.

Motivation: Survival

Goal: To take over Nick Aceret’s body by killing Nick off.

Conflict: His plot is discovered and Marlena is sent in to thwart it.

Epiphany: Karma does get you in the end.

One-paragraph summary: Malcolm Price figures out how to switch realities (and bodies) with his creator, author Nick Aceret. However, Malcolm failed to take into account Nick’s caffeine habit and the effect that would have on a supposedly newly-dead body. He also didn’t think the folks at the Asylum for Miscreant Characters were aware of his activities, or that they would send in Marlena Kevan, the character he’d kidnapped, made his lover and his pawn and then tossed aside, to stop him. When Marlin Karvala came on the scene, Malcolm knew he was in trouble, and realized his actions caught up with him in the end.

Now, I'm working on taking each sentence in the paragraph summary of the story and making each one a paragraph.

Here's what I've got so far...

Paragraph #1: Nick Aceret is a crime novelist with a penchant for creating characters who are more than they seem on the page. During the course of writing his Diabolical Soul crime series, Nick created both Malcolm Price, his antagonist throughout the series, and Marlena Kevan, a character used as a foil for Malcolm until she was written off the page at the end of the third novel, as well as other less notable characters that existed for a few scenes here and there. While Nick was writing the fourth novel in the series, Tracy Averdue, a security agent working with the Asylum for Miscreant Characters, noticed that several of Nick’s characters were much more than he had created them to be. One particular character, Millicent Marianna Freedman, had the audacity to push the essence of the author using her at the time out of the author’s body to hang about in the library until Mr. Von Schutzel, the Asylum’s director, recruited Marlena as part of the team to deflate Millicent’s ego, allowing the author’s essence to move back into her own body and enabling the team to move Millicent back to the Asylum without incident. As Agent Averdue studied the flow of Nick’s series, he noted that Malcolm was a more devious character than Millicent had grown to be, and brought his concerns to Mr. Von Schutzel. Mr. Von Schutzel tried to gain Nick’s attention about the situation, but Nick put the voice in his head down to the natural process of letting go of a character he had spent the better part of the last ten years with.

Paragraph #2: While working on the final novel in his latest series, Nick suffers a momentary blackout as he delivers the final death blow to the series’ antagonist, Malcolm Price. During the course of the last two novels, after his small success in getting Marlena written off at the end of the third novel of the series, Malcolm had studied Nick’s creative method in order to plot how to switch realities with his creator. He’d heard about Millicent’s escapade, and figured if a one-dimensional character who had barely made it through three scenes in the fourth novel of the series could get as far as she did, surely he, being more fully evolved, could succeed where Millicent had failed. Malcolm realized he would not only have to push Nick’s essence out of his body in order to fill it with his own, but also to put Nick’s essence into the body of his character on the page in order to be able to kill Nick off and keep Nick’s reality for his own. What Malcolm didn’t count on was Nick’s heavy caffeine habit during the final writing phases of his novels having the ability to restart a newly dead heart and bring his character back to life in the novel!

Paragraph #3: When Nick comes to, he finds his essence is now in the body previously occupied by Malcolm in the novel and he has to move quickly not only to stay alive but also to figure out what happened and get back to his own reality. Though the body he now inhabited was a mass of bruises, and probably even a fractured bone or two, Nick knew he had to keep moving in order to stay ahead of the protagonist in the novel, Riley Brown, the latest agent assigned to stop Malcolm. He also knew he had to cover his tracks very well until he could figure out what the hell happened and how he was supposed to get back to his own reality. He’d created Riley to be the one to finish Malcolm off in this novel after all! Nick moved to the sewer system, where he knew only by bringing in the cadaver dogs could Riley stand a chance of finding him. He only hoped one of the denizens of the system didn’t make the dogs’ job easier by making him an actual cadaver!

I've still got two paragraphs to go here, but I already see some tweaking and straightening out of plot I need to do. Now, the creator of the Snowflake Method, Randy Ingermanson, does point out that you are likely to revise things as you go along, as your characters teach you things about your story - and I can definitely see some revision in my future already!

Writing, Contests and Conferences

2009-08-16T07:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I signed up for another conference yesterday. This one will be in Santa Rosa the last weekend of October. Here's the website: http://redwoodwriters.org/conference.html. I also entered three poems in their poetry contest for that conference. We'll see what comes of that!

I've also started organizing my writing files so that I know what I have to start with and then I can find things/track things easier. I mean to make this gig my next career, one I hope to have for the next, oh, 50 years, so I really need to keep things easy to find!

I'm on Twitter as bethane13, but haven't been able to post the last few times I've tried. Very frustrating! I follow Laurell K. Hamilton, Lance Armstrong, Leif Sorbye from Tempest, and a freelance writer from South Africa who is also on one of the Yahoo writing groups I belong to. Laurell K. Hamilton also blogs, and had a great one on writer's block cures and preventatives last week.

Just Stopping By

2009-07-05T15:56:00.000-07:00

On one hand I feel bad not blogging more often, since one of my favorite authors (Laurell K. Hamilton) does so nearly daily - and tweets as well - I don't do Twitter yet, and on the other hand I don't, since my other favorite author (Diana Gabaldon) hasn't posted on her blog since April 19th. It's a moderate summer day here in the Sacramento area, merely mid-90s in sunny Rocklin. The muse is on vacation I'm thinking - or at least is making me really work for any inspiration. I've got prompt duty on CHPercolators (a Yahoo group) starting the 26th, and I'm collecting those as I go during the month. I sort of started on something to go with The First Line's prompt for the upcoming contest yesterday, but it doesn't feel right...don't know if I'll do anything with it or not. Sigh...at least I got to watch Barry Manilow on A Capitol Fourth last night on our local PBS station. And it was fitting to have Jimmy Smits as the MC, with his stint on West Wing and all!

Writing Contest Entry

2009-06-22T20:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I did it - I sent off five entries to a local contest. Focus On Writers Contest 2009, sponsored by the Friends of the Sacramento Public Library. Three poems, two short stories...wish me luck!

Wow - Where did 2 months go?

2009-05-02T12:53:00.000-07:00

The road to, well you know, is paved with good intentions, and seems that's where I was heading the last couple of months - at least as far as this blog is concerned. So, what have I accomplished since last I posted? I have a fledgling publishing company - Green Haired Lady Publications - online now. Haven't got a book to hawk there yet (that's supposed to be Harken the Change, but may start out with the collected stories related to Theft by Character at this point), but I've duly stated my intention to the appropriate business community and started a website at least!

Also, I did attend the NCPA Writer's Conference on 25 Apr 09 at the Red Lion Inn in Sacramento CA. Great speakers! Picked up John Kremer's "1,001 Ways to Market Your Book" and several other titles. And, most importantly, now have a major change idea for Harken the Change that may move me much closer to getting it finished! Yeay!

And it looks like I'll be attending the Redwood Writers Conference in Santa Rosa CA on 24 Oct 09 - it's at the Flamingo Resort and Hotel, which if you've ever been through Santa Rosa and seen the pink flamingo, you know where it is!

February's Over - on to March

2009-03-01T15:20:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I didn't get as far as I thought I would on the Belkher series - Watery Death et al - last month, but at least I've got the stories sorted out and worked a bit on adding to a couple of them.

So, now it's March, which means I'm back to editing Harken the Change. I've read through everything I typed up in January, and finally have some ideas on how to button up the storyline so I can finish writing/editing it and get it ready to publish!

Speaking of publishing, I am now Green Haired Lady Publications as well. I set this up so I can publish my works as I see fit and not wait for some "other" publishing house to take them on.

Sorted Out - Now to Add!

2009-02-15T14:09:00.000-08:00

Okay, so 13,531 words and 45 pages (8.5 x 11, 1.5 line spacing) later, I have the stories untangled from each other - looks like I actually have five different yet interconnected stories with a few bits that fall into a miscellaneous category. My goal this month was to write 28,000 words, and I'm nearly half-way there (on the day after the half-way point in the month...but hey!).

Watery Death, plus two

2009-02-10T19:29:00.000-08:00

Well, 6,651 words in, I now have three separate and distinct storylines going with connecting characters - Watery Death, Sangre Madre, and Papacita. As soon as I finish untangling the stories from each other, I can start taking each of them to completion!

And On To February...

2009-02-01T20:11:00.000-08:00

I finished breaking my first draft of Harken the Change into segments - ended up with 77 segments totalling 164 pages. Now I can take each segment and edit out all the unnecessary adverbs and such and ensure I'm using action and active voice - show not tell! Some of the stuff I saw as I was retyping this into segments made me flinch and squirm in my chair!

Also, I'm signed up for FebNaNo 2009 - I'm aiming for 28K words on a crime/mystery/police novel I've been chewing on since '05 - I found the related files yesterday. Wow, four years I've been working on that one! Working title is Watery Death.

Still Plugging Along...

2009-01-25T15:02:00.000-08:00

Life does tend to get in the way of writing a bit - something about a day job - but hey, I'm still plugging along. It's my week to post prompts to the CHPercolators group on Yahoo, so I'm at least giving others grist for the mill! I've only managed one more piece out of my 2006 FebNaNo novel since I last blogged, but plan to get some more typed up today. Less than 30 pages to go on this part of the editting process! Ok, back to the grind...

Progress!

2009-01-19T16:18:00.000-08:00

Well, I am making progress on editting the novel I wrote back in February 2006 during the NaNoPubYe's FebNaNo that year. I'm in the process of breaking it into sections, of which I have 64 to date, and still have 30 pages of the first draft to get through. Then I will go through section by section and edit, refining sentences, coming up with missing pieces (like village names), and seeing if the section still fits with the story or not. Oh, yeah, and I need to bring the story to closure as well. Went down a path to get to that point, but got tangled in the weeds somewhere.

And I promised to review a novel - "The Take~Us", website: http://www.emeraldbookcompany.com/authors/takacs/ - by a fellow NCPA member, John Raymond Takacs. The premise - a gentleman inventing a car that does not use gas and then driving that car across the country - caught my attention. John says it's a thriller with a bit of romance, which made it sound intriguing as well. Don't worry, John, I promise to have it read and a rough draft of the review done by the next NCPA meeting!

First Submission of 2009

2009-01-11T15:10:00.000-08:00

Well, I did it - I submitted a story to The First Line, a quarterly publication out of Plano TX. Check them out at http://www.thefirstline.com/. The premise is to use the given sentence as the first line of a short story (300 to 3,000 words). The first line of this story is: Herman Sligo was a bit actor who played Uncle Emil in three episodes of the popular television series The Five Sisters. For those of you who have read my story Theft By Character (and thank you if you have), the current submission runs in a similar vein If you want to know more, well...you'll just have to wait for publication, one way or other other! The deadline for submissions for the Spring 2009 issue of this quarterly is 1 Feb 09, and those who submit will be notified of their status two-three weeks after that date - according to the submission rules posted on their website.

Writing Goals for 2009

2009-01-04T12:07:00.000-08:00

Writing Goals – 2009, 1^st Qtr

January

- 10 hours per week!

- Rewrite Harken the Change

o BE RUTHLESS!!

February

- 10 hours per week!

- Work on Soultalker

- Write short stories using TFL, Writing Journal and CHPerc tag lines

March

- 10 hours per week!

- Rewrite Harken the Change (again)

o Be Ruthless

o Get tight, very tight!

- Check goal progress for last three months

The Weekend After Christmas

2008-12-27T13:38:00.000-08:00

So here it is, a cold but not quite dreary Saturday afternoon. The hubbub of Christmas joy shared with six children, two significant others of those children, and one nine-month old grandson is over, and the house is quiet. The trees are still decorated, but bare of presents, and look lonely. As I ambled around looking for something to do after lunch, I decided to catch up on some reading. In the Jan/Feb 2009 issue of Poets & Writers was a touching entry in the usual The Literary Life column, titled Finding Beverly. It took us through the journey of how Beverly Jensen, through the tireless work of her husband and friends (and the help of the columnist as well), will have her life's literary work - a novel called Going Back Up - published by Viking in 2010. I had tears in my eyes as I finished this column, touched that so many people cared so much about this woman's writing to ensure her voice was read even after her death. What a beautiful tribute to her and gift to her children! Wow!

Another Two Months Go By...

2008-10-23T06:29:00.000-07:00

...and I finally get back to blogging. I am now taking a creative writing course at our local community college, and having a lot of fun with it. Also, NaNoWriMo is coming up next month. Time to churn out another 50,000 words in 30 days! Of course, I'm still editting the one I did back in February of 2005 with NaNoPubYe!

I'll share with you the monologue assignment we just completed. We had to write from two versions of our past selves.

THE OVERLOOKED

I am the overlooked one. The one they ignore most of the time, or belittle when I do come back in their line of sight. My parents are too old, too sick, too selfish to care about me. I am not encouraged in school, although I am expected to get good grades. There is no “Good Job!” or “Way to Go!” waiting for me when I get an A on an essay or an exceptionally hard test. There is no discussion of “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I am not even given a choice when my parents divorce as to which parent I’d prefer to live with. I get stuck with my mother – the functional alcoholic, I discover later, although growing up, this is just the way Mom is. I am not given the choice of living with my father, losing his battle with lung cancer the Tuesday of the week of Thanksgiving the year I turn 13. Some part of me accepts this through three failed marriages, a myriad of failed relationships, until I am with a man who strikes me so much of my mother that the “Aha!” moment comes, and I choose not be overlooked any longer.

GETTING TO KNOW MYSELF

The advice-giving side of me says “Finally!” but there is that nubbin of fear of letting go of the familiar, of being alone with myself. Eighteen months go by as I learn to love and accept myself, to value myself, to begin to realize my dreams and visualize what I want, really want, for my life. There are struggles not only internally with my own demons who fear the unfamiliar, but also with the outer demons disguised as friends and family who fear the change in me might incite a change in their own lives. They carry on the ignoring and belittling behavior espoused by others in my prior life. Some who knew me before accept the change and our paths move forward. Those who fear the changes fall away, and I deal with the grief of loss as I struggle to keep my face towards the sun. After eighteen months with my new self, I finally have the confidence to seek a mate again.

Thank you for reading, and feel free to comment, if you wish!

It's Been A While

2008-08-09T15:58:00.000-07:00

...and I probably need to clean this blog up a bit. Life got away from me this year - I started out with the best of intentions, forgetting that you can only eat an elephant one bite at a time! So, what have I accomplished thus far in 2008? I did get through a fair part of editting my book "Harken the Change"; I did get married in May and travel to Europe in June. I did sign up for a creative writing course at my local junior college. I have thought about writing - continuing my "Theft by Character" train, getting at least 12 more pages written so I can get an ISBN for that book! In fact, just yesterday as I was reading the latest AARP magazine, an essay topic came to mind whilst I was perusing one of the more entertaining articles. But, alas, I have yet to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, as the case may be) to begin. Oh, and I also joined the Northern California Publishers and Authors group today (NCPA - www.norcalpa.org). The speaker at their monthly meeting this time was Jennifer Novak Landers, and her topic was "Using Your Creativity to Promote Your Inner Artist." Very interesting discussion!

Progress!

2008-01-07T17:34:00.000-08:00

Ok, so it wasn't 10 hours of editting this week - but I did manage about 6 hours and reworked over 40 pages of my 190-page manuscript thus far. And now that I've added that tidbit, I'm off to see if I can edit a few more in the next hour (so that will be 7 hours in one week - 70% of the goal for the first week - not bad!).

2008 Goals

2008-01-01T15:43:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know, resolutions are deriguer this time of year...so here are mine, in the writing realm, by month:

Every month

10 hours per week minimum
Work on short stories for various contests (The First Line, etc.)

Every third month

Check progress on goals

January

First rewrite of Harken the Change

February

Work on Soultalker

March

Second rewrite of Harken the Change

April

Send Harken the Change out for critique
Work on Soultalker

May

Not much writing...getting married this month

June

Euro vacation - capture scenes, characters, dialogue

July

Last edit of Harken the Change
Synopsize it
Format and publish it

August

Work on Soultalker

September

Finish Soultalker

October

Develop story ideas for NaNo 2008

November

NaNo 2008 - write 50,000 words in 30 days

December

Enjoy the holidays
Update goals for 2009

GO, GIRL GO!

Romantic Scavenge

2007-08-15T18:19:00.000-07:00

Scavenge the romance in your own marriage

Tell the truth about your feelings and your needs

If they are not heard and met, move on

Hurt no more those you claim to love

Or wait, love hasn’t been mentioned recently, has it?

Is that your relationship or mine we are discussing

The one of hurt and mistrust, unmet needs

Virtual affairs and tete a tetes

Why do you stay if not for love

Any other reason is not worthy

Love, devotion, honor, trust, faith, respect

Where are these in our relationships?

Is that why you and mine continue

While you and him and me and mine falter on the vine

Each day one closer to death?

Fire in the Distance

2007-05-04T20:50:00.000-07:00

Fire in the distance

Genie from a bottle

A restless dark smoke

(excerpt from “Haiku Collage: Suburban July” by Andrew Hall, American River Review 2006)

I watch the fire crackling in the faux brick fireplace, listen to the storm swirling about outside the sliding glass, the wind howling in the chimney. I wonder where you are tonight, when you’ll be home, if you’ll reach out to me when you come to bed or if you’ll show your back to me once again.

Genie in the bottle, covering the gray, belies the stress of our hidden inner lives, lives we hide even from ourselves at times. You and I go through the motions, not seeing the death knell in the restless black smoke rising from the ashes.

Where do we go from here, as the chicks leave the nest, all but the cuckoo who refuses to fly, refuses to stretch his wings to the sky?

Will our eyes meet again or are we fated to fill our days talking to the table, the stove, the mirror instead of each other?

Can we turn the smoke from black to white, back to the first ignite?

I miss you, my dear. Please, come home.

You Knew

2007-05-04T11:16:00.001-07:00

You knew

It was a lie

But you told it anyway

You knew

The importance of honesty

The value of openness

The need for candor

You knew

The pain of betrayal

The devastation of deceit

The agony of discovery

You knew

It would destroy us

But you did it anyway

Forbidden Dreams

2007-04-24T18:15:00.000-07:00

forbidden dreams

taunt me, tease me

illuminate them

see their true from

lost children seeking love

Unsung Heroes

2007-04-24T18:10:00.000-07:00

Unsung heroes there

Whilst we are bickering here

Who is right or wrong

Sing thee the hero’s song

For those in lands faraway

Who may not live to see another day

Unsung heroes every one

Someone’s daughter, someone’s son

Doing their job until day is done

Sing thee the hero’s song

No matter what side of the aisle you’re on

Or which religion you choose to don

Unsung heroes far and near

All to someone very dear

Ask not why are we here

Sing thee the hero’s song

Pray for peace and freedom from greed

Pray for relief from every need

Unsung heroes every one

Care for them as they cared for us

In our love they put their trust

Sing thee the hero’s song

And pray they all see another dawn

The dawn of coming home

Flow of Life

2007-02-20T17:15:00.000-08:00

Come silently
or rage against release
you still flow for now
soon you will flow no more
and barren will I be

Silent Sentinels, Yvonne, France

2006-07-08T17:50:00.000-07:00

Prologue - Watery Death

2006-07-08T16:26:00.000-07:00

Here it is so far...enjoy!

Antonio Vitelli’s body lay in the contorted state in which it was found by the maid who had gone shrieking to the resort manager in her broken English mixed with Spanish, cackling about demons and possession and frothing at the mouth. Vitelli did have bubbles of saliva around his mouth, but it wasn’t actively frothing; the man was dead, after all. Detective Belkher scratched his head, wondering what his former fraternity brother was doing here, in the sleepy little enclave of Riverside, and what he had done to die in so hideous a manner.

Due to the foam around the deceased’s mouth, the crime scene investigators had to wait for the biohazard team from the local hospital to come. At least they remained engaged during the wait, as one of the more pesky local reporters, complete with her sidekick photographer, was doing her best to get a clear look at the body of the deceased in all its contorted glory and gruesomeness.

“Now, now, Ms. Haville, you know the rules – back to the other side of the parking lot, please!”

Lily Gorman, one of the crime scene technicians, shepherded Nancy Haville, star reporter for the Riverside Daily News away from the doorway of the front room where Vitelli’s body lay in full view of anyone passing by. She sighed as she heard the snap of the flashbulb and the whirr of the autowind on the camera behind her.

“I’ve got it. Gorman. Huey, unload and hand over the film. You, too, know the rules – no photographs without clearance from Detective Belkher. Don’t give me that hangdog look, old friend. Just hand over the film.”

Todd Rathsem was also well acquainted with the dynamic duo of Haville and Gomes from the Daily News. He took the film, put it in an evidence bag, and then escorted Huey Gomes to the side of Nancy Haville across the parking lot from the cordoned-off resort cottage. As he turned to walk back to the scene, he called one of the uniformed police over.

“Make sure these two stay on this side of the squad cars, okay Mac?”

“Sure thing Rathy – no problem!”

After Rathsem had crossed the parking lot, Nancy Haville turned her sea-green eyes to Mac and smiled a pouty smile at him.

“Ah no, missy – I’ve known you since you were in diapers! That pretty little pouty thing you do don’t work on me, darling.” Mac shot her an engaging grin of his own and held his post, keeping her and Huey firmly on the far side of the parking lot from the crime scene.

Finally the biohazard team arrived from County General and got to work securing the room, taking photos for the police before collecting various samples from the body before double-bagging it for the trip down to the special room in the morgue – the one exclusively for people who die under mysterious circumstances. A holdover from the good old days of worrying about nuclear radiation from the now-defunct local power plant, which had an incident or two, okay ten, in its day before local public outcry got the attention of the national environmental movement and the plant was shut down for good.

“Did you or any of your crew go near the body, Belkher?”

“Not any of my crew, Tibbs, but you might check the maid – the one still in hysterics over there with the hotel manager. She’s the one who found the body.”

“Will do – may have to put her in quarantine for a week or so just to be safe. And the cottage will definitely need full decontamination protocol as well.”

“Do you have an interpreter on your crew? The maid only speaks Spanish and seems to be a superstitious sort.”

“Thanks for the heads up. I’ll send Maggie over to her then.”

Belkher turned back to the scene of the crime and sighed. Decontamination protocol meant that neither he nor any of his crime scene technicians could physically examine any of the contents of the room firsthand. They had to wait for the state crew who were specially trained in such procedures, and trust them to handle the evidence properly. Belkher knew the head of the state biohazard investigative unit, and quite frankly, the man was a drunk who had gotten the job through special favors granted by the governor’s office three terms ago. Hopefully the folks on his crew were a bit more competent then he was, or they’d never crack this case! Belkher shook his head as he walked over to where his crime scene technicians were waiting.

“Well troops, now we wait for the state team to get here so we can turn the scene over to them for processing and decontamination.”

Gorman bristled. “You know how incompetent they are sir!”

“I know, Gorman, I know. But due to the victim’s condition, we have no choice but to consider a biohazard contamination, and treat the scene accordingly.” Belkher shook his head again. “I don’t like it anymore than you do, but that’s the rules we have to live by here.”

“At least we can thank our local press office for photos of the crime scene before anything was moved or taken.” Rathsem waved the evidence bag containing the film from Huey’s camera in front of them with a devilish grin on his freckled face.

Belkher returned the grin. “Not much to work with, but a definitely better start than what we might have had. Remind me to ask Ms. Haville out for dinner sometime, will ya Gorman?”

Gorman grimaced. “Not on your life boss! Sorry.”

Belkher noted the arrival of the state crew, with the bumbling debarking of their fearless leader from the passenger side of the official vehicle.

“Ah, Sadtler. Glad to see your crew was able to get here so quickly.”

“Belkher. Well, yes, we are here, so your crew is relieved. Y’all can go home now.”

Belkher wrinkled his nose at the smell emanating from Sadtler, the smell of liquor that seemed to ooze from every pore of the man’s body.

“Actually, we still have some folks to question in the area. Let us know if you find anything of interest, now ya hear?”

“Will do, Belkher, will do.” Sadlter turned to his crew and bellowed for them to start processing the scene before stumbling back to the vehicle to root for the ever-present flask in the glove box.

Shaking his head in disgust, Belkher directed Gorman and Rathsem to check the neighboring cottages to see if any of the other residents of the resort had seen or heard anything relating to Vitelli and his cottage over the last few days. Once his crew was dispatched, he walked over to the resort manager’s office for a chat.

“Hello, sir, I’m Detective Belkher. I’ll need information on the gentleman staying in cottage 231B – when he checked in, how he paid, any visitors he had, anything else you might want to add that may be relevant to figuring out what happened.”

“Always happy to help our local boys in blue, detective. Just let me pull the room file here. The gentleman’s name is, was, Antonio Vitelli, and he checked in four nights ago, planning to stay a full week. Paid with a credit card. I’ll give you a copy of the room file. Looks like he made several phone calls too. I’ll get you those numbers as well. Didn’t seem to have many visitors, although I do remember one very striking young lady looking for him two days ago. Because many of our guests come her for solitude, we screen all visitors here first before allowing them access to the cottages. She was on his list of approved visitors, so Tina let her through. I’ll see if she can remember the young lady’s name.”

“Thanks. Actually, if I could talk to Tina, that would be grand.”

“Of course, detective. Let me get her for you. Here is the copy of his room file, and I’ll get those phone numbers for you as well. Just a moment.”

The manager walked to the back of the office, calling for Tina and then rifling through some papers on an unseen desk. A young blonde came to the front desk.

“I’m Tina. How can I help you?”

“Hi, Tina, I’m Detective Belkher. The manager said that the gentleman in cottage 231B had a young lady friend visit him a couple of days ago, and that you might remember her name, since you were working the counter that day.”

“Ah, Antonio’s visitor. Yes, I remember. While she was on his list of approved visitors, he was very upset that we’d let her through without calling him first, which I found odd. Her name was Mariana de Gilletto, and she looked as exotic as that name sounds. All dark hair and legs, that woman was, and cool as a cucumber – not one of those excitable Latinas if you get my drift. Come to think of it, her eyes were the color of cucumbers, too, the inside part I mean.”

“Did you know Antonio personally or do you call all the guests by their first name?”

“All the girls “know” Antonio here, detective. He is quite the ladies man.” Tina gave a knowing smile.

“Do you remember what Mr. Vitelli said about Ms.de Gilletto, as to why he was upset you’d let her through?”

“He called her a she-devil, and denied putting her on his list – at least until we showed him the list, which was in his own handwriting.”

“Did you notice how Ms.de Gilletto arrived at the resort?”

“No, I didn’t. I just turned around from making a reservation for another guest and there she was. Came in really quiet, ‘cause I usually hear the door open.”

The manager came back with the list of phone numbers dialed from cottage 231B and handed it to Belkher.

Belkher thanked Tina and the manager for their time, and left his card with them in case they remembered anything else about Mr. Vitelli or his visitors.