Back from Camp!

Whew! I've returned from Camp NaNo with a backpack stuffed with over 51,000 words, a compass, a glow stick and the mug you see pictured above. 

Unfortunately, I also have a manuscript with no ending, enough plot threads to weave myself some sort of poncho, and characters who appear in early chapters who are never heard from again. (Maybe the Chupacabra got them?)

So, as I sort through all these things - some dirty and smelly, some shiny and bright - spilling out of my backpack, I think about what to do now, what to do next...

First things first - keep the tortoises away from the s'mores . . .   

Second thing - fill up my mug with some good strong coffee . . .

Third thing - grab up my glow stick and compass and dive back in. The next time you see me, I'll either have a pretty good draft of my manuscript or I'll be sporting a snazzy plot thread poncho.

How's your summer going? How's your writing and reading coming along?

Stranded

"Stranded" is up at One Forty Fiction. It's a Twitter-sized reminder of sorts, a reminder to pay attention, not only to the road itself, but also to those we can no longer see who travel with us just the same.

Motivational Monday

WHEN YOU GET INTO A TIGHT PLACE 

AND EVERYTHING GOES AGAINST YOU, 

TILL IT SEEMS AS THOUGH YOU

COULD NOT HOLD ON A MINUTE LONGER,

NEVER GIVE UP THEN,

FOR THAT IS JUST THE PLACE AND TIME

THAT THE TIDE WILL TURN.

(Harriet Beecher Stowe)

You want to crawl under the bed and weep until you're hoarse . . . but you don't. Or maybe you do, but only for a little while, because you know you're doing the right thing, you know you're on the right path. You cling to that belief even when everyone around you says you're crazy, when everything points to the fact that you should just stay under that bed. 

But you don't. You dig deep and you dig hard and you get up. You wash your face and fix your hair and put on what passes for a smile and you go out into the world - the same world that pushed you under the bed in the first place. But you are ready. 

And the world sees that you are strong and you are stubborn and you are a force to be reckoned with and you are to be . . . rewarded.   

Going after something and achieving it is wonderful. Going after something and achieving it when it feels like your only fans are the dust bunnies under the bed? Yeah. Just . . . yeah.

Lucky Me(me)

Both Nick and Julie tagged me for the Lucky 7 Meme. Thanks, guys! I've never done this one before so here goes . . .

Lucky 7 Meme Rules:

1. Go to page 77 of your current manuscript.
2. Go to line 7.
3. Copy the next 7 lines (sentences or paragraphs) and post them as they're written.  No cheating!
4. Tag 7 other writers to pass this meme on to. (I'll leave this up to you all - feel free to tag yourself if you'd like to give it a try!)

Well, since I'm being a Camp NaNo Rebel, I shook this up a bit. I went to Page 7, Line 7 of my WiP - an untitled, YA Horror novel - and included the next bunch of lines, stopping where it made some sort of sense. It's very rough - so rough, this excerpt is still in first person POV when I've since switched to third person POV - but I hope you enjoy the glimpse into this Camp NaNo mess I'm currently wallowing in . . . 

*****

“But why, Judy? Why would someone do that? What would be the point?” Dad sighs. He rubs his hand over his head, mussing his sandy going to gray hair. He needs a haircut. 


“I have absolutely no idea. How do I know what goes on in the mind of a crazy person?”

“But what if the person who called isn’t crazy? What if they’re not joking? What if Nana Helen really is alive?” Jake bounces in his seat. “It’s like a real life mystery.” When Jake grows up, he wanted to be either an elephant trainer or a detective. I figure he has a better chance coming across cases to solve than elephants that need training.

“Why would she pretend to be dead all these years?” Mom shakes her head, sending her short bedraggled curls to jigging. As annoyed as she is about this trip, I know how much she loves a good mystery. The bookshelves at home are stacked with them. “…I mean, sure sometimes you two drive me crazy and I want to run away but still…” She elbows Jake, who keels over, pretending it hurts. She catches my eye in the mirror, gives me a wink. 

I pretend not to see it.          

*****

Homecoming

It is three years ago today that my husband and I brought Larry and Mrs. Larry home. So, since they were (and still are!) the inspiration for this blog, I thought it'd be appropriate to re-run the very first post they starred in . . .

*****

How This Blog Got Its Name

I've always loved turtles and tortoises. This past summer, my husband and I brought home two baby Barbados Red Foot tortoises. We named them Larry and Mrs. Larry, and they have since become my little hard shelled muses. They are the perfect symbols for my writing and creative process - slow and steady with a hard shell to hide in when rejection rains down (and believe me, it does, oh it does...)

But, unlike the torts, I can't stay tucked in my shell all the time. And so, this blog. It's a small step, to be sure, in a world where it seems like everyone is tweeting and on Facebook etc. I'm just adding my small, quiet voice to the mix and hope someone hears it, likes it, and maybe learns a little something from it.

Oh, but the name of the blog. Well, my husband and I were watching our tortoises burrow a bit, and Larry in particular was digging away in the corner, as if he was trying to escape (he wasn't, or so we hope!) We were reminded of the Stephen King book/movie (Rita Hayworth and) The Shawshank Redemption. It took about two seconds before we both said, "No, it's The Shellshank Redemption! Ha ha!" And a blog was born...

Motivational Monday

THE MAGIC OF CHILDHOOD 

IS THE STRANGENESS OF CHILDHOOD - 

THE UNIQUENESS THAT MAKES US

SEE THINGS THAT OTHER PEOPLE DON'T SEE.

(Maurice Sendak)

I was a weird kid. (I know, big surprise.) And, although I'm no longer a kid, I'm still weird. I often see and hear and feel things others don't. I imagine and I create and I stew and I linger and I listen for the world that exists just below the thin skin of this "real" one. It's alive and it's breathing and it's pulsing and it's stirring and it's waiting. 

Children know it. Writers and artists and other creatives know it. Anyone can recognize it . . . if they let themselves, if they let themselves go.

This week, let's draw upon - and rejoice in!  - that magic ourselves and encourage everyone we know to do the same.    

Just Another Day

This is what happens downstairs while I'm trying to work upstairs...

[That's Mrs. Larry in the hide. Unlike most of us, ML doesn't mind having her backside photographed. Larry, apparently, thinks he's a mountain goat. This is a variation of when he hangs out in the water dish and pretends he's a sea turtle.]

Twisted . . . But in a Good Way

Here's the thing: I want to tell you about Gillian Flynn's new book, Gone Girl . . . but I'm afraid to. I'm afraid I'll give away too much of the story and I don't want to ruin it for anyone. But here's what I will say:

I've been a fan of hers since Sharp Objects and Dark Places, so when I heard this was coming out, I was so excited I could barely stand it. (Yes, geeky and dorky and all that, I know.) But I. Was. So. Not. Disappointed. Gone Girl is dark and uncomfortable and twisted - but in a good, psychological way, not in a gory, blood and guts way.

Also, for all the writers out there, pay attention - this story is so intricately plotted, I get a headache just thinking about what it must've taken to keep it all straight during the writing process. And you know that "rule" about likable characters? Yeah, well, you won't find them here . . . but it doesn't matter because you will still be desperate - in an unexpected way - to find out their fate.    

So, if this is your kind of book - and even if it's not, find someone whose it is and tell them about it - go, run, fly to buy it or to request it at your local library. You won't need air conditioning during these hot summer days - this book will chill you through and through.  

Motivational Monday

DON'T BE DISTRACTED BY CRITICISM. 

REMEMBER - 

THE ONLY TASTE OF SUCCESS SOME PEOPLE HAVE

IS WHEN THEY TAKE A BITE OUT OF YOU.

(Zig Ziglar) 

We're not talking about constructive criticism here - advice on how to make your story sing, a suggestion for a better way to organize your closet, pointing out a magazine article on balancing a budget. 

We're talking about the people who belittle our ideas and our dreams, the ones who tell us we can't do this or that because we're too old or too young or too something or because that's just not the way they (aka "normal" people) do things.

And we know the difference, don't we? The one is offered with sincerity and a willing desire to actually help. The other often looks like that but if we pay attention, we can hear the bite in the tone or we can see the slight eye roll as the person turns away.

Let's make sure we pay attention this week. And always.
 

Kreativ? Me?

Not only did Elizabeth Twist bestow the Kreativ Blogger Award on me, but she also gave me the option of answering questions other than the usual ones. Talk about Kreativ!

Rules
1. Link back to the awarding blog. (Check.)
2. Answer the following seven questions. (Will do.)
3. Provide ten random factoids about yourself. (Random OR interesting? Not sure I can do both.)
4. Last but not at all least, hand this on to seven deserving others. (We'll see.)

1. What's your favorite song?

Um, I don't have one. It sort of depends on my mood. But, if I had to, I'd pick our wedding song, "All My Roads" by Collin Raye.


2. What's your favorite dessert?

It's called "chocolate stuff" and it's like eating gooey chocolate cake with chocolate syrup pudding stuff in the middle.

3. ALTERNATIVE QUESTION: Describe the last time you were bored

I don't really get bored. I can usually find something to do - not always something useful but something nevertheless.


4. Which is your favorite pet?

I love the tortoises equally but they each think they're my favorite.


5. ALTERNATIVE QUESTION: Which do you prefer? White or whole wheat?

I can't even remember the last time I ate white bread.   


6. ALTERNATIVE QUESTION: Name one of your strong points or special skills.

Um . . . I can recognize that I don't really have any strong points or special skills? Does that count? 


7. What is your attitude mostly? 

Questioning. I always want to know "why"  - why something is, why it happened, why someone did what they did or said what they said. It drives me crazy that I don't always get to know why, that I don't always get the answer to my questions.


Ten Random Things About Me

1. I got to pet and play with black-footed penguins native to South Africa.

2. I went zip lining (once!) in Belize.

3. The first time I ate escargot I was about 12 years old. 

4. I always cry during the part of "The Sound of Music" when Capt. Von Trapp sings "Edelweiss."

5. I could spend hours at the aquarium/Sea World just watching manatees, sea turtles and dolphins.

6. I have the hardest time peeling potatoes. 

7. I wish I was a better cook than I am.

8. I don't like peas. Never have, never will.

9. I like Thai food, the hotter the better.

10. I swim in pools but I rarely go in any other body of water. Too many things lurking that I can't see . . .

Since I already feel like a rebel by answering some of the alternative questions, I'm breaking Rule 4. If you'd like to answer any of the questions or drop a random fact about yourself in the comments, please do! If you're feeling particularly Kreativ, go ahead and write a whole post proclaiming it to the blog-o-sphere. (Hopefully, your random facts will be more interesting than mine.)  

Rest in Peace, Mr. Bradbury

"In 2009, at a lecture celebrating the first anniversary of a small library in Southern California's San Gabriel Valley, Bradbury exhorted his listeners to live their lives as he said he had lived his: "Do what you love and love what you do."

"If someone tells you to do something for money, tell them to go to hell," he shouted to raucous applause."

Amen, sir. Amen.

For more information about the life and death of Ray Bradbury, here are the links for a USA Today article (from where the above excerpt is taken) and Mr. Bradbury's website.

Motivational Monday

A BOOK COMES AND SAYS,

"WRITE ME."

(Madeleine L'Engle)

Well, I don't know if I'd say that's exactly the way it happened for me. It was more like I had to coax and cajole the idea out from under the tortoises' tank where it was trying to blend in with the dust bunnies. I promised it chocolate and peanut butter and episodes of "The Walking Dead" and ghost stories around the campfire if it would just come out and go along with me to camp - Camp NaNoWriMo, that is.

I'm not sure what ultimately convinced the idea to jump into my backpack - I have a feeling the tortoises just got sick of hearing me whine and chased it out from under their tank. But whatever.

I've got my bug spray and a stick for roasting marshmallows and the cord to charge my laptop and an idea. A creepy crawly idea that might send me running and screaming into the dark, dark woods.

I'd better bring a flashlight.

If you're "camping" this June, too, let me know. And even though I was always the one the others girls wanted to walk with them through the woods to the building with the bathrooms, I promise I won't ask you to be my bathroom buddy. Really. Unless I have to go really, really bad . . . .  

The Off The Shelf Challenge: May Progress and Recommendations

I never thought it'd be this hard to make headway in this Off The Shelf Challenge. I mean, come on! It's reading! I love reading!

But I'm kinda like that dog from the movie "Up." He's talking, having a nice conversation, and then all of a sudden he's distracted - "Squirrel!" Only for me it's not squirrels, it's new books. Oh, that sounds like a good story! Oh, that's from one of my favorite authors! Oh, the Hold list at the library will be sooooo long so I'll buy it but I won't read it now because I already have all those other books waiting patiently on the shelf . . . well, maybe I'll just a peek at the first page or two . . . or three . . . 

Squirrel!

*****

Challenge Books read in January:  4
Challenge Books read in February:  5
Challenge Books read in March:  1
Challenge Books read in April:  2

*****

Challenge Books read in May:  2
Non Challenge Books read in May:  2
Total Books read in May:  4

*****

Total Challenge Books read so far in 2012:  14
Total Non-Challenge Books read so far in 2012:  13
Total Books read so far in 2012:  27

*****

Standouts from May include:

The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian - Bohjalian takes a traumatized pilot and his family, an old house in New Hampshire, greenhouses, twins, and ghosts and creates this creepy, gothic kind of ghost story. [Side Note: I met Mr. Bohjalian many years ago when he was touring for his book, The Buffalo Soldier, and to this day, I remember how kind and encouraging he was to me when he signed my book and we spoke a bit about writing.] 

The Blue Orchard by Jackson Taylor - an excellent example of historical fiction, it starts right before the Great Depression and spans the first fifty years of the twentieth century. It's based on the life of the author's grandmother. Verna Krone is a heroine to be recognized. She's tough and imperfect, and she's someone you can't help rooting for even as you shake your head at another of her bad decisions. The novel covers so many big topics - race relations, politics, medical issues - and yet at its core, it's a story of a woman doing the best she can, the best way she can, the only way she knows how.