“We do not write to be understood. We write to understand.” C.S. Lewis

I always enjoy reading Poets and Writers. It’s interesting to see what writings from other genres are doing...

My favorite article in the Sept/Oct issue is titled The Unreliable Narrator by J.T. Bushnell. He writes… ‘you have to know not only who your characters are but also who they pretend to be, not only what they care about but also what they say they care about, not only what ideas they live by but also how those ideas are false……And you have to signal these disparities to the reader without revealing them to the character or straining creditability by making the characters to blind….their unrecognized truth….Understanding my characters’ secrets, illusions, and pretenses lets me see clearly how they’ll act, what they’ll say, how the action of the story challenges them….”

Bushnell uses the examples of Salinger’s Cather In the Rye and Wolff’s The Mickey Mouse Club to show how the ‘factor of unreliable narration builds a disparity between what characters believe and what is actually the case.”
And lastly – Note From the Editor writes… ‘Whatever you choose to write about today, dig a little deeper and make it matter - to yourself, to all of us.’

Well tomorrow I'm off to the beach for some deep thinking....and tanning.

Six Sentence Sunday - 08/28/11

from Love By Design... release date - the end of October - but here is the book cover!!!! Please no licking your screen :))


With the cameras rolling, Russ eyed the sewing machine skeptically while rubbing the stubble on his chin. “I don’t know Victoria.”
“Just think of it as just another power tool.”
“A power tool?”
“Yes, like that jiggy thing.” She waved her hand toward Wood Working World.
“You mean the jig saw?”
“Yes, except instead of cutting up something, you stitch two pieces of fabric together.”
“It’s still sewing. Not that I’m sexist or anything.”
“Of course not, who would think that?” Victoria rolled her eyes for the camera.
He guessed he deserved that. But men didn’t sew; it’s simply not in the male genetic code

What I Did On My Summer Vacation...Part 1

Remember those dreaded compositions you had to do at the beginning of each school year? Wouldn't it have been cool just to hand in your Facebook page with all your status updates? This is what my report would have look like....

8/12 1 more day of work until 7 days of beach bumming

8/13 Is not to be trusted with chocolate...disregard this at your own peril
8/13 some tv guy just ask me if I was a fan of Jersey-lious. Like no
8/13 Is sitting on the beach with my Kindle reading The Tantric Principle by Jennifer Probst
8/13 Only in jersey..an orange lit up palm tree

8/14 It may be raining but I am still happy...reading State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
8/14 omg...if u r ever in pt pleasant on a Sunday you MUST go see the Flying Mueller Brothers at Jenkins from 2-4. and guess who is here enjoying the band? Capt. Sulley - the guy who landed the plane in Hudson River

8/15 Oceanside at the blessing of the waters for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Cool.
8/15 The sun came out!

8/16 Will be starting Robopocalypse by Daniel H Wilson. I love being on vacation...
8/16 The only tough decision I have to make today is....funnel cake or ice cream...
8/16 ‎2 lifeguards wrestling in the sand :) :)

8/17 ‎"so I said Dude she doesn't like you, you're a midget..." (overheard conversation between 2 lifeguards jogging by)

8/18 reading Pride and Pleasure by Sylvia Day on the beach
8/18 "...my blood is worthless. But I would spill it for you." halfway thru reading Pride and Pleasure...so good!!!

8/18 Is reading The Next Queen of Heaven by Gregory Maguire

8/19 Just inspired by the lifeguard jogging by on the and showing a bit of butt...instead of the Coopertone baby they should have the Coopertone lifeguard - I should be in advertising...lol
8/19 Nothing but blue skies...

8/20 Vacation was wonderful but miss my husband and my son so its all good to be going home. :)
8/20 Afraid of vacation withdrawals symptoms so I stopped at the Twin Cone on the way home to have what became my daily 3:00 pm ic fix
8/20 My husband gave me a dozen roses as a welcome home gift..gee and all I got him was a chocolate covered pretzel with sprinkles...

Other stuff happened but that's why the above is Part 1

Six Sentence Sunday - 08/21/11

Back from vacation - this is continuing the scene I started on six sentence 8/7....



Another creak, this time closer, and she saw a figure by the darken archway leading into the living room. She was just about to let out a scream that would rival any made for Halloween movie when she heard the familiar Aussie drawl.
“I’m home, Cupcake,” he said as he entered the room with his hands up.
Victoria froze like a statue as if he was a bear she stumbled upon in the woods - or was the rule to drop to the ground, curl into a ball and try not to cry? She was a city girl for crying out loud. What did she know about taming wild animals or wild handsome Aussies? Well, she knew one thing: never stare directly into their eyes,but that is exactly what she did.

The past, the present and the future are really one: they are today. Harriet Beecher Stowe

(from Wikipedia) Harriet Beecher Stowe (June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) depicted life for African-Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom. It energized anti-slavery forces in the American North, while provoking widespread anger in the South. She wrote more than 20 books, including novels, three travel memoirs, and collections of articles and letters. She was influential both for her writings and her public stands on social issues of the day.

Here are some quotes...
Friendships are discovered rather than made.
Harriet Beecher Stowe

I did not write it. God wrote it. I merely did his dictation.
Harriet Beecher Stowe

I would not attack the faith of a heathen without being sure I had a better one to put in its place.
Harriet Beecher Stowe

Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.
Harriet Beecher Stowe

Hope you enjoyed these quotes.

I won't be taking part in 8/14/11 Six Sentence Sunday - I will be a beach bum for the coming week proving Harriet's quote....

"Human nature is above all things lazy."

Six Sentence Sunday - 08/07/11

Another six from Love By Design - Here Victoria is alone at the make-over house late at night finishing up the days work when she hears a noise....



Did she remember to check the lock after the last of the crew left? Maybe the house was haunted. Please, please let the house be haunted.
“Who’s there?” What kind of stupid ass question was that? As if a robber or worse would announce himself. Where was that nail gun?


Next week I'll continued the scene....

I don’t get writer’s block. I have writer’s failure, where I’m working on something and realize it blows.” JJ Abrams

I picked up a copy of Creative Screenwriter at the Border's Going Out of Business Sale :( At 40% off I thought I give it a read – not that I ever plan to write a script, but studying other forms of writing can teach valuable lessons.

Take the article by Adam Stovall on J.J. Abrams (Lost, Super 8, Star Trek)
Abrams talks about ripping off genres or a certain movie lets say Jaws that they are ripping off the wrong thing. He says, “You’re not supposed to rip off the shark! Rip off the characters. Rip off the stuff that matters. Look inside yourself and figure out what matters to you.
And he discusses his reasons for success…you must believe in two things…
“One is that your voice is as valid as anyone else’s. Despite their experiences or title or wealth or fame, what you have to say is just as important. Secondly, if something really interests you and you really believe that there is something powerful and compelling in an idea you have, you’re not alone in that and other people will feel the same way.”


Update on my writing? Well, I'm in the process of going Indie with both Playing For Keeps and Love By Design. While I'm researching my women's fiction story I'm going to write a novella called Annie Get Your Pitchfork which I started years and years ago. Hopefully I do not get writer's block or writer's failure!