Writing and Waiting

I am getting more and more excited about this novel that has been brewing in my head. I've put some scenes onto paper and am working on character backgrounds and plot points. This is the fun part, the interesting part. The part where I am finding out who I am writing about and how their story unfolds. Next will come the hard part. Sitting down and writing and putting it all together into something cohesive! I can't wait to see what will happen. Yep, that's right. Even I, with all my plot points, don't know exactly what is going to happen yet. My characters are often sneaky that way!

I am also still waiting to hear from the journal to which I submitted my recent article. That is HARDEST part - all the waiting after a submission. Oh - the agony! (Too dramatic? Don't forget, I'm also into drama.)

Speaking of which - sounds like plans are coming together for the performing arts studio - perhaps my drama teaching position will be starting soon. I'll be sure and update on here!

Working on New Characters

The whisper of an idea for a novel came to me about eight years ago, during the time that I lived in Las Vegas and pieces of it have been floating around in my (strange) cranium for that many years. The other night, after reading the last chapter of The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee, I was inspired to actually begin putting together this novel that I have been playing around with for that long. It is amazing to me the process of building characters. I've only been working on this particular work for two days and already some of the characters that have been lurking in the shadows of my brain have surprised me with who they really are! For instance, one of the main female characters that I have been thinking of for several years as young, essentially good and innocent surprised me today when I peeked into her closet. I suddenly realized that she is not as innocent as I had previously assumed. I can't wait to see what other surprises lie in store for me as I get to know better these folks who have been my acquaintances for a number of years. Well, back to plotting...

Writing? What's that?

I'll admit there has been very little real writing going on around here as of late. For a multitude of reasons. One of them is one year of age, teething, and sitting on my lap right now. Also, I had a great arrangement with a good friend to keep my kids one day a week so I could devote that day to writing, but that didn't work out because I didn't stay disciplined and because she went out and got a real job.

I have been doing some work since I last posted here in 2009, though. I have been writing for the blog at Knowledge Equips and have been offered a job as a drama instructor with a local performing arts studio. That position will start within a couple of months, as soon as the new studio is up and running.

Writing anything with two busy, active young children in the house is so incredibly difficult, but I plan to make more of an effort, starting today. So, here is my first blog post back here. A few days ago, I pulled out my copy of the Gotham Writers' Workshop book Writing Fiction. I'm going to start going through it and do some of the exercises and see what comes up. I also found my copy of Sparknotes How to Write Poetry, so stay tuned for updates of what comes out of digging into both of those books.

What to Read?

I'm looking for something new to read. I just finished Burr by Gore Vidal and loved it! You'd think with all the books I just finished unpacking a few days ago that I would have a ton to read. My problem is that there are a lot of hardbacks which are hard to read in bed and all of the paperbacks are Koontz. (They are hand-me-down's from my mom and she has a bit of a Koontz fetish.) While I do love a good Koontz now and then, a girl has to read something other than old Deano from time to time. So, I'm asking all of you out there for some good suggestions. Throw me some fun summertime paperback reading selections! I'm trying out this new affiliate linking program from Amazon, so send me some great Amazon links to your summer reading favorites!

To give you a hint of what I like, here are some of my former summer favorites:

Poetry Contest Goal

Our family was setting some family and personal goals recently and I have set this personal goal for myself: I WILL enter the Writer's Digest Poetry Contest coming up this December. The deadline for entries is December 15, so I have set myself the goal of making my entries ready by the end of November. I wrote it down on our personal goal sheet and I am setting it in stone here in this forum. I want to have it written and have others know about it so that I will be more invested in taking the steps to actually get it done this time. So, wish me luck!

For more info on the contest you can head to: http://www.writersdigest.com/poetryawards

favorite things

Here is a poem I wrote for my online poetry group:

favorite things

sunshine smiles and gumdrop kisses
cowboys and indians
and fairy tale wishes

dinner by candlelight, walks on the beach
lying in bed
when he is in reach

grimy hand messes, crumbs on the floor
muddy footprints
and jam on the door

spills on the stove, oven disasters
always more stuff
to clean up after

these are a few of my favorite things
my prince and princess
and of course my king

Wednesday Prompts

Even though the April Poem A Day Challenge is long over, Robrt Lee Brewer is still throwing out a weekly Wednesday prompt over at his Poetic Asides blog: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/

His prompt from yesterday was "something you've been through." Here is my day late submission:

Five Years

He asked her to dance and asked
for a Ferris wheel ride. He told her
he was interested in settling down
as he jetted off in the night. He
“forgot” to call and made her wait
wondering. But then made it all up
with a night on the town and a
pretty excuse about phones on the
road. He carried her along with
promises galore while she planned
out a wedding for years. He
neglected to mention all the other
women that she feared, but never
let herself believe. For five years
he strung her along, as she waited
and worried and hoped. Till she came
down with a case of common sense
and ran away to Cancun.