Sometimes a scene takes an unexpected twist.
Imagine being a tourist in a foreign country, taking a walk through a public park, and taking pictures of everything in sight--birds--a group of school children--the ocean--a campground in an unexpected place. Very benign and peaceful.
The scene became somewhat comical when we (my sister and I) came upon two women just wrapping up from their nude sunbathing session (to the right of this photo). They were not the Victoria's Secret type of model, but rather the Lane Bryant type. Luckily we weren't exposed to too much. My sister and I got a good laugh out of it, and they didn't pay any attention to us at all.
Public nudity isn't outlawed in Denmark--they do have all nude public bathhouses there. We just didn't expect it at the park. My sister and I hapily kept our clothes on, and for the most part visited places where others did too.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Denmark and Blogs
What do they have to do with each other? Who knows? Except my new background picture was taken in Denmark. To celebrate Memorial Day weekend,and summer, I've included it. Summer is here. Slow down. Relax. Except of course when it comes to our writing goals.
Our characters can never relax. They need to be doing something interesting to move that plot along. However, sometimes even seemingly laid-back things (like camping) can move the plot along in an interesting way.
Does your character accidentally start a campfire on a no-burn day? (Arizona campers know what I'm talking about.) Does someone from the forest service come along? Does the fire get out of control? Does your camper get shot?
It's interesting that something so ordinary as camping can set the stage for either a romance, or a thriller, or even an action-based story. But each scene needs to count for something. Even though it starts out ordinary, we should decide what this has to do with the life of our main character. If the answer is nothing, maybe it isn't such a great scene after all. What can we do to add a little extra spice to one of our scenes that seem overly bland?
Our characters can never relax. They need to be doing something interesting to move that plot along. However, sometimes even seemingly laid-back things (like camping) can move the plot along in an interesting way.
Does your character accidentally start a campfire on a no-burn day? (Arizona campers know what I'm talking about.) Does someone from the forest service come along? Does the fire get out of control? Does your camper get shot?
It's interesting that something so ordinary as camping can set the stage for either a romance, or a thriller, or even an action-based story. But each scene needs to count for something. Even though it starts out ordinary, we should decide what this has to do with the life of our main character. If the answer is nothing, maybe it isn't such a great scene after all. What can we do to add a little extra spice to one of our scenes that seem overly bland?
Monday, May 9, 2011
WHITNEY AWARDS GALA
At the Whitney Awards Gala this past Saturday several outstanding authors were given special recognition in their genre. Today however, I wanted to mention the OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT Award that went to RICK WALTON. 
I met him years ago at a week-long writing workshop. He is nice, friendly, and unassuming for someone who has published over 80 books. I have only six or seven of his picture books in my bookshelf, but I love each one. They’re classic and fun-filled tales such as: Bertie Was A Watchdog, about a midget dog who saved the day; Bullfrog Pops! Is a crazy western about a hungry bullfrog. The book has a surprise each time you turn the page; Mrs. McMurphy’s Pumpkin is about a haunted pumpkin; and Suddenly Alligator, is an adverbial tale that’s full of fun. The man is a creative genius.
I hadn’t known who was getting this award when I bought tickets for the gala, but I was sure glad I was there to cheer him on.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT Award went to SUSAN EVANS MCCLOUD, who I don’t know and have never met, but who gave us the wonderful hymn, “Lord, I would Follow Thee” and, “As Zion’s Youth in Latter Days.”
Susan's biography and numerous achievements are listed in Wikipedia.
Susan magnified her calling as a writer and poet while raising her family—something that’s not easy to do. Finding that fine line is hard; the line between total absorption in the creative process and spending enough time with your husband and children to make them feel important and appreciated.
For the first sixteen years of my married life, I was totally absorbed in motherhood, and it wasn’t until years after that when my desire to write was re-born. It’s been a gradual process for me, the emergence from total motherhood to wife-mother-writer-hopeful author. I look up to people like Susan and Rick, people who knew their talent and calling in life from the very beginning and not only made it work, but made it look easy.
I hadn’t known who was getting this award when I bought tickets for the gala, but I was sure glad I was there to cheer him on.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT Award went to SUSAN EVANS MCCLOUD, who I don’t know and have never met, but who gave us the wonderful hymn, “Lord, I would Follow Thee” and, “As Zion’s Youth in Latter Days.”
Susan's biography and numerous achievements are listed in Wikipedia.
Susan magnified her calling as a writer and poet while raising her family—something that’s not easy to do. Finding that fine line is hard; the line between total absorption in the creative process and spending enough time with your husband and children to make them feel important and appreciated.
For the first sixteen years of my married life, I was totally absorbed in motherhood, and it wasn’t until years after that when my desire to write was re-born. It’s been a gradual process for me, the emergence from total motherhood to wife-mother-writer-hopeful author. I look up to people like Susan and Rick, people who knew their talent and calling in life from the very beginning and not only made it work, but made it look easy.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
TAKEN BY STORM, by Angela Morrison
Leesie is a seventeen-year-old Mormon girl who lives in a small farming community in Washington State. She’s known as the Ice Queen by her classmates because of her moral values—meaning she won’t have sex with the popular boy in school—the one who pinches her butt and tries to grope her whenever he can. The boys in school have made a game of it, and Lessie is anxious for high school to end so she no longer has to deal with him. She dreams of being admitted into BYU and moving far away.
Michael is an only child who, after his parents died in a tragic scuba-diving accident, is filled with guilt so thick he can barely breathe. He ends up in the same little farming community and is living with his grandmother. All Michael wants is to feel again, to go scuba-diving and discover the accident was a horrible nightmare, to be normal, and have his life back. He goes through the motions of life while under the influence of anti-depressants, but when his prescription runs out, he has to learn to cope on his own.
It’s on a high school field trip that he finally meets Leesie—the girl that stares at him in class. She’s not as aggressive as the girls he’s used to. Michael surprises himself by talking to her and being anxious for their next visit.
While Leesie is trying to befriend Michael, she breaks almost all of her rules. Those rules—the no dating outside of her faith, no French kissing, no making out—the rules that earned her the Ice Queen status. Michael has different values than Leesie, meaning that sex before marriage is not a big deal, he’s done it dozens of times. This rule is barely hanging by a thread, and we (the reader) wonder if Leesie will do this one last thing to prove to Michael that she loves him.
Death, grieving, friendship, respect—Morrison deals with a lot of heavy subjects in this novel, but she does it with finesse. Will Michel learn to respect Leesie and her values, or will she sacrifice everything she’s worked and longed for? This is the underlying question that is sustained throughout the novel.
TAKEN BY STORM is like no other book that I’ve read. For one, it’s written in first person, present tense. We get to know Leesie through her poetry as well as through her chatspot correspondence to a friend. The story also evolves through Michael’s dive-log entries.
TAKEN BY STORM is a good novel to read if you’re a dating teen or a twenty-something in a life-consuming relationship. It isn’t preachy by any means, but it clearly shows that mutual respect is important in a relationship, and though we love someone it doesn’t mean they’ll make us happy. Circumstances change, people change, and if we truly love someone, we’ll help them accomplish their dreams.
Michael is an only child who, after his parents died in a tragic scuba-diving accident, is filled with guilt so thick he can barely breathe. He ends up in the same little farming community and is living with his grandmother. All Michael wants is to feel again, to go scuba-diving and discover the accident was a horrible nightmare, to be normal, and have his life back. He goes through the motions of life while under the influence of anti-depressants, but when his prescription runs out, he has to learn to cope on his own.
It’s on a high school field trip that he finally meets Leesie—the girl that stares at him in class. She’s not as aggressive as the girls he’s used to. Michael surprises himself by talking to her and being anxious for their next visit.
While Leesie is trying to befriend Michael, she breaks almost all of her rules. Those rules—the no dating outside of her faith, no French kissing, no making out—the rules that earned her the Ice Queen status. Michael has different values than Leesie, meaning that sex before marriage is not a big deal, he’s done it dozens of times. This rule is barely hanging by a thread, and we (the reader) wonder if Leesie will do this one last thing to prove to Michael that she loves him.
Death, grieving, friendship, respect—Morrison deals with a lot of heavy subjects in this novel, but she does it with finesse. Will Michel learn to respect Leesie and her values, or will she sacrifice everything she’s worked and longed for? This is the underlying question that is sustained throughout the novel.
TAKEN BY STORM is like no other book that I’ve read. For one, it’s written in first person, present tense. We get to know Leesie through her poetry as well as through her chatspot correspondence to a friend. The story also evolves through Michael’s dive-log entries.
TAKEN BY STORM is a good novel to read if you’re a dating teen or a twenty-something in a life-consuming relationship. It isn’t preachy by any means, but it clearly shows that mutual respect is important in a relationship, and though we love someone it doesn’t mean they’ll make us happy. Circumstances change, people change, and if we truly love someone, we’ll help them accomplish their dreams.
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