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Happy Solstice!
So many holidays right now!!!! I’m sure there are some I’m missing so…
And 
Blog
Dirty Santa Outlaw Style
Well, when I agreed to take on my RWA chapter Christmas party in my home, little did I know that a bloodthirsty book frenzy would change this friendly group into backstabbing thieves.
My friend, Betty Sanders, who had number 11 in our Dirty Santa game, drew first blood. She stole and after that, everyone kept stealing from her. Then each other. Even Georgina Gentry ( Georgina Gentry – Romance Author ), who insisted no one would steal from a little old lady, was robbed. (Don’t let her words fool you. She hasn’t changed a bit in the ten or eleven years I’ve known her and she can be just as ornery as the next person.) Pretty soon any book left on the table was ignored as books just went from hand to hand…
I’ve never laughed so hard in my life.
And yeah, I fell for Jill’s ( Jill Monroe’s Blog ) sweet face when she felt guilty for talking Gena ( Gena Showalter’s Weblog ) into taking a book from our newest member, Dana( Diary of an aspiring romance writer.) I fell for it. Briefly. After all, as she’s quick to point out, people trust a person with dimples. Then Gena stood up and announced that Jill had everyone fooled and was a closet bitch.
Heh heh
As I stood there watching these people I’ve known for years, I realized what a joy it can be to be in a room full of romance writers.
We made the daughter of one read a very er, naughty line from an advice book on women for men, her face more red than the gaudy, fluffy stocking hanging from the fireplace next to her head.
We made Merline Lovelace merlinelovelace.com feel bad for being the first to cut into the most beautiful chocolate cake another of our new members, Sarah, had made. It was shaped in the form of a book with golden pages and said romance on the top with OKRWA on the side. And even though it was hard to cut into, it was sooo freaking worth it. That woman knows how to make cake!!
We did get a few members tipsy on my homemade Green Apple Riesling and Pinot. (grin) And no, I don’t make wine in my bathtub!
Several members went on the small hike in my back yard, through the trees, to the small historical gravesite, then promptly told me they needed better headstones. Plot ideas flew around the room to explain why these two people were buried in my backyard, one being that maybe my entire house is on a big cemetery. Thanks ladies.
And as usual, we missed our members who were unable to make it, some due to family gatherings, some to the sloppy roads.
But it was a warm, wonderful and highly amusing gathering. Learn more about the Oklahoma Romance Writers here.
Oklahoma Romance Writers of America: OKRWA – Home of the OK Outlaws .
And we also have a blog still in the works, but there are a few new releases up. Check back for monthly updates! OK Corral Newsletter
A Little Behind
Sorry for the lack of updated posts. My computer kept crashing and when I added up the time I spent every single day repairing it before I could write or get on the Internet, I realized I could have rivaled Nora for top billing by now.
So, I got up the courage and bought a new system today. Bought the top system I wanted, so I’m still using my old CRT monitor. One of those sexy, flat screens is next on the list.
The speed is AMAZING!!!!!!!! I had kicked up my old computer, rebuilding and adding and tweaking but it was still over seven years old. This thing just zips up a web page in a second. I haven’t even tried any music yet and I got the Windows media package so I’m all about excitement right now.
What I’m currently listening to? Al Pacino in Scarface because the hubby has it up TOO LOUD and I’m too enamored of my system to get my lazy ass over to the office door.
Got in some of my Twisted Fanatics items today and they look great! Check them out!
Twisted Fanatics : CafePress.com
See the kid’s hoody at the bottom? Made that especially for my son for Christmas, but the original was for my good friend, Christy, whose anime/manga habits boggle the mind! Of course, she did introduce me to Saiyuki… That’s Sanzo up there with the gun.
Gotta love those boys. saiyuki.com
Funny how Al Pacino can sound sexy normally, but NOT in this movie. Now, maybe if it was Sanzo above… ” Say hello to my little friend. “
Anger Writing
I have The Writer’s Idea Book by Jack Heffron and in one chapter, “Don’t Get Me Started,” he gives prompts for anger writing. Yeah! Get it out on paper, I say!
One of the prompts was to write a list of anger sparkers or pet peeves, then freewrite about one or more of them. I started my list and halfway down realized I’d already written a poem that included 3 of them.
Judgement
Hypocrisy
Assumption
A poet I admire very much, Jack Craddock, once told me this was a “Damn fine poem.” His approval meant a lot because the poem hasn’t done well in contests since. One of the judges said the speaker was too judgmental–she couldn’t stand her. While I respect her opinion — after all judging is purely subjective and I’ve learned that all reactions count, I don’t think she got it.
Can you tell me what she didn’t get?
Self-Appointed Paragon
She lords it over every gathering
As if hers is the example to uphold.
She speaks with fat words
Favors pejorative replies
And pretension lies upon her face
Ornamental and bold.
She suffers from proper etiquette fixation
A pious and unwavering thicket.
Fills her quota of one good deed per week,
For in her world,
You must rack up enough points
To score the big ticket.
I’m fascinated by her unflagging display
Her need to don the war paint,
Then perform
An almost poetic dance
Along that fine line
Between hypocrite and saint.
I feel nothing but sorrow
Watching her desperate search for grace.
For she will never find it
Not as long as she looks at the world
Through the reflection of self
Through her own perfected space.
But, I once glimpsed beyond that mask
A woman in fear of crash landing.
And in that brief moment of clarity,
I understood
That maybe one person’s perspective
Is just another’s misunderstanding.
____________
I even made a shirt with this last bit. I’d post the image here but my computer is freaking tempermental today and it won’t upload. So, go to www.cafepress.com/thewritesnark and look about three quarters down the page in the last column.
It’s All About the Music Today!
Today, I’m working on the house and playing some of my fave CDs. I have one of those nifty speaker systems that is built into every room so I can listen anywhere. It’s up loud. Yeah.
You will come to find upon further visits to my blog, that my taste in music is all over the place. Sometimes hard, sometimes mellow, sometimes instrumental — not all will appeal to everyone, but it’s always worth it to find someone new you like.
First off is Sarah Fimm’s A Perfect Dream. Whenever I have company and this is playing, I’m always asked when Sarah McLachlan released this one. I can see the resemblance, but Sarah Fimm is well, different. I’m listening to Virus right now. Go here, sarah fimm
Click on the music tab, go down to the CD, A Perfect Dream, and click on virus. Listen to the whole thing — it changes style in the middle, then builds. Here are the lyrics
Virus
words & music by Sarah Fimm
Everyday she wallows in her dream
Pacing back and forth with nothing in between
The devastated girl has given up.
The boy has fallen to the feet of luck,
But tells her with a slight smile
It’s just a virus
She laid on him
And I can’t touch it
It’s buried in
And its all for nothing
This web of you
Is just a cycle of abuse.
Since you said its fine I might believe.
Dirty girls are easy to deceive
A penny for your thoughts
Or just to take your clothes off
I’d rather dull the pain
Than stand out in the rain
To catch the Virus
That seems to be
The undercurrent of my insanity
The lowest layer that has been fused
Beneath my cycle of abuse
It’s just a virus
He says to me
It’s not quite the prison you make it out to be
Too bad you’re dying, too bad but true
As is this cycle of you.
I stumbled upon Sarah Fimm when MP3.com was this fantastic site to find new music. I hunted down and bought more CDs off that site than anywhere. It’s gone and I want it back!
The song that hooked me on Fimm was Be Like Water- the uncensored version. (grin) I like this lady’s style. This bit of lyrics is toward the end and the emotion in her voice will get to you:
I’m not your slave
I’m not the one who burnt you out
fu**ed you up and put you on
broke you down
ask someone else to be that someone
I can’t be that someone who can
Be like Water
Why can’t I be the answer you want?
In the rotation is also Anathema’s A Fine Day to Exit. I can’t believe this band started out as death metal. Seriously. If you listen to them these days you think more atmospheric and moody. They have such a unique sound. I don’t care what you call them. I like them. I have the last four CDs and sometimes I put them all in and let that lush, lovely music just fill the house.
Barnes & Noble.com Music – A Fine Day to Exit — Anathema – CD
Barnes & Noble.com Music – A Natural Disaster — Anathema – CD
To shorten this entry, I’ll be quick on the last two. The Amber Light’s Goodbye to Dusk,Farewell to Dawn.
CD Baby: THE AMBER LIGHT: Goodbye To Dusk Farewell to Dawn
I wish Tartaros didn’t cut off there! If you have the time, give this CD more of a listen. Very mellow and I can’t believe how young these guys are!
And last but not least, something completely different. Chris and Kate’s O Witness. Do me a favor, listen to #3 Never Done. I have the site with the video if you want to see. Hard to believe such a powerful voice comes from such a small, pretty lady.
CD Baby: CHRIS BROWN AND KATE FENNER: O Witness
Always take the time to enjoy music!
Update: I noticed that on CD Baby’s site, O Witness has a mistake on Walk the Lake– that’s not the song. If you want to hear this very upbeat song, there’s a video on their official site. Click on the “here” under mp3s…
Chris Brown and Kate Fenner
Mountain View and SETI
Before I got distracted again, I was pondering the answer to the great Mountain View, California debate. I have this blog and two online stores with site meters. While it’s somewhat fun to look at the sad numbers and try to come up with marketing ideas, it’s more fun to see the locations of the hits. Just what does that person in India think about the site? And are they wondering about “snark” because nearly everyone I’ve sent to my Cafe Press store has asked what a snark is.
So, back to Mountain View. Fellow bloggers have emailed to ask if I have a ton of hits from this town. Yes, I do. All three sites get multiple hits. So we looked it up and found it to be a source of some tech companies. Doesn’t answer the question. For all we know, it could be Site Meter themselves. (I’m going to feel like a real dumb ass if that’s the answer.) But, I’m thinking it may have something to do with AOL because the site meter has a “who’s on right now” section and sometims (Okay, most of the time!) I’m the only one on…
Then, as I said, I got distracted. It isnt’ hard. I get a lot of magazines because I find them to be a valuable source of character and story ideas. This time, I was reading Psychology Today when I saw an article on Jill Tarter. I remembered the name because I love the movie, Contact, and this astrophysicist was the inspiration behind the Jodi Foster role. Jill Tarter is the director of SETI, which is the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. They use telescopes and computers to listen for strange radio signals in the universe.
The distraction?
SETI Home – SETI Institute is located in Mountain View, California.
Okay writers, have a go at this one. Heh heh
Today my music rotation is holiday inspired.
Christmas Songs by Anuna. This Irish band is a favorite.
Barnes & Noble.com Music – Christmas Songs — Anuna – CD
Charlie Brown Christmas. I know I’m not the only one who feels the spirit of the season with this music.
Barnes & Noble.com Music – A Charlie Brown Christmas — Vince Guaraldi – CD
Evergreen, Mandolin Music for Christmas by Butch Baldassari.
Amazon.com: Evergreen: Music
BTW, I send you to Barnes and Noble or other sites just so you can listen to samples of the music.
More on Description
This was going to be a fascinating, intelligent discussion on the contradiction of the term “objective reality” but I got distracted.
I opened the newest issue of Cemetery Dance and my attention was caught by a prominently displayed book on the inside cover. If a person were to explain the cover in generic terms, they might say a little girl smiling into a camera. Sounds innocent and sweet, yes? It is SO not. This is a horror novel after all, so the little girl is in shadow. Her skin has a creepy, funky pasty color and her chin is down so she’s looking up at you through her lashes. Light reflects off the whites of her eyes and all of the sudden, that smile isn’t cute. It’s sinister. And damn, now I need my nightlight.
Why, you ask? Think about how many horror books and movies have centered around a child or a ghost child. Innocence makes us care. Makes us want to cherish and protect. An evil child just goes against our very instincts — takes away what’s still right in this world. So it’s scary.
Remember the Haunting of Julia? The Changeling? These are classics in my family. My sister brought The Changeling over on Halloween this year and the movie still got me. Too bad so many of today’s scary movies don’t cut it.
This novelist must be dancing over this book cover. It’s a great one. I’ll probably read the book. Yeah, the cover creeped me out enough to take notice, but some of his cover quotes weren’t the stale, generic sort you see so much of these days. Words like mysterious, moody, macabre and then they add emotional wallop… I’m hooked. Now, after reading the warnings on gore, I’m hesitating. Not a huge fan of the icky books… but there’s that cover! Here, look for yourself. Barnes & Noble.com – Berserk – Tim Lebbon – Mass Market Paperback
Can you name some good, creepy books or movies featuring children? Besides Damien. Eck.
Keep it Simple. Keep it Real.
When using description, I had to teach myself not to overdo the details. It was a long, hard lesson, but I learned. A few simple, well descriptive words can make all the difference. Here’s an example from one of my short stories.
Her Ma’man murmured of ghost summers when the heat became a living thing that clogged the throat and sat upon the skin like wet spirits. In the deepest part of the season, restless souls crept from the otherworld, drawn by the waves of misery.
“Ghost summer” sets the mood, gives you an idea about the kind of story you’re reading. “Clogged the throat and sat upon the skin” makes the heat real and anyone who has lived in the south knows that heat isn’t just there, it lives, exists to make your life miserable. Don’t just say it’s hot, make us feel it.When trying to make a person real, you can use blonde, six-foot three, green eyes. Yeah, okay, but only if you’re giving a police report. Do you want to write the kind of book that sits on a night stand as a ready sleep injection?
So, let’s try again.
Frank stood six foot-three. He had hair the color of the sun and eyes like wet moss.
Maybe a tiny bit better, but so cliched you’re going to gag any editor who reads it. I kind of like wet moss, but what’s missing?
Emotion. If you aren’t feeling something you might as well be reading an insurance contract.
Take it from me, Frank doesn’t want to be the guy who puts you to sleep. Maybe, just maybe, he wants to be the guy who causes you to flip on the night light.
Let’s try it with some emotion and a little setting this time.
They kept the psych drugs in the top of the tall, locked cabinet. Frank didn’t need a key , nor did he have to stretch to pluck them right off the shelf. He’d colored his hair yellow to match the doctor’s, but it hadn’t been necessary. The staff never looked twice, so caught up in their own pointless lives, Bundy himself could have walked past and they wouldn’t notice. Granted, with the power out, they had their hands full.
It had been a genius move, he had to admit. One his father might have pulled. Frank caught his reflection in the mirror behind the doctor’s desk. His gut twisted before he remembered that it wasn’t his father’s dead, green eyes that stared back at him.
Wanna try it yourself? Share if you’d like.
Today, I’m listening to OK Computer by Radiohead. I’m not alone in my sincere love for this band, so there are too many links to list. I’ll give you the official link page and you can expolore on your own.
w.a.s.t.e. Merchandise Links Page
Yay! Titles are back
Seriously new in this blog world, though I’ve been commenting forever. Commenting is easy. This html can be a little tricky, but I’m getting the hang of it. Speaking of getting the hang, I’ll be adding the Write Mood with a little graphic from my online store at Cafe Press called the Write Snark.
Let’s see if this works…
Today’s Write Mood. The Write Snark : CafePress.com
Great Fantasy Music
Not feeling so hot today. Think my children might have brought home a nice flu bug so I’m taking it easy, drinking tea, that sort of thing. But, I’m hoping I’ll rest up and write something fantastic tonight. I seem to hit my peak at night when it comes to writing, which really bites because my children are in school during the day and I have the time set aside. In fact, maybe I feel bad today because I sat up half the night thinking about a piece I’m doing set in the deep south.
I love writing in the deep south. The first story I ever published was set in New Orleans and I’ve never been there. I scarf up any book or movie I can find with the setting and when I look at a moss-draped black oak in its bayou setting, I never fail to feel a connection to the place. It’s mysterious, warm yet gothic at the same time. Oh, for beautiful, moody deep south settings, check out this woman’s work.
Jenny Ellerbe Photography
To get myself in the mood for later writing, I’ve actually turned to one of my all time favorite instrumental artists. Justin Durbin with Edgen Animations writes incredible music for film and games. Games, you ask? Oh yeah. You’d be surprised. Game music is written to create a specific emotional response. And it takes talent to do it right.
Durbin has it in spades. I usually listen to this when I’m working on fantasy or sci fi pieces, but I swear, there’s a sweet magic in this music. A friend of mine is writing the most incredible book — with charismatic, dark, angsty characters and yes, dragons — and I made her a soundtrack of Durbin’s music. She stayed up all night writing. Haunting and lovely, it’s the perfect writing music. Here, listen for yourself.http://www.edgen.com/music/
