What a nice day.
Unless you count my clothes dryer deciding that heating is not in it's job description anymore. But MW is handy with this kind of thing, so I agreed to go to the appliance part store with him if he'd go by a local booksigning with me to support some local authors. We ate lunch out-just the two of us and I enjoyed a Long Island Ice Tea in the middle of the day for no good reason.
Then we survived a trip to Costco on a Saturday and on the way home went through Sonic for the half priced Diet Limeade that will help me cheer the Texas Rangers on to victory. They will clinch if they win today. Antlers and Claws all around.
The game has started, and I just got a report that the dryer repair seems to have been a success!
And the best news- my neice delivered a beautiful baby girl named Ellie yesterday!
A nice day.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Vines and other clingy things
Rainy days and cool fronts make me happy! I love rain on days when I'm home and snuggled up with a good book, or watching some sporting event with Mr. W. Sometimes like today we split up-- I'm watching the Tx Rangers trying to clinch the division and he's flipping back and forth between the Rangers and a gazillion college football games. I love sports- I love football, but college football makes me go bleh.
Anyway, so I'm sitting in my recliner watching the Rangers, and I'm looking out into the backyard. It's all green and glowy from all the rain, and I realized that a good portion of it is covered in a low growing vine. When did that happen?
I love vines. I love the way they climb and cover and cling. What's more romantic than a vine covered cottage? A honeysuckle laden fence? An ivy covered college building? For me they evoke nostalgia, home fires, and coziness. The vine in my back yard evokes neither. It's not covering my worn fence. It's not creeping up the handy trellis that is sitting there being ignored. It's marching insolently across the ground instead of seeking a higher ambition.
Some days my writing feels like a groundhugging vine, spreading and multiplying but only occasionally wrapping a tendril around an idea that pulls it up to a higher level. And no one has to remind me that people with well behaved vines take the time to train them, to deliberately direct their vines in the way they want it to grow.
I'm guilty of clinging to the romantic notion that I can allow my writing the freedom to travel where it will, and I'll still end up with the results I want. The longer I write I've reluctantly come to accept that on occasion, I have to get down on my hands and knees and pull some of those wide-ranging vines up by their stubborn roots, stomp on them, burn them and bury the ashes in a shallow grave under a full moon.
I struggle and rail against this idea, even while knowing it's necessary. Then I have to decide which ones are still moving in the right direction and help them stay on course. That doesn't mean I have to manicure the life out of my story, but I have to acknowledge those wandering plot threads that can choke the life out of it just as easily.
Meanwhile, the Rangers have a 3-1 lead in the 7th , and the bossy vine in my backyard creeps ever closer.
Anyway, so I'm sitting in my recliner watching the Rangers, and I'm looking out into the backyard. It's all green and glowy from all the rain, and I realized that a good portion of it is covered in a low growing vine. When did that happen?
I love vines. I love the way they climb and cover and cling. What's more romantic than a vine covered cottage? A honeysuckle laden fence? An ivy covered college building? For me they evoke nostalgia, home fires, and coziness. The vine in my back yard evokes neither. It's not covering my worn fence. It's not creeping up the handy trellis that is sitting there being ignored. It's marching insolently across the ground instead of seeking a higher ambition.
Some days my writing feels like a groundhugging vine, spreading and multiplying but only occasionally wrapping a tendril around an idea that pulls it up to a higher level. And no one has to remind me that people with well behaved vines take the time to train them, to deliberately direct their vines in the way they want it to grow.
I'm guilty of clinging to the romantic notion that I can allow my writing the freedom to travel where it will, and I'll still end up with the results I want. The longer I write I've reluctantly come to accept that on occasion, I have to get down on my hands and knees and pull some of those wide-ranging vines up by their stubborn roots, stomp on them, burn them and bury the ashes in a shallow grave under a full moon.
I struggle and rail against this idea, even while knowing it's necessary. Then I have to decide which ones are still moving in the right direction and help them stay on course. That doesn't mean I have to manicure the life out of my story, but I have to acknowledge those wandering plot threads that can choke the life out of it just as easily.
Meanwhile, the Rangers have a 3-1 lead in the 7th , and the bossy vine in my backyard creeps ever closer.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
I sold a short story!
I am excited to report that I sold a short story to New Love Stories for their July/August issue! It's called Love of Convenience about a woman who keeps running into a good looking man at the convenience store she stops at every morning for her daily diet drink. It is full of high spirited shenanigans, romance and plenty of snacks for the road.
It was fun to write and more fun to sell!
It was fun to write and more fun to sell!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
My daughter the football player goes to Sweden!
As some of you know, my daughter plays for the Dallas Diamonds, a professional tackle women's football team. This is her 6th season as a linebacker/kicker. Now something amazing has happened! I'm using several exclamation points to show my excitement even though we've been told by the publishing world that my words alone should convey my emotions--but !!!! She was chosen to represent the USA on a team that will play against other countries in Sweden this summer!!!
We are very proud and excited for her as you can see by my punctuation and MY WORDS JUMPING OFF THE PAGE. (That's for you, Jen.)
Congratulations to the other six members of the Diamonds who were picked to be part of the 45 player roster, as well.
Go USA !!!
We are very proud and excited for her as you can see by my punctuation and MY WORDS JUMPING OFF THE PAGE. (That's for you, Jen.)
Congratulations to the other six members of the Diamonds who were picked to be part of the 45 player roster, as well.
Go USA !!!
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