Can You Love What Drives You Crazy?

I'm certain we've all been here at some point.

The easy answer to this question is yes, yes you can. All those little flaws that make you want to deck your brother or sister, slap your lover, or tear the page out of a good book may seem like pure hatred, but the truth is it comes as part of the mental package. The flaws that drive you crazy do so for a reason, and often those reasons are nearest and dearest to your heart. I know there are things that I do which I will never understand. Procrastination for one. They make me want to tear my own hair out almost as much as watching people destroy themselves or each other out of selfish wants and needs. The world is a messy place and it's more than just bodily problems. We make "drama," add to our emotional problems, and do down right crazy things for those we know and ourselves.

Let's face it, no one is a saint. We try, we really do, but at the end of the day we are only human.

Some of the best stories I've read involved characters who felt just in what they were doing, and I almost loved them as much as I hated them. They were ruining or thwarting my favorite character's efforts in a way that seemed downright dastardly. Thing is, stuff like this happens in our every day lives all the time. Some girl stole your best friend's boyfriend and mercilessly flaunted the fact to her face. Your grandparent got robbed by some kid who was just trying to make it into a gang. Your school rival got the job you had been trying to get for the past five years and it was only because he or she was flirting with the boss to get it. Crazy crap happens and it's all around you. The key is writing about some of that stuff when you are angry or peeved. Capturing the thoughts of that moment are so revealing about what is happening to a person in a rage. Then, after some time trying to see what you have written in another light. I, for one, had a moment like that tonight.

There's nothing like experiencing a bit of my own stupidity. Even now I'm shaking my head wondering how in the heck I managed to miss that tomorrow was New Year's Eve. Time flew right past my brain and made me think it was next week, not tomorrow. Somehow, I managed to believe that December deserved another week of existence for 2012. There was so much I was going to get done in that extra week too! I wanted a certain project for Musa done by tomorrow and was supposed to be working on my notes for my 50,000 words in January. That has all been reduced to one day's work and as luck would have it the road will have a couple hours of my attention (again.) I'm seething and have no one to blame for myself. Sometime in the future, I'm certain I'll look back at this and laugh. Who knows I may even be glad I was late because of some of the inspiration I got from the film adaption of Les Miserables tonight!

I'm definitely hitting a learning curve. Now, I have some work to do! Happy Writings to all of you and may it be an outlet for all those moments in your life you feel the steam pouring out of your ears.

How Do You Develop Your Writing?

This is The Buck. However, it wasn't full when we were there.

It's amazing how ideas come in the oddest times and places. The shower is my temple for thoughts that are here one moment and gone the next. Thankfully, my most recent experience at The Buck in St. Joseph stuck with me.

After having spent the majority of the Christmas holiday with family it seemed only logical that I go and visit my beau. As usual I had fun and was thoroughly distracted until he finally went to work. It is challenging to ignore your loved ones when writing calls. I still need to gain a little will power in that area. That aside, we had a marvelous time yesterday gallivanting about St. Joseph, Michigan. I bit into the most juicy burger that had fresh crisp vegetables, perfectly melted cheese, and fries that had all the right seasonings to make a girl forget about calories and consume the whole plate. Guilt followed a bit afterwards, but I went walking in a blizzard afterwards. I'm certain I shivered through enough energy to worry about calories at another time.

While I was dining on this perfectly pulverized patty and devouring every morsel a thought jumped into my head. I should discuss one of my recently discovered writing flaws, my inability to describe why something was, cool, really nice, awesome, great, good, okay, or fine.

In my mind I was finding it hard to move past those words. To go from, "they were awesome shoes," to "they were fun emerald green triangular flats capped with gold metal at the front," was something I had been having a problem with. Pinterest made me aware of this issue.

I use Pinterest as a social media meeting of the minds with both individuals that I know well, and people that I do not. Whenever I add a picture I always include a description. However, as time passed I realized I was adding simple descriptions that didn't emphasize why these pictures I was collecting were interesting to me. All I had were a bunch of pictures that essentially said "This is SO cool!"

Repetition drives me nuts, and I am certain does so for many other readers as well. Thus I made it my prerogative to start stretching the boundaries of my descriptions. Writing can be so rich with different textures of language. It can be so much more than one word exclamations of "coolness." This writing challenge is taking what I would say in conversation and morphing it into something that others will actually enjoy reading. Like a verbal chocolate truffle that melts in your mouth, I want the words that are written to be captivating and melt seamlessly into the folds of your mind.


Development of writing comes from many different places. It comes from social media use, speech, blogging, and article construction. Self observation, which can be slow and difficult, is essential to self improvement. Consistent Pinterest descriptions and elevated blog writing is my first stepping stone. Though with January so near God Syndrome may be the bearer of some of my small successes.

Happy Writings!

Christmas Eve Musings

Mom took this picture a week ago from our living room.

The fire is blazing in the fire place as we play sappy hallmark movies on the TV. My mother and I baked a German cheese cake, which is light and fluffy and only a little sweet. The baking has caused the house to fill up with the smell of lemons. It's all intoxicating enough to lull me into dozing on the couch.

I've been bad about writing notes for my book since I went north. It's hard to stay motivated around the holidays. Especially with all the lovely cooking that is constantly being pumped out of the kitchen. It's enough to put a girl in a permanent carbohydrate induced stupor. Despite the holiday slow down I've continued to work on a side project for Musa, which I'll pick up again tomorrow night.

For now I will simply reflect on all that I am thankful for as a writer and editor this year. I am thankful I have a family who supports me while I'm on transition towards my new career. Without Celina Summers and Brandie Tarvin I would not be growing as a writer or having this amazing opportunity with Musa Publishing. My family is comprised of some of the most amazing story tellers I know and I will always be inspired by their tall and fantastic tales that lead me to the industry. I'm thankful for the brush I had with Michelle Bardsley (a romance novelist) a few years ago and the guidance she gave me then.

I have plenty to work on for the next year including finding a writing group and reading through the brand new sixteenth edition of The Chicago Manual of Style that is sitting under my Christmas tree. My mother and I know our gifts to each other, but we wrapped them and put them under the tree anyway. Forging a path forward for the new year is something I'm enthusiastic about. Leaving a string of ink, type, and graphite trailing behind me in ever greater volume.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

How Do You Make Holiday Deadlines Fun?

The most beautiful thing to this writer on a deadline!

So, I've come to the conclusion holidays and work should never mix. Ever. Then again, if I had my way, there would be no Penumbra in November and December. Readers would be very sad to have to live without their speculative fiction. That and they may demand to have their money returned to them. Something I'm certain my boss would not be pleased to hear.

I have far too much fun visiting family and kibitzing with friends around a table full of warm seasonal drinks. I enjoy hugging my sisters and scratching the ears of my old dogs as we discuss favorite foods, funny stories, and cute quirks. I also enjoy the prospect of ending my day without having to write, though this box of chocolates I'm gnawing on is making the whole experience much more marvelous.

Tomorrow one of my blogs for Penumbra is due. It will be an easy thing to write, but it is not my ideal of fun at the moment. I will just have to motivate myself with some music or continue to down copious amounts of sugar until I can't help but smile. I'll work on it tonight and edit it tomorrow before I send it in for posting. I won't have "bellow" instead of "below" this time. I don't think I could take the humiliation if I did.

My writer's block left me on the drive north today and I quickly wrote two pen and paper pages of notes for God Syndrome. I'm not wholly satisfied with it at the moment, but at least I got my grey matter into functioning order again. Next week I start the plot mountain for the book; I was surprised to find myself excited about the prospect of moving forward with it.

I'm exercising regularly now, so I'm sure just a few more pounds of chocolate will get me through the rest of the holiday season.

Have a Merry Christmas this weekend. Happy Kwanza. I hope your Hanukkahs went well. And for all the Pastafarians happy Holiday. Good will to all!

Happy Writings.

Rambling Through Writer's Block

How writer's block feels. 

The past few days I've been reworking the look of this blog. I'm still not one hundred percent sure about the typography, but overall I like the page set up that I've chosen. I;m trying to find how personal versus how professional I want to make the page look. I'm also planning the Ray Bradbury blog post for Penumbra and putting together a long overdue list for work. Honestly, the last thing I'm thinking about today is writing.

Part of my lack of focus may be from my notes for God Syndrome.  Last night I realized I hadn't done some basic character building for the book. So I spent a good hour or two writing little notes about hobbies, interests, family, education, physical looks, and locations for the book. I filled only three quarters of a page and felt like I hit a wall. It's some of the most basic stuff, but I was so focused on research I forgot to start building some basic profiles. Now I'm having the challenge of trying to build a character I don't feel entirely familiar with.

The holidays are upon us, meaning that I will be migrating back and forth across the great state of Michigan. I'm just thankful I don't have to traverse an entire country. At least not yet! I wrapped Christmas presents and made plans to visit my Father tomorrow, before Christmas Eve. Though whether I'll go or not will depend on how clean the roads will be tomorrow. Snow is pounding Michigan, but not where I currently am. All the schools in my hometown have already closed for tomorrow, essentially extending the Christmas vacation.Though, my younger sister is probably sad since her band concert was cancelled. I however have been deprived of the traditional winter wonder land, I am stuck in the gray land of cold unrelenting rain. The kind of rain that makes you want to get back into bed and dream of better locations.

Part of me hopes that going home to my Father and my half sisters will bring back some of my imagination and that I can dive back into my notes and my blog with vigor. I need a recharge and some silly inspiration. For now I'm going to get some rest and hope that dreams may be inspirational.

Happy Writings and Happy Holidays!

When Does Fiction Become Reality?

I follow Media Bistro's RSS feed, Galley Cat. They recently released a list of TED Talks that were made by writers. John Green talked about learning communities and his experience with them online. However, the most interesting aspect of his speech was the idea for something immaterial to become material. His example was Agloe, New York. Agloe was a town that only existed on a map as a matter of copyright. However, because the town was printed on so many maps people started to visit the area. Eventually a general store was set up and the town became real.

The idea that what we write or draw may become real someday is not foreign. We have been seeing science fiction become part of our everyday life for years with things like holograms, small computers, better space technology, and medicine. 

I can imagine in a few years a couple fantasy creatures coming to life with the use of biotechnology. The movie Splice really pushed the boundaries of what biotechnology could create, even if it did have a dark twist. We already have glowing cats and rabbits that have been created in labs by taking the genes from luminescent jelly fish. Spider silk is being harvested from the milk of goats who've had spider DNA injected into their code. I imagine eventually you will be able to pick up your very own norwegian ridgeback dragon in the store. Of course it would have a better temperament than the one of J.K. Rowling's imagination and come in toy size, like poodles.

What we create in fiction in any way has the possibility of coming to life. Especially if we find people who have an interest in that fiction. Agloe, New York became a real place because there was business driving through trying to find the town. It made sense to set up shop at the crossroads. There would be a market for dragons I'm sure. Though not ones that could breathe fire! Think of all of the lawsuits that would bring.

I will be curious to see what future minds will imagine for their science fiction stories, and what pieces of fiction will make their way into reality. 

What Does Writing About Tragedy Help Us Accomplish?

Ernie Pyle, the man with the white goggles, was a WWII
journalist . His experiences were cataloged in Brave Men.  

The shootings in Newton, Connecticut were a tragedy. Something, I admit, I have a hard time feeling sad about. I am human. I cry when people I know die, when my animals die, and when I know a person's story. Fred Weasley never existed, yet his passing still made me cry simply because I knew enough about him. However, I have a hard time feeling any sadness when tragedy strikes outside the scope of people I know.

I imagine immersion has a lot to do with feeling close to the situation. Immersion in a community, a family, a fake world, or a town can certainly effect you. Journalists have to deal with this whenever they immerse themselves in a community.

A couple of days ago The Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma released a guide  on how journalists should deal with tragic events. They mentioned Ernie Pyle (picture above) a WWII correspondent who wrote from the battle front. He was one of the first writers to travel with soldiers and write about war in as we know it today. His accounts would capture the death of people he knew, the mental break down of soldiers on their way home, and the horrors of war in general. His book Brave Men is an excellent depiction of the horrible things that occurred there. His book was something that allowed the reader to become immersed into the midst of the war.

Writing is a communication tool that helps translate a tragedy into something everyone can feel. To watch the soul poor out of a child's or soldier's eyes is something that when put into narrative form tugs at the heart. When the details are revealed, a person is known, an experience is described in detail we begin to understand that outside community.

Writing does more than this however, as the Dart Center pointed out writing can help the writer deal with a  tragedy. They do this by writing for themselves about the events. Reports are simply not enough (It is speculated Pyle still had post traumatic stress disorder). There are things journalists know that they cannot share with the public. Things they might hang on to that they shouldn't. Writing, talking with others, and any other manner of therapy can help in those situations. It can essentially help everyday people deal with the most abhorrent of situations.


Writing can help us communicate on a deeper level. It can help us know our fears and nightmares in a way that can be communicated to all. Fiction can do this just as well as a journal of real events. That communication of every aspect of life is something that can help console not only a reader, but a writer as well. Sharing these thoughts can even make a person like me, who feels detached from Newton, find a way to feel its effects.