Next big thing

Recently, Lisa from “empty the well” tagged me as part of the Next Big Thing Blog Hop. It’s been quite a while since I’ve joined in this kind of blogging shenanigans, but I really like the questions involved with this one.

Here are 10 inquiries about my future, award-winning novel. Being that I am once again participating in NaNoWriMo this year, I’ll answer based on that attempt.

I’m still pondering if I’ll post my work in progress. I’m not writing the chapters in any sort of order, so it’s a bit haphazard now. The response to this post may be the deciding factor.

What is the working title of your book?
It will make no sense to anyone other than me, but it’s “Red Hawk.” I only used that to make it easier to find the rough draft on my desktop. A hawk is featured in the story, but this title won’t make the final edit.

Where did the idea for your book come from?
No kidding, it was a dream. And no, I wasn’t drinking or eating weird stuff the night before. I’m hoping to re-connect with the dream some night while I’m writing. I’d like to know how it ends.

What genre does your book fall under?
If it had to be designated something, I guess it would be fantasy. Though the story setting is modern-day America and Ireland.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I never really thought about it. I don’t watch a lot of movies so can’t say I’m familiar with too many of the current movie idols. If Jessica Tandy were still alive, she’d be great for the grandmother, but if not her, maybe Judi Dench. As for the lead female, Dakota Fanning, with Colin O’Donoghue as her dad.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?
“A young woman, full-filling a family tradition, learns that tradition can often take on a life of its own.”

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
If it ever gets that far, I would probably look first to being self-published.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your novel?
I haven’t finished the first draft yet, but it is the focus of the National Novel Writing Month for me this year. I’m on track to write 50,000 words in 30 days, so ask again on Nov. 30.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
So far, I haven’t found a book that is similar to what I envision. I hope that is a good thing.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
See NaNoWriMo…

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Lisa offered her readers money, I’d have to pay people in Trident gum, so that probably won’t be a successful marketing ploy. The best I can offer are fantasy creatures and at least one tattoo that comes to life.

Now comes the meme part where I’m supposed to “tag” two more people to pimp their Next Big Thing. This was always the hardest part of memes for me, since there are either too many people I want to include, or not enough… and by not enough, I mean, I don’t know who would be willing to participate.

This time I just asked. Hopefully, the artistic powerhouse, husband/wife team of Lance and Deana will soon fill out this questionnaire to tell us all about their pending literary masterpieces.

National Novel Writing Month

My attempt to write 50,000 words in 30 days. Hopefully somewhere in that jumble of words, a novel materializes.

I before me, except after see

I am an admitted word nerd. I keep a running list of favorited words that I find in books I read, or hear, hoping to find a way to add them to a story someday.

Words like “phantasmagoric,” and “pentimento,” “callipygian,”  and “trousseau,” are a balm to my weary mind.

There are words that will never trip easily off my tongue or fingertips, but are fabulous in their intricacy – “floccinaucinihilipilification” [flok-suh-naw-suh-nahy-hil-uh-pil-uh-fi-key-shuhn], which means “the act of judging something to be worthless.” How great is that word?

For all you lint pickers there is, “omphaloskepsis” [om-fuh-loh-skep-sis] – “contemplation of one’s naval as a means of meditation.” You now have a word for it.

The more complicated a word is, the more grandiose, the more I love it and must possess it, and in possessing it, flaunt it.

It’s the small, mundane words that I loath. Words like ‘”lay” and “lie,” “me” and “I,” that make me apoplectic.

My contentious relationship with “affect” and “effect” was finally resolved, so too my feud with “who” and “whom.”

Yet, “lay” and “lie” still vex me. The present tenses I can decipher, it’s those past, perfect, future, participles and pluperfects, that I struggle to grasp. Especially when one word works for several definitions and/or tenses, depending on the context. I usually search for an alternative, and avoid the bastages altogether.

For “me” and “I,” it’s not my ineptitude of their proper use that sets my teeth on edge, it’s when I find them used by others incorrectly.

I acknowledge the same could be said by others when I abuse “lay” and “lie,” and overindulge my comma usage. I own my hypocrisy.

“I” is subjective,“ and “me” is objective. As in “Susan and I are going to the store,” and “Do you want to go to the store with Susan and me?”

An exceptionally easy way to test which to use, is to simply remove the other name from the sentence.

“Do you want to go to the store with Susan and me?” as opposed to “Do you want to go to the store with Susan and I?”

“Kathy went to the store with Susan and me,” not “Kathy went to the store with Susan and I.”

The second sentences makes no sense, because They. Are. Wrong.

Word nerd rant over… resume normal.

Old friends

Old friends, new stories

Hello my old friends
Any new stories to tell?
It’s been a long time

5,7,5

Haiku Friday is hosted by Lou at LouCeeL.

In an effort to fulfill a promise to myself, I visited my local public library for some new (to me) books. And! I’ve been reading them.

A bushel of apples

A repost of a little Christmas story I wrote last year.  A cautionary tale about driving tired during the holidays…

He hated being late, and they knew it. He had sent out memos before about last-minute projects, but still they kept pushing for more time. Their enthusiasm was appreciated, but it had to stop. If his schedule was off even a few minutes, people could be missed, children would suffer, and that was completely unsatisfactory.

Final arrangements were made and the last of the merchandise was loaded into the vehicle. Once in the air, he went over the itinerary again. Re-calculating arrival and departure times, with some luck and good weather, he could make up for the late start over water, pushing the team a little harder than he normally did.

Work was going smoothly. There were no surprises, and drop-offs were made without incident. He cut some time by skipping his usual snack breaks. Not wanting to hurt feelings, he pocketed most of the cookies and poured the egg nog and milk into out-of-the-way places. Cutting back on the drinks would also reduce the number of necessary potty breaks.

Back on track, he finally relaxed and began to enjoy the trip. It was a gorgeous night. Crisp and clear, he could see for miles. Holiday lights flooded the landscape. Big cities were ablaze in red and green, smaller towns were rainbow beacons in vast fields of white.

Occasionally a flock of geese would pull along side, keeping him company while over open space, peeling away while he made a descent to the next drop-off sites.

He wasn’t sure what went wrong, he never had this problem before, but he began to nod off. Over the years, staying up all night was second nature. He thrived on the adrenaline, he lived for the excitement of the job.

Somewhere over the Panhandle of Florida, he just couldn’t keep his eyes open. Without his firm hand, the girls began to slow down. The sleigh moved in an erratic pattern, tilting dangerously to starboard. A cry from Blitzen as the first bag of packages fell, jolted him awake and into action.

He never maneuvered the sleigh with that kind of precision before. As the packages tumbled toward the earth, their trajectory taking them directly into a small pond, he swung the team around, zigzagging through the sky, capturing each box as it fell. Grabbing the last present as the sleigh skids cut through the water, he thought he had rescued all the missing pieces.

Climbing to altitude, a glint off the water caught his eye. There lying around the sandy bank, and at the pond’s edge, were dozens of green apples, spilled out of the bushel basket the Missus had loaded as he was leaving.

Checking the time, he knew, as scattered as the apples were, he could not stop to collect them. It would waste too many precious minutes he just couldn’t spare, and he couldn’t chance being seen. This one time, this one year, they would simply have to be left off.

It was with a heavy heart, that he left the apples where they laid and continued on his night’s mission.

Standing in front of her, his five-year-old fist was planted firmly on his hip, the other hand holding a familiar stocking, his name lovingly embroidered on the cuff. The stocking was obviously devoid of the traditional Granny Smith that should be filling the toe.

His head cocked to one side, his mouth held in a thin frown, he held out the stocking to his mother.

“And, that is why Santa didn’t leave an apple in your stocking this year, Sweetheart.”

Submitted as part of Shell’s “Pour Your Heart Out” writing prompt at Things I Can’t Say. Please stop by to read the other posts, and give a little comment love.

I hope everyone gets their heart’s desire this holiday season. Merrychristmahanukwanzaakkah!

A necessary non-necessity

When I read a book, I’m transported to another era, another place, even another universe. Reading is my escape, a way for me to forget all the stress and demands of this life, and delve into a realm of fantasy.

The draw back to this, is there are so many places I want to go, so many characters I want to meet. I can’t seem to stop finding new escape routes. I am a bibliophile with too many books and not enough time to really enjoy them.

Instead of reading the ones I have before getting new ones, I just keep getting new ones. So many that I had to get a separate bookcase for my ‘to-read’ stack.

I sometimes fantasize about having to be bed-ridden, unable to attend to my routine household chores, so that I can simply read, and read… and read.

I have managed to break the cycle of only buying hardcovers, paperbacks are so much nicer than they used to be. But.. day-um… it’s an expensive habit. I need to find a way to thin the herd, get rid of some of my accumulated library of novels.

I NEED to actually read more of them. This is my current stack of ‘in-progress’ books (banned books included). I’ve started reading each of these, and jumped to a new book at the slightest provocation. I will finish these before starting a new one… I will read the books lining my bookcases before buying more.

What I really need to do is renew my friendship with our local library. That would be epic… and a lot cheaper.

Day 16 – 30 Days of Shamelessness: spend money on a non-necessity or share a financial struggle

Read a banned book

I like to read… who am I kidding? I LOVE to read. If I have any addiction, it would be to books. I can’t seem to stop myself from buying books. At least now, I can manage to buy paperbacks instead of only hardcovers. This summer alone I’ve probably purchased 15-20 new books with no hopes of finishing them any time soon, and still I want more.

While I typically prefer Fantasy/Science Fiction, I’ll read just about any genre. In my library you’ll find Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov, Ken Follett and Joseph Keller, Eudora Welty and William Faulkner, Christopher Moore and Neil Gaiman, China Mieville and Stephen King, Brian Jacques and J.K. Rowling, Gregory Maguire and Michael Chabon, Stieg Larsson and Jo Nesbø, and Tana French and Dean Koontz. That’s just scratching the surface.

There are very few books I would refuse to read, and there is rarely a time I would favor censorship or out-right banning. The way I look at it, if you don’t like the subject matter, the language or plot, just don’t read it.

Sept. 24 through Oct. 1 is Banned Books Week. Reading through the list of books challenged or banned this year in schools and libraries, I was amazed and incredulous at the reasoning behind some the challenges.

I was not surprised to find that I’ve read many of these verboten novels. In honor of Banned Books Week, I’ve already started reading yet another challenged book: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.

I’ll let you know if I feel corrupted afterward.