Thankful For Great Characters

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I thought we’d put a bookish spin on things and talk about characters we’re thankful we've met. One character I’ve loved since I was a little is Pippi Longstocking. She’s creative. She always has a story to tell. She’s much stronger than she looks. Annnnnnnnnnnnd she has a pet monkey. Ha!

So how about you? Is there a character you’ve read about recently or one from your past that inspired you? Share about him/her in the comment section. On Thanksgiving, I’ll draw one sharer's name to win a $10 Barnes & Noble gift card. This contest is only open to U.S. residents. Be sure I have your email address, Twitter handle, or some way to contact you in case your name is picked. Good luck, and thanks for sharing!

Five Things You Will Never Hear Me Say

Sometimes the things a person or character won’t say are more telling than what they will say. Delia Moran has a post on what she wouldn’t say, and I love it so much I decided to steal (with her consent) the idea. Here’s the link to hers. And here are five things you’ll never hear me say:

5. Want to meet me for a 5:00 a.m. jog?
4. I know exactly where that random piece of paper I jotted that down on is!
3. Who would buy paperclips just because they come in cute shapes or colors?
2. Baked Kale tastes just like potato chips.

And last, but not least:

1. No worries. I never take my story ideas from real life situations.

What would be on your list? Share by leaving a comment.  If you decide to steal Delia’s post idea, be sure to leave the link so we can read yours too! J

 

In Love With Love

My littlest is in love with the idea of having a puppy. We emailed in a rescue application for a particular fur baby. They called our veterinarian. Things were hopping along, until I checked Petfinder and discovered someone else had adopted the cutie over the weekend. My little one cried. SOBBED.

Until I showed her a new puppy…with a fat little puppy belly…and pleading puppy eyes. Then my daughter fell in love. Again.

Sometimes we’re in love with an idea more than an individual.

This happened to me in college. I was dancing with my friends in a club, when I noticed a quiet guy watching from the corner. He’s probably shy…and smart…and funny…and perfect for me, I thought. In reality, he was shy, but not funny. He was sure UFO’s existed and visited often. I would look up during random times of my day and find him watching me. Not the romantic, sweet, sort of watching. The creepy sort of SomeoneDoACriminalBackgroundCheck watching. Yeah. Not so perfect for me after all.

Writers can do this with agents and editors. There are awesome professionals scouting for talent on Twitter and blog contests, but there are also people out there who call themselves agents and editors that don’t do either well. When a request comes from someone, ANYONE, it’s hard not to get excited. But a savvy writer will check out them out thoroughly before deciding whether or not to submit their work to them.

Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever been in love with the idea more than the individual? Tell us about it in the comment section. Substitute Bob or Bobbette to avoid naming names!

 

Leap!

My summer was packed with adventure. Camping with Yogi Bear. Racing down waterslides. Even finding my inner ARRRRGH at the Beaufort Pirate Invasion.

A favorite scene happened during one of my kids' gymnastics lessons. A teacher from a different class had a group running through the same obstacle course over and over. All of the sudden, a differently-abled little girl had had enough. Instead of returning to the end of the line like the others, she took off with arms flailing and a rebel cry toward the giant foam pit on the other side of the gym. The staff called for her to stop, but she ignored them—keeping her eyes on where she really wanted to be.

It is a thing of beauty to watch someone leap.

We get caught up in the day to day, making sensible choices and listening to reason, but most of us long for something more. To dive into a foam pit. Sing on a big stage. Lay a kiss on someone we’ve secretly loved. To fly across the Atlantic Ocean using hundreds of helium-filled balloons. It takes courage to leap. After all, it doesn’t always end well. But that moment when there is more hope than there is fear? It tastes like freedom.

So as the new school year begins, I’ll ask you…heck, I’ll double dog dare you! LEAP! Find something that makes your heart sing and take a chance.

Are you planning on leaping? Comment below to tell us what you are doing to throw yourself into a dream.

Beer Goggles, First Drafts, and Tattoo Nightmares

I love it when seeming unrelated things connect like paper dolls in my mind. Beer goggles (for those too innocent to know) are what people claim to have been wearing when they've had a few drinks too many and the Star Trek fan who never caught their eye before suddenly becomes HAWT and fascinating and all sorts of kissable.

So what would beer goggles have to do with a first draft of a manuscript? Lots, my friend. Lots. Creating words and worlds, chaos and conflict—it’s intoxicating. We come up for air enamored and hazy, buzzing enough that the lines between a good start and a good manuscript get blurry and sometimes disappear.

One of my current favorite shows is Tattoo Nightmares. It’s a reality show where people with awful tattoos come to three amazing artists to get cover-ups. The backstories? Fascinating. The finished products? Mind blowing. You can hardly see traces of the botched pieces they used to have. They each leave with a masterpiece of skin art.

Being a part of a critique group keeps me from beer goggling after a first draft. I am still the artist, but discussing my manuscript with other writers helps sober me up and transform a good beginning into a work that’s ready to show others.

So how about you? Ever fall in love with an awful first draft or get a terrible tattoo? Comment and tell us about it.