Same Stuff, Different People

        For several years, I've been a WWWP--one of the wild women wielding pens. We're a fierce fivesome, meet twice a month at one of the WWWP's house, and are serious about our critique work.

        To be honest, we're also serious about our snorting (in laughter). When we began our group--before we even met--we created an agenda for our meetings. The first 15 minutes would be for off-task chitchat. In an hour and a half, we'd be done and hurtling our way home.

        But that was before we became friends.

        It was also before I got much fatter... because when we started out, it was only iced tea we had as refreshment. And then an occasional plate of cookies found its way onto the table we surrounded. And then once in a while, some cake or pie. Once in a blue moon, our hostess invites us over for dinner before we begin the critique work. (On those evenings I wear sweat pants that are three sizes too big. After all, our host bakes a quiche that is magnifique! She gets the cheese from a French monk who lives in a cave. Really.) Now, it's only occasionally that it's only tea... which is unfortunate for my waistline.

          This fall I started up another writing critique group. These are all teachers, and we meet at Fergie's, a tavern-restaurant. (We have our own private writing room... except on days when some old men have been playing cards for five hours straight and have displayed no sign of coming to an end. On THOSE days, we simply sit in the tavern/restaurant part, like common beer and whisky lovers, and talk loudly.) We eat pizza or fried chicken or taco salads or burgers, we drink iced tea or soda or beer, and we too are serious about our writing... Unfortunately, most of our seriousness gets sucked up in our classroom, leaving us only sporadic energy to write our own stuff.

           However, on our next meeting, we might be starting a collaborative project. One of the teachers suggested writing a joint book/story. One that revolves around one single event--and each of us will write from a different character's perspective. It's a way to focus our writing (some of us are a bit rusty) and is also a way to infuse a piece with distinct voices. 

          We'll see if the whole group takes the bait... 

Made/Done With Love

         If something is made with love... if it's handwritten or handcrafted, it gains in sentimental value exponentially.

         If something is done with love. If someone-makes-you-a-big-tub-of-potatoes-even-though-you're-trying-to-eat-more-healthily-but-you've-worked-a-thirteen-hour-day-and-are-starving-and-stressed-out, you know it was baked with the best of intentions. And then you eat so many potatoes you end up going to bed looking like a potato. 

        The above picture is a close-up of a lap quilt (the perfect sized quilt for a writer) made by Lynn. She made one for each of the WWWPs for Christmas. It's soft and colorful--much softer than any flannel I've ever caressed.

        Quilters claim when you make a quilt for someone, before you give it away, you should wrap yourself in it to collect all the love. All those warm feelings will become one with the batting and the thread and the fabric. And then, the recipient will benefit from all that friendship and affection.    

        Lynn amped it up a notch. She pieced the quilt in her writing room. If you know Lynn, you know she does so many things with love. She cooks and bakes like a Julia Child wannabe. She draws. (What until you see the book she's working on. The illustrations are a-ma-zing.) She writes letters. She gardens. She hostesses better than mostesess. 

          And she's taking a break from blogging to work on her book. Because even though she loves her followers, she loves writing as well. And I'm hoping she really believes in this WIP of hers.

         What handmade gift would you like to tell us about? Warm and cuddly minds want to know...

Size DOES Matter

         The size of my car once was an issue. Or rather, the turning radius of my car. I thought since it was a small car, it could make a sharp right turn around a decorative length of fence. If I was riding a bicycle, I could have made that turn.

       But I wasn't. I was in a car.

       Now, I have a couple of long dents to remind me of that afternoon... 

Here's a moshpit of golden retriever puppies--Radar's litter (he was one of 11
surviving puppies). He was so tiny then.

Here's a close-up right after Radar was chosen as our new family member... 

Here's Radar now... all 78 pounds of him.

           The size of my feet used to matter to me. As a 12-year old, I wore size 10--and then soon size 11--shoes. There weren't hip-looking shoes in the olden days that were also big as boats. Now, I simply look for shoes that are comfortable and I don't care that my toes enter the room a few minutes before the rest of me does...

         My WIP is now up to 83,000 and some change. It started as a NaNoWriMo winner, was shredded back down to 0, and is now getting closer to a finished draft. And as I nudge taser myself into working on it, I also want to nudge along some writer friends. (Most of you know who you are.)

         Donna Volkenannt. Get busy. Why are you reading this post, when you could be working on your novel? Tammy. You have a best-selling book that is unfolding during WWWP critique sessions. Get on it. Lynn. It sounds like you've got some great priorities to ensure you get your book finished, which is marvelous, because it's going to be a gorgeous book. Linda--you have had such interesting experiences so far. Your memoir would be a page-turner. Convince Bill to be your typist (and your personal chef and your publicist) , and you can dictate it. Val. You need to get crackin' on a collection of your stories. Shay--How about another book of your poetry? Pat. Get it done. You're retiiiired. Stop those crazy-fun trips and hunch over your keyboard. Marcia--Are you hiding a book from the rest of us? Cathy Hall and Lisa Ricard Claro, you don't need no prodding. (Cathy has the Korean market sewn up, and Lisa is on her 89th book (it comes out on January 30.)

       And now I'm headed to bed... 

      

Getting Your Peeps Together

        As a writer, it's important to get together with my writing critique friends. I'm lucky. I am part of two groups, I go on at least one writing retreat every year, and I have some long-distance writing colleagues who help me out from time to time.

My son, husband, daughter and granddaughter...
My husband played Santa at a Masonic Christmas party.

       However, even more important than writing get-togethers is gatherings of family and friends. If we spent all of our time hunched over our laptops, tapping away, we wouldn't have anything to write about. Life--and living life--primes the pump. It fills the well. It gives us fodder to write about and it gives us time to reflect on our writing.

      I hope that 2016 is the best year ever for you. Some of us have new struggles to deal with. Some of us have had new issues rear their heads in 2015 and are still working them through. Some of us have scary things to consider (for me: retiring from public school in May and finding a private school job). However, obstacles make us stronger--if we survive them--and oftentimes we find we have more inner strength to draw from than we knew we had.

      Happy New Year!

What's in Her Pocket?

        I once read that if you know a character well--a character you've created--you should be able to list what they have in their pocket (or purse or wallet).

        For sure, you should write a character and make it so fleshed out that you know their gestures, their quirks, their likes and dislikes.

        And what goes without saying:  the reader should also know the character as well as you do. It can't just be in your head. It has to be down on paper as well...

          As I'm working on my WIP, I hope my characters are becoming well-developed. I hope the reader--if there ever will be a reader of my WIP--ends up caring for my characters.

         Speaking of characters--my son is a character. A really quirky character. A character that I know all too well. (After all, he is responsible for most of the gray patches in my hair.) He's musically talented, a voracious reader, a god in his niece's eyes and a 2nd year med student. Which is why this story might make you shudder... 

       On Christmas we were enjoying a couple of varieties of wine. A moscato and a cranberry wine. Ian went into my mother-in-law's kitchen to open a new bottle, and came back with a full bottle of cranberry wine. He acted like nothing odd had happened. Unfortunately for him, someone had witnessed what transpired... and was eager to share the story.

       It seems that my son had an unusually easy time with the corkscrew. That sometimes reluctant cork popped out like it was on a kamikaze mission was nonexistent. 

      There was no cork. It was a screw-top bottle (nothing but the most high-falutin' libations at our family gatherings). We did make sure there were no bits of metal in the wine, shook our heads at da boy, and took several photos for blackmail posterity. (We're hoping he can soon crack open a person's chest with more knowledge than he can open a bottle of wine.)

     And to let my many three followers in on what I did last week, here's a photographic clue. I gift-wrapped books at Half-Price Books, and Radar prostituted himself for donations to Love a Golden Rescue. That pesky pup would roll over on his back and accept belly rubs for a buck a crack. If you'd like to help us get more stray goldens from Istanbul (we're getting 6-8 more in April), click on Love a Golden's link, then click on the airplane.

       Is there a photo of you that is brought out occasionally when some levity is needed? Please share... 

For Lisa, I Will Be an Employer of Ladies of the Evening

      

         Lisa Ricard Claro has launched her own writing and editing business. Ricard Writing & Editing offers a variety of services at various levels.

          Do you have a HM (hot mess) of a WIP? Are you in desperate need of help when it comes to your manuscript? Have you begged for an objective pair of eyes, but are suspicious your writing friends are being kind telling white lies hitting the opium pipe failing to be honest when they respond to your work?

          Yes? Then Lisa is the answer to your problem. Not only will she help you with your manuscript, she'll also craft a book blurb, a query letter or (shudder) a synopsis.

          If you've read any of Lisa's work--her short stories or her novel (her 2nd novel is coming out in January)--you know what a gifted writer she is. If you've ever read her comments on other people's blogs, or her replies to comments on her blog, then you know what a deft touch she has with humor and encouragement, along with how in tune she is with each individual writer she encounters.

        Since Friday, I've been camped out at Half Price Books. I'm wrapping gifts for Love a Golden Rescue. It's my favorite bookstore. (And they're coming to Atlanta, for you folks in Georgia). Each HPB location has a huge assortment of used books, records (33 rpm's, baby!), movies, comic books, CD's, and even videotapes (what are those?). They will literally buy anything except yesterday's newspaper. Old People magazines? They'll buy them. Your beloved Bee Gees concert videotape? They'll buy it but might snicker over the images of the brothers Gibb in feathered hair and leisure suits once you've left the building. They also have new books, but with way-cheaper prices than their competitors.

        What book or magazine do you have that you might be reluctant--because of the guffaw effect you might cause--to take to a used book store? And since I won't be posting until next Monday, have a wonderful Christmas (if you celebrate Christmas). Eat an extra piece of pie for me...