Whine or Wine?

        Several of my writing friends have stories in this collection, among them Linda O'Connell and Donna Volkenannt. The book was edited by Dahlynn and Ken McKowen, and Dianna Graveman. (The anthology includes a story by Dianna as well.) These books will hit the shelves on April 8--a little over a month away.

     My story "More Wine" is about our son. In his teenaged years, d'boy was exasperating  squirrely  unique. His trips in cars often became adventures...and sometimes costly ones. His antics with the marching band were laughable (if he had been someone else's kid). He was suspended once in his junior year of high school...for an unusual transgression.

     Now, he's in his mid-twenties and is awaiting word on acceptance into medical school. He turned all my hair gray and once that mission was accomplished, he straightened up and became a young man I'm extremely proud of.

This is my son on his graduation day
from Drury University a couple of years ago.

         If you have kids, what drove you the furthest over the crazy cliff?

So, What's Your Story?

          Today I went to the Saturday Writers meeting. Kristina Blank Makansi and Jennifer Dunn Stewart of Blank Slate Press were there to talk about queries (Yikes!) Some of the people shared their query letters for critique--I shared my steaming pile of poop query letter. It was not pretty helpful.

        If you are a writer, you'll enjoy this video. And if you are not a writer, but you are constantly amazed by people's unrealistic self-perceptions and their screwed-up views, you might chuckle right along with us writerly folks... 

       I read C. Hope Clark's post about the stories that are left untold. It is my belief that everyone has a book in them. Everyone has a story to tell.  What stories do you have that are not being shared? They will vanish if they aren't told to someone or written down. What stories do your parents or grandparents or aunts or uncles have that will be lost without being chronicled?

       Don't put it off until it's too late...You'll regret it if you wait too long.

       And it's not too late to be a part of Not Your Mother's Book...On Being a Mom. Dianna Graveman is the editor, along with Dahlynn and Ken McKowen. This book (see the cover below) has August 1 as a deadline. If you have a story for this collection, submit it quickly. For other titles, check out www.publishingsyndicate.com for dozens of anthologies that are currently being developed.



My story, "So Far I've Avoided Prison...Pass the Wine,"
has made it through the first round. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Vive la Difference!

           My favorite place on this planet is southern France. The meals last for three hours (lunch) or more (dinner) and there is a sense of joy that is at the core of everything they do--baking bread, making salad dressing, setting the coffee table for aperitif (a set time for drinks and appetizers before dinner). When I retire, and when I can convince my husband to discontinue his homebody-ways, I will move to France (if only in my dreams).

This is a path we took, surrounded by the Pyreenes Mountains.

This is a potato, onion and cheese dish--the specialty of a humble restaurant that we dined at
before hiking to the base of the mountains. It was a work of art with every mouthful... 

Another view of these gorgeous mountains...

 

         A story about when I took my son to France is in the upcoming Publishing Syndicate's Not Your Mother's Book On Travel. Would you go topless on a beach, with your teenaged son running in and out of the ocean? Would you stalk Johnny Depp all across the rolling hills of Saint Gauzens?  (Okay, that didn't happen, but only because my Johnny Depp-o-meter was not giving me the accurate latitude and longitude.)  Would you force your son to do something that caused permanent psychological scarring to his psyche?


      You will have to buy the book to find out how ooh-la-la this lady went. And the book? It will be on sale March 26...

Deaf to All Except Those With a Deft Touch

        
         We were talking about this (how we love a delicate touch) at our writing critique meeting this past Wednesday. (You know, after roll call...after the minutes from the last meeting were read aloud...after issues from the floor were discussed...after they tried to force me into an Ellipsis Intervention group...)

          What's that, you ask? Am I speaking of how much I would appreciate Viggo Mortensen's gentle touch? No. Not at this moment. (But now that you mention it...) Right now, my appreciation is being heaped onto editors who know their boundaries.

art by hardgalvin.deviantart.com

          So far, I've been lucky enough to work with only a handful of editors, and they've been  extremely respectful of territorial lines. Where does my voice end and theirs begin in the editing process? I have a unique style/rhythm/strange set of idiosyncrasies  to my writing. There might be editors who--when they edit my work--might unwittingly infuse my writing with their voice. It might be when a bit of punctuation is changed, a different phrase is added, or the format of the story is altered.

         Lately, I've worked with two great editors---Dahlynn McKowen and Pat Nelson. Their suggestions have improved my pieces and the changes are done seamlessly. In my mind, that's one sign of a great editor.

         What editor have you worked with recently that you'd like to highlight as you pile on the praise? Come on. I know there are lots of stories to tell...