Pumping Legs and Arms, but Gaining Speed Slowly

I have a New York hangover.

As some of you know, the weekend plans to attend my nephew's baptism changed last week when my cousin Ryan passed away from a brain tumor.  He'd outlived his 2-3 month prognosis and survived 18 months past the initial diagnosis.  One of the many blessings throughout his journey.  Being reunited with my extended, Upstate New York family was one of mine.

I flew to Syracuse on Wednesday night, arriving at my parents' house after midnight.  The funeral was the next day, and the reception that followed took place at another cousin's restaurant, which was closed to the public for the night.  As dusk fell, the sound system cranked, and Ryan's favorite band, Tragically Hip, blared through the speakers.  Drinks flowed, lyrics were shouted, glasses were raised over and over, to Ryan.   Perhaps not a traditional send-off, but one Ryan would have appreciated.

The next day, two of my sisters and I hung out, looking at old family photos and enjoying my nieces and nephews.  On Saturday morning, my sister and her son, and my parents and I boarded a plane for New York City.  The regularly scheduled weekend program kicked in, and we celebrated yet another sister's baby's baptism.  (For those of you wondering, I am the oldest of five sisters.  No brothers.  Yep, estrogen and drama -- we have plenty of both in our family.)

The most excellent story line for fiction is playing out in one of my sister's real life.  One day, I hope to write it.  Now isn't the time, of course.  Inner conflict is no laughing matter.  But I took notes...just in case.

I arrived home at 1:30 Monday morning.  Needless to say, I took a couple naps yesterday.  Today, I'm trying to get back into the swing of things, but it seems no matter how hard I pump my arms and legs, I feel like I'm trudging through water.  Leaning on caffeine to carry me through.

I'll leave you with a pic from the baptism of my beautiful sisters:

Natasha (the christened baby's mama), Noelle, Nadine, Natalie, and me

Have a wonderful day, all!

Joyful, Yet Unplugged

I'm coming off a great weekend and streaking into this Monday with ample amounts of energy and purpose.  If only every Monday felt as vigorous as this one!

We had more rain than sunshine over the weekend, but the kids and I stayed busy with a new project that's got our creative blood pumping.  In addition, I learned I won two blog contests -- an Amazon gift card from Amy Holder and an ARC from Shannon Messenger -- and I've been doing a goofy happy dance since.  Hubs and I cooked together, amazing meals both Saturday and Sunday nights, so I have a food buzz on top of everything.

In short, life is good.

Thank goodness, too, because I have quite a week in front of me.  I'm coordinator of the Student Store at my daughter's school, and this is the last week of planning before we open our doors next week.  Lots to do with that.  And, I'm leaving on Friday for NYC, where my family is reuniting for my baby sister's son's baptism.  He is her first baby, and we are all so excited to celebrate this event with her.  Not only do I have to organize myself for the trip, but I have to help prepare hubs and the kids, who are staying behind but enjoying the weekend at Callaway Gardens, in the Black Mountains of GA.  All this, while I WRITE -- 'cause the muse is back in the house!

All this to say: with all that's going on this week, I'm going to unplug and jump in with both feet.  I have the energy and motivation to make great things happen in the next couple days, and I'm going for it!  I hope you have a great week and reach all your goals, too!!

Remember...

Enjoy it!!

(Brought to you by an annoyingly bubbly and optimistic blogger, for a Monday anyways...!)

Guess That Character Blogfest -- The Reveal

Day Two of Jen's from Unedited's Guess That Character Blogfest is the reveal of my spotlighted character!

Julie Knotts is a young woman in her mid-twenties who is living on her own for the first time, without family or room mate.  It's a scary time for her, because unresolved issues from a childhood tragedy compromise her sense of security in the world.  Most of the time, she's just plain paranoid that the worse case scenario is destined to play out.  She's carefree by nature, so the forced conditioning her personality suffers from fear is her greatest inner conflict.

So, without further ado, here is Julie:

 

She's highly artistic, but lacks the self-confidence to pursue her talents (What if no one thinks I'm any good? What if I can't pay my bills? What if I have an accident and hurt my hands, or my eyes, and can't paint or play music anymore?  What if...?  What if...?)

Thanks everyone who visited my blog and made a guess.  There were a lot of participants!  I wasn't able to visit everyone's entry.  I think I fell short by about 15.  I'm going to try to get around to those I missed yesterday!!

A LOT of you guessed correctly!  I was very impressed :D

Thanks, Jen, for the fun time! *hugs*

Guess That Character Blogfest!

Thanks to Jen at Unedited for hosting one of the most enjoyable blogfests evah!  Her ingenious idea is this: Based on the character's voice as you read the short excerpt below from my current WiP, tell me in the comment section what you imagine the character looks like.  Tomorrow I'll post her "photo," and we'll both get a kick out of learning: how closely you guessed her physical characteristics; and how successful I was at infusing her essence into the writing.

Keep in mind this is rough, rough, rough -- first draft, for real!  Not a lot of literary magic in there (YET) :D  Okay, disclaimer aside, here goes:

When the digital clock alarm sounded the next morning, Julie was already washing her face in the bathroom.  Early morning was her favorite time of day.  The air always smelled fresher, and her energy was always the highest, just after the sun came up.  If reincarnation was real, and she suspected it was, Julie was quite certain she was once a bird who soared across dawn skies, heralding each new day with twitters and chirps.

She switched the alarm to off and changed out of pajamas and into a cut-off pair of jean shorts and boxy white tee shirt.  She gathered the bottles and tubes from the ledge around the bathroom sink in her one laundry basket, lay the towels from the racks on top, and placed the framed mixed medium collage she’d done in a college art class on top.  She spent the minimum amount of time necessary to prep the room, mostly running a dust rag along the baseboards and window sash.  She prided herself with having a steady hand, plus she’d be armed with the ten dollar detail paintbrush, so she skipped taping off the trim entirely.

When she pried off the paint can lid and stirred the Toasted Pine paint, her excitement grew.  Pouring the thick paint into the roller pan doubled her elation.  But when she drew the roller across the middle of the wall, a swathe of silvery moss-colored paint covering the uninspired perfection of beige, her heart sang.  Within minutes, she was lost in her project and her joy.

So what do you think Julie Knotts looks like? 

Swing by tomorrow when I'll post her photo!  

Also click HERE to read all the excerpts by Guess That Character Blogfests participants!

Look Who I Met!

Summer and me, at Starbucks

Yesterday, I had a GREAT day.  I met Summer (...and this time, concentrate!) for coffee!  Not cyber-coffee, either.  Actual hot beverages, enjoyed face-á-face, outside the blogosphere in the land of flesh-and-blood.  Those of you lucky enough to have met with writer/bloggers know how thrilling it is to sit across from a 3-D version of your blogger bud's profile photo, to hear her voice, and to talk in depth about writing and about life in general.  It was nothing short of awesome!

I don't have a great deal of support of my writing in my life.  English is my husband's second language, and he has no desire to struggle through my stories.  He's fine with me writing, as long as I don't do it when he's home.  I can live with that.  My kids are very proud of my accomplishments, but they complain incessantly if they are home and I'm "on the boring computer."  Friends listen when I bring up my writing, but very soon their eyes glass over, and I know it's time to change the subject.  It was really, really nice to sit with Summer (for two and a half hours!!) and talk about our projects, our short and long term goals, what it would mean to be published, or not.  I'm looking forward to many more chats!

And, I feel energized to get writing.  Thanks for that, Summer:)

I hope everyone's enjoying their week so far.  Happy Hump Day, everyone!

Have You Heard?

The super talented, extremely generous, and all-around gorgeous Shannon Whitney Messenger has announced the first part of her Mega-Epic-Contest-of-Awesome.  She has SO much prize swag to give away, she had to break her contest up.  That means more chances for us to win!

So what's up for grabs now, in M.E.C.A. Part One? 

FIVE ARCs by awesome authors, whose books release next month!

You must be a Shannon Whitney Messenger follower to enter, so if it's your first time visiting her, please mention I sent you :D  (Enter before August 21st)

Click HERE to enter today!

I'm doing a lot of writing this week, so I'll appear absent.  I will be reading your blogs, but I'm going to restrict my commenting time.  You know how it is: sometimes, you have to just write! :D  Thinking of you and hoping you have a fab week!

The Truth Is in the Eye of the POV

I'm a fan of stories told from multiple viewpoints.  

(Note: To clarify, I do not enjoy omniscient POV.  When I say multiple viewpoints, I'm referring to novels where there is a clear shift in POV, ie: at the beginning of a new chapter or scene.  Head-hopping causes me to throw the book across the room.)  

For me, a central conflict is infinitely more interesting when I'm able to sympathize, or at least understand, different characters' interpretations of the situation.  In the end, there are very few truths in life.  Perceptions, ideologies, right verses wrong: all are highly subjective and relative notions.

I was thinking  this morning about it while watching Good Morning America.  The show highlighted yet another side to what's becoming the multi-faceted story of "modern folk hero" Steven Slater.  He is the Jet Blue flight attendant who lost his cool on August 9th, cussed out the entire plane of passengers, grabbed his carry-on luggage and a couple brew-skis, deployed the inflatable emergency exit slide, and used it to deplane.

The original story, told from Slater's POV, alleged that upon arriving and taxiing to the gate, a passenger stood and opened the overhead luggage bin before the fasten seatbelt light was turned off.  According to Slater, the passenger argued with him and her luggage fell from the bin, striking him on the forehead.  He snapped, fed up with a career of dealing with rude, unruly passengers, and acted out the climactic scene of his original production "Take This Job and Shove It."

Today, Good Morning America interviewed a passenger from that flight, who told a different story.  As the GMA website recapped, "Witnesses have also told police that it was Slater who was rude to passengers, and the cut on his forehead came at the beginning of the flight, not during an altercation with a surly passenger after the plane landed, as Slater has claimed."

What's fascinating about this story is the incident took place within the tight confines of an airplane, yet it's very difficult to sort out what really happened.  How could one person claim the suitcase conked Slater on the head, and others claim it didn't happen?

And around the globe, news audiences are interpreting this unfolding story according to their own past experiences and  personal codes of ethics.  Flight attendants have been quoted as applauding Slater's actions, understanding how much they have to put up with in their service-oriented careers.  Others feel dealing with rude customers is part of the job and those in service industries have to handle themselves with professionalism, at all costs.  Whether Slater is a hero or a villain is becoming a lively debate.

In fiction, we should remember that no conflict exists in black and white.  Life is like that: complicated, subjective, and messy.   By allowing the reading into the minds and hearts of different characters, we explore the shades of gray in every incident.  In turn, the emotional impact on the reader will elevate, and the story with ring true with authenticity.

So what do you think?  Is Steven Slater the hero or the villain of his story?