Just Not Enough Pages

When I first started writing, it was a struggle to fill the pages. Too much scientific academia had stripped my writing to the leanest of lean. I would look at those 65k word counts and sigh while other people complained about how they just couldn't tell a story in under 400 pages. I couldn't even begin to fathom 400 pages.

I've gotten better over the years. I can hit a solid 65k without too much trouble now (as long as I can make it through chapter 7). I've even made it as high as 90k, which is just six pages shy of 400, actually. Part of it is layering. That's an important step for me now, especially with paranormals. You have to set the stage, establish the magic, which is something I sorta glossed over before. Another part that has helped is getting in touch with my voice. My inner editor had been axing a lot of the silliness that I came up with because I didn't think it fit into what a romance novel should be. Letting my quirk into my stories has bumped up my page counts significantly and earned praise that tells me I'm on the right track.

Which leads me to my new problem. Now that I've unleashed the beast, how do I rein it back in? How do I write a 50-55k category novel when there's all this cool stuff in my head? I start off with a simple enough idea - perfect category book. Then I start plotting. Now I've got enough plot to fill a good chunk of the pages and that's without the character development, the romance, the internal conflict or my favorite part... the funny characters and situations that aren't critical to the story, but are just dying to get out. How do I cut out the quirky, old Egyptologists or the loud, Italian family that is a big part of my character's lives? I mean, I could skip all that, but I think that would mean cutting out one of my strengths.

Wise people have told me that you should never waste a single title idea on a category book. What am I supposed to do now that I struggle to come up with a category plot? Emotion is one of my weaknesses. I can't just write a story with two characters in conflict that emote for 230 pages. There has to be more going on for me to write it. Something aside from tortured pasts and inabilities to trust. A bad guy. A curse. Possession. Even sex - which is saying a lot for me and how much I dislike emoting. All this, if done well or at least, done to my own satisfaction, takes up lots of pages.

Part of me says I should just embrace this idea. Accept that I have a single title voice and go with it. So, I'll just sell single title instead, right? Nope. The single title market is a bear. Hell, the business as a whole is rough, but saying I'm going to start out as an untried author and shoot for single title is crazy talk. Can't hardly get in the door without an agent, then you start the "need an agent to get published, need to be published to get an agent" nonsense. Sigh. Everytime I start with the kernal of an idea, it just blows way out of bounds, but in a good way I don't want to fight. I guess I'll just continue to write what I write and see what happens.

Now that I've come to this realization, I'll get an offer from a category publisher and spend my time banging my head against the desk during edits. Gladly banging my head, but banging nonetheless. What about you? Come to any conclusions about your life lately?

SP

P.S. PC is on a field trip today. Pop on over to the Bare Ass Cottage and say hi.

New Toys

I've been a little distracted this week. Shhhhh, don't tell my editor. :-D Zilla and I both got new toys over the weekend - Blackberry Storms.I had no intention of getting a new phone but...I needed a new battery and car charger for my old cell and it was actually cheaper just to get us both new phones. However, that means that I've spent countless hours this week playing with buttons, learning menus and researching apps. Oh and let's not forget downloading my music, searching for True Blood backgrounds and making new ringtones for all my friends.

What's really been fun in all this is watching Zilla. The first night he was like a kid in a candy store. While I've had a smartphone for a year he hasn't...and had no idea what he was missing. While my phone wasn't working (Verizon did replace it immediately the next day) I received at least five phone calls from him exclaiming over some new trick his phone could do. The funny thing is that since the first night he hasn't played with it at all. While I've downloaded new themes, games, ringtone makers, efficiency software, etc. he hasn't even changed his background.

After spending several hours yesterday I think I've finally pushed all the buttons and figured out what everything does. Which means I can return to my regularly scheduled week. I have a book due in 15 days and I really need to finish it. :-) (Brenda, if you're reading this, I swear I only have about 30 more pages to write. :-)).

Have you gotten a new gadget lately? Do you get sucked into technology? Do you know of any great apps for the Storm?

Instigator

How about a little power boost today?

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Last year we had Friend-of-the-Playground Pamela Hearon visit and blog about her experience with breast cancer. Earlier this year, my then-neighbor Kelley began an online journal about her diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer and she’s agreed to share with us today a little of her story.

Please scooch over and make room around the sandbox for Kelley.



Knowledge is power. I believe that is a very true statement. The problem comes when knowledge is also very scary. To be more specific, all my life I have been afraid to go to the doctor. I can’t tie it back to one incident that started this feeling or one doctor that was particularly frightening. All I know is when I am confronted with needing to go to a doctor, my instincts kick in and I go into survival mode. I know that sounds strange but that is how I feel. Every fiber of my being is screaming, “Don’t go!”. It is not that I am afraid of needles, white coats, blood, or even pain. I am afraid that I will learn something totally horrifying. After all, doctors have a knack for finding something wrong with you.

My breast cancer was thus discovered and diagnosed in a very unorthodox fashion. I presented myself to the emergency room with a very swollen breast. I thought I had a very bad infection and initially it looked that way. The surgeon on call that day who showed up to do a simple drainage of an abscess felt a biopsy was in order for a few reasons and did so while in surgery. He was right do to it because that biopsy proved to be positive. He delivered the news three days later that I indeed had breast cancer.

Scary knowledge. That’s what it was. Learning was scary. Scary pathology reports. Scary statistics. Scary choices. See, I was right! Doctors are scary!

Are a lot of you shaking your heads yet? I imagine you are thinking about how silly a grown woman must be to be scared to go for check ups and things like mammograms. I don’t care. To me this fear is real. My point in writing this down and sending it out is that if there is another woman out there who has this same fear and it keeps her from taking care of herself, then maybe she will know she is not alone and hopefully I can encourage that woman to find someone to help her. Maybe you know someone like this and you have thought that woman was lazy or stupid. If you do, please read on because maybe you could help that woman more than you ever know.

Anyone who knows me, knows I am not lazy. I work hard as a mom and a wife and feel I do a great job. I am also not stupid. I understand the importance of preventive medicine and finding diseases in early stages to improve the chance of recovery. But to get up and walk to the phone and make that appointment is so overwhelming that I just can not do it.

So, how do you help someone like me. Nagging is not the way. Telling me over and over that I just simply have to do it doesn’t work. I know I need to do it. I just can’t. I think it might be as simple as calling that woman and saying, “I know you are scared. What can I do to help make it less scary?” Then, be willing to do that. Don’t patronize but be there to listen and to help.
To the woman with the fear, I hope you can find the strength to call someone and ask for the support you need. I know it is hard but there are people who are willing to help if you just ask. I hope you will be braver than me and find courage that I couldn’t. Can I promise it won’t be scary? No. What I can promise is that there are people that will help you and guess what? Some of them are doctors and nurses! Yes, I did get the rolling of the eyes and the shaking of the heads from some of them, but I ignore them and move on to the ones who treat me with respect and caring no matter how nervous I am. They are out there and if that gives you the knowledge you need to take that first step, then I hope I gave it to you.

As for me and my health, I am not quite ready to rehash the details and the specifics about my cancer but it was caught early and had not spread to my lymph nodes. I am done with my chemo treatments and am preparing for radiation to start. I am blessed with a family that has been totally supportive, friends that keep my spirits up, and a medical team that welcomes me with open arms and has the knowledge to give me the power I need to move forward.
　

For more information about breast cancer and what you can do to help find a cure, go to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure website.

And go to The Breast Cancer Site to help fund free mammograms for women who might ordinarily not have access to them.

And last but certainly not least, keep abreast of your own body by doing breast self examination every month.

Pink Ribbons in October

Intermixed with the orange and black streamers and the jack-o-lanterns and the assorted horrors of October, you’ve probably seen a lot of pink and pink ribbons.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.

I’m always slightly darkly amused by the idea of a month for “Awareness.” I – like probably most of you – have had someone in my life battle with this disease. And even if I were lucky enough to be untouched by someone else’s fight with breast cancer, the fact I have breasts keeps my awareness of this disease pretty high.

I lost a beloved aunt to breast cancer six years ago. We lost a close family friend when I was 18. Two years ago, my Fabu CP faced her own cancer diagnosis. Pam, I’m glad to say, is fine – healthy and cancer free. She caught it early and beat it. I thank God for that at the same time I mourn for the women who don’t find out until it’s too late.

Like my aunt.

I can’t help but think that the debate (discussion, fight, debacle – whatever you want to call it) that is going on right now in the US over the future of health care should be coming to a head during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Of all the “awareness” we have of diseases, breast cancer is one that so many of us have personal experience with.

Whether it was (or still is) the battle you watched someone you love fight, or whether it was the suspicious lump in your own breast that scared the bejeesus out of you, you were probably very aware of health care at that time. Maybe these two things happening right now is some kind of sign.

So Save the Ta-Tas! Feel Your Boobies! Pick your slogan, but do it. Get your mammograms – they’re not the worst thing in the world your breasts have been through, and I’m now officially old enough to know for sure.

Go click to fund mammograms for women without health care. Walk for a cure. Keep an eye (and a hand) on your own breasts. And send good thoughts and healing vibes (prayers, if that’s part of your faith,) out to everyone battling breast cancer.

I’ll be making a donation to Breast Cancer Research this month. I’ll do it in memory of Carol and in honor of Pam. If you’ll post a name of someone you know and love who has been diagnosed with breast cancer in the comments, I’ll include them too.

Nesting

A weird phenomenon has overtaken me this week. I’m nesting. You remember, those obsessive moments at the end of pregnancy where you felt you HAD to get everything in your house just so? Well, except for the pregnancy thing (I’m NOT), that’s exactly how I feel.

It all started with my mother-in-law telling me she needed her desk, which she left here when she moved a few years ago. At the time she didn’t need it in her new place. But now she does, along with the shelves we commandeered in the living room. So we’ve bought a new desk we are waiting to be delivered and picked out new shelves, which I’m getting one at a time. Not because I want to, but because Target seems unable to get them in any quicker.

So far I’ve bought 1 shelf, set it up, and started rearranging furniture and clutter to make space for it. I’ve also stripped everything but the essentials from the desk, so it will be ready when the new one comes in and the hubby puts it together.

Unfortunately, the need to declutter and clear out has spread from these two areas to anything that loosely resembles a “pile”. You see, we are “pilers” around here. One minute, I’ve got a good expanse of lovely clean carpet. The next minute, someone has heaped up a pile of stuff they don’t want to be bothered to put away. Now, I can’t point fingers, because we are equal-opportunity pilers. I do it just as much as everyone else. Actually, I might do it more, because after I’ve cleaned up after everyone else, I’m too tired to get around to my own junk. So I pile it up until I get the urge to “nest”. I’ve learned to go with the feeling when it appears (which is never at the traditional times, like spring), even if it might be 10 o’clock at night. You see, I never know when it might come again, so I jump in with both feet while it lasts. As for everyday cleaning, as long as we aren’t growing mold, we’re good.

And as of last night, in about 4 hours between 8 and midnight, I decluttered my hubby’s side of the bedroom, several living room piles (including the bookshelf area) and the pile on the chair in my office. We aren't pile-free by a long shot, but this week I've made a nice dent in the clutter. I’m hoping this feeling lasts for a while, since our local RWA chapter’s Christmas part is at my house this year and I have a lot of work to do before my house can go on display. Yikes!

How about y’all? Is your house magazine-ready or comfortably lived in? Do you clean on a schedule or when the urge hits you?


Angel

Theme Week Winners!

Thanks for your support during the launch of our new theme week. We got a great response. Although we know you come here daily (although you don't always comment) check back the first full week of every month for our thoughts on beautiful men, tasteful goodies, travel, theater and books!


Our winners are:


Monday - M.V. Freeman (email angel @ writingplayground.com)
Tuesday - Chey (email problemchild @ writingplayground.com)
Wednesday - Kathy B. (email playgroundmonitor @ writingplayground.com)
Thursday - Catslady (email instigator @ writingplayground.com)
Friday - Marcy (email smartypants @ writingplayground.com)

If you're a lucky winner, send your snail mail info to the Playfriend listed. Also, be sure to check back at some of our previous posts to see if you won something. Guest bloggers and other special events almost always have giveaways, but if you don't email us your info, we can't give you your fabulous prizes! I know I personally came home with tons of goodies from Nationals that need to be given away.

The Launch of Free Book Fridays!

Friday has arrived and we hope that you are enjoying our new theme week. We will be doing this the first full week of every month, so be sure to pop in for our special features on travel, movies, and of course, hunky, half-naked men. As we continue on, I am kicking off our very first Free Book Friday. I lovingly stole the idea of Free Book Friday from the Soapbox Queens. To make it up to them, I'm giving away one book each by Vicki Lewis Thompson, Jennifer LaBrecque and Rhonda Nelson. One commenter today will receive a copy of...

"Wild and Hexy" by Vicki Lewis Thompson

After gaining twenty pounds, former Dairy Festival Queen Annie Winston dreads going back to Big Knob, Indiana. But Annie hasn’t changed half as much as her home town ever since Dorcas and Ambrose Lowell moved in. Former matchmakers for witches and wizards, they’re now plying their unconventional trade for humans—and they have the perfect match for Annie: shy computer whiz Jeremy Dunstan, who’s always lusted after Annie. Now he’s got a second chance—if only something could help him unleash his wild side.

"Ripped!" by Jennifer LeBrecque

Subject: Paratrooper Lieutenant Colonel Mitch Dugan.
Current status: Confident. Disciplined. And aching with sexual need.
Mission: Chaperone the brigadier general's daughter.
Obstacle: Eden Walters: the very hot, very willing brigadier general's daughter…
For tough-as-nails Mitch Dugan, the army is everything. Until he experiences the rush of another jump…into Eden's bed! The high he gets from leaping out of planes is no rival for their sexual chemistry. But Mitch is a proud military lifer…and former army brat Eden has no intention of staying with a man who's never around. It's time for this sexy soldier to pull the rip cord and save himself—fast. Or he might end up in a free fall with the one woman he can't have….

"Letters From Home" by Rhonda Nelson

Subject: Levi McPherson, Army Ranger.
Current status: Active duty.
Mission: Locate a sexy, unidentified correspondent. Conduct very private negotiations!
Obstacle: Natalie Rowland, longtime star of his X-rated dreams…
Levi McPherson's tour of duty has an unexpected benefit: anonymous red-hot love letters! Someone he knows is mailing the rugged soldier her very explicit fantasies. And he's loving every word. On an unexpected leave home, he discovers his sexy secret admirer—Natalie Rowland, the longtime star of his own X-rated dreams! But he's not letting Natalie know her cover's blown…yet. That way, the exquisite pleasure of fulfilling each and every one of her naughty ideas is all his—and hers….

If you would like these very fun, very sexy books, comment today with the phrase "I love Free Book Friday!"

SP

The Launch of Theater Thursdays

I was really excited when I got Theater Thursdays for our theme week each month. Not only do I have an innate love of the theater (having been involved with a local theater group when I was younger) but it gives me the opportunity to talk about movies, tv and even concerts. So if there's something that you want to see discussed here please let me know! I'm very open to suggestions.

Since I haven't had a chance to attend a play recently, I'm going to focus on movies this month. This weekend I dragged SP out to see Fame with me. She wasn't overly enthusiastic about the prospect - she wanted to see Zombieland - but she's a great friend and went to the movie I wanted to see. Besides, I don't do blood and gore which includes flesh eating undead even if the dialogue is supposed to be funny.

I have to say I was disappointed. I mean, Fame was a cute, feel good kinda movie but in my mind it didn't compare to the original. Perhaps that's because I'm remembering the original through my adolescent (and ballet crazed) mind. I'll admit that when I was younger I wanted to be a dancer (unfortunately, my body just wasn't cut out for that career) and therefore could really identify with the teenagers struggling for their dream...my dream. This time maybe I was watching them through adult eyes. The eyes of a person who's achieved a dream of her own now and realizes that the struggles just don't end there.

To me the individual story lines just weren't developed enough. While I loved the dance numbers I would have liked more character development. It almost felt like they'd shoved in some dialogue because they had to have something between the soul belting songs and flashy dance numbers. Not to mention that several of those dance numbers seemed pointless to the entire plot of what little storyline was there. It was good. I think it could have been better. But maybe I was just expecting too much.

The girls also went to see Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs with my mom over the weekend. They absolutely loved the movie. They thought it was cute and talked to me for an hour, giving me the rundown of the entire thing.

I asked my mom for her take on the movie. She said it was cute but that she had a hard time staying awake through it. That might just be her exhaustion from trying to keep up with my rambunctious kids though. She did say that there was an overall message to the story...about overeating I believe. And while in theory I think it's probably a good message I'm not sure how I feel about an entire movie devoted to it. She did say that the message went completely over my girls' heads. I'm okay with that.

I think in the next month or so I'm going to be taking the girls to see Where the Wild Things Are. As much as I'm not sure how they can sustain a 2 hour movie from that short book it was always one of my favorites and I really want to see it on screen. I was also intrigued by a movie called The Men Who Stare at Goats that's coming out in November.

Have you seen either of the movies? What did you think of them? Any others you'd recommend? Any you'd tell us to stay away from? Anything that you want to see me review in the future? One commenter will win a signed copy of Afterburn so be sure and tell me your opinion!

Instigator

P.S. I'm talking about my shoe catastrophe on the Blaze Author blog today. Come over and tell me about your shoe addiction. http://blazeauthors.com/blog/

The Launch of Walkabout Wednesday!

Welcome to the first installment of Walkabout Wednesday, my chance to share some of my travels with the Playground's visitors. Today's featured tourist spot, the Biltmore Estate, is located in my native state of North Carolina and is situated about fifty miles from where I attended college.

The lives of wealthy Victorian era Americans were filled with parties, travel and leisure. One notable name of this Gilded Era was Vanderbilt, a family that made its fortune in the railroad industry.

In 1888, George Washington Vanderbilt, grandson of railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, visited the mountains of western North Carolina with his mother and fell victim to the lure of the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains.

Not yet married, George had a dream of building a vast country estate and he found the ideal location in Asheville, North Carolina. The area boasts breathtaking scenery and a climate that’s relatively mild for a mountainous area.

With a bankroll rivaling the gross national product of a small country, George purchased 125,000 acres of pristine wilderness area and set about to create a self-sustaining estate such as those he’d seen in his European travels.

He named his holdings Biltmore Estate from his ancestral Dutch town of Bildt and the English word Moor, which is an open, rolling landscape.

His next decisions were critical ones: who would design not only the house itself, but the gardens that would surround it?


Richard Morris Hunt, the first American to study at the prestigious Ecole Des Beaux-Arts in Paris and one of the founders of the American Institute of Architecture, was selected to design the house. Hunt is also know for his design of The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island, the pedestal base of the Statue of Liberty and the Tribune Building in New York City, one of the first buildings with an elevator. Together, Hunt and Vanderbilt decided on a French Renaissance chateau design with a limestone façade and a steeply pitched roof.

Vanderbilt and Hunt not only created an architectural wonder, but a technological one as well. Biltmore House had all of the latest technology of its time. Central heating, indoor plumbing for all thirty-four bedrooms, electricity, mechanical refrigeration and two elevators are but a few of the amenities afforded Biltmore’s residents and guests. Some of Thomas Edison’s first light bulbs illuminated Biltmore’s passageways and the house contained an electric calling system for servants in addition to a newfangled gadget called the telephone.

A two-lane bowling alley with equipment by Brunswick and an indoor swimming pool with underwater lights provided indoor recreation for the Vanderbilts and their guests.

Hundreds of local workers and skilled European artisans were hired. Tons of Indiana limestone was brought in as well as imported Italian marble. To facilitate the transportation of these raw materials, Vanderbilt had a private three-mile-long rail spur built from the estate to a neighboring village. A woodworking factory was built on the estate to produce the ornate trim seen throughout the house and a kiln was erected that would produce 32,000 bricks per day.


Construction of Biltmore Estate took six years and while still incomplete, the house was formally opened on Christmas Eve, 1895. The finished product is a mansion that contains 250 rooms encompassing 175,000 square feet. Biltmore’s size earned it the title of “America’s Castle” and to date it remains the United States’ largest privately owned home.

The design and construction of Biltmore’s gardens were entrusted to Frederick Law Olmstead, considered by many to be the father of American landscape architecture. He is credited with designing the U.S. Capitol grounds in Washington, D.C. and the campus at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. But his most notable design is New York City’s Central Park.

The various gardens cover sixty-five acres and include a shrub garden, walled garden, rose garden and conservatory and Italian garden. Each features various trees, shrubs and flowers, which provide an array of color and texture throughout the seasons.

When Biltmore Estate was completed in late December of 1895, George realized that he had a dream home, but no one to share it with. In 1898 he married Edith Stuyvesant Dresser and their only child Cornelia was born in 1900. Cornelia married the Honorable John Francis Amherst Cecil in 1924 and their children share ownership of the Biltmore properties today.

Not content to simply sit back and enjoy his home, George and Edith Vanderbilt dedicated their lives to helping others. They purchased a nearby town where most of the estate’s employees lived and renamed it Biltmore Village. The town, with buildings and a church designed by Richard Morris Hunt, grew and is today designated as a historic district.

The Vanderbilts also founded the Biltmore Forest School, the first school for scientific forestry in America as well as Biltmore Estate Industries, an apprenticeship program to teach traditional crafts like woodworking and weaving. Edith founded the School for Domestic Science where young women were trained in housekeeping skills, which would give them a distinct advantage in the job market.

Biltmore House is filled with priceless artwork and custom made furnishings and was the scene of many social galas. But despite its grandeur, George strove to make Biltmore a warm, inviting home for his family.

In March 1914, Vanderbilt was rushed to a hospital in Washington, D.C. with appendicitis. An emergency appendectomy was performed. The surgery, however, was not successful and George Washington Vanderbilt died on March 6. He was buried in the family mausoleum on Staten Island. His wife remained at Biltmore until 1925 when she remarried. She left the management of Biltmore Estate to her daughter and son-in-law.

Biltmore Estate operated its own dairy, which provided products for not only the estate, but eventually all of western North Carolina. In 1985 the dairy operation was sold and the dairy barn on the estate was remodeled and turned into a winery, which is the most visited winery in the United States with over a million visitors each year.

William Amherst Vanderbilt Cecil, grandson of George W. Vanderbilt, owns the estate today and accepts no government funding to maintain the house or grounds. Imbued with the same “can do” attitude of his grandfather, he defied those who told him that the estate could not be profitable. Cecil, who had a background in New York banking, returned to Asheville in the 1960s to find it in economic trouble. He rolled up his sleeves, wore many hats and began to market his childhood home. By the end of the decade, Biltmore was showing a profit, a trend that has continued to this day.

Biltmore Estate is open to the public every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas. During the Christmas season, the house is decorated in authentic Victorian tradition and special candlelight Christmas evening events are planned.

For more information, visit http://www.biltmore.com/ to discover the magic of Biltmore Estate.

Have you ever visited Biltmore? Another castle?

P.S. The Playfriends would like to extend birthday greetings to Barbara Vey, a very special friend of the Playground.

The Launch of Tasteful Tuesdays -- and a book!

As part of our themed week, the first Tuesday of the month will be “Tasteful Tuesday.” I’ve got a bit of leeway with what’s “tasteful”—it could be recipes, it could be jewelry.


Today I’m defining “tasteful” in the best possible way – with a party for my new release! After all, the heroine of The Millionaire’s Misbehaving Mistress is an etiquette expert. She should know what’s tasteful and what’s tacky. And good manners are always tasteful. This book came out in the UK in April, and I’ve been waiting impatiently for its US release. Now it’s finally here! Here’s the blurb:

Perfect, polite… and passionate!

As Dallas’s most eligible bachelor and heir to his family’s fortune, billionaire Will Harrison knows how to handle the paparazzi – but his little sister Evie is a worry…

Miss Behavior, etiquette expert Gwen Sawyer, has only three weeks to work her magic on Evie before a society ball, and so moves into Will’s luxurious penthouse. However she discovers too late that etiquette is the last thing on devilishly handsome Will’s mind…

Coffee Time Romance gave MMM 5 cups, Blue Moon called it "fresh and charming," and CataRomance said it "entertains with witty repartee and sizzling passion." (They also called me talented -- squee!)

When I say I love this book, I’m not kidding. I know I should love all my book children equally, but there’s something about these characters that makes me smile every time I think about them. I hope you fall in love with these characters too, because I’m currently working on Evie’s story (tentatively scheduled for a late 2010 release)!

So to appease my etiquette-expert heroine and stick with the Tasteful Tuesday theme, we’ll have a very polite and tasteful party today. Break out the good china, tell Capt’n Jack to behave himself, and hold your pinkies up while you sip that Teeter-Totter.

I’ll give away a copy of the book to a commenter today, so party on!

With decorum, of course. ~grin~

Browse this book

Add to your site

Buy this book

MOANday-Flavio Montrucchio

Today kicks off the first of the changes we're working on for our revamp of the Playground Website and Blog. Starting this week, the first week of every month will be "Theme Week" on the blog. Each Playfriend has a particular theme that they'll be visiting each day, as follows:

Angel's MoanDay (wasn't about to give that up!)
Problem Child's Tasteful Tuesdays
Playground Monitor's Walkabout Wednesdays
Instigator's Theater Thursdays
Smarty Pants's Free Book Fridays

I think we're going to have some real fun with this! So tune in on the first week of every month to check out "Theme Week". And watch for updates on further improvements that will be coming to our website for the new year!!!

MOANday goes international this month with Italian actor Flavio Montrucchio, who I found while researching -- yeah researching -- some model sites. ;)





Tell me what you'd like to see on the blog during theme week and I'll send out a prize to one random commenter. Ciao!

Angel

Coming Soon!

Tune in tomorrow when Problem Child kicks off Tasteful Tuesdays in combination with her new book launch!

Field Trip!

Hey everybody!


I'm guest blogging over at the Killer Fiction blog today. Come by and say Hi (and get a chance to win a copy of my new book)!

October Website Updates!

Lots of cool stuff happening on the Playground Website this month, which should complement our autumn temperatures! I hope everyone is enjoying "Back To School" season and getting out the fluffy blankets for the bed. Autumn happens to be my favorite time of the year, and I can't wait for the leaves to change colors and run away for our RWA chapter's yearly retreat. Let us know what you are up to this fall!

New to the Playground this month:

We welcome author MaryJanice Davidson this month. She takes over theSandbox with a wild and wacky interview you don't want to miss.http://www.writingplayground.com/sandbox.html

Plus, MaryJanice has added goodies to the Sept-Oct contest, so be sure to enter the "Not-So-Scary Halloween Contest."http://www.writingplayground.com/contest.html

I actually learned something about the Process of writing while wandering through Disney World, and I shares it with all of you this month in School. http://www.writingplayground.com/school.html#disney

I also review SHADOWLIGHT by Lynn Viehl, the first book in her newKyndred series. http://www.writingplayground.com/school.html#shadow

On the blog, we unleash some fun next week, so be sure to check it out. (I believe there will be some prizes!!!) We'll also be celebrating the release of Kimberly's MILLIONAIRE'S MISBEHAVING MISTRESS on October 6.

We must now go pack and prepare for our annual retreat in the Tennessee mountains, where we'll be cooking up all kinds of great ideas for the coming months - including our birthday plans. The Playground turns four this year! WOW! Expect some exciting news in November.

Angel

Numb

Just typing that title reminds me of my favorite U2 video from the late 90s - the Edge doing his monotone rap type thing while people abuse him. He just sits there and continues singing while children hit him, women fondle him, and his bandmates torture him. Not that this has anything to do with my blog today, but the writer's mind is a vast and complicated roadmap with many tangents to go off on.

Anyway... I have been writing for years. I started my first real, honest to goodness book in 1998. I'd always piddled with writing but this was the first time I sat down with the intention of writing a full, 400 page novel. I believe I finished it in 2000, and it was crap, but that's when I started writing. I started seriously pursuing publication around 2003 after I finished my master's degree and had time to think and breathe again. I found RWA in 2004 and went from there.

Since I started, I've written (including the crap) 9 books. A couple of them have been so thoroughly re-written that they should actually count as another book entirely, but for purposes of simplification, just 9. Out of those nine, I have queried or pitched 6 of them. (Two were sequels that hinged on the first one's acceptance and one was recent and waiting on the outcomes of other projects.) Out of those, I've had full requests for 4 of them, a couple more than once. Of those full requests, partials and queries, I've gotten multiple rejections. So many, PC and I are actually doing a workshop on what you can learn from rejection. How awesome is it to be qualified to teach that, eh?

At the beginning, the mere thought of sending my baby out into the world stopped me cold in my tracks. Once I handed it over to the postman, I felt a sense of dread that would pool in my stomach and stay there for the 3, 6, or 9 months it would take to hear back. Obviously since I haven't sold, they've all come back with rejections so far. The rejections used to knock me for a loop - send me straight to my friends Ben and Jerry - and keep me from writing for weeks.

Lately, not so much. I got a rejection last week and I didn't blink. I hadn't put 100% of my faith behind this submission, but still... I opened the email, read it, nodded as I saw what I expected, and went on with my day. This is not to say that if my most promising submittals came back with a rejection, I wouldn't be completely devastated - I would. But every single roadblock doesn't bother me so much. I think the introduction of e-queries has contributed to this. Now, with little effort, I can send off my query to 15 agents and get rejected at record speed. Seriously - I think I got a rejection back from an agent in less than 3 minutes. Impressive.

It's working both ways, too. Requests don't thrill me as much either. Mailing off my manuscript doesn't make me nauseas. I don't agonize over it like I used to. It is what it is. I'll sell or I won't. I'm hoping this is me growing as a writer and knowing that rejection might be less about me and my skills than it is about having the right project with the right editor at the right time. At the same time, I worry I may just be getting numb to the whole process. Disillusioned, perhaps. I've been at this a long time. Much longer and I'll be one of those people who do workshops on how I motivated myself to keep writing until I was successful after a decade of disappointment.

I guess that U2 video is more applicable than I thought. I think I've finally learned to be like the Edge - I just keep writing even if Bono starts screaming in my ear. Anyone else experience this or am I just the sole jaded one? Have you learned to push through a situation and not let setbacks disappoint you?

SP

Don't forget to check back in next week as we launch our new theme week on the blog. Exciting topics and prizes are on the horizon, so don't miss it!

Detours

All the best laid plans go awry. This week has not exactly gone the way that I'd expected. My problem is that even when forced onto a detour I rarely take the time to look around at the new scenery. I. Don't. Have. Time.

Case in point, there was a nasty accident on the bridge over our creek on Tuesday. Semi crashed through the guardrail and ended up cab first in the creek below. Zilla sent me a picture of it. It did not look good! Fortunately, we knew right away that no one was seriously injured. The driver was damn lucky though. I honestly think if it had been my SUV to barrel through that rail and land nose first in the water that we'd have been SOL.

The problem is that the bridge has been out ever since. This is the way I get to work in the morning and return home at night. My commute is already 45 minutes and the detour has just added another 20 because there is no good way around the bridge closure. I don't have time for this! I'm up to my eyeballs in alligators lately and I really need that 20 minutes either to work or to spend with my family.

However, I've gotten a chance to see parts of the area where I live that I haven't ever seen. We've lived out here for 9 years now and I've just never bothered to drive some of these quiet country roads. I'm not sure why not. When Zilla and I were dating it was one of our favorite things - to jump in the car on a Sunday afternoon and just drive. But I suppose we were too far into life when we arrived here...new house, new jobs, new baby on the way. Now our Sundays usually consist of collapsing on the couch and wishing Monday wouldn't come.

The estimate is that the bridge might reopen late tomorrow. I'm not holding my breath. Baby Girl and I went to look at it yesterday and there is a gaping hole in the center of the guardrail. I've worried about the drop off the edge before this happened. I'll be honest and say the rail had been bent and beat-up long before this. I'd really like to know that the bridge is sound before I get back on it with my kids. While the detour is a pain in my rear, I'll deal while they make it safe.

Do you ever take the detours in life? Do they bug the hell out of you or do you find they offer a chance to see something new?

Instigator

Walking in Circles

Last week my Red Hat ladies and I went on another field trip. We attended a workshop about labyrinths at the county Mental Health Center . Some folks confuse them with mazes, which spring up in corn fields all over the country this time of year. A maze has a separate entrance and exit. A labyrinth, if you'll note from the illustration above, has a single entrance and exit.

From their website:

The Labyrinth, located adjacent to the Mental Health Center to the north, is a circuitous path that leads to the center and out again. Its various twists and turns provide a metaphor for life and its challenges. Labyrinths are designed to help us find our way. There is no right or wrong way to use a labyrinth, but most believe the labyrinth provides the opportunity to clear ones mind, find peace, manage stress, and make decisions. Some believe that the labyrinth can also help a person heal physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

The Labyrinth of the Mental Health Center is available to the public during daylight hours, 7 days a week including weekends. It's use is free of charge but donations are accepted.

We learned some of the history behind labyrinths, going all the way back to the island of Crete and the myth of the Minotaur. It has been used in numerous cultures for about five thousand years and is present in modern-day Christianity. According to the speaker, many churches house labyrinths, the most famous being the one in the Chartres Cathedral in France.

The Mental Health Center's labyrinth is patterned after the one in Chartres, which is illustrated above. The eleven circuits are a half mile long and depending on your pace, it can take from fifteen to forty-five minutes to walk. Constructed of grass with stones outlining each circuit, it's best experienced by walking it barefooted. And the instructor noted there is no right or wrong way to walk a labyrinth or no right or wrong reason for walking it. After you've reached the center with its six petals (which represent the six days of creation), it's customary to spend some time there. Some folks carry in a pebble to represent a burden and then leave it in the center so they can shed the burden. Some folks walk accompanied by music from an iPod. Some blow bubbles even. The labyrinths in churches will often have candles or holy water in the center.

In 2010, the local Labyrinth Keepers are planning to have someone walk the local labyrinth every single day and they're currently looking for volunteers for not only that project, but others such as upkeep and public relations as well.

Labyrinths are often used in grief therapy and the instructor said they use the one here with children who have ADHD and Asperger's Syndrome.

As I listened to her presentation, I came to the conclusion that the labyrinth might have some applications for writing. I can't count how many times I've been unable to focus on the task at hand and could use something to help me gather my thoughts and center myself. Or what about being stuck on a plot point and needing time to sort it out? Walking a labyrinth could be helpful (and a lot cheaper than retail therapy).

For labyrinth enthusiasts who want to find them wherever they travel (and there was a woman attending the workshop who'd walked labyrinths all over the United States) the Labyrinth Society has a locator feature on their website at http://www.labyrinthsociety.org/ .

Have you ever walked a labyrinth? If so, tell us about it. If not, would you try it if there was one near you? Check the locator on the website posted above and tell us if there's a labyrinth near you.

P.S. Our very own Problem Child is guest blogging today at I Heart Presents. Please hop over and tell her hello.

Cool Books for Writers

I was asked recently to name some books I'd recommend for (aspiring) writers to read and keep on their bookshelves. As you know, I'm usually happy to provide advice to anyone who asks (and even those who don't), but this kinda threw me.

Other than a good dictionary, a style manual, and the Rodale Synonym finder, I don't think there are any books a writer HAS to have, and there's such a wide range of books out there I don't know if there is a definitive book about anything.

But I came up with a list of what I have -- books I find useful -- to share, and I figured I'd share them here as well. Your mileage may vary, of course, but here's a list of books I find (or have found) helpful.

1) The Miram-Webster Dictionary, A Writer's Reference, and Rodale Synonym finder. Seriously. I can't stress the importance.

2) Flip Dictionary: billed as "for when you know what you want to say but can't think of the word," the Flip Dictionary lets you look up the definition and gives you a word. In some ways, it is like a thesaurus, but you can also look up phrases like "sew loosely with large running stitches" and it gives you the choice of "baste" and "tack." You can also look up a general term like "cheese" and gives you a list of about forty types of cheese. You may need to then look up exactly what "Quargel" cheese is, but at least you have something more specific than "cheese."

3) Writing A Romance Novel for Dummies. Leslie Wainger is one smart lady. Read and learn.

4. ) Goal, Motivation and Conflict by Debra Dixon. If for no other reason than you're going to hear people talk about it and you'll need to know what GMC refers to. For beginning writers, I think motivation and conflict can be a hard subject to get hold of, so this is worth a read.

5) Character Naming Sourcebook by Sherrilyn Kenyon and any other baby name book. Names are important.

6) A Dictionary of Word Origins (there are several). Very important for historical writers to know if that word was around in 10th century England.

7) An Incomplete Education. Wonderfully arranged and easy to read, it gives you a great overview of a topic. Say your heroine is an Art Historian. The section on art will give you a place to begin.

Yes, I know most (all) of this information is on the internet. But sometimes Google returns far too many links on a subject (and those pages could have been written by anyone. Dog only knows if they actually know what they're talking about). I often start from a book to get an overview -- like for a heroine with an Art History degree, and once I have a better grasp of what I'm after then I go to Google.

Okay. Argue with my choices. (Yes, I know most of you would rather use an on-line dictionary, but I'm a little old-fashioned there. We'll just have to agree to disagree.) Make your own recommendations too.

PC

Rushing To The Finish Line

Most of September has been a series of deadlines I’ve had to meet. First, the flu with my daughter. Then the Disney trip. Then coordinating a workshop for our local RWA chapter. Fortunately, I get a lot accomplished when the pressure is on. Unfortunately, I’m not the type to have grace under pressure. I’m more likely to panic, but I still press on and get the work done. The Playfriends just get to hear a lot of whining.

Many times, I feel like this is what is lacking in my writing life – that pressure to perform by a certain deadline. Without it, I can meander aimlessly and no one cares. Except me, when I get to the end of the month and have damn little to show for my time. I try to set up deadlines with accountability partners and the like, but ultimately feel like I should be responsible for my own output.

It isn’t like I’m ignoring my writing to be lazy. I let life’s priorities, those things that are screaming at me to get done, with an actual deadline instead of a fictional one, go first. Maybe I just need to learn to juggle. Sigh… it is a conundrum that will probably never be solved. One I’ll continue to struggle with until I’m finally faced with an editor’s deadline. Heaven help me.

What about y’all? Are self-imposed deadlines easy for you to create and stick to, or do they lose their weight in the face of life’s constant pressures?


Angel

Next week is the beginning of something new on the blog! Check out our first of the month surprises starting on Monday.

Tuesday's winner

Totally forgot to post this...

traveler! You're my winner from Tuesday. Send me your snail maid addy to claim your prize... (problemchild@writingplayground.com)

Just Talking to Hear Myself Speak

Our weeklong trek to Disney was a lot of fun considering it was my first real foray into parenthood. I had Little Sister, who is six, for a solid week with no parental interference. All me. If she ate, bathed, or got punished, it was me. No pressure. I think I did pretty well. LS had been properly threatened and was on her best behavior most the trip. I also had the other Playfriends for back up, including my roomie, PC. PC is a great wife and we worked well together. Darling Geek is very lucky, as I'd snap her up for myself if we could both date other men.

To amuse myself as the days went on, I started keeping track of the best phrases of the week spoken by the grown ups. Some were the most used, some were just too amusing to forget as I managed to run into some odd conversations with the kids. Many of them were said repeatedly because no one would listen to us. I swear, Disney makes kids hard of hearing. Here we go...

10. "Go to the mouse."
This was one of the first phrases as we went to dinner at Chef Mickey's the first night, complete with character interactions. The characters move quickly. They want to sign those autograph books, take the pictures, and move onto the other 150 tables they haven't been to yet. For some reason, the kids required coaxing to get up from their seats and go to get their photos done, hence the command "go to the mouse!" (Variations include bear, dog, duck, princess, etc.)

9. "That is not one of your grown-ups."
The general rule was that the kids always had to be within sight or grasp of one of their grown-ups. It could be any of us, but you had to be near at least one. Very often, the kids would zone out and start to walk away with, stand too close to, or start tugging on someone not in our group. At this point we would have to yell "That is not one of your grown-ups" or one of the variations "Stay with your grown-ups," "Grab one of your grown-ups hands, please," or "That is a lovely woman, I'm sure, but she is not one of your grown-ups."

8. "Get your ______ out of your mouth."
Apparently this is an epidemic. One kid starts out putting their fingers or other items in their mouth and the next thing you know, you're constantly saying it to all of them. LS took to putting her lanyard in her mouth. I have no idea why. Aside from simply being unhygenic in a place where millions touch every single surface, we were battling off the threat of swine flu and constantly on the hand gel and wipes. I think this was one of the most used phrases of the week. I probably say it in my sleep now.

7. "Do we need to go back to the hotel?"
A much used threat followed closely by the variation "maybe we should just stay at the hotel today" if we hadn't managed to leave before the threatening began. Whatever crying or whining or pain or suffering they were going through, it was never bad enough to go back to the hotel. They'd usually straighten up then. Or start crying harder, then straighten up.

6. "You don't need that."
Apply this phrase to every multicolored, plastic, fuzzy and character themed item in every park. The Disney folks know just how to place the most tempting things at kiddie eye level. The kids each had their own money to spend, but I admit I steered LS away from silly things I would have to carry and more toward nicer (and smaller) keepsakes that wouldn't be such a burden. As it was, she got a bracelet, picture frame, sunglasses, mouse ears, a Tinkerbell t-shirt, candy for her friends and classmates, tattoos and her face painted. I think that's adequate without adding a gigantic stuffed Minnie Mouse.

5. "We are at Disney World. Disney World! Stop asking me about the _____."
Fill in the blank mostly with swimming pool or bathtub - at least in our room. Our resort had large spa tubs and a big pool with a waterslide, which is very cool, but we can swim and bathe in Alabama. We cannot meet the Fairy Godmother and ride Splash Mountain in Alabama. It took quite a bit to drill that into the kid's heads.

4. "You are dressed like a lady, please act like one."
All the girls had fluffy princess makeovers with costumes on Tuesday. There were extensive discussions about how one acts in a ball gown. Twirling with a full skirt is acceptable. Princess waves and nods are encouraged when addressed by your subjects. (All cast members referred to the girls as "Princess" and Little Man as "Prince" as we went through the parks.) Fence climbing and lizard catching are frowned upon. Sweet Pea argued with me that she was in pants because she was dressed as Jasmine and Jasmine was, in fact, the kind of princess that would catch lizards. I had a hard time arguing that one.

3. "Please just stop touching one another."
Followed closely by "Do I need to separate you two?" Put kids together in a car for 12 hours and they will pester each other. Put them in the car for 12 hours after spending the most part of the last week together and its war. They cheat at Go Fish. They don't follow the rules. They bicker about who gets to be what character in whatever pretend game they're playing. They look at each other wrong. They just need time apart. And so do the adults. :) All and all they did well, it could've been much worse.

2. "Do you want chicken nuggets or a cheeseburger?"
Sadly, this is mostly a reflection of the kids dining plan at WDW than anything. Some places would offer the occasional spaghetti or mac and cheese, but 9 times out of 10, the kids would get to choose between a chicken nugget meal, a cheeseburger meal, or maybe a cheese pizza paired with fries, grapes and a chocolate chip cookie. Most the kids didn't mind except Amazing Child and her expansive palate, but even I got tired of it and I wasn't the one eating it. LS was happy as a clam.

1. "This is the happiest place on Earth - act like it!"
This one got thrown around a lot. Its amazing how in a place with so many things to make kids happy, it is so easy for them to get cranky. Start with humid 90 degree heat and long days on our feet. Add scratchy costumes, standing in lines and minor tragedies like lost items and you've got a recipe for child meltdown. The 7 Dwarfs should really be renamed to Whiny, Grouchy, Picky, Hungry, Weepy, Sassy and Nauseas.


What are some of your favorite phrases for traveling with kids?

SP