Scribbles Blog Hop

Hullo all! So what fun has been cooked up for you this week you wonder? Well Danni and Anne, some amazing peeps, came up with this wonderful idea for us to do a blog hop where we all post pictures of our writing journals. Then we talk a little bit about them, and our writing process.  I hope you enjoy. 

So, this mess, is mine;

Some things in my life are very organized and compartmentalized (don’t listen to my husband), and other things in my life, like my writing, are messy and all over the place. I still often use a notepad and pen for writing. It travels anywhere, doesn’t need a battery, and will dry when dropped in the tub. *cough, cough* 

Random ideas hit me here and there throughout the day and I need a place to note them so I don’t ‘lose’ them. Plus, what can I say, I love my darling lappy but oldschool rocks. I love seeing pages filled with ink. Makes me freaking giddy. 

Most of my notepads are just spiral bounds, nothing fancy, but then my hubby bought me the lovely fairy journal here and I LOVE it. I write all my poetry and haiku in there. 

Like most writers, we have fetishes for paper and pens. I have at least a couple dozen pens around me at any given time. What colours? Black, pink, and purple seem to be my colours of choice. Especially purple though.  So how about all of you? Do you still use pen and paper? Any preference for colour, texture, 5mm, 7mm, expensive fancy fountain pens you care to share? Fess up, it’s time to air your inky secrets! 

And once you’ve done that, you really mustn’t miss out on these other fellow scribblers and scratchers for a sneak peek into their own weirdly wonderful worlds and processes. Cheers!

Danielle La Paglia

Anne Michaud

Marianne Su

Victoria D Griesdoorn

Ren Warom

J.A. Campbell

Maria Kelly

Chrissey Harrison

Natalie Westgate

Tony Noland

Larry Kollar

Newbie Bane of Tense & a 50 word story

Am I the only newbie writer struggling with tense and first/second/third person? God I hope not. Feel free to lie to me and tell me no.

1. She picked up her purse and checked the contents…
2. I picked up my purse and checked the contents….
3. I pick up my purse and check the contents… 

Gah! So many choices, which to choose, and why, and when? It’s all so frustrating. Some books say that writers naturally favour one over the other; I don’t think I’m there yet. I start out in one tense and shift back and forth. It’s a nightmare. I have a whole novel in my head ready to write, but cannot for the life of me decide which option to write it in. Can you believe that? Of all the possible things, THAT is the one stumping me. Have you ever had this dilemma? How did you make a final decision? For those who are pubbed, have you ever submitted a story but been told to resub it switching from first to third? 

NOTE: For more detail on first vs second vs third for noobs like myself, there’s this great blog I found posted on Grammar Girl, it’s worth checking it out as she breaks it down much better than I could ever attempt.

50 Word Story – Haven’t done this in awhile so please enjoy, and if you’re in the mood too, please submit one via comment. It’s trickier than it seems.

Do You See Me?

You make your way toward the stairs, turning off the many lights I’ve left on as you go. You come up and slide into bed muttering, “Always with the lights, why does she always leave them on.” I stifle a sob and mentally respond,  So you’d know I was there.

Non Writerly Musings on My Mind

Am I the only one who thinks the apocalypse is already happening? Everyone seems to think it’ll be like one huge event of mass destruction. Personally, I think we’re IN the event. We’ve demolished entire species, we have earthquakes, volcanoes, war, tsunami’s (I really don’t remember EVER hearing about a tsunami as a child yet now it has a name). China is a huge country and they have apparently been so overrun by their government that they would rather step over a dying child than attract attention to themselves.  We have taxes on taxes on taxes. Our sky is dying from our contamination and so is our water. Millions of people die every year from starvation, dehydration, or overexposure to the elements because we are unwilling or unable to protect them. We’ve reached the apex and we’re standing on the precarious brink of having to choose between us and them. We were all originally born into a world where the strongest and fittest survived, and now it’s the richest and most devious who rule. How far have we really come? Either way you look at it, we’re still being bullied to death. At least the strongest and fittest were honest about their agenda, kill or be killed, now it’s slave your life away to serve the betterment of the rich. Some of the some highest paid people in our countries ALL work in our governments. Are they worth the price they cost?

Oh and did I mention the ever increasing suicide rate? Not to mention the avg age of those committing it is decreasing, meaning more and more young people are choosing death over life. And why? Perhaps because with every  passing year we lose more of our ability to instill hope amongst our youth. We can’t reach them, don’t reach out to them. We’ve separated ourselves from them. If you were/are 18 today, how does the world look to you? What does your future look like to you? We used to live with multiple families sharing an open cave, now our children sleep on separate floors. We cannot let this world scatter us, we must regroup, we must return to what matters, community.

What’s next for humanity? Where will we stop? When will we wake up and see the big picture and not just the one the media and government want to sell to us? Is this the time for mass panic? If not, when?

/endrant. 

Okay so that was likely a bit depressing but it’s something we need to hear once in awhile. Not so we can sit around and feel bad for ourselves, but so we can move forward. Create goals, make changes, cause some ripples. Mostly my message is for us all to take on the responsibility of giving not only our children, but also ALL children, hope. We need to let them know that whatever this world brings, they matter to it. That they are right there with us, slugging it out, holding our hands. A world without hope is a very dark and depressing place to live. Let’s shine some light. Let’s get outside every day, get involved in our communities, join Big Brothers, adopt, VOLUNTEER. Stop huddling behind our laptops, pc’s and video games and rejoin the community that surrounds us. Let us all change the world one child at a time. Are you with me?  :)

Sunken Sailor Piratey Poem & Tammy’s Writing Tip of the Week

For lack of anything better, a campfire type tale to scare the spawn. Sounds really good if you get into the piratey speak. Cheers

Sunken Sailor Cemetary

Ancient stone o’er ancient bone, it be a tale as old as time
But neither prophet nor seer could nary predict a vengeance as curs-ed as mine

I yearn for a luv that were taken from me, without rhyme nor reason, ‘tis true
Though perhaps, now me thinks, the silver she stole, might’ve had sometin’ t’do

For thems took me Lass, I’ll takes all ye pasts and ye presents and ye futures too
There’ll be no place to hide ye bilge sucking salts so ye best take the plank as yer due

Of this one fact ye may be certain, those who bear me black mark
Will die before dark, as I swipes’em from life like a curtain

The moon shines bright, off me cutlass tonight, down here at the bot’tom of the sea
Where dead buccaneers, and slaughter’d privateers, lives out their eternal mis’ry

Aye, one can die, e’en after he’s dead, tis the curse of a life left to lingerin’

And plot twenty five, has hidden inside, the sea dog I’ll soon be disfigurin’

So later on t’night, when ye shut yer eyes tight, and yer soul gets lost in a dream
Remember me rightly, don’t ye dare fight me, ye’ll only make it worse if ye scream

Tammy’s Tip of the Week – Crit Speak

Like many of you I do alot of crit work. Or to be politically correct, I provide alot of ‘detailed feedback’.  Or do I? As I’ve been doing more and more beta work I’m realising I’ve developed a lingo all my own. For example, a smiley face doesn’t mean just any old thing, it means it’s a frigging fantastic line/section. Means I loved it, it fit the story, the character, was a laugh or cry out loud moment. If you get a smiley from me, it means you’re doing something REALLY right. I also seem to enjoy the term ‘sticky’ for some odd reason. Hmm, what is this mysterious ’sticky’ thing I speak of? To me it means I had to read the line twice and still didn’t like it, it stuck out and tripped up my tongue or my mind in some form. That it pulled me out of the story in some way. This could be a good thing if that’s what you’re going for, but if not, it means rewording it. So what’s my tip? I’ve almost forgotten it myself, lemme think, oh yes; If you’re going to give feedback to someone, make sure you’re clear in exactly WHAT that feedback is and means.

Those are only a couple of my own examples. Which ones do you use? (if any)

My first ever guest post & ‘Hot’ Flash for you!

Hullo everyone!

Please come and check out my very first guest post over at Angela Addams blogspot. I really hope to see you all there and cannot wait to read your comments on such a ‘hot’ topic.   Cheers!

Speaking of HOT (and to tie into my guest post) here’s my first ever attempt at writing something with some shizzle! I hope you enjoy it.

The Break-Up

I close my eyes and die inside because you’re there waiting for me.

With every breath I draw, I breathe in your scent; taste your skin upon my tongue. It drives me to madness. Much like the pressure of your hips on mine drives me to call out your name.

Your roughness melts into the softness of my own, creating a fire inside us both.  We create a rhythm of friction and it burns us up. Brings us to ecstasy that only only we, you and I, dare discover.

We throw inhibitions aside and climax in a blaze of heat, one upon the other. We plunge, exhausted, into the depths of sated slumber and sweet nothings. Ever so endearingly you breathe quietly into the nape of my neck…curl your fingers greedily around my hip…

I open my eyes now and it kills me because I’m here, alone, and you’re there, with her. And for a moment I die inside.

Curse of the Golden Doubloon (781 words) & Thoughts on Writing the Red Herring

Curse of the Golden Doubloon

Jo tossed her floppy captains hat onto the couch and sank down with a sigh.  

Most nights she didn’t mind her job all that much but Talk Like a Pirate day taxed her tolerance. Being an attractive blonde bartender meant two things, good tips, and bad pick-up lines. Really bad. If one more drunken college kid had asked to pillage her treasure chest or plunder her bounties, she’d have seriously thought about quitting. Screw the tip money. 

Jo’s African Grey parrot, Scully, scuttled along the back of the couch and nibbled playfully at her hoop earrings.  

“Well Scully, I’m damn glad that’s over.” She lounged back against the cushions and let her eyes drift close. 

“Raawkkk! Companies coming!” shrieked Scully. Sure enough the doorbell sounded. Scully was always right.

Jo groaned as she rose, her feet were totally done.  She pulled the wadded up phone numbers and business cards out of her pocket and dumped them in the garbage can on her way to the door. Something heavy was stuck deep inside and she pulled it out. It was a lovely golden coin, judging by the weight of it, she almost wondered if it were the real deal. Some tip. She crossed the foyer and dropped the coin into the change bowl then glanced up at the video monitor. No one was there. Carefully unlatching and opening the door she peeked around before she spied a package on the mat. It was a large thickly padded envelope and it was in far from pristine condition. It looked like something that should’ve been delivered to a previous owner. A long since dead owner. She picked it up and wandered her way back to the couch and Scully. 

“Raawkkk! Cracker?” 

Jo laughed and scratched him under his beak. “I’ll get you something in a second Scully,” she placed the envelope on the table. It smelt musty. Sully hopped onto the table and began to peck energetically at it so Jo ripped it open and dumped it out. 

A folded piece of canvas landed on the table with a soft thud and a cracker rolled to a stop. Scully snatched it up and Jo laughed again. She should have figured out what was inside, Scully was always right. Carefully she spread the canvas out and peered at it. It looked like some kind of treasure map and had several faint images painted onto the fabric.

She started at the top left and studied the first image. It took a minute, but slowly it dawned on her. The image was of her childhood home back in Oregon. The home no one she knew these days would’ve known existed. A prickle ran down her spine. Quickly she scanned the rest of the pictures. It was like seeing her life drawn onto paper, her old schools, apartment, jobs, friends, family, until finally it ended with a picture of her front door. The one she’d opened mere seconds ago, back when her life had seemed to make sense. 

Sweat beaded across her brow and she struggled to swallow around the clenched mass in her throat. In the far right of the map lay one last image. It was a bit fuzzy and so she rubbed her fingers over it. It seemed to shimmer before her eyes and then suddenly the picture was clear. It was a painting of her sitting on her couch. She wore a big red X across her chest and a bird lay dead on the cushion next to her. 

Unable to stop herself Jo took a shaky breath and glanced down at the sofa cushion. Scully lay there, dead. His half-eaten cracker sat next to him, laughing at her. Jo shrieked in horror and cupped her hands to her mouth. 

Across the room, a grey fog rose up from the floor and caused her screams to freeze in her lungs. Slowly an image appeared and walked out of the mist toward her. Instantly she recognized the creepy old pirate who’d been staring at her all night. 

His lips moved and sound came out, but in a way that reminded her of bad dubbing, “I see that ye have stolen one o’ my pieces of eight, and I aims to claim it back fer me own.” He motioned toward her hands. 

Jo glanced in disbelief at the gold coin that now lay in her open palm. She looked back up in time to see the last image she would ever see, the rise and fall of his cutlasses right before they lashed a bloody X across her chest. 

                                                                                                     YE BE NEXT…

 

Tammy’s Tip of the Week

This week I tried to learn more about something I know very little about. I chose, ‘Writing the Red Herring’. A red herring is something that pretends to be a clue, but in fact, isn’t one at all. Generally, herrings are used in mystery writing in an attempt to throw the reader off the trail. We want the reader to think something has weight or value when in fact it doesn’t at all. However, the red herring cannot be the white elephant in the room either . It must still have some actual purpose within the context of the story. It’s a very tricky concept to grasp let alone achieve in writing. In the story above I tried to practice the simplest form of writing a red herring; repetition.  Did you catch it? Too obvious? I used the way Jo said, ‘Scully was always right’. Did it work, Win/fail?

Well whatever the case, this brings me to the point of my rambling tip. Choose something you’re not familiar with, would never normally do or use, and then practice it. Go on, try it! You might like it. Pantzer? Try writing plot cards. Romance writer? Try adding some gore. Can’t stand cats? Try writing from their POV. Whatever it is, whatever you chose, go forth and learn!

Peace and plotmares.

Publication update, poem, and my Tip of the Week :)

I missed you all and wanted to share some of my good news with you. Awhile back I wrote a poem for challenge posted on Devin O’Branagan’s forum. Chris, one of the members, gave me the idea of Cupid and so I ran with it. I wrote a poem about my version of the ‘real’ meeting between Cupid and Psyche. The poem is entitled Bound and you can find it here under my ‘poetry’ section.

Anyhoo, I submitted it for a competition to the Poetry Institute of Canada and it’s now made it through to the final rounds. It will be published in a verse anthology entitled Fire & Light to be released hardbound in January of 2012, and it’s still in the running for the $500 grand prize! The winner will not be chosen/released until this winter and I will keep you posted. Till then, fingers and toes crossed for me please!

Meanwhile, I met someone today who inspired the following poem. I hope you enjoy it as it’s proof that even the nastiest people we come across can still inspire us. ;P

She wears her negativity

Like a cloak

Hiding inside herself

The bitter geyser

Sprung from a broken soul

Gushing down the path of life

Leaving destruction

In place of footprints

Tammy’s Tip Of the Week

Build your ‘writing resume’. Enter all kinds of contests and competitions and don’t stop to think about it. Meaning, what’s the worst they can do? Reject it? Big deal. Pull on your big girl panties. No matter how big or small something may seem, in the end it is all meat for the query letter. Diversify yourself. Enter your flash pieces, shorts, poetry, essays, fiction, non-fiction, magazines and newspapers articles. It might seem small and insignificant when you think of it individually, but it adds up to quite a tidy bulk of ‘published’ work and shows that your multifaceted. So get out there and be bold. Do everything you can to build your footprint in the world.

Cheers and thanks for stopping by to read/comment. I truly appreciate all your support  and I’m blessed to have it. Peace and plotmares!

OMG! A blank page? Say it ain’t so!

LOL! Okay so this week nothing inspired me to be written about so I’m taking the week off. Nice huh? Come on, you know you wannnna! ;P

So if you happened to poke your head in here, not a total waste, check out this great site featuring personalized story books. They’re are so awesome and make excellent gifts for kids and babies. It’s one of my FAV new sites.

http://www.personalizedstorybooks.ca/

Blog Awards and a sneak peek at a new read!

Some blog award love was sent my way over the past week and I’m finally getting around to passing it on. MOST.  FUN. EVER.

But first, an author friend of mine, and most of yours, had an early release surprise and needed some help spreading the word. So here it is for your enjoyment. Be sure to check her out at  http://www.evernightpublishing.com/pages/Seleste-deLaney.html

Banished from Olympus with orders to restore love to the world, Eros starts with a match no one sees coming. No one but him. 

Straight-laced principal Kira isn’t looking for love, especially not right after getting dumped. Then a chance encounter leads her to Jesse, and damned if she isn’t drawn to the bad-boy with a heart of gold. A night of reckless abandon leaves her confused. Was there something there, or did she imagine the connection between them? 

Jesse knows lying to Kira is a mistake, but she’s the first woman in a long time to see the man and not just the rock star. When his plan to come clean goes terribly wrong, Kira bolts, leaving Jesse in the dust. 

Now Eros has to nudge the star-crossed lovers together and prove to Zeus that love does exist, even among the gun shy.

MINIONS OF MISERY AWARD

I recieved this goth-tastic award from Angela Addams.
No, I’m not goth, but since I came up the idea, set out the rules, and suggested to Goth Queen Anne Michaud that she ask the uber talented mad skilled Imran Siddiq to design the award for it (which he did a damn fine job of! didn’t he?) I have been given the award as a token nod. Special thanks to the darkly devine evil mistress Ren Warom who came up with Title for award. I hope I can do this award proper justice. Here goes;

Rules: One dark book, ond dark movie, and one dark secret, then pass onto three other worthy bloggers. 

DARK BOOK:  Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe. The king of Dark.

DARK MOVIE: Cube. Many likely haven’t heard of it. Here’s the blurb: 7 complete strangers of widely varying personality characteristics are involuntarily placed in an endless kafkaesque maze containing deadly traps. It’s creepy and makes you seriously consider what you’d do in the same circumstances. *shivers* 

DARK SECRET: With so many to tell this one was especially tough. My dark secret, I have never in my life read an erotica novel. Sorry to all my erotica author pals out there, you know who you are. (I think I hear Angela Addams jumping up and down eager to burst my erotica virginity, yup, *ducks book* that’s my girl).

I NOMINATE THE MINION AWARD TO: ??? Not being a goth myself it means I know of only 1 who hasn’t already been given it. So congrats Julie Campbell (the secret goth club dancer)! 

LOVELY BLOGGER AWARD

Well you know that little Gunshy plug above? (look up, look waaaaay up), well my author pal Seleste Delaney gave me this award to share. I’m like a kinder egg, dark on the outside, creamy on the inside. Hence; I love the dark goth award, yet still adore this pretty pink teacup one.  I’m an enigma but that’s just how I roll. ;P

There are two very simple rules that accompany this award:

1.  Share “7″ facts about yourself
2.  Pass this award on to “15″ other deserving blog owners. (er, ya, how about four? Otherwise we’ll all run outta peeps to share it with. Yeesh.) 

Thing 1: As a general rule, I really do not like being complimented. So if you complimented me and I didn’t say thank-you, I’m sorry, I blame it on the shock of being sent into my ‘I can’t hear you’ place. 

2. I attended dirt-bike school with my hubby. Best fun EVER, even if I did have to pick the bike up like a thousand times from wiping out. 

3. I LOVE to fish. Seriously love it. It was our first ‘date’. I refuse to eat it though. *shudder* 

4. I pumped gas into my car for the first time last year (Age 37). My hubs just always did it for me. When I’d tell people I’d never done it they’d always ‘show’ me how to do it by filling it up for me. Yup. Oh yeah, and that first time I filled up my truck, I put diesel in it instead of gas. EPIC FAIL.

5. Smashed out my two front teeth in Grade 1 or 2 or something like that. I did such a good job on it that my adult teeth grew in cracked. I was playing tag and the brick wall was home free. It was also a lot closer than I thought. Ever since then I have a problem with being chased. On the upside, finally got veneers put on them this year. *very big toothy grin* 

6. I am most proud of my marriage. We were married at 21yrs old, and this December we’ll be celebrating our 17^th anniversary. A rare and beautiful thing these days. 

7. I love those big pieces of pink Bubbalicious bubblegum that let you blow a bubble the size of your head. I love tobogganing every winter. I love building sandcastles and splashing in waves and rain puddles. I love finger-painting. I love having a mudpie fight with my son. If I could give the world a gift, it would be to remind them all to be a kid more and a stuffed arse less.

Whew! Damn, I think my sharing quotient for the year is maxed out. Time to nominate some peeps; Pat Hollett, Dianne Waye, Heidi and the ever sweet and adorable Lisa Forget.

I have one rule this week, you can only post a comment if you’re going to share a fact about yourself. Could be generic, you have blue eyes, I don’t care what it is just pick one and tell it. Go as deep as you dare my darklings.

Written Sin #7 – Redundancy is utterly Redundant…let the dead horse lie… See? ;)

Lately I’ve been writing more than ever, thank you Nano, and I’ve also been critiquing more of other people’s work than ever. The request for me to beta seems to be growing rapidly. Not unsurprising considering we all know I’m not one to withhold an opinion. As always, I’m finding I learn as much by reading as I do by writing. And what fun is learning if you can’t share some of it right? So here you are.

One recurring theme I see is redundancy. Usually, it’s something dead obvious, but because it’s seemingly so minimal, it often gets overlooked. 

Example #1 – Over stating the obvious 

Joey walked around the parked automobile, opened the passenger car door, and slid inside. 

Did you spot it? It’s small, minimal, simple, and utterly annoying. At least to me. The word ‘car’ is the culprit in the sentence. You already told me it was an automobile, I get it, it’s a car. Go figure. Delete. And yes it seems small and unobtrusive, but the problem is it seems to proliferate inside a document like mold spores. What you end up with are tons of unnecessary words that slow the pace, add clutter, and eventually grate on your reader’s nerves. 

Example #2 – Killing your own joke 

My little sister was a cereal junkie. I fully expected I’d one day find her locked in her room with a syringe, a tourniquet, and a box of Froot Loops. We really needed to get her one of those twelve-step programs… 

Spot it? That last sentence was a total kill joy. You had me at Froot Loops. So many times I’ll be reading through something and find a particularly funny or poignant line that makes me giddy from sheer impact, only instead of stopping there, the writer continues to beat it to death following it up with lesser lines. They suck the vibrancy out of little gems. 

Example #3 – Shut up already! 

I’ll save you tortures I’m sure you’ve all experienced enough in your lifetime. Short version; Using more than two sentences to tell me how your protag didn’t like his hamburger is overkill (honestly more than two words is enough), using a whole paragraph should come with a massive fine, and two paragraphs should come with immediate suspension and career opportunity counseling.

This list could go on to the point where it’s, er, redundant, yes? We’ve all seen it, and most of us have done it *raises hand*, and this is the true gift of having beta readers. We are all going to make mistakes and overlook the simple stuff so our best offense is a good defense, awareness. 

Tammy’s Tip of the Week

Read before you write. For the love of God when you put your ms down for the night, and pick it up again the next day, re-read your last page first. DO NOT write down a single new word until you’ve done this.  Many times people think they are starting where they left off, but the reality is they just end up re-writing the same parts over again. It makes a critter/beta/alpha/omega3 wanna pull their teeth out with rusty pliers.  *thanking you in advance*

Thoughts? Opinions? Perhaps just like to flip me off? Feel free.  *secretly hopes cute smiley’s prevents retribution*