"If The Apocalypse Comes, Beep Me."

Title:	I'm baa-aaack!
Topics:	scbwi conferences, story development, tag!, writing friends
Date:	2009-09-14 @ 13:31
Security:	public
Location:	Back home
Music:	Free by The Martinis, from Empire Records
Mood:	excited

I still lurve you, LiveJournal. It's just Facebook is so vair, vair shiny!

But suddenly, I hear the siren call of the blog. And I read the dead cleverness of LiveJournal Goddesses. And I get verbal slushy snowballs upside the head from my peeps who check my blog and are truly annoyed that I am not working hard to amuse them.

So, here's the promise: I will blog and be amusing, possibly inspirational, and much more productive with my writing.

"What I Did On My Summer Vacation" Part I

My BFF&E writing partner, Heidi Landry Phelps (who has been poking me with a sharp pointy stick over the LJ issue) and I went to the Minnesota SCBWI conference this last Saturday. HOWEVER, I flew in on Friday and flew back today because we needed to continue our two month long game of tag, this time in person.

Yes, my peeps. Tag. Story Tag. We were both in a state of crash and burn, I mean...writers block. I said "Let's put on a play!" (Nod to Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney films. I call I get to be Micky) actually it was "Let's do a writing challenge!" Something like a scene from childhood, imagine you are abducted by aliens, or re-tell a fairy tale.

She emailed back (probably sighing a little) "Okay, but something short."

Famous last words.

Over the past two months we have built a story. Bit by bit. Challenges like: Middle Grade or Young Adult? Who is the main character? How old are they? And, I could still kill her for this: What's the first line of our story?

When tagged, you answer the challenge as briefly as possible. Then you shoot another one right back. About 30 challenges in, via phone texting, Facebook messages and emails, we realized the game of tag had become a book we needed to write. That was the weekend's mission.

Pictures and details next!

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Title:	Crunch Time!
Topics:	bic-butt in chair, indie bookstores, novels, writing
Date:	2009-02-25 @ 09:29
Security:	public
Location:	Waterford in the rain
Music:	Stronger by KanYe West
Mood:	determined

I'm going to a workshop in Madison on Friday. A novel revision workshop. So I'm revising and revising. I took 7,000 words out of a 36,000 word manuscript over two days in an attempt to restructure. Yesterday I wrote a new 1,200 word scene that doesn't totally suck. Last night I tried to do a timeline with the Hero's Journey structure as a guideline.

This morning I am on industrial strength caffeine. The hard stuff, peoples. We're talking Alterra beans and Hachez chocolate. Not for civilians.

Between the non-totally-sucky scene and the timeline, I got to talk to two made-of-awesome teenagers in a small, independent bookstore. Not about my work, about books. Good series gone horribly wrong, bad books they (and I) wanted to throw across the room. A mention of a certain dim, undead wannabee who deserves a good chomp. A wondering of why "To Kill A Mockingbird" ended the way it did became a discussion of 'resonance'. I got the name of a new author I wasn't familiar with, and passed on a few myself.

It was vair, vair cool. It was connecting with living, breathing, passionate readers. It was a reason to get BIC and produce work good enough to deserve their reading time.

Back to working in my writers garret, with my Einstein/Fusion Energy mousepad and happy punk music blaring.

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Title:	I'm Being Stalked By The AARP
Topics:	aarp, birthday, prunes
Date:	2009-01-21 @ 22:23
Security:	public
Location:	The fabulous office of the birthday girl.
Music:	March Of The Sugar Plum Fairies by The Vandals
Mood:	worried

I don't feel old. Or at least I didn't until my birthday last year when something horrifying happened. AARP cards began to mysteriously appear in my mailbox. WTF?

They offer...I don't know...stuff. Some kind of discounts. Not like I'm opening these things. It's the friggin' AARP. They may as well be posting prunes.

And yet the AARP cards keep piling up. I think "If I open one, will they know and stop sending them?" In my reality, I'm worried these cards are like Swiffer dust mops. Swipe a Swiffer across your floor and you collect dust. If I open one of these envelopes, they will catch wrinkles out of thin air and slam them onto my face. Not taking the chance.

DISCLAIMER: Whatever.

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Title:	Multi Generational Cyber Censorship
Topics:	facebook, livejournal, myspace, nanowrimo, writing
Date:	2008-10-27 @ 16:56
Security:	public
Location:	Back in Wisconsin
Music:	Hairspray Soundtrack
Mood:	busy

I was at a wicked cool writing retreat in Nebraska over the weekend. So what comes up besides novels in progress, writing routines and wondering if those drunk scrapbookers down the hall are going to rock the monastery until 3 am again?

The fact that:

A. Many of us have Facebook, MySpace, LiveJournal, etc.
B. Our children find A. appalling and won't friend us.
C. We lock some of our posts so our moms don't read what we're up to, which is the reason for B.

I love the Internet!

AND I'm announcing to the world that for the first time, I'm in for NaNoWriMo.

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Title:	Yesterday, I flew.
Topics:	flying, sept. 11
Date:	2008-09-12 @ 07:44
Security:	public
Location:	Oak Ridge, TN
Music:	Crickets, I think. Do they have crickets here?
Mood:	grateful

Yesterday I flew from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Charlotte, North Carolina to Knoxville, Tennessee. My daughter just moved to Oak Ridge, Tennessee in late July. Her husband can't move until early November so she really needed a visit from family. She found me some good fares. REALLY good fares. As we were on the phone I mused
"This is for next week, how'd you find this great deal?"
"Duh Mom, it's September 11th."
"Oh."

So... I flew. Decent parking spots in the daily garage.

No huge crowd crush at the airport. But I felt a cloud of remembering hanging over us. Not an ominous cloud, though. It was...I don't know... I didn't hear one customer complain. Not even in Charlotte where there was a delay in the waiting area of the gate next to mine.

I had a vial of my 'little yellow friend' Valium, in case of an anxiety attack. I don't love to fly and I'm kind of claustrophobic. But I didn't need any.

Besides, once I got to the airport I wanted to do something.

I thanked every TSA person for keeping us safe.

I shook the hand of every man or woman I saw wearing an armed forces uniform and said "Thank you." Much as I tried not to, I choked up a little every time I said it. They didn't seem to mind.

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Title:	Is that a carrot I see before me?
Topics:	incentives, middle grade, writing
Date:	2008-07-22 @ 15:47
Security:	public
Location:	Lonely writer's garret
Music:	VNV Nation & Bauhaus - Gothing it up!
Mood:	busy

Long time no post.

Writing, writing, writing.

Hit slump. Bam, bam, bam.

Shopping, shopping, shopping.

Behold Incentive:

.

Carrots

Started new middle grade novel May 19. 12,000 words in. Deadline: August 19. Estimate required length: 25,000 to 30,000 words.

So, need carrot juice as well as carrots:

That's all folks - catch you on the flip side of finished.

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Title:	Where I Live
Topics:	hometowns
Date:	2008-07-03 @ 08:45
Security:	public
Location:	West of the Rondelle
Mood:	nostalgic

Jumping on the bandwagon late! I'm from Racine, Wisconsin. This is about six blocks from where I lived most of my life until a year ago:

That's the front of the Johnson Wax Golden Rondelle, once the centerpiece of the 1964 World's Fair.

That's the back.

And that's right behind it, the Frank Lloyd Wright Research Tower.
I now live 30 minutes away, but we're still fixing up the old house to sell, so I drive past it nearly every day.

Inside the Golden Rondelle is a theater where they show "To Be Alive", an IMAX-esque multi screen film which probably spawned IMAX! The children and I used to walk there on Fridays for the free showings because they had air conditioning and we didn't.

Thanks to Cindy Lord

cynthialord for getting this going!

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Title:	I Wrote, Therefore I Rock
Topics:	goals, middle grade, writing on monday
Date:	2008-06-16 @ 22:06
Security:	public
Location:	Kitchen - listening to the diswasher swish-swish-swish
Mood:	cheerful

750 words today on the WIP. And most of them were keepers.

Yay me! ::Dancing the Happy Little Teapot Dance because....:::

Okay. Got me there. But I'm rocking the writing on a friggin-A Monday.

I'm zenning in the realm of unconscious competence, at least until I read it tomorrow morning.

Nite, Flist - I lurve you all, my tiny literary buds!

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Title:	I Am Not In Wisconsin On Purpose Today
Topics:	floods, pestilence, tornado
Date:	2008-06-08 @ 16:56
Security:	public
Location:	Still in Friggin' Wisconsin!
Music:	Post Tornado siren silence
Mood:	sad

I should be in Las Vegas right now. I made it through a tornado/thunderstorm in Southeast Wisconsin Friday with no problems. Even though it hit a mile away.
Here's a picture from my back door post-tornado. If you look close, you can see one of the smaller funnel clouds.

Yes, I know I should have been in my basement. I was. But I got bored.
Then, the thunderstorms hit hard last night. Buckets and buckets and lightning, but I was all tra-la-la I'm going to Las Vegas with Patrick for a few days.
Got up this am at 3:45 for a 7:10 flight. At 4:30, finishing packing, my husband comes to me and says "There's water in the basement. One of the sump pumps failed."
I am still in Wisconsin. I have my wellies on for the 8th straight hour. NOTE: Carpeting should not make a 'squish' sound when you step on it. Ever.
We have a new sump pump and a new wet/dry vac. We are not seeing sun and fun and Penn & Teller.
Craptacular.

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Title:	You call that a PROM?
Topics:	prom, racine, wisconsin
Date:	2008-05-09 @ 08:07
Security:	public
Location:	Racine, where else?
Music:	Party like it's 1999 by Prince
Mood:	nostalgic

I'm from Racine, Wisconsin. Home of the World's Best Prom. Honest, people!

I KNOW fabulous writers of the Mighty Flist are writing books about Prom. You need to come to ours, it's next Saturday.

Started in 1953 after a prom night alcohol related fatal car crash, the Rotarians of Racine created a safe post prom experience for Racine students.

"That's nice, you think. Prom."

The meaning of that four letter word is different in Racine from anywhere else.

In Racine, Prom:

Includes ALL the high schools, public, private, parochial, alternative. On the same night. Together.

Is TELEVISED

- Featuring interviews with ALL the prom kings and queens

- Interviews with very confused foreign exchange students, who think they've been transported to another planet

- A red carpet entrance with bleachers full of screaming fans

- Has music, several stages, karoake, food including fresh baked cookies, games with prizes

- Starts about 10:00 PM and goes until nearly dawn, with many, many cool activities to keep kids from going off to do, uh, other stuff. It's planned by the Rotarians and a committee of teens from all of the schools working together.

All for 1,500+ seniors and their dates

Students arrive in fire trucks, Hummers, sports cars, delivery trucks, ice cream trucks, and one memorable Prom, on an elephant.

Police escorted motorcades lead the vehicles from their respective schools, with their own dances and coronation ceremonies, to Festival Hall. The motorcades are timed to arrive so that EACH student and date walks past the LIVE television camera's view with their school, so all the moms and dads and grandparents can see them. Many students hold up homemade signs that say "Hi Mom!"

A movie was made about this prom, which you can see at www.worldsbestprom.com. The link to the 2005 aol video which, sadly, has a commercial first, is http://video.aol.com/video/video-category/1784201

::I'll try and imbed it, but no promises.:::

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