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Blink of An Eye
We’ve already been to Glenwood Springs and back.
Zippy and I had a lovely trip although it felt as if
our alone time whizzed on past much too quickly.
Much like these aspen trees Zippy photographed as I drove
us back home over Independence Pass.
(I purposely left the image ginormous to give the full effect.)
Wishing everyone a leisurely-paced weekend…
Zippity Doo Dah
Zippy and I are off on an overnight.
In honor of his 50th birthday,
I’m taking him back to his place of birth.
No, sillies.
Not the hospital.
But we are going to Glenwood Springs,
his birth city.
There will hiking, hot springs, and a brewpub.
See you when we return!
It’s Now Tomorrow
Twist and shout
This pretty much sums up my day:
Image from morguefile.com
Friday Five: The October Already? Edition
Zebu really likes this photo so I added the summer color for him.
1) I’m trying not to panic at the thought that we’re now careening, full-tilt
toward the end of the year
2) Because there are still so many things I want and need to accomplish
before then
3) But there’s nothing I can do about the steady march of time
4) So the best I can do is get a grip already
5) And push on through to meet my goals (with a minimum of whimpering).
Happy October to all, and have a wonderful weekend!
Establishing Routines and Letting Them Go
Last night I realized I felt pretty crappy.
My neck was stiff, my head hurt, and my entire body felt tight.
Wait, I thought, I recognize this feeling.
It’s how I used to go through most every day.
In fact, I felt that way for most of my adult life until I started a daily yoga routine,
and then I became relaxed and loose.
And that’s how I’ve been for the past year and a half: relaxed and loose.
Last school year I’d get up at 6:00, put on my yoga togs, wash my face,
and then feed my kids and pack their lunches.
Zebu and Wildebeest were out of the house by 7:05,
and I’d go straight into my little "yoga studio" for my session.
I did not pass GO,
I did not loiter in the kitchen,
and I most certainly didn’t get lured to the world wide web.
I did what needed to be done.
(And then I passed GO, stuffed my face, and surfed the web).
This school year, the boys’ schedules are scrambled and by the time they’re out the door,
I’m hungry.
Really hungry.
I don’t want to do yoga, dammit.
I want food and coffee.
And now my body is suffering from a yoga-deficit.
So I’m trying to establish a new routine,
one that allows for flexibility (pun NOT intended).
I’m telling myself it’s okay to eat in the morning and
it’s okay to do yoga at 11:00.
Really, it’s okay to do yoga at any time during the day.
And the same goes for my writing which is also suffering a disruption in routine.
It’s okay to write at any time during the day, as long as I write.
Because in the same way I now know/remember how crappy I feel when I don’t do yoga regularly,
I know how out of sorts I feel when I don’t write every day.
So.
Routines are great, until they’re not.
And then it’s time to create new ones.
Routines that can bend and flex with my daily needs.
Boys without Clouds?
AGNES by Tony Cochran
You’ve Got to Be Kidding Me
Okay, I know I’m supposed to be revising BIRD BRAIN right now.
I know.
But I cannot let this insanity / audacity / hypocrisy go unremarked…
Rolling Stone did an interview with Obama.
Apparently, the interview ended and then Obama came back to
make one more point which included this:
"The idea that we’ve got a lack of enthusiasm in the Democratic base,
that people are sitting on their hands complaining, is just irresponsible."
and this:
"If we want the kind of country that respects civil rights and civil liberties,
we’d better fight in this election."
Wow.
This from the guy who is basically the third term of G.W. Bush.
Obama is the guy who kept Guantanamo Bay open.
The guy who has an off-site prison in Bagram in which prisoners
are held, without being charged, in cells with the lights on and music playing 24/7.
The guy who has ordered the assassination of a U.S. citizen and has
invoked "state secrets" in refusing to give the target’s father a chance in court.
The guy who has lobbyfied and corporatized every aspect of his policies.
Obama wants to chastise me about civil liberties? Really?
Yesterday Joe Biden told people such as myself who aren’t happy with the above
(and a whole lot more), to "Stop whining."
And last week Obama, at a $3000/plate fundraiser, announced that dissatisfied people such as myself
are "griping and moaning."
They’d prefer we all focus our attention on the train wreck that is the Tea Party.
Sarah and Christine and the whole host of whackadoodles.
Because "look over there at the truly scary people!" rather than "look at how we’ve retreated
and declared outright war on every single campaign promise!"
Here’s my favorite comment on Glenn Greenwald’s post on the Rolling Stone article:
It seems that those who are left behind [reference to departure of key administration staffers] have decided to change the “Yes We Can’, which seems a little embarrassing now, to “If you don’t vote for me you’re an asshole.” It’ll be interesting to see how this new message resonates with the voters. – mattconnolly
Okay.
I’m done.
Anyone have anything to add?
(ETA: If I’d read this first, I probably wouldn’t have bothered writing my post).
Girding My Loins
I’m ready to wade back in there
and begin reshaping BIRD BRAIN’s opening chapters.
And then complete another (final?) round of revisions.
I’m equal parts anticipation and dread.
Image from morguefile.com
Cue whatever music it is I need to hear right now . . .
Reading Banned Books
It’s my turn at From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors,
and I’ve posted My Childhood, My Reading List, an exploration
of banned books I have loved.
I hope you can stop by.
Wishing everyone a glorious autumnal weekend!
Image from Morguefile.com
Here’s hoping . . .
I have some tasks that must be finished today,
and figured a little prayer might be helpful:
Praying mantis © Tracy Abell 2010
Conference Wrap-Up
I’m coming out of my RMC-SCBWI conference-induced fatigue,
and wanted to share some morsels
before the passion and meaning behind the words grow too dim.
Bruce Coville gave our keynote speech on Saturday morning.
My favorite line: "The blank page is hard, not because nothing’s
there, but because everything is there. The whole world."
He ended his talk (titled The Art of the Heart: Writing True for the Child)
with this: "Let us not take joy, let us give it. Let us give it courageously."
Just a short while later, I had my one-on-one critique with him.
He read the first 10 pages of BIRD BRAIN.
Good news: he thinks the voice is strong.
Not-as-good news: I need to rework the opening pages to set them in a scene
rather than exposition. I kind of knew that, but had a secret hope he’d love it as is!
(Major thanks again to for helping me out of a slump so I could get those
pages ready for submission!)
One of the few sessions I was able to attend (due to responsibilities), was Social Media 101.
Drew Shope, of Thrive Social Media, is a 25-year-old social media guru who convinced me to start tweeting.
I’m having fun thus far but fear the Undisciplined Time Suck.
(I’m @TracyAbell)
I attended Elizabeth Law’s session on First Pages.
The overwhelming message of the day was Slow Down the Action.
(This is what was said regarding my first page from FRAMED, too.)
Of course, during another session, editor Kate Harrison and agent Elena Mechlin
both said they like a story that gets going immediately to pull them in.
(L-R Moderator Bobbi, Elizabeth Law, Elena Mechlin, Kate Harrison, Rotem Moscovich)
My favorite Elizabeth Law line of the weekend came in response to a question.
Q: If an editor or agent suggests revisions, is it appropriate to ask for clarification?
A: No, work in the dark. Spend a lot of time. Hope you get it right.
(The answer is, Of course!)
My favorite Elizabeth Law line of the weekend came in response to a question.
Q: If an editor or agent suggests revisions, is it appropriate to ask for clarification?
A: No, work in the dark. Spend a lot of time. Hope you get it right.
(The answer is, Of course!)
I had a wonderful time and bonded with Bruce Coville.
When my critique time was up, I thanked him.
He said, "You betcha!" then said with considerable dismay, "I sound like Sarah Palin."
That’s all it took. We were off and running (next writer hadn’t yet shown up).
It was a wonderful, exhausting weekend.
But next year, I hope to scale back on conference-day duties so I can fully enjoy.
Goals One and Two Reached!
Last June I wasn’t sure I could keep on writing,
and the thought of attending my local SCBWI conference again
without any professional/career progress to show after another year
of effort was horrible to contemplate.
I needed to accomplish something that would help me hold my head high.
So I set two goals: I would apply for a conference manuscript critique AND
finish the revision of BIRD BRAIN before the conference.
A few weeks ago, I found out I’m having a critique with Bruce Coville.
(Goal One: check!)
And today, just a few moments ago, I finished my revision.
(Goal Two: check!)
There are still days when I doubt my sanity in all this,
but I have to believe I will prevail.
That time of year again . . .
Just popping in to say I’m getting ready
for our local SCBWI conference this coming weekend
so will probably be even more scarce around LJ-land this week.
I’m the conference facilities coordinator which means I need to
coordinate AV, meals, room assignments, etc.
Coordinators are supposed to be coordinated, right?
Then how come I’m suddenly feeling so clumsy?
Happy 50th Birthday, Zippy!
It’s my fella’s birthday today.
Here’s a goofy grin from him to celebrate his big day:
Zippy: Wishing you much love, laughter, and Zebu’s delicious chocolate cake!
Bigotry
All the current hateful anti-Muslim rhetoric makes me ill.
And it’s everywhere.
While busing tables at the spaghetti dinner on Monday,
I overheard some mumbled slander aimed at Muslims
from an evangelical woman who likes to
put her hand on people’s foreheads and pray over them/bless them.
Over the years I’ve asked her to stop doing that since we’re about feeding people,
not proselytizing, but she’s so locked into her belief system my words don’t make a dent.
Which is probably why on Monday I walked away from her in frustration (something I’m not proud of),
and went into the kitchen to vent to Zippy who then told me
the same anti-Muslim crap was being spewed there by a volunteer washing dishes.
It’s everywhere, and it’s getting more and more blatant.
We have a man of color in the White House, a man many choose to believe is a closet Muslim,
and that’s unleashed The Ugly which people have kept simmering in their guts.
G.W. Bush was able to keep a lid on anti-Muslim sentiment following September 11, 2001,
but Obama’s skin tone has inflamed The Ugly.
Burning Korans.
Shrieking opposition to mosques all over the country.
Denying Muslims their First Amendment rights.
I’m sickened.
Springing into action
A new week, a new month.
Shiny new possibilities.
I have plans for September!
(Here I go again, another oversized photo.
This time I didn’t have trouble uploading it to LiveJournal,
but I can’t resize it; when I click on the corner, the photo goes blue.
Plus, I can’t put text beneath it.
What’s going on?! And does anyone have advice?)
Just a while ago . . .
This is what I saw out my window a bit ago,
American Goldfinches against a backdrop of asters.
Now.
Can someone please explain what happened to Photobucket and
LiveJournal image insert since I last posted a photo?
It took forever to get this photo here and I’m not even sure how I finally succeeded.
Plus, I can’t resize this photo which is why it’s of the ginormous variety.
I used to feel a bit savvy about this stuff but now I’m back to feeling confused.
Sigh.
Friday Five: The School Daze Edition
1) Dropped Zebu at the high school this morning for freshmen orientation.
2) Zebu was disdainful yesterday when I asked if he knew what he was going to wear today,
yet this morning proudly pointed out that his shoes matched his shirt.
3) Wildebeest got himself up and out the door for a 6 a.m. cross country practice this morning. Wow.
4) Zebu and Wildebeest have a gym class together this semester, and are giddy with excitement.
5) I cannot believe summer vacation is over.
© Tracy Abell 2010
Wishing everyone a glorious August weekend!
Life can be nuts . . .
. . . so you might as well take a big bite.
© Tracy Abell 2010
Today I’m out from under a cloud that hovered for the past two months,
and I’m feeling lighter and more like me again.
Now it’s back to my life being nuts on my own terms.
Plot Revealing Itself?
A couple weeks ago I wrote about my panic over
characters revealing themselves.
Wise writer-friends weighed in on how they enjoy this aspect
of novel-writing because it means (among other things) that
my characters are still speaking to me,
and that I’m getting to know them just as I get to know people in real life,
and that I should bask in those little revelations because they add an element of surprise to the process.
Such wise friends.
I’m now hip to (and content with) the character revelation thing,
but am now wondering how you all feel about plot points revealing themselves.
What I’m struggling with is that I have basic plot points figured out,
but I have to keep tweaking and tweaking to fine-tune them.
Do you all have this issue with plotting?
(I’m not even sure if I’m making sense here so will try one last description):
It’s as if I know the plot points but it turns out that’s not enough to write this draft;
I have to keep rethinking/reworking the plot points to get where the story wants/needs to go.
I was making such headway but in the last couple days have gotten bogged down
in figuring out what I thought was already figured out!
Anyone have insights?
Juvenile Behavior
I’m supposed to be working on BIRD BRAIN,
but keep getting distracted by three juvenile Western Scrub Jays.
I saw one hopping around my patio table this morning,
checking out the umbrella turn-handle as if hoping it would yield food.
Fortunately, she came around the house and found the motherlode of peanuts.
© Tracy Abell 2010
The youngsters aren’t able to extract the whole thing the way adult jays do,
but they peck at the shells until they can pull out one peanut at a time.
(This qualifies as research, right?)
Selective Neglect
I went out into my garden just now.
It’s not a pretty sight.
I’ve neglected it for the past couple months
as I focused on my writing projects.
Here’s Lamb’s Ear strangled with bind weed:
Yarrow upstaged by thistle:
Sunflower in a neck-and-neck race with incredibly tall thistles:
Yesterday Zebu came out in the front yard where I was busting sod,
a task I began a month or so ago.
I’m taking out a huge area of lawn to be replaced with rocks
and isolated plantings.
Zebu asked, "Do you expect to have this done by winter?"
I replied in the affirmative.
Zebu expressed some doubts.
"Not only that," I said. "But I’m also going to have the kitchen all painted
and finish my book."
He said, "Something won’t get done."
I said, "Well, it won’t be my book. I’m finishing that."
He went back inside,
and I dug out another piece of lawn.
Friday Five: The Where-I’m-At Edition
1) I’m loving my whiteboard as I sort out characterization and plot for BIRD BRAIN.
2) But for the sake of my brain cells, I need to make the big investment and buy non-toxic, no-odor markers.
3) I’m now enjoying all the little revelations that come with revision, and am no longer beating myself up
for not being an omniscient author.
4) I’m writing every single day, making progress every single day, and feeling better about myself
every single day.
5) This week I received a 14+ month response to a query for FRAMED, and all I could do was laugh.
Wishing everyone a grand weekend filled with whatever brand of happiness your hearts desire!
Tracy Abell 