Month: June 2016

Sweet Harmony

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Harmony comes from many different places. It could be present in an eclectic coffee shop or when 30,000 people are all swaying to the same song. Harmony came my way twice this week.

I am working in the coffee shop again, (best egg sandwich anywhere!), trying to get

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Crowd at SPAC 21 June 16

Neddy’s ready for when my editor arrives next week. Her visits are always anticipated with excitement to be in the same time zone and dread of showing my present work.

I also went back to The Saratoga Preforming Arts Center or SPAC for short. My first trip there took place in the early 80’s. I caravan up with four other cars of folks, got to the park mid-morning, hung out playing Frisbee, and then upon entering the venue, promptly lost all my friends.

There were sightings along the way. In line for the Ladies Room I would be told that Terri went that way or they just saw Faith and she was looking for me. I would head off in the direction pointed only to just miss each time. I danced the whole show solo, yet during the last number, Don’t Ease Me In, I ventured back to where we entered. Within minutes my friends and I are dancing around each other.

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Dead & Company on stage at SPAC.

That is the magic, which is probably why two of my books, Dancing With Faith and my latest, Passenger – the only game in town, both have scenes from the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

Decades later we venture to SPAC again. The band plays. We are a bit older, and some days wiser, still dancing the night away. The music brings harmony to the masses and will forever rock my soul.

The creative juices will be different moving forward…Scattered like lost words…(Weir)

Guilford’s Mid-Life Crisis

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Preliminary draft 1 of Uncle Neddy’s is complete! (Yay!) I use the word preliminary because of how I create. I get my first run through of story ideas down and then print out a hard copy. The hard copy then becomes a detailed outline. Is there a story here? What is the point? How can the plot be made more intricate? What additions/edits are needed to make this real?

My methods have been criticized in the past. If I only outlined first I would save time and energy yet to me, outlining takes away the spontaneous moves my character’s make. I must be a plotter because I know I don’t plan.

Currently there is a vision…so yay!

Unfortunately, I think I lost one of my favorite writing spots today. There seemed to be more folks hanging out, not that I can blame them. The Marketplace has a fantastic tea bar (coffee too), fresh made pastries, sandwiches, salads, and such, and I have yet to eat something that wasn’t fabulous!

I did hang out for a bit yet as the crowd of soon to be high school seniors grew, I needed to leave, although I did wait and listen to the mid-life crisis activities of apparently many Guilford parents. Kids qualified everything from buying a new car to joining a tennis club as a mid-life crisis. My favorite came when a young lady started to explain how her father wanted to go to a concert that she planned on attending with her friends. “I mean, like, really…get your own friends and music! Could you imagine running into your dad during the show. Oh my gosh – he’d probably start dancing or something…”

Yep – us old folks need to be banned from concerts.

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The “Wall Of Tea” at  Savvy Tea

So here I sit, in a new place, Savvy Tea. Savvy Tea has two types of Green Tea iced plus two others, one black, one non-caffeinated. There is a plethora of loose teas too and the owner offered to put any tea of my choice over ice! (And I think they are playing Jason Mraz!)

Definitely a score.

I should thank the kids in crisis the next time I’m at The Marketplace or I’ll just write at Savvy Tea when in the area. The tour continues….

The Three R’s

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I am fortunate that I am surrounded by amazing people. Last two days were spent taking a break from writing to rejuvenate my soul on Cape Cod (Thanks Em!). Although the ocean is within walking distance, I rarely take a break to lay on a beach and just listen to the waves. The “bay side” also gave us a bit of exercise hiking out on a mile plus sand bar in order to reach the surf during low tide. It is during breaks like this that I get the opportunity to rest, read, and revitalize, all very important elements to maintain one’s creativity.

I also had the pleasure to peruse Nikolia my love by my good friend Maryl Damian. I love reading works that incorporate some sort of literary element and in Maryl’s book she uses the poetry of Pushkin to illustrate a budding romance. The story is beautiful and engaging because of the realistic, timely elements. (For more information about Nikolia my love Click Here).

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Author Maryl Damian, Adventure Blogger Deborah, and yours truly after a recent event.

In addition, we recently found out that one of our students will be traveling back to her native country and blogging about her summer journey. I will include links back to her blog so all can share in her adventure.

Tomorrow I am back to the grind, working on my new book tentatively titled Uncle Neddy’s Funeral. This is the story about a corpse who is not quite ready to be buried. When readers meet his family and friends they will understand why. More updates to come along with a short.

I hope you all find your happy place and get the opportunity to relax, rejuvenate, and revive!

Interrupting Cows (Moo)

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Yes – the tour continues! I actually hit 14,000 words today and have inspiration for the direction that the story is going to take. Right now I have far too many characters so some will be going in the editing bin soon. I am sad to see them disappear yet if it is better for the story, my grief must be short lived.

After first edits I promise to post a taste of this new one. I think I mentioned before that I had submitted parts for consideration to be published in a literary magazine. I will keep you posted… Please keep in mind that my sense of humor is very warped.

So here I sit, at the chain restaurant. There was a job interview going on across from me earlier. The guy interviewing was kind of a jerk as he kept answering his cellphone during the process. Observing, he didn’t look like he was actually listening to the twenty something’s answers to his questions. If the situation was reversed and the kid answered his phone, the interviewer would have had a fit. Mutual respect is just that; mutual.

Other conversations consist mostly of the election. The Bernie people argue with the Hillary people. The Trumpster’s argue with everybody. Each has their own concern, Medicare, health insurance, taxes, and such. If one listens closely they’d see all are saying the exact same thing, voicing the same concerns. (I am going to try very hard to not get political here. My only advice is to listen to many different news outlets. Hopefully one can discover a small bit of the truth.)

The challenging part about writing in public is other people’s conversations sometimes invade your thoughts. I’m wondering if the kid got the job. And if he did how long he’ll last. And what was so important that the phone kept interrupting…

10,000

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I broke 10,000 words today at a Dunkin Donuts of all places. Our adventure had us heading to a place called Muse, which one would think would be the perfect place to write. I personally looked them up on the old web and it looked pretty cool.

When we got there we discovered that the atmosphere just wasn’t going to work so here we toil at Dunkin Donuts down the street. At least we save money, right?

(Side note: I have nothing against chain restaurants, I just prefer not to patronize them and would rather give my hard earned dollars to a mom and pop. This is just a personal preference and not a dig at chains.)

Oh, back to my high five moment – 10,000 words. This sounds like a lot yet for someone whose work averages 65,000 words this is the first major drop in the bucket so to speak. This is where I commit to the story or put it away for a later day.

I think I’m committed.

Because of the way I work (get the initial draft done and then go back, outline, and figure out the holes), this is also the turning point. I have the beginning and ending, yeah me – already wrote the ending, so I am working on the guts. My last scene consisted of kisses and Italian cookies.

Hum – maybe I’m just hungry. (She glances around the restaurant). Maybe not.