Words of the Week

The to-do list has gotten out of hand again, so my "day off" is, of course, going to be a busy one. Mostly I'll be here, with my face glued to my computer screen, as I have the honor and privilege of reading the latest draft of the second book by a friend from our Sisters in Crime group. I've been promising her for weeks (months, probably) that I'd read it and give her my opinion, and I've been at it in bits and pieces while I've been working on my own. Today she's top of my list.

My Wonder Twin has put up an absolutely fabulous post over at Murderati today. If you've ever wondered why real-life murder cases fascinate us writers so much, go here and find out - she mentions a cold case that's near and dear to the hearts of Nashville. Heartwrenching stuff.

For the rest of you, here are this week's vocabulary words. And coming soon to a Lunch Room near you, the long-promised, much-anticipated announcement I've been hinting and teasing about for a while ...


Word(s) of the Day from ArcaMax Vocabulary:

carom \KAIR-uhm\ (noun) - 1 : A rebound following a collision; a glancing off. 2 : A shot in billiards in which the cue ball successively strikes two other balls on the table. (intransitive verb) - 1 : To strike and rebound; to glance. 2 : To make a carom. (transitive verb) - To make (an object) bounce off something; to cause to carom.

vertiginous \vur-TIJ-uh-nuhs\ (adjective) - 1 : Affected with vertigo; giddy; dizzy. 2 : Causing or tending to cause dizziness. 3 : Turning round; whirling; revolving. 4 : Inclined to change quickly or frequently; inconstant.

verisimilitude \ver-uh-suh-MIL-uh-tood; -tyood\ (noun) - 1 : The appearance of truth; the quality of seeming to be true. 2 : Something that has the appearance of being true or real.

commodious \kuh-MOH-dee-us\ (adjective) - Comfortably or conveniently spacious; roomy; as, a commodious house.

supine \soo-PYN; SOO-pyn\ (adjective) - 1 : Lying on the back, or with the face upward. 2 : Indolent; listless; inactive; mentally or morally lethargic.

peremptory \puh-REMP-tuh-ree\ (adjective) - 1 : Precluding or putting an end to all debate or action. 2 : Not allowing contradiction or refusal; absolute; decisive; conclusive; final. 3 : Expressive of urgency or command. 4 : Offensively self-assured or given to exercising usually unwarranted power; dictatorial; dogmatic.

Read a book. It's good for you.

=) JB

Home Stretch Redux

Book Update. So, JT has read and edited. The WMVR has read and edited. I need to go through it ONE LAST TIME, and then this thing will be ready to go, and the submission process will begin.

There are some other things in the works, and in the next few weeks I will be making a major announcement, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, read a book - it's good for you!

=) JB

The Home Stretch

Today is the last day I'm going to work on this manuscript. It's so close to being finished I can taste it ... not to mention the fact that today is my deadline. The one we (that is, JT, the WMVR and I) set for me to have it finished. And we're doing it. Today.

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving. Take some time to remember what you're thankful for, and appreciate it. I have a huge list, but not enough time to enumerate it here.

We'll do vocabulary tomorrow or Monday. Right now I'm getting back to work.

So close ...

Read a book - and hope that mine will be ready for you to add to your TBR pile soon!

=) JB

When Life Gets in the Way

I always have a quotation for everything - it saves original thinking.
-- Dorothy L. Sayers, classic mystery novelist and Christian Writer

Isn't it astounding how one event can shape the course of your life for a time? We had a rather tragic event affect our family this week - one of The Tall One's friends from school died suddenly Sunday night, leaving behind a very shocked and confused group of young people. I can't imagine what his family is going through. The kids seem to be handling things okay, but as you can imagine, the entire week seems to have passed in slow motion.

I'm still busy with the rewrite. One positive thing that came out of this week has to do with that surprise I mentioned a little while back - we're still not quite ready to reveal it just yet, but at the least it was a distraction from real life that helped me slog through the week. And don't get all in a dither, it's really not such a big deal, just a little something I've got cooking on the back burner for the new book.

Because my brain is more focused on this rewrite than just about everything else, I'm going to close out the week by following the suggestion of my wonder twin and saddle you with the week's vocabulary lessons, as well as a few quotes I've come across this week that I particularly enjoyed.

More news soon. In the meantime, read a book!

=) JB

Word(s) of the Day:

malapropism \mal-uh-PROP-iz-uhm\ (noun) - The usually unintentionally humorous misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of similar sound; also, an example of such misuse.

lubricious \loo-BRISH-us\ (adjective) - 1 : Lustful; lewd. 2 : Stimulating or appealing to sexual desire or imagination. 3 : Having a slippery or smooth quality.

languor \LANG-guhr; LANG-uhr\ (noun) - 1 : Mental or physical weariness or fatigue. 2 : Listless indolence, especially the indolence of one who is satiated by a life of luxury or pleasure. 3 : A heaviness or oppressive stillness of the air.

pulchritude \PUL-kruh-tood; -tyood\ (noun) - That quality of appearance which pleases the eye; beauty; comeliness; grace; loveliness.

censure \SEN-shur\ (noun) - 1 : The act of blaming or finding fault with and condemning as wrong; reprehension; blame. 2 : An official reprimand or expression of disapproval.

Quotable Quotes:

"The test of literature is, I suppose, whether we ourselves live more intensely for the reading of it."
-- Elizabeth Drew (1935- ) US journalist

"All speech, written or spoken, is a dead language, until it finds a willing and prepared hearer."
-- Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish novelist, poet

"For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver."
-- Martin Luther (1483-1546) German leader of the Protestant Reformation

"I have learned not to think little of any one's belief, no matter how strange it may be. I have tried to keep an open mind, and it is not the ordinary things of life that could close it, but the strange things, the extraordinary things, the things that make one doubt if they be mad or sane."
-- Bram Stoker (1847-1912) English novelist

Vocabulary and Quotes from ArcaMax

A word aptly spoken ...

I love words.

Good thing, considering what I do, huh?

As I've mentioned, every day I get somewhere in the neighborhood of a bazillion ezines. One of my favorites is the vocabulary - a new word every day, woot! Some of you will stop reading here. You are not the logophiles that my comrades and I are. And that's fine. To each her own, yes? But since I'm diving back into my writing again I thought it fitting to share some of the choicest words I've received over the past couple weeks. Some of these I was already familiar with, some not.

I've also mentioned that my illustrious critique partner and Wonder Twin has an amazing vocabulary. She can pull words off the top of her head that I have to look up just to pronounce. My goal is to utilize the new words I'm learning and enhance my ability to wax eloquent when the occasion warrants. The WMVR knew someone once who said (and I'm probably paraphrasing a bit here), "A word doesn't become part of your vocabulary until you've used it three times in everyday conversation."

I had another friend who used to claim that she could go home each day when she learned something new. Employing that philosophy sometimes allowed us to "go home" at 10 in the morning. Which in my opinion is a good day.

You know those Reader's Digest pages called "It Pays to Enrich Your Word Power"? I love those, too.

Here's hoping you learn something new today. Go home early. And read a book. See how many "choice" words the author uses - and how effective is the vocabulary in telling the story?

Let me know which of these you like best.

=) JB

Word(s) of the Day:

hebetude \HEB-uh-tood-; -tyood\ (noun) - Mental dullness or sluggishness.

coruscate \KOR-uh-skayt\ (intransitive verb) - 1 : To give off or reflect bright beams or flashes of light; to sparkle. 2 : To exhibit brilliant, sparkling technique or style.

pelf \PELF\ (noun) - Money; riches; gain; -- generally conveying the idea of something ill-gotten.

mellifluous \muh-LIF-loo-us\ (adjective) - Flowing as with honey; smooth; flowing sweetly or smoothly; as, a mellifluous voice.

quagmire \KWAG-myr; KWOG-\ (noun) - 1 : Soft, wet, miry land that shakes or yields under the feet. 2 : A difficult or precarious position or situation; a predicament.

disquisition \dis-kwuh-ZISH-uhn\ (noun) - A formal discourse on a subject.

recondite \REK-uhn-dyt\ (adjective) - 1 : Difficult to understand; abstruse. 2 : Concerned with obscure subject matter.

prescience \PREE-shuns; PREE-shee-uns; PRESH-uns; PRESH-ee-uns; PREE-see-uns; PRES-ee-uns\ (noun) - Knowledge of events before they take place; foresight.

moiety \MOY-uh-tee\ (noun) - 1 : One of two equal parts; a half. 2 : An indefinite part; a small portion or share. 3 : One of two basic tribal subdivisions.

bibulous \BIB-yuh-luhs\ (adjective) - 1 : Of, pertaining to, marked by, or given to the consumption of alcoholic drink. 2 : Readily absorbing fluids or moisture.

repine \rih-PINE\ (intransitive verb) - 1 : To feel or express discontent. 2 : To long for something.

deracinate \dee-RAS-uh-nayt\ (transitive verb) - 1 : To pluck up by the roots; to uproot. 2 : To displace from one's native or accustomed environment.

gamine \gam-EEN; GAM-een\ (noun) - 1 : A girl who wanders about the streets; an urchin. 2 : A playfully mischievous girl or young woman.

empyrean \em-py-REE-uhn; -PEER-ee-\ (noun) - 1 : The highest heaven, in ancient belief usually thought to be a realm of pure fire or light. 2 : Heaven; paradise. 3 : The heavens; the sky. (adjective) - 1 : Of or pertaining to the empyrean of ancient belief.

All Vocabulary words above courtesy of ArcaMax.

Back on Track ... of Sorts

I'm guessing the first thing I need to do is clarify that I did not mean to sound so downhearted yesterday. The tone of the post seems to have raised a few eyebrows in my circle. I'm okay, really. Just frustrated. But things are looking up.

You'll notice tonight I'm on later than usual, which is because after my shift on the day job ended this afternoon, I went immediately (more or less) to work on the manuscript. Yes, indeedy. And, I'm happy to report that I actually made progress! I don't really have an accurate count because it's a rewrite, but if we're going from where I started to where I ended up, I wrote somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 words today. And yes, most of it was new material.

At least for today, the new plan worked.

Tomorrow, the BMWs will meet. I will be taking 10 (well 10-1/4, but I don't think they'll care) pages which will bring us to the end of the first major section of the book. We'll see if they like the direction it's going. This last chapter of the first section, the one I'm taking tomorrow night, is kind of a heart-thumper, if I do say so myself.

I'll come back to the Lunch Room tomorrow - for a midnight snack, I guess - and let you know how things go.

In the meantime, I'm still here, still writing. If you're still there, thanks for sticking with and by me. I appreciate the support.

Now go read a book!

=) JB

Derailed

A man said to the universe: "Sir, I exist!"
"However," replied the universe, "The fact
has not created in me a sense of obligation."
-- Stephen Crane, US writer (1871-1900)

Sigh.

Someone, or something, is determined to prevent me from writing.

After all the wind and smoke I blew about how Friday was going to be the day that I was going to get some serious work done on the manuscript, I was struck down by one whale of a migraine headache. I got all my errands run, but by the time I got home my skull was throbbing fit to burst with that white-hot, stabbing, blinding pain in my left temple. I took drugs and went to bed. Even missed the ball game Friday night, choosing instead to stay home and nurse my aches with a nice bowl of popcorn and You've Got Mail on the VCR.

By Saturday morning I was functional again, but that day, of course, was the Division II State Marching Band Championships. So I picked up The Tall One and the two of us spent the better part of the day in the sunshine and fresh air (yes, my face is cooked) watching high school marching bands perform. Tons of fun, but again, no writing time. (I might mention at this point that the reason I went to the band thing is that The Boy is in our band, and they went. Yep, doing the Mom thing.)

Yesterday it was church and work. Today, the WGH went off and left his wallet in my car, and I had to drive into town to take it to him because the poor fella didn't have enough gas in his truck to make it home - plus he had to be back in town for a rehearsal, anyway. And storms. Ugly weather zooming through the area. I put dinner together and watched the news and now it's 5:30 and I still haven't written anything.

I'm telling you, something is against me here.

Okay, here's the part where the little cheerleaders all jump up and down, wave their pom-pons in the air and start screaming at the tops of their lungs - "YOU can DO it!!! Go, go, go, go!!" And I hear them. Far in the distance, like a homing signal, I hear them.

We'll try this again tomorrow and see how it goes. I have a deadline. JT is on me. Tasha is on me. I will have this manuscript finished, edited and ready to submit by the middle of December.

And whatever's in my way better get the heck out, 'cause I ain't havin' any of it.

So there.

Read a book. I'll let you in on mine when it's finished.

=) JB

Fun Free Friday, Fabulous Friends & Furious Fingers

Shhhhh ... listen.

Do you hear that?

That's the sound of quiet at my house. No kids. No WGH. And no day job! No clicking of my furious fingers on the keyboard, listening to what the doctors say and then trying to make sense of it. Just my furious fingers clicking on the keyboard, working on the manuscript!

Okay, right now, they're here, working on this post, but you get the idea.

This is why I love Fridays. Yes, I have to go grocery shopping. It's payday. It's also the only free day I have this week. But a quick trip to the bank and then the store is not going to take up my entire day. I will write today, and I will make progress!

JT is going to wait and post a report and pictures from last night's launch party over at Murderati next week, so I won't spoil the fun here, except to say that I realized this morning that no one got a picture of the two of us together, and I'm a little disappointed with myself for not thinking of that. I mean, hello? The Wonder Twins together at "the big moment" for one of them, and no one bothers to take their picture? What were we thinking? We weren't. Sigh. One of those life moments, lost. But the memories are there, and they are good ones.

I will also say that she was brilliant. She schmoozed, she signed, she spoke (and got choked up, which did the same to me), and she shined. One of the booksellers there (courtesy of Borders) made the comment that JT knows how to work a room. A completely accurate assessment. I'm so proud of her I'm fit to burst.

And someday - in the not too distant future, if all goes well - I will be where she is, and she will be there with me. So in her honor, because she has her proverbial boot up my behind, I will work harder today than I ever have. I will attempt to make her proud. Love you, Sister - Wonder Twin powers, activate!

And the rest of you, thank you for sharing this moment with us. We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming. In other words ...

Read a book!

=) JB

Gallivanting

That's a great word, isn't it?

It's a short post today ... getting ready to head downtown for the launch party for ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS (on sale now!).

The WGH and I handed out somewhere in the range of 300+ pieces of candy last night (at one per kid - yep, trick-or-treat is HUGE in our neighborhood). We noted a rather retro theme to the kids' costumes - saw a lot of Super Friends, for instance. Remember the Super Friends? Superman, Batman & Robin, Wonder Woman. I misidentified a few kids and got looks like you can't imagine ... one Star Wars character in particular. I'm a big fan of Star Wars, but when I called him Bobo Fett, the kid flipped his mask up, rolled his eyes and said, "It's JENGA. You know, Bobo's DAD????"

Excuse me. I stand corrected. Sorry, kid, but I'm old school, and it's the Harrison Ford Star Wars I remember. Cowboy in a starship.

There was another little guy I thought was supposed to be The Flash, but it turns out he was someone from some other thing The Boy and his friend knew about but I didn't have a clue. Got a look from that kid, too. Oh, well.

When we did Halloween, especially when my brother and I were much, much younger, we used to DO costumes - and it was really cool last night to see several kids that had DONE costumes. We had not one but TWO Marilyn Monroes come through. There was a Dorothy, too, and her big brother was The Tin Man. Kinda cool, in an old fashioned, retro, were your parents hippies or what? sort of way.

Groovy, dude.

Tomorrow I don't have to work the day job (yay), so I get to work on the manuscript (double-yay) for most if not all day. Last home football game of the season is tomorrow night. State marching band contest on Saturday. It's going to be another fun fall weekend.

If you get a chance? Read a book. It's good for you.

=) JB

Psychology 101

Let's talk about ... relationships.

Wait, come back! Yeah, I see you running for the hills. Hear you screaming.

This will be good. Promise.

I was thinking today about friends. I posted a while back about how grateful and blessed I am to have as many friends as I do. These are the people I spend time with, enjoy spending time with - long to spend time with. The ones I don't get to see that often but wish I could. The ones I see on a regular basis and can't wait to see again.

What's interesting, and what we're going to explore in class today, is how different these people are. Not so much from the rest of the world (although they are unique in that respect - after all, they chose to be my friends) as from each other and even from me.

The BF and I have known each other for over 30 years. For all intents and purposes, we grew up together. (Actually, we're probably both still growing up.) Personality-wise, we're very different. She's quiet, fairly reserved. Likes beer and gardening. She's a chemist and thinks very analytically. I am none of those things. We do, however, have a lot of things in common - we both love instrumental music, off-the-wall humorous movies, Monty Python and the Moody Blues.

When I first met the WMVR, we discovered very quickly how much we had in common - both military brats, both book lovers, both moms. We were finishing each other's sentences within a week. She was the one who said, "You wrote a book? Oh, oh, oh! Bring it in so I can read it!" And then kept after me until the dream became a reality. Over the years we've discovered a lot of ways in which we're very different. But we're still friends. She's still my first independent reader.

My other 'great' friends - the Georgia Peach and Angelina - couldn't be more different from me. They're both good Southern girls who have tried but failed to get me to drink my tea sweetened, try okra and say "y'all" properly. Ain't happenin'. But I love spending time with them because they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Laughter being the key element in most of our conversations.

And then there's JT. I never realized until I met her that there could actually be another person in this world who was so much like me it's scary. But we have our differences, too, just like you, your best friend, and the rest of the world.

See the lesson here yet?

Yep, you guessed it. It's that character thing again.

Here's an exercise for you. Think about the people you are closest to - the ones you spend time with or correspond with most often. Get a sheet of paper and write their names down if you have to. We'll wait.

** Jeopardy theme music plays **

Okay, done? Now, look at your list and think about each of those people. How different are they - from each other? From you? See what I mean?

This is what we as writers have to do with our characters. We're not taking the dough of our cast list and pressing out people with a cookie cutter. Each character has to be as unique as the people you know. And in the spirit of staying with the topic at the top of this page, we'll go a step further. Just as we have relationships with our family, friends, lovers, fictional characters have relationships with each other ... whether it be as relatives, friends. In the case of crime fiction, partners or associates. Lovers in romance novels. Whatever the relationship between our characters, it has to be as real as the characters themselves. We have to remain true to the personalities of our people in the context of their interactions with each other.

Just as conflict is the engine that fuels good fiction (quote courtesy of my pal Julia Spencer-Fleming), individuality is the substance of good fictional characters.

I mean, really. Think about how boring the world would be if we were all the same. Vive le difference!

Read a book. And when you do, take an especially close look at the characters. Do you see them as real people? Are they different enough that they stand apart from each other? Has the writer succeeded at making them as unique as they can be?

This can be a discussion topic if you'd care to chime in - of your favorite writers, whose characters stand out in your mind as unique? What quirks does your favorite fictional hero have that set him/her apart from the rest of the world of which they are a part?

There are no wrong answers here ...

=) JB

The Honey-Do List

We had a parent conference a few weeks ago with Little Bit's teachers. The WGH made the comment that our daughter was "going to get in the box."

You know the whole box story, right? About how I'm so far out of the box that by the time I find it, the WGH has cleaned it? Well, our child has a few, shall we say, responsibility issues that she needs to work on. She's a smart kid - all my kids are smart, of course - but she lacks ... well, discipline.

This is genetic. I'll be the first to admit it - she gets it from me.

I'm an in-betweener. I'll do my chores, but I do them in between other things. I'll empty and reload the dishwasher while I'm watching the news or some other program on TV. Vacuum and take the trash out during commercials. I'll put in loads of laundry between cases while I'm working on the day job.

And when I'm writing? Huh. It's amazing I get anything done at all. Just let me finish this section and I'll put dinner on. Really.

With the new schedule comes a whole new perspective on getting things done. So I'm trying a new list. Work shift during the week is now 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (hint - don't call me during those times - especially at six in the morning when I'm really not coherent enough to remember my own name). When I finish the work shift, I check email and do the crossword puzzle. (Yeah, I like the crossword puzzle, so?) Next on the list is a quick visit to the Lunch Room - my endeavor to keep a regular schedule here, which most of the time and most fortunately puts me in the mood to write.

Then, I'll jump into the manuscript. I generally have at least 3-1/2 to 4 hours until I need to start thinking about dinner, which is about the time I used to finish up the work shift when I was working part-time. So it all balances out. Sort of. There's a little more play and wiggle room this time, because if dinner's not a major issue - which believe me, in this house, it's not - I don't really have to stop working on the book if I'm on a roll.

My self-imposed honey-do list today started with tackling squeaks. One of the pantry doors and one of the doors on the kitchen catch-all cabinet were squeaking to drive me crazy every time they were opened. Doesn't that make you nuts? You gotta love WD-40. We now have a squeak-free kitchen.

Of course, I did that between logging onto my email, downloading a new anti-spam filter and checking the regular mail.

I'm diving back into the manuscript now. Between chapters, I'm going to cook spaghetti.

Read a book. Which reminds me, I need to update the bookshelf over yonder. Check it out when you get the chance.

=) JB

Arts & Crafts

All that I desire to point out is the general principle that life imitates art far more than art imitates life.

A work of art is the unique result of a unique temperament.

-- Classic Quotes by Oscar Wilde, Irish writer and wit (1854-1900)

We say it all the time - writing is a solitary business. Critique groups aside, of course - I couldn't live without mine - short of collaboration, which some authors I know (yes, some personally) do quite effectively, we're writing these novels, short stories, plays, poems ... whatever ... alone. Like painters. Have you ever seen a work of art that was signed by two people? (Okay, if you have, great - but you're missing the point.) Painters use their craft to paint pictures with color, we writers use our craft to paint pictures with words, but at the end of the day it's our name and (with a few notable exceptions) only our name on the signature line.

It's what Stephen King calls 'the craft' [from his brilliant book, On Writing]. I call it arts and crafts, because what we do is as much art as it is craft. I sort of superimpose my philosophy on his - King says write the first draft with the door closed (the craft - your solitary time, when it's just you and the words), then rewrite with the door open (that's where the art comes in - you're sharing your ideas and getting input, perfecting the craft with the extra stuff that makes it art).

I haven't quite perfected the art of the whole door-closed/door-open thing yet. I'm far from being a beginner, but I'm constantly striving to make myself a better writer, and I'm one of those people who needs affirmation - and lots of it. But I know that when it comes down to it, I'm on my own, taking the images from my head and putting them down on virtual paper. I get input from everywhere, but no one else can express my thoughts quite like I can (except perhaps JT, but we'll set aside the whole Wonder Twin thing for the moment).

Or maybe not. How's that for a segue? Unless you've never been here, you know that JT and I are critique partners. The Wonder Twins - we call each other that because we're very in tune with each other. Sometimes we'll email each other with exactly the same thought at the same time. We're so much alike it's almost scary.

But not so much when it comes to our writing. Each of us has her own unique voice. JT writes forceful, vibrant thrillers; I write softer romantic suspense. Not quite polar opposites, but still very different.

When we're critiquing, though, we're familiar enough with each other's style that we can edit and make suggestions without imposing our own on the other - enough to imitate (but never duplicate) the other's voice. We know each other's characters well enough to say, "So-and-So would never say/do something like that, what were you thinking?" And we know when the words aren't quite what they should be, if something doesn't sound like it fits our style. JT has an incredible vocabulary, one to envy. She employs it effectively in her writing. Her prose is eloquent but direct, almost terse - she gets her point across without mincing words. Mine's a little more sinuous. Flowery, even (no, really?). I do go overboard sometimes, and that's when she steps in and says, ahem, that's just a bit stiff and awkward, sister. (The WMVR does that, too, when she goes through the manuscript as my "first reader" - she calls me "Madam Author" when I get too formal.)

At the moment I'm sort of stuck with the door half open, half closed. The first draft didn't fly far enough with either my Wonder Twin or my independent readers, so I'm changing the story, and it's turning out quite a bit different from what it was. It's a new draft, then, but I'm still getting feedback on what I'm writing. My push now is to get it done and ready to submit by the end of the year - the next round starts in January.

The industry is starting to cycle back into its tighter, more restrictive standards again, and it's all the more important to make this effort the best it can be. We're starting over here, in a sense. Those of you who know me and have been with me from the beginning are in for a bit of a surprise in the coming months, but I promise it will be a good one.

In the meantime, I'm getting back into the swing of things, plugging away at perfecting my craft. All hail the artist, but quietly, because she's working ...

Read a book. Admire the art and appreciate the craft. If you get something good out of it, then the artist has done her job.

=) JB

Sunday Funnies

I get several (okay, 14) comic strips in daily ezines from ArcaMax Publishing. On this lovely Sunday morning, I thought I'd share with you a few of my recent favorites.

You can probably guess why I liked this one:


This one reminded me of all those silly horror movies we used to watch when we were kids. Actually, if you know me at all, you know I didn't watch them (too chicken), but my friends did. You know the ones - where the "hero" or "heroine" is getting ready to go into a spooky looking place against what would be the better judgment of just about everyone else on the planet? The characters we dubbed "too stupid to live":


Cerebral humor. Right up my alley:


A typical day at my house:


More cerebral humor, and apropos:


Also typical at my house:


For those of you who have begun to worry about me (yet again), on the days that you miss me, just picture me sitting here in my study - either in this chair, slaving away at the manuscript, or in the other chair, slaving away at the day job. Seems that's all I do any more. But I'm here. And I do have email, so if you need to check on me, there's always that. ;)

At some point I will have a good enough grip on my new schedule that I will be able to start posting on a more regular basis. I might even be able to wax philosophic again. Update you on the writing. Say something intelligent, even.

Until then, I'll let the fine artists/writers above do the talking for me.

Read a book. It's good for you.

=) JB

Wonder Twin's Big Day

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE!!!!!


It's here, it's here, it's here!!

You know, I remember a lot about the progress of this book - it all started with JT's phone call to me the day she "got the deal". As I recall, the conversation went something like this:

"It's me. I have some news."
"You're pregnant?"
[She laughs.] "No."
"You got a deal?!?"
"I got a deal."

It was a great day. And I know that for her, the last 18 months have been an incredible journey.

From my perspective, it's been a kick to watch her succeed like she has. And I'd like to think I contributed a tiny bit to that success, being the behind-the-scenes encouragement and on occasion the voice of reason and calm (yeah, I know what you're thinking - who, me??). To be fair, I'm not the only one who's done that for her, of course - she has lots of folks on her side and in the background, standing beside and behind her. I'm one of many. But still, I'm not sure anyone else can claim the title of Wonder Twin, so I get to bask in that glory just a little.

For her part, JT has done exactly the same for me (as have a lot of other folks, who are always on my acknowledgements page). And one of these days, Alice, I'll be where she is.

For the moment, however, this is her day ... the official release of ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS. So what are you waiting for? I'm always telling you to read a book, aren't I? Well, go get it!

And enjoy. It's a great read.

=) JB

Festivals and Photo Ops

The past two weekends I spent many glorious hours out in the fresh air and sunshine, much thanks to Mother Nature and the Benevolent Father who granted us such lovely weather. As promised, here are some picturas ...

Southern Festival


Our Sisters in Crime panel, featuring (from left to right) Beth Terrell, Mary Saums, E. Joan Sims and Lonnie Cruse






Our four lovely ladies again, at the Signing Colonnade after the panel:







The Killer Year crew plus the lovely Tasha Alexander (from left to right, Derek Nikitas, Marcus Sakey, J.T. Ellison, Tasha Alexander, Toni McGee Causey).







Scottish Festival. This past weekend, the WGH and I went to Stone Mountain National Park outside Atlanta, Georgia for the 35th Annual Scottish Festival and Highland Games.


Here's a shot of the Nashville Pipes & Drums, of which the WGH is a part:





Now, about the weather. Here's what it was like at Stone Mountain ... all blue sky and sunshine:









And now that we're back home, here's what we're getting and what we can expect in these parts off and on for the next four days (not that we're complaining!) ...





I hope you can see this video - it comes through for me but only when I look at it through the Blogger dashboard. Here's a still shot that might work.


Not to mention how badly we need it, there's something just cozy about holing up in the house with this going on outside. So here I am, working on the manuscript ... still.

Harry and I are getting back after it now ...

Read a book. Wonder Twin's All the Pretty Girls (to be released Wednesday) is getting some awesome feedback from early reports - order your copy today!

=) JB

B.I.C.*

Now that this is over (see "A Lovely Time Had By All", below), it's time for the real work to begin.

It's time for B.I.C., and I'm not talking about the pens.

*B.I.C. = Butt In Chair.

45,000 words into the rewrite of a 95,000-word novel and I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it, but come you-know-what or high water, I'm going to get it finished. We are long overdue. The good news is, the stuff I'm bringing to group seems to be going over well. My Wonder Twin says the mechanics are there, which means - at least to me - that I've come quite a long way with my writing. No point of view issues, which I used to struggle with constantly. I finally get it. No gaping plot holes. So far.

So what's the problem?

Time, of course.

I'm not really sure I have aspirations that my writing will make me enough money to allow me to quit working altogether (although it's a nice dream/goal/hope), but it would be nice to make some decent money doing what I love most. I'm working toward the day when people ask me what I do for a living and I can say, "I'm a writer." Okay, yes, I do that now, but it's cheating a little because I have to qualify it with, "But I have a day job, too." And right now it's the day job that's getting in the way of what I really want to do.

It's a time management issue, of course. I've had to change my work hours, going back to full-time (i.e. eight hours a day), but lucky for me I still get to work at home, so when I finish the day job shift at 2:00 in the afternoon, it's a matter of seconds before I'm across the study and plugging away at the manuscript.

Theoretically speaking, it should be that easy. But I'm still settling in to the new schedule, and it's been a bit tough trying to get myself into this routine again, getting back into B.I.C. mode.

Fortunately, this weekend I was taking notes, and got a few good lessons under the ol' belt that should help.

A Lovely Time Had By All. This is what I'm talking about. I spent this past weekend in my element, hanging and schmoozing with some phenomenal people: Wonder Twin, The Goddess, Mr. Chicago, a Cajun beauty, and this really sweet guy and his gorgeous and equally sweet wife.

Now, there's a dynamic here that might set a few folks off kilter. Forgive me if you think I'm off base, but this is what I observed. I hosted three panels this weekend. The lovely ladies from my Sisters in Crime chapter who comprised our Sunday panel are all talented writers, and they love what they do, but to at least three of them, it's more for fun than profit. They all have jobs and write on the side.

To the other group, writing is the job. They consider it work, not just a hobby. It's what we bust our cans doing every day because it's our life, our passion. Me? My goal is to be hanging with this crowd. And hang with them I did. The weekend is a blur, but I know that I came out of it with a renewed affirmation of what it is I'm working toward.

I have pictures, but since it would only be fair to post them all at once, I'll have to wait and share them tomorrow, when I can do a little downloading from the digital camera.

In the meantime, I'm going to try to make tomorrow the official return to the land of B.I.C.

Wish me luck.

And read a book. It's good for you.

=) JB

Too Busy to Breathe

I got another one of those pointed emails from the Best Friend the other day - haven't seen the blog in a while, what's going on with you?

As an old friend of mine used to say, I'm busier than a one-legged man in a butt kicking contest.

Fortunately, at this point, I am winning. At least, I'm ahead.

Shall I encapsulate the events in my life over the past couple of weeks since I've graced the Lunch Room with the presence of its owner?

Okay, you asked for it ...

Orthodontia. Little Bit, the last Mohican, got her braces off yesterday. We now have three children with beautiful, orthodontically enhanced smiles, courtesy of the brilliant and talented orthodontist whose child is at the best Ivy League school in the country, courtesy of our checkbook. If you get that, you have had a child in braces.

Southern Festival of Books. The weekend is finally upon us. This Friday, Saturday and Sunday I will once again fall off the face of the earth (but really, you should be used to it by now) to mix and mingle with thousands upon thousands of book lovers from all over, teeming crowds filling the streets and venues of downtown Nashville.

This is called fun.

Really. See, for those of you who know me, you know how much I hate crowds. Hate. Them.

But Southern Festival is something big and vibrant and fun - it's my element, so to speak. I get around the crowds by concentrating on the fact that I am there for one reason and one reason only - to celebrate the written word. Which, conveniently enough, is the theme of the Festival. If you've never been, and you live here, you should go. It's amazing.

I'm sure I've mentioned this, but Sisters in Crime is hosting three fabulous panels this year, two in cahoots with the Killer Year bunch - my Wonder Twin helping organize things, of course - and one featuring our very own local author members (plus Joanie, but she's an honorary member anyway). And, we'll have our very own exhibitor's booth on the Plaza itself, promoting the heck out of Sisters in Crime. There you go, first plug of the weekend, and the weekend's not even here yet.

I'm going to be exhausted and glad when it's over, but that's certainly not going to keep me from enjoying myself because it's going to be great. More than great. Phenomenal. I'll give you a report when I come up for air. I might even take pictures - what a concept!

The Book. Through all this craziness of getting ready for SFB, I have [gasp!] been working on the manuscript. We're still in the throes of the major rewrite, but the first half is down and done. I'm hoping to have it finished in time to get it to JT so she can give it a quick read-through before she gets back into the swing of her own rewrite. The Wonder Twins are busy little writers these days - as are the rest of our BMWs writers' group, that talented bunch of lovely women we are so fortunate to call our own. Go, us!

The Parenting Thing. Yeah, that too. We've been through an incident in The Tall One's dorm (breathe, it's okay - she wasn't involved), band fiascos (again, my child - not involved), and growing pains. Being a mother on top of everything else isn't a burden, it's a joy. What keeps me sane.

Really.

Gotta get back to the butt kicking contest now. Thanks for sticking with me and for checking to make sure I'm still around. I'm here, lurking in the shadows. Watching.

Read a book. There are several on the shelf if you want to peruse ...

See you soon.

=) JB

Just for Laughs

Baby Blues by Rick Kirkman & Jerry Scott, courtesy of ArcaMax.com

(If you click on the picture it should enlarge in a new window, making it easier to read. It made me laugh, so I thought I'd share it in hopes that it does the same for you. Have a great day, and read a book! I'll be back tomorrow afternoon.)

Waxing Philosophic

You know it's been too long since you've posted to your blog when the program doesn't recognize you and makes you log in again.

It's been a rather frenetic week in the JBTAuthor study. The book has gone through yet another metamorphosis, but we've been working hard on shaping up the story and I think it just keeps getting better.

I paid a visit to my old office yesterday and got to catch up with some people I haven't seen in months. It was a lovely day. I was trying to explain to some of them what this book is about, and I discovered I really need to revamp the synopsis and get some one-line summaries together so that I can present a concise picture of the story. But I gotta finish the rewrite first.

Today The Boy and I are taking a quick shopping trip to find him a suit or a sport coat for his upcoming stint as an escort for the Homecoming Sweetheart court. If you remember, last year The Tall One was the Sweetheart for Basketball. This year, The Boy is escorting the Band Sweetheart (not his girlfriend, who is actually a basketball player, but she's okay with it). Totally cool.

The reserved post. Last Wednesday on the way home from BMWs (which was one of the best meetings we've had), I talked with The Tall One, who had been shopping with her roommate and picked up four of those buttons with the funny sayings on them. It got me to thinking about all the tee shirts and buttons (and even a few 'quotable quotes') I've seen over the years that I've admired or found just too darn funny ...

Sometimes they sum up life in the most philosophic terms (tongue-in-cheek, of course). I thought, just for fun, that I'd share a few of my favorites with you, and I'll add more to the list periodically in future posts. Feel free to add your own in the Comments.

When life hands you lemons, squeeze them in people's eyes. [The Tall One has both the tee shirt and the button with this one on them.]

If we are what we eat, I'm fast, cheap and easy.

Sarcasm is your body's defense against stupid. [The Boy has this tee shirt.]

I'm not mean; you're stupid. [Tall One, button]

Careful, or you'll end up in my novel. [I have this one on a sweatshirt - a Christmas gift from my sister-in-law last year.]

I am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it. - Dame Edith Sitwell (1887-1964) English writer [History & Quotes, ArcaMax.com]

You're looking exceptionally ugly tonight, Madam, is it because we have company? - Alfred Jarry (1873-1907) French "pataphysical" writer [History & Quotes, ArcaMax.com - this one isn't on a tee shirt, but should be]

You're just jealous because the voices talk to me.

I'm sorry, I'd like to help you, but I can't fix stupid. [probably my all-time favorite; I saw this tee shirt in a mall once and almost bought it]

Read a book. It's good for you. - J.B. Thompson ;)

=) JB

A Sad Day

I had a really great post idea for today, but when I pulled up the Internet this morning and saw this story I had to postpone my "Waxing Philosophic" topic for tomorrow's entry ...

Italian Tenor Pavarotti Dies at Age 71

It's a sad day in the world, at least for us music lovers.

Rest in peace, Signore Luciano.

=) JB

The Avian Ballet

Fascinating creatures, hummingbirds.

The bay window in our kitchen overlooks the back yard, and we have a deck at the back of the house that is level with the window. Naturally, with this perfect arrangement the WGH mounted the hummingbird feeder to the side of the deck so we could watch them out the window.

Hummingbirds are very territorial creatures, you know. We've learned that they will comb every square inch of the earth looking for food, and once they find a place to get it, they will return to that same locale every year. For this reason, we keep our feeder filled from somewhere around March until somewhere around October, when we take it down (it's supposed to encourage them to fly south for the winter). We have about six of the little beauties that now take up residence somewhere around our house during that time.

While they're here, we enjoy the show. Every day I am treated to a command performance of what I call the Avian Ballet. They flit gracefully around the feeder, lighting only long enough to take a dainty slug of nectar from the feeder (we call it the Hummingbird Kool-Aid, and it's really nothing more than sugar water - no color or anything). Things get exciting when more than one of them decides it's time for a feeding. These beautiful, preciously cute tiny creatures will dive-bomb each other to keep their way clear to the feeder. They hover around it, waiting for one of the others to try to horn in on their action, and when one of its fellows gets too close, zoom!

Occasionally I'll go out on the deck and watch them - and you wouldn't think it, but I'm taking my life in my hands. The dive-bombing that goes on usually involves a good running start of about twenty feet or so - then these little feathery torpedoes zoom right by my head on their way to the feeder.

This is entertainment at its best, a la Mother Nature.

We have three regular bird feeders in the back yard as well - one with sunflower seeds for the cardinals and jays, a millet feeder for the sparrows, chickadees and other various and sundry species, and a thistle feeder for the finches. Every so often I'll look out the window and find the finch feeder covered with at least four and sometimes as many as six of the bright yellow critters. There are house finches here, too - the pretty little red and brown ones - but the goldfinches are my favorites. Like bursts of sunshine (although admittedly we probably need less of that around this part of the country these days - if you have rain in your neck of the woods, please be so kind as to send it our way).

I'm trying to get creative again. I think I've finally - FINALLY - come up with the ultimate twist for the latest book. There are a few logistic details to work out, but this might just be it. BMWs meet tonight, and I'll be meeting JT ahead of time, so I have some serious brainstorming and planning and organizing to do before the day job shift starts at 11.

Wish me luck. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

In the meantime, read a book!

=) JB

Quote of the Day:
Creative activity could be described as a type of learning process where teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.
-- Arthur Koestler (1905-1983) Hungarian writer

No, I didn't cry ...

The Tall One is officially at college. We moved her in Tuesday, and except for one minor bump (they didn't have her name on the list), everything went fairly smoothly. We got her moved in and settled, got her books and just about everything else she needed - snacks to tide her over until today, mostly, because the dorms don't officially open until noon and she's kind of on her own for meals until tonight.

And of course I didn't cry ... you've all been feeling sorry for me and sent sympathies, which I appreciate greatly, but the pity party's over. She's honestly not that far away (only 55 miles, just over an hour if Nashville traffic cooperates), and she's coming home Labor Day weekend anyway because they don't have classes on Monday. We're all good here.

So, we're still gelling on the manuscript, although things are starting to bubble and simmer just a bit. JT and I had a great brainstorming session on Wednesday and then ran the ideas by one of our fellow BMWs at group that night. We've come up with something that might just make the whole thing. Now it's just a matter of logistics.

It's going to be 105 around here today. Having grown up in Indiana, I'm used to school being closed for weather - snow, that is. You've heard me complain before that down here they close school if "the S-word" is in the forecast. Today, we're closed because of the heat. Why they start school at the beginning of August is beyond me - why not wait until after Labor Day like sensible people?

So, I'm going to - once again - have a houseful of teenagers. The Boy is big on "movie night". Today will actually be "movie day" because we have a football game tonight, our first home game, and yes, as of last report they're still playing even though school is closed. You can't see it, but I'm biting my tongue right now.

I've been ensconced in the study, working on a bunch of things while not writing. That's not to say I'm not writing - I do have a stack of books clamoring for my attention that I need to write reviews on. I've told myself I'm not allowed to work on the book again until these other things are done, so if I want to be able to work on the book again this decade I need to get on the stick.

My Wonder Twin gave me a plug today, and as it hadn't occurred to me before now to make this announcement here - for those of you Sisters in Crime members who might be frequent (or even infrequent) visitors to the Lunch Room, please peruse the following and let me know if you're interested:

SISTERS IN CRIME – MIDDLE TENNESSEE AT SOUTHERN FESTIVAL OF BOOKS
When: October 12-14, 2007
Where: Legislative Plaza, Nashville, TN
Details: Sisters in Crime – Middle Tennessee will host a booth at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, Tennessee, October 12-14, 2007. In addition to promoting Sisters in Crime, the booth will be utilized as a signing venue for up to 20 SinC authors, with one-hour time slots assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. Travel expenses are the responsibility of the author. Book sales will be handled through the Middle Tennessee chapter on a consignment basis (details available upon request).

The Southern Festival of Books is a free, three-day book festival held in alternating years between Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee and is attended by thousands of book lovers from all over the country each year. For more information on the Festival, visit the Festival website.

Contact SinC-MidTN chapter president J.B. Thompson (that's me) to request a signing time slot assignment and for additional information regarding book sale arrangements. SinC authors who are unable to appear in person are invited to send bookmarks, postcards, or other promotional materials for distribution to Festival attendees (limit 100 pieces, please).

=) JB

P.S. - Read a book!

Done Again

Thursday night I sent the "finished" manuscript to JT and the WMVR.

Is this a burden lifted? Almost. Knowing that I've edited the story enough that it's in a fairly readable state is a step in the right direction. I think there are probably still holes to fill ... things I didn't catch as I was reading through it, changes I made that might not have carried through from beginning to end. We'll see. I have an initial reaction from the WMVR. After the first chapter, she called me and told me I was a sick puppy. I took that as a compliment. ;)

I'm glad I have these two. I value their opinions so much, mostly because I know they want me to succeed. They're not the only ones, of course, but they're the two who have their fingers on my pulse, so to speak. They're the ones who will be absolutely frank about whether what I've written works, and because they're judging it from two different perspectives - one from the market and one from the target audience - they're the ones I have to "sell" it to first. They're also the ones who know me best, know how I work, encourage me along the way when I get down on myself and lose my enthusiasm, the ones who kick me in the tail and motivate me to keep plugging away, keep working, keep writing when it's the last thing I want to do. So thank you, ladies, for ... well, everything.

I told them to take their time with it, mainly because I have a laundry list of things that need my attention, most of which I have been putting off until I got the manuscript finished. Do you other writers do that? Do you not do anything else until you complete that manuscript? I was talking the other day about being able to multitask, and I'm not recanting what I said, but when I'm working on a book and get so close to the end point, I have a tendency to let everything else slide for a while until it's finished. Well, now it's finished, and I have to start working my way down the list again. The good news is that over the past couple of days I actually have marked off a few things. Yay, me.

Now that we're in that holding pattern, though, I find myself sort of pacing the virtual waiting room. There's a lot of emotion going on here - nervous anticipation, insecurity, anxiety ... and fear. Fear of failure - or fear of success. I have finally admitted to having a bit of both. Will they love it or will they think it sucks? Either way, I know they'll be honest with me, but it's the not knowing, the waiting, and then ... the next step. Whatever it is I have to do after they send it back to me, whether it's edit more or get ready to submit, the whole process of pacing is my chance to get my act together so that whatever that next step is, I'll be ready for it.

Two Days. One of the things I have to do while I wait is get emotionally prepared for sending The Tall One off to college. She's excited and ready to go. And I'm pretty sure I'm ready to let her. I'm a little worried about her father, though - he's been on vacation the last week and hasn't been involved in the "final preparations". When he gets home this morning it will be to find that she's cleaned her room and packed already. It might freak him out a little, even though I did warn him that it was done. Then he gets two days with her - on one of which he has to work - and then she's off. I know you're thinking I'm being a little dramatic here. But she's Daddy's Girl, always has been, and I know it's going to be hard on him. So I'd just ask that you all send some good vibes his way, some virtual pats on the back and a couple of "it's going to be all right"'s, and I'll share them with him. For those of you who have already sent me notes of encouragement, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Enjoy your Sunday. Read a book. Hug somebody you love. It's all good for you.

=) JB

Coming Up for Air

Here I am again - kicking up to the surface of this ocean of books in which I've immersed myself, both the one I'm writing and the ones I'm reading and editing - and battling some kind of bug. Nothing major, just that sort of icky, achy, all I want to do is sleep kind of thing. Rest and fluids and I'll be good as new in no time, right?

Do you ever feel like your life is just a series of events that you spend days and weeks preparing for, and then once one event is here and done, you move on to the next one? I have a bazillion things to do, and all of them have deadlines, but I can only focus on one at a time. We're down to just a week left before The Tall One goes off to college. It's like this major milestone we're facing, but beyond that I'm picturing myself saying things like, "Now that she's gone, I have to do this ... and once that's done, I have to do that ..."

It's not that I can't multitask. In my old job, I was an expert at multitasking. But I did learn to focus on projects so that they were completed on time, regardless of how much I had to do, even if it meant working on several all at the same time but not all at once. Wait, what? That didn't sound right, did it? What I mean is that I can work on something for a day or two, then work on something else, then come back to the first thing, so that a little gets done on a lot of things over a period of time until everything's done. It's like chipping away at two or three huge blocks of marble, working on one for a while, then the next and the next, then coming back to the first, and so on, until you reach the end of your day or week or whatever and you have two or three beautiful sculptures standing in front of you.

To some that might be a little crazy, quite possibly disturbing and unhealthy, but that's how I roll, capice? I work best under pressure, and when I have a lot to do. Especially now that my thyroid levels are evening out and I actually give a darn again.

I'm putting the finishing touches on this manuscript. JT is off in cooler climes on a short vacation, and when she gets back she's expecting to have a book to read, so I'm working feverishly toward that moment. I'm at the point now where I'm well and truly buried in it so far that I can't decide whether I'm ecstatic about it or completely sick of it. She's very encouraging, my Wonder Twin, and is confident she's going to love it and it will be brilliant. The WMVR gets it at the same time as JT, so I have two perspectives on it, and she's excited about it, too, knowing it will be good. Me? I have insecurity issues. Sigh.

Before I dive back into my little pool of paper, I'll share these various and sundry tidbits with you. Enjoy. And read a book - it's good for you!

=) JB

Quotable Quotes:

Beauty isn't worth thinking about; what's important is your mind. You don't want a fifty-dollar haircut on a fifty-cent head.
-- Garrison Keillor (1942- ) US radio show host and writer

A remarkable thing about Shakespeare is that he is really very good in spite of all the people who say he is very good.
-- Robert Graves (1895-1985) English writer

A story to me means a plot where there is some surprise. Because that is how life is - full of surprises.
-- Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904-1991) Polish writer

Today's Word: disquisition \dis-kwuh-ZISH-uhn\ (noun) - A formal discourse on a subject. Example: The new book club member was partial to eye-glazing disquisitions on 'new wave' authors from the 1960's.

Back to School

If you can give your child only one gift, let it be enthusiasm.
-- Bruce Barton (1886-1967) US congressman, ad man
(invented "Betty Crocker")

I have mixed feelings about today.

On the one hand, I've been looking forward to it. The kids going back to school means I have my mornings back - peace and quiet and nothing to do but read, write, and maybe a few loads of laundry. A few hours of blissful solitude where I can concentrate without the distractions of "Mom! I need ..." every five minutes.

You see the down side to this, don't you? The kids going back to school also means they're growing up, probably a whole lot faster than I can grasp. The Tall One will be starting college in less than three weeks. The Boy is driving - Little Bit piled into the car with him this morning without a second thought. It's a little unnerving when I stop and really think about it. It'll take a few days to get used to. After a while, I'll probably even miss the "Mom! I need ..." and maybe even feel a little bit lonely.

Not that I don't have six thousand other things to keep my mind occupied.

I'm at that point now - this being the beginning of August - when my to-do list is reaching the critically full stage. So, having my mornings free to get my act together is probably the best thing I could ask for right now.

I still can't help but think about what it's costing me. I will not, however, allow myself to wallow in misery. I have too much to do to let that happen.

It would be nice, though, and maybe not too much to ask? If you guys could just check on me every once in a while, make sure I haven't fallen into my little pit without making sure I have the rope ladder handy.

Thanks.

Oh, and read a book. It's good for you.

=) JB

Jollification*

My baby ain't a baby no more. Or something just as grammatically horrifying. Yep, we've reached yet another milestone. The Tall One is 18 years old today. She went out with an old friend of hers last night (how old can an "old friend" be to an 18-year-old?) to spend time with another friend they hadn't seen in several years. She called me around 9:30 or so and said she was going to stay with them until midnight so that they could say they hung out with her on her birthday. I thought that was kinda funny.

Hotter 'n blazes. I am sunburnt. We spent most of the day Saturday in town (our little town - where "uptown" is 1/2 mile up the road) for the annual Volunteer Fire Department Parade and Picnic. The Boy was in the parade with the marching band, of course, and for being so small (we're rebuilding, in the new director's second year) they sound great. The Boy has switched from bari sax to Sousaphone. For those of you who don't know what that is (and yes, there are those of you out there with furrowed brows - I can see you), it's the thing that looks like someone stretched out a big brass pipe and wrapped it around the guy playing it so that the bell sticks up over his head. Named for John Philip Sousa, of course, it's the marching band version of a tuba. Anyway, their band director is just tickled at how quickly The Boy has adapted to his new instrument. What can I say? Pure talent. It's genetic - and no, he didn't get it from me. The musicality is from the WGH's side of the family (from the WGH himself, mostly).

It was 90 degrees and mostly sunny all day Saturday, and we were right out in it. No sunblock (I know, stupid), but I did spend as much time in the shade as I could get. Watched some friends and other members of our community play softball, walked around and talked to a bunch of folks, and generally had a high old time. By five o'clock I was whupped (how's that for a Southern expression?).

Now, I told you all that to tell you this. Nowhere in the span of the last three days have I spent any time working on the book. Yikes! So, today is the day. Aside from figuring out what we're doing for The Tall One's birthday bash on Saturday, today is set aside for me to start finishing (is that an oxymoron?) the final edits on the manuscript.

I was glancing back through some of my old posts and came across one from November, when I was doing the NaNoWriMo thing and trying to polish up two manuscripts during that month. Do you realize that the one I'm working on now is one of those two books? Not that you'd recognize it, because the story's changed quite a bit, but most of the gist of it is still there, and it's so much better now. At least in my humble but accurate opinion.

Whatever is on your plate today, I hope you have a good time doing it. Life's too short not to enjoy it. Read a book. It's good for you.

=) JB


Word of the Day: *jollification \jol-ih-fuh-KAY-shuhn\ (noun) - Merrymaking; festivity; revelry. [source: ArcaMax Vocabulary 07.27.07]

Is there any such thing as "normal"?

And I think it's gonna be all right,
yeah, the worst is over now
the morning sun is shining
like a red rubber ball

Remember that old song by The Cyrcle? You'd probably have to be at least my age or older, but it hit #2 on the Billboard chart in 1966 (see, even the song's older than I am - and for you diehard oldies fans, here's a really interesting article about the group). I love Red Rubber Ball for lots of reasons, but the one that's striking me today is the whole "the worst is over" thing.

The Tall One and I spent the past two days at the freshmen orientation program at her university of choice - hereinafter referred to as College. It boggles the mind - at least my mind - that I have a child old enough to be starting College in a few weeks. College. Whew. I'd like to say I remember college like it was yesterday - that's where the WGH and I met, of course - but the truth is I remember only bits and pieces of things from my 3-1/2 years on campus (no, I didn't quit; I graduated early). In truth, those years, for the most part, are a blur for me, as is a lot of my past now. I do remember obscure things sometimes, like my roommate throwing a pen at the mirror when I told her I was moving out (she could be a bit overdramatic at times). And being sick as a dog after one long, rainy football weekend and having to take not one but two killer exams on Monday morning (flunked both of them, by the way, so now you know with a major degree of certainty that I am not perfect). There are major things I remember - most of which have to do with meeting the WGH (awww, sniff - yeah, mushy-blech). Those years were tough, as I'm sure those of you who've been there, done that will remember - but they were also rewarding. My prayer is that my daughter will have the same positive experience at College that her father and I had.

I've come to the realization that life will never be "normal" as I've come to know it again. Does this mean I'm growing up? Heh. Yeah, right. No sir, not me. Nope. Ain't gonna do it. I refuse.

That having been said, I've also come to the realization that "normal" is a relative term. What was normal for me four years ago, before I quit my full-time job, is different from what's normal for me now, which is different from what normal will be in six weeks when the kids are back in school and The Tall One is off at College. Normal for me has to revolve now around something that will ground me in place as firmly as I can get, with all of my offspring running hither, thither and yon ... yeah, you've been paying attention, haven't you?

The book is coming along so swimmingly that I hesitate to mention it for fear of putting some sort of jinx on the whole process. There's a lot more going on than I originally planned, but for the most part I've stuck pretty well to that synopsis that JT went crazy over a few months back. February, to be exact - I'm looking at her email now, which I tacked to the board above my desk as a constant reminder of what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. Five months, and it's almost ready for her to tackle. Progress.

There are other things on my to-do list, most of which I am devoting myself to as wholeheartedly as I possibly can so as to get them checked off as quickly as possible, but for me, it's a never-ending Cyrcle (aaahh, there's the tie-in - and I apologize for the pun). The worst may be over for the moment, but my life wouldn't be "normal" if there weren't some sort of chaos in it.

On an up note, my health issues are finally starting to work themselves out - I'm actually starting to feel better than I have in quite some time - so now maybe without that to worry over I can start concentrating more on the things that really matter.

Read a book - there are more on the shelf at the right now, so check them out. Feel free to wander and peruse all the amenities we have here in the Lunch Room, especially if it's been a while since you've been here. And if you've read a really great book recently, please pop into the Comments section and let us know what it was. Sharing is good for you. ;)

=) JB

What a week, what a weekend ...

An apple a day ... Saw the doctor on Monday, who tells me my thyroid levels are "perfect" (good news) but that I have a possible GI problem (not good news). I'll spare you the gory details, but suffice to say the test went very well yesterday and it turns out it's a simple, very fixable issue. I tell you, I think my body decided to fall apart the minute I turned 40.

The draft ... BMWs loved the new material I brought Wednesday night, and over the past several days I've been working really hard on the manuscript. It's not about word count any more, it's about getting the story in its absolute best form. I decided (with a little input from The Tall One, who absconded with the thing as soon as she realized what it was) that there are a few key points to the story that need a little tweaking. So I've been writing and rewriting furiously for the past three days and hope to have it ready to send off to JT and the WMVR in the next little while.

It's finally here ... My weekend started at a little before seven this morning when Sir Barksalot (who is now moved back into the house nights because it's getting darn hot in the South) decided he'd had enough of the sleeping in thing. I am working on the manuscript until such time that the UPS truck pulls into my driveway with my very own personal copy of - you guessed it - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. No spoilers allowed. The world will cease to exist for me until I've read the book from cover to cover, and woe to he who attempts to interrupt me or deter me from my quest. Hee.

Oh, and my soundtrack for Prisoner of Azkaban arrived yesterday, so I'm in serious Happy Land - even without the Versed.

So much to do, so little time ...

Read a book (perhaps the seventh and final installment in one of the most brilliantly written series of all time?). It's good for you.

=) JB

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

"He's good enough for one thing,
I should judge he can outjump any frog in Calaveras County."
from _The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
and Other Sketches_ (1867) by Mark Twain

Once again we have had a touch of excitement at the Thompson homestead as a result of errant wildlife, and from the title of this post and the quote above I'm sure you can guess what species we were dealing with this time.

Little Bit went into the bathroom yesterday morning and promptly came running out again. "Aaaaah! Mom! There's a frog on the toilet!"

I went in to look and sure enough, a tiny tree frog had somehow managed - to this point I'm still not quite sure how - to get himself inside the house and into our bathroom. The WGH is convinced the little froggie came up through the toilet itself, i.e. via our septic system. (Which, by the way, does not bode well in my mind, for how did he get inside the septic system in the first place?)

Anyway, as soon as I reached for it - and yes, I did have all intentions of picking it up and escorting it outside - the frog decided he was going into the toilet. I watched him swim around for a minute, and then I'll be darned if he didn't swim right down into the flush hole. Little Bit and I weren't quite sure what to do at that point. After waiting for a couple of minutes we decided he wasn't coming back out again, so I did the only logical thing - I flushed the toilet.

And, of course - you guessed it - the frog reappeared, swimming furiously.

Good grief.

I told Little Bit to get me a slotted spoon and then open the front door. With said slotted spoon (which was actually a strainer, quite flat, perfect for the purpose for which I intended to use it), I fished the frog out of the commode and proceeded to carry it to the front door.

You can guess what happened next.

Yep, he jumped - right onto the carpet. I chased him around for a minute, trying to steer him toward the open front door, when I noticed that Sebastian was sitting at Little Bit's feet, watching the show with what can only be described as a feline look of amusement. Fortunately, Little Bit had the foresight and good sense to grab the cat before he decided the frog was a battie-ball. I managed to get the frog back onto the strainer - for a minute. Of course he was back on the floor in no time, leaping around the living room. I never knew a tiny tree frog could jump like that.

Finally giving up on trying to get him back onto the spoon, I rather guided him toward the front door. Once I coaxed him outside, I told him he was on his own getting back to his tree and shut the door behind him.

Now, don't you envy us living in the country?

JT is due back from ThrillerFest today, so I'm working feverishly to get this draft finished so that she and the WMVR can peruse it and give me their considered (and thoroughly objective, ha-ha) opinions. I broke the 80,000-word mark last night, and this was after I had to delete a few things because of something I changed. It's a domino effect the writers in the audience can appreciate. You can change one little thing and then you have to find all the references to that one little thing all the way through the manuscript and fix those. Still, I've made some seriously good progress, and with just a bit more effort I'm confident I'll be able to wrap this up and let it go in the next day or two.

Provided I don't have to chase any more frogs around my living room.

Read a book. It's good for you.

=) JB

I'm just wild about Harry ...

Yep, we did it. The kids and I went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. An experience I'm not sure I'm so keen to relive any time soon (at least until HP and the Half-Blood Prince comes out in 2008). Whew!

We got to the theater at around 10:45 p.m., got our tickets (thankfully I'd bought them in advance) and proceeded to the end of a line that was so long we walked for five minutes to reach it, then waited about five to ten more for it to start moving, and by the time we got to the door it was twenty minutes later. They were showing it in five theaters. I don't need to say (but will anyway) there were a LOT of people there.

Long story short, it was worth the effort. Really well done film - and of course, who else would go to see this thing at midnight but the die-hard HP fans (with a few notable exceptions, like the boyfriend of a girl we were standing in line with, who'd not read a single book but was there because of the girl)? So there were moments of laughter at some of the funnier lines in the film, moments of cheering when something really "awesome" happened, and a few "awwww ..." moments as well. And applause at the end, even though I'm pretty sure the actors couldn't hear us.

Overall, it was very enjoyable, but you pay the price when you screw up your sleep patterns like that. At least I did. We got home about 3:30 a.m., I finally got to sleep sometime after four, and the phone rang at 8:39. Grrrr. Needless to say, yesterday was not at all productive for me as far as getting any writing done.

Today is a different story. Since JT is off at ThrillerFest, I have from now until Monday to get this draft done, and I'm hitting it hard and heavy this morning.

I'll leave you with this quote from Henry David Thoreau, US writer (1817-1862):

A perfectly healthy sentence, it is true, is extremely rare. For the most part we miss the hue and fragrance of the thought; as if we could be satisfied with the dews of the morning or evening without their colors, or the heavens without their azure.

Fuel for thought, writers.

Read a book. It's good for you.

=) JB

Quotable Quotes & Friday Funnies

Whatever you do, do it with all your might. Work at it, early and late, in season and out of season, not leaving a stone unturned, and never deferring for a single hour that which can be done just as well now.
-P.T. Barnum, U.S. entrepreneur, showman (1810-1891)

As the clock ticks down toward a very exciting week, I'm working in a furious frenzy to check everything off my to-do list. So, like Jeffy, the only exercise I'm getting is from my extra-long sit-up and typing my little fingers to the bone.

The WMVR and I had a productive brainstorming session Wednesday night. While Little Bit was off with her friend's family, the WGH took The Tall One and The Boy downtown to brave the crowds and watch the fireworks - Nashville makes it a HUGE production. They said it was wall to wall people, and the WGH very astutely pointed out that was exactly the reason I would not have liked it. Instead, I spent a lovely couple of hours on the phone with my friend, my first reader, hashing out the solution to a problem I've been having with the book. Fortunately, the WMVR is quite excellent at playing devil's advocate for my work. She is a representative of my target audience and as such, I value her input. She won't hesitate to tell me when something doesn't work for her as a reader, and at that point I have to say, if it doesn't work for you, it's not going to work, period. But between the two of us we got a brain cell or two synapsing and managed to figure out both the problem and how to fix it.

I've managed to knock the book up to just over 78,500 words - with JT's input I decided we're shooting for 100,000 - and with the issues the WMVR helped me resolve night before last, I have a clear path ahead for finishing the draft. Wish me luck.

In addition to the Harry Potter premiere, next week also kicks off the 2nd annual ThrillerFest, at which my darling Wonder Twin and our Big Brother will be presented to the world along with their fellow debut thriller writers. Very thrilling. Ouch.

In the meantime, read a book, buy your Harry Potter tickets, and enjoy your day!

=) JB

Errata

It has been brought to my attention - as well as to the attention of the source from which I obtained the information - that Tom Hanks was not the only actor to win back-to-back Oscars. How wonderful that there are actually two ... Spencer Tracy did it back in 1937 and 1938 for Captains Courageous and Boys Town. And so we stand corrected.

Working Holiday

Happy Birthday, USA.

The brain is not quite geared up for the typical musings today, so I'm just going to share some tidbits and trivial things I've found scattered hither and yon. I mentioned the other day that I'm not big on fireworks, so we're not planning anything special except our steak dinner (yummy) and finding some celebrations to watch on TV. That, and I have to work, anyway. Today's really just another Wednesday for me - with respect to the job, that is.

The flag's waving.

Enjoy your holiday.



Today's Word: "coterminous"
coterminous \koh-TUR-muh-nuhs\ (adjective) - 1 : Having the same or coincident boundaries. 2 : Having the same scope, range of meaning, duration.
[source: ArcaMax Vocabulary, 07.04.07]

Trivia Question: What is a vexillologist an expert on?
A: Flags
B: War history
C: Historical clothing
D: Weaponry
[source: ArcaMax Trivia Quizzes - answer below]

Quotable Quotes: "Talent works, genius creates." -- Robert Schumann, German composer (1810-1856)

Answer to Oscar Trivia Question from 6/30-7/2: Tom Hanks [Philadelphia (1993); Forrest Gump (1994)]



'Nuff for now. Go watch some fireworks, and have a great holiday!

=) JB

Today's Trivia Answer: A

The Eye of the Beholder

Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.
-- Franz Kafka, Czech writer (1883-1924)

My parents called me yesterday afternoon just to chat for a minute, and Mom asked whether anything exciting was going on. I didn't tell her the raccoon story (they read the blog). When I said no, she asked whether anything not exciting was going on.

It's funny how some days you're glad when nothing exciting happens. I think we've become accustomed to living on a juked-up schedule in our day to day lives - always running here and there and not taking the time to sit back and enjoy the fact that we are ... well, alive.

Last Thursday on the WGH's day off - when I was working the schedule from hell - he and the kids did some major work in the front flower bed. Weeded, culled, tilled and mulched. The Boy - with his brand new license - drove (solo) up to our local mill and brought back the second truckload of mulch, and they finished sprucing up the landscaping in front of our house. You wouldn't believe the difference. My roses are blooming again and are absolutely gorgeous, and the rest of the patch no longer looks like Audrey II's bedroom in Little Shop of Horrors.

In addition to being a terrible housekeeper, I don't do well with plants. Or yard work, for that matter. But I'll do it when I have to. What I appreciate is the fact that as much as the kids grumbled about having to do it, they did it, they did it well, and their hard work paid off. I hope they learned a valuable lesson from it, though we probably won't see the benefits of that lesson for years to come.

I have been staying up way, way past my bedtime the past couple of weeks, working hard on the manuscript and a few other various and sundry projects. Reading, too. This morning I actually slept until after eight, and only woke up when Sebastian decided he had to hack up a hairball (he sleeps on my pillow). I'll spare you the gory details, but I did manage to avert a disaster.

So I'm back after it again - chained to the chair and pecking away at my deadline, feeling this story really start to come alive, and trying to appreciate the beauty of the work created.

Read a book. It's good for you!

=) JB

Word of the Day: affray \uh-FRAY\ (noun) - A tumultuous assault or quarrel; a brawl. [source: ArcaMax Vocabulary 06.29.07]

Nuzzing*

Wildlife Adventures. There are times when living in the "country" can be an exciting undertaking.

Last night about 11 o'clock, I was hard at work on the manuscript (we're over 71,000 words now, thank you) when Little Bit stuck her head in the study and said, "Mom, McCartney is freaking out." So, I drag myself out of the chair and out to the deck to determine the source of the dog's anxiety. He's definitely agitated about something - running back and forth from the top corner of the deck down to the ground and back again, his attention riveted to something I can't see, barking his fool head off. I looked around, even moved the potted plant to see if there was a bug or something that he was trying to corner. Nope, nothing. So I go cautiously down the stairs - one at a time - and look around on the ground. Nothing there either. Then my attention is drawn to that corner of the deck that he's so furiously barking and whining at, and I see it. A rather small, furry ringed tail. Sir Barksalot has cornered himself a raccoon in the underpinnings of the deck.

Now, I don't know about you, but I've heard tell a raccoon can tear up a dog, and I didn't want to be a witness to that, so I went back up the steps lickety-split, grabbed the dog by the collar and dragged him inside. Once he was tucked safely away in his kennel-pen in the garage (still agitated as all get-out, of course), I did the only logical thing I could think of.

I shut off all the outside lights and came back to work on the book.

Well, for the love of Mike, what else was I supposed to do? That poor raccoon was probably petrified with fear - my dog is not a small dog, after all - and more than likely once he realized that the dog was shut up in the garage and everyone else was going to leave him alone, he high-tailed it the heck off my deck and back into the woods behind the house.

I'm still trying to figure out how the little bugger got up under the deck in the first place. Yes, I know they can climb, I'm not a blithering idiot. But there aren't any good sitting spots on the support beams in the decking floor - it's all flush. The little guy had to be wrapped around the post, clinging for dear life and wondering what possessed him to try to climb the thing in the first place. I don't know what he was doing - all I could see of him was the end of his tail.

Like I said, living in the country ... it's an endless source of entertainment.

July. This is going to be an exciting, busy month. Of course we're gearing up for the whole Harry Potter sensory overload, with Order of the Phoenix coming out on the 11th and the 7th book being released on the 21st. Besides all that, The Tall One and I have reservations at her college for freshman orientation on the 24th and 25th, and she turns 18 on the 30th. Eighteen. Whew, time flies when you're having fun ...

Oh, yeah, and our little country's got a birthday coming up, too. All three of my kids want to go see fireworks somewhere, and I'm such a horrid mother that I have no plans for them. They'll probably all go off with their friends, which is fine with me because the only fireworks I like to watch are the ones on TV. I love the lights and the pomp and circumstance and music and the visual of the whole thing - it's the noise and crowds I can't stand.

By the way, not one of you popped on with the answer to my trivia question from Saturday - I feel so unloved ;). But, I figure you were all busy this weekend, so I'm giving you another day to think about it. Post your guesses in the Comments section, and I'll give you the answer tomorrow.

In case you missed it (or are too lazy to scroll down the page a bit), here it is again ...

Only one actor has ever been awarded an Oscar for Best Actor in two consecutive years. Can you name him? For Bragging Rights, name the films for which he won the awards.

Monday morning. My very wise and powerful Wonder Twin once commented to me that I seem to work better when I follow a "non-routine". She is so right. I've tried all kinds of ways here recently to make the best use of my time, setting up a "schedule" to walk, work, write and do all the other things I have to do, but nothing structured ahead of time has worked thus far. Just jotting down a to-do list and then ticking away at it, bit by bit, seems to have generated more productivity from me than anything. So it's Monday morning, I'm getting ready to write up this week's list, the coffee is on, CD cued up, and I'm off and running.

Check in and let me know you're still out there, wouldja? And in the meantime, read a book. It's good for you.

=) JB


*Today's Trivia: "Nuzzing" is the sound a camel makes. [source: ArcaMax Trivia 07.02.07]