Thankful for Being…Crazy?

Loni Lynne, mermaids, ,

Not my usual ‘thankful’ Thanksgiving idea but I had a brain spasm this morning–or my Muse kicked me in the seat of the pants or something…

Needless to say, I could rant poetically about all the ‘sweet, gooey things’ I’m thankful for and everyone would agree with me in a sentimental sort of way but what about all the ‘Crazy things’ we are thankful for?

Here goes:

I’m Thankful for…

  • My hubby not being able to put his clothes in the hamper. This means I have a ‘normal’ husband and we’ve lived to tell tales ‘good and bad’.
  • My daughters who enjoy goofy conversations, movie quotes at the dinner table and feeding off the crazy energy of each other. This means my daughters can entertain, hold conversations that will take anyone out of a sad or bad mood, and work together doing so.
  • Screwy schedules.  Over the years as a mother, housewife, volunteer, writer/author and all around ‘Jane of all trades’, I’ve developed the talent for multi-tasking and dealing with chaos.
  • Friends who love me no matter what. They see me with make-up, without–in stressed out moods, happy go lucky, etc. and accept every one of my ‘Sybil-like’ moments and still call me up for coffee days and writing sprints.
  • My laptop–for taking all my frustrations in words and stories and still being there for me the next day (most of the time). Hey, laptops get sick, too.
  • My editor. She learned how weird my sense of humor is with the side notes/changes in the review margins of my recent story–and we’ve become friends since then. (You are the best, Judy!)
  • For the times my hubby has had to go away on business. With him gone, absence makes the heart grow fonder. We cherish the moments we spend together when he is home.
  • For Skype–and whoever created the program. It’s as close sometimes as we can get as a family–when hubby is away.

There are so many other ‘crazy’ things to be thankful for, I’m not sure I could list them all.  What are some of the ‘crazy’ things you are thankful for?  Would love to hear them.

All the best and a blessed ‘crazy’ Thanksgiving…wherever you may be!

Ask a Mermaid: The @MargieLawson Experience

Ask a Mermaid, Writing, , ,

Do you want to add a psychological punch to your writing and editing?

Are you interested in capturing the full range of body language on the page?

Is your goal to turn your work into a page-turner by powering up emotion and hooking the reader viscerally?

Well, duh! What writer doesn’t want to do those things? Recently, many of the mermaids left the lagoon for a writing workshop. What kind of awesomeness does it take to get us to leave the warm waters? The Margie Lawson kind.

Here are a few of the things we picked up during the Empowering Characters’ Emotions workshop presented by Margie Lawson and the Washington Romance Writers.

***

Denny S. Bryce said:

“I was reminded that revising a manuscript is a different ball game (cliche) than writing one, and there is an ebb and flow (cliche) to story telling that includes green, yellow, orange, blue with a well-timed blush of pink. As with any thoughtful craft session, I walked away from Saturday with another weapon in my writers toolkit (cliche, cliche, cliche:)! I also learned I can’t stop writing freaking CLICHES!

Seriously, Margie helped me understand how to avoid melodrama and the true meaning of cliche, especially as it applies to writing romance. So, what’s next now that I have these insights? I’ll let you know after I begin Margie’s class in January:)…”

Carlene Love Flores said:

“I left the Margie Lawson meeting feeling like a mad scientist, equipped with new-to-me terms like Anadiplosis, Anaphora, Haptics and Proxemics.  My favorite, Haptics, which is the power of touch and the easiest to pronounce 😉  And who can forget the term for when our normally lazy little body hairs stand at attention?  Pilo Erection! ”

Avery Flynn said:

“Some of my favorites include:

1. Write fresh. For example, don’t write ‘His stomach clenched.’ write something like, ‘His stomach shifted like a Buick on black ice.’

2. Always challenge your word choices.

3. Your character’s visceral reactions need to be caused by emotion and written in an expressive and fresh way.

4. Use words that carry psychological power and backload those words so that your sentences end with them. For example, ‘He’ll die if you give him the epi.’ becomes ‘If you give him the epi, he’ll die.’

5. A good way to slip in backstory is to slip it into dialogue cues and body language.”

***

A big thanks to Margie for inspiring so many mermaids. 🙂

Birthday Party in the Pond & Special Guest Turtle from Adam Ezra Group & Giveaway!

Carlene Love Flores, Giveaway, , , , , , , ,

Welcome to my birthday party, fishy friends!  Today I’m turning 36 again and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend 11:16 than sparkling up my fins and splashing around with you all.  And…we have a very special guest with us today!  His name is Turtle and he is the real, live, soul-rockin’ percussionist for the band, Adam Ezra Group!  So the way I see it, this party needs three things:  lots of fun, unending rounds of Shirley Temples, and presents! (Giveaway info at the end)  The music is pumping and the grenadine and cherries are bobbing around in the 7Up so let’s get started!  First I am honored to share this little talk I had with Turtle so pull up a lily pad and enjoy! (Pushes play on “She’s Just a Girl” by Adam Ezra Group)

Carlene: Hi Turtle!  It was so cool meeting you on your birthday back in May so thank you so much for being here on my birthday and chatting about all things musician!  As a musician (who I’ve seen give your all on stage-you rock!) how do you decide how much you’re going to keep for yourself and how much you’re going to share with the audience?  Or is that never a question?

Turtle: That is really not ever a question with me, it’s not a conscious decision. It really depends on the crowd, the energy in the room. For me it’s all about that transfer of energy. You send something from the stage and the crowd turns it into something and sends it back to the stage. Hopefully that keeps happening until both party’s are exhausted. Continue reading →

Who Wants to Hump with Me?

Kimberly MacCarron, mermaids, , , ,

Who immediately took that innocent question straight into the gutter? For shame, for shame!

I meant with NaNo. For those of you not familiar with this, it’s a time when we writers decide to torture ourselves for one entire month. We try, and sometimes succeed, in writing a 50,000-word book in one month.

Usually when I first start my book, I’m a little bit excited but mostly fearful that every word I write will be utter and complete crap. Then, a week into writing the novel, I start to enjoy it. My characters pick up speed. It starts to feel real. Although I may not see the light at the end of the tunnel, I can certainly see that I’m staying on the tracks. And then…

And then comes that damn hump. It’s a big one, too.

I’m looking at it right now. Although it’s not Wednesday anymore, today will be my own “Over the Hump” day. It’s when my story should very well hit 25,000 words. But I’m a little concerned that I won’t make it up that hump. My main character has been put through the wringer lately. And now I can’t figure out how to make her life better, so she’s just sitting there waiting for me to save her. To make things right.

I know it’s my responsibility. I made her poor life miserable, and only I have the power to change her fate. Poor Brynn. She’s hanging all her hopes on someone who doesn’t have the gumption to make it over the hump.

However, the nice thing about NaNo is the encouragement we get from other writers going through the same thing. For instance, when I don’t feel like writing another blasted word, the chime on my phone lets me know that Pintip has texted with a half-hour sprint challenge. Okay. I can do a half hour. That’s nothing.

And then a half hour sometimes turns into an hour. Or two.

So, if you’re like me, and you’re struggling to reach that halfway mark in your novel, reach out to a friend. Reach out and challenge them to finish with you. To be a part of something that’s bigger than either of you.

I challenge you all—whether you’re participating in NaNo this year or not—to encourage your friends to reach their goals. It doesn’t have to be about writing. It can be about dieting. Or organizing the house. Or physical exercise. Anything that makes you struggle.

As Mary Anne Radmacher once said, “As we light a path for others, we naturally light our own way.”

Go! Light your path.

I’m getting ready to hump.

The Mermaid Period

Alethea Kontis, , ,

[Due to illness, the part of Kerri Mermaid will be played today by Alethea Mermaid. ]

***sprinkles glitter***

As some of you may know, I have a side job that I love…but one I can’t really talk about.

It’s not a “day job” — writing is my day job now, and I don’t make enough from this side job to do much more than pay my AT&T bill every month.

Lots of writers in the DC area have jobs they can’t talk about, so it’s a pretty common theme around here. Most of those jobs involve a security clearance. Mine involves lots of shots and First Aid training.

I am a substitute for the Loudoun County Youth After School program (YAS). It’s only three hours a day, on school days, and only when I get called in. I cover regular leader and supervisor positions in nine schools.

And that’s pretty much all I can tell you. Because when one works with minors, one is sworn to secrecy about their actions,  conversations, and identities.

I am not, however, sworn to secrecy about my own efforts that come about as a result of the YAS program. For instance, let’s take this masterpiece right here:

Earlier this year, Neil Gaiman told the world to Make Good Art. It’s hard to believe one is Making Good Art when one is Stuck in Revision Hell. I have been itching to make art for some time, and when presented with the opportunity last week, I jumped on it.

What do you think? I mean, seriously? HOW FABULOUS IS THIS??

You know you love it. (And no, it is not for sale.)

The first mermaid was the one with the sweater. I know…not the best selection for a mermaid torso, but fish are cold-blooded! Why wouldn’t a mermaid wear a sweater if she wanted to?

The second mermaid was the middle blonde in the bikini. Her tail was a bit too much like curtains, so I patched on some stones and bricks I found in a skateboarding magazine. I like the way it came out.

The third mermaid was the one in the foreground because SHE HAS A LOBSTER. ‘Nuff said.

The school of red & black fish came out great, but I’m a little disappointed that the other fish don’t *pop* quite as well. I’m also disappointed that there wasn’t a little more diversity in my mermaids–my only excuse is that I worked with what I had.

So…your own thoughts and critiques? I’m interested to hear them.

And remember, THIS IS A FABULOUS WORK OF ART, so please compliment accordingly. *grin* xox

We Have a Winner in the Lagoon!

Giveaway

Congratulations Sharon Blount! Your name was picked out of more than 200 entries to win the Waterworld Mermaids Ghosts in the Mermaid Lagoon trick or treat bag filled with books, candy, swag and a $25 gift certificate!

 

Beware you’re not alone in the Waterworld Mermaid lagoon.

Strange sightings.

Mysterious events.

Ghostly whispers in the dark.

Missed one of the great stories? Visit the Waterworld Mermaids Free Read page for a listing of all the stories included in the Ghosts in Mermaid Lagoon free read.


Dead-to-Writes: National Novel Writing Month Goes EXTREME

mermaids

Have you ever done it? Ever tried it? Started it? Quit or Won it? The “it” I’m talking about is National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo with its challenge of writing a 50,000 word book in the month of November. Well, it ain’t easy, but somehow this year I ended up joining something called the Entangled Smackdown, via Savvy Authors, and yes, Entangled is Entangled Publishing LLC. I had no idea what I was stepping into, but whoa, it’s been extra-exciting, and fun, but still hard, exhausting and messy, and its only day EIGHT! Adding to the joy, this year I’m on a TEAM called Dead to Writes (cool name, huh?), and yes, we are writing romantic suspense. In fact we’re writing category romantic suspense using Entangled Publishing’s Dead Sexy guidelines for inspiration, motivation and who knows what else:). So I was thinking, what are my teammates willing to say about the Smackdown eight days into it? So, I asked them:

Tell us a little about your story, and what has been the biggest surprise (so far) about participating in this year’s NaNoWriMo Entangled Smackdown?

The Art of Dialogue

Dana Rodgers, mermaids, Writing

Courtesy of Netflix, and my teenage daughters, I have been sucked into the television series “Supernatural.” After a “Supernatural” marathon on Sunday afternoon—when I should have been writing—I had a moment of clarity.

It all comes down to dialogue.

I know, what the heck is she talking about? Well, as we watched episode after episode I was enjoying the action and adventure, great music and witty dialogue, and then in a particularly sentimental scene where the brothers, Dean and Sam, are having somewhat of a heart to heart, talking about their feelings and how much they care about each other my husband turns to me and says, “Jesus, are all the writers for this show a bunch of women?”

You have to understand that my husband is the original alpha male. He is six foot six and a retired Marine so he knows a little something about how men interact. But his comment made me realize that he was right. The dialogue in that particular segment was way too sappy for the characters and it took the viewers out of the scene. So much so, it had us all giggling instead of feeling the heartfelt emotion the scene writers had so obviously been going for.

Anyway, that led me to the realization that, for me, what makes a book or show work versus what doesn’t is the dialogue. Is it real? Is it genuine and fresh? Does it seem consistent for the characters personalities or does it seem like something that would come out of a fifteen-year-old girl’s mouth, not a thirty-year-old badass mercenary’s? You get my drift, is it believable? So, am I the only one, or have you had that same experience of being pulled out of the story?

Bring a songwriter to the pond: Welcome Julie Butler!

Carlene Love Flores, Interview, Writing, ,

Ask a writer what inspires them and often the answer you’ll get is music.  Naturally, I’m curious about the artists behind these inspiring songs.  I recently poked my nose into the Nashville area and asked the gorgeous voice and richly talented songwriter, Julie Butler, to sit down and have a chat about her “songwriter” self.  Her answers blew me away.   Be sure to check out the lyrics she wrote about mermaids at the end!  Yes, she’s pretty fabulous.

 Me: Hi Julie!  Let’s jump on in the water.   Can you start things off by sharing a little about your “artist self”?

Julie: Carlene, my artist self and my “daily-grind self” struggle with each other on a regular basis. There is some very real pain connected to my creativity. There’s guilt (for not doing enough creatively). There’s a lack of confidence (because my mom is the creative one – not really, but I thought so for many, many years.) There’s shame (because I always thought I would be DOING SOMETHING BIG (LOL) and making my living doing something creative instead of working in the corporate world. There’s also guilt because I never finished college, and I believe that has held me back creatively.

My artist self is extremely shy and she lacks confidence. But she has a lot to say and is becoming more and more impatient with me holding her back! I’m thrilled that you asked for my input on “Bring a Songwriter to the Pond.” Continue reading →