Category Archives: Fun Fridays

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I can answer that

I’m not sure if this post qualifies as brave or foolish. It’s the weekend, the first in this holiday season, so I thought I’d go with something light-hearted. I used to occasionally write a Fun Friday post, so I think this qualifies—or at least, it will be fun for me. I hope it’s not boring for you.

Anyway, here goes. Ask me anything—well, anything within reason. It’s best if you ask me something within my realm of knowledge. If you ask, say, a physics question, my answer will likely be a link to someone who actually has a clue. If you ask a question about me, I’m fairly certain I can answer that on my own.

Whether your question is silly or serious, I’ll answer as honestly as I think prudent. Oh, heck, this is me we’re talking about, so prudence will probably not enter into it. I’m sitting in the hot seat, the spotlight is on me, I’m waiting …

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Friday Fruit Salad

Today’s post is both literal and figurative … and yet, the whole thing is virtual because this resides on the Internet, which doesn’t really exist. Yes, I’m going to talk about how I make fruit salad in my kitchen, but I’m serving up a mixture of topics, so it’s also another kind of salad. You can figure out the Internet on your own.

I’ve been craving fruit salad lately. Everyone has their own recipe. The mixture of fruits in mine changes, depending on what’s in season and what I have in my refrigerator and pantry. Pineapple, mandarin oranges, and bananas are staples in my salad, but it also contains one or more of these: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, grapes, kiwi, apple, pear, peach in natural juices maybe with a bit of the syrup from the canned mandarin segments. Simple, colorful, delicious.

I forgot to announce that I uploaded another segment of The Frugal Publishing series. If you were following along, we’re up to episode six, now.

I’m deep in the beginnings of a new novel, but I have only this weekend to work on it before I take a break. Family activities will take precedence during the month of July. I may have a few normal working days, but for the most part, I’ll probably only manage to keep up with blogging and email during the next five weeks.

What will happen to my fledgling book? I’m going to trust that my Muse will keep working on it. From experience, I know that sometimes, when you take the pressure off, fantastic things happen: a plot problem unknots; a key scene, clear and complete, slides into view; a brilliant twist is revealed; a perfect line of dialogue floats to the surface. Stealth writing.

Okay, time for a little fun. I’ve been following Cathy Yardley’s series at Rock Your Writing on forming a profile of the “right reader” for your work. One of the ways she suggests doing this is to know which authors’ work is similar to yours. She shared a link to this tool: Gnooks Literature Map.

Actually, the Literature Map was designed to help readers find authors they might like. When you type in your favorite author’s name, it will appear in the middle, with the names of similar authors floating around it. Books by the authors who hover closest to your fave, should be ones you’ll most enjoy. Go now, play with it.

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Versatile and irresistibly sweet?

My email inbox is an abyss. If I don’t respond immediately, I’m likely to either think that I did, or forget I ever received the email. Two months ago Kate Cardon Parish awarded this blog the Versatile Blogger Award. Her email arrived during the comment blitz after WordPress Freshly Pressed one of my posts and was promptly buried in all those email notices.

Recently, Hannah Fergesen awarded this blog the Irresistibly Sweet award. Both rules for these awards state that I must share 7 random facts about myself and pass the award on to 15 other blogs. I’ll combine the rules, meaning I’ll reveal only 7 facts, not 14, and share them with only 15 bloggers, not 30. So, read the enthralling tidbits about me and then go visit Kate and Hannah’s excellent blogs. Then, visit the blogs listed below. Or be rebellious and do none of the above.

  1. I don’t like the taste of coffee … in any form.
  2. I get anxious when I sweat.
  3. The first book I ever checked out of a public library was A Mouse in the House. (Not the book currently in print.)
  4. I have seen a ghost.
  5. By the age of 26, I was the mother of four boys.
  6. I can’t swim.
  7. I’ve worn the same shade of nail polish on my toes for 38 years. It’s by Revlon, and they change the color name from time to time.

Now aren’t you glad you stopped by my blog today? I mean, really, how could you have lived the rest of your life not knowing those facts about me?

Okay, I’m supposed to pass these awards on to 15 blogs, but I know some of you already have these awards or don’t do “fun” posts. If so, ignore the rules and just consider this a shout out to your blog. And I’ll add one extra for luck. New and old friends, in no particular order:

  1. Kayla Olson
  2. Michelle Davidson Argyle
  3. Christa Polkinhorn
  4. T.A. Olivia
  5. Natasha Drew
  6. Jennifer Neri
  7. Laura Best
  8. Amanda Hoving
  9. Cathryn Grant
  10. Christi Craig
  11. Trisha Sutton
  12. Kasie West
  13. Candice Kennington
  14. J.C. Hart
  15. Heather Simone
  16. Judy Croome

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A little fun on my blog … for me, at least

In the early days of this blog, I would occasionally declare it a Fun Friday. Sometimes I would kick off a weekend party, which amounted to silliness befitting the bunch of fiction writers who used to hang out here.

No party this weekend, but neither am I throwing out a serious writing topic or asking a heavy question. I’ve been thinking of two previous “incarnations” of me. My recent contact with two old friends brought back these memories.

One of these friends, I met in third grade. She was my best friend for many years after that. We drifted apart, after high school, seeing each other a couple of times during our young-mother years, and then we lost contact. We reunited at a childhood friend’s 50th birthday party. Then a few years ago, I had started beading jewelry and found out through email that she had already been through that phase and was selling off her supplies. She gave me an excellent deal on some silver components. So, for a while, before I started writing seriously, I worked daily on things like this:

The other me came before the jewelry maker me. From the time my two youngest sons were teens until I became a grandmother for the first time I sort of reversed time and became a “rocker chick”. (Don’t judge.) The second old friend was part of that life … though neither of us thought of ourselves as old then! I went to concerts and collected rock memorabilia and found that rock fans would pay decent money (or trade collectibles) for portraits of their idols. So, for a while I worked daily on things like this:

Now, I’ve grown old up and you all know what I work daily on.  Have a great weekend, everyone!

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How to make a novelist melt down in 5 minutes … or less!

Rant alert, you have been warned. As previously stated on this blog, I no longer read “how to” writing books and blogs because they are generally either contradictory or repetitive. But some of you, my blogging writer friends, are sabotaging me.

I’m almost afraid to read your posts because you might have written about the three-act structure, the novel hook, author intrusion, unbelievable plot elements, or—heaven forbid—the 10 biggest mistakes writers make. You’ve probably written a brilliant post. You’ll probably get dozens of comments thanking you for such helpful advice. You won’t get one from me.

It won’t be because I disagreed with what you wrote. It’s just that your words had a strange effect on me. I read your post with a smug smile because the problems you talked about are not in my novel. Not my perfect novel. No, no, no.

Well … but …

[eyes dart wildly, shaking commences]

What if? And what about that? Is it? Could it be? Do I even have three acts? Is that too much a coincidence? And what exactly is a hook anyway?

[assumes fetal position]

My novel is a mess. I just know it. Now that I think of it, I’m sure I made all 10 mistakes. Where on earth did I get the idea I could be a writer? I was too arrogant to use spreadsheets, or flow charts, or even index cards for Pete’s sake. I can’t blame anyone but myself. I’m just too stupid to live.

[beats head on desk]

So, dear friends, go ahead. Keep writing those evil excellent posts. And if you wonder where I am, you’ll find me sniveling in the corner, sure that somehow—somehow—you’ve read my novel and aimed those posts straight at me.

Please note: This has been a Fun Friday post. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is entirely coincidental. Really.

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Oh yeah, 100 things you really need to know about me!

Today, I’m packing to go on a short trip, and because family will be returning home with us to stay a few days, I also had to clean my house. No small feat. I think it’s terribly unfair to have to prepare for both things at the same time. *pout* Anyway. I didn’t have time to write something brilliant, and besides I won’t be here to respond to your equally brilliant comments. So, I’m taking the easy way out. It’s a Fun Friday.

The title of this post is a joke, of course. You know all you need to know about me, but Dayner and Trista took the plunge, so if you click on their names you can read their 100 things. I actually started making a list, but then I read it and thought, who in their right mind would want to know any of this! I am not unique. Well … I rarely eat chocolate. Does that count?

We don’t have to come up with interesting facts about ourselves to be published writers, do we? I’m doomed if that’s a requirement. I could make up stuff. I write fiction; I think I could manage that. I could just picture myself as one of my characters … you know, someone interesting. Hey, since I’m headed out of town, why don’t you do it for me?

You tell me the facts. Then, if I ever need to fill out a questionnaire, I’ll be set. You could be serious and tell me something you’ve learned about me from this blog, but then I’d still be boring old me, wouldn’t I? No, it’s probably better if you use your character description skills and make me sound fabulous, mysterious, funny, outrageous … whatever. I don’t care. Heck, tell me ten things, if you get on a roll.

I don’t know if I’ll be able to check in while I’m gone, but when I get back, I want to learn all about me. This is the quintessential “You tell me.” Don’t let me down.

Ready … set … go!

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Eat, read, remember

When my sons were young, we had a rule that dinner was served at the table and all family members were required to participate, unless they had a good excuse … like traipsing through Africa or being plague ridden. (“But Mommm, I’m about to break my high score!” garnered only a short delay.) Then, one by one, they grew into sports or band practice, jobs, or girlfriends. Now, it’s just me and my husband and we eat most of our dinners in front of the TV.

If you read the title of this post, (I’ll wait) right about now you’re saying, “Nice walk down memory land, Linda, but what does that have to do with “the nourishment of reading”? Well, of course, reading nourishes your soul, feeds your mind, builds strong bodies twelve ways, but yesterday morning as I sat trying to recall the names of all the books I’ve ever read, I had an epiphany!

As book titles and author’s names rose in memory, so did thoughts of food. It took me a minute to realize why. Awhile back, I wrote about how certain songs bring back vivid memories, but guess what? So do certain books. For me, oddly enough, some of those memories involve food or drink.

I read J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit while sitting at my kitchen table, eating hard salami and cream cheese on thin rye bread. Cups of Constant Comfort tea was my accompaniment as I sat at my dining room table reading C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters. (A more serious book requires a more serious table?)

While reading Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot, I consumed copious amounts of sea-salted wheat berries. I drank bottle after bottle of Faygo Rock ‘n’ Rye soda as I read Communion by Whitley Strieber. Chips and salsa may be my last book-related snack. I was addicted to that the first time I read Breathing Lesson’s by Anne Tyler.

I realize that I no longer eat something consistently while reading a book, not so much because I no longer go through food phases, but more that I rarely sit reading for more than fifteen minutes at a time. I’m too busy writing. I don’t snack as I read; I read as a snack!

What about you? I suspect I’m the only one who associates food with books, but what memory does a certain book evoke for you?