Brilliant ideas and story-thinking

Every once in a while, Kyra will come up to me and say, “Mommy! I have a brilliant idea!” Sometimes, this idea is no more than me following her to see something she’s done. Recently, she cleaned her room. Yes, all by herself. The child is already more organized than I am on my best day. The moment she decides to take over the world, watch out.

Yesterday, on the drive home, I had a brilliant idea. In MacKenna’s story, I want to include some letters and notes from another character (and that’s all I’m saying–the who/what behind that is the super secret double probation part of the novel). So … I had this general idea of what I wanted. It felt like a solid idea.

But pulling it off? You know, add in the actual content, the words that would go along with this idea. This has been bugging me for a while. During draft two, I kept putting it off: oh, it’s a draft three problem, I’d tell myself. Well, here I am staring at draft three without a clue.

Then, driving home yesterday, it hit me. A major of course moment. I love these. You’re sitting there (okay, driving there), minding your own business, when it the idea fairy smacks you upside the head. I can hear the words already.

I’ve always advocated letting a story rest, compost, whatever you want to call it. Sometimes you have to be still (even if you’re driving) for the ideas to come.

Because it’s ballet

Yesterday was The Nutcracker. As promised, I give you the dress the marvelous Miss B finally chose to wear to this grand event:

ballet1.jpg

She went for the simple, sleeveless red satin A-line dress with velvet bolero jacket trimmed with faux ermine. White tights and red sequins ballet flats complete the ensemble. The red and white candy striped headband adds that right amount of holiday cheer.

Hello Kitty purse, while optional, is highly recommended, especially when it contains: lip balm, lip gloss, and Hello Kitty lotion. Apply liberally. Big brother escort in new cargo pants and a “button” shirt is also optional.

Andrew was underwhelmed by the ballet, kept wondering why they don’t walk or talk during any of it.

Because it’s ballet, I told him.

Kyra, on the other hand, enjoyed it very much. But she wanted to know why there wasn’t any tap dancing.

Because it’s ballet, I told her.

Jeans: one woman’s lament

Once upon a time, I could walk into The Gap, pull a pair of jeans off the shelf, and walk out without having to try them on (uh, after paying for them, that is).

Then, one day, they stopped making relax fit, or classically relaxed, or whatever it was. The only things on the shelves were these ultra-straight jeans (this was before the low-rise craze). Apparently, the fine people in The Gap marketing department believed women were built like planks of plywood.

At this point, I discovered Eddie Bauer had jeans that fit me. They also had flat front khakis that I could pull off the rack and not have to try on (well, more than once, of course). At the time, I worked at a place where business causal did not equal jeans. (In fact, you got “talked to” if you wore jeans to work.)

Then, I walked into Eddie Bauer one day and discovered they totally redid their jeans/pants line into one that included five different styles. A style to fit every woman, the advertisement proclaimed, with much fanfare and self congratulation.

Every woman, that was, except me. I tried every single style. They fit poorly and felt crappy. Jeans have to look good, but they really should feel good. That’s the whole point.

J. Jill to the rescue. Their “tried and true” fit was just that. I could buy and not need to worry. The inseam was a touch longer, which was nice, since I have long legs.

Friday, I walked into the J. Jill in the mall. Being cautious, I decided to try on the jeans–just in case. Plus the sales women were looking at me strangely. What? A woman in Dr. Martens can’t shop at J. Jill? Just watch me.

 Tried and true? Eh, not so much. Sometime while I wasn’t looking, they modified the design.

But I really needed jeans. So, I tried The Gap. They have something called “curvy” fit now. It’s okay. But I’m not spending that much money on something I feel meh about.

I trudged on over to Eddie Bauer. Apparently, someone in their marketing department got a clue. They now have something called “shaped fit” jeans, one size smaller in the waist than in the hips.

This, people, is what I’ve been looking for. All. My. Life. Finally, someone in the clothing industry who realized that no, my waist is not the same size as my hips. The only time my waist was the same size/bigger was when I was pregnant. And I don’t think that counts.

 I sucked it up and bought four pair–yes, I needed jeans that badly. Two straight leg, long (so sweet–fits in waist and in leg), and two with the boot cut, one in black. Admittedly, the waist still puckers, just a bit. But I can deal. Plus, they are so comfortable.

So, for the time being, I have jeans.

Merry Christmas to me.

Again with the banning

This disturbs me. I suppose I shouldn’t be shocked or surprised by people passing judgment on something they haven’t read for themselves and instead, taking the word of someone they don’t even know. Because it fits neatly with their worldview? This is the part I really don’t understand.

In short, the Hillsborough County School Board is considering removing/restricting Sarah Dessen’s book Just Listen from its shelves because of a passage that describes a sexual assault. The objection is the passage is graphic/repulsive.

I read this book a few months back. Sarah Dessen writes incredible YA fiction. I want to be Sarah Dessen when I grow up. The passage in question comes late in the novel. Everything builds to that point. It’s a flashback, and we’ve seen the damage that incident has done to the main character Annabel.

The passage is stark, and honest, graphic but not gratuitous. There’s nothing voyeuristic about it, nothing glamorized about it, nothing excused. It’s meant to be an uncomfortable scene. Take it away or gloss over it, and the story loses all credibility. Annabel needs to confront what happened to her. It’s part of the story and character arc.

Diana Peterfreund (who went to high school in Hillsborough) has a terrific post about this book and sexual assault/date rape statistics as they apply to teens.

I want to cover a few other aspects of the book that go beyond this admittedly important issue.

Spoiler Alert–if you want to read this book and don’t want know how Annabel resolves some of her issues, this cut is for you.

Continue reading “Again with the banning”

Booking it orderly

 Okay, I haven’t booked through Thursday for a while, so I thought I would.

Do you use any of the online book-cataloguing sites, like Library Thing or Shelfari? Why or why not? (Or . . . do you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking to?? (grin))

If not an online catalog, do you use any other method to catalog your book collection? Excel spreadsheets, index cards, a notebook, anything?

I use Library Thing, but it’s more of a reading log than a place where I catalog books. So there’s a mix of what I own and what I’ve read and I haven’t tagged which is which yet. I guess I should do that someday.

In other news, what my kids want for Christmas that they’re probably not going to get:

  • Andrew: a lizard
  • Kyra: a real magic wand

How you got here

Here’s a few of the searches that brought people here: 

  • lots of writing about poor charity
  • Humpbacked lawyers

Seriously, people? What’s up with this. I’m pretty sure I’ve never blogged about lawyers, never mind those with humpbacks. And the other? My new motto: come for the (humpbacked) lawyers, stay for the self-pity.

In actual writing news, it looks like the Young Adult category for both the Golden Heart (unpublished) and the Rita (published) made their numbers. Every once in a while, I log into my RWA account and look at the contest entry page and gaze at my entries listed there. I know. I need a hobby.

Agent Donald Maass is letting you know what he’d like to see in a romance these days (I like the last one on the list–it’s a book I’d like to read, not necessarily write). Agent Nathan Bransford talks about December’s publishing coma. Agent Rachel Vater is getting back into blogging after switching agencies. She is already receiving queries for novels written during National Novel Writing Month. That would be last month. (Just reason 932 to hate NaNo. I’m still waiting for National Brain Surgery month. Think it will happen?)

And to end on a happy note, head on over to the Wet Noodle Posse blog. December is all about “The Call.” Mothers have birth stories, writers have call stories. There’s a mix of Golden Heart and SOLD! call stories (but not mine, since my GH call story is pretty boring).

Hibernation

So Andrew is at a Boy Scout movie weekend campout. Since the temperature is hovering slightly above and below zero, they’re not really camping–they’re sleeping in a lodge. It’s really a big slumber party with lots of boy movies, but since they’re boys, they can’t call it that. They’re camping. He’s due back sometime today.

Yesterday, Miss B and I hibernated. We got out the big fuzzy blanket and snuggled on the bed. I read an entire book. In one day! I haven’t done that in ages. We made brownies. We did venture out in the morning for ballet, but that’s all we did. Serious hibernation.

Today, I’ll have to do the laundry, at the very least, but it’s cold out with flurries in the forecast, and really, it looks like another good day to hibernate.

Miss B’s words to the wise for today: “You lose, you snooze.”

Actually, that sounds like a win/win situation to me.

Love songs, safety rules, and the Manwich

 Thank you for all the twoo wuv song suggestions. All of them considered, most of them serious contenders for Landon’s playlist. I’m sure iTunes has some sort of love song essential list as well, so I’ll waste time do research there. And M, you’re right: you’re a touch more country than Landon, but man, Hopelessly Devoted? So perfect.

And I’ll be requesting even more musical help (bet you can’t wait), but not right away.

In other news, last night, Kyra wanted help spelling something on a picture she’d drawn. I was cooking dinner at the time, assuming one can define cooking as: browning ground beef and adding Manwich sauce. Hey, the ConAgra site (the fine people who bring you this product) says it’s is a quick and easy one-pan meal the whole family loves. It’s not just a sandwich, it’s a meal.

Anyway, back to the drawing. I took a quick glance at it (due to stove, hot grease, and so on). A triangle, lots of red. What was it Miss B wanted me to spell?

No going by volcanoes.

Clearly a cautionary drawing. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

And hey, she’d already written no. But by far her favorite thing to write is this:

I love u
Mom
Daddy
Andrew

We have paper after paper covered with those words. I find them all over the house. Love notes from Miss B.

Had enough of silly love songs?

 I hope not. I’m in the market for your best, your gooiest love songs. Not sad ones, not somebody-done-somebody-wrong ones, not unrequited-love ones. I’m looking for songs such as Accidentally in Love by the Counting Crows and not Everybody Hurts by R.E.M.

This is just one of many lists I’m making during “downtime” before I tackle the third draft. Lists are a big part of MacKenna’s story. Believe it or not, I have a list of all the lists I need to fill in. (Because, no, they are not all filled in. There are some things you don’t do during the draft stage. Pondering every last song that could go on a list is one of them.)

The list I’m pondering now is Landon’s prom mix. I need a little help. I have and know a ton of songs. When I sit down to make a list? Mind, screen–both are blank.

So, I need your help. Landon needs your help. Now, he’s not a music genre snob. If a song fits the mood of his playlist, he’ll add it. However, he does have standards. There are certain principles one does not compromise.

So, gooey, happy, love songs. Keep in mind, this is also playlist MacKenna calls “songs to barf by.” She’s a romantic, that girl.

Ready? Bring on the love in the comments if you have a suggestion.