Bouncing!

Ahhh, I am sooo hyper! Deep Magic's July 05 issue is out and my story "Alternate Path" is in it!
http://www.deep-magic.net/

Not again!!!!

If you buy a DVD of your child in a recital or show, watch it when the child is not there, then hide it.
Otherwise you will be forced to listen to the show over and over and over and over....

Just FYI...

Is it soup yet?

Ever get an idea stuck in your head? Perhaps an image or a snip of scene that won't go away, but when you sit down to write about it, it goes nowhere?

I've been that way with about three story ideas. I guess they haven't finished simmering. I don't mind letting things stay on the backburner for awhile, but when nothing seems to be 'cooking,' and the idea won't leave me alone, it's not fun. Like being starved and having to wait and wait for supper with yummy odors wafting through the house, tempting you...

I can't wait until I can call, "It's soup!"

whew

I've been on the go all week, coaching at gym camp, plus coaching two evenings. I love the kids and I love coaching, but ol' grammas shouldn't try to do so much.
I'm worn out.
I hope though, that this break from being able to write all week will help me focus when I do sit down to work on a few stories...

Mystery Solved -- I think

Ah ha! I think my mystery herb is hyssop.

And in other gardening news -- I have tiny grapes! I hope this year they don't wither away -- I haven't a clue why, although I've searched for an answer.

I can't believe I have yarrow that is as tall as the monarda! And I found a yarrow that survived in obscurity under the edge of some chives at the other side of the garden. A tiny cluster of red gave them away. Too dark and damp -- I transplanted that hardy baby in a nice, yarrow-friendly spot. That makes five yarrow plants in the garden!

The rose of sharon has grown taller than our eaves. And it's totally blocking my kitchen window. What was I thinking?

In the same garden I have lemon balm, chocolate mint, violets, plantain, pennyroyal, and burro's tale all competing for ground rights. Which will win, do you think?

Do you think my husband would kill me if I brought a few honeysuckle vines to the back garden and set them against the privacy fence?

If I Only Had a Brain...

Whatinnaworld is this mystery herb in my garden? I remember planting some new herbs last year, but I don't remember what this one is. And the handy-dandy little tag is missing (bien sûr).

Guess I gotta do some research...

Morning Glory

Early morning, a cup of tea, and my garden. A great combo.

I'm not a morning person, but lately I've been going out to the garden early in the day, before the heat hits. Watching the plants grow (and weeds grow faster) is such a joy. Each day I see new buds appear, blossoms opening, fruit ripening.

Imagine picking and eating strawberries right in your yard for breakfast each morning, while listening to robins, mourning doves, mockingbirds, cardinals, and sparrows rejoicing in the new day. Sitting in a chair amid monarda, yarrow, pennyroyal, lemon thyme, lavender, pepper and tomato plants. The scent of chocolate mint, lemon balm, and honeysuckle wafting to you. A young mimosa tree waving nearby while hollyhocks shoot up past your privacy fence with newly-opened flowers.

I'm a night person and mornings usually come much too early in the day for me, but this time of year, I can't wait for the sunrise!

This is the day that the L-rd has made,
I will rejoice and be glad in it!

Writing Beauty

I did something I've never done before.
I think.
I was impressed by an editorial I read on The Sword Review entitled "Beauty and the Beast -- Good, Evil, and the Art of Writing."
http://theswordreview.com/item.php?sub_id=60

My muse simmered and bubbled after reading it, then after a reader posted asking how we might write beauty, my muse boiled furiously.
I couldn't hold back and began writing.

I ended up with a fantasy vignette totalling less than 700 words.
I don't write 'short' very well. I don't write fantasy.
But I did today.
I can't say I've answered the question well on how to write beauty, but I tried.

When I figure out what I'm going to do with that little story, I'll post it here...

An Amusing Muse

You never know what will feed your muse.

While at my daughter's dance recital today, my muse went into overdrive and gave me several ideas. One struck me so funny that I almost started laughing aloud, which would not have been appreciated by the girls so seriously trying to remember their dance.

I won't say any more about that idea except it involved a ribbon. So if a ribbon makes a conspicuous appearance in one of my stories, chances are good it's that ribbon.

On to a more serious matter, my daughter did well at the recital and I'm very proud of her. I can say with total objectivity that she was the prettiest and most talented child there!

The Last Hurrah

It's official -- it's published! Whoo hoo!
My short story "The Last Hurrah" is in this issue of The Sword Review!

*ahem* Of course, I'm very calm, mature, and not at all overly excited about this....

Not another one!

Okay, this is too much. I have ideas scampering around in my head about another SF series -- totally unrelated to the one I'm working on.

Granted, the ideas need time to simmer before they're ready for me to begin writing, but I feel sidetracked. This isn't where I want to be.
*sigh*

I guess I need to just pray for guidance to know which stories to work on, and which ones to keep on the backburner...

Where's my cane?

My eight year old daughter was reading a biography of Ben Franklin today and piped up with, "They say in here that Benjamin Franklin found electricity in 1752. Wasn't he around when you were born?"

A pause while I sucked in my cheeks to keep from laughing. "You think I've been around that long?"

"Yeah. I mean, all those years."

Awww, thanks. Just what I needed.
*rolling eyes*

Whooo!

I'm still jazzed about selling two short stories.

I'm so used to the 'good writing but this doesn't meet our needs' letters that in both cases I had to read it through twice before realizing it wasn't a nicely worded rejection.

I never thought I could write short stories, my ideas always tends to turn to tomes. But I'm finding I can tuck lots of details in and still get the info and impact I want. I learned that when I cut 8 1/2 chapters of backstory from the beginning of my novel and had to tuck all those details in without info-dumping.It's an art, and I'm beginning to like it...

Another one!!

Cloud Nine...Cloud Nine...Cloud Nine...

The Sword Review (see my links on the right hand side) just accepted my short story "The Last Hurrah."

Now.....howinnaworld am I supposed to sleep??