Tradition! and my recipe for Ofenschlupfer

As I write the word, tradition, I'm somehow channeling the Fiddler on the Roof, although this post has nothing to do with brokered brides, or Jewish traditions.  Nevertheless, the song is there.

As time marches on, traditions come and go.  For most of my life, we had a tradition of gathering the family together for Christmas at the old homestead.  The family grew from my sisters and my parents to my sisters and their spouses and my parents, to my sisters, their spouses their children and my parents . . . well you see where this is going.  A few years ago, my parents  moved from the old homestead, and with that move, the tradition that survived for all those years necessarily had to change.

Our children have grown and now have children of their own, and as this progression takes place, the tug of war that goes with who gets to spend time with which in-laws on which day has grown exponentially. And with the addition of the grandchildren/great grandchildren, it becomes increasingly more difficult to gather our families together for Christmas. Nevertheless, the initial group of us (my sisters, their spouses and my parents) still try to make the effort, a monumental feat some years.

During the writing process of Mist on the Meadow, I tapped into my German heritage which, like Christmas traditions, has become diluted with the number of years my ancestors have spent on this side of the ocean. Traditions have to change as circumstances, and locations, change. The main character, Marissa, is a baker, and she carries forward a traditional German dish for Christmas. For years, my family  made cinnamon dinner rolls, but I didn't feel that was German enough for the book, so I went in search of a more German dessert.  The result was Ofenschlupfer (you may have seen my guest post with fellow writer, +Terry Odell on one of her "What's Cookin' Wednesdays" posts about a month ago).

This year, gathering my family together has been a challenge. We are creating new traditions with our children and grandchildren, which makes it more difficult to celebrate the old traditions with my sisters and parents. But for the couple of hours that I saw my sisters and my parents, I decided to celebrate our German roots, and made Ofenschlupfer - Rockin Around the Christmas Tree in a New Old-Fashioned Way. Who knows? Maybe this will be a new tradition, either with my sisters and my parents, or with my children/grandchildren.  So here is my Christmas present to you: Ofenschlupfer.

Do you have any traditions that you hold onto? New traditions to accommodate the progression of time?

Prosit!

A German recipe for apple and bread pudding from Southern Germany. If you have apples and some stale bread, then bake this recipe for bread pudding.

Ofenschlupfer literally means sneaking into the oven. So if you are looking for an easy German dessert recipe, sneak my Ofenschlupfer into your oven. 

Recipe For Ofenschlupfer

(Apple Bread Pudding)

1-2 golden delicious apples, chopped
4 slices of bread (I used 4 Hawaiian rolls, sliced into thirds)
2 Tbls butter
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup raisins
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt
2-1/2 cups milk, scalded

Heat oven to 350 F. Toast bread slices lightly. Spread slices with butter (margarine).   Peel apples, cut in fine slices and toss with brown sugar and cinnamon. Arrange bread slices buttered side up in a 1-1/2 quart buttered casserole dish.  Top with apple mixture and raisins.  Mix eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt. Slowly stir in milk.  Pour over bread. 

Place casserole dish in a square pan, 9x9x2, on oven rack. Pour very hot water (1 inch deep) into square pan. Bake until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean, 65-70 minutes. Remove casserole dish from pan of hot water.  Serve warm or cool  6-8 servings.

Enjoy this easy bread pudding recipe on its own or with a thick creamy vanilla sauce.

Let it snow

I live near Chicago, a city notorious for wintry weather, especially around Christmas. We haven’t had any “measureable” snow so far this year, in fact Tuesday was the first sign of flurries I’ve seen. We’re setting records for the longest time between snowfalls (going back to the beginning of the year) and the latest first snowfall of the season. Some people are good with that. Happy. Me? Well, if it’s going to be cold outside (granted, the temperatures have also been mild), I want the snow to go with it. And then there’s Christmas. Cue Irving Berlin.

Today, we are expecting an ugly storm which should dump 2-4 inches on us later today. Reports from the great white north (a.k.a. our neighboring state of Wisconsin) are that the snow is falling. Five inches reported from one source, eight-ish reported from another. Haven’t checked in with the Minnesota rellies, but news reports they’re getting feet as opposed to inches. I’m ready for a little of the white stuff – enough to make it feel festive. No, I don’t like driving in it, but yes, I like looking out, holding a cup of something warm and watching a blanket of white shroud the earth. Especially for Christmas. There’s something so peaceful about it. Quiet. Clean. Fresh.

The holiday is less than a week away. With my latest completed work sitting on the agent’s desk (or, in her email), I’m taking a break from writing something new. I still have Epitaph on my radar, so there is a project to keep me fresh until the new year. For now, I’m going to sit back, relax, and enjoy the holiday season. I wish the same luxury to you.

Merry Christmas!

It's the end of the world as we know it

Today, I'd like to extend my sincerest sympathies to the familes who have lost children to violence.  Waking up this morning to the horrors in Connecticut, yesterday to the horrors in Vermont, I can only wonder when it will end.

I have friends who own guns.  They trap shoot.  They hunt. They use those guns for a purpose.  I know people who have guns in their homes for safety.  I don't necessarily agree with having a gun for the sake of having a gun, and for those people who own one for safety, my view is that it is more likely to get them killed or be used accidentally.  Is that going to stop the crazies who go on shooting sprees?  I don't think so.

I'm a pacifist.  Can't we all just get along?  Gun control controls guns, but not the crazies that use them.  I DO NOT UNDERSTAND what could motivate someone who is mad at a particular person to storm a school and kill dozens of innocent children, but then I don't suppose someone hell bent on murder cares much about who his victims are.

So my next point of contention is why the news continues to report these things.  Because it's news?  Yes. But when you publicize the killer's name, now you've given other people looking for that five minutes of fame an outlet. 

I can't watch the news anymore.  Pretty soon I'm going to be agoraphobic (that means I won't want to ever leave my house).

Someone mentioned that this is happening because people are stressed that the world is going to end next week. Okayyyyyy, so if you believe that, can't you wait for the world to kill off the people that you're mad at?

Peace on earth, goodwill to men.  God bless us, every one.

Grimm!

My husband is not a very imaginative fellow on the whole. Very smart. Very logical. Everything should make sense on some level. And yet, when he does exhibit those sparks of imagination, he can be very imaginative. Creative even.  Me? I have a very vivid imagination. I like ghost stories and things that stretch belief, things he often makes fun of me for. Can I just tell you how surprised I was when he told me that Grimm is one of his new favorite television shows?

And speaking of Grimm. Have you ever read Grimm's fairy tales? Many of them are the basis for old familiar stories we've all grown up with, but like many of those familiar stories, the original stories are much darker than the stories we know. This is where the TV show goes. Grimm's fairy tales are often bloody and frightening. But let's focus on the light-hearted, frivolous ones.

I mentioned a few weeks back that I'd pulled out my copy of said book. I was looking up the story of the Shoemaker and the Elves, which is actually a very short story and titled simply "The Elves." It is included in another group of similar stories which feature the little guys, and it plays a role in my latest flight of imagination. Yes, while I wait to send off Mist on the Meadow to my editor, I've discovered that even though I'm still fatigued with the efforts of editing and creating, there is no stopping my imagination.

Authors often go through bouts of self-doubt and are easily able to convince themselves that they have no talent and they are wasting their time, Yours Truly included. And yet, there's this bug inside that refuses to be ignored. So maybe my writing sucks. Maybe I'm stretching beyond my limits. (Making a point here, and let me thank those of you who have been so very complimentary and would contradict me.) That bug inside sees the world through a different filter (as has also been addressed in previous ramblings on this very blog). Something triggers my imagination and a story insists on playing in my head.

It's the dawn of a new day, and tired, fatigued, full of angst about my abilities to create a story, I can't resist the allure of a bright, shiny new idea. Like the sunrise this morning, there are clouds to  battle, but there's no denying the sunshine that always wins out.

And so begins the new book.

Free for the weekend!

This weekend I'm giving a Christmas present to my friends and followers.  Friday through Sunday, you can download a free e-book version (Kindle, Nook, Sony reader, etc.) of Living Canvas! Click here to download your copy! The only thing I ask in return is a review or a rating on your favorite book site (Amazon, BN, iBooks, Goodreads, etc.) when you've finished. Authors love feedback (good, bad or indifferent).

I've been adding lots of books to my "TBR" pile. Christmas is often when I stock up on new authors or books by my favorite authors.  Looking for a Christmas idea? Buy the reader in your life an Amazon Kindle gift card - that gives them the opportunity to pick and choose and take a chance on an author they might not otherwise buy because, in essence, they're getting the book as a gift (read "free"). Likewise, Barnes & Noble has gift cards, and there's always the iTunes gift cards. 

I'm excited to have finished edits for Mist on the Meadow, so it's ready when my editor is (she has me scheduled in January). I also did an outline for a new story (as yet untitled), but right now that feels like a climb up Mt. Everest. With the holidays upon us and life events happening, looking at another hike up a mountain is a little intimidating. It's always a thrill to start out, but with the rugged climb I just completed (metaphorically speaking, of course), I'm more inclined to revisit one of the manuscripts sitting on the shelf to push it forward (or throw it in the trash).  Epitaph is the story that is reaching out to me, and once that one finds its way either forward or lost forever, I will have moved the last of my shelved stories that I feel is workable. It's fun to pick it up again, re-read it and I still like it! Why did it go to the shelf instead of to an editor, you ask? There are some areas that need improvement, but fixing something that's already written feels more like climbing a hillock instead of a mountain. Much more manageable and slightly less brain power required.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year I have much to be thankful for.

I'll start with the new baby in our family, 2 weeks early but definitely not premature. I'm thankful that mother and daughter came through the ordeal and both are doing well and are healthy.

I'm thankful for my Dear Husband, who gallantly protects me from the evils of the world (even when they aren't really evils). He is guilty of showering me with random acts of love (yes, he buys flowers, and candy, and he knows when I need a hug) and he wants to shelter me from all the things in the world that make me sad or unhappy.  Sometimes, you have to take your medicine, but its nice to know there's someone standing by with a chaser.

I'm thankful for my children. There are days as a mother where you feel like the birds have left, never to return. This morning at breakfast, I saw a young man who will never leave  his parent's nest and so I choose to be thankful that my baby birds are able to fly.

I'm thankful for my parents - what were they thinking having four children? And I'm so grateful they did. Sisters are a blessing, and there are many days I might not have gotten through without them.

I'm thankful for my gift of imagination. And I'm thankful for my readers who share it with me. I'm humbled by the kind words from the people who have read my stories and grateful for the opportunity to share those words.

I'm thankful for the day job. Through the years, they have provided me with the skills I needed to excel at my job. They have not only encouraged me, but have given me to the opportunity to grow and to be successful.

I'm thankful for my faith (this counts as another thank you to my parents). On those days when you feel you can't stand one more minute of things that can go wrong, I'm grateful for all the blessings in my life that make it "right."

Happy Thanksgiving.

Doing the happy dance

I've finished my editing checklist!

Does that mean edits are completed?  No, but the worst is over. I'll have to read through Mist on the Meadow one more time (maybe more than one more time) to make sure I haven't created new problems with the edits. That should all fall under the realm of misplaced words, though.  Easy-peasy.

There is something liberating about completing this process. I feel empowered! I have confidence in the story and in the strength of the writing (which may all come crashing to pieces once I finish re-reading, but let me enjoy the moment).

My horoscope for the day says to jump into new projects with my sleeves rolled up.  Yes, I feel like I could/should start the new story. And with that comes the resolve to write clean from the start.

Yeah, that'll last about two chapters.

We all have our obsessive/compulsive traits. Mine is to finish something that I've started. As much as I'm itching to start my French Spicevendor story, I need to finish Mist on the Meadow. And write a logline. And a synopsis. And a blurb. {sigh} Someone asked me at one of the book signings what the new book was about, and I had a hard time telling her (largely because I was focused on selling Living Canvas, mind fimly set on relaying that one clearly and concisely). Nothing like standing there saying, "ummm. . . . ahh . . . well . . . you see its about . . . well . . . "  So how about this . . .

"The way to this man's heart is through his head."

Marissa Maitland is your ordinary, run of the mill café owner, until her “Herr Drosselmeyer” great-uncle shows up for Christmas. He bestows on her a family legacy, a gift for her twenty-fifth birthday on the Winter Solstice. But this is no ordinary gift.


Wolf Harper has gotten along fine for the last eleven years without familial attachment. The only thing he has left is the family business – which his uncle is running into the ground. Upon his grandmother’s death, Wolf is compelled to honor an obscure “last request” which he hopes will save the company. It isn’t until after he’s rear-ended Marissa’s car that he discovers his grandmother’s last request is meant to save him.

No? Yeah. Well I'll keep working on it. Let's not spoil the moment. Right now, I'm doing the happy dance.

The hardest part of writing

Do you have a brilliant idea? One that would make a great story? That's the exciting part, the fun part. Then you  take that idea and put it down on paper. Still not so hard. The writing process can be difficult at times, but it's also fun, especially when you have that brilliant idea. The story unfolds as you write, characters reveal themselves to you. Some people describe the process as a movie that plays in their heads. Each step becomes a little more difficult, but the creative process cannot be denied.

Now you're done. But that's not the end. In spite of your best efforts, you've left behind dozens of words that don't belong. Phrases that shouldn't be there. The brilliant idea has been transcribed to paper, but that doesn't make it readable. Which brings me to the topic of today's wandering.

Every story I start with the intention of writing "clean." Watch the crutch words. Watch the overused adverbs and adjectives. Watch for passive voice. In the years that I've been {cough cough} "perfecting" my craft, I've improved my first drafts, but I'm one of those people who writes with a mission. The story is in my head and I have to get it down now. Ideas flow faster than I can transcribe them and so my first editing pass is generally to make sure the story flows when I've taken an unexpected bend in the river. 

Mist on the Meadow is done, but its far from "reader ready." I am amazed, once again, at the things that I overlook on that first, frantic dash to reach the finish line, and now I'm paying the price with edits - the hardest part of the writing process.

Not that editing is hard, it's time consuming. I've finished this story. I want to start the next one. In fact, I've had two new flashes of brilliance (well, flashes anyway) that I want to work with, but I have to finish this one first. Otherwise I'll be distracted with the new stuff and never go back. Okay, I'd go back, but I can't market a book that isn't finished, and until I have the discipline to stop and fix as I go instead of purging the story from my head, I have to take the time after I've finished.

I recently saw a television show that referenced the shoemaker and the elves and I thought, how many authors wouldn't like someone to finish their work, the way the shoemaker had the elves? Elves that could do the editing. (I actually went back to my Grimm's Fairy Tales  and re-read the story.) 

Then again, if I didn't put in the time, it wouldn't be my story. Like any job, it isn't done until you finish it. So I'm agonizing now over every word of Mist on the Meadow, and it's nearly done. 

Again. 

I will whine, but I will persevere.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! Oh wait. That was yesterday. Happy All Saints Day.

Halloween is a fun day – people get to dress up and be someone else for a few hours. For the kids that go trick-or-treating, it’s a fun way to see the neighbors in a world where people see increasingly less of each other in the neighborhood. The kids are adorable (for the most part), the parents are smiling and happy and even the family pets come out in costume. With my kids out of the house and grown up, it is probably less significant to me. I never was a major player for Halloween, although I’ve always been fascinated by the origins.

A pagan holiday. Yep. Some will even say a satanic holiday. I’ve been a member of churches where they rallied against it, but as a Lutheran, we had another thing to celebrate, Reformation Day. But my “intellectual” interest in Halloween (if I dare to refer to myself in that vein) is always piqued. The “Fire Feasts” and Celtic superstitions have always fascinated me. Halloween is Samhain. I love a good scary story, always have (scary, not gory). Ghosts and goblins and fairies and their holidays. I suppose that’s why I can’t seem to avoid allusions to those things in my own writing. I’m not committed to go full tilt into the whole paranormal realm with my writing, but we all have a little mysticism in our lives that defies explanation. That’s where you find me on the subject. I’m not going to go full bore into theories and debates, but writing is about imagination. I have my own beliefs on the subject of the supernatural and most of them are in line with Christian doctrine.

So like Halloween or hate Halloween, whichever side of the fence you’re on (and fortunately it’s not usually a polarizing topic), for one day out of the year, it’s fun to remember that sometimes there’s more to this life than we know about. And it’s fun to have an excuse to knock on a neighbor’s door and say hello (even if it’s just to beg for candy).

Why editors will always have jobs

Recently, I contacted an editor to help me with Mist on the Meadow, my newest creation. I've worked with this editor before, and I was comfortable with her style when I sent her Living Canvas.  We were still getting to know each other then. So when I contacted her this time, I expressed my desire to improve my writing. Boy, did she answer the call.

I'm still "cleaning up" Mist on the Meadow, so I don't feel that it is finished yet. This is a good thing. Particularly since I now have homework to do for the editor before I hand it in to her. I am aware of certain "crutch" words in my work, words that are overused and/or unnecessary. I know the difference between passive voice and active voice, in fact I read a blog post this week (maybe it was last week, time is getting away from me) on just that topic. So when the editor sent me a list of words to cull out of my manuscript (or at least trim back), I was shocked to see how many of them had slipped through. She also clued me in to some of the passive phrases that are commonly used. Ouch. I was amazed at how often I had used these "bad" things. Bad habits. I also discovered an idiosyncrasy of mine, a speech pattern of my own.

I'm sure I've mentioned in older blog posts about "go to" phrases that people use. Crutch words that don't belong. My husband says "already" way more often than it is truly applicable. Some people pluck in the work "like" and others use the phrase "you know." Think about your conversations with teenagers. So imagine my surprise when I realized that one of my "go to" phrases is "it isn't as if . . . " Going through the manuscript, I stumbled over this phrase repeatedly. Stumbled. Stubbed my toe. My feet are black and blue already! (that "already" was for DH).

Just when you think you know what you're doing.

I'm always learning something new. I thought I knew what to look for, and in many cases I did. Some of it happens naturally when you realize something doesn't sound right, and some of it sneaks through anyway. By picking apart and looking for these phrases independent of the writing process, they become much more apparent. I've added a new step to my writing routine as a result.

In addition to the mechanics, editors can also dissect your plot points. What works, what doesn't, what's been dropped along the way. They don't have the same emotional attachment to the story, and that subjective part? The part that keeps agents and publishers from connecting to it? Editors don't have to connect with the story, just the writing (although it helps if they like the story). Their job is to see the disconnects, the places that sabotage those agents and publishers from connecting. When I was younger, I had a hard time reading a Harlequin romance novel because I spent more time picking out the mistakes than I did connecting with the story. I can say that today the editors are much better, and I don't feel that same reluctance to pick up a Harlequin. That experience taught me that it doesn't matter how good the story is. If the writing isn't strong enough, you're going to lose your audience. That's why I want to grow as an author. I want to be a better writer. And that's why a good editor is so important.

Mist on the Meadow will likely be available for publication/distribution early next year. In the meantime, check out Living Canvas. For those of you in Illinois, there is another book signing this weekend in Hoffman Estates (click on the Events tab above for details). I hope to meet you there!

"nobody goes to book signings anymore"

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program . . .

You will often hear authors talking about how uncomfortable they are doing public appearances. I heard it on Saturday from the authors who joined me for the book signing. It isn't easy to say, "I'm wonderful, buy my book!" That requires a certain level of arrogance that doesn't come naturally, but it is a necessary part of selling books. Add to that, the typical personality of an author is someone who spends large amounts of time alone with their computer living in an imaginary world. Now you want to throw them out with the real world? And so begin the anxiety attacks. The longer you do it, the easier it comes. Does that make it easy? Not by a long shot.

There are some authors who argue that you don't need to do book signings. E-books are outpacing printed versions, and then, what is there to sign? There's still something to be said for those brick and mortar stores. It's in connecting with your readers. Talking to people who read your books. Giving people a personality to put with the name on the cover of the book.

I'm not a big name author (yet). People aren't flocking to the book stores to see me (yet). So I have to go out and introduce myself. Hand people a bookmark and invite them to come over to find out more. No pressure. I'm not going to inflict myself on someone who is browsing. They'll come in their good time if they're interested. And on Saturday, they did. I met several new people and I had a lot of interesting feedback from people who buy books. People commented on the cover. They commented on the blurb. So many people said they thought it looked interesting (and no, they weren't just being nice). That kind of feedback is helpful. They had no trouble telling me my other covers weren't as intriguing, or the blurb copy didn't hook them. (I won't even digress into the finer points of #1) trying to write a good blurb or #2) an "interesting" cover.)

So maybe the world is becoming more electronic, less social. But its days like Saturday that make being an author more interesting. Telling them about the book you put your heart and soul into writing, and seeing the glazed expression on their faces when you try to explain the next project (which you haven't yet written a good blurb for). It was also an opportunity to network with other authors who were there with me, to share our experiences.

And to make new friends.

Thanks, Dana

I love you, Mom

Words that bring tears to a mother's eyes, whether they are spoken by a one-year old or a twenty-one year old.

Permit me a day of self-indulgence.  For those of you that have been following my blog, you know that I have an intense day job, which is one of the reasons why I write. Stress relief.  October 15 is one of those deadlines that my crew has to meet. There is the satisfaction that comes with meeting a deadline, but angst when you realize there are other things demanding attention and no time to get it all done. As I was riding home on the train, exhausted and frustrated by the pain of the deadline, I started looking ahead to my next commitment. 

On top of deadline, I had a book signing on Saturday (which went very well, thank you to everyone who came out!). Next weekend I host a baby shower. The weekend after that is another book signing. Then there's the next book, which I would dearly love to get to my editor in November, but I have edits yet to push through. This has been a very busy, intense couple of weeks with more busyness all the way through October, and then there's the Christmas season peaking at us. Yes, I was beginning to feel very overwhelmed. Can you see me with my hands in my hair, my eyes bugging out? For those people who ask, "Wow, where do you find the time to write?"  Well, some days it isn't easy, but again, it's my outlet, and when I don't find the time to write, it makes me that much more anxious and stressed.

So back on the train, riding home after deadline, out of the blue (and isn't that when it means the most?), my cell phone vibrates. In the display, a very short, but extremely well-timed message. "I love you mom :-)"

Gotta tell you. That never gets old.

One day, my son will find his Ms. Right, and those messages will likely be harder to come by, but until that time, I'm going to enjoy every random expression of love that comes my way.  He's going to make some lucky girl a great husband one day.

I love you too, EJ.

Come visit me!

I will be at Barnes and Noble in Schaumburg, Illinois on Saturday, October 13, 2012, between Noon and 4:00 p.m. (CST) signing copies of Living Canvas.

Woodfield Plaza Shopping Center
590 East Golf Road
Schaumburg, IL 60173
847-310-0450

Stop in and say hello!

The healthy writing life

I've been spending way too much time on Pinterest looking for baby shower ideas. One of the fun things is all the neat things you can do with food.  I'm loving that.

My niece-in-law has been doing a blog on her weight-loss journey with one of her friends, and she has had some fun food ideas. Like most people, I struggle with maintaining my weight/losing weight, so today, I'm going to share with you one of my favorite "diet" foods. Sorry for the bad timing on this, but we are fortunate enough to live in a world where we can get fresh (or relatively fresh) fruit year-round. So although this is coming after the summer season, hopefully you will still find it useful.

I don't like vegetables. There. I've said it. My husband is always asking me what's wrong with me, my mother tells me I don't know what's good for me. My mother-in-law just tut-tuts and wonders what to feed me. I EAT vegetables. Don't misinterpret. My mother fed me vegetables at every meal growing up. I know they're good for me. I am concerned about my health. I EAT VEGETABLES. I just don't like them. But I love fruit . . .

There are dozens of recipes using fruit, and I've tried dozens of smoothie recipes to ensure I'm eating my daily dose and more (although with fruit, that's usually not an issue). I've had conversations with people at the day job about smoothies, and some of them mention kale and spinach in smoothies. EWWW!  Green smoothies? And then I spoke with one of my friends at work who convinced me to try the spinach ones. She says the kale ones are still a little off-tasting. Okay, she convinced me. I tried it. And you know what? It was GOOD! I never tasted the spinach. Granted, I eat spinach salads, so spinach does put me off the way many veggies do, but what a cool idea!  So here's the deal.

Strawberries.  Lots of them. If they're on sale, buy them up and freeze them. We're at the end of the season and they were just cheap at the store, so I bought a bunch (I also have a strawberry patch in my garden). And bananas.  They were on sale, too. But I couldn't eat them all before they "expired," so I started freezing them in smoothie sized servings. (Oh - and peaches, or pineapple, or whatever strikes you or is in season).

If the fruit is fresh, I start with the spinach at the bottom of the blender. A handful. Maybe even two. Top it with your fresh fruit (example: one banana + 5 big strawberries), a half cup of milk and another handful of ice cubes. This usually translates to about 24 ounces of smoothie for me. Blend it up and YUMMM.  It's green, yes, although I've found that adding blueberries makes it purple (not green). 

As the growing season ends, I'm freezing the fruit in smoothie bags. When making a smoothie with the frozen fruit, skip the ice cubes and do a half cup milk and a half cup of water. The frozen fruit will provide the ice.

Quick, easy, delicious, NUTRITIOUS. I'm getting my vegetables! It fills me up. And if you want something to chew on, you've saved enough calories to supplement with a granola bar, an english muffin, or a piece of toast, or a bagel (although you should still pay attention to what your calorie intake is if your goal is weight loss).

Good stuff, I'm tellin ya.

A Vacation in your Living Room

Now that I've completed my series on inspirations, let me take you on a trip.

I recently returned from a trip through the Mediterranean, inspired and motivated.  There were some very interesting observations I made.

On the downside, there is a distinct lack of real estate, so the cities are very overcrowded. The unemployment rate is high, so pickpockets abound (keep close watch on your valuables). And there is graffiti everywhere. Everywhere. Traffic is insane, and yet walking the narrow, cobbled streets is a sensory experience.


Aix-en-Provence, France

I walked through an open-air market in Aix-en-Provence (that's pronounced "ex"), France, and smelled freshly ground spices available for sale. Flower vendors. Fruit and vegetable vendors. The closest thing we have over here is a Farmer's Market that shows up once a week for a couple of hours. Over there, the market opens every day, all day. (I would insert a picture of the market, but there was an unfortunate mishap with the photos in France).

Port of Toulon - France

 
 There are walled cities along the coast, designed to keep invaders out, straight out of a history book or a medieval romance novel. While sections of these walls have been knocked down or eroded, they are still very much in evidence. Every town square has a fountain, and there is statuary everywhere. And don't get me started on the abundance of churches/cathedrals/basilicas. Turn a corner, see a bell tower. Architecture is stunning. We walked through one village that remains inside its walls (although the doors to the walls have long since been removed). No cars on those streets. If I were any good at writing history, I could easily imagine a young French woman carrying a basket of something through the narrow passages, not unlike Cyd Charisse in Brigadoon (okay, wrong country).

Eze-Village, France



All of this led me to contemplate settings for stories. I've frequently used vacations as backdrops, but I almost always come back home to Chicago somewhere in the story (Living Canvas is a prime example of vacations in Scotland and in Fort Lauderdale). I have to tell you, my imagination has already kicked up a story in Aix, but it will have to wait until I've completed edits on Mist on the Meadow.



Eze-Village, France



Do you enjoy "destination" stories? Stories that take you on a tour of some place you've never been, or some place you love? A vacation in your own living room? Or is the locale an insignificant backdrop?

Guest appearance

Today I'm appearing as a guest at Terry's Place. 
http://terryodell.com/terrysplace/

Pop on over and see what I have to say about the axiom, "Write What you Know."  Then check back here tomorrow for my regularly scheduled post.

Ciao Bella!

Inspiration - Music

I've written many posts about my affliction to associate a song with almost any situation. It's a family trait. Sometimes, inspiration comes through with both visuals and audible. I see something, the song pops in, and now there's a whole new meaning for what I'm seeing.
One of the first songs that inspired me was Angry Eyes by Loggins and Messina — "What a shot you could be/if you could shoot at me/with those angry eyes." I spent a lot of time listening to that song writing my first novel-length story (it was horrible, will never see the light of day).

Lyrics can be very provocative. If it’s a good song, it was written that way. They are designed to make you think. Novels should be the same, written in such a way that they make you think. I'm always impressed when I hear a simile or metaphor I've not heard before, or the turn of a phrase that makes me stop and think. Some lyrics that come immediately to mind:

1. I love you like a fat kid loves cake
2. Lived her life like a candle in the wind
3. Life is a highway, I want to ride it all night long
4. You change your mind like a girl changes clothes (one of my favorites)

My current work in progress started with a "moment of grace." I was driving down the road and saw one of those scenes in nature that capture your attention. Think of the perfect sunset, or the first silent snowfall over a forest of evergreens. Sun shafts reaching through the trees to the earth, or mist on the meadow. As I was writing, the song popped in. "Even in the Quietest Moments" by Supertramp. The lyrics don't necessarily fit, but the title sure did. That remained my working title all the way through the first draft.

Ten years ago, I struggled to come up with a "catchy" title for The Treasure of St. Paul. When I revisited it to re-release it, I couldn't get Carly Simon's song out of my mind, and so decided to retitle it—Touched by the Sun.

There is a song to fit every occasion, and sometimes musical artists lend inspiration to ideas already percolating, or sometimes they inspire new ideas.

Inspiration - Locations

For some people, traveling is unpleasant and stressful. For others, it's a break from the everyday - a getaway. Those that travel for work might be less likely to notice some of the landscape (largely due to the fact that they're working more than sight-seeing). The casual traveler is usually going specifically to do sight-seeing.

I tend to look for a magnificent landscape. My husbands likes cities. During our travels, we usually combine a little of both. In today's post, I'm going to use my trip the Nevada/Utah/Arizona as n example. DH wanted to see Las Vegas. It is an interesting landscape in the middle of the desert. If you take out the gambling and the shows, there is still the interesting architecture and the oddity of all the tall buildings rising out of the middle of the desert. That was DH's part of the trip. My part was Bryce Canyon, a unique landscape that inspired a book (which will likely never see publication) which I titled "The Legend People." I never came up with a better title, because although my imagination embraced the whole story, I'm not sure it translated quite as well once I wrote it all down.

Bryce Canyon features "Hoodoos," which are spires of rock which glow a brilliant red in the sunshine. I saw photos before we went and immediately imagined everything from the Wicked Witch of the West (the rock formations were eroded by water) to fairies swirling around the rocks to create the patterns. Then there were the grottos and caves carved into the mountains - yes, my imagination went into overdrive.  Imagine an army of warriors, frozen into rocks. We also stopped at Antelope Canyon, which further sparked my whole "fairies" theory. A tourist trap? Absolutely. Beautiful? Breathtaking. I could so see fairies living in that cave, carving the swirls in the walls and diving in the flood waters. Imagine a fairy, caught in the draft of an airplane and carried out of their natural habitat. How would they get back? How would they survive in an "alien" environment?

Other trips have inspired mention in my stories as well. I visited Scotland, which makes a cameo in Living Canvas. I was intrigued by the melaleuca trees in Fort Lauderdale, trees that were imported to help dry out the Everglades until they discovered the trees were working a little too well. The trees were interesting to see, and they had an interesting story behind them. And sometimes it is the history behind something that makes it intriguing. On my bucket list? Easter Island.

Sometimes a location inspires me before I've had the opportunity to visit. When I wrote Touched by the Sun/The Treasure of St. Paul, I'd never been to Italy, but I'd done many research papers on Pompeii. Because I hadn't visited, I had to do interviews and see other peoples' home videos or vacation photos. I did EXTENSIVE research. Ten years after the original publication date, I'm actually going to visit! You can watch for my comparison of the real experience to what I wrote when I do a guest blog for one of my writer friends, Terry Odell (I promise to post details on where to read that when the time comes!)

Mist on the Meadow

Happy Friday. Just had to post these pictures that I took this morning. With the new book "resting," I'm thinking ahead to cover shots. Granted, the story takes place in the winter, and I will most likely take winter pictures, but the mist this morning was perfect, so I just had to . . .

What do YOU imagine walking out of the mist?

Inspiration - Buildings

Do you ever look at a place and begin to imagine things about it? Hear a song and try to figure out what happened to the artist when they wrote it? (Clearly Taylor Swift and Adele let you know what happened!) Visit somewhere and see beyond the landscape? And then I have this mind that wires it all together. I see a creepy house and I hear the theme music from CBS Mystery Theater, or Night Gallery (giving away my age on these, I suppose). I see a landscape and I imagine pixies swirling around hoodoos. These things pop out uninvited, when you're least expecting them. Today's blog post centers around "places" that inspire, and more specifically, Living Canvas.

I got married in a B&B, and we spent a lot of time visiting them (guess where that part of Living Canvas came from?). When I walked up to The Hillcrest Inn, I knew that was "The Place." There was an ambience around it that drew me in. When I was writing Living Canvas, I didn't originally know Audrey wanted to run a B&B, but it started to make sense as the story unfolded and I remembered the way I felt the first time I saw Hillcrest.

Then, as I was driving home from work one day, I passed a house that sparked my imagination. THAT was going to be Castle Valley Inn in the book. The only problem was that I wanted the wraparound porch. The "castle" house would look wrong with a wraparound porch.  So I started an internet search for wraparound porches, and that's when I landed on The Mandolin Inn.

Visuals. That gets the brain started. Can you picture yourself sitting on the porch at Hillcrest? Imagine what the inside of that other house must look like? And I can tell you what the inside of Mandolin Inn looks like. I look at these places and think, "Wow, what a beautiful place." That evolves into, "I wonder what it would be like to live there." Which follows on with my personal catalog of haunted house movies and stories and "wouldn't that be a great backdrop for a story?"

So I "glom" all this stuff together, add in a secret room and an unsolved mystery (wherever the imagination takes you). Now you get an idea of how my mind works. All of these places are just a piece of Castle Valley Inn, along with other more "homey" touches from much less "visible" places. My own personal knowledge stores.

The only thing left is to add characters, throw them into "a situation." Decide what their goals are, how they plan to accomplish them, what's important to them and what stands in their way. To me, this is everyday daydreaming, but when other people ask me about it and I tell them, they are dumbfounded. Not everybody is wired the same way. Looking at a house for some people never gets past, "wow, that place is beautiful." Or it manifests itself more as "I wish I could own a place like that some day." For some people, it's about how to decorate it. Me and my imagination, we move right in and invite you over for tea.

Next week is the travelogue. Places that inspire me.

Audiobooks

Well, I've finished my first draft of "Quiet." And the current decision is that the title will be Mist on the Meadow. What a huge sense of accomplishment, not only to finish the draft, but to finish it in the time frame I'd set and in excess of the minimum word limit I had set for it. Both plusses. So what now? I am continuing to run it through my critique group, whose members are adept at pointing out every time I use the word "that" instead of "who," one of my many stumbling blocks. This also provides me the opportunity to step away from it and let it "set" (like Jell-O). Time away often helps to give a clearer perspective.  These are the times I go to previous works that are sitting on the shelf (Epitaph comes to mind) to determine if they are keepers or crap (pardon my French). It also gives me time to pursue other thoughts and ideas, one of which is audioboooks.

When I took a finished copy of Living Canvas to Amy in Iowa, she mentioned that she often buys audiobooks these days. We had a brief discussion about the different media books in which you can obtain books (she prefers a printed book in her hands to an ebook, fwiw). Interestingly, I read an article the other day that ebooks are now outpacing printed books. I also just bought a book to celebrate "the end" and bought a printed copy. My husband, when it arrived, asked why I hadn't gotten it as an ebook. The answer? It was the same price either way, and it was an easy read (I devoured the thing in a manner of hours - it was Goodnight, Tweetheart, in case you're wondering).  I like the convenience of my e-readers - a stack of stories in the palm of my hand - although I do like still like the feel of holding a printed book in my hand. But I digress. 

My conversation with Amy got me to wondering how many people listen to audiobooks. I mentioned it to my mother, and she said that she enjoys an audiobook from time to time, especially now when it's harder for her to read. And then there are the commuters . . . So I'm thinking about putting together an audio version of Living Canvas during my "recovery period." This is the period of time when I try to reaquaint myself with the industry and all the changes (which are happenening faster these days). New options, new avenues, not to mention new story ideas. What do you think about audiobooks? Thumbs up? Thumbs down?  Meh?

Field of Dreams

This past weekend DH and I went off to Iowa ("Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa.") for a family reunion. Why Iowa? Well, it's kinda in the middle for most of the people making the journey. An hour for some, eight hours for others. I have to say, I'm glad my sister takes the time to organize these things so that we don't have to wait for funerals to get together. The great part about family reunions is you have a chance to catch up with family that you haven't seen for a while. The bad part is that sometimes even a weekend isn't long enough. There are still people you don't quite make the rounds to, some who can only stay for the day, some for only a couple of hours. But on to the activities portion of this post . . .

So what do you do in Iowa? (no offense to the natives - keep in mind that many of us come from larger metropolitan areas, like Chicago or Minneapolis, or even Madison). Well who doesn't like the movie, Field of Dreams? (That's my husband raising his hand.) For those of you who haven't seen the movie or don't like baseball, the Field of Dreams is a baseball diamond in the middle of a cornfield down an unpaved road (well, you could take the paved road). That's what my husband saw. To those of us who were touched by the movie or have {ahem} overactive imaginations, it's poignant and a place where dreams become reality and family rises above adversity. Yes, I took a picture of the cornfield (that would be my sister playing the part of a ghost). The man who owns the farm was telling us that while they were filming, they were in drought, a lot like they are this year, and they were worried that James Earl Jones wouldn't disappear into the corn (it wouldn't grow tall enough) - he's a big man, after all! If you've seen the movie, you know that they did manage to make it grow.

We also took a ride on a Mississippi riverboat, complete with two paddlewheels. When in Rome . . . and the views are beautiful. There's a Mississippi river museum, and we also rode the Fenelon Street Elevator (a gondola that transports you up a steep bluff between two streets). And we saw an eagle flying over the lock and dam on the river while we walked through Eagle Point Park.

This would also be a good place to give a shout out to Amy at the Mandolin Inn. I interviewed Amy while I was writing Living Canvas for tips on running a B&B. The Mandolin Inn is located in Dubuque and is one of the loveliest B&B's I've ever visited. Castle Valley Inn (which is the inn in the book) takes some of its features from this inn, along with The Hillcrest Inn in Burlington, Wisconsin (shout out to Gayle and Mike), which was the original inspiration. Neither of these places have a secret room, to my knowledge, so please don't go looking for . . . NO, I'm not going to spoil the ending! Suffice it to say I've taken a considerable amount of artistic license in creating Castle Valley Inn, but I would highly recommend both of these real-life inns if you're looking for a fabulous place to stay.

The Mist over the Moors

I don't suppose we think of them as moors in the United States - here comes your definition of the day: a tract of open, peaty, wasteland, often overgrown with heath, common in high latitudes and altitudes where drainage is poor; heath. That being said, I don't suppose what I'm seeing can be defined as a moor. Marsh? Bog? Meadow! Semantics, I say.

This is my what the view from the train was like riding into the big city this morning. (P.S., thanks, Kurt) There's something magical about the mist, and it has been like this frequently over the past two weeks. Some areas are very dense, others already beginning to burn off. When you look into the mist, don't you imagine all kinds of things that might suddenly walk into view? (or maybe it's just me with that overactive imagination again). The playful part of me wants to photoshop all kinds of different images, from a dragon, to a highlander, to a knight in armor, to a couple hand in hand. The zombie apocalypse! The possibilities could go on and on. Secrets, shrouded in the humidity rising above the rain-soaked land. A peaceful way to start a day, wouldn't you say?

What would you photoshop coming out of the mist?

Soundtracks

One of the things I like about summer is that more people are outside. Today, I listened to a street musician on my way into/carrying through the window of my office. He has a speaker that he pipes a symphony through, and he plays along on his trumpet. I love music. All kinds. And listening to a symphony on my way into the office sets right a rough start to the day (left the house late, almost forgot my coffee so had to go back, hit every red light on my way to the train, made the train just in time). Street musicians, now playing on a street corner near you. Only in the summer. Sometimes, the bucket boys play on the bridge (they use overturned buckets as drums).

I often write to music, depending on my concentration level. If the concentration is there, it doesn't matter what's playing in the background. If the concentration is sketchy, I stick with instrumental. If the concentration is flighty, the music must be turned off. And did I mention eclectic tastes? I like everything from Scorpions to James Taylor to Handel (and just about everything in between). Over the weekend, I was sending an email to a friend and she asked what song I was listening to. (Quick - what are you listening to right now?) Timing is everything. The answer of the day: Marlene Dietrich singing Lili Marlene (in German). Yes, some of the song choices are "out there." Quiet coincidentally contains characters with German heritage, so even though the music choice wasn't conscious, it was appropriate for the current work in progress.

Music is often a soundtrack for our lives. I saw a movie a few weeks ago (Little Black Book, in which the main character grew up listening to Carly Simon, another of my personal favorites). The story was a little off for me, but the music resonated. The character's mother was a Carly fan, passing that on to her daughter, making Carly's music the soundtrack to both of their lives. Of course, at the end of the movie, Carly made a cameo appearance.

Is there someone that could write the soundtrack to your life? Quick! What song are you listening to right now? (Or, what was the last song you listened to?)

A Day in the Life . . .

Best laid plans often go awry, or maybe distractions make it easier to procrastinate?

My son came home for the weekend. I knew he was coming, although I wasn't sure which day. So went to bed Friday night, and I guess my "Mom Radar" is rusty from not having the kids home anymore. An hour and a half after I went to bed, he came home. Quietly. While I was asleep. And I didn't hear him. I have bat ears. Or at least I used to. My kids couldn't sneak in because I wake up at every little noise. Or used to. I woke up Saturday morning and saw his bedroom door closed. Imagine that! Someone broke into my house and all they did was close his bedroom door. It was almost like one of those Folgers commercials. Except nobody was making coffee. I spent some time with him on Saturday, catching up, crossing paths while I did my chores and he ran his errands.

He had plans on Sunday, so he wasn't around much. That gave me most of the day to fix the holes in "Quiet," although instead I found myself making trailers for Living Canvas. Procrastination, you know. I have to write suspense scenes in "Quiet," actually put my characters in mortal peril, and that is still difficult to do. In spite of that, I managed to edit a major portion of the work (and that counts!).

As of Monday morning, my son has returned to his developing life. Back to college, and work until college starts. No more distractions for me (other than the everyday). Back to putting my characters in mortal danger without a net (although it's still up to me to give them a way out).

I make a lousy bad guy. The police keep getting there too quickly (I keep wanting to save my "friends" from the evils of the story). That being said, "Quiet" is darn close to done!

The London Olympics

I am a sports fan, and I am enjoying the Olympics!

I had an interesting conversation with my "train buddy" yesterday (or at least it was interesting to me). You see, she's British, so she has an entirely different take on the Olympics this year as they are being hosted in London.

I wasn't able to see all of the opening ceremonies, and what I did see I thought was a bit "different." She agreed with me on that point, and I'll be honest, I turned the channel during the parade of nations. It seems I missed some of the more interesting parts of the ceremony, however. My friend highlighted some of the things that made it particularly interesting for her - British benchmarks that highlight the culture of the host country. I have several British friends (and at this point I'd like to make the distinction between English and British, because more often than not, the Brits will point this out to you. English refers to Englanders, while British extends to Great Britain, i.e., Scotland, Northern Ireland and the outlying territories, so overall, they are all British, but they are not all English).

Another interesting contrast is that here in the U.S.A., we are getting mostly filtered coverage - American athletes in competition - rather than broad-based coverage. That's probably not a big deal since that's what we are mostly interested in, and I do believe there is on-line coverage of events not being selected for television broadcast. In England, I'm told there is a "red button" on the television that lets them select which events they want to watch, not necessarily limited to the Brits.

I'm not sure America needs to expand coverage to see other country's athletes, and I have seen the shining stars from those other countries (like the British and Chinese gymnasts). Maybe its pride in our home-grown folks, or maybe we have an excellent crop to watch, but I'm probably okay with missing out on some of the other stuff. How do you pare down what to televise and what to pass over? Seems as if we're doing it right, although it is certainly disappointing for expatriots.

Back on the writing front, I've certainly been distracted the last week or so with the launch of Living Canvas and with family matters (first book signing tentatively set up for September - Schaumburg, Illinois!). The new work in process is nearing completion, the most critical part now being to clean up the messes I've left behind in my sprint to the finish. Filling in the holes, fixing continuity, etc. I'll keep you posted!

Celebrating Life

This has been a long week - we received news of a death in the family on Saturday and made the trip into the neighboring state to celebrate a life well lived.

God speed, Mel.

Mel was 87 years young, and although the last couple years of his life have been a little confused, he has been a vibrant man for most of those years. Some of my favorite moments have been listening to his unique dialect. He liked to tell stories, and there was a time a few years back when I was visiting, where I had planned to do some writing. I set up my computer - correction, my husband's computer - and when I went to log in, found I didn't know what the password was that he'd assigned to me. I sat there in frustration when Mel sat down at the table with me and began to tell me stories. One of my deepest regrets was that I could not access the computer at that time, not because I wanted my writing escape, but because I was so entertained by his unique phrasing that I desperately wanted to transcribe some of his "Mel-isms." I began to see him as a colorful character in one of my novels, using phrases like "jeepers cats," or watching him lean across the table and point his finger and say, "you know, that outfit over there with that woman, you know the one I mean, who was married to the guy in charge of the whole gol-durn outfit."

So although I've lost several days to "work" work and book "work," it was time well spent with family celebrating Mel's life and the legacy he's left behind. Thanks to all 15 of you who were tucked into nooks and crannies of the old homestead, filling it with love and memories and support for one another.

The Goodreads.com Giveaway has ended and for the five lucky winners, autographed copies will be going out in the next couple of days. For those of you that didn't win, please feel free to purchase Living Canvas or one of my other novels at Amazon.com or BN.com. Details in the margin to the right.

Pushing Forward - the joy of diagramming plot points

Sometimes it's hard to write. For those of you that think it's a simple matter of putting words on paper - NOPE. The hard part is what words to put down, and sometimes it's coming up with the words.

One of the things I struggle with is called "the black moment." Otherwise known as "that really bad thing" that happens to your hero/heroine or to their relationship in the story. You have to deliberately put your characters in harm's way. Characters you have gotten to be friends with. Characters you connect with and love. Deliberately.

While I've been working on the release of Living Canvas, I've managed to put off (procrastinate) new chapters in the work in progress (heretofore referred to as "Quiet" until such time as I think up a more appropriate title). But I now have hard copies of Living Canvas in hand, so I'm out of excuses, at least until the reviews are in. Out of excuses. So last weekend I sat down at my computer and stared at the screen.

And stared some more.

It's hard to put your friends in harm's way, even if they are figments of your imagination. But that's part of writing. So rather than develop chapters, I started with plot points.

Character A needs to do this.
Character B needs to do that.
The danger is this.
The conflict is that.
The outcome is such and such.
What am I missing in order to accomplish these threads?

You know what? It works. Immediately upon organizing my thoughts and where I needed to go, I was able to push forward. The chapters took shape, the plot moved forward. The first draft of Quiet is now at least 90 percent completed. First draft? you ask. That means the story is down. I need to apply some spackle - fill in the holes. Flesh out the characters and the settings a little more.

Whether we use story boards or outlines, at some point in time, every author (especially us "pantsers") has to know the outcome. So while it's fun to let the characters carry us along and work their way out of the corners we write them into, sometimes it's good to see where we're going.

As a reminder - the giveaway for a free copy of Living Canvas is live at Goodreads.com until the end of the week. Throw your name into the hat to win an autographed copy! (or click on a link to the right to buy one).

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Living Canvas

by Karla Brandenburg

Giveaway ends July 21, 2012.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Thanks for stopping by.

Production!

And finally, the paperback edition! click here to buy it at Amazon.com.  After much hard work, Living Canvas is DONE.  Buy a copy for yourself and tell all your friends to buy one, then they'll tell two friends, then they'll tell two friends (wasn't that a television commercial at one time?).  I'm also doing a giveaway at Goodreads.com next week, five copies selected randomly by the robotic fingers (eenie, meenie, miney, moe method) at that website.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Living Canvas

by Karla Brandenburg

Giveaway ends July 21, 2012.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

The "next great project" is still under construction, and although progress has slowed considerably while I attend to the release of Living Canvas, the new book is in the final stages of first draft.  Still at least 10,000 words to go, but direction has been clear and direct, so although I've struggled a bit with certain aspects, its more or less a matter of getting it down on paper at this point and then going back to make sure it's visual and engaging, not to mention a bit of fact checking to keep me honest.  The original inspiration was a song title in relation to an experience, but as I was explaining the story to my hairdresser, I realized that the song probably won't make an appropriate title.

And speaking of that (here comes the rambling part), my hairdresser asked me "where do you get your ideas for stories?" At which point I explained the experience, and then the song title, and realized that these two things are almost entirely unrelated to the story as a whole, merely a jumping off point. I "saw" something, then it made me think of a song (I may have mentioned this in previous posts, my affliction to associate a song with nearly every situation I encounter), and then I started with the "what-ifs," which took me on a journey of "so if what I saw was more than what I saw, and what if it was really x, and then y, and then suppose this, then that . . . " and so the conception of the story. Did I ever mention my overactive imagination?

So while I'm finishing the new story (which I am merely referring to as Quiet for the moment until I focus my energy on a more appropriate title), go out and buy a copy of Living Canvas!

This message has been brought to you by a rambling author in progress.  Thanks for stopping by.