Saturday, March 9, 2013

Setting the setting: Water colors



Hi friends of reading and writing,

Do you enjoy the setting details in reading or do you skip over them?  I've heard both from friends who read a lot.  I enjoy setting details myself, so I can go over the top in writing about them.  I have to remind myself about music, films, other good time markers, but when it comes to water, I can write a book on that alone.

Watching water is one of my favorite mind-regenerating activities.  It looks remarkably like doing nothing, I admit that.  But the colors change, reflect the sky's moods, show more or less reflection of the shore depending on the wind and current and the sun's position.  And the water can be its own color.  I posted a photo of a great blue heron at Newport Back Bay on FB.  People liked it, commented on their experiences with this bird.  Since I'm writing about North Carolina's lowland rivers and swamps, I said that for my setting in current writing, the water should be tes-brown or black.  Shiny like coal, great at reflecting egrets but great at hiding herons.  I just hope that the color of water means something to my readers someday.  It means a lot to my protagonist, Holly McLain, growing up into an environmental activist in North Carolina, then California.

What do you feel about settings in your writing and in your reading?

cheers,
Laura

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Z is for zebra for February 26 on Alphabetaphilia


Hi readers and writers,

This is the last day for this year's alphabetaphilia so if you're still enthused about alliteration, feel free to go back to any letter you'd like and add a sentence using 5 words starting with that letter on Feb 27 and Feb 28 or any other day you visit the blog.
Here's a zebra, Equus quagga to scientists,a favorite photo from Creative Commons, to inspire you today to find 5 z-words, use in a sentence, and post in comments.  The coat of the zebra has to be one of the wonders of the world.  If you watch a herd gallop by in real life or in TV, the optical movement is overpowering.

cheers,
Laura

Y is for Yarrow on Alphabetaphilia for February 25


Dear readers and writers,

Here's a photo from Creative Commons of yarrow plant to inspire you to find five y-words, use them in a sentence, and post it on comments below.  Only one more day of Alphabetaphilia this year (although you can always go back and fill in for your favorite letter(s).

cheers,
Laura

X is for X-ray on February 24 in Alphabetaphilia



Dear readers and writers,

Here's a famous x-ray, one by the discoverer of X-rays, taken of his wife's hand.  Let it inspire you to find five x-words today and use in a sentence that you post under comments.

cheers,
Laura

W is for Wave on February 23 for Alphabetaphilia



Dear readers and writers,

My computer problems continue, but I'm trying to at least get through the alphabet!  Here's a wave to inspire you to choose 5 w-words and use in a sentence that you post in comments.

cheers,
Laura

Sunday, February 24, 2013

V is for Vanilla on February 23 on Alphabetaphilia


Dear readers and writers,

For February 23, we have V for our letter.  Here's a photo from Creative Commons, with thanks, of vanilla beans.  I was over 30 years old before I realized my favorite flavor, vanilla, was a product of beans!  Thank goodness, someone else had discovered that long since and shared it with the world.  Let vanilla inspire you to some aromatic and tasty thoughts using 5 words starting with V today, use them in a sentence, and post in comments.

cheers,
Laura

Friday, February 22, 2013

U is for Umbrella on Alphabetaphilia February 22



Dear Readers and Writers,

If you have Rihanna's hit song, "Umbrella" stuck in your brain, feast your eyes on this display of umbrellas in Wuhan, China to give it a new direction.  Then, write five U-words and use them in an unusual sentence, post in comments.

cheers,
Laura

Thursday, February 21, 2013

T Is for Tortoise on February 21 in Alphabetaphilia



Giant Aldabra tortoise
Hi readers and writers,

Today's inspiring image from Creative Commons is the giant Tortoise, an image that invokes the idea of the Galapagos and the birth of evolution in Charles Darwin's young mind.  So let your mind give birth to five words starting with T, use in a sentence, and post in comments!

cheers,
Laura

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Alphabetaphilia for February 20 with Sand Dunes for S



Great Sand Dunes National Monument in Colorado
Hi readers and writers,

Today's alliteration challenge on Alphabetaphilia is inspired by the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado: S-words, shown with thanks to Creative Commons.  So let's write with these sand dunes as our stimulus.  I have walked there twice, both times in awe of sand dunes so far from any ocean.  The high snow-caps in the background most of the year emphasize how far away from sea gull country you are, while the grains of sand whisper to your feet of the sea.

Find five words starting with sibilant S, use them in a startling sentence, post in comments.

cheers,
Laura

R Is for Raccoon on February 19 in Alphabetaphilia


Raccoon climbing in a tree
Hi readers and writers,

Let this raccoon from Creative Commons inspire you to find five words beginning with R and use them in a sentence, post it in comments.  I'm sorry to be a little late.  Still having computer issues.

What do you know about raccoons?  I like them a lot, with their little burglar masks. In spite of human warping of the landscape, they've learned to deal, to make a living anyway, not to be intimidated.  But then, I haven't come home to find them playing in my flour all over the kitchen as one friend has, or found them eating the last fish out of the fishpond, as another one did.  What's your thought?

cheers,
Laura

Monday, February 18, 2013

Alphabetaphilia for February 18 with a Quill for Q



Dear readers and writers,

For February 18, we have a quill to inspire us to write an alliterative sentence with five quality Q words and post it on the comments.  Have you ever tried to use a quill to write?  I haven't, but I have used one to play an autoharp.  It's a challenge.  Goose feathers are made for the convenience of geese, not people, that's for sure!

In any case, enjoy writing a sentence with five Q words today, and please post it under comments.

cheers,
Laura

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Alphabetaphilia for February 17, P is for Pagoda



Dear readers and writers,

Here's an image of a pagoda to inspire us to write an alliterative sentence with five words beginning with P for today.  This pagoda has a sad history that we heard while visiting Wu Cheng village in China.  A general was far away from his wife conducting battles.  As a joke, he sent word that he had been killed.  She jumped off the pagoda to her death.  He was said to be shocked and saddened when he came to Wu Cheng and found that his beloved wife was dead.

Do select five words beginning with P, use them in one praiseworthy sentence, and post it in comments today.

cheers,
Laura

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Alphabetaphilia for Feb 16: O is for Orion



Dear readers and writers,

To inspire us to find O words today, here is the constellation Orion, one of my favorites and one of the easiest to find in the night sky, even in Los Angeles where albedo is ferocious and the sky is barely dark at all.

Today, think of five words staring with O in honor of Orion, use them in a sentence, post in comments.  Voila!

cheers,
Laura

PS Thanks to Creative Commons for the image!

Alphabetaphilia: N Is for Newt on February 15



Hi readers and writers,

When I was a kid running wild in the woods of North Carolina, we ran into newts from time to time.  They are often brightly colored to warn off the predators because of their toxic skin, as this one shown above courtesy of Wikipedia Commons is.

Let the newt inspire you to find five words beginning with n and use them in a sentence for today, posting in Comments.

cheers,
Laura

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Alphabetaphilia: L is for Leaves on February 13


Hello readers and writers,

Perhaps L is for Late today.  I had some issues with getting my computer to admit it was plugged in, but now it seems okay.  Leaves are so cool.  Now that I live in So Cal, autumn leaves are few and far between, but I still love the shapes of trees whose leaves have left them behind, and enjoy the misty green tips of those trees thinking about producing new leaves in spring.  A magic moment I recall from fifth grade, when I had to begin wearing glasses, was seeing that all those tree-blobs were made up of wonderful, twinkling, individually mobile leaves on the way home from the optician's office.

So let leaves inspire you to choose five words beginning with L, use them in a sentence, and post in comments.

cheers,
Laura

Alphabetaphilia: M is for Mountains on February 14



Hi readers and writers,

Do you love mountains?  I do, so we get a picture of them for Valentine's Day this year.  These mountains run along North of the 10 or San Bernardino Freeway in Los Angeles, on the East side, calling the skiers and the lovers of pure, clear air to come up and visit.

For today, let the mountains inspire you to find five words starting with M and use them in one marvelous sentence, post it on comments.

cheers,
Laura

Monday, February 11, 2013

K is for Krakatoa on Alphabetaphilia February 12

Krakatoa lithograph


Dear readers and writers,

Today is February 12, the day for K alliteration on Alphabetaphilia.  I picked an image of Krakatoa, the volcano from 1883, from Wikipedia Commons (thanks to them!) to inspire us today.

I saw "Krakatoa, East of Java" at a drive in theatre many years ago, and it scared the bejabbers out of me.  The only one that scared me more, out of all the films my family went to see in that drive in, was "War of the Worlds."  The rising of a wave, even a pretty small wave, made me worry that it might just keep rising on and on, tower into a tsunami, and crash over the world as I knew it.  And a low, low tide was sure to be followed by a giant wave, I thought, so at Myrtle Beach, I tried to stay inside the beach house at low tide.

Enjoy playing with K-words today.  Find five, use in a sentence, capitalized or not all fine, and post the words and sentence on the comments.  A short delay for me to moderate comments and your fabulous sentence will shine out on the world.  Go!

cheers,
Laura

Sunday, February 10, 2013

J is for Jupiter on Alphabetaphilia February 11



Dear readers and writers,

Here's a NASA photo of the huge planet Jupiter, showing its giant red spot, a storm that has gone on for years and years, circling the planet repeatedly, but not slowing or stopping.  Awesome, if it were not a burned out hulk of a word, would be a good descriptor for Jupiter. And do you see the moon shadow?  Love those words, moon shadow.

For February 11, be inspired by Jupiter to think of five words starting with J, use them in one jovian sentence or jocular sentence or whatever, and post in comments.  Enjoy the sentences others have produced.  Tell your friends, here's a fast, fun internet escape from work, including a workout for your brain's alliteration circuits.

cheers,
Laura

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Alphabetaphilia for February 10, I-Words



Dear readers and writers,

For Sunday, February 10, our letter for alliteration fun is "I." So here is a photo of my favorite insect, the lightning bug or firefly, first dark, then aglow.  On summer evenings, these bugs flashed their signals to each other along the edge of the woods behind our house, and I could not stop watching.  My sister loved to catch them and put them in a jar, but I just loved to see them flash.  Not in our backyard, but at some locations lightning bugs flash in synchony.  On!  Off!  On!  Off! Just imagine how cool that would look.

For today, think of five words starting with I, use them in a fabulous sentence, and post in comments.  Visit Alphapedia once, or as often as you can.  Welcome either way!

cheers,
Laura

PS Thanks to Creative Commons for the photograph.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

H is for Hotpot on February 9 in Alphabetaphilia alliteration game



Hi readers and writers,

Here's a lovely hotpot for H-day, February 9, my son's birthday 40 years ago in Denver.  I assume with Nemo raging around, Denver and many other cities probably would love a hotpot dinner today.  Thanks to Creative Commons for the photo, which was a spread for someone's birthday, appropriately enough!

My husband and I enjoyed a hotpot in Qiqiha'ar, China in 2005, where we had felt stranded since the Chinese tourist service had forgotten to meet us and take us to our programmed nature reserve, Zhalong, or even to our hotel. My limited Chinese got a real workout there, near Mongolia, out west and north of Beijing.  When they finally realized where we were and what had gone wrong, we got a basket of fruit we were warned not to eat and a quick trip to Zhalong that we enjoyed, although the marsh was afire and reminded us of brush fires in SoCal.  And then the guide took us out for a Mongolian hotpot, there, almost in Mongolia itself. We lifted the various items with our chopsticks and dipped them into the boiling soup, then into sauces, then yum.  It was delicious, and being coddled at that point was also delicious.

So today, be inspired by the hotpot to choose 5 words starting with H and use them in one sentence you can post in comments.  Enjoy!  And do cruise through the others' sentences and enjoy the alliteration gone mad.

cheers,
Laura

Next Big Thing for Laura Hoopes



Hi readers and writers,

I’ve been tagged in the Next Big Thing blog tag by Vickey Kall, author of the historical novel, Death Speaker. She blogs at http://www.deathspeaker.com/ .  She weaves her knowledge of the ancient Celts and Brittany into the tale of her heroine, Emyn, who participates in many major decisions and battles between the Gauls of Brittany and the Romans, as one who can harvest wisdom from the dead, who speak to her directly of the dire fate awaiting her people.  Vickey’s book is available in Kindle format and can be borrowed from Amazon Select.



My own Next Big Thing is a new e-book version my memoir, Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling: An American Woman Becomes a DNA Scientist.  It is in preparation for spring release.

Why is it a Next Big Thing?

It’s an inspiring read for any woman facing a challenging career, especially one in which women are greatly outnumbered by men.

And Spiral Ceiling is currently the only available book on the life story of an American woman who made it in science while being married and raising children.  Most biographies and memoirs focus just on the science, or mention family aspects only in passing.



Where did the idea come from for Spiral Ceiling?

I taught a frosh seminar at Pomona College on Biographies of Biologists, and the women in the class objected that we only read about women workaholic loners, not any who balanced family and career.  When I told them I had done it, they urged me to write about my own life!



What genre does Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling fall Into?

It’s a memoir, covering a good deal of the history of women’s entry into the field of science, especially molecular biology.



What actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I think Winona Ryder could play the young Laura Livingston and perhaps Meryl Streep the older one (I loved her Julia Childs rendition!)  I think Sydney Poitier for Richard Mays and perhaps Harrison Ford for Mike Hoopes.   I wouldn’t dare pick for my son and daughter, but Tom Goodwin, who has a cameo, should be Tom Hanks.



What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

In Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling, Hoopes traces her development as a woman biologist, how she fell in love with DNA but encountered discouraging signals from men in science, how she married and balanced both family and career, and why she's glad not to be a Harvard professor.



Is your book self-published or represented by an agency?

Self-published.  It was almost published by Yale University Press, but they backed out after telling me I was “in the queue” for three years.



What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Linda Lear’s biography of Rachel Carson, Rita Levi-Montalcini’s memoir In Praise of Imperfection, and Brenda Maddox’s life of Rosalind Franklin, Dark Lady of DNA.



Who or what inspired you to write this book?

All women who want to know what they’ll face if they go into a field where career-family balance is a challenge, as well as those who made another choice and wonder what might have happened if they’d stayed in science.   I want to show women, especially young women, that “having it all” can be done, and that I found it valuable to construct a life of balance.  So often, they are told they must choose family or science research.



What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Everyone’s life encounters the unexpected.  In my case, I didn’t expect to marry an African American man, but then when we’d created a good life, I didn’t expect him to die suddenly of a heart attack when still relatively young.  I didn’t expect my interactions with the government’s science research establishment to go the way they did, nor did I realize how rewarding teaching would be.  I didn’t expect my son’s teachers to be racists.  I didn’t expect my daughter’s baby sitters to fail me when she was sick.  I didn’t expect to be involved in establishing the biology section of Council on Undergraduate Research.  So surprises in both directions made life a continual challenge, thrill, and reward.



Here are seven authors I’ve tagged to tell you about their Next Big Thing:

Barbara Abercrombie, award-winning professor at UCLA Extension’s creative writing program, author of both fiction and nonfiction books, has recently released A Year of Writing Dangerously and has more books in her pipeline.  She blogs at http://www.barbaraabercrombie.com/.

Gayle Brandeis, author of four novels, most recently The Book of Dead Birds.  Gayle is a professor in the MFA program of Antioch in Los Angeles.  She won the Bellwether Prize for her first novel, Book of Dead Birds.  Gayle blogs at http://www.gaylebrandeis.com/ .

Ro Ruffalo, author of Inland Empire suspense novel, Truly Disturbed.  She blogs at http://roruffalo.wordpress.com/truly-disturbed-the-upland-murders/



Bill Wallace is the author of a wonderful literary memoir, Ghosts of Gordon Street, a  haunting story from post-WWII era propelled by a childhood memory that wouldn't die. Walking the sidewalk up to Lincoln, passing ghost houses, "Don't remember Gordon Street without him, funny, at the time didn't think I'd remember him at all . . . I grew up and moved away, but the boy in me stayed . . ."   Bill blogs at www.catalinakid.com

Judy Howard, author of Coast to Coast with a Cat and a Ghost, blogs from http://coasttocoastwithacatandaghost.blogspot.com/ and other sites.

Lisa DeLong, author of Blood Brothers, the heart-breaking and inspiring story of the how her family coped with the treatment and death of a son with leukemia, blogs from http://lisasolisdelong.com/ ,

Linda Quinn, author of upcoming The Search, a YA multicultural mystery, and of published short stories in several anthologies, blogging at http://redroom.com/member/l-m-quinn .

cheers,
Laura

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

On February 8, G Is for Girl on Alphabetaphilia



Hi readers and writers,

Today's alliteration challenge on alphabetaphilia is G: five words that start with G, used in one sentence.  Feel free to join in just today, or work backwards and forwards as much as your time permits.  Drop ins welcome!  This exercise is one that can decrease your inhibitions in writing and increase your experience with wild and wacky words.

cheers,
Laura

Thanks to Creative Commons for the photo of the Khumi girl.

February 7 is for F-words sort of

flowersflowers

Hi readers and writers,

I always dread day 7 of Alphabetaphilia because it's hard to say we want your five f-words without being mis-understood and giving rise to snide snickers and lurid lears.  But it must be done.  Give me five f-words that are fit for family entertainment and use them in a sentence and let's get it over with.  I'm posting the flowers from Provincetown again this year because it's one of my favorite photos, reminding me of walking down the beach to the workshop on Memoir at Norman Mailer Writers Colony.

cheers,
Laura

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

E is for Egg on February 5 Alphabetaphilia

DSC00820Eggs

Hi readers and writers,

I love this picture of multicolored eggs from the farm of Rob and Diane Stockhouse in Cathlamet, WA, on an island in the Columbia River.  They have a farmers' market that rocks and if you love vegetables, be sure to check out their recipes online or buy Diane's beautifully illustrated cookbook.  Eggs are not just things of beauty and omelet precursors, but they are also starters, the beginning of a life if conditions are right.

You don't have to use egg in your list of five words, of course.  You can choose any five E words and use them in one amazing sentence, then post in comments.  Do it.  You'll enjoy it.

cheers,
Laura

Sunday, February 3, 2013

D is for yoga-Dog for February 4 Alphabetaphilia





Hi readers and writers,

My daughter, Heather,  had fun with a notebook picturing a yoga dog last summer, so I decided to use a picture of that in her honor today.  What's a yoga dog?  Well, have you ever tried the Downward Dog exercise?  Hmm.  Enjoy finding five words staring with D and using them in a sentence.

cheers,
Laura

Saturday, February 2, 2013

C is for corn on February 3 in Alphabetaphilia



Hi readers and writers,

It's the third day of Alphabetaphilia.  I'm hoping interest will pick up and we'll get more comments as we go on.  If you come by, you can either do five c-words and a sentence using them just today, or you pick and choose among former letters, or even decide to do as much of the month as you can manage.  It's easy and fun, especially if you let yourself write a wild sentence, saying something you wouldn't normally write.

So, today, here's our stimulation photo prompt: corn.  In the film "Food, Inc," I saw that corn and soybeans are our biggest crops, and it's hard to find any food without some corn derivative as an ingredient.  Of course, corn alcohol is also a car fuel these days.  So, although I think of the warm, sweet crunch of the first corn roast of the summer, dipped in butter and salted, you can think of lots of other associations if you want. Actually, there's no need to use corn unless you want to.  Just find 5 words staring with C, use them in a sentence, post in comments.  There will be a slight delay due to moderation of comments.

cheers,

Laura

Friday, February 1, 2013

Bunnies for February 2 Alphabetaphilia Words & Sentences

LucyandCarolB


Dear readers and writers,

On day 2 of Alphabetaphilia, here are some cute bunnies to celebrate the letter B.  To join in, find five words starting with b and use them in a sentence, then post in Comments.  Since they're moderated, it will be an hour or so until you'll see the post go up.

Last year's Alphabetaphilia chapbook is here.  We're working on getting a more permanent link on the blog header or sidebar.

cheers,

Laura

A is for Aardvark on February 1









Hi readers and writers,

Aardarks can eat amazing quantities of ants, and are vital to ecosystems where they occur. For today, Feb 1, 2013, it can inspire us to think of 5 words beginning with "a" and use all five in one sentence.  Please post in comments.  See the Alphabetaphilia posting for more details.

cheers, Laura

Photo from Wikipedia Commons: This image was originally posted to Flickr by MontageMan at http://flickr.com/photos/98178986@N00/2419604286

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

New Review of Spiral Ceiling for History Buffs

Hi readers and writers,

A new review appeared in Journal of the History of Biology in December, 2012 of my memoir, Breaking through the Spiral Ceiling.  If you are interested, download a pdf of the review by Kyle McLea, click here.

cheers,
Laura

Alphabetaphilia coming soon!


Dear readers and writers,

Last year in February, I ran Alphabetaphilia for the first time.  I asked people each day in February to come up with a list of five words beginning with the same letter (A for February 1, B for February 2, etc) and write a sentence using those words, putting it in the Comments section under the daily photo prompt.  It was fun to read all the rare and grandiose words people came up with, and the sentences were crazy.  So I want to do it again.  WARNING:  on this WP site, I have to moderate the comments, so there will be a small delay before your posting appears.  Do not panic and repost six times.  Or, if you do, I will try to post it only once.

At the end of the month, I will work with another writer friend to select a sentence using each letter and produce a chapbook of the 2013 Alphabetaphilia project.  Soon, you will be able to download last year's pdf from this site so you can see what it looks like.  You may let me use your real name or use a WP alias account and have that alias receive author credit for any of your sentences we select for the chapbook.  Questions?  Comments?  Get your alliteration motors running!

cheers,
Laura

Monday, January 21, 2013

Seeing Light in Richard Blanco's Inaugural Poem for Obama


Hi friends of reading and writing,

I have been thinking about seeing this week, even before hearing the poem Richard Blanco read for Obama's second presidential inauguration.  My weekly idea to chew over and live with is that we can only see through light, that we mainly learn to "see" aka understand by our visual sense, and that it can both convince us and mislead us.  We can see and understand something only because it's presented to our eyes, illuminated in light.  But also, we can use vision to fool others (think of magicians, for example, or people who try to make you think they're something they are not.)

So Blanco, following the light of a day from sunrise to the newest constellation awaiting our creative response in the evening, taps into these thoughts.  He shows us concrete objects like the shoes without which he could not have gone to school, traces the role of his parents' sacrifices in providing them, but gives all that in a fleeting glance aside from the whole flow of society.  We each see and understand things that are part of the river of society, and depend on light to let us intepret them.  I highly recommend this poem to you.  You can find it in Hector Tobar's LA Times piece.

cheers,
Laura

PS Photo from Creative Commons with thanks to photographer Till Credner.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Other times, other letters (in English)



Dear readers and writers,

I just read a fascinating description of letters that didn't make it into today's alphabet, here: http://www.mentalfloss.com/article/31904/12-letters-didnt-make-alphabet

The first one discussed explains something that has puzzled me for some time: the origin  of the "ye" in Ye Olde Pharmacy and similar cutesy names.  It's Thorn!  Thorn is shown above and it would have the sound "th" if it were still one of our letters.  The y in "ye" above is a thorn.  See, it all makes sense.  I love learning these origin stories, and if you do to, check out why the & is called an ampersand.  Very amusing story!

I remember the diphthong ones, since we got an encyclopaedia britannica rather than a television set when I was in third grade.  It had so many of these double vowel letters that I thought we should all use them regularly, and missed out on getting a few words right on spelling tests by insisting on including them.

Do you have a favorite on the list of left-out letters?  Any stories about these letters in your life?

cheers,
Laura

 

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Something That Makes You Uncomfortable to Write

Hi friends of reading and writing,

Maria Popova, in her online magazine BrainPickings, has written about F. Scott Fitzgerald's correspondence with aspiring young writers this month.  He advises them that writing well is hard and may require you to invent a new form to fit the exigencies of your urgent message.  He also says that the stronger your technique is, after years of practice, you can write about anything.  But early on, while you're a writer-in-progress, you need the power of pain and bewilderment, anguish, misery to propel a story and make the reader sit on the edge of her chair.  So you have to use those things you'd rather not bring up, rather not delve into, definitely don't want to write about for public consumption.  Only those things carry the emotional weight you need.

My friend Gayle Brandeis suffered though a time of excruciating emotional turmoil in her life when her mother committed suicide soon after the birth of her child.  She wrote about it in ways that gave readers some sense of her feelings.  Why should something so specific, that almost certainly does not match what each reader is going through, have such power to attract and hold the reader?  I think it's the authenticity.  When the emotions are raw and powerful, the writer does not pretend or posture, but just tries her best to capture them. They come through and resonate with times each of us has experienced those types of emotions, whether or not they were elicited by the same events.

So don't hide away the secret events of your life.  Get them out of your brain's deep freeze, remember and re-experience the emotions, and write them into your work, whether it is fiction or non-fiction.

cheers,
Laura

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Inspiration Invitation



Hi friends of reading and writing,

Writing something I'm proud of can be as elusive and mysterious as the flash of a firefly.  I know that some authors believe in BIC (butt in chair) and say go ahead and type gibberish if need be until good words come to you.  But that doesn't work for me.  I can go with the BIC part, sitting before the paper or the computer.  But then I need to have something worthwhile in mind to start typing.  I'm not saying I don't produce the kind of terrible first drafts that can never be shown to anyone.  I'm just saying, babbling without purpose, hoping that a thread of gold will appear in the monkey clickings, that's not for me.

I get frustrated by my inability to catch the moonbeam I'm after, yes.  But if there is no moonbeam, no tangled life, no torn letter, I couldn't care less about pounding the keys or scribbling.  Something has to be at stake.  I call it the inspiration invitation.  I need to sit down with the intention to think and write about a specific time, place, person, problem, waterfall, dead butterfly, melted chocolate bar, whatever.  The intention invites the inspiration.  It doesn't always come up to my desires and expectations.  The firefly dies without a flash often enough.  But knowing what I want to capture is the drive to put BIC to begin with, and for me, I can't get to inspiration without that invitation.  If you're frustrated trying to start writing, try looking for your invitation first.  Say to yourself, I must write about this.  Then write.

best,
Lorelei

Saturday, January 5, 2013

New year, new blog site for West Coast Writers

Hi readers and writers,

This blog is a continuation of the West Coast Writers blog that has been running on Blogspot for some time.  I have a new Wordpress author website and this blog is one of its pages now, connecting parts of my electronic life that used to be separate entities, thanks to Glenda Ebersole at Site-Pro.

I hope all of my literary friends have a new year full of writing, of lovely family events, of bountiful sensory experiences, and of moments of mindfulness.

I'm participating in Fiona and Kaspalita's Small Stones exercise for January and encourage you to consider it too.  Each day in January, take five or ten minutes out and intensely experience the world around you, wherever you are.  Write a sentence or two about your experience, a small stone.  I'll be posting mine here from time to time, and also on their Writing Our Way Home website.

Happy New Year!

Lorelei (Laura Hoopes)