The Serialists of April 10th
I refuse to say anymore goodbyes. Old Egg, start another serial! 🙂
Featured author: Sheilagh Lee, who has set an excellent example for writing a series of serials.
This is the hub for The Serialists, a meme for people who post original, serialized fiction on their blogs. If you have one or more posts you would like for us to read, please put the direct link(s) to the post(s) in the linky. Remember to visit one another and comment. We all want to hear from our readers.
Cutting
The Girl is at it again. She decided she didn’t like her hair and that the best solution was to grab a pair of scissors and hack away at it. She’s seen me do it often enough, so I suppose I can’t really say anything, but there’s a world of difference between my hair and hers. Specifically, mine’s curly.
This makes more of a difference than most people think. I have had people ask if I cut it right after I washed it, and not notice after I’ve lopped off several inches. From one day to the next it can hang several inches difference. And for years now no one had noticed my bangs. At all.
Not the case on her.
She took the hair and put it in a ponytail first. Then she tried to cut straight across. Unluckily she missed on two counts. First, she cut too high so that it was several inches shorter than she’d planned on. Second, she cut at an angle.
This is about when she wandered up to me with scissors in hand and said, “Mooooooommmmm.”
I think somewhere in the back of her mind she thought I might have some unexplainable magic available to make it grow back, because she really did look like she was hoping for something in the way of a miracle. I asked if she wanted me to trim it for her, or to take her to a hair salon.
She refused both. Instead, she elected to keep messing with it herself, and THEN to have to trim only those parts she couldn’t reach herself and only under micro-management supervision.
To our amazement, it actually looks kind of stylish. right from that first misbegotten cut.
I wonder what her friends will say.
Pearls Before Nine
Jill: Mom, I’m serious. If you make me choose between you and my husband, I’m going to choose my husband. After all the things you’ve done to us – from planting listening devices in our plants to jumping out from places you shouldn’t be – I can’t blame him for being mad about your moving in. You should go home. Besides, what’s so bad about living with Cousin Raoul?
Raoul: Yeah, Aunt Tina. The way you moved out of Mom’s house just because I moved in hurt my feelings. Is cross dressing really such a bad thing?
Tina: It isn’t your cross dressing that’s the problem. It’s your total lack of class. Really? Pearls before nine pm.? Ridiculous.
Previously in Jack and Jill: Assign of the Times
The theme for this week’s Jack and Jill is Pearls Before Swine as suggested by brian miller
Want to see what I can do with a word or phrase? Make a suggestion.
Right Before the Bell
“Mom, be careful when you go past the high school or you’ll run over one of those stupid teenagers.”
“You’re a teenager,” Mom pointed out.
“Not like these. Bye!” She hopped out of the car right in front of the front doors.
Not two seconds later, a herd of late teenagers ran across the road like deer.
“Thank God she’s not like those,” Mom muttered.
The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. Flash Fiction 55 is hosted by the G-man, a host with the most.
13 Musical References
I make a lot of musical references in Suzie’s House. There are bound to be some that my readers are not familiar with. So, to make it easier, I set up a page (under the Suzie’s House menu) where I post videos of what I’m talking about. Yesterday I just hit 13 of them.
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In Suzie’s House 305 : Fitting in Backstage and Suzie’s House 304 : The Real Reason They Went to the Show
Suzie’s House 305 : Fitting in Backstage
“What do you want.” Bruce made it sound more like an accusation than a question.
Tracy shrugged. “I was just curious.” Which was the truth.
She’d sat in the theater after the guys all marched out and thought about it, then thought some more. They all went out with a signal from Bruce, all at the same time. They acted shifty as they left and even as they went in to see the Passion Pit concert. No matter how she looked at it, Bruce was up to something.
The Serialists of April 3rd
One of the hazards of being a serialists is that the mood changes that seem to be part and parcel to being a writer tend to have a stronger effect than when simply writing a novel. Waiting for the muse to visit, for instance, is a lot easier to do when no one will notice how our work stops and starts sporadically. And a crises of faith can be devastating to a serial where to a book it may mean putting it away for a few years, then pulling it back out when faith is restored. Losing one’s faith in humanity, in particular, can have far reaching impact on a writer’s life.
It is such a crisis that has overtaken Altonian. I am very sad to see a great serial end so abruptly, and on such a harsh note. Likewise, I’m sad to see a good writer leave the fold, particularly in this way. My sympathies, Altonian. At least you are still writing.
This is the hub for The Serialists, a meme for people who post original, serialized fiction on their blogs. If you have one or more posts you would like for us to read, please put the direct link(s) to the post(s) in the linky. Remember to visit one another and comment. We all want to hear from our readers.
Welcome page from April 2013 to August 2013
In my Etsy Store now:
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I couldn’t resist one last digital download offering:
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About that Post:
AFK. Yep, I’m away from keyboard yet again. Seems I barely got back from my camping trip when I turn around and leave again.
This time is both more and less serious than camping. On the one hand, I’ve been assured that there will be internet access. Unluckily it will only be for a few hours at a time and spaced out every few days. What’s more, this will be the case for three to four weeks. Better than the total digital blackout of the camping trip, but no where near as comfortable as my own home.
Where am I going? Mongolia. I wasn’t kidding when I said my mother offered to pack me in her bag. Well, all right, she bought me a place in a tour group. We will be looking a giant statues, climbing a 200 step staircase, visiting orphanages, sleeping in yurts, riding horseback, and wandering across the Gobi Desert.
Leave a comment anyway. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
So, for obvious reasons I needed a picture of a butterfly to go with my FF55 post. I was tooling through Google Images, considering a swipe – something I resist most of the time – when The Girl comes wandering by. Ah-hah! An alternative. I offered her a few bucks if she would draw a butterfly for me. The catch was that she had to have one I liked done before I finished putting the post together, and it was already running late.
I love having an artist in residence.
I’m still leading The Exciting Life of a Writer, but I’ve finished my final polish revision and have sent my manuscript off to the proofreader. I’m going to work up an outline for the sequel to it while on vacation, then dive into the next revision.
What? No one wants to know why I was comparing Hurt to Hurts? Shee’s, everyone got all distracted by penguin sandwiches.
I guess people are a bit more needy than I realized. After a couple of weeks rain made us pull in what was left on the curb. This pile had been reduced to a single box.
13 Drawings
I’m so spoiled. I’ve been able to get The Girl to do all kinds of artwork for me. As you can see from the post, she just gets better and better at it. I tried to get her to come up with some images I could use for Faire Miscellany. So far, it’s been a no-go. She says she doesn’t like to work on other people’s stuff, and could therefor never be a professional artist. *Sigh*
The Convention and What Next The guys in this picture are professional costume makers from LA. They are mock-fighting in costumes that didn’t quite make the cut in their professional capacity. Looks remarkably good to me.
Anything for a Laugh
I originally planned on re-using the Theresa character for this one, as she has a chip on her shoulder that would not let her cut loose like this, but somehow it turned generic on me. Sometimes when I set down to write, what comes out isn’t what I planned.
You may have noticed “Theresa” come up in my Fiction Friday 55 posts before. Although G-man would rather we didn’t do continuations in our 55’s, I thought I might be able to get away with reoccurring characters. This isn’t just because I’m so ga-ga over serials (though that could be argued). It’s because I got frustrated with all the “he” and “she” nameless characters.
The thing is, Theresa is a distinctive character. I think if you have no idea what she’s like, what a huge chip she has on her shoulder and how insecure she can be, you man not understand this little snippet. After all, who doesn’t like laughter? Those afraid to be laughed at, of course.
Isn’t she cute? This is Diana. She probably weighs half as much as Icarus, even full grown. Ever since I turned the box on it’s size to accommodate the garden starts, both cats have been nuts for it.
Mr. Al calls them “inspiration kitties”. He likes to reach out and pet them when he’s writing and gets stuck. But now he has a problem with them grabbing the top of the laptop while he’s writing. He’ll get no sympathy from me, though. He brought it on himself.
Guest Blogging Icarus Ever wonder what the entire story is on the Thousand Dollar Kitty? It’s all here.
Hideous, isn’t he? I had intended to introduce a major new character, but when I went to the store to buy a new bendie like Jack or Jill, the store no longer carried them. This guy was the only thing they had that came anywhere close.
Looks like my use of bendies in Jack and Jill is rapidly coming to an end. As soon as I got home I tried to google the bendie company to see if I might be able to buy them only. I know I found them once before, but now there was no sight of the manufacturer. As far as I can tell, they are no longer being made – not just Jack or Jill, but any of them.
I have some ideas for some home-made replacements, but so far it hasn’t worked out. Still, I’ll keep at it.
All the pictures in the list were taken by me. Most of them are quick snaps shots I took out the window of a moving vehicle. They were taken at different times, going all the way back to last summer. So, not quite a year old for the oldest, and about three weeks old for the newest.
The most recent would be this one (see above). It was taken while driving back from the airport after dropping Mr. Al off. Seems like since then the only thing I’ve taken pictures of are Jack and Jill or Etsy pictures. Plus some attempts at Icarus, but that’s another story.
Oh, hey. While I’m thinking about it, I’m going to be doing a guest post about Icarus. When I know more, I’ll post a link here.
I’m so glad so many people got the joke of my Tuesday Teaser last week: 2012 Instructions 1040-ALL by the IRS, p.158 aka E2. So often my little jests go unnoticed or ignored. Who am I kidding, half the time I don’t get it myself. 😉
By the way, although I actually do like a lot of the music the is referred to in Suzie’s House, a lot of it has little to do with my personal tastes. Stuff slips in that’s the taste of the characters, or often it’s referred in in a wry way. So 13 Musical References actually isn’t a list of things I like at all.
How’s the Writing Going?
😀
Etsy Gallery:
Still in my Etsy Store:
Click on the image to see this particular listing. At one point I got a little too enthusiastic about the beads available on ebay. I’m sure I’m not the only one out there to go overboard on something or another that can be found there. Anyway I bought out a jewelry maker’s entire inventory. Most of what you’ve been seeing in my Etsy story lately came from that inventory. The bead in this necklace are no different.
The vast majority of the bead are Czech glass. They are good quality beads. These… I have no idea what they are. I think the tubes are aluminum. The claws feel like halite, but I couldn’t swear by it. The only thing I know is that unlike the rest, they are not Czech glass.
There’s kind of a cute story that goes with the name, but I’ll leave that to the listing itself to tell. 😉
Don’t forget about the 25% off coupon. Use the code ALICECOM1303A Good until April 15th. I’ll be listing a lot more of The Girl’s earrings this week. It’ll be worth checking.
Not only does The Girl make earrings with Origami cranes, she makes butterflies too. She actually makes three kinds of butterflies, but right now I’ve only got one kind available. I’m hoping to get a made-to-order listing set up, but again I need good light for the pictures. Really, as overcast as it’s been, you’d think I lived in Seattle. Don’t get me started on the snow, hail, and cold.
Funny story – I had all the origami earrings in my inventory set up on an earring rack waiting to be photographed. The Boy’s girlfriend walked past, backed up, and stared. She bought one of the pairs of butterflies right off the rack. So the red ones in the back of the picture? Sorry, already sold.
The Girl’s origami crane earrings are a good size, normally, but I felt it would be nice to have something a little smaller. So I talked her into making some cranes using paper that is roughly half as large. It’s amazing she can fold them at all. The results are adorable.
Three sets of red and white crane earrings.
The Girl and I got into an argument. I told her I liked it better when she put the beads under the cranes rather than on top. She said she thought they looked better on top. So she made these to prove her argument. I still think I won.
Digital Downloads!
Etsy just made it possible for me to sell digital downloads. You’ve seen the pictures I regularly post on my blog of places I’ve traveled to and the local mountains. I’m going through all my digital archives and putting together some scenery shots I think you will like for desktop backgrounds. So far I have two sets available – one of Lake Powell and the other of fall foliage. Most of the other people on Etsy are offering stuff like this for a buck or two per image. I’m selling sets of five for $1.25.
I’m open to suggestions. If you’ve seen anything in particular on my blog that you would like to have in a high-quality, un-watermarked image file, let me know. I’ll put together another pack.
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I added two more packs of digital downloads. I call one “Montana at 75mph” and the other “Miscellaneous Montana” I think the titles are self explanatory. Again, each pack has five pictures in it.
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At this stage I have nine sets of image files available. I’ve been adding them a little faster than two a week. Next up, Galapagos
This is it for the digital downloads for now. I may do more later.
This and That
It’s a this and that kind of weekend. I’m not really focused on anything in particular, just this and that. For instance, I’m still trying to figure out what kind of post I should use to preserve the comments on my welcome page. I thought maybe it would be this one, then I changed my mind.
We celebrated Easter with a personal egg hunt. The kids talked me into it. I get a package of candy eggs and scatter them around, then see if the kids can find them all. I wasn’t going to bother this year, but The Girl really, really wanted to do it, so I went ahead. The Boy tried to sound nonchalant about it, but he was quick to come downstairs to participate.
Welcome Page on 3/31/13
No one said a thing about the picture, and I’m thinking no one scrolled down this page far enough to see it, so here it is again. 🙂 I promise, this is the last time I run it by you.
I love comments. No, I think it might be more than that. Maybe I even lurve them. (Urmagerd!) So when I get them, I really, really don’t want to delete any. But this page changes content regularly, and can kind of slide away from the comments left on it. So I’m planning on making a monthly page and moving the comments from here to there. But should I do it on April 1st? Hmmmm….
Assign of the Times
Tina: What’s that?
Jill: We’re going to rent out the guest room.
Tina: But I’m in the guest room.
Jill: Exactly.
Previously in Jack and Jill: A Saucy Wench
The theme for this week’s Jack and Jill is sign as suggested by Heather
Want to see what I can do with a word or phrase? Make a suggestion.
The Easter Bunny Caper
It was a tragedy.
Early Sunday morning the children found the grizzly remains scattered all through the house. They assembled all the pieces and performed the autopsy. The verdict? Mother had sabotaged Easter again.
“Mom, you read too many who-done-its!”
The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. Flash Fiction 55 is hosted by the G-man, a host with the most.
13 Gargoyles
As promised last week, here are thirteen of the gargoyles in Mr. Al’s collection. He has more, but I’m not sure where. I apologize for some of the pictures, when tend to be a bit blurry. I tried to take them in place so you’d get an idea what it’s like living with a bunch of gargoyles in the house. Keep in mind most of them are small enough to fit in one hand. The biggest is about as tall as the distance between my elbow and wrist.
1. Shelf that has yet to be installed.
