So you’ve just finished writing your first novel… how do you feel?
I feel elated that I completed the NaNoWriMo challenge. It’s a lot like the feeling I had when I lost my first ten pounds with SparkPeople. It feels great to set a goal and achieve it. It gives me a wonderful “I can do anything I set my mind to” feeling. I feel pretty proud of myself. I’m definitely walking a little taller today, shoulders back, sticking my chest out just a little bit. I’m incredibly thankful for Tim, who supported me and encouraged me and did everything he could to facilitate my writing. I have a new appreciation for those writers whose work I love, Bertrice Small, Jim Butcher, Janet Evanovich, J.K. Rowling. I know when a lot of those folks got their start; they were working another full-time job, or a couple part-time ones, to make ends meet. The fact that they persevered and ended up at the top of their respective genres is amazing to me.
I’m also glad to be getting other parts of my life back. I haven’t seen the inside of my gym in almost three weeks. I want to get back to Zumba. I would also like to see Tim for more time in an evening other than to say, “Honey, can you bring me more coffee?” I’ve got new books to read and TV shows to catch up on. This last week, catching up and driving to reach the word count goal and the end of my story also involved a lot of late nights. It will be nice to wake up in the morning not feeling still tired.
Other thoughts on my NaNoWriMo experience, I’ve developed a tick now of checking word count at the end of every paragraph, even when it doesn’t matter, because it’s for my blog. I also learned you don’t have to map out your entire story start to finish before you start writing it. I think if you have interesting characters that are real and alive to you, they’ll help you get there. There were times while I was writing that I panicked because I had no idea how to resolve my plot. I had created conflict and problems, but I hadn’t created the solution. So I just kept writing. I wrote dialogue and relationships and flirting and then somehow my characters came up with the solution and told me how they were going to pull this off.
I’m looking forward to starting the editing process. What I’m really wanting to do is sit down and read my own story, and see if it makes me cringe like listening to myself speak or sing on a recording does. I’m sure I’m going to find gaps and plot holes and grammatical errors galore, but that is what December and January are for.
While I’m happy and excited about all I’ve learned, I’m also feeling a little trepidation about what to do with this little novel I’ve written. I have a friend who has done NaNoWriMo for quite a few years, who’ve never let even one person read their work. Right now I have people asking to read it, but I’m reluctant to let it out to friends and family until I’ve done a lot more work on it. In two or three months, when I haven’t been posting my escalating word count on Facebook everyday, will anyone care?
And then what after that? Do I try to get it published? I’ve been reading a lot of articles on writing and publishing. The general consensus is that everyone’s first novel attempt is terrible. It’s a learning experience, one that every potential author must go through. And if I do decide it’s good enough that other people should pay money to read it, do I try to go the traditional agent/print publisher route? Or do I try to self-publish? E-formats only, or do I go for getting actual real books printed? The dream, of course, is to see a stack of my books on an end cap at Barnes and Noble or Books-a-million. It’s to have a major motion picture made from my film. I’ve already decided Ben Browder (from Farscape and Stargate) should play the police officer/seer character. Realistically though, I’ve got only a slightly better chance of that happening than I do of winning Powerball.
A couple people with more writing and editing experience have offered to read it for me and give me some much needed feedback, so editing is the next step. For now though, I'm just going to be proud of my accomplishment, that I saw my story through to the end.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Oubliette - Chapter 1
So for all my friends and family who've been rooting me on via facebook, here is the first chapter of Oubliette, the novel I've been writing for National Novel Writing Month. Since it doesn't go without saying, all the work here is original and my intellectual property. If Nyx sounds familiar, I wrote a short story about her for my blog in September.
Chapter 1 – Invisible Stag
Nyx hated riding the bus. But her beloved black Ford Probe had died its final death somewhere between Boston and New York. So now she got to be crammed between a guy who smelled like bratwurst and a woman with pointy elbows. It felt like they’d been driving across Pennsylvania forever. Bratwurst Guy tried to strike up a conversation about beer when they passed Pottsville. “That’s where the oldest brewery in America is. Have you ever had a Yuengling? I could buy you a Yuengling when we stop in Philly.” Nyx just shook her head and pointed to her ear buds.
“Sorry, what?” she said loudly. The ear buds were plugged into a knockoff MP3 player that hadn’t functioned since Bush (the second one) was President, but it made it easier to get nosy or flirty bus passengers to leave her alone. The latter usually wasn’t a problem, as she was built like a 14 year old boy. Her arms and legs were skinny; she had narrow hips, and no appreciable cleavage. Her skin was naturally pale and her hair was dyed shoe polish black and cut short in back, longer in front. She tried hard not to attract attention, but she was wearing the wrong outfit for avoiding it here. Her long black fishnet gloves, a long black cardigan sweater, black turtleneck, short black leather shorts with black and white striped tights marked her as “one of those Goth kids from the city”. Her boots were the very best part of the outfit. They were knee-high, black leather, with a zipper and thirteen belt buckles covering the zipper. They had a single black spike on each toe that made them look like evil elf shoes. The boots were a parting gift to herself for leaving Boston. She looked like a dark, angry Amy Brown fairy, minus the wings.
‘What a boring place,’ Nyx thought as she began to fitfully doze.
Brakes squealed and a loud thud woke her a short time later. The driver was yelling at a woman near the front to quiet down. The shrieking woman yelled, “But that beautiful animal! We have to help it! You have to call the police, or the game commission, or animal control. It could be bleeding and suffering under the bus right now!”
The driver told her to put a sock in it, they would check on the deer and the damage as soon as he confirmed all the passengers were safe. Nyx rolled her eyes. She saw sleeping in a bus station in her near future, as they were probably not going to make it to DC tonight. She filed off the bus in an orderly fashion with the rest of the passengers. After checking off the passenger list and making sure no one had any injuries, the driver checked over the bus. There was definitely a deer - sized dent in the front end, and they had punctured a tire on some debris when they pulled onto the birm of the highway. But the deer was nowhere to be seen.
“Well don’t that beat all,” said the driver.
“What doesn’t beat all?” Nyx asked. Bratwurst Guy had been sidling her way, probably to see if she needed comforting after the accident. Better to look interested in a dead deer carcass.
The bus driver said, “That was about the biggest buck I’ve ever seen. He had a prettier rack than Pamela Anderson. I’ve been in accidents where the deer runs off after, but not when I was driving my bus! And look, there’s no blood on the road, and no hair caught in the grill.”
Nyx looked more closely at the front of the bus. If the driver and the passengers at the front hadn’t all said they hit a deer, she’d have said they hit an invisible boulder. There was no blood at all. She’d seen hundreds of deer hit along roadsides, if anything as big as a bus or a semi hit them, they were toast. Raven food. Nyx asked the driver, “So what now?”
“Now, we wait for the tow truck out of the bus depot in Harrisburg. The next bus that goes to DC comes through tomorrow at 11:15 AM.”
‘Great, Harrisburg,’ Nyx thought sarcastically, ‘Maybe I’ll meet the Governor!’ She felt like he owed her an apology for every extra minute she had to spend in this state.
Chapter 1 – Invisible Stag
Nyx hated riding the bus. But her beloved black Ford Probe had died its final death somewhere between Boston and New York. So now she got to be crammed between a guy who smelled like bratwurst and a woman with pointy elbows. It felt like they’d been driving across Pennsylvania forever. Bratwurst Guy tried to strike up a conversation about beer when they passed Pottsville. “That’s where the oldest brewery in America is. Have you ever had a Yuengling? I could buy you a Yuengling when we stop in Philly.” Nyx just shook her head and pointed to her ear buds.
“Sorry, what?” she said loudly. The ear buds were plugged into a knockoff MP3 player that hadn’t functioned since Bush (the second one) was President, but it made it easier to get nosy or flirty bus passengers to leave her alone. The latter usually wasn’t a problem, as she was built like a 14 year old boy. Her arms and legs were skinny; she had narrow hips, and no appreciable cleavage. Her skin was naturally pale and her hair was dyed shoe polish black and cut short in back, longer in front. She tried hard not to attract attention, but she was wearing the wrong outfit for avoiding it here. Her long black fishnet gloves, a long black cardigan sweater, black turtleneck, short black leather shorts with black and white striped tights marked her as “one of those Goth kids from the city”. Her boots were the very best part of the outfit. They were knee-high, black leather, with a zipper and thirteen belt buckles covering the zipper. They had a single black spike on each toe that made them look like evil elf shoes. The boots were a parting gift to herself for leaving Boston. She looked like a dark, angry Amy Brown fairy, minus the wings.
‘What a boring place,’ Nyx thought as she began to fitfully doze.
Brakes squealed and a loud thud woke her a short time later. The driver was yelling at a woman near the front to quiet down. The shrieking woman yelled, “But that beautiful animal! We have to help it! You have to call the police, or the game commission, or animal control. It could be bleeding and suffering under the bus right now!”
The driver told her to put a sock in it, they would check on the deer and the damage as soon as he confirmed all the passengers were safe. Nyx rolled her eyes. She saw sleeping in a bus station in her near future, as they were probably not going to make it to DC tonight. She filed off the bus in an orderly fashion with the rest of the passengers. After checking off the passenger list and making sure no one had any injuries, the driver checked over the bus. There was definitely a deer - sized dent in the front end, and they had punctured a tire on some debris when they pulled onto the birm of the highway. But the deer was nowhere to be seen.
“Well don’t that beat all,” said the driver.
“What doesn’t beat all?” Nyx asked. Bratwurst Guy had been sidling her way, probably to see if she needed comforting after the accident. Better to look interested in a dead deer carcass.
The bus driver said, “That was about the biggest buck I’ve ever seen. He had a prettier rack than Pamela Anderson. I’ve been in accidents where the deer runs off after, but not when I was driving my bus! And look, there’s no blood on the road, and no hair caught in the grill.”
Nyx looked more closely at the front of the bus. If the driver and the passengers at the front hadn’t all said they hit a deer, she’d have said they hit an invisible boulder. There was no blood at all. She’d seen hundreds of deer hit along roadsides, if anything as big as a bus or a semi hit them, they were toast. Raven food. Nyx asked the driver, “So what now?”
“Now, we wait for the tow truck out of the bus depot in Harrisburg. The next bus that goes to DC comes through tomorrow at 11:15 AM.”
‘Great, Harrisburg,’ Nyx thought sarcastically, ‘Maybe I’ll meet the Governor!’ She felt like he owed her an apology for every extra minute she had to spend in this state.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Review of Glee Season 4 Episode 6 - Glease
Since I disagree with every review I've read of last night's episode so far, I'm writing my own.
First, it should be said that I LOVE Grease. My parents had the soundtrack on vinyl, it's one of my Mom's favorite movies. Even Grease 2, which is universally considered terrible, is a guilty pleasure for me, just because I get to see Frenchie and the Riddell High teachers again.
Now for the actual review of the episode.
Sue and Finn: First, I'm glad to see Mean Sue back. Her rampage through the hallway was classic Season 1. I also love her line about "I'm only saying what everyone else in America is thinking" regarding Finn leading the Glee Club. Schuester and the show's writers can say all they want that it's fine for Finn to lead Glee Club since it's an extracurricular activity and not a class (But Schue gives them homework, I don't remember ever getting homework from an extracurricular activity), but it's completely ridiculous that he would ask a barely 19 year old kid to take over a club rather than leaving any other qualified adult at that school in charge. List of possibles: Emma, Will's own fiancee, who's been involved with Glee in the past, chaperoning the club at Sectionals when Will was banned in Season 1 following the mattress incident. Coach Bieste, who co-directed West Side Story last year. Ricky Martin's character, David Martinez, who is an awesome singer and teacher, and last we knew should be teaching Spanish at McKinley. It's a lazy way to keep Cory Monteith involved in the show, even though Finn has no reason to be any place but in the tire shop. I love Finn, but his storyline is sad and full of holes.
NYADA and NY: It is ludicrous that Rachel and Kurt would have made the trip back to Ohio for one weekend. If the show ever bothered to give you a sense of what time of year it was, they could justify some of the graduates being around because it's fall break or Thanksgiving, etc. But since Glee only shows us a calendar at Christmas, Valentine's Day and Graduation, we just assume the graduates have nothing better to do that FLY HALFWAY ACROSS THE COUNTRY to hang out at their old school. (This also applies to having had Puck show up earlier in the season and of course, Mike and Mercedes being there now. Also having Amber Riley there and only having her sing back up on Hand Jive last week is like buying a gourmet cupcake to look at. And what happened to Sam and Mercedes? Not one scene together since she's come back? Seriously?)
The only NY plot that made sense to me, that everyone else has made yucky faces at is Cassandra July seducing Brody. It's college, not high school. If Brody's a Junior at NYADA then he's at least 20-21. He's got an insanely hot body and Cassandra July is a desperate mean old has-been. Kate Hudson has done a great job making her character thoroughly unlikeable. And her dance number with Brody was sexy. If you didn't see her tirade at Rachel coming at the end of the episode, then you haven't been paying attention.
Unique/Wade: I thought Unique not being able to play Rizzo in Grease was a total faceplant for this character. Finn warned Wade last week that he was going to take some heat for this, and he needed to be ready for it. Instead, he completely caved and didn't even try to argue with his parents and Sue when they wanted to pull him out of the musical. I do love Unique's voice though, so I was glad we didn't completely miss her take on "There Are Worse Things I Can Do" And as much as I love Santana, and agree that she made a great Rizzo, she would have been even more perfect if they had done Grease last year, when she was actually still a student at McKinley. And didn't Finn and Artie get any understudies? Did that few people audition for Grease?
Other New Characters: I like the Marley/Ryder/Jake triangle. All three of these characters are interesting and and I like hearing them sing, both separately and in combination. I really enjoyed the dialogue between Marley and Ryder this episode, and their performance of "You're the One That I Want" was great. Kitty - she's the perfect mean girl character, she's like Quinn Fabray without a soul. Her voice is only just passable though. It was cute on her duet with Jake last week, but I hated hearing her do "Sandra Dee." I would like her making alterations to Marley's costumes to be found out soon.
Old Glee Clubbers: The only reason Artie had lines in this episode is because he co-directed the musical. I generally think this season has neglected Tina, Artie, Sam and Britney horribly. They should be the ones leading the club now, rather than dragging back Finn and everyone else. Once someone gets out of Ohio, they should stay out. Britney's had one song so far this season, in the election episode, which she shared with Sam. I don't think Tina's had a solo this entire year, the only time we hear her sing on her own is during Call Me Maybe in the first episode. She and Artie also both did songs in the Britney 2.0 episode, but they were so completely unmemorable I had to go to Wikipedia to find that out.
Blaine/Kurt - Kurt's lines at the end about their relationship being over because he couldn't trust Blaine anymore rang sad and so true. Kurt has a developed a more adult understanding of relationships. Blaine's performance of Beauty School Drop-out was fantastic though, the best Grease number of the whole show. If anyone is going to portray a dreamy teen idol, Blaine is it. Also regarding that number, Sugar was the most adorable perfect Frenchie.
Song by Song rating - Scores of 1 - 10 - 10 being better than John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, and 1 being worse than Grease 2.
Greased Lightning - 8 - The cleaned up lyrics took me out of the performance
Sandra Dee at Slumber Party - 3 - I really don't like Kitty's voice, and it doesn't stand up to Stockard Channing's at all, not even if a partially deaf person was writing this review.
Beauty School Dropout - 10 - Blaine is amazing and can sing anything he wants.
Sandra Dee, Reprise - 9 - Marley knocked this one out of the park.
There Are Worse Things I Could Do - 9 - Santana's voice is perfect for Rizzo, and I like the three characters, Santana, Unique and Cassie singing it together at the end.
You're the One that I Want - 7 - The Marley/Ryder part was great, the Finn/Rachel part was so... 3 years ago. I know everyone wants to see the old cast singing and dancing together, but I wish they had gone back to the actual cast of the musical for the finale. The flashback Rachel sees makes sense, but not letting them finish the song that way.
I think that about covers it. I'm going to download the original Grease Soundtrack now so I can remember the actual words to Greased Lightning... I know it wasn't a honey wagon...
First, it should be said that I LOVE Grease. My parents had the soundtrack on vinyl, it's one of my Mom's favorite movies. Even Grease 2, which is universally considered terrible, is a guilty pleasure for me, just because I get to see Frenchie and the Riddell High teachers again.
Now for the actual review of the episode.
Sue and Finn: First, I'm glad to see Mean Sue back. Her rampage through the hallway was classic Season 1. I also love her line about "I'm only saying what everyone else in America is thinking" regarding Finn leading the Glee Club. Schuester and the show's writers can say all they want that it's fine for Finn to lead Glee Club since it's an extracurricular activity and not a class (But Schue gives them homework, I don't remember ever getting homework from an extracurricular activity), but it's completely ridiculous that he would ask a barely 19 year old kid to take over a club rather than leaving any other qualified adult at that school in charge. List of possibles: Emma, Will's own fiancee, who's been involved with Glee in the past, chaperoning the club at Sectionals when Will was banned in Season 1 following the mattress incident. Coach Bieste, who co-directed West Side Story last year. Ricky Martin's character, David Martinez, who is an awesome singer and teacher, and last we knew should be teaching Spanish at McKinley. It's a lazy way to keep Cory Monteith involved in the show, even though Finn has no reason to be any place but in the tire shop. I love Finn, but his storyline is sad and full of holes.
NYADA and NY: It is ludicrous that Rachel and Kurt would have made the trip back to Ohio for one weekend. If the show ever bothered to give you a sense of what time of year it was, they could justify some of the graduates being around because it's fall break or Thanksgiving, etc. But since Glee only shows us a calendar at Christmas, Valentine's Day and Graduation, we just assume the graduates have nothing better to do that FLY HALFWAY ACROSS THE COUNTRY to hang out at their old school. (This also applies to having had Puck show up earlier in the season and of course, Mike and Mercedes being there now. Also having Amber Riley there and only having her sing back up on Hand Jive last week is like buying a gourmet cupcake to look at. And what happened to Sam and Mercedes? Not one scene together since she's come back? Seriously?)
The only NY plot that made sense to me, that everyone else has made yucky faces at is Cassandra July seducing Brody. It's college, not high school. If Brody's a Junior at NYADA then he's at least 20-21. He's got an insanely hot body and Cassandra July is a desperate mean old has-been. Kate Hudson has done a great job making her character thoroughly unlikeable. And her dance number with Brody was sexy. If you didn't see her tirade at Rachel coming at the end of the episode, then you haven't been paying attention.
Unique/Wade: I thought Unique not being able to play Rizzo in Grease was a total faceplant for this character. Finn warned Wade last week that he was going to take some heat for this, and he needed to be ready for it. Instead, he completely caved and didn't even try to argue with his parents and Sue when they wanted to pull him out of the musical. I do love Unique's voice though, so I was glad we didn't completely miss her take on "There Are Worse Things I Can Do" And as much as I love Santana, and agree that she made a great Rizzo, she would have been even more perfect if they had done Grease last year, when she was actually still a student at McKinley. And didn't Finn and Artie get any understudies? Did that few people audition for Grease?
Other New Characters: I like the Marley/Ryder/Jake triangle. All three of these characters are interesting and and I like hearing them sing, both separately and in combination. I really enjoyed the dialogue between Marley and Ryder this episode, and their performance of "You're the One That I Want" was great. Kitty - she's the perfect mean girl character, she's like Quinn Fabray without a soul. Her voice is only just passable though. It was cute on her duet with Jake last week, but I hated hearing her do "Sandra Dee." I would like her making alterations to Marley's costumes to be found out soon.
Old Glee Clubbers: The only reason Artie had lines in this episode is because he co-directed the musical. I generally think this season has neglected Tina, Artie, Sam and Britney horribly. They should be the ones leading the club now, rather than dragging back Finn and everyone else. Once someone gets out of Ohio, they should stay out. Britney's had one song so far this season, in the election episode, which she shared with Sam. I don't think Tina's had a solo this entire year, the only time we hear her sing on her own is during Call Me Maybe in the first episode. She and Artie also both did songs in the Britney 2.0 episode, but they were so completely unmemorable I had to go to Wikipedia to find that out.
Blaine/Kurt - Kurt's lines at the end about their relationship being over because he couldn't trust Blaine anymore rang sad and so true. Kurt has a developed a more adult understanding of relationships. Blaine's performance of Beauty School Drop-out was fantastic though, the best Grease number of the whole show. If anyone is going to portray a dreamy teen idol, Blaine is it. Also regarding that number, Sugar was the most adorable perfect Frenchie.
Song by Song rating - Scores of 1 - 10 - 10 being better than John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, and 1 being worse than Grease 2.
Greased Lightning - 8 - The cleaned up lyrics took me out of the performance
Sandra Dee at Slumber Party - 3 - I really don't like Kitty's voice, and it doesn't stand up to Stockard Channing's at all, not even if a partially deaf person was writing this review.
Beauty School Dropout - 10 - Blaine is amazing and can sing anything he wants.
Sandra Dee, Reprise - 9 - Marley knocked this one out of the park.
There Are Worse Things I Could Do - 9 - Santana's voice is perfect for Rizzo, and I like the three characters, Santana, Unique and Cassie singing it together at the end.
You're the One that I Want - 7 - The Marley/Ryder part was great, the Finn/Rachel part was so... 3 years ago. I know everyone wants to see the old cast singing and dancing together, but I wish they had gone back to the actual cast of the musical for the finale. The flashback Rachel sees makes sense, but not letting them finish the song that way.
I think that about covers it. I'm going to download the original Grease Soundtrack now so I can remember the actual words to Greased Lightning... I know it wasn't a honey wagon...
Monday, November 12, 2012
NaNoWriMo Update!
As of this morning, I am up to over 10,000 words on my novel. I'm still a bit off pace, but as I'm off work next week, I'm hoping to catch up. I really need to push hard when I have time this week, as I'll be in Reading most of this weekend for the Starhawk workshop.
So, the blog is basically on hiatus while I work on this. I put up a review of the Clover Lane Coffee House night from this past Friday. Bear with me and hang in there and in December I'll be blogging more regularly.
As a reward for your patience, here's an excerpt from Oubliette, the novel I am working on for NaNoWriMo.
Nyx hated riding the bus. But her beloved black Ford Probe had died its final death somewhere between Boston and New York. So now she got to be crammed between a guy who smelled like bratwurst and a woman with pointy elbows. It felt like they’d been driving across Pennsylvania forever. Bratwurst Guy tried to strike up a conversation about beer when they passed Pottsville. “That’s where the oldest brewery in America is. Have you ever had a Yuengling? I could buy you a Yuengling when we stop in Philly.” Nyx just shook her head and pointed to her ear buds.
“Sorry, what?” she said loudly. The ear buds were plugged into a knockoff MP3 player that hadn’t functioned since Bush (the second one) was President, but it made it easier to get nosy or horny bus passengers to leave her alone. The latter usually wasn’t a problem, as she was built like a 14 year old boy. Her arms and legs were skinny, she had narrow hips, and no appreciable cleavage. Her skin was naturally pale and her hair was dyed shoe polish black and cut short in back, longer in front. She tried hard not to attract attention, but she was wearing the wrong outfit for avoiding it here. Her long black fishnet gloves, a long black cardigan sweater, black turtleneck, short black leather shorts with black and white striped tights marked her as “one of those Goth kids from the city”. Her boots were the very best part of the outfit. They were knee-high, black leather, with a zipper and thirteen belt buckles covering the zipper. They had a single black spike on each toe that made them look like evil elf shoes. She looked like a dark, angry Amy Brown fairy, minus the wings.
‘What a boring place,’ Nyx thought as she began to fitfully doze.
Brakes squealed and a loud thud woke her a short time later. The driver was yelling at a woman near the front to quiet down. The shrieking woman yelled, “But that beautiful animal! We have to help it! It could be bleeding and suffering under the bus right now!”
The driver told her to put a sock in it, they would check on the deer and the damage as soon as he confirmed all the passengers were safe. Nyx rolled her eyes. She saw sleeping in a bus station in her near future, as they were probably not going to make it to DC tonight. She filed off the bus in an orderly fashion with the rest of the passengers. After checking off the passenger list and making sure no one had any injuries, the driver checked over the bus. There was definitely a deer - sized dent in the front end, and they had punctured a tire on some debris when they pulled onto the birm of the highway. But the deer was nowhere to be seen.
“Well don’t that beat all,” said the driver.
“What doesn’t beat all?” Nyx asked. Bratwurst Guy had been sidling her way, probably to see if she needed comforting after the accident. Better to look interested in a dead deer carcass.
The bus driver “That was about the biggest buck I’ve ever seen. He had a prettier rack than Pamela Anderson. I’ve been in accidents where the deer runs off after, but not when I was driving my bus! And look, there’s no blood on the road, and no hair caught in the grill.”
Nyx looked more closely at the front of the bus. If the driver and the passengers at the front hadn’t all said they hit a deer, she’d have said they hit an invisible boulder. There was no blood at all. She’d seen hundreds of deer hit along roadsides, if anything as big as a bus or a semi hit them, they were toast. Raven food. Nyx asked the driver, “So what now?”
“Now, we wait for the tow truck out of the bus depot in Harrisburg. The next bus that goes to DC comes through tomorrow at 11:15 AM.”
‘Great, Harrisburg,’ Nyx thought sarcastically, ‘Maybe I’ll meet the Governor!’
So, the blog is basically on hiatus while I work on this. I put up a review of the Clover Lane Coffee House night from this past Friday. Bear with me and hang in there and in December I'll be blogging more regularly.
As a reward for your patience, here's an excerpt from Oubliette, the novel I am working on for NaNoWriMo.
Nyx hated riding the bus. But her beloved black Ford Probe had died its final death somewhere between Boston and New York. So now she got to be crammed between a guy who smelled like bratwurst and a woman with pointy elbows. It felt like they’d been driving across Pennsylvania forever. Bratwurst Guy tried to strike up a conversation about beer when they passed Pottsville. “That’s where the oldest brewery in America is. Have you ever had a Yuengling? I could buy you a Yuengling when we stop in Philly.” Nyx just shook her head and pointed to her ear buds.
“Sorry, what?” she said loudly. The ear buds were plugged into a knockoff MP3 player that hadn’t functioned since Bush (the second one) was President, but it made it easier to get nosy or horny bus passengers to leave her alone. The latter usually wasn’t a problem, as she was built like a 14 year old boy. Her arms and legs were skinny, she had narrow hips, and no appreciable cleavage. Her skin was naturally pale and her hair was dyed shoe polish black and cut short in back, longer in front. She tried hard not to attract attention, but she was wearing the wrong outfit for avoiding it here. Her long black fishnet gloves, a long black cardigan sweater, black turtleneck, short black leather shorts with black and white striped tights marked her as “one of those Goth kids from the city”. Her boots were the very best part of the outfit. They were knee-high, black leather, with a zipper and thirteen belt buckles covering the zipper. They had a single black spike on each toe that made them look like evil elf shoes. She looked like a dark, angry Amy Brown fairy, minus the wings.
‘What a boring place,’ Nyx thought as she began to fitfully doze.
Brakes squealed and a loud thud woke her a short time later. The driver was yelling at a woman near the front to quiet down. The shrieking woman yelled, “But that beautiful animal! We have to help it! It could be bleeding and suffering under the bus right now!”
The driver told her to put a sock in it, they would check on the deer and the damage as soon as he confirmed all the passengers were safe. Nyx rolled her eyes. She saw sleeping in a bus station in her near future, as they were probably not going to make it to DC tonight. She filed off the bus in an orderly fashion with the rest of the passengers. After checking off the passenger list and making sure no one had any injuries, the driver checked over the bus. There was definitely a deer - sized dent in the front end, and they had punctured a tire on some debris when they pulled onto the birm of the highway. But the deer was nowhere to be seen.
“Well don’t that beat all,” said the driver.
“What doesn’t beat all?” Nyx asked. Bratwurst Guy had been sidling her way, probably to see if she needed comforting after the accident. Better to look interested in a dead deer carcass.
The bus driver “That was about the biggest buck I’ve ever seen. He had a prettier rack than Pamela Anderson. I’ve been in accidents where the deer runs off after, but not when I was driving my bus! And look, there’s no blood on the road, and no hair caught in the grill.”
Nyx looked more closely at the front of the bus. If the driver and the passengers at the front hadn’t all said they hit a deer, she’d have said they hit an invisible boulder. There was no blood at all. She’d seen hundreds of deer hit along roadsides, if anything as big as a bus or a semi hit them, they were toast. Raven food. Nyx asked the driver, “So what now?”
“Now, we wait for the tow truck out of the bus depot in Harrisburg. The next bus that goes to DC comes through tomorrow at 11:15 AM.”
‘Great, Harrisburg,’ Nyx thought sarcastically, ‘Maybe I’ll meet the Governor!’
Review - Clover Ln Coffee House, Jamie Marich
Friday evening my fiance Tim and I went to the Unitarian Church of Harrisburg to enough the Coffee House night. The performer this month was Dr. Jamie Marich, who in addition to being a performer and song writer is also an addiction counselor and leads workshops and retreats about mindfulness.
Jamie opened her set with several familiar folk and country songs that most people in the audience knew. Jamie encouraged singing along wherever possible, and this is an aspect of her show I very much enjoyed. The artists she covered ranged from Neil Young and Cat Stevens to Patsy Cline and Hank Williams. These songs made me a little homesick, as they are songs my Dad and Aunt Beck have played She also shared several original songs from two of her three CDs with us. I enjoyed her original songs very much, especially Grace of a Woman and At Arm's Length. I was impressed by her skill as a guitar player, as well as a singer and a songwriter.
Generally, I think Jamie Marich would be an awesome person to hang out with. I think she's found the secret to surviving in a very tough profession, mental health. Her work with music and mindfulness balances her, and keeps her from burning out like so many who chose to help others. If we're lucky enough to get her back at Clover Lane in 2013, I would definitely go back to see her again.
Sources:
JamieMarich.com
Unitarian Church of Harrisburg
Jamie opened her set with several familiar folk and country songs that most people in the audience knew. Jamie encouraged singing along wherever possible, and this is an aspect of her show I very much enjoyed. The artists she covered ranged from Neil Young and Cat Stevens to Patsy Cline and Hank Williams. These songs made me a little homesick, as they are songs my Dad and Aunt Beck have played She also shared several original songs from two of her three CDs with us. I enjoyed her original songs very much, especially Grace of a Woman and At Arm's Length. I was impressed by her skill as a guitar player, as well as a singer and a songwriter.
Generally, I think Jamie Marich would be an awesome person to hang out with. I think she's found the secret to surviving in a very tough profession, mental health. Her work with music and mindfulness balances her, and keeps her from burning out like so many who chose to help others. If we're lucky enough to get her back at Clover Lane in 2013, I would definitely go back to see her again.
Sources:
JamieMarich.com
Unitarian Church of Harrisburg
Monday, November 5, 2012
Restaurant Review: Fox & Hounds @ Susquehanna Town Shoppes
Last week I got an email with a Groupon offer for $10 for $20 worth of food and drink at Fox and Hound. We decided to give them a try for this week's Steelers game, instead of our usual trip to Aroogas.
Food: We ordered two appetizers and 3 dinners between everyone at my table. For appetizers, we had pretzel nuggets and spinach artichoke dip. The pretzel nuggets were unlike anything I've had elsewhere. They were lightly fried and had a buttery flavor with a little sweetness. It reminded me of a funnel cake without the powdered sugar. They were served with a spicy cheese dip that made me think of Nacho Cheese Combos. The spinach artichoke dip was good, it was served in a small soup bowl surrounded by red and yellow tortilla chips. My fiance's burger and my friend Ryan's sandwich both looked good and were prepared as requested. I ordered Newcastle Brown Ale battered Fish and Chips. The fries and fish were both a little greasy, and the breading on the fish was a little dark. It tasted good and the portion of fish was substantial. One thing that must be mentioned, since I mentioned the fries, is that their ketchup was not Heinz. So that's one small mark against the food.
Beer: Fox and Hound has a larger number of beers on tap than Arooga's. I had a Newcastle Brown Ale (to go with my Newcastle Fish and Chips) that was delicious.
Service: Our server was attentive and polite. She continued to check on us throughout the game. We arrived at 4 PM and were there until almost 8 PM by the time the game finished.
Atmosphere: There are plenty of TVs in the restaurant and there was no issue seeing the game. The section we were in had 3 tiers of tables, and we were at the highest tier at a high table. There was a large TV with the Steelers game on right in front of us. The only problem with this was it was almost too close to watch comfortably. With the way the room was set and no cloth on the walls to dampen the sound, it was very loud. It was difficult to hear our server at times (for which she apologized and had no problem repeating things when asked, she was very sweet.) It was also difficult to carry out a conversation at the table when the game was on. Commericials were just as loud, so there was no break there either. I had a pounding headache by the time we left. Also, even though some of the staff and other customers were wearing team apparel, no one seemed that interested in the game. I was often the only one cheering or clapping, not that anyone else could tell, because it was so loud.
So is Fox and Hound going to replace Arooga's as our go to place to watch the Steelers? No. But I wouldn't mind trying it again just for dinner, when there's not a game on. They had a good menu and there are other things I'd like to try, and I was pleased with the service.
Food: We ordered two appetizers and 3 dinners between everyone at my table. For appetizers, we had pretzel nuggets and spinach artichoke dip. The pretzel nuggets were unlike anything I've had elsewhere. They were lightly fried and had a buttery flavor with a little sweetness. It reminded me of a funnel cake without the powdered sugar. They were served with a spicy cheese dip that made me think of Nacho Cheese Combos. The spinach artichoke dip was good, it was served in a small soup bowl surrounded by red and yellow tortilla chips. My fiance's burger and my friend Ryan's sandwich both looked good and were prepared as requested. I ordered Newcastle Brown Ale battered Fish and Chips. The fries and fish were both a little greasy, and the breading on the fish was a little dark. It tasted good and the portion of fish was substantial. One thing that must be mentioned, since I mentioned the fries, is that their ketchup was not Heinz. So that's one small mark against the food.
Beer: Fox and Hound has a larger number of beers on tap than Arooga's. I had a Newcastle Brown Ale (to go with my Newcastle Fish and Chips) that was delicious.
Service: Our server was attentive and polite. She continued to check on us throughout the game. We arrived at 4 PM and were there until almost 8 PM by the time the game finished.
Atmosphere: There are plenty of TVs in the restaurant and there was no issue seeing the game. The section we were in had 3 tiers of tables, and we were at the highest tier at a high table. There was a large TV with the Steelers game on right in front of us. The only problem with this was it was almost too close to watch comfortably. With the way the room was set and no cloth on the walls to dampen the sound, it was very loud. It was difficult to hear our server at times (for which she apologized and had no problem repeating things when asked, she was very sweet.) It was also difficult to carry out a conversation at the table when the game was on. Commericials were just as loud, so there was no break there either. I had a pounding headache by the time we left. Also, even though some of the staff and other customers were wearing team apparel, no one seemed that interested in the game. I was often the only one cheering or clapping, not that anyone else could tell, because it was so loud.
So is Fox and Hound going to replace Arooga's as our go to place to watch the Steelers? No. But I wouldn't mind trying it again just for dinner, when there's not a game on. They had a good menu and there are other things I'd like to try, and I was pleased with the service.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy!
I recently learned (recently like this morning) that the above quote is often wrongly attributed to Benjamin Franklin. It may be a paraphrase though of this quote, which he wrote in a letter to Andre Morellet in 1779.
So why am I talking about wine and beer at 11 o'clock in the morning on a Friday? Well, because It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere and because the Giant supermarket on Linglestown Road opened a beer garden today! Finally, I can enjoy the same privilege as my Nebraska friends who can buy their beer in the same place as their groceries.
I went over on my lunch time to check out the new space. There is a wall of coolers and then 3 shelves of single serve bottles and six packs. I was very impressed by the selection. I recognized several craft beers from the Fort Collins CO area, including Rogue and Dogfish Head, thanks to my beer education from Nebraska. There were also local selections from Appalachian Brewing Company and Lancaster Brewing Company. Southern Tier Brewery and Presque Isle Brewery from the Lake Erie region were also represented. They also have 6 packs of Mike's Hard Lemonade and Smirnoff Ice for those who like more girly drinks. It's funny, I used to love that stuff, but now I turn my nose up at it. I'm now glad that I can enjoy "real beer."
I'll have to be wary of the temptation to buy beer every time I buy groceries. I am aware that it should be an indulgence and not a necessity. With the kind of beers I like best, stouts and lagers, the main reason not to overindulge is the calories I ingest. I'd have to spent an hour on the elliptical, or do Zumba for an hour every day, to burn off the calories from a six pack of Milk Stout.
All things in moderation!
Sources:
About.com - Urban Legends
Pennlive.com - Linglestown Giant Food store opens beer garden
Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine, a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy.
So why am I talking about wine and beer at 11 o'clock in the morning on a Friday? Well, because It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere and because the Giant supermarket on Linglestown Road opened a beer garden today! Finally, I can enjoy the same privilege as my Nebraska friends who can buy their beer in the same place as their groceries.
I went over on my lunch time to check out the new space. There is a wall of coolers and then 3 shelves of single serve bottles and six packs. I was very impressed by the selection. I recognized several craft beers from the Fort Collins CO area, including Rogue and Dogfish Head, thanks to my beer education from Nebraska. There were also local selections from Appalachian Brewing Company and Lancaster Brewing Company. Southern Tier Brewery and Presque Isle Brewery from the Lake Erie region were also represented. They also have 6 packs of Mike's Hard Lemonade and Smirnoff Ice for those who like more girly drinks. It's funny, I used to love that stuff, but now I turn my nose up at it. I'm now glad that I can enjoy "real beer."
I'll have to be wary of the temptation to buy beer every time I buy groceries. I am aware that it should be an indulgence and not a necessity. With the kind of beers I like best, stouts and lagers, the main reason not to overindulge is the calories I ingest. I'd have to spent an hour on the elliptical, or do Zumba for an hour every day, to burn off the calories from a six pack of Milk Stout.
All things in moderation!
Sources:
About.com - Urban Legends
Pennlive.com - Linglestown Giant Food store opens beer garden
Thursday, November 1, 2012
What's NaNoWriMo?
National Novel Writing Month!
I have many friends who particpate in this, and I've decided to go ahead and do it. My mom is always telling me I should write more. I think if I write a novel I can guarantee that at least she would read it. I haven't been keeping up with the blog as much as I'd like. I really need to reclaim some of my time at home from watching Netflix and playing video games to 1) exercise and 2) writing. I admit to blogging, or at least planning my blog at work a lot of days. We are heading towards winter, it's a slower time in the promotional products business. But if I'm to keep writing when work is busy, I need to carve out that little bit of time each day.
I'll be posting on the blog about how the novel writing project is going. I can tell just from reading the welcome message it's going to be a challenge for me. It's all about output, just getting words out there, and editing later. "Editing is for December" it said. I always edit and nit-pick as I go, which is what leads me to dead ends. So the idea of just pushing, pushing, pushing, writing, writing, writing, is intriguing for me. I enjoy ideas and challenges that force me to think differently about things.
So wish me luck! (I'm gonna need it!)
I have many friends who particpate in this, and I've decided to go ahead and do it. My mom is always telling me I should write more. I think if I write a novel I can guarantee that at least she would read it. I haven't been keeping up with the blog as much as I'd like. I really need to reclaim some of my time at home from watching Netflix and playing video games to 1) exercise and 2) writing. I admit to blogging, or at least planning my blog at work a lot of days. We are heading towards winter, it's a slower time in the promotional products business. But if I'm to keep writing when work is busy, I need to carve out that little bit of time each day.
I'll be posting on the blog about how the novel writing project is going. I can tell just from reading the welcome message it's going to be a challenge for me. It's all about output, just getting words out there, and editing later. "Editing is for December" it said. I always edit and nit-pick as I go, which is what leads me to dead ends. So the idea of just pushing, pushing, pushing, writing, writing, writing, is intriguing for me. I enjoy ideas and challenges that force me to think differently about things.
So wish me luck! (I'm gonna need it!)
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