Thursday’s Children April 25, 2013

Before anything else, I must say CONGRATULATIONS once again to my friend and Thursday’s Children participant Stacey Lee on the sale of her book to Putnam! She’s one of the funniest, kindest, and most generous people around (she gave me my little turtle Remy). I can’t wait to buy her book (tentatively titled Golden Boys).

And now for the most horrifically graceless segue ever,

Inspired by Muck…

A weekly blog hop where writers share their inspirations. Please join us!

To paraphrase Jeff Foxworthy, “You know you’re a New Englander if your four seasons are almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction.”

Of course, he’s not a New Englander and thus he forgot the fifth season. Mud.

In this part of the world, Old Man Winter kicks Mother Nature’s butt from November to April. When Spring finally comes to northern New England, she definitely looks “ridden hard and put away wet.” The glorious carpet of autumn leaves has turned ugly brown. Limbs have been ripped off, revealing raw wood-flesh and some poor, doomed trees lean at drunken angles, knocked over but unable to rest because their comrades caught them on the way down. No pretty green leaves hide the damage. Lawns show unsightly wounds inflicted by snow plows. Nobody in his right mind tries to sell his New England home in early to mid-Spring.

Photo by Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Flowers foolhardy enough to bloom are begging for a foot of late season snow to be dumped on their heads.

But, for all the destruction, and decay, there is life.

Photo by Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

In the muck of vernal pools…

Photo by Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Do you see him? The little frog in the middle of the photo? There’s another frog facing him,those tiny glowing dots are his eyes.

These brackish puddles lack the aesthetic appeal of babbling brooks and crystalline streams. They’re lined with dead leaves and have a faintly ominous look – like you might lean over to look into one, and get sucked down into an alternate world, probably ruled by smelly trolls. In reality, vernal pools are thriving micro eco-systems.

Earlier in the week, a writer-friend and I had a teasing exchange over Facebook about our WIPs’ swampy middles. At the moment, I’m teetering on the edge of my WIP’s murky midsection. Its surface is dark, opaque, and undoubtedly concealing all kinds of writerly perils (aka smelly trolls). I can’t see the precise story lines, plot twists, and character arcs which will ultimately get me to the other side of my book (yes, I’m pantsing this one). They’re temporarily obscured by the fertile mud of too many ideas.

Do your stories have swampy middles? Do they scare you a little bit?

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Thursday’s Children 1/17/13

A weekly blog hop where writers come together to talk about whatever inspires them. Join us!

 

Trying to come up with a great story idea, trying to snag an agent, trying to get published, trying to gain a readership – none of these things is easy. Theoretically, and sometimes in reality, our efforts compete with those of other writers, who are sometimes our friends.  Despite all that, I’ve found more support, more generosity of spirit, more camaraderie than I ever expected, in the cyber world of writers. Twitter, Facebook, blogging, and writers’ forums have all yielded new friends. In some ways it’s a very small world.

This week I was deeply touched by another writer’s kind gesture.

I “met” Stacey Lee during PitchWars where she was a mentor and I was a contestant. While trying to figure out which mentor would be most likely to choose me, I stalked Stacey’s blog, and tweet-chatted with her about her mom (reminded me of my own mother, who though no longer in this world, remains a strong presence in my inner one). Ultimately I decided my ms wasn’t really what Stacey was looking for, but I still kept up a casual twitter friendship with her because I liked her. By the way, my ms wasn’t what any of the mentors I chose was looking for either. Contests were a very hit or miss thing for me…

A little over a week ago Stacey posted something on Twitter and said the first 5 replies would get a little surprise. It was all enticingly mysterious, so I jumped on it. She DM’d me and asked me for my mailing address. The suspense thickened. I eagerly awaited a bookmark related to her novel, or maybe an ARC.

Instead, she sent me this.

And a very sweet note, saying she’d stalked my blog (*flattered, blushes*) to see what sorts of things I enjoy. She noted that I like vintage jewelry. This little turtle comes from Nice, France-where she bought him nine years ago. She said he would remind me that “slow and steady wins the race”.

I’ve named him Rémy, which means “oarsman”.

Because a boat’s journey is accomplished stroke by stroke, just the way a novel is written. 

Please join the Thursday’s Children Blog Hop and tell us what inspires your writing!

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One Lovely Blog Award

I’ve just received a very special award from fellow writer EM Castellan – Thank you so much! 

You should go visit her blog, I had no idea she was an expert on all things Victor Hugo.

The Award

This award is, well, lovely, isn’t it? Suddenly I’m craving crumpets and Devonshire cream.

The rules of the award state that I must share 7 things about myself and pass the award on to 7 other bloggers.

My 7 Deadly Sins  7 Fascinating Facts about Me:

1. My first paying job was at a racehorse training stable. I mucked stalls, groomed horses, cleaned tack.

2. The most terrifying dream I ever had involved polar bears. Hungry, clever, polar bears.

3. I’ve met two members of the band U2. Does that mean I’ve met U1? I’m not sure.

4. The house in Portsmouth, New Hampshire where I lived for a number of years was haunted.

5. My husband and I got married on Halloween, in a park under a weeping willow tree. So, you can understand why I really had no problem with #4.

6. My imaginary childhood friends included a posse of tiny old men who wore vintage golfing attire. I have no idea why.

7. Rhiann is actually my middle name. I loathe my first name and therefore never use it, unless forced by medical offices and legal contracts.

Now that you know ALL about me, here are seven other people you should get to know, or know better. Some of them I’ve just met on Twitter and we’ve been chatting. Others I’ve known for a while.

1. Kristy Shen

2. Jolene Haley

3. Cassandra Page 

4. Stacey Lee

5. Katherine Amabel

6. Chris Allen-Riley

7. Colene Murphy

If your name is on the list and you don’t want to “play”, no worries.