Day: December 28, 2014

SoL Sunday: My Introduction to the Bogeyman.

Do you remember the first time you ever heard of the Bogeyman?

I do. My mom had asked me to run down to the cellar and make sure the door to the hatch was locked. I didn’t want to do it. The cellar was dark, dank, spooky. The hatch was even worse. And there were spiders.

My older cousin was staying with us at the time, and she said, “What’s the matter? Do you think the Bogeyman is going to get you?” I had no idea what she was talking about, so she explained.

That made my trip to the cellar and the hatch so much more . . . memorable.

From Pool To Haven: Part 1

When we bought our house, many years ago, there was an above-ground pool in the back yard. When our children were younger, it was a wonderful thing to have. But even then, we didn’t use it much–between work, baseball games, and erratic upstate New York weather, there was never enough time to really enjoy it. Our children went to day camp in the summers, and most of the time, that included swimming, so they weren’t deprived.

Three years ago, we opened the pool, but a harsh winter left the water a particularly nasty shade of yuck we could not chemical away. The following two years, we didn’t even bother to open it. Our children are grown and mostly gone. We decided that’s what should happen to the pool: gone.

pool01

Craig’s List yielded no takers. So we called the scrappers to come and get it.

pool04Scrappers will come and take down the whole thing if you let them have it. It didn’t cost us a penny.

pool02

They were efficient and neat about it, too.

pool03But now what? My back lawn can’t remain like this.

Stay tuned . . .

INTRO: WORK IN PROGRESS (WIP) WEDNESDAY

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Starting next week, I’m going to be hosting authors of all genres on my blog in a feature I’m calling Work In Progress (WIP) Wednesday.  To give you a taste of what is to come, I’m featuring myself this week. After all, it’s all about me (see far right column).

So here are some things you might not know about me.

On the Personal Side:

My top three dream destinations are 1) Greece, 2) Spain, 3) the south of France. I long for sunshine and warmth (no humidity); these are the lands of olives, crusty breads, hearty red and rose wines. Mary Stewart’s three Greek novels put Greece at the top of my bucket list (My Brother Michael, The Moonspinners, This Rough Magic). One of my favorite books to read in the summer is Peter Mayle’s delightful A Year in Provence.  As for Spain, I remember a line from a poem I read in high school: cinco de la tarde. Don’t ask me why five in the afternoon intrigues me. Maybe because of tapas bars.

My secret talent is the ability to whistle through my rolled tongue, using it as a flute.

The top book on my TBR pile (not counting the Kindle) is Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark, Jr. I heard about it on Facebook and checked it out of the library.

I have a recurring dream in which my family and I move into the apartment in which I lived for 10 years, several years before I got married. A one-bedroom apartment. Love the wallpaper and the claw foot bathtub, loathe the turquoise refrigerator.

If I didn’t write, my creative outlet would be musical in nature . . . I like to sing (even though I can barely carry a tune); I play a couple of instruments and always wished I knew how to play piano.

If I didn’t write, my dream job would be owning a business that catered to people’s religious dietary needs, and I’d call it Kosher for Lent.

If I had to chose a theme song for myself, it would be a toss up between Simon & Garfunkel’s “I Am A Rock” or the Grateful Dead’s “Touch of Gray”.

I have seen two movies I thought were better than the books on which they were based: The Bridges of Madison County and Contact. The main character in Bridges never would have written the letter to her children the author had her write. Never. Ever. So the movie handled that part much better. As far as Contact goes, the book was fiction, written by a brilliant scientist, so it was a little . . . deadly. The movie is also the first time I ever saw Matthew McConaughey (he played opposite Jodi Foster).

I’m not a fan of breakfast, so I tend to skip it more often than not. Eggs are disgusting. I will stop at McDonald’s for Sausage McMuffins and hash browns on occasion; when I’m on a writing retreat, I’ll eat fresh fruit & berries.

On the Writing Side:

My ideal/fantasy writing space would be a big bright room, lots of book cases, a desk large enough for things other than my laptop, a rocking chair in front of big windows. And it would be painted pale pink. And I wouldn’t have to share the space.

One writing-related website I can’t do without is Grammar Girl. She explains the tricky nuances of the English language in a way I can easily understand.

I am a pantser (style of writing), but even though I don’t plot, I do plan.

I do not believe in writer’s block. For me, it’s either lack of motivation (within me) or a plot/conflict issue (with the story).

Three things currently on my desk: my grand-hamster (in her cage); a treasure chest filled with glass florist beads; photos I borrowed from my parents to scan.

Would I ever consider self-publishing? Absolutely, especially once I have a back list in place. In fact, my current WIP is a novella for an anthology my crit partners and I have been discussing.

I listen to music when I write. I create a playlist for each book, which helps me stay connected to the story.

Lightning Round:

Addams Family or Munsters? Addams Family.

Wine: Red or white?  Red

Beer: Can or bottle? Bottle

Stephanie Plum or Eve Dallas? Eve. She’s grown throughout the course of the series, whereas Steph is more comic relief to absurd situations.

Cinco de Mayo or St. Patrick’s Day? Cinco de Mayo. Not a fan of corned beef.

Last movie I saw in a theater: The Winter Soldier. Loved it!

Books: paper or e? Paper!

Favorite band when I was in high school: Bob Dylan and the Band

Introvert or extrovert? Introvert

Favorite ethnic food: Italian.

WIP

Here are the first 10 sentences of my current WIP (tentative title The Mating Game)

He’s staring at me.

Men usually stared at Diana—it came with being a model—but this was . . . different. Uncomfortable. Or maybe she was just tired.

She scanned the crowd at the MEN-toring League Chicago Division award banquet, using the attendees’ faces to tick off the seconds until she could leave the event. She had an eleven p.m. flight to catch and was already feeling the dread. Plus her overworked body was doing some kind of meltdown thing, which concerned her. Prickles and heat raced through her. The symptoms resembled what she’d heard about influenza, but the flu was impossible.The strange sensation had to be a clue she was overdue for a vacation.

Here’s the buy link for my current release,  Moonlight Serenade, available only on Kindle at this time.

Follow me on FaceBook, Twitter (@comptonplations), and Goodreads

 

 

 

Name Badges/Lanyards

I am a member of RWA. As such, whenever I went to the annual national conference or a regional conference, I was given a name badge and lanyard. I believe I received my favorite ever lanyard from the New Jersey “Put Your Heart in a Book” conference.

One of the things one does with one’s name badge/lanyard is use it to show off your affiliations and your awards. My lanyard was pretty . . . cluttered.

project lanyard before

 

So last weekend I decided it was time to clean house. It was tough. There were a lot of great pins signifying a lot of great memories. But it’s time to move on. I’m no longer a “contest slut/diva” (note the rhinestone crown and two pins from Mississippi’s Magnolia State Romance Writers); I rarely judge a contest these days (two roses from the Yellow Rose Chapter’s Winter Rose contest); and I haven’t been to a conference except in Central New York since 2006. I’ve dropped my membership in the Kiss of Death chapter.

Definitely time to rearrange the name badge.

project lanyard afterMuch cleaner now, wouldn’t you say?

My RWA PRO pin — I think I was one of the earliest “pros” in the program. And, because I am small-press published, I’m still PRO.

A chapter president pin — didn’t receive one this year as I began my third time around as president of my local chapter, but I still have my original one.

My CNYRW member pin.

Three RWA Service pins — I’ve been “Volunteer of the Year” for my chapter a couple of times.

And my newest acquisition: a Soul Mate Publishing pin. They’re my publisher. If I ever get to another national or regional conference, my fellow Soul Mate authors will be able to recognize me by my pin, much the same as KoD members recognized the Kiss of Death pin on the badge.