Happy Thanksgiving!

What are you doing on the computer reading this blog? You should be with your family and friends stuffing your face!  Now shut the machine off and go have a good time!

And if you really think it's better to be on the computer than with your family (are you feeling guilty yet?) You can read a bunch of interesting little known facts about Thanksgiving HERE.

Waiting: Acquiring Patience Through Metaphor: Part Four

You can read Parts One, Two and Three HERE

The time I spend actually writing usually seems to fly by. The problem is waiting for the responses from publishers or agents or even you crit partners.

            

Fishing is the best metaphor I know for the process of writing and waiting.

            

First you have to get you gear together. This equals gathering the materials you need. Pen and paper, research books and notes, envelopes and stamps and the final finished product, are all part of your gear and pieces of the puzzle.

            

Next you have to find a good fishing hole. This equals researching publishers/agents you hope will be interested in your story. Then, bait your hook and throw out the line. In other words, write your cover letter/query and get it in the mail!

            

Now comes the hard part, waiting for a bite. This is the time to enjoy lounging on the river bank or trolling in the boat. Fishing isn’t about the bait. It’s about being outside and enjoying the scenery. Writing isn’t just about the story. It’s about the whole process, which includes getting ready for the next project.

There’s that nibble. But wait! If you get all excited and jerk the line too soon you’ll probably be disappointed because there won’t be a fish on the hook. Watch the bobber for serious movement but don’t do anything until the pole bends. Even then, be prepared. The hook may not be well set; you could still loose your fish.

                     

So, get out there. Bait your hooks and throw out your lines. If they get tangled, which can happen, whip out Alexander’s sword and chop them to bits. While you’re waiting for a nibble notice that you have moved forward, that you have another story out there or another one taking shape on the page. Notice you have another piece added to your puzzle. You might think about gluing your story together and hanging it on the wall, particularly if it’s accepted. If it keeps coming back to you, consider taking it apart and putting it back in its box for reassembly at a later date.

            

Keep yourself busy with the process of writing; try to enjoy all of its aspects. If you do, you won’t need to be patience. You’ll be so deeply involved with putting your next puzzle together you’ll hardly notice how time has flown by! Then, when that acceptance letter comes, or your story is finally published, it will take you by surprise.

When was the last time you were taken by surprise? Do you like surprises?

Where I Was

I usually post on Thursdays but about a week ago I realized that today is the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination.

Fifty years. Many of you probably weren't yet born and have no clear idea of how schizophrenic the '60s and early '70s were. There were horrible riots and the Summer of Love. The assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy and Woodstock. Viet Nam was funneled into our homes via the nightly news and we saw war in a way that had never been seen before but we also landed on the moon. The National Guard shot four students to death at Kent State and the Merry Pranksters took a road trip across the US.

For all the peace and love, drugs, sex and rock and roll, tune in, turn on and drop out, these were ten terribly turbulent years which, I think, began on November 22, 1963. It marked the end of innocence.

Sometime after 2:30 PM (JFK will killed at 12:30 central time which put the Virgin Islands 2 hours ahead) our school principal came into our classroom to make an announcement. That in itself was unusual because there was a PA system she could have used. I remember there was a worried or sad look on her face as she stood in front of the class and told us that our president, John F. Kennedy, had been assassinated, shot to death, in Dallas. She said our parents were being called and school would be let out early. We normally got out at 3:30, so our day was almost over anyway. It was also a Friday, so we had the week-end to try to wrap our heads around what had happened.

I was thirteen, very naive, and didn't understand the workings of government. I thought the United States was about to descend into some kind of anarchy, that civil war would break out and the country, as I knew it, would cease to exist.

It's odd, but that's really all I remember of that day. I'm sure when I was picked up, my parents explained things to me and that I was reassured. But I don't know. All I remember is how frightened I was.

Four years later, at 17, I got to spend a whole summer with a family in Arlington, Virginia. We kids were free to roam Washington, DC on our own. We spent a lot of time at the Smithsonian. I saw Macbeth on The Mall, walked up the Washington Monument twice, and stood at the feet of that great statue of Abraham Lincoln.

I also went to the Arlington National Cemetery.

The country didn't cease to exist. 

And that summer The Beatles came out with All You Need is Love. What a time to be a teenager.

Love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love, love

There's nothing you can do that can't be done
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game
It's easy

Nothing you can make that can't be made
No one you can save that can't be saved
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time
It's easy

All you need is love
All you need is love
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need

Love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love, love

All you need is love
All you need is love
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need

Nothing you can know that isn't known
Nothing you can see that isn't shown
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be
It's easy

All you need is love
All you need is love
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need

All you need is love (All together, now!)
All you need is love (Everybody!)
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Yee-hai! (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)

Yesterday (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Oh yeah! (Love is all you need)
She loves you, yeah yeah yeah (Love is all you need)
She loves you, yeah yeah yeah (Love is all you need)

What memories do you have that will always stay with you, where you'll always remember exactly where you were and what you were doing when you heard the news?

I have so many... Landing on the moon. The assassination of John Lennon. Apollo 13. The Challenger explosion. The tearing down of the Berlin Wall. The death of Jimi Hendrix. The first time I saw The Beatles on TV.

The Weight of a Feather

Judy Croome is an author from South Africa. When I read her novel, Dancing in the Shadows of Love, I was blown away and did an interview with her which you can read HERE.

Recently I had the opportunity to read her collection of short stories, The Weight of a Feather. Again, I am blown away. 

I absolutely love the depth and breadth of Judy's writing. In this collection of short stories, she takes the reader on a wide variety of journeys. One can feel like a voyeur peeking vicariously into a person’s life, or be swept into a nightmare.

In the dark, beautiful and horrifying story, “The Last Sacrifice,” one is pulled into the distant past, while in “The Wheel Turns” one is taken into a possible future. There is African bush magic in, “The Leopard and the Lizard,” and satirical humor in, “Rainbow Farm.” There are stories of love, loss and redemption, of faith, hope and despair.

Judy is an artist whose canvass is the blank page and whose medium is words. She paints pictures. Some sparse, some detailed. Some modernistic, some classical. But each can be studied, reread, reviewed, many times over. Reading this collection is rather like walking into a museum and being amazed.

The Weight of a Feather, along with her novel Dancing in the Shadows of Love, and a collection of poetry, a Lamp at Midday, is available on Amazon. 

About The Weight of a Feather: 

From the classical form of "The Weight of a Feather", first published by The Huffington Post (2013), to the suggestive allegory of "The Leopard and The Lizard", this collection of short stories by South African author Judy Croome is an ideal mix of the familiar and the startling. These vibrant slices of life testify to the mysterious and luminous resources of the human spirit. Whether feeling the harrowing emotion in "The Last Sacrifice" or the jauntiness of "Jannie Vermaak’s New Bicycle", the reader will delight in a plethora of stories that cross boundaries to both challenge and entertain with their variety.

Visit Judy at her BLOG , on Facebook, or on Twitter

Alternatives for By

Alternatives is a recurring post in which I give synonyms for an over used word. Click on the tab above for a "complete" list of over used words.

Today's word is:

Not to be confused with bye or buy. Not surprising there aren't a whole lot of of synonyms for by. And some of them are cheaters, using "by" in the synonym.

Depending on how you use it, this list may come in handy for finding another way to say the same thing.

***

abreast, adjacent to, adjoining, along, alongside (of), as a result of, aside, at, at hand, at the side of, attached to, away

because of, before, be on one side, beside, beyond, border/bordering, by dint of, by way of, by means of, by virtue of

check by jowl, close, close to, connected to, contiguous with

flank

handy

in front of, in good time, in reach

laterally

next to, no later than

on, out flank, over, overlooking

past

neighboring, next to

past

right and left

side by side, sidle, skirt

through, to leeward, to one side, to windward

via

A lot of people have covered The Rivers of Babylon, but this is the original hit from 1970.

Waiting: Acquiring Patience Through Metaphors: Part Three

You can read Parts One and Two HERE.

As a kid I loved the stories of the Greek gods and heroes. I was particularly fond of Alexander the Great. I think I had a kind of crush on him. Of course, at eight or nine, there things I didn't know, mostly that he could be quite brutal. But there was also something different about him. For all his bloody warring, he was the first to recognize that different cultures had different things to offer. He didn't force conquered people to acquire the Macedonian/Greek way of living. Rather he incorporated the best from all the cultures, enriching the world in a way that had never happened before.

Legend said whoever unraveled or solved the puzzle of the Gordian Knot would become the ruler of the world. For Alexander that challenge must have been right up his alley. He approached the problem by thinking outside the box. Where others had tried to find a way to unravel it, Alexander simply whipped out his sword and hacked the knot to pieces!

            

All of us have moments of feeling tangled up inside. Maybe it's life problems, maybe it's plot lines. This is when a little mental imaging might help. Picture Alexander’s sword in your hands. Picture your problem as a tangled mess. Picture yourself wielding that sword of his and hacking that tangle into small manageable pieces.

            

Most times there should be a relaxation of tension. The problem may not have been solved, but it is a way to begin the process of opening yourself up to thinking outside the box. It's a way of helping you see smaller solutions to smaller problems. It's a way of not looking at the HUGE monster in front of you and instead seeing a mouse. Or if mice bother you, seeing an ant.

Do you ever use imagery to relax? Do you have a favorite Greek hero or myth?

Insecure Writer's Support Group

The brainchild of Alex Cavanaugh, the 
purpose of the Insecure Writer's Support Group is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting is the first Wednesday of every month.

You can sign up HERE.

***

This is my second time to participate. I would have been here last month, but health issues got in the way.

I bet a lot of people are doing NaNo this month which means there may not be as many visitors to our blogs as usual. So let's not get insecure about that!

I'll tell you what I'm insecure about. I'm right on the edge... I mean I'm like THIS CLOSE to self-publishing my book ANANSI AND COMPANY.

I've had wonderful help getting him ready from many different people.

Anne Gallagher has answered every question I could think of and then some.

Adrienne Saldivar did the incredible cover and stunning illustrations.

Nicole Zoltack  helped with line editing.

L. Diane Wolfe helped with formatting.

And these four FABULOUS PEOPLE have given me the most wonderful endorsements anyone could ask for:

C. Lee McKenzie, Joy Campbell, Angela Ackerman and Robyn Campbell.

Everyone has told me the stories are great. They've been nothing but encouraging.

So... how could I possibly still feel insecure? Take it from me, a perennial introvert, I do. I have sometimes felt so insecure, so afraid, that I've thought about chucking the whole project.

But I've plowed/am plowing through the insecurities because on a blog somewhere I read, "You doubt because you care." And because Hillel the Elder said, "If not now, when?"

Soon, my faithful Random Followers, Anansi will make his debut to the world.