Every month a question will be posed that may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Remember, the question is optional. You can write about anything that relates to your writing journey.
Let's give a warm welcome to our co-hosts: PJ Colando, Jean Davis, Lisa Buie Collard, and Diedre Knight!
This month's question is: November is National Novel Writing Month. Have you ever participated? If not, why not? I have participated, back when it was still new. I did it twice and finished both times. The novels I wrote languish in their files because 1) they need a lot of work and 2) I'm lazy. One is a crazy fantasy with lots of humor that's kind of a combo of Oz and Disc World. The other is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, West Indian style. Both have potential, but both need soooOOOOoooo much work...
Origins: a recurring post in which I delve into the history of a word or phrase.
Last month is was about pie, so it's seems only right that this month it be about turkey.
Back in the 1540s the Portuguese imported the guinea fowl from Madagascar and it arrived in Europe via... you guessed it... Turkey. But wait, guinea fowls were not called turnkeys.
The North American bird we call the turkey was first domesticated by the Aztecs and introduced to Spain by the Conquistadores. Because North Africa was under Ottoman (Turkish) rule and because it looked similar to the guinea fowl, by the time the North American bird arrived in Europe in the 1550s, the name "turkey" was starting to stick. However, the wild undomesticated bird arrived in England from the American colonies in the 1530s and was already becoming a popular main course at Christmas by the 1570s..jpg)
So there you have it, from Madagascar to Mexico we get look-alike guinea fowls called turkeys.
LoanWord: A word adopted from a foreign language with little or no modification. Today's loanwords are Arabic and Turkish/Persian in origin. All are very familiar and rather pretty, too. Arabic: Safari, Lemon, Admiral, Alcohol, Algebra, Sofa, Zero, Candy, Caravan, Shawl, Alchemy, Cotton, Zenith, Hazard, Apricot, Giraffe. Turkish/Persian: Sherbet, Talc, Tapestry, Sandal, Scarlet, Bazaar, Carafe, Percale.
Turkish Delight Dribble
She lounged on the sofa, sipping her alcoholic beverage, and nibbled on Turkish Delight. The shawl draped about her shoulders warded off the chill. Some idiot offered her a dish of sherbet. In a scarlet rage, she threw her sandal at the offender.
***
Being Thankful
Today I am thankful that we've had some rain. Not much, almost three of inches, but it's been heavenly.
We also had our first serious cold front, dropping into the mid 30s at night, and staying in 40s during the day.
What are you thankful for? Have you participated in NaNo? Are you ready for the holidays?
I have never done NaNo. I am not an outliner and I'd be afraid what I ended up with would be such a mess it wouldn't be fixable. Happy Thanksgiving, Bish. Your bottom picture looks like the pair of turkeys that have been at the bottom of my driveway lately, eating smashed hickory nuts!
ReplyDeleteThe turkey certainly got around.
ReplyDeleteMy first two NaNo novels needed a lot work too. I will say that they go smoother the more you do it though so if you ever give it another try... ;)
ReplyDeleteHopefully you go back to those stories someday.
ReplyDeleteJust think, the turkey was nearly our national bird. That would've made Thanksgiving really awkward...
That's great that you finished two manuscripts during NaNo. Maybe they wouldn't need as much revision as you think.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you're doing other things now, not that you're lazy! Rain? Goodness. Now that's good news. Even a few inches helps.
ReplyDeleteI think Nano is as much about letting your creativity flow as it is about getting to 50,000 words.
ReplyDeleteWhen I wrote my first book, I had just missed NaNo, so I decided to do my own in January. And I won! lol 80k And since it was my first book, it REALLY needed work. But a published eventually bought it, so the premise was sound.
ReplyDeleteI want to lounge around and eat Turkish delight for a bit, hee hee!
ReplyDelete