Half-Marathon - Made IT

It was a fun weekend filled with hiking, running, and eating :)

Hope you all had a great weekend too.

Friday Field Trip

I've been in a few critique groups over the years and I've made some good friends and learned a lot along the way but one of the best ways to learn something is to try something new.

So, me and my writings buddies try to take a few writerly field trips every now and then. We have visited French bakeries to flavor our stories with true tastes and smells. We've visited a psychic to learn a little more about ourselves and our characters. We've even planned to visit a couple publishers to see the entire process of production.

So, have you gone on any writing/reading field trips lately? If not, maybe you should. You just might learn a little and enjoy the journey :)

Emotions

Emotions can be good and they can be bad. But one thing's for sure--your book has to provoke them.

Think about it. Your favorite movie, favorite place and yes even your favorite book becomes that favorite because of how you feel watching, reading and being in that place.

And, even action movies/books aren't all adventure. They have to provoke some sort of emotion: maybe fear, excitement or joy. Without emotion your book is dead.

And remember to add a little something from both sides of the coin: good and bad feelings make your story multi-dimensional.

So happy AND sad writing, reading and watching--it's what gives life the spice :)

Word for Wednesday - a Writer's Game

What does the word Nerdjacking mean?

Take a guess.


Then scroll down


Further...


Further....


Further....

Nerdjacking means digressing into extreme and/or unnecessary detail about one’s passion (music, coding, gaming) to an otherwise uninitiated layperson, without awareness or acknowledgement of the listener’s rapidly waning interest or lack of understanding of the subject at hand. (Thanks to Urban Dictionary)

Tip for Tuesday - Word 2007 Tips

Ribbon Shortcuts

Display keyboard shortcut letters: Alt Key
ALT+ the letter underlined in an option: Specific function
Move through ribbon features: Tab key (after you hit the Alt key to display shortcut letters)
Minimize/Maximize Ribbons: Ctrl + F1

The Old Mission

The city of Coeur D'Alene, Idaho grew up around General Sherman's military fort. It's a small city with about 44,000 people but it has a lot to offer.

We visited the Old Mission, which is Idaho's Oldest Standing Building. It used to be known as the Mission of the Sacred Heart. And you can see one of the Priest's paintings of The Sacred Heart displayed in the door.
Many of the better paintings and artwork created by the priests are on display. They are really amazing when you know that the Jesuit Priests cut the hair of their house cat and fashioned their own cat hair paintbrushes to create these paintings.


This beautiful Parish House was the home to five or six Jesuit Priests.

It really makes you imagine the old west when you hear the tales of the Indians and Priests working together and you look outside the front door of the Mission and see the teepee standing on the slope below.
This Mission was built in 1850-53 by members of the Coeur d'Alene Indian Tribe and Catholic Missionaries.


If you're ever in Idaho, this is one site to see.

Earth-Friendly Friday

What might look like an old pile of used lumber to you . . .

Could be something much more than it appears.

You see, my husband loves to reuse old lumber and there was a house being remodeled in the neighborhood. The people were throwing away some good old wood. My husband couldn't bear the sight of all that wonderful old fur flooring going into the landfill. So, what did he do?

He knocked on the door and asked if he could rescue that wood from the dumpster. And he did.

Then he cut off the tongue and groove edge and sanded the wood (notice the scrap pieces inside the garbage can).


Now, he's making a bench out of the free wood and he even made me a couple of planters for my deck.

See what you can do, if you think outside the . . . landfill?