Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 103
May 22, 2016
10 Disney Movie Theories
Ten movie theories that completely change Disney films.
May 19, 2016
What's In a Name?
While I was driving from Atlanta to Minneapolis to help my dad with his house, I passed a couple of wineries. One was called Pheasant Hill and I thought, well, that’s nice. But I’m not a wine drinker and so I didn’t really care that much, and while I kind of filed it away in the memory banks, it was more because I was surprised how many wineries there were along my route.
Things changed when I spotted the Purple Toad Winery. I got all excited then because it was such a cool name. I turned to my dad and said we have to get some of that wine. Like I said, I don’t drink wine. It gives me headaches, even the whites.
This experience made me think of book titles.
A clever book title can go a long way to selling a book. There are some super cool titles out there that make me think, Damn, I wish I’d thought of that!
Sadly, I’m terrible at titles. As much as I love Purple Toad Winery, I would never have thought of it while brainstorming. I’m much more likely to come up with Pheasant Hill as a name, particularly if it’s literally on top of a hill with pheasants around.
Maybe someday my brain will improve.
May 17, 2016
Clutter Slays Me
Recently, I was up in Minnesota to help my dad clean out his house so he can move to Georgia with me. What a tedious and horrible job that is! If you're someone who keeps a lot of things, please consider culling your house out now. Don't leave it for your family to handle for you.
When I moved to Atlanta four years ago, the idea was that my parents would move with me. Only they could not get rid of stuff. As many times as I went up there to help, nothing was accomplished.
Now things have changed and there's no more dallying allowed. My dad was cooperative about getting rid of things, but there was so much of it. So much! We made at least 5 trips to a local charity with my car packed to the gills with stuff. We threw out a ton of paper, literally filling the gigantic recycle bin and even driving over to the recycling center with more. And despite this, you'd never know anything had left the house. That's how full of stuff it was (and still is).
After three weeks of hell, my vacation was over and I had to return home. The clean out did not get finished. We didn't even finish the upstairs let alone touch the basement and there's still the two garages. Gah!
Although it's not optimal, my dad is going to handle the rest. Hopefully, he can get it down without my needing to make another trip up north, but I don't know how he'll manage.
One thing it this experience inspired? I'm ready to get rid of stuff in my house even though I'm not a clutter bug.
When I moved to Atlanta four years ago, the idea was that my parents would move with me. Only they could not get rid of stuff. As many times as I went up there to help, nothing was accomplished.
Now things have changed and there's no more dallying allowed. My dad was cooperative about getting rid of things, but there was so much of it. So much! We made at least 5 trips to a local charity with my car packed to the gills with stuff. We threw out a ton of paper, literally filling the gigantic recycle bin and even driving over to the recycling center with more. And despite this, you'd never know anything had left the house. That's how full of stuff it was (and still is).
After three weeks of hell, my vacation was over and I had to return home. The clean out did not get finished. We didn't even finish the upstairs let alone touch the basement and there's still the two garages. Gah!
Although it's not optimal, my dad is going to handle the rest. Hopefully, he can get it down without my needing to make another trip up north, but I don't know how he'll manage.
One thing it this experience inspired? I'm ready to get rid of stuff in my house even though I'm not a clutter bug.
May 15, 2016
May 12, 2016
Old, Old Story Ideas
Scanning continues. I scanned through a drawer full of story ideas. All written on notebook paper. Most of the ideas are lame beyond belief, but I was pretty young when I jotted them down. A couple of them, though, are still somewhat intriguing and I might mull them over to see if I can do something with them with modifications (of course).
Right now, though, I've started to scan ideas that I've actually done some writing on. Most only have a few pages or maybe a chapter, but some have more. I have one folder sitting in the to-be-scanned pile that probably has a third of the book written.
Despite the fact that I'm anxious to reach it and 1) discover what genre it is and 2) discover if it interests me enough to rewrite and use, I'm determined to go in order. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I'm scared that what's in that file folder will be an embarrassment and I'll have to bury it deep, deep, deep into my hard drive. :-)
Waiting in the wings are stories that are like three-quarters written. I have those in three-ring binders and I'm really not looking forward to scanning those. First, it'll take forever because there are so many pages and second, I'm not sure my hard drive will hold it all. My laptop is more than six years old and has the hard drive size that goes with that kind of age. These stories are probably unsalvageable without a complete rewrite and I'm pretty sure that none of them intrigue me enough to do that. I look at them as learning experiences.
Right now, though, I've started to scan ideas that I've actually done some writing on. Most only have a few pages or maybe a chapter, but some have more. I have one folder sitting in the to-be-scanned pile that probably has a third of the book written.
Despite the fact that I'm anxious to reach it and 1) discover what genre it is and 2) discover if it interests me enough to rewrite and use, I'm determined to go in order. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I'm scared that what's in that file folder will be an embarrassment and I'll have to bury it deep, deep, deep into my hard drive. :-)
Waiting in the wings are stories that are like three-quarters written. I have those in three-ring binders and I'm really not looking forward to scanning those. First, it'll take forever because there are so many pages and second, I'm not sure my hard drive will hold it all. My laptop is more than six years old and has the hard drive size that goes with that kind of age. These stories are probably unsalvageable without a complete rewrite and I'm pretty sure that none of them intrigue me enough to do that. I look at them as learning experiences.
May 10, 2016
Process and Advice
One of the best pieces of writing advice I ever received came from a veteran author right after I sold my first book. She told me that the writing process changes and not to fight to do things the way I'd done them in the past. Basically, the message was go with the flow.
Little did I realize at the time just how much the process would change from book to book. With my first few books, the changes were dramatic. As I wrote more, the differences weren't quite as radical, but they were still there and noticeable. Even now, after being published for fourteen years (gah!), things continue to shift.
Examples would be useful here. My first couple of books were very much seat of the pants projects. As in I had a rough, general idea where I was headed, but nothing more than that. Most of the time I didn't know the ending, I just had a scene farther into the book that I was aiming to reach.
By the time I started working on In the Midnight Hour, things had changed a bit. I'd synopses in the past, kind of a rough sketch of the book, but with Midnight, I started doing something I call Chapter Goals or Scene Goals, depending on how much stuff needed to happen and how quickly. What I did with these goals was when I finished one chapter/scene, I'd sit down with a piece of paper and figure out what needed to happen next. Or what's the goal/purpose of this scene/chapter?
After writing a number of novellas, my process changed subconsciously. I seriously didn't recognize it until I tried to write a full-length story again. Novellas require a spareness because there are so few words available. Now I'm trying to break that habit of brevity.
But despite all these changes that have happened over the years, I've never panicked about them because of the advice I received at the beginning. Process changes. Go with the flow. Wise words.
Little did I realize at the time just how much the process would change from book to book. With my first few books, the changes were dramatic. As I wrote more, the differences weren't quite as radical, but they were still there and noticeable. Even now, after being published for fourteen years (gah!), things continue to shift.
Examples would be useful here. My first couple of books were very much seat of the pants projects. As in I had a rough, general idea where I was headed, but nothing more than that. Most of the time I didn't know the ending, I just had a scene farther into the book that I was aiming to reach.
By the time I started working on In the Midnight Hour, things had changed a bit. I'd synopses in the past, kind of a rough sketch of the book, but with Midnight, I started doing something I call Chapter Goals or Scene Goals, depending on how much stuff needed to happen and how quickly. What I did with these goals was when I finished one chapter/scene, I'd sit down with a piece of paper and figure out what needed to happen next. Or what's the goal/purpose of this scene/chapter?
After writing a number of novellas, my process changed subconsciously. I seriously didn't recognize it until I tried to write a full-length story again. Novellas require a spareness because there are so few words available. Now I'm trying to break that habit of brevity.
But despite all these changes that have happened over the years, I've never panicked about them because of the advice I received at the beginning. Process changes. Go with the flow. Wise words.
May 8, 2016
Are Ancient Grains Really Better For You?
This was surprisingly interesting.
May 5, 2016
Taking Classes From Yale
I love learning new things and I have an eclectic range of interests. Over the weekend, I spent some time exploring iTunes U and found some classes from Yale that sounded interesting. The one that grabbed my interest the most was titled Epidemics in Western Society since 1600. First up was the bubonic plague.
I learned something right off the bat. While I knew the plague had hit Europe more than once in the middle ages, I didn't realize that plague had continued beyond that. In fact, there were outbreaks right up to the 20th century, IIRC.
The class comes in an audio version and a video version. I was using the audio version, but the third lecture on the bubonic plague involved artwork of the time and depictions revolving around the plague, so I'll have to go back and watch the video in order to see the paintings that the professor is talking about.
The plague is a particularly fascinating epidemic to me--I'm not sure why--but I've watched a number of television shows about it. The best of the lot was one I saw on PBS about how a certain gene helped the people who survived.
Waiting in the wings are about three or four more Yale courses. I love that the internet has given me (and anyone else who has access) the opportunity to take classes from universities across the world, especially one like Yale. In the past, I've found other classes online like the class on earthquakes from Berkeley and the ones on geography from Stanford.
The best part? I don't have to do the papers or take the tests. I can just learn without pressure. Seriously cool!
I learned something right off the bat. While I knew the plague had hit Europe more than once in the middle ages, I didn't realize that plague had continued beyond that. In fact, there were outbreaks right up to the 20th century, IIRC.
The class comes in an audio version and a video version. I was using the audio version, but the third lecture on the bubonic plague involved artwork of the time and depictions revolving around the plague, so I'll have to go back and watch the video in order to see the paintings that the professor is talking about.
The plague is a particularly fascinating epidemic to me--I'm not sure why--but I've watched a number of television shows about it. The best of the lot was one I saw on PBS about how a certain gene helped the people who survived.
Waiting in the wings are about three or four more Yale courses. I love that the internet has given me (and anyone else who has access) the opportunity to take classes from universities across the world, especially one like Yale. In the past, I've found other classes online like the class on earthquakes from Berkeley and the ones on geography from Stanford.
The best part? I don't have to do the papers or take the tests. I can just learn without pressure. Seriously cool!
May 3, 2016
Death of a Microwave
I've pretty much hated the microwave that came with the house I bought. It was clearly a builder's special and had a number of annoying features--including a kitchen timer that couldn't be cancelled. That's right, if I accidentally entered 44:00 instead of 4:00 I had to let it run for all 44 minutes. It was ridiculous.
However, as much as I disliked the microwave, I wasn't planning to replace it. I was just going to live with it until it died. Sadly, it chose the worst possible time to kick the bucket--the same month that I bought the scanner.
I was determined to buy a different brand than the one that was already in the house because I hadn't liked any of those appliances. In fact, I hated that dishwasher so much that even though there was nothing wrong with it, I bought a new one that I loved so much more. I began my hunt and discovered that all the other brands had microwaves that were either taller or deeper than my current one, and since it's installed over my stove, I really needed something the same size. Or close to it.
There was literally nothing that was close to the same dimensions except another microwave by the same manufacturer. Sad that I had no other choice, I bought it.
It's been in for about half a day now and it seems to be better than the builder's special I inherited when I bought the house. This one does allow the timer to be cleared for one (Hurrah!) and it has some cool features that I need to learn how to use like the one to steam veggies.
Overall, it might work out. Maybe I hated the other microwave so much because the builder bought the cheapest he could find and maybe the brand itself isn't the problem. Time will tell.
However, as much as I disliked the microwave, I wasn't planning to replace it. I was just going to live with it until it died. Sadly, it chose the worst possible time to kick the bucket--the same month that I bought the scanner.
I was determined to buy a different brand than the one that was already in the house because I hadn't liked any of those appliances. In fact, I hated that dishwasher so much that even though there was nothing wrong with it, I bought a new one that I loved so much more. I began my hunt and discovered that all the other brands had microwaves that were either taller or deeper than my current one, and since it's installed over my stove, I really needed something the same size. Or close to it.
There was literally nothing that was close to the same dimensions except another microwave by the same manufacturer. Sad that I had no other choice, I bought it.
It's been in for about half a day now and it seems to be better than the builder's special I inherited when I bought the house. This one does allow the timer to be cleared for one (Hurrah!) and it has some cool features that I need to learn how to use like the one to steam veggies.
Overall, it might work out. Maybe I hated the other microwave so much because the builder bought the cheapest he could find and maybe the brand itself isn't the problem. Time will tell.
May 1, 2016
How We Know the Earth Isn't Flat
Science is a beautiful thing.
