Trisha Sugarek's Blog, page 90
April 24, 2014
'My momma always said, 'Life is Like a Box of Chocolates'....or words (part 6)
In case you haven't noticed...I'm a word junkie! I've been collecting more words ......... these are obscure and have no relation to any message I am sending out....I was just fascinated by how they sound...and not like anything in their meaning.
Asynchronous: sending data in one direction. Relating to or using an electronic communication method that sends data in one direction.
We know this as IM or instant messaging.
Pastiche: something (such as a piece of writing, music, etc.) that imitates the style of someone or something else. On the play ground we called this 'copy-cat'.
zaftig : with a full-figured body. A woman, a wine or a boat.
panoply: a large and impressive range of things.
exquisite example
chiaroscuro: the use of light and shade in paintings and drawings or the effect produced by this. Could describe the use of shadings in a story.
Puerile: childish, relating to or characteristics of childhood
Teach me a new word and I'm a happy writer!!!
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DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS!
In addition to my twice weekly blog I also feature an interview with another author once a month. So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create! Dean Koontz just granted me an interview and will be featured here this spring!
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April 22, 2014
Haiku Poetry and How to Write it! (part 2)
Pen & Ink by Trisha Sugarek
In Japan the Samurai/poets would frequently write Haiku before battle. Death poems were considered a necessity, graceful, natural, and emotionally neutral, in accordance with the teachings of Buddha.
Like a rotten log
half buried in the ground
my life, which has not flowered,
comes to this sad end.
Minamoto Yorimasa 1104-1180
Samurai Song © T.Sugarek
delicate blossom
rests in the still gnarled hand
bruised petals weep tears
weary eyes open
tiny cuts, the body bleeds
peace still years away
sun rise breaks the hill
heralds another battle
draw your sword and charge
( Three sets, three lines each. First line = 5 syllable, second line = 7 syllables, third line = 5 syllables) Traditionally, some reference to nature should be included.
Original pen, brush & ink by Trisha Sugarek
Farewell in the Rain ©
rain drips through the trees
kissing soft eyebrows and skin
overflowing eyes
tongue steals a rain drop
from the beloved’s ripe cheek
or was it a tear
goodbye soaked in the rain
farewell cries the broken heart
more tears rain drops blend
When I first starting writing this timeless style of poetry, I would very often write the poem first, not worrying about too many words/syllables. Then I would edit and pare it down to its simplest form. Now, I do tend to think, dream and write a poem in Haiku style. That will come.
Featured in her book, The World of Haiku
Try it! If you would like, send me your efforts and I will publish your Haiku on my blog (with full credit to you, of course)
For more about Haiku and how to create it click here
Haiku posted here is by blogger, Trisha Sugarek
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DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS!
In addition to my twice weekly blog I also feature an interview with another author once a month. So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!
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April 18, 2014
Writers Must be Multi-Taskers!
Like so many other prolific writers (that I’ve interviewed) we are multi-taskers. And if we aren’t naturally, we learn pretty quick that we 
should be. As I finished writing the last few pages of ‘The Angel of Murder’, the story line for the next book was rattling around in my head. I edited book 4 one last time and published it. I then immediately sent it to my narrator/producer to begin the audio-book. This also requires my time as I listen to and edit each chapter.
'Sugarek had barely released her newest book in the World of Murder series entitled ‘The Angel of Murder’ when she was already deeply into the plot of her next one. A famous chef-judge on a successful cooking show has been murdered. Detectives O’Roarke and Garcia have a cold case dumped on them in spite of O’Roarke’s vehement insistence, “We don’t do cold cases!”
Follow the two murder cops behind the scenes and onto the TV set of a wildly popular cooking competition where the suspects are plentiful and the case is three years cold.'
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DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS!
In addition to my twice weekly blog I also feature an interview with another author once a month. So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!
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April 17, 2014
"No Problem", I Cringe Every Time I Hear It!
Good manners are either disappearing altogether or are being bastardized by pop culture. What's with the response, 'No problem' when I thank someone?
As long as I've been alive courtesy dictated that when you/they said ..... 
Then you/they would reply, 'You're welcome'.
In the past few years 'you're welcome' has been replaced with 'no problem'. (cringe)
'You're welcome' says 'I was glad to do it', 'you are welcome to the (whatever) I did for you', 'I was happy to be of service'.
'No problem' (cringe) implies to me that maybe it was a problem but 'I've been hired to say, no problem'. That it was a little problem but manners dictate that I tell you it was no problem. You are a problem and I'm just too polite to say so. I ask you... Is it just me?
Oh, sure, people....most people anyway...say 'thank you' when and where appropriate. But for me, I miss the response, 'You're welcome'. It's 
friendly, and sincere and sounds elegant.......instead of a grunted 'no problem'.
FYI: We don't have to conform to pop culture and the laziness of using language incorrectly. Let's keep saying 'You're welcome".....maybe it will become a trend.......good manners, proper grammar, elegant language... A TREND....what a novel idea!!!!
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DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS!
In addition to my twice weekly blog I also feature an interview with another author once a month. So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!
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April 15, 2014
Ten Reasons Why Writing is Good for You
Happened to Stumbled Upon This Great List of why Writing and Creating is good for you! As if we didn't already know!
Creativity has been proven to have positive effects on health, self-esteem and vitality
Writing is good for your brain, creates a state similar to meditation
Writing hones your powers of observation, giving you a fuller experience of life
Writing hones your powers of concentration and attention, which is more fractured than ever thanks to technology and TV
Writing connects you with others through blogging, writing groups, live readings, and self-publishing outlets
Through writing we preserve stories and memories that may otherwise be lost
Writing entertains you and others, and having fun is an important part of good health
Writing strengthens your imagination, and imagination is key to feeling hope and joy
Writing helps heal and process wounds and grief, clearing them out
Life is too short not to do what you enjoy
Compliments of Jordan E. Rosenfeld "I have a simple philosophy in all that I do: “Practice. Polish. Persist.” Make your writing life into an ongoing, deep writing practice that can survive the test of time, discouragement and change. Never stop trying to become better and polish your work, learn new things, take classes and feed both your muse and your craft. But what will set you apart is your persistence.
Don’t give up."
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DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS!
In addition to my twice weekly blog I also feature an interview with another author once a month. So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!
To receive my posts sign up for my On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!
April 10, 2014
Interview with Lee Goldberg, best selling author (Part two)
Lee with Janet Evanovich
Lee Goldberg: ' I am an ex-Navy SEAL, freelance Sexual Surrogate and a professional Pierce Brosnan impersonator. Okay, that's not true. But I want this biography to be really exciting, so pay attention. If things bog down, I've been instructed to add a car chase or some explicit sex.Here's the real story. I writes books and television shows. My mother wanted me to be a doctor, and my grandfather wanted me to go into the family furniture business. Instead, I put himself through UCLA as a freelance journalist.'
The Interview with Lee (part 2)
Q. and the all important: What does the process of going from "no book" to "finished book" look like?
A. That's such a broad question, it would take a book to answer it. But in simple terms for me, it looks like a 400 page manuscript printed out on my desk...and lots of empty diet coke cans in my recycle bin.
Q. Where/when do you first discover your characters ?
A. . The characters come first, the story comes next. You can't tell a story without the characters. Story is character.
Lee with Gene Hackman
Q. What inspired your story/stories ?
A. I have no idea. What I can say is that my story process usually begins with a clever, fun, interesting, scary, unusual, perplexing conflict of some kind that my characters get into.
Q. Have you? Or do you want to write in another genre`?
Lee with Barry Eisler
A. On TV, I've written cop shows, doctor shows, lifeguard shows, monster shows, just about everything. Bookwise, I like writing crime novels. But I've also written a horror novel (The Dead Man"), an epic thriller ("The Walk") and a western of sorts (Mr. Monk In Trouble, half of which takes place in the 1800s).
Q. Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know?
A. The rumors that I am a hermaphrodite are not true.
Click here to read Part 1 of Interview
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DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS!
In addition to my twice weekly blog I also feature an interview with another author once a month. So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!
To receive my posts sign up for my On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!
April 8, 2014
Interview with best selling Author, Lee Goldberg (part 1)
I first met Lee while publishing my interview with Janet Evanovich. He recently co-wrote The Chase with Janet. His two careers, novelist and TV writer, merged when he wrote the eight books in the Diagnosis Murder series of original novels, based on the hit CBS TV mystery that he also wrote and produced. He followed that up by writing fifteen bestselling novels based on Monk, another TV show that he worked on. So I was delighted when Lee agreed to be interviewed.
Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing? (please upload a photo/s of your shed, room, closet, barn….)
A. I have an office in my house where I write surrounded by books and James Bond posters (I alternate the powers every month or so). But I can, and do, write just about anywhere.
Q. Do you have any special rituals when you sit down to write? (a neat work space, sharpened #2 pencils, legal pad, cup of tea, glass of brandy, favorite pajamas, etc.)
A. I usually have a Diet Coke within easy reach. Other than than, I usually begin by re-reading whatever I wrote the night before and rewriting that.
Q. What is your mode of writing? (long hand? Pencil? Computer? Etc.)
A.These days I write on a MacBook Pro, but every now and then I'll write out a scene in a notebook by hand...but I have to retype it fast or I won't be able to make any sense out of it. My handwriting has always been bad, but has been worse since an accident I had a few years ago that severely injured my right arm.
Q. Do you have a set time each day to write or do you write only when you are feeling creative?
My work space
A. I write all day, but i do my best work between 8 pm and 2 am.
Q. What’s your best advice to other writers for overcoming procrastination?
A. Look at your mortgage bill.
Q. Do you ‘get lost’ in your writing and for how long?
A. I do...and it can last for hours. I sit down at 8 pm and next thing I know it's 2 am
Q. Who or what is your “Muse” at the moment?
A. I find that watching an episode of JUSTIFIED or reading Robert B. Parker's early Spensers is like listening to great music and picking up the beat. It gets me revved up to write.
Q. When did you begin to write seriously?
Lee with Michael Connelly
A. You'll laugh, but I have been writing since first or second grade. My Mom framed a piece of paper where I wrote, in crayon, "I like to tell stories."
Q. How long after that were you published?
A. My first novel, .357 Vigilante by "Ian Ludlow," was published when I was in college.
Q. What makes a writer great?
A. A good imagination and a strong voice.
Lee with Joseph Wambaugh
Don't Miss Part 2 this Thursday, April 10th.
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DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS!
In addition to my twice weekly blog I also feature an interview with another author once a month. So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!
To receive my posts sign up for my On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!
April 7, 2014
'The Angel of Murder', Newest Book in the mystery series Available now!
Book 4 in this chilling, surprising mystery series is now available on the author's web site and at www.amazon.com.
Murder cops, O’Roarke and Garcia have a serial killer on their hands in Book 4 of The World of Murder series. The bodies of children, dressed for communion, are turning up in all five boroughs of New York City and there are no suspects. To complicate their investigation, a private detective has been hired by one of the families to find one of the missing girls. In spite of all their efforts, O’Roarke and Garcia watch as their case goes cold. Who is this monster and when will he strike again?
REVIEW: ‘As with previous investigations in 'The World of Murder' titles, readers are also in the dark about the perp's identity, and are given just as many clues as the detectives on who the murderer could be. This approach in “The Act of Murder” keeps readers interested, capturing attention first through probing the emotionally charged personality of an abusive director and then by offering a series of clues that embrace the essence of a murder mystery puzzle along with insights into motivations on all sides.
Of course crack detectives O'Rourke and Garcia would be chosen to oversee such a high-profile case. As chapters progress, murder mystery fans are drawn into an ever-complex, changing story that holds not just too many perps, but many twists and turns of plot. The story marches deftly to a gripping, unpredictable courtroom conclusion, involving murder mystery fans every step of the way and creating directions that change at a moment's notice in a winning recommendation for even the most seasoned murder mystery fan.’ ~~ Midwest Book Review
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April 6, 2014
Don't Miss my Interview with Lee Goldberg, Author/TV Producer
Tuesday, April 8th I will post my interview with Author/TV Producer Lee Goldberg. He is the author of the wildly popular television series "Monk" . In addition he has written dozens of novels.
'Goldberg broke into television with a freelance script sale to Spenser: For Hire. Since then, his TV writing & producing credits have covered a wide variety of genres, including sci-fi (seaQuest), cop shows (Hunter, The Glades), martial arts (Martial Law), whodunits (Diagnosis Murder, Nero Wolfe), the occult (She-Wolf of London), kid's shows (R.L. Stine's The Nightmare Room), T&A (Baywatch, She Spies), comedy (Monk) clip shows (The Best TV Shows That Never Were) and total crap (The Highwayman, The New Adventures of Flipper).' (excerpt from his bio)
This is a funny and talented guy. Don't Miss this two part Interview!
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DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS!
In addition to my twice weekly blog I also feature an interview with another author once a month. So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!
To receive my posts sign up for my On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!
April 3, 2014
A word Deserving of Its Own Post! 'Crapper'
Anyone who has been in the military or has lived with a military man has heard the crude slang, 'Crapper' for 'toilet'. "I gotta use the crapper." "I'm in the crapper!" "I gotta take a crap". You might be asking, Okay, Trish, why are you writing about toilets? Because I love the origin of words and the research is so much fun.
Did you know that there was a man named 'Crapper' and he was a plumber? Who owned a plumbing company in the 1800's in England?
I was reading a wonderful mystery 
recently that gave credit to Thomas Crapper for the unique flower-patterned wash basin and the porcelain toilet fixture. I was certain that the slang 'crapper' that graces our language, must have originally referred to the inventor of the toilet, Mr. Thomas Crapper, Esq., plumber to kings! But, alas.....I was wrong...
The flushing toilet was invented by John Harrington in 1596. Joseph Bramah of Yorkshire patented the first practical water closet in England in 1778. George Jennings in 1852 also took out a patent for the flush-out toilet. In a time when bathroom fixtures were barely spoken of, Crapper heavily promoted sanitary plumbing and pioneered the concept of the bathroom fittings showroom.
It has often been claimed in popular culture that the slang term for human bodily waste, "crap", originated with Thomas Crapper because of his association with lavatories. The most common version of this story is that American servicemen stationed in England during World War I saw Crapper's name on cisterns and used it as army slang, i.e. "I'm going to the crapper". The word crap is actually of Middle English origin; and predates its application to bodily waste. Its most likely etymological origin is a combination of two older words, the Dutch krappen: to pluck off, cut off, or separate; and the Old French crappe: siftings, waste or rejected matter.
Thomas Crapper was a plumber who founded Thomas Crapper & Co in London. Contrary to widespread misconceptions, Crapper did not invent the flush toilet. He did, however, do much to increase the popularity of the toilet, and developed some important
related inventions, such as the ballcock (the little flush thingy that fills your toilet tank). He was noted for the quality of his products and received several royal warrants (highly sought after approval from the king).
In the 1880s, Prince Edward (later Edward VII) purchased his country seat of Sandringham House in Norfolk and asked Thomas Crapper & Co. to supply the plumbing, including thirty lavatories with cedarwood seats and enclosures, thus giving Crapper his first Royal Warrant. The firm received further warrants from Edward as king and from George V both as Prince of Wales and as king.
(Courtesy of Wikipedia) 
The Crapper has come a long way !!!! And I'll bet the next time you sit down you will better appreciate the history of your toilet aka crapper!
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DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS!
In addition to my twice weekly blog I also feature an interview with another author once a month. So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!
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