K.D. Sarge's Blog, page 70

How To Get KD to Spend More Time in the Kitchen?

Chalkboard cabinets, of course. As long as I'm not writing smut.

Recycling Bikes and Building Pride

My friend took me to the awesomest place to buy a bike today. I'd been hoping to get the kid a new bike. The old one was her first bike, far beneath her now especially in its purple and pink. So since last year's adventures with my bike informed me that I didn't know half as much about bikes as I thought I did, I enlisted my friend Rochelle. She has two bikes that live in her dining room and see far more use than her dining room table does.

Our first stop was a traditional bike shop. I'd set a budget of $200, knowing that was going to limit the selection but hoping we could find something decent. Rochelle drove us to the nearest shop, though she didn't think we'd find what we needed there, and she was right. Cheapest bike on the floor was $279.

Rochelle carefully sounded me out on the idea of a used bike instead. I'm a firm believer in recycling (and in not paying full price) so I was amenable so long as we could find a good one.

We're an education center, not a traditional bike shop.

She took me to bicas. Bicycle Inter-Community Action and Salvage. It is the most brilliant place I've been in some time. Here's the entrance‡:

Yes, under that awning and down the ramp. It's in a basement. You may not find that exciting, but we live in Tucson. Very few buildings have basements. The child said she'd never been in a basement before, and she might be right. What made it even more awesome is it's a basement under a warehouse that would almost certainly be standing empty, ugly, and decrepit without this awesome charity under it. It's right in what was the industrial part of downtown. Trains went by some six times while we were there, rumbling the cement under our feet.

Walking down the ramp is walking into a different reality. bicas operates an open shop, which means that at certain times, you can go and pay them $4 an hour (never more than $12 a day) for the use of their shop and their tools. I knew none of this when I walked in–we were just looking for a used bike. Even Rochelle, who had been there a few times, didn't know how truly awesome the place is.

Bike parts are everywhere, most neatly sorted and labeled. Crates of pedals, racks of frames and tires and forks, hanging art of bicycle chains…like this.

That's a rack of front forks there, next to a column hung about with chains. The columns are too big for me to reach around, and painted with numbers so it's easy for an experienced worker to tell a newbie where to find something. The shopping cart is full of seats. Off to the right where you can't see are crates on crates of other pieces. Reggae was playing (loudly) and people were working and talking. Not what you expect when you walk into a bike store.

What I really loved, though, was at least half the bike-mechanics were women. There was a pretty bohemian-dressed girl, hands black with grease, working on a bike with a big smile. A woman with dreadlocks, barefoot and pregnant, sorted parts–and believe me, you would not want to make a joke about her state to her. She wasn't particularly large, but I had the instant impression she could so kick my ass if I tried to condescend. (Not that I would! I can put a bike together when it comes in a box. I cannot build a bike.) A neatly-dressed woman showed up at some point, her equally-nicely dressed daughter in tow, to work on a bike.

We found a bike. Of a line of twenty-some refurbished and "As Is" bicycles (meaning their mechanics hadn't looked at them closely, but they seemed okay to sell) one stood out immediately, a nicely-framed mountain-bike, scuffed but not abused, with the awesome price of $99.

They let the child take it out for a ride. They even loaned her a helmet.

She was in love by the time she got back. Rochelle pointed out we weren't quite ready to buy–the pedals were not in great shape, and the bike had no reflectors. How much more would that cost? How long would it take to get someone to help us with that?

Here's where it gets awesome. The gentleman helping us–meaning he'd wander by every few minutes to see if we needed anything we couldn't find–pointed to the proper crates and told the child to go find what she needed. We dug through a crate of pedals and found two that seemed good, but when she took them to the bike, the man showed her they were too small for the axle. (Sprocket? I forget the terms.) We found two more, but we weren't paying enough attention and got two right-side pedals. Child came back and kicked both me and Rochelle out of the crate to find what she needed herself.

And she did. She found the pedals and Rochelle approved them, so the child took her pedals to her bike-to-be, and the man showed her how to attach them.

I tell you, the girl was hooked. I found her an apron so she'd stop wiping her hands on her pants. Rochelle found her four reflectors, but two weren't good enough. Back into the parts she went, and again we were not allowed to help. She found two reflectors she wanted, but neither had the bolts still attached.

The child dove into the coffee can full of small parts to find what she needed.

All in all, we spent over two hours in that basement, Rochelle and I wandering around and looking at things while the child searched and worked.

↑ This is the fix-a-flat station, with instructions.

This is an awesome bike they use in parades, I'm told. ↓



Here's a picture from outside, showing bicas' blank warehouse past.



Here's a cool shack made of bicycle art.

So, yeah. For two hours, my ADD Adventure Girl had laser focus to get her bike the way she wanted it. Miss "I don't know how do it for me" did it all herself. Miss Know-it-All† took advice and help from everyone in the shop (except me. Of course.) When we left, paying only the original $99 despite the extra parts and tons of advice, the child was the one who put it in the car. She got it out too, and ran for her helmet to get a ride in before it got dark.

She's so proud of herself for the work she did. She really enjoyed the atmosphere of the shop, and the attitudes of those around her. She wants to donate her old bike to them, and can't wait till I sign her up for the Basic Maintenance course. She wants to take the Build A Bike workshop too.

Pride and enthusiasm are nothing rare for her. It's the focus of two hours of dirty, unfamiliar work spent getting her bike exactly the way she wanted it that gives me hope. Maybe at last we've found something that can hold her, that can ground her and give her a place to start in learning the concentration and persistence she so desperately needs.

We'll see. In the meantime she has a bike that she loves and takes great pride in, and we have a new place to gush about.

[should be a pic here]

So where's the picture of the new bike? I couldn't get one. I wasn't allowed near her as she worked, and when we got it home, she was gone till dark fell.

I'm not complaining.

†Yes, I realize these descriptors are contradictory. So is she.

‡All pictures taken with my cellphone. Don't judge that new camera I like to rave about.

No Class, Just Education

For today, my school went all out. Teachers, staff, the community–we came together to offer our students a day of learning and fun.

We had a WWII vet (a fascinating story-teller!) sharing his experiences. We had traditional Korean drummers. We had a Buddhist monk in yellow, from Thailand. We had Afghan people to talk about Afghanistan, and Nepali to talk about Nepal. We had people teaching origami and leading the kids in karaoke, and many, many more activities based on our global studies for this semester, Asia.

And I had parent after parent calling to ask if it was true that there were "no classes today."

At first I was mystified. "Yes, we have school today."

"No, I mean–it's just a field day, right?"

"No…there are some outside activities (Did you know badminton apparently comes from China?) but we have a lot going on inside too, and besides, it's a lovely day."

"But there are no classes?"

"…students will spend the day with their 1st period teacher as they move through the activities."

"But they won't be learning anything?"

"Uh…"

"I mean, it won't affect her grade if she doesn't come to school?"

"Are you kidding me? I mean…no, I don't imagine there will be a test on anything presented today, but it's an amazing opportunity. We have so many incredible things going on–"

"Okay, well, she doesn't feel like coming today, so I'm excusing her. She'll be in tomorrow."

"…thank you?"

I work at a great school. From our inspired principal on down to the night custodian who shines our old water fountains to a blinding brilliance, we care about students and giving them the best education we can, even as our budget is cut and cut again to make up for the foolishness of legislators.

Even from that dedicated bunch, today was an achievement. We had so much wonderful stuff going on there today. You couldn't throw a paper airplane without hitting a distinguished and interesting guest. The kids in attendance were having a fantastic time while their entire world was opened wide. This is what education is to me. It's not about facts, it's about people, and opening our minds to what can be.

I love learning. I was so jealous of the kids today, who got to be out there talking to these people, doing these things. I think I owe that to a few inspiring teachers in my life–teachers who managed to open my eyes (somewhat) though they never had the chance to do for me what my school accomplished today. I think of the love of learning we could have inspired in some absent kid today, and I want to cry.

Any damned fool can teach to the test, people. We want to give your kids an education. Can we get just a little help?

It's My Birthday

And I'm sharing the love!

So here's the deal. Want a digital copy of Knight Errant? It's 99 cents on Amazon. Even if you don't have a Kindle, the software is free to download. I have it on my netbook and like it a lot.

Want a physical copy? Well, you could buy it for $7.99† from Amazon (be sure the price has gone down before you click–at this writing it hasn't), or…

Or you could leave a comment here to win one of the two signed copies I'll be giving away.

That's right, here on this blog post you're reading now. How hard is that? You can say "first!" even if you're not. You can say "comment!" You can recite poetry or tell me about your ingrown toenail. As long as you comment on this post and leave me an email address (I don't think you can comment without doing so, but I want to be clear here), you'll be entered.

Some Rules

Drawing will be held February 28th, by the method of my asking a mIRC gameserve to roll a properly-shaped die twice.
I can ship to Canada, Australia–places not too terribly expensive from the U.S. If you live in Tajikistan, I'm not sure.
No, you can't win both books, even if the gameserve says you did. In the event of a duplicate roll, I'll get another number.

Also, I still have some bookmarks left, so if tell me if you'd like to get one in the event that you don't win a book. I have a fine-point Sharpie to sign them with and everything!

Did I cover everything? I sure hope so! Now–make my birthday awesome! Win my book!

†Edited to correct. Amazon said I could price it lower, but when I went to see why it hadn't gone down, the auto-text-flashy-thingy said I couldn't.

‡Edited again because that sneaky Kas found a loophole! You can enter up to three times. And to sweeten the odds just a bit more–I'll give away three books instead of two.

Just Fade Away

The time has come to say good-bye to an old friend. I am saddened by the retirement of my dear friend, my close companion, my keyboard.

Yes, it's time. The keyboard I have had since…well, I'm not really sure how long. I think I got it with my first Dell. I think it's that old. It certainly looks it. The paint is worn off some of the letters, the bouncy is long gone, and even the little bumps on F and J have worn down. Twice replaced by daubs of nail polish, even, and worn smooth again.

So. Welcome the new keyboard, seen here under the old keyboard. (Yes, my desk is a mess. It happens.)

I won't forget you, old keyboard. I will, in fact, stick you in the box new keyboard came in and hide you in my closet as fall-back, just in case new keyboard cannot stand up to the kind of use you so gracefully endured.

You think I kid? Look at this.

K is worn partly off, L completely gone (I use Dvorak, so that's actually T and N worn off). Half the space bar–I generally space with my right thumb–worn smooth, the other half dusty and barely used. (Once when my right thumb was injured, I tried to teach myself to use the other. It was awkward and hampering and I reverted as soon as I could, though I meant to keep it up.)

That keyboard saw a lot of use. This entire blog–seven years and more. Ten novels. Several novel-length fanfics. Forum posts and emails and a whole f*ckton of chat silliness. (Sorry, but that is the correct unit of measure.)  Some ten thousand tweets.

Farewell, faithful friend. Rest easy, but be ready. I may summon you again.

Taming the Dreaded First Scene

So you're at the very beginning. The top of a blank page. It's so hard! You want to open strong, you want to hook your reader, but you don't want to jump in too fast and leave them in the dust…

Lots of people will tell you what not to do. Don't start with your character waking up, for instance. Agents and editors have seen this so many times, and apparently are intensely weary of it. Starting with back-story is out, starting with description is dulls-ville, starting with a prologue is usually a bad plan, dialogue can be tricky, for heaven's sake don't start with a dream…what's left?

Enough with the do-not's. Where are the how-to's?

Blake Snyder is pretty good with those, for the record. I recommend his Save the Cat! highly.

In explaining the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet, Snyder writes that the opening image is our chance to meet the hero in their normal world. It's a "before" picture, to show us where she is at the beginning of her journey. It should also, Snyder believes, be the opposite of the final image, bookending the story by showing how the lead has grown.

My view on writing advice is that if you like it, take the advice. If you don't (and you're sure the reason isn't just your ego rejecting the idea that you could be making that mistake), ignore it. I like this advice. It rings true for me. I think of favorite movies like Lethal Weapon and Die Hard and Aliens (judge me, I don't care) and I can see it.

Don't tell me what the first image of Lethal Weapon is, I know. But the first one I remember on my own is Mel Gibson mourning his wife and almost pulling the trigger to join her. The last image? He walks out of the darkness across Danny Glover's lawn and into a family dinner.

Die Hard–Bruce Willis is alone and out of his element, nervous about flying. Last image? He's with his wife, going home.

Aliens–Ripley wakes from a nightmare (oh look, started with a dream, and it's very effective). Last image? She tells Newt it's safe to sleep.

Bringing the story full-circle (only ending on a higher level–think of a spiral) creates resonance. Resonance is that feeling when you finish a good book–sorrow it's done mixed with satisfaction with the ending (not necessarily happiness!) and joy in a great journey compeleted. Even if it's not a quest book.

The first scene reinforces the last, and helps cement it in your mind.

So I'm working on incorporating this. I didn't do as well as I'd like in Knight Errant. I'm working on doing it better in His Faithful Squire. In later books I started trying to do it before I'd read Save the Cat! which is one thing that makes me thing he's onto something–it must be a good idea, since I'd already started fumbling towards it. While Joss' book does begin with him waking up (I swear, there's a dead body by the end of the page), it's in the bed of a one-night stand. At his starting point, Joss spends his free time pleasing only himself. He's in a cause, but not part of it, and those who care about him are held at a distance. By the end he's made a commitment.

The "opposite" aspect is very helpful if you don't have your story mapped out yet. If your novel idea is for the ending, you can reflect your idea and find your beginning. And vice versa. Another important fact…here, let me whisper it to you, because it seems it's a big secret…you can write your first scene later. Go ahead and start with back-story. Write thirty pages of Jim Bob dragging himself out of his mattress on the floor and into the mildewed shower. This is stuff you need to know anyway, so why not get it figured out?

It's when you're editing, as I am, that you need to figure out that first scene. More than once I've edited my way through, made sure I was happy with the last scene, and then gone back and tweaked the first one to oppose it.

It's not brain surgery. You don't need to do it right the first time.

Does your favorite book or movie come full circle? What do you think would have ended better (or less well) if they'd done it?