Tia Silverthorne Bach's Blog, page 97

Kick off your Sunday Shoes

From cheerleading to dancing... I'm really finding my youth these days.

Today's NaBloPoMo prompt:


I have a song in my head most of the time, so this is an easy one. YES! My parents were always telling me to turn the music off and do my homework. Without it, I couldn't focus. Same with writing. A stark, quiet room would be the death of me.
All the Footloose songs have been in my head since I took my preteen to see the remake. But it's the original tunes I can't shake. I love the song where Kevin Bacon is running through the warehouse, and the remake didn't use it. Didn't matter. It was playing in my head during the whole scene (as was Kevin Bacon).
My mother and I are writing a follow up to Depression Cookies , and this time the daughter is heading off to college and experiencing first love. Paula Abdul's Straight Up is constantly in my head when I'm writing those scenes. The lyrics:
Lost in a dreamDon't know which way to goIf you are all that you seemThen baby I'm moving way too slow
I've been a fool beforeWouldn't like to get my love caughtIn the slammin' doorHow about some information--please
(Chorus)Straight up now tell meDo you really want to love me forever oh oh ohOr am I caught in a hit and runStraight up now tell meIs it gonna be you and me together oh oh ohAre you just having fun
Time's standing stillWaiting for some small clueI keep getting chillsWhen I think your love is true
I've been a fool beforeWouldn't like to get my love caughtIn the slammin' doorHow about some information--please
(Chorus)
You are so hard to readYou play hide and seekWith your true intentionsIf you're only playing gamesI'll just have to say--bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye
I've been a fool beforeWouldn't like to get my love caughtIn the slammin' doorAre you more than hot for meOr am I a page in your history-bookI don't mean to make demandsBut the word and the deed go hand in handHow about some information--please
(Chorus)
Sounds like young love and smells like teen spirit to me!
Music, like reading, inspires me to write. After all, songs are just poetry set to music.
What song gets you moving/inspires you?

NaNo Cheerleading: ROW 80 Check In

It's important to be up front, I've never been a cheerleader and fear poetry. Still, I want to be the best darned NaNo cheerleader I can. Today's attempts at a NaNo cheer (particularly for my ROW80 friends taking a stab at it):

You're doing great
out of the gate
Hoping words flow
Go Team Go! 

I promise to keep the cheers coming, which may scare some of the poets out there. I'm even planning a little photo surprise involving my sweet girls and some cheerleading outfits. Anything to help my fellow writers.

I am participating in NaBloPoMo... daily blogging in the spirit of National Novel Writing Month, better known as NaNo. Seeing so many of my fellow writers excited about writing has been encouraging. I wrote 1500 words on my new young adult novel since Sunday, and I'm excited to get it moving along.

I also spent a couple of hours outlining this new idea, Sherry's Tale. It's a working title, but I'm the lady who named my child right after the ultrasound appointment because she (in all three cases) needed a name. I stuck with those names, but I usually call a book something the whole way through only to title it differently in the end. Depression Cookies was Harbor of Disillusion for many years and our original publisher suggested Angst. Ouch!

For my fellow writers, what's your process for deciding on a title? Readers, how much does a title influence your decision to buy/read a book?

Cheerleading is bringing me a lot of joy, so I hope it's helping the NaNo writers. I look forward to hearing everyone's experiences and seeing what writing projects develop.

I'm reading more and more which always has a positive influence on my writing. I just finished The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Amazing! Nonfiction is not usually my choice, but Skloot did an incredible job weaving personal stories and science. A must-read. She inspired me to be a better writer. A complete review should be up this week on Mom in Love with Fiction.

Hope everyone is having a good writing week, NaNo or no. I'll be stopping by to check on you with all my Go-Team-Go spirit!

My Last Meal: Surrounded by Food and Family

Today's NaBloPoMo prompt:

If you knew that whatever you ate next would be your last meal, what would you want it to be?
Food is a subject near and dear to my heart. My best memories are sitting around the kitchen table, reveling in food and family. Still today, we make meal times special. I'm not the cook my mom is, but I try and duplicate the family bonding parts.

Between bites, we talk about our days and play imagination games. One of my favorites... we dump small objects in the middle of the table. Each person picks an object. Then we go around and tell a story using the pieces as a prompt. The last person to go finishes the story. The items can be anything from a penny to a miniature horse or even a beautiful stone.

My last meal would start and end with what's most important... family. Mom would be the cook, no sense in wasting my last meal by having any less.

Appetizer: Sushi (Mom hates sushi, would have to order this)—my favorite, a Mt. Fuji roll (avocado & crab stick inside, grilled salmon with mayo outside)

[image error] Salad: Spring Mix with sliced strawberries, crunchy Chow Mein noodles, and poppy seed dressing

Soup: Chicken-n-Dumplings

Main Meal: Steak, baked potato (butter, sour cream, cheese, and bacon), and fresh green beans cooked in butter & seasonings.

Dessert: Coconut Custard Pie... two slices, why the heck not? And a depression cookie for old time's sake.

After-dinner drink: Hot Sangria

Poor Mom, cooking all day for her daughter's last meal. Although I doubt she'd have it any other way. I'd settle for canned soup and crackers to spend my last meal surrounded by the people I love.

What would be your last meal?

November and Writing: No NaNo, but Writing Just the Same

November and writing have become synonymous with National Novel Writing Month or NaNo as it is affectionately called. So many of my brave writer friends are participating this year. I'm not... but in the spirit of things, my November plans:

* I am going to be the best *rah rah, go team go* cheerleader for all the NaNo writers.
* I will write 750 words a day.
* I am blogging daily with NaBloPoMo.


The theme for NaBloPoMo is "Blogging for blogging's sake" and each day there will be a prompt to answer. I will incorporate these answers into my blogs, but may veer off a bit occasionally depending on my mood (and Wednesday/Sunday ROW80 check ins).

Today's prompt:

What is your favorite part of writing?

Cleansing the soul. Putting everything I can into the creation of characters, story, setting. It's a thrill to see a blank page come to life, an entire world created from nothing but words mixed with imagination.

Life hands us so many pathways, and writing is an excellent tool to work through conflict, questions, choices, fears, anxieties, and so many other emotions. A writer can create characters and put them in any situation. I study people all the time to see how they react to things, a people-watcher from an early age. It's amazing what you can figure out by simply observing.

Now, even when I don't write creatively, I journal. Emotions can be easier to deal with on the page, and letting emotions flow through words can ease the burden or worry.

I must admit, I enjoy the editing phase just as much. The initial outpouring of words is exciting, but fine tuning them to say what you really want... priceless.

Whether you blog, journal, or write stories, what's your favorite part of writing?

Pumpkin Goo and Editing: Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Last night, my neighborhood had a Halloween parade and get-together. After, it was pumpkin carving time. Dad did most of the carving, but the girls cleaned out the pumpkins. Grimaces and shrieks followed, with icky pumpkin goo clinging to their fingers.

[image error] With trepidation, each girl plunged a hand into a pumpkin. The more innards they pulled out, the less they cared about any grossness. They were having fun.

The finished products:


You know you love writing when everything relates back to it. All I kept thinking as I saw them pull out stringy, orange goo... editing. The joy on their faces when all the editing gross stuff was done... priceless. In the end, the finished work was all the mattered.

I enjoy editing, but it's a lengthy, arduous process. Still, without it, a good book isn't possible. Mom and I spent over a year editing Depression Cookies, pulling out handfuls of goo. In the end, we proudly hold up our book and smile.

One more picture. My girls as Athena (goddess of wisdom and war), a vampire princess, and a dark angel:


What's your favorite part of Halloween?

The Results Are In: ROW 80 Check In

I posted my first poll this past Friday. I asked people to tell me what they wanted from author blogs, and the choices were: giveaways, excerpts/sample chapters, writing challenges and rewards, information on the author's future books, and intimate reflections from the author.

I had almost 20 responders (including my Facebook numbers). The results:

Note: Giveaways were 0%, so not included on the graphI found the 0% for giveaways particularly surprising. As a reader, I love giveaways. I read so much, and buying book after book gets expensive. Intimate reflections from the author won by a landslide (84.6%). This made me happy, because that's the focus of our blog.

I should have been clearer about "writing challenges and rewards." I meant the challenges writers face and the rewards of a completed project. I'm wondering now if people thought I meant challenges and rewards for writers. I've loved the writing challenges posed by Rachael Harrie's Platform-Building Campaign, so I can see how people might have read it that way. Just goes to prove... poll results are only as good as the question and answers.

What's your theory as to why giveaways scored 0%? I'm scratching my head over it!

*****
My A Round of Words in 80 Days update:

First of all, is it check in day again really? Why does time always seem to speed up as the year-end approaches?

Writing
Writing with my mom does not lend itself to NaNoWriMo, so I'm sitting out this round. I'm so excited for those who are participating.

In that spirit, my new writing goal will be 750 words a day (I may raise this depending on how I'm doing) on one of my works in progress. Plus, I plan to be a NaNo cheerleader. Wishing all of you luck.

Depression Cookies & Mom in Love with Fiction blogs
Both progressing smoothly. I celebrated 200 posts this week on the DC blog. *woot*

Miscellaneous
I'm adding a new goal here as well... exercise. I've seen so many people incorporating this into their goals. I like accountability, so here goes... a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise 4-5 times per week.

Now, I'm off to check on my fellow ROW80ers. You can check out some great writers here.

Rerun Saturday: Books I Quit and Why

I enjoyed a wonderful day with my family. My initial thought was to leave the blog blank today. But a thought came to me... why not use Saturdays to rerun old posts? The thought: rerun favorites or simply ones people seemed to miss the first time around.

Today I'm rerunning Books I Quit and Why, originally posted July 18, 2011.

***** 
I love to read, and I pride myself on finding redeeming value in most books. After all, it does take courage to put your work out there. Recently I ran across an article by Steve Leveen,
"To help them know when to give up, many professional readers apply the 50-page rule. If the book hasn't grabbed them by then, they give it the heave-ho. Nancy Pearl, the librarian and author of Book Lust, reports that some people take this rule further and subtract a page for every year of age over 50. This way a 75-year old would give a book only 25 pages to prove itself. As readers mature they become quicker and surer judges of what they like."
  [image error] Wow. I guess 50 pages isn't as bad as the 5 pages most agents ask to see. I can't decide on what to eat in five minutes, much less decide on a book in 5 pages. It seems a ridiculous standard. I judge a book by the last 50 pages much more than I do the first. But I've also been known to skip to the last chapter if a book is slow. If the last chapter grabs me, I'll go back and read the whole thing (but I admit to skimming here and there). When I came across my first book in school that I hated but had to finish, my dad gave advice I use to this day: read the first and last sentence of every paragraph and all dialogue. I would never do this with a great book, but it's gotten me through some less than stellar ones. In my life, I have put down three books. I was not compelled to go further. Only three times. The Three: 1. A Year in Provence, by Peter Mayle: Halfway through felt like an eternity. This book managed to bore me to tears with food and scenery. Not an easy task. I didn't give up on Eat, Love, Pray even when I swore I couldn't handle one more page. The food and scenery saved that book. 2. Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas: To be fair, I think this book suffered from all the ones I could not put down during my academic years. I didn't get past page 25. I was expecting an action book, and those I don't wait around for as easily. If action can't grab me, what can? I must admit I have considered trying this one again. It's a classic. 3. Wicked, Gregory Maguire: I get a lot of heat on this one. Let me start by saying I enjoyed Maguire's Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. I wanted to like Wicked, and I love the play. But the book failed to make me care about Elphaba and completely tarnished Glinda. When it entered the absurd (some might say fantasy-land), I was done.  I wish I knew the exact ingredients for a great read. I've described my Five Elements of a Good Read, but it's so subjective. Even my moods can affect how I connect with a book. And notice I said a great read, not a bestseller. Publishing companies predetermine most bestsellers. A bestseller does not in and of itself equate to a great read.  For the flip side, Mom and I listed our favorite reads in the last ten years in an earlier post. Be sure to check it out. Have you ever quit a book? Why?

*****
Addendum: I think my opinion of a book is all about mindset. I originally read Diana Gabaldon's Outlander after the birth of my third child. I got through it, thought it was okay, and moved on. A few years later, everyone seemed to be talking about it. I picked up book two and devoured it and then book three and four (I stalled again at that point).

One of these days, I'm going to attempt to reread all three of the books above. Who knows? I may find something I missed the first time around.

My First Poll: Help with this Blog's Focus

I learn from gathering information. I've never been shy about asking for directions or clarification. I remember a high school teacher who had this quote clipped to her bulletin board:

"There is no stupid question! Except, possibly, a question not asked." Christer Romson
This teacher didn't know the monster she created. I'm a curious person by nature, especially what people are thinking and what drives them to do things. I make my husband crazy with this need-to-know mentality. He's the opposite: the less he knows, the better. Not about all things. He gathers plenty of information at work. But figuring out why our daughter refuses to clean her room, not intrigued at all.

Motivated by curiosity and the desire to focus this blog's purpose, I created my very first poll using Vizu. I'm a bit computer-challenged, so it took me much longer to create than it should, but it's here and I did it.

Online Surveys & Market Research Looking forward to hearing what people have to say. Please add additional comments or ideas below. Have a wonderful weekend!

Where I'm From, Part One: Angela Beach Silverthorne (aka Mom)

If you haven't visited our Websites We Love, listedon the left side bar, please do. There's something for everyone!

One of them, TeachingWhat is Good, I discovered during May's Blogathon. I love the blog and thelady behind it. Kate never ceases to amaze me with her dedication, spirit, and lovefor God and her family. This summer, Kate featured a lovely post, My I AM FROM Poem.I knew I wanted Mom and I to craft our own version of the poem, but the ideagot shuffled around and under stacks of paper until today.

Mom's going first. Please check back next Thursdayfor mine, although please keep in mind Mom's the poet. *****Where I'm From
I am from Georgia and North Carolina from Arcadian,French and English descent. I am from many homes of many different colors eachoffering their own special flair and uniqueness—hiding places under thestairway, deep pantries spiced with aromas of canned goods, and hanging garlicand yards with delightful tree swings.

I am from the tap root of a Georgia pine, growingdeep into the soil, stretching downward, always searching for the keyingredients of a good life.I am from the era of Rock-n-Roll, drive-in movies,racial unrest, Vietnam, Barbie dolls, bouffant hairdos, and Woodstock fromElvis to Chubby Checker and doing the Watusi to the Monkey.

Antho Greer LeMaireI am from solid stock and conservative ideology andfrom women who stood against the wind, going from cotton mill workers toentrepreneurs.I am from a womb that chose realism over religion,but my faith was gifted and retained. [image error] I am from the family of Maezelle LeMaire Beach andAntho Greer LeMaire, from Curried Shrimp to Depression Cookies, from women whochose strength and versatility before housework and sewing. I'm also from darkedges that crept into the family structure, bending it to a slight off-cuewithout breaking its structure.

I am from those moments when life turned on itself,but strength of character persevered; character handed down from strong womenwho held up half the sky half of the time and the whole heavens the rest.   *****
Whereare you from?

Focusing Creative Juices: ROW 80 Check In

I've been in a creative groove this week. We hit our 200th post! Since we've only been blogging actively since May, I'm thrilled with our progress. I posted a flash fiction piece, Drifting Away, on Monday as part of Rachael Harrie's Platform Building Campaign. It was our third and last writing challenge. Yesterday, I found out this piece moved on to the next round of judging. Woo hoo!

So this should be a great check in, right? Well... I'm thrilled with how my creative juices are flowing, but I need to learn to direct them to my works in progress and not get so caught up in other endeavors. I like to finish things, and this makes short projects alluring... a check off my list. But I hear my novel characters yelling for me, and I need to listen to them and focus.

Lately, I feel like a kid in a candy store. Writing is my passion, but the last year I've really made it a priority for the first time. Thanks to the wonderful writing community, there are so many enticing learning experiences and chances to participate. I'm happy, but sometimes I don't know which way to turn.
How do you reign in your creativity and focus?

A quick A Round of Words in 80 Days update:

* I'm blogging and loving it. I do worry two blogs are a creative distraction from my novel. After October's Ultimate Blog Challenge commitment, I think I'll go back to four times a week posting on my main blog and two to three times a week on my book blog.

* I read some advice on organizing novel thoughts... use note cards to jot down scenes, pieces of dialogue, character traits, and other story elements. Then read through them as needed for inspiration. I'm going to start a note card file for each of my two works in progress. I'll carry them in my purse and add thoughts when I'm waiting on kids, etc. I don't always have blocks of time to write, and this will keep ideas circulating.

* I've been reading more, and love it. Reading inspires me to be a better writer.

Hope my ROW80 buds are doing well and finding their focus better than I have this past week.