Alison DeLuca's Blog, page 14

The Best Toy Ever

One of my friends and I are secret toy fiends. We love when Christmas rolls around, because it means we get to go on shopping trips together, looking for the rare Monster High Dolls, the coolest American Girl outfits. We managed to acquire Zhu Zhu pets for the kids back when they were as difficult to find as Cabbage Patch thingamerbobbers in the 80's.

Now I have a big box of Zhu Zhu's in the basement and no idea what to do with them. Zhu Zhu's, in case you never heard of them, are battery-powered hamsters that run around and make weird noises. They have houses and tracks that connect the houses, and you can build a whole city for these things.

My kid was ecstatic when she received them, years ago. For one glorious afternoon she played with them. And after that, she abandoned them, and now they lie in that box, collecting dust. 

I've noticed that is usually the case with battery-powered playthings. In fact, the more batteries involved, the shorter the play-with-life, unless there is a lightbulb included and we're talking EZ Bake.

Perhaps it's different for boys, although I remain skeptical.

This lesson came home to me over the summer, when my daughter's friend invented the COOLEST TOY EVER. It was so much fun that she and my kid, as well as all of their friends, played with it for months. 

Here's what the cool toy was: my kid's friend invented a planet, and her mother donated basement space for world-building. The kids made the houses out of old boxes and the alien inhabitants with cotton balls and swabs. Someone created a dress shop and sold fancy clothes made out of cupcake liners.
image courtesy of mnn.com
Other parents donated boxes and supplies. The houses and stores expanded, and one boy was in hot demand for his building skills. The kids started a message board near the planet, where they would leave notes for each other to create new aliens, to invite the planet dwellers to parties, to ask that boy to build them a new house.

The planet grew to the point where it took over the entire basement, and I had to applaud the mother for allowing it all to continue. Because, without a doubt, it was the coolest game / toy / playdate EVAH. The kids made movies of the aliens and showed them to each other. There were commercials for the cupcake dress shop, as well as reminders to frequent the boy's construction business.

At last the mess was too much. The basement had dissolved into a crafty, glittery, gluey nightmare, and the parents spent several days cleaning it up. But for one summer, the kids had interacted and built and experienced the fun of just being kids, without anything electronic to interfere.
from mylifeandkids.com
I know my kid will always remember that summer when she created a planet with her friends. And I must add a word to all toy makers everywhere - how are you going to compete with that? A doll that talks, a dog that walks, a gun that shoots nerf darts - nothing is better than creating your own world.

The Love of Books - Valentine’s Day blog hop

The Dance

Over the weekend, our Brownie troop hosted a Father-Daughter dance. It was a lot of work, let me tell you. We had to coordinate the space, as well as a DJ, food, drinks, portraits, gifts, and ongoing clean-up (little girls make big messes.)

Thanks to some very bright, energetic moms, of which I was not one, the work and set-up was all coordinated perfectly. I was happy to receive my to-do list and do it.

Of course, at the same time I had to help my own daughter get ready for the dance, which involved matching outfits with her bestie and battling her desire to wear her new, pink suede flats in the falling snow.

(They have bows with rhinestones on the toes, and I can't blame her for wanting to wear them every waking minute. I would have killed for those things when I was 8.)

We arrived at the dance and sprang into action. The girls ran around in their sparkly dresses, while we flung food on trays and slung them onto long tables. Heart decorations were duct-taped to the walls and the tables were set with plastic tablecloths and confetti.

Our guests arrived and the girls ran on the floor, intent on doing Gangnam style and ignoring the dads.

As usual, some unforeseen, last--minute problems arose. We were short a few Brownie patches. The weather predictions were growing dire, and we had to schedule dads to take pictures of other dads with their girls. 

At one point, as I dashed from the kitchen to the sign-in area, I realized that the dance floor itself had quietened down. Gangnam style had been replaced with an old slow song (I believe it was Love Me Tender) and the girls - were actually dancing with their fathers.

Picture this: a group of Big Guys wearing uncomfortable neckties and starched shirts, holding little girls  in red and pink sequined dresses and sashaying in silence to that old song. Some of them, my own Big Guy included, had their daughters up in their arms and twirled them around, to the satisfaction of all.

My hands smelled like hoagie sandwiches, and I had a blister on one heel. I knew that later I would have to clean up a messy girls' bathroom and throw away one gabillion of cups of pink lemonade.

Yet, at that one moment, the universe stopped and everything made sense. 

Distractions

Image courtesy of TrinityRedSprings.org
I'm editing the fourth and final book in the Crown Phoenix series now, and as a result my brain is  a bowl of tomato soup. As I edit, I have to pay attention to the normal line edits and story lines, but I also have to watch who gets what letter, which characters are in what room, and what lessons the children are on. It's called flow of logic, and it bogs me down each time I go through a book.

Did I mention the three huge glaring holes in the plot, as well as the amazing disappearing person who fades away for no reason? Well we can't have that. Getting the writer's version of my toolbox ready now.

After a long day of edits and rewrites, I am ready for distractions that don't tax poor old Soup Brain too much. In a way, it's like my college days when I finished studying for exams and I couldn't watch anything more intellectual than The Love Boat.

First distraction: Other books, of course, and I mentioned before that I'm reading The Sable City, Beautiful Creatures, and The Night Circus. Next up: book three of the Darkness Rising series by Ross Kitson, Losing Hope by Johanna Garth, The Body War by Kathleen Barker, Yum by Nicole Antonia Carson, The Azalea Assault by Alyse Carlson, and The Forbidden Road by Connie Jasperson.

And I'm waiting on Fireseed Two, *ahem* Catherine Stine....

Second distraction: Food. Tonight it's fresh salmon, baked with fresh lemon juice, dijon, dill, and sea salt. New potatoes alongside, as well as a Romaine salad. And, since I have a gafrillion Hershey kisses leftover from the recent Brownies Father-Daughter dance, maybe a few of those as well. 

Third - The "Don't Judge Me" section. Nog's Gem Quest and Vanderpump Rules. Nothing to see here, move along...
Image courtesy of Lifehacker.com
Fourth - The "It's a Given" section. Tea, more tea, and a glass of wine at the very end of the day.

Fifth - Because I have to - Laundry and dishes. Also, scrubbing toilets and floors, and exercising my authorly butt.

Sixth - Friends, with all the laughs and chat that comes with them. Best of all and not a distraction really  - my pals are a necessity.

Also, this blogpost by ZenCherry.

My cup of tea is at the dregs, so I'm off to fill in plot holes with tarmac and boot leather. See you on the other side!

Saying Grimly

Image courtesy of WisegeekDo not use -ly adverbs! This is howled from editors' desks and reviewers' blogs. And they are right - too many adverbs in a manuscript sinks it to a hackneyed, overdone, immature level - although this is true of anything (more on that later.)

But should the writer purge every single -ly from the page? Adverbs, if used judiciously, are a lot of fun. 

See what I did there? Sure, I could have written: "Adverbs, if used in small amounts by a writer who is taking care with her script, are a lot of fun." Yeah, that's a lot of convolution to get rid of one word.

And I like the word judiciously. It calls to mind an author being a judge of her words. 

Furthermore, I like other adverbs too, and not just of the -ly variety:

"Nobody under the bed; nobody in the closet; nobody in his dressing-gown, which was hanging up in a suspicious attitude against the wall." - Dickens

The gloom and mystery of a Victorian house.



I always loved this sentence; it seems to project the gloomy, Victorian atmosphere of Ebeneezer's house as he prepared to go to bed by the light of one candle. In a  suspicious attitude describes perfectly the heart-jolting moment when you think you see someone in a room where no one should be, only to discover it is your coat or, in this case, a dressing gown.




If we removed that adverbial phrase, the sentence is: "Nobody under the bed; nobody in the closet; nobody in his dressing-gown." 

No. It has now lost that dark, dreary punch of the original.
Let's try some pop culture now, and examine one of my favorite voice-overs: 
"Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before."
The last clause not only uses an -ly adverb, the infinitive has been split as well. Let's try it without the dreaded -ly word: 
"...to go where no man has gone before."
Nope. That loses the tone of the show, highlighting a brave group of explorers looking for new class M planets and civilizations. I want that boldly  back in the sentence. It's perfect.
(Mindworm alert: Who's humming that theme in their head now?)
Of course adverbs can be overused, and if they are they lose all punch. "Boldly" is the only adverb in that voiceover, and if they had put in more, it would have collapsed:
"...to bravely explore strange new worlds, to carefully seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before."
This dude is THE MAN.
Welcome to hack-ville!
As with all rules, the -ly and adverb rule can be broken. But the writer must use care and precision as she commits adverb usage.
As I said in the first paragraph, this is true of anything. Another example is the present participle, or -ing verbs. They have fallen out of favor, and after two years of editing, I see why. 
Beginning writers lean on -ing to add imagery to a scene. It's an easy way to show what's going on, especially after a burst of dialogue:
"I don't care what you think!" he shouted, slamming down the phone.
"Will you come with me?" she asked, pushing back one stray curl of her hair.
Read ten of these on one page and you may, as I have seen other editors do, decree that the writer must purge all present participles from the manuscript. It's exhausting going through a MSS to work out 99% of those present participles; we editors would much rather concentrate on vocabulary choice and story arcs.
However, if an editor does lay down that decree, that it can lead to verbal gymnastics as a writer tries to evade the dreaded ING. If a writer takes two sentences where one would have done in order to avoid one verb tense, then for heaven's sake go and use an -ING, I say.
And, of course, the present participle is also used beautifully in literature, as in this line from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock:
I should have been a pair of ragged claws
If I "dare disturb the universe" for a moment and rewrite T. S Eliot, the sentence becomes:
Image courtesy of Phillip Colla and OceanLight
I should have been a pair of ragged clawsAs with cooking, authors can use adverbs and present participles as spice and seasoning. However, too much curry will certainly ruin the soup. Not enough, and the meal is bland.
The problem and glory lies in finding the balance.

Redemption

SPOILER ALERT - If you haven't finished Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings do not, I beg, read this blogpost. Be off with you to the library or bookstore and check out both series.

Yesterday, I wrote about Karma and how the idea of Nemesis must exist, internally at least. Later, one comment on the blogpost really grabbed my attention. A friend wrote that once someone does evil, and does it again, the internal guilt eases until the dark deeds are seen as "normal" by that person.

She's right, and it erases my neat metaphor of an interior angry goddess. However, I do wonder about the dreams of the people who live with dark deeds, as well as their lives. If someone is truly evil, truly in the dark side - can anything be satisfactory? Love, life, family, relationships? Do they have friends?

Oh, the fascination of villains. 

My sister, whose intellect I greatly admire, once told me that in her opinion a great book offers redemption for the villain. As an example, in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Gollum (that strange, brilliant character) is redeemed by one act at the very end, thus saving Frodo from soulless eternity. 

Another example is Snape, although that dude is seriously complex. I wonder as an author, if he developed himself on the page, or if JK suddenly had one of the concept flashes, the kind that hit just as you get into bed and you haven't any paper handy. (Although, of course,   he isn't a villain at all.)

Redemption for the villain ... it's a tricky concept. It has to be organic and come from within (thus bypassing the interior angry goddess) or from a series of events that evolve naturally, like a Bach concerto or the inside of a seashell. The writer has to seriously Fibonacci sequence it. 

If redemption is handed out with a Deus ex Machina fanfare, the gloriously evil villain is compressed into a cardboard cutout. No, redemption itself must come, like karma, from within.

A final word on villains - as I was writing this post, my sister and some of our friends from high school were facebook chatting about a murderer. 

The murderer didn't seem to be evil, so much as STUPID. Her act of violence and terror came from being so dumb that she couldn't comprehend that it would change her life (and, most sad of all, the lives of her kids) forever. 

That is real life, not fiction, and it brings me back to the concept of karma. Probably that sad little murderer will never even understand the depths of what she has done. But will she ever feel soaring happiness of motherhood, the solid comfort of an enduring marriage, or the quiet triumphs that come with ordinary life? 

Of course, all of that is pretty impossible behind bars. But the prison I wonder about is the one in her own mind.

A Note About Karma

Source: Christy KnightIf someone does something that is a wonderful act of kindness for no reason other than it seems right at the time, does that person receive good karma?

And, conversely, if another person does harm, an act of "douchebaggery," simply because they are themselves a plastic bag fitted with a nozzle and they enjoy the drama that results - will that person receive bad karma?

It's almost unbearable to think that they will not, in the end, reap the opposite rewards of their opposite acts. In the ongoing cycle of the universe, does one action affect another and another, to create a sort of house of cards or domino falldown, each tile tipping against another and another?

"To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction: or the forces of two bodies on each other are always equal and are directed in opposite directions." - Newton

This law of motion seems to support the concept of karma in a way that agrees with physics - at some point, a deed, whether good or bad, will start something else to occur. But will that reaction come back to haunt (or to favor) the person who started it all?

In Shakespearian tragedy, all of the story comes from one terrible act, caused by the hero's fatal flaw. After Macbeth kills the king, the murder causes more murder until the country is at war. It's as though the fatal flaw is a hideous spider in a web, effecting "equal and opposite reactions" from plucking one sticky string.

Woody Allen's view is quite different. In "Crimes and Misdemeanors," the central figure gets away with murder, and the good guy who follows his heart and passions gets nothing. There is no karma in that movie.

And to me, that just seems wrong. There must be karma. A bad act reaps evil; a good one delivers happiness.

Does that karma come from a beautiful, vengeful goddess, wielding lightning and slinging metaphysical swords? 

Maybe. But how much more interesting would it be if that Karmic goddess lived inside our bodies, and we exacted karmic vengeance or rewards on ourselves. An act of good, even though it is unseen and unrewarded, creates a point of light within our souls, where it grows and interacts with everything we are - memories, dreams, creation.

An act of evil, no matter how much the person may defend it, creates a point of darkness which also grows within. JK Rowling used this brilliantly in creating Voldemort's character - his evil came from his own evil deeds, and each horrible act warped the character further until, at last, he was no longer even human.

So, I have to conclude that there is karma, and that is a satisfying ending. The punishments and rewards are not immediate or tangible, but they exist. Yes, indeed - they exist.

Not Feeling It

I'm reading three books at the moment, and two of them are very popular trade paperbacks. One is coming out as a film any day now, and I'd be very surprised if the other trad-pub doesn't eventually make its way to the screen.
Painting by Mary Cassatt
The thing is, I'm not "feeling" either book. One is just so far out there that I'm losing control of the story - there are so many characters that the writers seemed to have lost control themselves. The setting is great, the dialogue is authentic, but what the heck is going on? And do I even care?

As for the other, the writing is lovely. Beautiful scenes are described in breathtaking detail. And therein lies the problem - the author seems to be so transfixed by gorgeous scenes that she has forgotten to advance the plot.

The third book is an Indie read, and it is by far the best of the three. The Sable City has dependable relationships, solid characterization, and a plot that, while far-reaching, is firmly reined in so I can follow all the threads of what is happening to a cast that, while large, is centered on three MC's.

Last night, while pounding away at one of the traditionally published books described above, I gave up in disgust and returned, with a sigh of relief, to The Sable City. I'll finish the other two and write fair reviews, mentioning the plusses and minuses in greater detail. 

However, I am not feeling the books that are carried in every Barnes and Noble store on my night stand. I am, however, greatly enjoying the Indie Sable city which, unbelievably, is free on Amazon. FREE.

And there you have it.

A Birthday Party

Last year, around this date, I was having a good day. I wrote a few blog posts, got my chapter finished, cleaned the house, worked out - productive city. 
Image courtesy of Fresh Wallpapers
At that point my husband suggested that we all go out to dinner. Filled with the beaming pride of one who had accomplished everything on her list, I agreed.

We went to a pasta restaurant and ordered salads. The waiter poured the wine we had brought into glasses. He lifted his in a toast, and here is what he said:

"Happy Birthday - to ME"

I had forgotten. His Birthday. I had been so blindsided with errands and minutia that I let it all take over the real world or what should be really important. 

Yes, I am a thorough dork.

This year, I wasn't about to let that happen. The thing is, with the new football schedule, Superbowl now falls right on or around his birthday. So I have to get ready for the annual S' Bowl party and then prepare for the big man's big day. (That's what happened last year... yeah, that's the ticket....)

We bought the wireless speaker that he wanted for his phone and wrapped it up. I made his favorite dinner, and a lava brownie cake. The man likes his chocolate.

Our daughter got into it and created a birthday video for Daddy, featuring a Springsteen song and everyone, including her American girl dolls and stuffed animals, holding up Happy Birthday signs. It was her Where is Matt? moment.

Daddy got home and ate hugely. He blew out the candle on his cake and opened his gift. I am certain his favorite part was Baby Girl's video, though.

Guess what? None of the To-Do items on my list got done. And that was just as it should be.

It’s Raining Cats & Dogs Tour : "Cat Club"

I'm ecstatic to welcome back the very creative and funny author, David Brown, to Fresh Pot of Tea. We're featuring an excerpt from his book Man vs Cat today.

And don't forget to enter the Amazon gift card giveaway after the excerpt! Entry is easy and quick.


*****


Cat Club1) The first rule of Cat Club is you do not talk about Cat Club, not even to your mothers and especially not to your owners!
2) The second rule of Cat Club is the same as the above, but I’ve put it in because they do so in the film and this parody won’t work as well if I don’t do it.
3) The third rule of Cat Club is that it is a club exclusive to cats. I wouldn’t normally have to include this rule, but a Saint Bernard came to last week’s meeting believing some makeshift whiskers made out of straws and stuck on with Post-it notes would be enough to slip through our security. Sadly, it did, but we’ll be more vigilant next time! Buggles will not be in charge of admissions to Cat Club in future.
4) The fourth rule of Cat Club is one cat to a litter tray at a time. We have standards to keep here, gentlecats.
5) The fifth rule of Cat Club is if someone dangles a toy on the end of a string, I get first dibs on swatting it. The rest of you can form an orderly queue and wait your turn. If you refrain from swatting the toy, this isn’t the club for you.
6) The sixth rule of Cat Club is you do not pose for cute, exploitative pictures to be distributed on the Internet. We are supposed to be tough, remember?
7) The seventh rule of Cat Club is you leave the awful cat jokes outside. We have no time for them in here.
8) The eighth rule of Cat Club is we each bring a tin of tuna to these meetings.
9) The ninth rule of Cat Club is if someone can remember to bring a tin opener to the next meeting that would be great. The last one turned out to be a bit anti-climatic. Not even the Saint Bernard knew how to open a tin and they’re renowned for saving lives.
10) The tenth rule of Cat Club is you do not ask what the purpose of Cat Club is. If I don’t know then the rest of you have no chance.
11) The final rule of Cat Club is that if this is your first time at Cat Club, you’ll be sorry you ever joined.

Mr B: This list was found in the DVD case for Fight Club. I’m not aware of any Cat Club meetings being held in our house, but, given that Mrs B and I are not always here, I cannot be certain of this!
In the film, Fight Club was the beginning and was soon followed by Project Mayhem. Again, I have uncovered no evidence of such a calamity from the cats, but if I do, you can be rest assured that the relevant authorities will be notified.
*****

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

SynopsisHistory has known many famous cats - Garfield, Mr Bigglesworth, Simon's Cat, the Aristocats, the Cheshire cat and the Keyboard Cat on YouTube.

In recent years these feline things have replaced man's best friend as the most popular pet in the U.S. while the Ancient Egyptians once worshipped them as gods. This was a mistake and I'm here to tell you why.

Man vs Cat is the story of one man, one woman and the six cats that changed their lives forever. To the woman they brought love and affection, to the man they brought sleepless nights, fear, paranoia and even ruined his jigsaw. Need I say more?
You can buy Man vs Cat on Amazon US and on Amazon UKand add it to your list on Goodreads
About the authorDavid Brown could be considered a fantasy fanatic, especially since he has spent the last 10 years developing a 47,000-year history for his fictional world of Elenchera. When converting his obsession into literary form, David commits himself to a rigorous writing and editing process before his work can meet his approval. Combined with the critical eye of his wife and a BA Hons in History and English, David's dedication leads him to his goal of inspiring readers through heartfelt stories and characters.
You can follow David here:Twitter: @elencheraFacebook: davidmbrownauthorWebsite: http://elenchera.comBlog: http://tweedling.com