Ann Narcisian Videan's Blog, page 20

Bobby McFerrin and the power of the pentatonic scale: Today’s Pick

For you music lovers, just thought I’d share a very cool item I found on YouTube:

“Bobby McFerrin demonstrates the power of the pentatonic scale using audience participation at the event “Notes & Neurons: In Search of the Common Chorus,” from the 2009 World Science Festival, June 12, 2009.”

What do you think?

Share your best writing tip and get featured: ALWAYS

• Need contacts to help your writing?  • Want advice about your writing business?  • Like to hang with other cool writers?

If so, my tribe – the Alliance for Literary Writers, Authors & Yabbering Scribes (ALWAYS) – is the place for you. We’re an informal group of established writers looking for camaraderie, ideas, enlightenment and connection with writers, especially in the Phoenix metro area, to talk about our craft and businesses.

Any established writer can connect with us online through our ALWAYS Facebook page, get listed in our directory of writers on our ALWAYS LinkedIn page, or you can meet with us in person at a lunch meeting.
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ALWAYS gathering

May 8, 2012

Topic:

Share your best writing tip and be featured in my Words•Music•Village blog

Expect an informal, let’s-help-one-another lunch gathering. Come ask questions, gain resources and meet other freelance writers. We’ll share our own best writing tips and hear what works for others. I’ll gather the tips and write up each one,  along with background on you and your writing, as an entry in my new series of writing-tip blogs.

Also, if you have something noncommercial you’d like to showcase — a tool, a resource, a tip — please contact me and I’ll slot you in for 15 minutes of our undivided attention at the meeting.

Next gathering:

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.

(Freelancers typically meet for lunch on the second Tuesday, and authors on the fourth Tuesday of each month.)

Where:

T.C. Eggington’s

1660 S. Alma School Rd., #129

Mesa, AZ 85210

(Just one block south of I-60 on the west side of Alma School Road, toward the south end of the strip mall)

480.345.9288

Cost:

A writing tip, and your own lunch.

RSVP:

PLEASE show the consideration of reserving your spot at the table by:

• RSVPing through the “Attending” link on our Facebook Event page

• Emailing Ann Videan with “ALWAYS May 8″ in the Subject line

If you’ve RSVP’d and run into a conflict later, please let me know before the event so I can make the necessary adjustments for the group. Cheers!

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We’d love to have any experienced writer join us at our next meeting … anyone who spends a significant part of his/her week writing, and wants to rub elbows with other writers.

Please do add a your best writing tip in the comments below, but I will feature only those who attend the meeting in my blog. I’m encouraging face time here, wordsmiths!

Meet authors to talk books and writing

I'm one of 20 authors featured at this event and can't wait to talk about books and writing with you!

Join me for the 2nd Annual Arizona Dreamin’ readers conference Fri. and Sat., June 1-2, 2012, in Chandler, Ariz. This  glorified “Girl’s Night Out” allows you to rub elbows with authors – including me – who write fiction in diverse genres, which involve a thread of romance.

For just $35, expect to:

• Meet 20 authors of various genres of romance. Choose 6 you find the most interesting for “Book Clubs” (10 readers with one author in 30-minute sessions to ask questions and talk about their books).

• Enjoy a free Hospitality Suite with snacks and beverages.

• Meet Jimmy Thomas, international book-cover model, and have your photo taken for a charitable donation.

• Munch out with an all-you-can-eat buffet dinner.

• Provide input for the “Man of Our Dreams” cover model competition during dinner.

• Win huge raffle baskets.

• Take home a FREE goody bag!

• Meet with two publishers to see if there is a book in you.

• Visit our event bookstore with discounted pricing.

Venue:

Windmill Inns & Suites

3535 W. Chandler Boulevard

Chandler, AZ 85226

Learn more.

Storytellers AZ writer’s tips: Photos for blog posts

Looking for easy places to grab great photos/images for blogs and other writing? Check out these cool portal ideas from Storytellers AZ writers at the April 12, 2012, meeting.

Storytellers AZ writers – like Brian LaPan, Tyler Hurst, Sarah Marques and Matt Fox – meet the second and fourth Wednesday each month, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Gangplank in Chandler, AZ.

• Freedigitalphotos.net, where you can find varying levels of royalty-free photos

• Compfight.com, for a free WordPress plug-in

• Flickr.com’s Creative Commons, offering a vast array of amateur and professional photographer’s images

• iStockphoto, professional images available for a nominal fee

Can you suggest another portal for photos and images which might help other writers or creatives?

Check out our StorytellersAZ iTunes podcast for more hands-on ideas from our writers.

#1 Writing tip: Passive vs. active voice

Passive:
For her Coffee CommuniTea (CCT) blog, Ann had visited the Souvia Tea Shop and had found this perfect tea-shirt.
Active:
Ann explored the Souvia Tea Shop for her Coffee CommuniTea blog and discovered this perfect tea-shirt.
(Visit Ann's CCT watering hole reviews at http://anvidean.com/coffee-communitea/.)

My main pet peeve when editing involves the overuse of passive voice. I don’t mean past tense, where you’re describing things that happened before. But passive voice, which uses far too many “to be” verbs and far too few active verbs.

Passive verbs = is leaping, are creating, have experienced, was learning, were thinking, have been choosing.

Active verbs = leaps, create, experienced, learned, thought, chose.

Your goal? Communicate your message in the most compelling, concise manner to intrigue customers and get them talking, right? Here’s how…

Your message jumps off the page when you use active voice. Plus, you shorten the length of your writing by one-third. (This most valuable tip takes into consideration the on-screen scanning that people – myself included – use as an excuse  for reading these days.)

Active voice takes  practice, but simply watch for ”to be” verbs followed by words ending in “-ed” or “-ing” and replace them with active verbs. Example:

Passive: The voice was mesmerizing to the student.

Active: The voice mesmerized the student.

Also, try to start your sentences with the subject and use an active verb to describe what the subject does. Example:

Passive: The young girl was overwhelmed by the depths of the woman’s presence.

Active: The woman’s deep presence overwhelmed the young girl.

Employ these two tips alone and just watch your writing become much more effective!

Tell me about your main editing pet peeve.

How to enter the faerie realm

Excerpted from Larks’ Tale (working title)

© 2012 Ann Narcisian Videan:

“Lean back against this tree and play this tune.” Noel hummed a short haunting melody. Lark listened carefully as instructed, internalizing the melody as he played it once through.

The faeries in "Lark's Tale" are nothing like this typical rendition (so beautifully crafted by Mark Pate). Instead, they follow the Celtic mythology of very tall, magical beings without wings.

“Now, this time, listen carefully to the tones and how they tie into the environment.”

She didn’t really know what he meant, but listened closely, concentrating on the way the notes sounded as they bounced against the various natural surfaces around them. As he sang and she listened, the sounds stopped rebounding off the grass and tree trunks and started seeping through the foliage, becoming at one with it. How odd!

“Now you try,” he said, nodding at the flute. She played the melody through twice. He nodded and said, “OK, now lean against the tree and repeat it several times while focusing again on the tones fitting in around us.”

As she played, she noticed the trees, grass and flowers around her began shimmering with what looked like heat waves. A kiwi and a possum snuck out from undercover and listened, noses quivering in the shady space. The music melded with the surrounding foliage and a magical, melodic chanting started as if from nowhere. As it emanated from the plants around her, rising and falling with the phrasing in her tune, everything began to glow with a faint luminescence.

Noel studied her as she played, his eyes gleaming with emotion and a green aura expanded close around him. Pinions of iridescent light spread outward from his shoulders, spreading up and out behind him. At the sight, she let the flute’s last note fade. She studied his glowing energy and light field growing denser behind his back, flowing together in a pattern. The force took the shape of wings, but did not create actual appendages. Distracted by light moving all around her, she peered around slowly. Nothing had moved out of place, but the park was somehow transformed.

Colors were richer, even as they shimmered with pale energy. A quiet, melodic white noise hummed underneath the sound of the lake water slapping on the shore and the birdsong high in the trees. Noel stood motionless, his head tilted back as he took several deep breaths. His energy-field wings moved in sync with his breaths. After a long moment, he grinned down at Lark. “Home.”

“Home?” She glanced around at the familiar, but newly strange, surroundings. With her flute still in one hand, she moved a few steps away to finger a velvety leaf on a tree branch. She turned her head to glance back at Noel and caught an energy field hugging her back just like his. She spun quickly to see what was behind her, but the field moved with her. She reached back to try to touch the “wings,” but her hand met nothing. “Noel… what’s happening?”

“Don’t worry, Allouette,” he whispered. “This is where we’re going to find your family.”

“It’s still Queenstown, but it’s not,” she said, peeking around, otherwise motionless.

“That’s right. It’s your home.”

“And my home would be…?” “Delfaerune.” She furrowed her brow. “As opposed to Earth?”

He laughed. “No, we haven’t left Earth. We’ve just brought you to a different plane of consciousness.”

Lark’s eyes widened. “…plane…?” Like in fantasy books? Noel nodded, and Lark put her hands on her temples. Her head started spinning. What was happening? Was she dreaming? She took a sharp intake of breath as she noticed several points of light moving  under a nearby bush and two of the twinkling glows advanced toward Noel. Lark watched them transform from small points of light into very tall, very luminous beings; human shaped, but other-worldly. One evolved into a strikingly beautiful woman with a mane of hair as black as Lark’s was white. She carried a bow and quiver on her back.

Totally focused on Noel’s face, the being rapidly wafted, rather than walked, toward Noel. “You’re back!” she cried.

Meet Phoenix-area authors Sat., Dec. 10

Have you ever wanted to just sit down with an author and ask some questions about his or her book, the writing process, or how in the world s/he came up with that character or plot point? Your chance is coming up from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sat., Dec. 10,  at Dog-Eared Pages Used Books in Phoenix. A handful of local authors, including “yours truly,” will be on hand to answer questions, sign one of our books for you, or just shoot the breeze about writing and reading.

Simply show up at Dog-Eared Pages – 16428 N. 32nd Street, Suite 111, in Phoenix, AZ  85032 – any time throughout the day and get in on the action. I’ll be there from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Scheduled authors:

Ed and Les Brierfield – short stories and novels blurring the lines between mystery, sci-fi and paranormal
Barbara Cole – historical nonfiction
Nancy Goodreau – The Silly Family [if you know the genre, please comment below]
Jack Hawn – memoir
Bella Thayer – The Silly Family
Kris Tualla – historical romance
Ann Narcisian Videan – contemporary women’s fiction

Consider… if you are looking for a unique, local gift, it’s a perfect season to think about my Rhythms & Muse novel and original music CD since I’m donating 10% of December proceeds to ICAN youth programs in Chandler, AZ.  A book and music by a local author, available at a local indie bookstore and benefiting a local charity. What’s not to love?!

Find more information at info@DogEaredPagesUsedBooks.com or 602-283-5423.

See you there to talk writing, big time!

– Ann

Your ideas can influence my faerie novel: Lark’s Tale

What are your initial reactions to these ideas for the first book in my young-adult faerie trilogy? Your comments will help shape Lark’s Tale! (working title)

Image by Mark Pate (www.markpate.com).

Story highlights:

A tale about Lark, a lanky, white-haired, 17-year-old musical prodigy in Queenstown, New Zealand who finds out she’s actually a faerie.
Her unlikely mentor Noel (pronounced “knoll”) is a 6’7″!, blue-eyed, 18-year-old, dark-faerie-turned-noble sheep shearer.
My faeries are of the ancient Celtic tradition: extremely tall and willowy, no wings, shape shifters using glamour (faerie magic).
Music links the human and faerie (Delfaerune) realms, which exist simultaneously on different planar levels.
Lark – daughter of the Minister of Glamour, who has been captured by the dark faeries as part of their plot to take over the human world – must use her musical prowess to save the human world and free her family.