Jennifer Bray-Weber's Blog, page 27
April 28, 2017
Friday Fun Facts- Writers
Most people know writers tend to live in their own little worlds. I can hear many of you laughing already because you know me! Yes, we are different…but some are even more interesting than you think!
Stieg Larsson, who created The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, stated the heroine was based on what Pippi Longstocking would be like when she was grown. Hmmmm, not what I would have thought about Pippi.[image error]
Alexander Dumas, The Three Musketeers, fought his first duel at the age of 23. He has the unusual distinction of having his trousers fall down during the event! I think it was better he wrote about fighting instead of participating!
Before finding fame as a novelist, The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown was a pop singer. One of his solo albums was called Angels and Demons.[image error]
Bram Stoker, Dracula, was a crazy conspiracy theorist! One of his best theories is that the Queen Elizabeth that we all studied about was really a man in drag! Supposedly, the real Elizabeth got sick and died when she was 10.
Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, was kinda weird. For instance, he always positioned his bed northward- he said it sparked his creativity. He had a thing for the dead. One of his favorite past times was hanging out in the morgue- he even spent a few Christmas and New Years Days at the Paris morgue……[image error]
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, thought Houdini was magical. After his son died, he spent a great deal of time studying mysticism and trying to talk to the dead. Somehow along the way, he decided his friend, Houdini, had magical powers even though Houdini was constantly trying to prove to him otherwise.
Norman Mailer, The Executioner’s Song, was a raging alcoholic who stabbed his wife and beat up actor Rip Torn. Many considered him to be a world renowned jerk! He also ran for mayor of New York City claiming he would outlaw private cars, have trial by jousting and turn the city into the 51st state. The stories only get better from there- I just don’t have space to write about so many![image error]
John Steinbeck used 300 pencils to write East of Eden and was known to use up to 60 pencils in a day.
When Dr. Seuss, Green Eggs and Ham, was stuck writing his books, he would go to a secret closet filled with hundreds of hats and wear them till the words came. Something else to make you go hmmmmmm.
Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, once took home the urinal from his favorite bar, arguing he’d ‘pissed away’ so much of his money into it that he owned it.[image error]
Sting wrote the song ‘Every Breath You Take’ at the same desk which Ian Fleming used to write his James Bond novels. It was at the ‘Fleming Villa’ at GoldenEye on the island of Jamaica.[image error]
D. H. Lawrence, Women In Love, liked to climb trees buck naked because he wanted to stimulate his creativity.
April 26, 2017
Hump Day Kick Start – CD Edition
Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or ju st a visual treat.
Raise your hand. How many of us has at one time in our lives created a playlist based on a love interest?
So what’s up with today’s prompt? What is on the CD? Who does it belong to? Who is it intended for? Why is it on the ground? Is it filled with love songs? Songs about breakups, missed opportunities, or revenge? Could it be a picture collage from a stalker? Filled with poems from a dead lover? A scary manifesto? All my lost first drafts?
What do you think is on the CD? Tell me a tale or caption the pic.
April 25, 2017
Link Of The Week- A Different Kind Of Thesaurus
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Hello My Peeps!
I love this link. This will provide you with many, many, many different ways to say things! Check it out: For “Eyes”, they provide you with lists of the following types of words!
Adjectives
Nouns
Verbs
Eye Similes
Eyelash Similes
Eyebrows Similes
I now have a new site that has been bookmarked for A Lot of coming use!
April 21, 2017
Friday Fun Facts- A Cornucopia of Facts!
I started poking around the internet and before I knew it, I had lost two hours! Sigh. I know learning is never a waste, but it sure can be a time suck. Check out some of the tid-bits I dug up!
In 1986, a volcanic lake in Africa let out a cosmic sized burp of sulfuric acid and killed 1746 people within minutes!! Holy Moly!! I had no idea this could happen.[image error]
There was a Harley Davidson motorcycle built to look like a giant hamburger………………….. why?
In the past 20 years, scientists have found over 1000 plants outside of our solar system. Really? Have you heard about this?
If you started with a penny and doubled your money everyday- you’d be a millionaire in 27 days![image error]
You can’t kill yourself by holding your breath.
In France, it is legal to marry a dead person. (Things that make you go hmmmmm)
It’s considered good luck in Japan if a sumo wrestler makes your baby cry.[image error]
The oldest marathon runner was 100 years old when he finished the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in Canada. Fauja Singh crossed the line in 8hrs., 25min., and 16sec.
The Spanish national anthem has no lyrics.
The full length Greek national anthem has 158 verses. Well, that’s from the sublime to the ridiculous!
Tupac Shakur’s ashes were smoked, along with marijuana, by his friends.
A full head of hair is strong enough to support 12 tons of weight! Another holy moly in my book!![image error]
In 1567, the man who was said to have the longest beard, died trying to run away from a fire. You guessed it! He tripped on his beard.
Did you know you could dance yourself to death? Yes! Yes, you can! There was such a thing called The Dance Fever which occurred in 1518 in Strasbourg. Inexplicably, hundreds of people danced for a whole month. Many of them danced themselves to death.[image error]
Light doesn’t necessarily travel at the “speed of light”. The slowest light has been recorded moving is at 38mph. Who knew?!?!?
April 19, 2017
Hump Day Kick Start – Writing Prompt #8
Writing prompts to kick start your muse.
Ooh… What could this be all about?
Who is she and what service is she providing? Is she an assassin who gets the targets even the most hardened man passes over? Could she be a time jumper sent to correct “mistakes” that happen in the future? What if she were a sadistic psychiatric nurse, a hard-ass warden, or an adrenaline junkie stuntwoman for an A-list actress? Maybe she’s a baker for the PTO with mad cupcake decorating skills. Does she look forward to these calls or does she dread them?
Share your ideas and/or post your creations, even if it’s just a line or two. I’d love to hear them.
April 14, 2017
Our Wish For You
May you and your family have a wonderful, peace filled weekend. To those that celebrate it, Happy Easter!!
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April 12, 2017
Hump Day Kick Start – Cuffed Edition
Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or ju st a visual treat.
I mean, who hasn’t been in this situation before? Right? Riiight?
Tell me about today’s prompt. Who is he and how did he end up cuffed? Good guy or a bad guy? Could he be the dangerous fugitive who left a wake of destruction and was finally caught by heroic Johnny Law? Or was he wrongly framed? If so, of what? Is he even in a police car? Perhaps not. Maybe he’s been snatched by his worst adversary and things are looking kinda grim for him. Is he from this world, the future, the past, or another dimension? What if he is playing along, biding time, waiting for the right moment to bust out of the cuffs and wreak havoc/get revenge/save someone? Maybe a sexy detective has him under arrest for stealing her heart. Haha! Sappy, I know…
Caption the pic or give me your take.
April 11, 2017
Link Of The Week- Reverse Dictionary
All writers need this![image error]
I think this link might be one of the most useful we’ve ever found!
http://www.onelook.com/reverse-dictionary.shtml
“This tool lets you describe a concept and get back a list of words and phrases related to that concept. Your description can be anything at all: a single word, a few words, or even a whole sentence. Type in your description and hit Enter (or select a word that shows up in the autocomplete preview) to see the related words.”[image error]
April 7, 2017
Friday Fun Facts- Olive Oil and the Mob!
Many of us have switched to olive oil since it is a healthier alternative to many other oils for cooking. What you didn’t know is that you are probably getting ripped off. This is big business and millions are being made by scamming the public. What a ripe scenario for a book![image error]
“Mafia copies of fine olive oil, wine and cheese have fueled an explosion of food crime in Italy,” said CBS News correspondent, Bill Whitaker.
“It’s very difficult to say in any given case with olive oil exactly how many drops in a given bottle actually have Mafia blood on them.” Tom Mueller
Many times you get a lower grade oil mixed with a small amount of good extra virgin oil.[image error]
Sometimes it’s very low quality that has been deodorized, mixed with something that has a little color and BOOM! you have high quality, made in Italy, extra virgin olive oil. It’s illegal and its done all the time.
You can take colorless, odorless sunflower oil, add some chlorophyll and it has the color of “olive oil”.
Some responsible olive growers in Sicily have tried to fight back against the Mob. Nicola Clemenza started a consortium and had his car burned and also part of his house while he was still inside with his wife and daughter!
75-80% of the olive oil that reaches Americans is NOT really extra virgin.[image error]
The top-selling brand in the US is Bertolli. Samples were sent to professional tasters and they described it as lampante- which means its the lowest grade of oil. Bertolli is embroiled in a fraud investigation and several class action lawsuits.
Italy is not the only one making money this way. A company in Córdoba, Spain are under investigation for allegedly exporting adulterated olive oils to Italy to be sold as authentic extra virgin olive oil. [image error]
Portuguese food standards y agency ASAE seized 6,000 liters of fake olive oil from a company in the town of Penamacor.
The earliest written mention of olive oil, on cuneiform tablets at Ebla in the twenty-fourth century B.C., describes teams of inspectors who toured olive mills on behalf of the king, looking for fraudulent practices.
“The single-minded devotion of these food artisans, who built Italy’s culinary fame, is almost superhuman when you consider how consistently they’re being undercut by olive oil crooks, and abandoned by their own government. In fact, forces within the Italian government often help the crooks.”[image error]
April 5, 2017
Hump Day Kick Start – Writing Prompt #7
Writing prompts to kick start your muse.
Ooh! Makes the mind wonder what kind of person this is. Vampire, superhero/villain, scientist, god/goddess, immortal hunter, the list could go on. What kind of people would go to such extremes as to bury someone alive? Scared villagers? A family with a secret? A group of wayward kids screwing up summer vacation? Why is the undead back? To seek revenge? Expose the real enemy? Return their overdue Blockbuster tape?
Share your ideas and/or post your creations, even if it’s just a line or two. I’d love to hear them.
