A.J. Lauer's Blog, page 15
April 7, 2014
A to Z Challenge: Friends like these
This post is part of the April A-Z Blogging Challenge. This year my theme is simply, "things I know." Some posts will be informational, some about life lessons, some about things I've learned as an author/blogger.
Friends like these are hard to find!I have been blessed with some amazing friends, in 'real' life and online. I've always loved the saying about friends being the family that you choose, because that is definitely how I feel about it. My best friends are as dear to me as my family. They are kind, they are always there for me, and I wouldn't trade them for the world!
Heidi, Tara, Ari and meI mean, how could you not love faces like these? These are my best friends from graduate school. They are inspiring to me both personally and professionally and I am thankful every day that I have these incredible women in my life.
Who are the special people in your life? How did you meet your friend-family members?
(I am away at a conference for work this week, so I apologize if I do not respond to comments in a timely manner! I will try to respond to everyone next weekend! :) ~AJ )
Friends like these are hard to find!I have been blessed with some amazing friends, in 'real' life and online. I've always loved the saying about friends being the family that you choose, because that is definitely how I feel about it. My best friends are as dear to me as my family. They are kind, they are always there for me, and I wouldn't trade them for the world!
Heidi, Tara, Ari and meI mean, how could you not love faces like these? These are my best friends from graduate school. They are inspiring to me both personally and professionally and I am thankful every day that I have these incredible women in my life.Who are the special people in your life? How did you meet your friend-family members?
(I am away at a conference for work this week, so I apologize if I do not respond to comments in a timely manner! I will try to respond to everyone next weekend! :) ~AJ )
A to Z Challenge: F
This post is part of the April A-Z Blogging Challenge. This year my theme is simply, "things I know." Some posts will be informational, some about life lessons, some about things I've learned as an author/blogger.
Friends like these are hard to find!I have been blessed with some amazing friends, in 'real' life and online. I've always loved the saying about friends being the family that you choose, because that is definitely how I feel about it. My best friends are as dear to me as my family. They are kind, they are always there for me, and I wouldn't trade them for the world!
Heidi, Tara, Ari and meI mean, how could you not love faces like these? These are my best friends from graduate school. They are inspiring to me both personally and professionally and I am thankful every day that I have these incredible women in my life.
Who are the special people in your life? How did you meet your friend-family members?
(I am away at a conference for work this week, so I apologize if I do not respond to comments in a timely manner! I will try to respond to everyone next weekend! :) ~AJ )
Friends like these are hard to find!I have been blessed with some amazing friends, in 'real' life and online. I've always loved the saying about friends being the family that you choose, because that is definitely how I feel about it. My best friends are as dear to me as my family. They are kind, they are always there for me, and I wouldn't trade them for the world!
Heidi, Tara, Ari and meI mean, how could you not love faces like these? These are my best friends from graduate school. They are inspiring to me both personally and professionally and I am thankful every day that I have these incredible women in my life.Who are the special people in your life? How did you meet your friend-family members?
(I am away at a conference for work this week, so I apologize if I do not respond to comments in a timely manner! I will try to respond to everyone next weekend! :) ~AJ )
April 5, 2014
A to Z Challenge & Six Word Saturday: Exfoliation
This post is part of the April A-Z Blogging Challenge. This year my theme is simply, "things I know." Some posts will be informational, some about life lessons, some about things I've learned as an author/blogger. This post is also part of the Six Word Saturday blog hop! A chance to be a little less verbose, and use your weekend for other things. Lovely :)
Exfoliation - Key to glowingly healthy skin
This was a lesson that was difficult for young me to learn. I didn't want to scrub! Ugh! But now that I'm older, and especially since living at altitude, where everyone's skin dries out so easily, I've learned the benefits of exfoliation. I regularly get complimented on my skin, and told 'no way you're over 30!'. Exfoliation plus the oil cleansing method are my two keys to having lovely skin at altitude.
Anyone have any skin care suggestions to share?
Exfoliation - Key to glowingly healthy skin
This was a lesson that was difficult for young me to learn. I didn't want to scrub! Ugh! But now that I'm older, and especially since living at altitude, where everyone's skin dries out so easily, I've learned the benefits of exfoliation. I regularly get complimented on my skin, and told 'no way you're over 30!'. Exfoliation plus the oil cleansing method are my two keys to having lovely skin at altitude.
Anyone have any skin care suggestions to share?
A to Z Challenge & Six Word Saturday: E
This post is part of the April A-Z Blogging Challenge. This year my theme is simply, "things I know." Some posts will be informational, some about life lessons, some about things I've learned as an author/blogger. This post is also part of the Six Word Saturday blog hop! A chance to be a little less verbose, and use your weekend for other things. Lovely :)
Exfoliation - Key to glowingly healthy skin
This was a lesson that was difficult for young me to learn. I didn't want to scrub! Ugh! But now that I'm older, and especially since living at altitude, where everyone's skin dries out so easily, I've learned the benefits of exfoliation. I regularly get complimented on my skin, and told 'no way you're over 30!'. Exfoliation plus the oil cleansing method are my two keys to having lovely skin at altitude.
Anyone have any skin care suggestions to share?
Exfoliation - Key to glowingly healthy skin
This was a lesson that was difficult for young me to learn. I didn't want to scrub! Ugh! But now that I'm older, and especially since living at altitude, where everyone's skin dries out so easily, I've learned the benefits of exfoliation. I regularly get complimented on my skin, and told 'no way you're over 30!'. Exfoliation plus the oil cleansing method are my two keys to having lovely skin at altitude.
Anyone have any skin care suggestions to share?
April 4, 2014
A to Z Challenge: D
This post is part of the April A-Z Blogging Challenge. This year my theme is simply, "things I know." Some posts will be informational, some about life lessons, some about things I've learned as an author/blogger.
Today I have two life-changing videos for you, about how to Dice things more efficiently.
The first, is how to cut and dice mangoes. The second, a more efficient method to dice onions. We love to cook around here, so both of these methods were super exciting to learn, back in the day.
Mangoes are known as a hazardous thing to cut, but if you love them like I do, it's good to know how to cut them safely!
And onions, of course, are just a pain. So here's an easier way to dice your onion.
Anybody got any good cooking tips/tricks to share?
Today I have two life-changing videos for you, about how to Dice things more efficiently.
The first, is how to cut and dice mangoes. The second, a more efficient method to dice onions. We love to cook around here, so both of these methods were super exciting to learn, back in the day.
Mangoes are known as a hazardous thing to cut, but if you love them like I do, it's good to know how to cut them safely!
And onions, of course, are just a pain. So here's an easier way to dice your onion.
Anybody got any good cooking tips/tricks to share?
April 3, 2014
A to Z Challenge: C
This post is part of the April A-Z Blogging Challenge. This year my theme is simply, "things I know." Some posts will be informational, some about life lessons, some about things I've learned as an author/blogger.
Characters!
Character development is, I admit, something I struggle with a bit. That's why last year I did my whole A-Z theme on characters. Each day I did writing exercises to practice writing about people. Something that is tricky about writing people is that we are all so complex. To create, from scratch, a whole person?! It's a little like playing God. My ego hasn't gotten that big yet! But there are a few things I've learned about creating characters:
There is no shame in pulling parts of your characters' personalities and histories from your own life or people you know. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.Readers can fill in a lot of gaps. No need to give a physical description, down to the freckle on his left wrist, unless that plays an important part in the story.Most things characters do should be influenced by their history in some way. As actors say, "What is my motivation?" or, "why am I doing this?" There has to be a reason for every action.That said, not every character is so important as to need a name and entire history. It's ok to have peripheral characters that are just that. Maybe a tiny bit of history to establish why they are there, but no need to make a home movie reel for the incidental bartender.
Bartholomew Boulstridge Bell
from our new book, Sky PiratesMain characters must be dynamic! They have to learn and change, for better or worse, otherwise why do we care to read about them? The lovely lad at right is the main character in our new book, Sky Pirates. He starts as a somewhat stuffy scientist's assistant and in some threads turns into quite the adventurer. Change! It's what makes reading about a character fun. :)
Anything y'all can share about characters? Your favorites? Least favorite? Has a character in a book ever really pissed you off? (the answer to that for me is YES - the main character in Eat, Pray, Love. UGH)
Characters!
Character development is, I admit, something I struggle with a bit. That's why last year I did my whole A-Z theme on characters. Each day I did writing exercises to practice writing about people. Something that is tricky about writing people is that we are all so complex. To create, from scratch, a whole person?! It's a little like playing God. My ego hasn't gotten that big yet! But there are a few things I've learned about creating characters:
There is no shame in pulling parts of your characters' personalities and histories from your own life or people you know. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.Readers can fill in a lot of gaps. No need to give a physical description, down to the freckle on his left wrist, unless that plays an important part in the story.Most things characters do should be influenced by their history in some way. As actors say, "What is my motivation?" or, "why am I doing this?" There has to be a reason for every action.That said, not every character is so important as to need a name and entire history. It's ok to have peripheral characters that are just that. Maybe a tiny bit of history to establish why they are there, but no need to make a home movie reel for the incidental bartender.
Bartholomew Boulstridge Bellfrom our new book, Sky PiratesMain characters must be dynamic! They have to learn and change, for better or worse, otherwise why do we care to read about them? The lovely lad at right is the main character in our new book, Sky Pirates. He starts as a somewhat stuffy scientist's assistant and in some threads turns into quite the adventurer. Change! It's what makes reading about a character fun. :)
Anything y'all can share about characters? Your favorites? Least favorite? Has a character in a book ever really pissed you off? (the answer to that for me is YES - the main character in Eat, Pray, Love. UGH)
April 2, 2014
A to Z Challenge & IWSG: B
This post is part of the April A-Z Blogging Challenge. This year my theme is simply, "things I know." Some posts will be informational, some about life lessons, some about things I've learned as an author/blogger. This post also happens to be part of the Insecure Writer's Support Group, a bloghop dedicated to writers supporting one another through this crazy thing called 'being an author.' I hope you enjoy!
image from wikipedia.orgbump·er·glint
/ˈbəmpərglint/
noun
1. raised reflectors on roads, used to denote center lines, fire hydrants and other important transportation markers
"the tired driver listed toward the middle of the road, only startled back to attention when his tires went over the bumperglint along the center line"
synonyms: cat's eyes, road reflectors, road turtles
This word is made up! My husband checked out a book once of words that really should be 'real' words you can find in the dictionary, but for whatever reason aren't. But ever since he told me about the word bumperglint, it has been a ready part of my vocabulary. It's almost onomatopoetic, which I guess is why it stuck for me. So there you go, a new word for your vocabulary! Let's make it real.
So far as IWSG is concerned, I just wanted to take a brief moment to reflect on 'made-up' words. They are tricky, aren't they? We can want to create our own. I mean, we are authors, so we're very creative. We should be able to make our own words, right? But that can be dangerous. Not all of us are as brilliant and able to create entire languages as Tolkien. But at the same time it can make our writing more compact and engaging, if done right. I find that I am terrified to coin my own. Even if there's something that seems like it could be more simple, I am apt to use 'normal' words (lots of them if I have to!) rather than make up my own word for something. This, I think, can be problematic when world-building. If that animal or object is going to play a major part in the book, why not name it? I think I am afraid of coming up with things that sound Seuss'ish.
What about you? Have you read any books that use made up words to good effect? What about books that were terrible this way?
image from wikipedia.orgbump·er·glint/ˈbəmpərglint/
noun
1. raised reflectors on roads, used to denote center lines, fire hydrants and other important transportation markers
"the tired driver listed toward the middle of the road, only startled back to attention when his tires went over the bumperglint along the center line"
synonyms: cat's eyes, road reflectors, road turtles
This word is made up! My husband checked out a book once of words that really should be 'real' words you can find in the dictionary, but for whatever reason aren't. But ever since he told me about the word bumperglint, it has been a ready part of my vocabulary. It's almost onomatopoetic, which I guess is why it stuck for me. So there you go, a new word for your vocabulary! Let's make it real.
So far as IWSG is concerned, I just wanted to take a brief moment to reflect on 'made-up' words. They are tricky, aren't they? We can want to create our own. I mean, we are authors, so we're very creative. We should be able to make our own words, right? But that can be dangerous. Not all of us are as brilliant and able to create entire languages as Tolkien. But at the same time it can make our writing more compact and engaging, if done right. I find that I am terrified to coin my own. Even if there's something that seems like it could be more simple, I am apt to use 'normal' words (lots of them if I have to!) rather than make up my own word for something. This, I think, can be problematic when world-building. If that animal or object is going to play a major part in the book, why not name it? I think I am afraid of coming up with things that sound Seuss'ish.
What about you? Have you read any books that use made up words to good effect? What about books that were terrible this way?
April 1, 2014
A to Z Challenge: A
This post is part of the April A-Z Blogging Challenge. This year my theme is simply, "things I know." Some posts will be informational, some about life lessons, some about things I've learned as an author/blogger.
Today's word is: Appreciation. I wanted to start my A-Z with taking a moment to say how much I've appreciated working with the whole A-Z co-host team, and my wHooligans, this spring. I was a bit intimidated at first when Tina asked me to join the co-Host team, as I'm just a little blog. A-Z is one of the only things I've really done to reach out to other Bloggers, so being asked to co-host was an honor. It was also kind-of crazy to be thrown in with the calibre of other folks on the team. But they've been fun to work with and we've gotten some good stuff done this spring, so thank you to the whole A-Z team! This is going to be an amazing month :)
Also a super-special thank you to my wHooligans, Shilpa, LuAnn, TaMara, Kripali, Helen and Elsie! You're the best a gal could ask for!
Today's word is: Appreciation. I wanted to start my A-Z with taking a moment to say how much I've appreciated working with the whole A-Z co-host team, and my wHooligans, this spring. I was a bit intimidated at first when Tina asked me to join the co-Host team, as I'm just a little blog. A-Z is one of the only things I've really done to reach out to other Bloggers, so being asked to co-host was an honor. It was also kind-of crazy to be thrown in with the calibre of other folks on the team. But they've been fun to work with and we've gotten some good stuff done this spring, so thank you to the whole A-Z team! This is going to be an amazing month :)Also a super-special thank you to my wHooligans, Shilpa, LuAnn, TaMara, Kripali, Helen and Elsie! You're the best a gal could ask for!
March 31, 2014
Last Chance!
The April A-Z Challenge starts tomorrow! You have just the rest of today to sign up, if you haven't already! Why are you still reading this? Go! The rest of the internet will wait while you got sign yourself up for the biggest blog hop in the 'verse!
And now off to keep writing my posts. I do hope you'll join us :)
March 28, 2014
wHooligan feature - Kripali Kulkarni
Our final wHooligan feature is Kripali Kulkarni. She blogs at Sumptuous Living, and you can follow her on Twitter, too!Kripali is such an observant writer! She notices little things around her and writes beautiful reflections on the things she sees. She has a very playful style, sometimes talking to you the reader in an almost sotto voce style. She approached the opportunity to be a wHooligan with such excitement I just had to bring her to the team!
Here are her answers :)
Where do you go to "Get away from it all"?
This "Get away from it all" syndrome strikes me pretty often. I prefer to bury myself in some book or I write some draft posts that I do not intend to post ever. So basically I do not have any actual place to go to but books are my buddy.
True or False: Frequently cracking your knuckles will lead to arthritis. (Defend your choice.)
I crack my knuckles all the time when anxious, elated, annoyed and all that. I just prefer the gas bubbles in my knuckles to explode rather than my brain. So well, it's False that cracking knuckles will lead to arthritis. The learned doctors say that. But yes don't you try to crack them when super annoyed. You might just break them with your fury.
When writing, do you prefer to compose your first-draft by hand, on your computer, or using Morse Code?
Oooh. Morse code sounds hot. But no I am too lazy and I use my cell phone to draft my writing material since it's super handy and convenient. I absolutely love the idea of hand written drafts but just as I am about to begin with the hand written ones, the lazy self in me sends boredom signals to my brain and my hand just withdraws and accepts defeat.
On a rainy day- curl up on the couch with a good book, or a good movie?
A good book, continual supply of hot tea, something little that is hot and spicy to munch on and soft background music is all I would ask for. It in fact is what I would prefer over a movie any given day.
What brought you to blogging and how did you find yourself doing the A-Z?
I must genuinely credit my husband for it for he was the one who suggested me to try my hand at it. I just happened to bump on to an A to Z'er on Twitter where I was relatively new and that good soul guided me to this wonderful blogging challenge.
I'm glad you found A-Z, Kripali!
