Vicki Lane's Blog, page 558

Pink Plemmons' s Place

"Luck was next, another minuscule community, and Elizabeth smiled at the sign on a defunct grocery and feed store. Mr. Pink J. Plemmons's store might be shuttered but his name still endured, proudly blazoned in faded lettering on a sign that hung askew across the buildings facade. Till some antiques picker gets hold of it and sells it to a transplant to hang on their living room wall because it's 'quaint.'" Well, I'm happy to see that the sign's still there and has been straightened up. I...

Heavenly Weirdness

A nebulous flying saucer, its death ray aimed at the Blue Ridge? A transmogrified contrail? Observed and photographed Monday at around 7 pm.
My September Goodweather Report is up HERE.

How Long Is It? - FAQ

Q: I am afraid to ask this, but, HOW MANY WORDS did it take to finish ART'S BLOOD?

Is there a particular stopping point for you, or is the word count important?  That's a scary thought!
A: My books tend to be around 110,000 words.  I've tried to make them shorter but it just doesn't happen. In general, for fiction and for a debut novel, something around 70-80 thousand words would be a good ball park figure to keep in mind.


Yes, word count is important.   See Fiction Factor , an online magazine...

Full Disclosure

In the interests of full disclosure (this is for you, Friko,) most of the tomatoes I showed yesterday came from Justin's and Claui's amazing garden.  They have around 200 plants and were happy for me to come pick. (My thirty-some plants have been hard hit by blight and wild turkeys.)

And continuing in the disclosure mode -- when I process tomatoes, whether to can or to cook into sauce that will go into the freezer -- I don't blanch and peel my tomatoes.

If I were entering a competition at...

Home Grown Tomatoes ...and Okra .. and Pears

 
Send "Homegrown Tomatoes" Ringtone to Cell Phone
Ain't nothin' in the world that I like better
Than bacon & lettuce & homegrown tomatoes
Up in the mornin' out in the garden

Get you a ripe one don't get a hard one
Plant `em in the spring eat `em in the summer
All winter with out `em's a culinary bummer
I forget all about the sweatin' & diggin'
Everytime I go out & pick me a big one

Homegrown tomatoes homegrown tomatoes
What'd life be without homegrown tomatoes
Only two things that money can't b...

Silent Saturday

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The Great Chicken Masssacree - Part 1

I'm going to lull you with pretty pictures while I tell you that I spent most of yesterday butchering chickens. (Ah, the glamorous life of a writer...)
This was our first time to do this in quantity -- a dozen birds -- and it went amazingly well, due to John's advance prep. We took our time, cleaning everything after each bird with a good wipe-down of bleach and water solution and keeping everything covered to avoid attracting flies and yellow jackets.
And then in the  evening we sat on the ...

FAQ - Distractions and Submissions

Q: How do you deal with distractions when you're writing?
A: Oh, boy, I'm not sure I've got a good answer for this. I'm surrounded by distractions and to some extent they feed my creativity. In summertime, the distractions are many and pressing and it's hard to get a lot done when the garden is demanding my attention.  I don't have the luxury of someone to cook and clean (though my husband helps out here) so that I can do nothing but write.  And, frankly, I'm not sure I'd want to spend all m...

Molly

Miss Molly has had a bath and is mad at me so she won't look at the camera.
This ancient old dog came to us three or four years ago when Eileen, her previous person, had to go into a nursing home.


Eileen passed away last year but Molly abides.  She is arthritic -- her hips are as bad as my knees -- and seemingly stone deaf. But she responds to hand signals that mean "Get up and go outside." And when she hobbles outside and off the porch to attend to her needs, she always looks back at me...

Sky Light

Morning sun boils up Beyond the fog-cloaked mountains . . .A new day begins. . . Late afternoon clouds,Blushed with the sun's parting kiss,Make way for the moon. . . Floating luminousIn the still sky . . . spell caster, Dream weaver . . . night's lamp.