M.J. Compton's Blog, page 56

The Importance of Story

I consider myself a storyteller, first and foremost.

One of my earliest memories is of lying in bed, telling myself what the cowboys on the wallpaper were doing.

 

A year or so later, my dad took me into the local department store to choose wallpaper for my bedroom in the new house he was building for us. I chose this, because it had letters , and I knew I needed letters to write my stories, and there were toys about which I could make up stories.

Even at aged 3 (yes, 3), I knew I was meant to tell stories.

For me, the story is  about which  books, movies, and even songs should be. One of my husband’s cousins is into film. He runs a couple of prestigious film festivals. For him, movies are about texture and other visual things. Story isn’t even secondary. What is the point?

One of the reasons I love baseball is because it is rich in the “feminine tradition of oral history,  story telling, and gossip.” (Breaking into Baseball by Jean Hastings Ardell) “Baseball loans [sic] itself to story telling.” (Jeff Gellenkirk)

Story pervades every aspect of our lives. From religion to the memes we read on social media, our business plans to our successes (and failures). Story is everywhere.

Today is National Tell a Story Day.

Don’t just tell a story today. Celebrate one.

 

 

Snarky Sunday: Eyebrow Threading

There’s a relatively new trend in cosmetic enhancement called eyebrow threading. I first heard about it from X-Chromo, who has actually had this done. I understand the concept: it’s like plucking with tweezers or using hot wax to extract eyebrow hairs. What I don’t understand is the mechanics.

A couple of weeks ago, X-Chromo and I went to The Maul (not a typo). One of the first things I noticed is how dark the interior of the place has become. I knew the “new” part of the sprawl was “green” and ill-lit, but when we ventured into the “old” part, I felt as if I’d wandered onto the set of a post-apocalyptic movie. Very dystopian feel to the place.

And there, in the middle of all this darkness, someone was having her eyebrows threaded. In a Maul kiosk, not a in a private space. And the technician had the threads in her mouth. As if they were dental floss. Using them. On some stranger’s face. In the dark.

I think I’ll pass.

Weird Collections

What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever collected?

My daughter made a rubber band ball.

Rubber Band Ball courtesy X-Chromo

At one point in my unexciting childhood, I collected the tags from Tetley Tea Bags. I believe the brand was Tetley. The tags were printed with clever sayings. The one I remember–and still quote–is “To make a long story short adds six words.”

Nowadays I collect and share the sayings from my Yogi tea bags.

How about you? What odd thing have you collected?

 

Purse Project (Reprise)

Remember this purse? I really like this purse because of its outside pockets.  But it wasn’t quite big enough.

My portable keyboard didn’t fit.

I couldn’t carry a magazine.  Or a file folder.

So for my birthday, I decided to buy another purse–if I could find what I wanted. I wanted the same purse, only bigger. Only by an inch or two.  Just enough to accommodate my portable keyboard or a file folder.

X-Chromo told me I should check out JC Penney. We went to the Maul together. She guided me through parts I’d never seen before (I am not a fan of the Maul). Nope,nope, nope. Then we went to JC Penney. She went directly to the purse I wanted.

I am delighted. The new one (on the right) has a pocket on the back (although the keyboard also fits inside very nicely).

Release Day!

Now available from Amazon.

Omega Moon Rising

Abigail Grant has a secret . . . and a plan to keep her younger sister from suffering the same fate. Her strategy would have worked if she hadn’t been seduced by sweet-talking musician Luke Omega. Suddenly she’s plucked from the life she wanted to escape, but her new circumstances only expose her to a different danger—or is it her salvation?

Luke has a secret, too. He believes he can change his destiny through willpower—and a little blue pill. When he inadvertently gets mixed up in the Grant sisters’ troubles and his pack alpha orders him to marry Abigail, his family insists he tell her he’s a werewolf. But Luke claims Abigail is not his life mate. She doesn’t need to know what happens to him on the full moon.

Until he accidentally stumbles across her secret. Then all bets are off.

Encouraging Young Writers

Today is National Encourage a Young Writer Day.

It is also X-Chromo’s birthday.

She recently graduated from college with a degree in creative writing.

This is what happens when you encourage a young writer.

I couldn’t be more proud of her than I am.

 

Walking as a Writing Tool

It’s National Walking Day.

Henry David Thoreau wrote: “Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.”

My critique partners walk nearly every day.

Julia Cameron, in her wonderful The Artists Way, recommends a daily jaunt as a way to unblock creativity.

Psychology Today has this to say.

I have a walking machine my husband used as a clothes rack until quite recently. I need to get back on a schedule and start using it for walking.

Finding the time is tough. It’s so much easier to find excuses.

Do you walk?

Opening Day!

It’s opening day of baseball season.

It’s also National Find a Rainbow Day.

What do the two have in common?

Baseball season is the pot of gold at the end of winter.

 

 

Pen or Pencil? Plotter or Pantser?

Today is National Pencil Day, which got me to thinking about how my preferences in writing implements have changed over the years.

When I first joined RWA, I ordered something called The Prescription for Plotting by Carolyn Greene. (Unfortunately, I can’t find a working link to share here.) It was a 3-ring binder with lots of pre-printed forms, a mechanical pencil, and a Clic eraser. That’s when I came to truly appreciate a good mechanical pencil and learned that I will never ever ever again be without a Clic eraser.

Being an organic kind of writer (some people call us pantsers), I never did fill out all of the forms, although I did give it my best shot. The beauty of using a pencil was the ability to erase something that wasn’t working. Making notes in pencil makes plot point more fluid than writing in ink.

Pencils are for pantsers.

Two of my critique partners are organized writers (some people call them plotters). They fill out index cards by the thousands.  Color coded. In ink. And the process works very well for them.

Pens are for plotters.

When I wrote in long-hand, I used a fountain pen. Then I switched to an Alphasmart. To a laptop computer. But sometimes, when I want to fill out those charts to try to get a handle on a plot point, a character, or just to “think on paper,” I use a pencil.

Do you prefer a pen or a pencil? Are you a plotter or a pantser?

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