Blair Bancroft's Blog, page 49

WRITING WORKSHOP 3

Sunset, Branford, CT - shared by Dan on Facebook. (Branford was my home for many happy years. My children grew up there.)

That's Branford Harbor, with Long Island Sound in the background. The sun is setting in the direction of New York City, c. 80 miles away.



My Christmas begonia - I must have remembered to fertilize it!


WRITING WORKSHOP, Part 3
 The Hook.
Many years ago, when we still communicated by snail mail, I recall writing to the person heading an RWA contest, asking plaintively, "What's a hook?" (One of the items listed on the chapter's Score Sheet). She was kind enough to reply in depth, a favor I have never forgotten. And the incident points up how important it is for authors to share their knowledge with others. Such a simple thing, a hook. But I needed to know what it was, and someone took the time to explain it. I later joined that chapter and was taught about contest judging by the very same gracious lady, who is gone now. Her chapter has honored her by naming their contest in her memory.

A recent discussion on one of my author loops also pointed up how important it is that published authors share their hard-earned knowledge with unpubs, and that we do not get up on our high horse and ignore, or "look down" on, those who are still struggling with the basics. So here is my definition of a hook. And, yes, hooks are an essential part of writing your book.

Hook: the last line in a chapter that keeps readers turning the page. The sentence that "leaves readers hanging" in the grand tradition of the heroine tied to the railroad tracks, the announcement of a surprise pregnancy, a bad guy with a gun trained at the hero's head." 

In the past a good hook was most emphasized for the end of Chapter 3, as that was the end of the traditional submission package. More recently, a hook is encouraged for as many chapters as possible, beginning with Chapter 1.

Example 1:  
Way back in 1998, when I submitted Tarleton's Wife to RWA's Golden Heart contest, I still had no idea what a hook was. Yet by some miracle my entry ended with a great hook. (Which I had written instinctively, without knowing what I was writing had a name.) And, yes, Tarleton's Wife won the Golden Heart that year, and I strongly suspect that great hook had something to do with it.

Example 2:
From Dark Light, a Futuristic by Jayne Castle 
Background: On a planet somewhat similar to earth, a young female reporter has been writing articles criticizing a very powerful organization called "The Guild." She has finally gotten an interview with the Guild Boss, who surprises her by admitting to some problems in his organization. Near the end of Chapter 1 he further surprises her by suggesting they work together to eliminate the problems. And then . . .

     He watched her with a steady, unwavering look. "I'm dead serious."
     It was the word dead that aroused all her new journalistic instincts. Okay, maybe he was serious.
     "This would be a Guild story?" she asked warily. "What, exactly, do I have to do to get this hot exclusive?"
     "Marry me."

 ~ * ~
Since the next section of the Writing Workshop is Plot, which is long and complicated, I'll stick with just the Hook for this week. But I invite you to go back through the Archives of Mosaic Moments and check out any writing & editing hints you might have missed. Or some of the photo essays, just for fun of it. Now that we're moving into 2015, I'll be posting another Index shortly.

Thanks for stopping by.

Grace
 

For Grace's website, listing all books as Blair Bancroft, click here.

For a brochure for Grace's editing service, Best Foot Forward, click here.  

 
 

 

Photo Essay for the Holidays

Whatever holiday you celebrate during this winter season, I hope your days are happy and that 2015 roars in with better health, better weather, and a better outlook for a safe and happy new year. (I suspect I'm not the only one happy to boot 2014 out the door!)

This week, Mosaic Moments is presenting a double photo essay for the holidays: the launch of Orion, our hope for the next great step in space exploration, and holiday photos from the Festival of Trees at the Orlando Museum of Art. 

I'd also like to mention that although Scrooge still lives in some hearts, this year there seems to be a rise in the number of Secret Angels roaming our land. More tales of people paying for other people's meals in restaurants and drive-thrus. And most recently, an amazing surge of anonymous donors paying off huge sums for people who bought Christmas presents on Lay-away. The amounts reported on the TV news range from $10,000 to $65,000, the incidents occurring all over the country. (And the TV reporters seeming to love every moment of filming moms with tears rolling down their cheeks.) And then there are all those people who rushed out and bought extra toys to make up for a shortfall this week in our local Toys for Tots program. (The demand was higher this year & the shelves already empty.)

So take heart - the world has not yet imploded, the spirit of Christmas still lives. (Though I fear we've all had our doubts, this year more than most.) 


THE LAUNCH OF ORION
ORION - the first baby step in the road of manned flight to Mars. All photos are screen shots from Orlando's Channel 9 live presentation of the lift-off. No "live" from my driveway this time, as there was heavy cloud cover between here and the coast.

Comparison of rockets - Orion piggy-backed on a Delta IV



Orion & gantries at 7:00 a.m.











Ready . . .













Set . . .
GO!The test appeared to be a success, with the unmanned Orion circling the earth four times, as planned, before splashing down in the Pacific right where our ships hovered, waiting to pick it up. Launch was Dec. 5, 2014, at 7:05 a.m. Orion returned to the Kennedy Space Center this Thursday, after being trucked back across the country.


FESTIVAL OF TREES - The Orlando Museum of Art
The grandchildren's favorites - Gingerbread Creations 

Classic Gingerbread House 








The family favorite - a pirate ship














Florida Gingerbread?













I didn't ask that darling to pose. Really!














One of several gorgeous tablesettings being raffled for this annual fundraising event
How about a wreath that's a bit different?


Or maybe this one? I believe that price tag reads a mere $425!



































Trimmed with Toys Christmas Tree Re-think
Do you think the bulldozer migrated from the Toy Tree? I suspect a practical joker somewhere about. Soloists with the Citrus Singers, who were performing at the Museum Carolers at the Museum Three remarkable Menorahs
Hmm - a tree wearing a headdress

Merry Christmas!
And farewell to another wonderful afternoon at the Festival of Trees at the Orlando Museum of Art. 

~ * ~
Thanks for stopping by.

Grace
 

For Grace's website, listing all books as Blair Bancroft, click here.

For a brochure for Grace's editing service, Best Foot Forward, click here.  

 

WRITING WORKSHOP 2

While the family was having dinner at my house last night, my daughter put on a Christmas CD she and her girls made two years ago, with her husband doing the technical work. Suddenly inspired with the idea of posting her solo of "Ave Maria" to Facebook, she went home at about 10:00 p.m. and by 12:30 a.m. she had created this very special Christmas treat - "Ave Maria," accompanied by a succession of glorious sunsets (and one sunrise). To view, click here.  
 






WRITING WORKSHOP, Part 2


So after doing your initial research, what comes next ?
Title. 
Give your book a title, even if you change it later. It's good psychology - having that title up there at the top of the page makes your effort seem more real. You're actually writing a book, not fooling around.

Names.
Before you begin, name your major characters. Hero, heroine, and at least the secondary characters in the first few chapters. It also helps to make a note of their physical descriptions and their relationship to the other characters. I personally make a formal typed Character List, scribbling in new names as I go along until it gets so messy I'm forced to type up a new clean list! Sometimes, instead of putting brief notes about physical and personality descriptions in the Character List, I type up a separate sheet for these. Attention to details like this avoids a character having dark eyes ion page 10 and blue eyes on page 250!

You might also consider making a few notes on your hero's and heroine's backgrounds - father, mother, sisters, brothers (uncles, aunts, cousins, if pertinent). If any of these people appear in the story, name them. The purpose? To fix the who, what, where, when & why of your main characters in your head, plus you won't get hung up in the middle of writing, looking for a name.

Okay, there you are, staring at the screen with no more than a Title, a page number, and a few names. What now?

 Openings.
Take your time with that first sentence. I often don't start a book until I have that first sentence firmly in mind. Also take your time with the rest of the first paragraph and the first page. This is where you capture the attention of an agent or editor, and eventually your readers.

I have judged 400+ writing contests over the last fifteen years or so and, believe me, I can always tell if an author knows what he/she is doing by the end of the first page. As an example: I often download four or five books at a time to my Kindle, and by the time I get ready to read the last one, I have totally forgotten why I chose it. Usually I recognize a favorite author, but on this occasion, I simply stared, frowning at the Index. Neither title nor author rang a bell, and the author was a male. Now it's not that I don't have some favorite male authors, but they're "old friends," and this one certainly wasn't one of them. So I simply punched the "Select" button and started reading.

By the end of the first three paragraphs, I had no doubt this book was something special. I flipped back to the Index and glared at it once again. Why had I chosen The Cuckoo's Calling? And who on earth was Robert Galbraith? And finally it came to me. I was reading J. K. Rowling's first adult mystery. And, believe me, the book lived up to what I saw in those first few paragraphs. So I'm telling you, frankly, it may be true a book is judged by its cover, but it is also judged by its opening paragraphs.

Below are three of my favorite examples of opening lines or paragraphs:

From Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Philips:

"It wasn't every day a guy saw a headless beaver marching down the side of a road, not even in Dean Robillard's larger-than-life world."

From The Third Circle by Jane Ann Krentz:

"The heavily shadowed gallery of the museum was filled with many strange and disturbing artifacts. None of the antiquities, however, was as shocking as the woman lying in a dark pool of blood on the cold marble floor."

From Soulless by Gail Carriger:

"Miss Alexia Tarabotti was not enjoying her evening. Private balls were never more than middling amusements for spinsters, and Miss Tarabotti was not the kind of spinster who could garner even that much pleasure from the event. To put the pudding in the puff: she had retreated to the library, her favorite sanctuary in any house, only to happen upon an unexpected vampire."

~ * ~
 A lot more to go in the Writing Workshop, but perhaps not until after Christmas. Hopefully, something holiday-ish for next week, if I ever get around to downloading my pics from the Orlando Museum of Art's Festival of Trees.

Thanks for stopping by.

Grace
 

For Grace's website, listing all books as Blair Bancroft, click here.

For a brochure for Grace's editing service, Best Foot Forward, click here.  

WRITING WORKSHOP 1

This week I am beginning a new series based on the workshop I developed not only for writers struggling to be published but for those who may have a book or two under their belt but are still polishing their skills and trying to find a way to excel. I hasten to say, I'm far from omnipotent, but hopefully there will be things in this series that will help you rise above the ordinary to write a book that meets your fondest dreams.

The full title of the original workshop, which I have presented to several RWA chapters is:

The Wise Author's Approach to Writing a BookorHow to Rise Above the Ordinary
 

 "Where do you get your ideas?"
How many times have you been asked that question? The answer is: "Everywhere."
Ideas are all around you. Personal experiences, television, newspapers, movies, people on the street, a chance remark, a character or situation in a book that sets you to asking, "What if . . .?" Or perhaps you're building a whole new world from scratch. Let's face it, if you didn't have ideas, you wouldn't be attempting to write a book. BUT developing these ideas into a 400-page book is something else again.

Fresh Twist.
So what do you do with that germ of an idea? To sell in today's tough market, give it a fresh twist, something that will keep the reader turning pages instead of groaning over yet another version of same old-same old. Be innovative, not cookie-cutter. Grab that idea - find a way to make it fresh. For example, in Grave Intentions, Lori Sjoberg makes a hero of the Grim Reaper, going on to develop other male and female reapers in her ongoing series for Kensington.

Research.
At least three-quarters of you are groaning, thinking: "But I write Contemporary . . ." Nonetheless, you have research to do. You need to find out how to make your hero and heroine, the setting, and general ambiance of your book sound authentic. Whether it's Renaissance, Regency, police procedure, arson investigation, high finance, medical, or whatever—make sure you know what you're talking about.

For example, what did I know about "the British Electoral System prior to the reforms of 1832" when I began the book now titled, A Gamble on Love? Absolutely nothing, of course. It took some heavy reading of books acquired for me by the Sarasota Library system via Interlibrary loan, but in the end I picked up some gems, tidbits that greatly enhanced the tale of a "cit" who horrifies his aristocratic bride when he runs for Parliament.

But don't panic. Research doesn't have to be all "up front." You can dredge it up as you go along. (I certainly didn't read all those heavy tomes on the British Electoral system before I began to write.) But you absolutely must have enough knowledge by the time you do your final edit so that people who are experts on your book's subject don't throw your book against the wall by the end of the first chapter.

As an example of how easy it is to slip up, no matter how careful you think you're being: when I was writing, The Harem Bride for Signet, I had the hero and heroine meet in Constantinople, at the home of the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. I paused long enough to think about the problem but considered it so unlikely that I could discover the name of the actual person that I simply made up a name for this character and continued on.

But in final editing before submitting the manuscript, I scowled at the name I'd invented and decided, well maybe, after all, I should check Google. To my shock, when I entered "British Ambassador, Ottoman Empire, 1803," page after page after page came scrolling up. Oops! It seems the ambassador was Lord Elgin, famed for boxing up many of the statues on the Acropolis, even to the extent of chipping off the friezes from the Parthenon, and shipping them back to England, where, some years later, they ended up in the British Museum. (I've seen them - they have a whole hall of their own.) To this day, Greece is trying to get them back.

After I finished gulping at how close I'd come to a major faux pas, I revised not only that scene but added references to Lord Elgin's struggles in getting the British Museum to buy his marbles. Moral of this story: check your facts. Don't end up with egg on your face.

~ * ~ Below is an example of a sign by someone who should have been a bit more careful, perhaps checked with a more expert translator. (One of the Spanish comments beneath this photo on my daughter's Facebook page suggests it was English translated from German rather than from Spanish.) The instructions are for a small train on a mountaintop in Argentina. (Not that I could do any better if I had to translate English to Spanish or German, but you've got to admit it's disastrously funny, as well as making a point about being careful what you write.)




Below, a view remarkably similar to photos taken on our Caribbean cruise. The water, however - unlabeled on my daughter's Facebook post - is believed to be a lake in the lower Andes. (Mountains are a phenomenon to those who live in relentlessly flat Florida. The average height of the Central Florida Ridge, beginning around Orlando and going west for 40-50  miles, is 100 feet above sea level.)





Below, a sight I was happy to see, signaling the family's arrival back in Florida.

Sunrise over Miami~ * ~
More Workshop coming soon, also Orion launch photos.
 
Thanks for stopping by,Grace
For Grace's website, listing all books as Blair Bancroft, click here.

For a brochure for Grace's editing service, Best Foot Forward, click here.

CRUSING, Part 2

BULLETIN from Argentina (Thursday, November 20) - the family on the banks of the Parana River in Rosario, Argentina - where they're attending a quinceañera. They flew from Orlando to Miami to Buenos Aires on Tuesday night.



Visiting an Argentinian shoe store! (on Friday)

CRUISING - Part 2

Below is a photo essay for the Thanksgiving holiday, before I begin a new Writing & Editing series. Here is Part 2 of the Caribbean cruise the family and I took last August. 



After touring separately on St. Thomas, we were all together for a full-circle bus tour of our next port of call - St. Maarten/St. Martin - an island amicably divided since the seventeenth century into jurisdiction by the Dutch and the French. (We enjoyed the comfort of an air-conditioned full-size bus as opposed to the small open-sided lorries on St. Thomas, where it is impossible to imagine a full-size bus negotiating the roads!)

Crossing the border from St. Maarten to St. Martin

And no, there was no border guard, no stopping to show our passports.

 
To New Englanders like me, the walls just inside the French border appeared to be classic stone walls, but our driver told us they're called "slave walls" because they were constructed by slaves from the ballast stones offloaded from European ships which would be returning with their holds full of island produce.


A flat-out fake shot of St. Maarten's famous airport where airplanes skim the beach.It really looks like this - my daughter has the videos to prove it - but I confess this is a photo of a photo passed around by our bus driver!


Naturally, while in "France," we had to visit an open-air Pâtisserie. Yum!

St. Thomas isn't the only island with amazing colors in the water.
And a fond farewell to St. Maarten as our ship pulls out of the harbor.
More ice skating on Deck 3
I actually went in the pool, but it was way too crowded. Stayed long enough for a photo!
So I went to the all-adult pool, which was just as crowded, but it had underwater bar stools, a bar, and mojitos!

Monkey on a wire! That's my mojito front & center.


A fond farewell to our dining room - and the fabulous food - on Freedom of the Seas

Safely back at Port Canaveral
Waiting for our faithful picker-uppers, Lionel & Tim, just pulling in. (I waited on a bench, thank you very much!)
If you want to cruise on a truly great ship, try Royal Caribbean's  Freedom of the Seas. We loved it!

~ * ~

Coming soon: a new series based on my workshop, "The Wise Author's Approach to Writing a Better Book"
Thanks for stopping by,Grace
For Grace's website, listing all books as Blair Bancroft, click here.

For a brochure for Grace's editing service, Best Foot Forward, click here.

HOLLY

For some reason it seems as if Holly took forever to be ready to go live online, but truth is, I recall taking Belle and Cecilia (the first two novellas of the Aphrodite Academy series) with me on our cruise in mid-August (via my Kindle), and re-reading them to refresh my mind about the characters before starting Holly. So I guess it really hasn't been that long. 

I have to admit I've found violating most of the rules of traditional Regency romance, even most Regency historicals, a refreshing switch. The freedom to be outrageous is exhilarating. The result, I hope, not offensive.

For those who might not remember the girls of the Aphrodite Academy . . .

These novellas explore what might have happened to young women, from ladies to tavern wenches, to whom life has not been kind. I call this genre "Regency Darkside." The language is saucy, the sex occasionally graphic, but the stories are driven by plot and characters, not the sex scenes. And traditional Happily Ever After endings prevail.

Holly - the story:

Holly Hammond, an independent, sharp-tongued former tavern wench, has reached the pinnacle of her ambition, flying high as a sparkling courtesan—until she finds herself out on the street, pregnant with twins. Her choices are few:  live the false life of a widow in some distant corner of the realm or give up her child. And then, an offer out of the blue. For what might be the highest price ever placed on a courtesan, she is bartered into marriage with a stranger.

Royce Kincade is a stalwart, upright border Scot who fixes his sight on the prize at the end of the rainbow, giving little thought to such pitfalls as his wife's determined independence, the possible outrage of his relatives, or the reappearance of the babies' natural father. Not surprisingly, both Holly and Royce are left to wonder if theirs is marriage made in Heaven or in Hell.

~ * ~

Holly is currently available on Amazon & Smashwords. B&N's Nook takes a bit longer. 

For a link to Amazon Kindle, click here.

For a link to Smashwords, click here.
Note: a 20% free read is available on Smashwords.


Thanks for stopping by,Grace
For Grace's website, listing all books as Blair Bancroft, click here.

For a brochure for Grace's editing service, Best Foot Forward, click here. 

Fairy Tales & Romance

A rare sight - a full moon against a Florida sunset


FAIRY TALES & ROMANCE
Have fairy tales - from children's storybooks to Disney movies - ruined women's ability to distinguish genuine romance from sheer fantasy? 

Last night on TV's Criminal Minds, the serial killer turned out to be an ethereal young woman who had been so damaged in her youth that her mind had become fixed on the concept of finding "the one." If a man she met, even casually, did not live up to her ideal of instant Happily Ever After, she killed him. Does this fictional character, I wonder, have numerous not-so-fictional sister sufferers - not to such an extreme, of course - who think only "love at first sight" will do? Women who never find the right man because they reject a man if sparks don't fly on the first date? 

Are romance authors guilty of continuing these myths? Very likely, and yet where would we be without romance? Though a widow of long standing, I embrace the concept every day. Writing about romance adds immensely to my pleasure in life, as I hope my work does to the lives of my readers. But . . .

In last night's episode of Criminal Minds, the young woman could not accept men as they are, even the charming ones. If they made a pass, strayed the least little bit off the prim fairy tale path, she freaked and killed them. In actuality, of course, we see every variety of aberration as women seek romance and the ever-illusive love. From those who vow to wait for Mr. Right to those who leap into bed with every man they meet, thinking that's the only way they find "the one." 

Nonsense, of course. Yet when I checked my "blog file" this morning, I found I had saved a newspaper article on this topic (by Jessica Reynolds for Tribune newspapers). It lists seven concepts experts feel should be debunked. They are:

1.  You'll meet "the one."
2.  Love at first sight.
3.  Opposites attract.
4.  "Happily ever after" lasts forever.
5.  Fighting means you have passion.
6.  You can change someone if you try hard enough.
7.  Love can conquer all.

In a nutshell, here's what they said:

1. Believing you'll meet Mr. or Miss Right is passive. You're letting a perhaps mythical destiny control your life. Love requires participation. You have to engage in it, work at it. It doesn't just happen.

2.  People may fall in lust at first sight, the experts concede, and be fooled, as their relationship develops, into thinking it was love at first sight. This concept should definitely be taken with the proverbial grain of salt.

3.  Opposites attract? Believe it or not, sociologists state that social class is a greater divider than even gender or race. The simple truth is that the more dissimilar the day-to-day rituals and preferences of two people, the less likely their relationship will last.

4.  The validity of HEA. Let's face it, that's why we go to romance movies, read romance novels. We know life just doesn't work that way. (At least most of us do - I'm still worried about the really young and naive who haven't yet made that horrid discovery.) 

5.  Fights & passion. For all the tales to the contrary, explosive fights rarely end in a passionate love scene. Fighting can even make a couple question whether they've made a good match. Some couples fight, many don't. Just don't make the mistake of thinking it adds to the romance of their lives. 

6. The hope of change. Experts suggest that in real life Belle of Beauty and the Beast would likely have resigned in frustration or been mauled! Occasionally unrelenting good nature may change a grumpy partner, but more likely it can lead to abuse. Basically, if you enter a relationship with the idea you can change your partner, you're likely headed for a fall.

7.  Love conquers all. The greatest fallacy of all. There are some issues which cannot be fixed, from death and disaster to different attitudes toward money. Some relationships, no matter how right they might seem at the beginning, are not destined to last.


Discouraged? Disillusioned? Or are you nodding your head and saying, "Wow, I don't feel so guilty about . . ."?

The most important thing, I believe, is to acknowledge that some people - frequently young women - have been brainwashed by the unrelenting, and decidedly unrealistic, bombardment of the Disney version of fairy-tale romance. (The tales, as originally written, were frequently more realistic. Modern-day versions have been sanitized in a manner similar to what Thomas Bowdler did to Shakespeare in the early 19th c.)

So we need to be wary of these "prettified" stories. We need to raise our young ones with the ability to differentiate between romance in fiction and romance in the real world. And yes, our young men need to face this too. For they cannot be totally unaffected by the fantasy romances that constantly bombard us from every side. Can anyone be blamed if we have difficulty distinguishing fiction from reality?

As for myself, I will continue to write romance with a clear conscience, for I try to include the bad with the good. In Holly, Book 3 in the Aphrodite Academy series, Happily Ever After is anything but. And in my Regency Gothic, The Mists of Moorhead Manor, the hero and heroine are confronted by a heart-wrenching, nearly insoluble dilemma. And even after they make that decision, the battle of Waterloo interferes with what we can only hope will be a much less stressful future.

In all fairness I should add that the TV program Once Upon a Time, which presents twist upon twist on the old fairy tales, never falls into the trap of nothing- but-sweetness-and-light and happily-ever-after. It does, in fact, present some good life lessons, such as the value of friendship that is front and center in this fall's "Frozen" episodes. I should also add that even fairy tale movies are showing signs of growing up, as seen in Snow White and the Huntsman and Maleficent. 

To conclude, here is the final paragraph from Ms. Reynolds' article.

"Romantic storylines may very well amplify our expectations of love beyond what will ever be feasible, but they do add some benefit," Ozair* said. "They remind us to be optimistic about love and open to adventure . . . and hit at our deep-seated hope that love will find a way."

* Mia Adler Ozair, a clinical psychotherapist from Los Angeles and mother of nine. 

~ * ~

Thanks for stopping by,Grace
For Grace's website, listing all books as Blair Bancroft, click here.

For a brochure for Grace's editing service, Best Foot Forward, click here. 

Thoughts on Space

Hailey, Halloween, 2014
Take a good look at the zipper that runs from Hailey's forehead down around her mouth. Amazing stuff. Some of us have been teasing her make-up artist, her mother, that some of Bill Corso's genius must have rubbed off when they were classmates in the Booker Performing Arts program in Sarasota. Shortly after graduating, Bill went off to Hollywood where's he's become one of the leading horror make-up artists in the U.S.


A few thoughts on going where no-one has gone before . . .

A slightly cockeyed scan of the exploding Antares rocket - from the Orlando Sentinel

The photo above is of an Antares rocket, owned by Orbital Sciences Corp. - and contracted by NASA to the tune of $200,000,000 - blowing up only a few seconds after launch in Virginia on Tuesday, October 28. There was also damage to the launchpad.

Today, Wednesday,I just walked back into the house after watching an Atlas V, owned by SpaceX, manage a perfect launch from Cape Canaveral, with far more people watching than in many a year. It seems it takes an explosion of one rocket to get the launch of the next one onto CNN. 

On board the exploded rocket were 5,000 pounds of supplies for the International Space Station. The SpaceX Atlas V is carrying GPS equipment intended for military use. Due to a long rainy season and heavy clouds, this is the first launch I've seen from my house in quite a while. Here's how it works . . .

Almost everyone in Florida - at least within a hundred miles of Cape Canaveral - learned long ago where to get the best view of a launch. In my old home in Venice, Florida, it was the middle of my driveway. Unfortunately, here in Orlando, it's the middle of the road! (A quiet dead end, thank goodness.) The way most of us do it, as far as I know, is we watch on television until the rocket actually launches, and then we rush outside, assume the pre-determined position, and wait. When I was in Venice, it took the rocket a surprisingly long while before it rose over the roof of the house across the street. Here in Orlando, which is much closer, the rocket becomes visible much sooner.

That's what I was doing on January 28, 1986, standing in my driveway watching Challenger's vapor trail, when it suddenly split into two trails. Something I had never seen before. I rushed back into the house in time to hear a choked-up announcer say there had been an "anomaly." Such a clinical word for disaster and death. 

And almost two years later, I was standing in the parking lot behind my costume business, along with every other small business owner, plus customers, in that small strip mall, watching the first shuttle launch after the Challenger disaster. We were all chanting, "Go, go!" Followed by cheers when Discovery flew true, her vapor trail long and clear behind.

The rocket that blew up last night did so during the evening news and became "Breaking News" within moments. It was also fully recorded by both professional and amateur videographers. The one thing the newsmen kept repeating was, "This is an unmanned rocket. No one was killed." And not long after, they were able to assure viewers that no one had been killed on the ground either. But on amateur video shown on CNN today you could hear someone repeating, "Oh God, oh God, oh God." It truly was a horrible sight. And I feel sorry for Orbital Sciences, even as I cheer SpaceX for yet another clean launch today. (Their launch record, so far, is superb.) To be fair, this was the first disastrous launch among those made by private contractors since the shuttles were retired. These private companies stuck their necks out to continue our venture into space after the government pulled the plug. Government contracts or not, they are to be applauded for risking so much.

I'm old enough to remember our first attempts to develop a reliable rocket. Back then, it wasn't at all unusual to see a rocket blow up on launch. While I was touring with The Sound of Music, I remember sitting in a hotel room (in Cleveland, I think it was) and cheering one on, only to have it end in a fiery mess very similar to the one in the picture above. And yet we finally did it. We even created a rocket capable of taking men to the moon. And how sorry I am my children were too young to share that incredible first step with Neil Armstrong. But anyone can now enjoy that great moment at the Kennedy Space Center where they do an excellent re-enactment of the first moon-landing.

The evening news on Wednesday added a new wrinkle to the mix. It seems the rocket that blew up in Virginia was Russian, a leftover from the Soviet space program in the 1960s. Hmm - that's when all our rockets were blowing up too. Maybe not the best choice . . .? SpaceX engines, we were assured, are "Made in America." Well, it was ice that did in Challenger, not the rocket engine, so maybe we did finally learn a thing or two about creating and launching rockets. As did the Russians. They launched a supply ship to the ISS today, so there's no danger the astronauts up there are going to left wanting.

So . . . what does it all mean? 

Why explore? To borrow from Captain Kirk, "because it's out there." Because I've never doubted others are out there, and we shouldn't be the insular hicks from the sticks when we finally meet.

On CNN today (Wednesday) Senator Bill Nelson talked about the Orion space capsule that will be tested this December. This is our push to get back into space - farther than we've ever gone before. And, yes, it's something that has to be done. 

I'm so glad to be here in Florida where I can watch our giant birds come back to life in the next generation of space exploration. To know that one of these days I'll once again watch State Road 528* (a 4-lane superhighway) become a parking lot when so many people are rushing to the launch that they clog the roads. And when they realize they aren't going to get there in time, they simply pull over and stop, stand beside their cars, heads up, every eye aimed at the eastern sky. And yes, that actually happened a few years ago as we learned the shuttles' days were numbered, and so many of us were determined to see one more launch, up close and personal, before the curtain fell. (The particular occasion mentioned here was about three or four shuttle launches before the final one.)

*For those not familiar with the Orlando area, Rte. 528 makes a "beeline" (an absolutely straight line) from Orlando to Cocoa Beach, just south of the Kennedy Space Center. There's a small island on one of the causeways that offers an excellent launch view. You can clearly see ignition, launch, and main engine separation before the rocket streaks out over the Atlantic.

So, bring it on, Orion. Central Florida is ready. And hopefully the rest of the country isn't as apathetic as we sometimes think they are!  

~ * ~
Thanks for stopping by.Grace
For Grace's website, listing all books as Blair Bancroft, click here.

For a brochure for Grace's editing service, Best Foot Forward, click here. 

Misused Words 2

"Haloed" by the setting sun - Venice Fishing Pier, Venice, FL - Susie in hat, Mike behind


 Followed by another gorgeous Gulf Coast sunset
Although Connecticut is still "home," 25 years in Venice makes it my second home - an ideal location with constant seabreeze, boutique shopping, and "jungle" hiking that makes it a great place to visit as well. And doing a workshop for the Southwest Florida Romance Writers gave me an opportunity to do so. Plus we timed the trip for the Venice Sun Fiesta, always a high-old-time for music, food, and unique crafts before the onslaught of tourists arrives for the "Season." Icing on the cake - our favorite waterfront restaurant had added a gourmet-style second story, and we managed to get outdoor seating overlooking sand, dune grass, and the Gulf - at night with the stars coming out. Wow! (It's so fancy it even had an elevator. In Venice, yet!)

And, yes, if my Romantic Suspense/Mystery readers are wondering . . . Venice is the deep dark secret behind my "Golden Beach" books. (Why a secret? Because the number of residents triples each Season, and the year-round residents really, really don't want that to increase to "quadruple"!)


MORE COMMONLY MISUSED WORDS
lead (pronounced "leed") - a noun meaning forefront; also, as a verb, the present tense of led.  She seized the lead in the race.  No matter where he leads, she follows.
lead (pronounced "led") - a metal. Ancient alchemists kept trying to turn lead into gold.
led -  guided; past tense of lead. He led the hikers along the path. 

lightening - growing lighter. The sun is rising; the sky is lightening. 
lightning - the bright burst of electricity before the thunder crashes. The eastern sky was filled with jagged streaks of lightning.

maize - corn. The Spanish may have called this Native American plant maiz, but today's North Americans call it corn.
maze -  labyrinth. A cornfield maze can be almost as hard to navigate as a maze of classic yew hedges. 

marquee - a canopy; also, the projection in front of a theater. Most outdoor weddings are held under some sort of marquee.
marquis - a noble title just beneath the rank of duke. The eldest sons of dukes often have the title of marquis. 

muscle - a part of the body many people, particularly men, attempt to enhance.  Three teenage girls admired the lifeguard's muscles.
mussel - a blue crustacean some people enjoy eating. My grandchildren actually like to eat mussels!

 Here are two examples of three words pronounced exactly alike but with wildly different meanings:

pair - two of a kind. A pair of twins.
pare - to peel. It takes a while to pare a potato or an apple, while scraping carrots is fast and easy.
pear - a fruit. Pears are very tasty.

peak - top of a mountain. It was a long hike, but I finally reached the peak.
peek - to glance (usually surreptitiously). The lady peeked over her fan at the handsome gentleman.
pique - to excite (interest/attention), to be intrigued. The girl in the string bikini piqued his interest.

perpetrate - to commit, as in perpetrate a crime. This word is the origin of the police term, "perp."
perpetuate - to prolong. Some tall tales are perpetuated long beyond their time.

principal - head of a school; something of importance; primary. The castle was the duke's principal residence.
principle - an important belief. In spite of threats from all sides, he stuck to his principles.
 
Another threesome:

rain - what falls from the sky. The TV weatherman tries to predict when it is going to rain.
reign - to rule. Queen Elizabeth II has reigned for a long time.
rein - what you use to guide a horse.  Don't drop your reins!

regardless - in spite of. Regardless of all the people who advised him not to, he dropped out of college.
irregardless - NO SUCH WORD EXISTS!   

shear - to cut.  In Australia they shear a lot of sheep.
sheer - transparent.  Her nightgown was so sheer it left little to the imagination.

stationary - fixed in one place.  That heavy machine remained stationary. It was much too hard to move.
stationery - something we write on. The desk drawer held a box of elegant stationery.

The following two words are pronounced exactly alike, although "suite" is badly mangled in some parts of the country.

suite - connected rooms, often used in the address of an apartment or office space; also used to describe a set of coordinated furniture. Mary's new bedroom suite is in the French Provincial style.
sweet - sugary, good-natured, kind. Sweet is both a taste and a personality trait.

Another trio of tricky words:

their - a possessive pronoun. Their uniforms are red with white piping.
there - a location (not where you are at the moment). See that house over there? That's where the Spauldings live.
they're - a contraction. Use only when what you want to say can be translated as "they are." They're a really good football team.


vain - used to describe someone overly obsessive about his/her appearance. Lady Anabelle was so vain, it was difficult for anyone to like her.
vane - a blade moved by the wind. Ancient windmills had four vanes; 19th c. mid-western windmills had as many as thirty vanes; modern wind machines have only three.
vein - the many vessels inside your body that carry blood.  A nurse has to pierce a vein with a needle in order to get a blood sample from a patient.

We'll end with a pair of words that are mostly abused by people who know better - but somehow the darn words insist on popping up in the wrong place. Our fingers stubbornly type one thing when we mean another. They're almost as bad as "its" and "it's"!

who's - use this contraction only when you mean "who is."  Who's going to the movies tonight?
whose - a possessive.  Whose books are scattered all over the couch?

Last-minute addition:

My eyes popped last night as I read a book by a highly talented author, who made an error that just goes to prove how easy it is for our fingers to type a sound-alike word and for it to go unnoticed, even by the eagle-eyes of both author and the copy editor of a major New York publisher. So I'm adding below two words it never occurred to me could be misused.

sextant - a navigational instrument once used by ships at sea.  The captain of the clipper ship used his sextant to plot a course.
sexton - the person who maintains a church building and its contents. When everyone had gone home, the sexton made sure the church was locked up tight.

~ * ~
Thanks for stopping by.
Grace
For Grace's website, listing all books as Blair Bancroft, click here.

For a brochure for Grace's editing service, Best Foot Forward, click here. 

More Cruising

Incredible as it may seem, Tuesday's Orlando Sentinel announced that the quarterback for the University of Florida has been suspended from the team after accusations of rape. No, this is not the same Florida quarterback previously mentioned. This is another one. The reaction, however, has been vastly different from the reaction to the accusation against Jameis Winston. Evidently universities are finally becoming more sensitized to the issue of rape by athletes. A move in the right direction, but this is a problem which has a long way to go.  
Update, Friday. The QB is back on the team. The girl dropped the charges. Can't help but wonder what threats, or cash, were used to do the trick. (Jameis Winston's accuser felt so threatened she quit school. Sigh.) Also in the Sentinel today - over the past two years there have been 55 accusations of rape against sports figures in Florida's state universities. Not one conviction. For a moment, a glimmer of hope . . . quickly quashed.

~ * ~
 

Returning to our August cruise on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas . . .

Yes, that's Hailey ice-skating, deep down on Deck 3!I know it's hard to believe, but our ship had an ice-skating rink - and professional skaters who put on a spectacular show. Amazing!

Hailey & Cassidy participating in the ice show - to Riley's disgust.
One of the towel animals cruise ships are famous for.



Guest auctioneers at the Art Auction - Riley gets to shine, calling numbers!



As we approached St. Thomas, I went out on deck to experiment with my new Samsung smartphone. It was so windy I never got near the rail, settling for steadying myself against something solid just outside the door. I was concentrating on working with my new "camera" and never noticed the photobomb I captured until I was looking through my photos to select shots for this blog. (I think - I hope - that's a bathing suit!)


Beautiful St. Thomas - alas, it was a slightly hazy morning

If you look closely dead center, you'll see an ancient stone fort. And the reflection of our ship in the water - looking like a submarine!


 


A view of the capital, Charlotte Amalie, from high above the city





Three cruise ships in port, including ours
View from a delightful jungle-surrounded restaurantAfter thirty years in Florida, it was an amazing experience to be climbing hills again, plunging down precipitous roads and around sharp bends - the kind that use mirrors or require a honk! At times I felt almost like I was back in Peru riding the twists and turns of the Hiram Bingham road to Machu Picchu.

Fountain at the restaurant









Rock garden & waterfall at the restaurant





















A couple of special notes before we say goodbye to St. Thomas . . .

I arrived at our island tour site early and had time to chat with one of the drivers. She told me they had had a 4.6 earthquake the night before. Surprise. Though why I was surprised after what happened in Haiti, I don't know. I guess I always think of St. Thomas as idyllic.

There was another surprise when we stopped at a beach to let some of the passengers off for swimming. While sitting in the open-sided tour vehicle, I noticed an odd-looking creature scampering across the parking lot. A mongoose, the driver told us. A mongoose? Really? It shot into the woods before I could even raise my camera, so no photo. But it seems they were imported back in colonial times to help with the snake problem. We also caught glimpses of iguanas sunning themselves in people's driveways, but since we have those in Florida, they weren't such a startling sight.

A final array of tour photos will finish out our Freedom of the Seas cruise later this fall.

~ * ~
FYI, I will be presenting my 2-hour workshop, "A Wise Author's Approach to Writing a Book," for the Southwest Florida Romance Writers on Saturday, October 18, 1-3. Guests are welcome. For the SWFRW website, click here.
Next blog - probably more Misused Words - October 25 
Thanks for stopping by.

Grace

For Grace's website, listing all books as Blair Bancroft, click here.

For a brochure for Grace's editing service, Best Foot Forward, click here.