Annette Lyon's Blog, page 38

A Hero and a Family of Hundreds

My senior year, our high school started up a marching band program, and all I heard from my friends that were part of it was about how the one school to beat was American Fork.
That was, well, a very long time ago, and today? Well, the American Fork High School marching band is still the one to beat. It's won the state title something like 19 years in a row. It's so good that it was invited to perform for George W. Bush's second inauguration and in the Macy's Day parade.
But it wasn't until...

Linkage & An Upcoming Giveaway!

Links about the Hero's Journey
First, for those who attended my presentation on The Hero's Journey method of plotting at the League of Utah Writers meeting in Provo in June, (or those who didn't), Jordan McCollum has posted many of her notes in two different posts.
I used a lot of fantasy stories as examples (Star Wars, Harry Potter), but some attendees asked how the archetypal structure applies to romance. Good question. It does, since I use it and write romance myself. (In fact, I think...

WNW: Mr. Smith, You Have an Accent Too

I get the Utah jokes. I really do. I get the cultural jokes. The political jokes. I can laugh right along with the best of them.
I do, however, get a teeny, tiny bit annoyed with what I call the California Syndrome. I first ran into it in the form a kid named Jake in high school geometry who had unwillingly just moved from California. In hindsight, I think he was just bitter over his parents' divorce, but the way he lashed out, everything in Utah was just plain stupid.
Back then I was a very...

I'm Almost Back!

If all goes well, I'll be turning in my chocolate cookbook today.
The stupid school district up and made today a professional development day, which means the kids are home right when I need them to not be.
Luckily, my sister-in-law's kids were dying to have mine over to play, and since she knew I had a deadline, she thought that heck, let them hang out there for most of the day.
Boo. Yah.
So in a little bit, I'll be driving the munchkins over to her place and then settling my behind into the...

Housekeeping Miscellany

Today is not Word Nerd Wednesday. My sincere apologies.
Instead, a few housekeeping duties:
First, an announcement. In a wild attempt to meet a major deadline, I'll be absent from blogland, Facebook, Twitter, and pretty much all of the Internet except for some minor e-mail checking here and there for the next couple of weeks.
I hope I survive.

Second, well, another announcement. On Thursday (that would be tomorrow), September 24, I'll be speaking at The Book Academy, a new writing conference...

My Clock Obsession: This One's For You, Hon

See, I have this problem.
Rather, I don't see it as a problem. The whole thing makes sense to me in my own little crazy wonderland. But five other people in this house have to live with it. The kids just have to suck it up; they're the kids, so they just have to deal with it. But it's a little harder to do that when you're an adult.
Like, oh, a husband.
Here's the thing: My poor man never knows what time it really is.
I don't recall exactly which recent event prompted the comment (I think it...

Writing Journey: Part XXVIII

Terrified over the idea of doing something so far out of my comfort zone as a cookbook (talk about getting out of your box . . . I couldn't even SEE my box at this point, I was so far out of it!), I debated. Could I do this?
Several questions bounced around in my head.
First off, was if it even feasible for me to do a chocolate cookbook on my own?
If so, what kind of angle would I take on it?
And if I managed to pull this whole thing off, could I get Covenant a manuscript as fast as they wanted...

WNW: Seinfeld Speak

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I don't think there's ever been a television show that has had the same social and linguistic impact on English and our culture as Seinfeld. Even though there hasn't been a new episode since 1998, it's still in reruns, and my kids enjoy it (well, most episodes . . . some they aren't allowed see . . .).
Over a decade after the finale, Seinfeld's influence lives on in big ways. Part of that is the fact that the show, which was supposedly about "nothing," was really about everyday life, so there...

Kicking Butt on "Cat's in the Cradle"

As far as I can tell, I might be the only person on the planet who absolutely detests this song. If you're unsure which song I mean, you can listen to it below. For me, hearing just the first few notes alone makes me nauseated, so I won't be playing it, but feel free to listen to the whole ugly thing if you want to:




Fair warning: if you love this song, stop now. Don't read this post, because I'll probably ruin the song for you forever. Seriously, stop reading right now if you have fond...

Writing Journey: Part XXVII

(Above, left to right, the "chocolate" sisters: Me, Michelle, and Mel. Photo by Jolley Photography.)
Mel's "fun" idea that she had while driving north on I-15 through the desert on her way from Arizona to Utah was about what kind of business she would like to do.
She'd been a caterer, done the whole dip the chocolate strawberries and make the wedding cake yourself thing.
She'd done event production, such as with receptions for businesses and the like (think Jennifer Lopez in The Wedding...