Betty Adams's Blog, page 136

Here is a Pretty Picture

I am going to chalk today up to gathering life experience and write off actually writing. :p
Enjoy the pretty picture and the spring weather. 

Ivory Towers on Alien Worlds

Another entry for the inspiration from nature column. This alien beauty was clinging to the sandstone cliffs of the Pacific Northwest. A goose barnacle (Pollicipes polymerus). A good writing exercise would be to describe this in a story and come up with functions for the various features. 

Get Out and go for a Walk

Today is #NationalWalkingDay according to Twitter. And who is this humble author to argue with one-hundred forty characters of such wit? 
Put that book down. (I saw that ! Don't you dare dogear that page! Look! There's a receipt you can use as a bookmark right there! Much better.) Get up and have a walkabout. The sun is shining (somewhere) the birds are calling and there is so much inspiration out of doors!

Hidden Meaning

An author should usually strive for layers of meaning. The reader should absorb the story and still be able to come back and find new details with every rereading. 

So Very Tired

These very lucky limpets spent the day basking in the sun. They kept plenty moist and had a grand old time. Nature know how to live. 

Something Bad

She was still humming with pleasure  and the nearly foreign experience of sun on skin.  As they had expected the first sunny Sabbath of the spring had summoned everyone and their dog to the beach. Even the lazy beaches that were never crowded were covered in slow moving, pale humans soaking up the sun through as much skin as they dared to expose to the nippy wind. Despite the crowds it had been a wonderful day. 
She placed her hand on the front door of her office and store in. Her shift manager spun on her with frantic relief in his eyes.
"Boss! I am so glad you are back!"
She stiffened and felt her bones began to suck up the light energy she had spent all afternoon building. Her eyes roamed the front office. The brand new courier bicycle lay partially disassembled and then abandoned in one corner. The business owner was reclining in his office chair, clutching his shoulder and very obviously not making eye contact. The young runner who had accompanied her to the beach  took all this in and decided that he was needed anywhere else. 
"I was only gone for three..." she drew in a sharp breath and shook her head. "You. We are going to the hospital." She declared pointing at the owner.. "You get that bike fixed and find the runner."
The owner glanced at her sheepishly and eased out of the chair. 
"Good news," he offered weekly. "All the safeties work on the new bikes!" 
She shot him a murderous glance and stalked out to start the car. She was not paid enough for this. That vitamin D she had metabolised had better be enough to see her through the rest of the week. 

The Gifts of Nature

"Human. The Spring has brought forth an abundance of the delicious vermine. I have left a gift on your doorstep to show my affection for you and my utter disgust for your hunting skills. Enjoy the shrew."

Our alpha calico female has been out enjoying the sun and she (or one of her minions) has left the first of many dead rodents on our front stoop. 
As a writer the story possibilities for this behavior is endless. Does the cat care about its human family? Is this a sign of affection? Is it a safe place to store their kills? Is it a bribe to get into the house? Given the affection Calicoy showers on her people I do like to think it is some sort of provider instinct. 

If I Had Five More Minutes

Regrets. Everyone has them. I should have. I would have. I could have. These phrase have shown up in countless stories because nearly everyone can relate to them and because nearly every author can "write what they know" when writing regrets.
In science fiction this often takes the form of time travel stories. What if you could go back and change whatever you regret? What if you just had five more minutes? 
There are the big names of course. Dr. Who is based on this concept. Quantum Leap is too. But nearly every science fiction franchise has done an episode, a chapter, a book on time travel. 
One of the classics is "A Sound of Thunder" that uses the imagery of the butterfly effect to illustrate the concept of changing time. But the trope of wanting five more minutes go back even further. There is the ancient tale of the lover who ventures down into the underworld to retrieve a lost mate (and ruins it for the rest of us).
So what is your favorite take on getting five more minutes? 

Like Petals in the Wind

A good story, like a flowering tree, should broadcast a simple beauty at a glance, but on further inspection be comprised of increasing layers of complexity. 

The Inspiration of Spring

While this author was away at NorwesCon39 spring happened in her little corner of the Willamette Valley. There is a broad spread of spring colors from last winter's berries to the first pale blush of pink cherry blossoms. It really makes one want to get out and write some poetry under a tree. But this is the Pacific Northwest. There was a hard frost last night and it took a roaring fire to get rid of that lingering bite of winter. So wear those stylish knitted sweaters Norwesterners!