Betty Adams's Blog, page 145

Words for the Present, From the Past

Still very true in this day and age. 

The First Day of Winter

While it might seem a little silly to celebrate #TheFirstDayOfWinter on a global medium like the internet it is still a lot of fun. Currently (just in North America) some folks are strolling around in shorts and tee-shirts, some are bemoaning the rain and wind and some have been knee deep in the white stuff for months. But whatever an aspiring author's location or clime winter is a great time to get some writing done. Here are a few writing prompts!

1) *Something* is hiding in the picture above. What is it and why is it there?
2)Anthropomorphize a snowflake as it is "born" and grows and then falls.
3)Something wakes up a hibernating bear on the first day of winter.
4)A search and rescue team finds something supernatural at a crash site.
5)A banana tree is growing and fruiting in the middle of an ice field.
6)A reindeer team challenges a husky team to a race.
7)A goldfish in an outdoor pond views the world above through a layer of ice.
8)A squirrel has decorated his nest. Describe it.
9)Strange lights appear over a garbage dump covered in snow and the snow is gone in the morning, only over the dump.
​10)A mad scientist invents a "better" snow removal device.  

December 21st, 2015

Shopping is incredibly overrated. If you buy a book online you can avoid all of that! Christmas is coming up and and reading is always a great gift. "Dying Embers" on Amazon

If You Ever Need An Alien

If you ever need an alien - something truly foreign to the common human population - look no further than that thing buzzing around your head. This is some dirt common bug from North America but on close examination it look like something that just stepped out of a grade B horror flick with a budget way too big for the writing. 

The Force Awakens and a Chapter Closes

As a science fiction fan one on this author's major influences was the Star Wars universe. One could only watch those old VHS tapes so many times and to the delight of fans everywhere the novelizations came soon and fast. While big names like Timothy Zahn did much shaping for this extended universe there were other authors who inspired as well. 
"The Truce at Bakura " was a particularly delightful bit of storytelling. Perhaps it wasn't as "epic" as some of the story arcs but Kathy Tyers managed to deepen and flesh out the characters in an engaging way. It was the kind of book that was hard to put down. 
Being able to write that engagingly was a personal goal for this author. Now it transpires that all of that wonderful storytelling is no longer cannon. The new story is exciting though and the wonderful thing about novels, especially hardcopy ones, is that they are still on your shelf after even the hardest of retconning. 

The Oddest of Connections in the Internet Age

The age of communication/information is solidly here. It is not just the internet age. No, this overwhelming flow of information and communication began hundreds of years ago in the printing shop of one Gutenberg. From this invention sprang the newspaper and the thought of Normandy and Norway could be considered in the monastery of Don Diego only a few weeks later. Of course this has exploded with the dawn of the internet but the concept has been brewing in the global cultural for generation upon generation. And each generation, each day can bring new revelations in medicine and culture for those who look. 
Somewhere in Scandinavia a young authoress/artist writes and draws the most wonderful story. She is an international success story. Like the author of "The Martian" she began posting her stories for fun and as her following grew they formed a fandom and then an international community. This community interaction leads to the most interesting discoveries. In the latest posted chapter of this story a worried older brother figure takes the time to check on the medical status of his sleeping "little brother" by rotating his face to make sure he is breathing properly. This led to this conversation. 
​ Two people, one twice as old as the other, living literally a world apart (the lower reply was from a reader in Scandinavia), both saw a gesture and identified it as the same thing, caused by a specific set of emotions and concerns. 
As an author this should send up flags of interest. A chord of familiarity that rings so true between two such different cultures is an  excellent place to find a universal story element. This is a point to be seized and expanded upon. 

Rewriting Villains

"Write What You Know"
A Cautionary Poem 
By Betty Adams

"Write what you know," my dear Momma said,
As she scooped up my romance and sent me to bed.
"Write what you know," my teacher declared,
As he took his red pen and made corrections to spare.
"Write what you know," the Author dictated,
In the script on the screen that's now terribly dated.
"Write what you know," cried the Professor impassioned,
"And if not what you know, then what you've properly imagined!" 
So I wrote what I knew,
Then edited and hark!
The perfect villain appeared.
Striding out of the dark.
Oh he was twisted and hateable,
This villain most vile!
I wrote what I knew....
Now I'm being sued for libel*!


*No legal action has actually been brought against the author. The author has too much common sense to let personal villains get published until they are edited beyond recognition. 

The First Clue

The First Clue 
By Betty Adams

"Mommy! Mommy!" the bright young voice rang eagerly through the house. "I brought you a flower!"
"I'm in the kitchen Sweetie!" Tamar called out to her son. She focused on scrubbing the last of the dried sweet potato casserole off of Grandma Smith's second best casserole dish. "Put it in the vase on the counter."
"Yes, Mommy." 
She heard the scuffle of the rubber feet on the step stool moving across the linoleum and the soft grunt as he hopped up. A dandelion would be a nice colorful addition to the kitchen, Tamar mused. The caked on sweet potato finally gave and she gave a small grunt of triumph.
"Now show me this flower!" She declared as she set the dish in the drainer and picked up the hand towel to dry her hands.
"Isn't it pretty?" her son demanded.
Tamar ran her eyes over the counter and was about to ask where the flower was. There was no cheerful flash of yellow but when she focused on the flower vase there was a flower in it. 
"Sweetie," Tamar asked slowly as she approached the white bloom. "Where did you get this?"
"It was out in the back forty," he responded with a grin. "There was a patch with no snow and this was growing there. There were these too!"
The boy dug around in the pockets of his snow pants and pulled out a handful of metallic blue berries. 
"Shouldn't I have picked them Mommy?" the boy asked nervously when her frown deepened. 
"I think it was very good for you to show this to me," Tamar said slowly. "I tell you what. Let's go out and see where you found this."
The boy grinned and eagerly led her to the door. Tamar wrapped up in her down coat and wool cap. She hesitated but then pulled her work backpack out of the closet. She checked to make sure that her sample gear was all there and her camera was charged. They set out into the foot deep snow and she followed after her son as they climbed over fallen logs and leap small streams. When they reached a large clearing the boy hesitated and began to search in earnest. 
"I know it was around here somewhere!" He insisted.
Tamar followed him, murmuring encouragement, until she spotted a clear patch of green.
"Here!" She called out and strode over to the snow free area.
"I am sure it was on the other side," her son protested.
"Maybe there are more," Tamar suggested as she pulled her camera out from where she was keeping it warm next to her skin.
The patch was about a foot in diameter and very warm. She could feel it through her gloves. Multiple species were well into spring and even summer growth within it, but when she scrapped away the snow the grass outside was brown and winter dead.
"What is it Mommy?" Her boy asked curiously. "What did that?"
"I don't know," she confessed.
When she had taken all the data she could from that site they searched for more. All in all there were six of the little green spots, including one missing several Queen's Cup flowers, forming a perfect circle centered in the clearing. As the sun began to dip towards the horizon Tamar shouldered her back pack and wished that she got cell phone reception out here.
"Let's go back," she ordered.
"But I'm not cold yet!" Her son protested.
"I need to call you father at work." She explained as she took his hand and led him back towards the house. "They need to know it’s happening again."  

I couldn't find any good winter writing prompts so I made up my own.
You find a flower blooming in the middle of the snow. 

Awkward Situations: Fun to Write

Homemade
by Betty Adams

​“I really, truly, don’t know what to say.” Maria didn’t stutter, no, ten years of diplomatic experience saved her that embarrassment. However nothing in her training or her work history prepared her for this moment. Humans just didn’t do this kind of thing. She had no frame of reference for the situation in front of her.
“She means,” the Vespian diplomat spoke up in her clicking voice. “That she is still processing the situation and could use input from the instigator for the proper social response.”
Lyric smiled at the human once she was done explaining the words to the soldier/worker. By all things holy that was terrifying. The Vespians had nearly upset the Arane as the friendliest and most eager allies of Earth. They were so quick to learn human customs too. However an insectoid face did not take well to smiling.  Intellectually Maria knew that she would eventually adapt and consider it normal but for now she simply ordered the hairs on the back of her neck to lie down.
“Ah!” The larger Vespian bobbed her blunt head in understanding. “I see. It is like this.” She held up the mason jar (where had they gotten those?) full of the burnt umber translucent liquid. “Workers produce this in a separate organ than the digestive or reproductive tracts so you don’t have to worry about cultural taboos or practical contamination. I assure you that my screening is equal or superior to your own food processing. It is produced during every resource rich time and is primarily used as an emergency ration for hard times especially as it is very calorie rich and has various medical properties. It is also used in social situations as an – I believe the term is ice breaker – as most of our species can tell much about the individual who produced it by the flavor and texture.”
“I see,” Maria spoke into the silence where a response seemed needed. She knew the Vespians (like the Arane) detested being compared to non-sentient species so she firmly bit back the comparison to honey. Humans did not make a habit of accepting food from the body of other sentient species, but then again they had never had much of a chance to explore that concept. The two Vespian delegates were casting pointed looks at her and at the lounge area where most informal meetings were held. Clearly they wanted to sit down and share the jar of not-honey. Cultural exploration was Maria’s job after all but was she willing to set that precedence for the entire human race? 

Illumination - Writing Prompts

Being an author must be something like being psychic. 
When accepting a writing prompt an author gets a brief glimpse, a flash, into a world that must be explored. It is something akin to a snow plough passing a window  in the night. The world is strange and muffled, the details are fuzzy and indistinct. The author must in the privacy of their own mind determine what the details of the story are. Fortunately, unlike a psychic who is required to be uniform and realistic, the fact that every author can create a completely different story from the same picture is not only accepted but celebrated. 


So my publisher says that every fourth post should promote my book....I am sure there are clever and subtle ways to do that. I will learn them some day.
BUY "DYING EMBERS" !