G is for 'Good golly, Miss Molly . . .'

Seattle. 1958. Once we were inside, 
past the young men smoking 
and standing by the door in clumps, 
past the lines at the bathrooms,
the cloakroom, down the long hallway 
and into the darkened ballroom, 
strobe lights flashed through the crowd. 
It was never about the words: 
we couldn't start dancing fast enough:
the wailing saxophone, that stride piano,
the drums, everyone pressed close, 
feeling the music, just letting go.

Those were the days of innocence, 
well before marijuana, cocaine or meth. 
Our parents feared rock and roll; 
but we were the baby boom generation 
with pocket money. We bought those vinyl 45's,  
treasured them, traded them, danced after school. 
The music moved us through those teen-aged years 
when hand-held transistor radios were new 
and the sound tinny, but, my God, 
don't move that dial. Listen! 
That's Little Richard right there,
back in the day when we monopolized dial-phones
for hour-long conversations, 
and Viet Nam was a tiny country 
no one had heard of.

Little Richard in concert, 1956 (Youtube)

I'm wondering when did your parents' music stop being your music? What are your earliest memories? Who were your favorites?

ROW80 UPDATE: From being on the road all last month, I'm somewhat disconnected from my regular routine of writing. This A to Z Challenge (along with a poem a day for National Poetry Month) is taking me right back to the early days of rock and roll. But my office (somewhat messy) presents a fine workspace, and April promises to be productive. Not quite back to routine yet, but today I rolled out of bed at 6 am, ready to work. 

So for this fine ROW80 Sunday check-in, I have little to report but plans, plans, plans. Biggest achievement these last few days -- recovering from that 400 plus mile drive, finishing an 'inspirational' article for ROW80, and finding several resources to build a list of indie publishers. Sometime today (between finishing laundry and replenishing groceries in the empty fridge), I get to read the 7's for ROW80. 

May your writing week go well.

To read what others have written:
NaPoWriMo at http://www.napowrimo.net/participants-sites/
A-Z Challenge at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/2012-to-z-challenge-sign-up-list.html
A Round of Words in 80 Days at http://aroundofwordsin80days.wordpress.com/

E is for Elvis . . .

Elvis 1968 (Wikipedia)

Screaming teen-aged girls 
mobbed him;
Blues-loving fans adored him;
Guys hated him.
Adults were outraged, but 
Elvis was a soft-spoken 
young man from the south,
a bad boy wearing leathers,
a parent's nightmare
with heavy-lidded eyes,
so nervous when he sang, 
he jiggled his legs;
his cross-over music 
a tribute to the blues, he topped
the charts over and over again. 
I only know when his songs came on the radio in Seattle in the late 1950s, 
everything seemed possible, even love,
and we danced holes in the rug.

We're home, exhausted after driving 430 miles, and I'm late with "E" for the A-Z Challenge, but who could forget Elvis, his raucous break-all-the-rules"Blue Suede Shoes," and his contribution to rock and roll?



To read what others have written:

NaPoWriMo at http://www.napowrimo.net/participants-sites/
A-Z Challenge at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/2012-to-z-challenge-sign-up-list.html
A Round of Words in 80 Days at http://aroundofwordsin80days.wordpress.com/

D is for Delight . . .

When I write, I relax into almost meditation, a focus on other than myself, the routine of early morning driving the day's writing goals into something that wasn't there before. And so, 

I write in delight,
always somewhat surprised
to see words
arrange themselves
on the page.
Writing drives me to detail
that single, lost Canada goose 
heading south last night in the dusk,
alone, honking, 
as if the sound alone
would bring him back to the flock
somewhere ahead of him,
a plaintive call and yet
spring awaits.
I can see him landing
on a wide, cool pond,
far from human eye,
where there, among the reeds,
he finds his own delight.

Canada geese along the Spokane River (Wikipedia)

Most days I work on editing (and writing) my historical fiction. Only in April do I challenge myself with a poem a day. And now to work! May your week go well.

To read what others have written:
NaPoWriMo at http://www.napowrimo.net/participants-sites/
A-Z Challenge at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/2012-to-z-challenge-sign-up-list.html
A Round of Words in 80 Days at http://aroundofwordsin80days.wordpress.com/

C is for Cow-licious . . .

A Swiss Braunvieh cow contemplates nature (Wikipedia)

Let us go to the far hill,
my well-flanked one. 
We'll stand there in quiet.
I'll ruminate.
You'll munch on the grass.
Together we'll watch
the young ones butt heads
and run in circles.
And we'll remember
those long ago days of spring.

Today's poem was inspired by a story we overheard at the T-J Diner just north of Medford, Oregon, as we slowly drive home. A rancher said, "I finally got that motorcycle I wanted. I put four booties on one of my cows and called her a cow-a-socki." 

Maybe some days, it's just OK to have fun with this poem-a-day challenge.

To read what others have written:
NaPoWriMo at http://www.napowrimo.net/participants-sites/
A-Z Challenge at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/2012-to-z-challenge-sign-up-list.html
A Round of Words in 80 Days at http://aroundofwordsin80days.wordpress.com/


ROW80 WEDS UPDATE: Just a quick update. We're still on the road until Friday night. I'm settling in to reading ROW80 as a first-time sponsor and wishing everyone a great Round 2!

B is for Blur . . .

"Blur"

You could not see his face
for you met on the internet.
His words drew you in,
until you were nearly lost in love,
words tumbling between you.
He lived somewhere
between London and Norway;
He searched for someone exactly like you,
offering love, marriage, a new life together.
I broke the bond.
An internet search brought
multiple photos, different names, and
the same fractured syntax, with stories
of other women like you:
One waited at the airport with her three children
for a lover who never arrived; another mortgaged her home.
You are safe for the moment.
Even face-to-face, we do not know each other.
We are but a blur in the cosmos,
vulnerable to our half-articulated hopes and dreams.
We say there are no easy answers, no easy
connections, but one day, you may yet find
that companion of your heart.

Older, newly widowed women who use the internet are particularly vulnerable to such scams. This happened to someone dear to me. If you have any doubts about someone you meet on line, do a key word search on Google, phrases, names, even photos. Check out this background article on Wikipedia which suggests a predictable pattern of establishing trust, 'grooming' the mark, and asking for money. If you are drawn into an online friendship and are asked for money, follow that old truism, "Trust but verify."  Consider checking names, photos, or text on romancescam.com

Today's poem falls under the umbrella of the 'A-Z Challenge' and NaPoWriMo -- to write a poem a day in April, National Poetry Month.

European Bee-eaters (Wikipedia)
Note the female in the front who waits for the male's offering.

To read what others have written:
NaPoWriMo at http://www.napowrimo.net/participants-sites/
A-Z Challenge at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/2012-to-z-challenge-sign-up-list.html
A Round of Words in 80 Days at http://aroundofwordsin80days.wordpress.com/

A is for April

A is for April, another round of ROW80 begins today, as does the A-Z Challenge and a-poem-a-day to celebrate National Poetry Month.  So, first the poem:

"Anniversary"

Two camellia trees lean together,

like old friends, like lovers

who put roots down

when the house was new and filled with children.

Blossoms red and white litter the garden

an invitation to stroll here

as spring rounds another year, and

old friends tell stories of long ago.

Even an early morning rain

cannot take away these moments,

now memories, cherished, of a couple

who made a home 

filled with beauty and love.

Two Camilla Trees, Berkeley (Camp 2013)

We visited friends who live next to Berkeley, California, and who introduced us so long ago. We celebrated our reunion with dinner at Zaki's, Mediterranean food and music, haunting eastern style, and the most fabulous chicken/rice dish I have ever eaten -- Malouba (and I now have the recipe) with fresh mint lemonade (still searching for that recipe). The poem is for them.

Now for ROW80 which begins with ROW80 GOALS (April 1 - June 20).

WRITING:

--Write 100 words a day.

--Write a BLOG column once a week.

--Write a POEM a day for National Poetry Month (April).

--Complete A-Z CHALLENGE w/daily post (also April).Theme: Research for Rivers of Stone.

--Write AFTERWORD for Years of Stone and Standing Stones. Work by section to identify historical persons. Maybe use List of characters? How do other writers of historical fiction handle this issue?

--BEGIN research on Rivers of Stone. Read preliminary notes. OUTLINE. Write character sketches of major/minor characters. BUILD a timeline. PULL SCENES together. Make scene cards. Plot character arcs. Create SCHEDULE w/deadlines.

OTHER GOALS are more difficult for me to nail down.

·       

READING/CRAFT: Read at least one book and 2 magazines a month on writing craft. Reread PDF/Research files for Years of Stone and Rivers of Stone. Continue critting other writers at Internet Writers Workshop (NOVELS-L), at least 2 critiques each month and one subbed chapter each month.. Need to read Bound for Australia http://boundforsouthaustralia.net.au/

MARKETING/OUTREACH: 

·        WEEKLY: Use DuoLit daily to get marketing plan organized and to identify ACTION STEPS. Research marketing strategies and update Marketing Plan. Send out press release for Mermaids. Update author bio. Set up author website (Word Press). Pursue readings at Hastings, Book End, Barnes & Noble. Post book club invite/questions to website. Offer Mermaid Quilt freebie on GoodReads. 

PUBLISHING/SALES:  

·         Take Mermaid Quilt to WSQ Yard Sale (April 6). Publish Mermaid Quilt on Smashwords.   Track sales monthly for Mermaid Quilt on Amazon, CreateSpace.   Submit story and poems x 2 each month with new bio that includes The Mermaid Quilt.  Make a final round of indie presses for Standing Stones and Years of Stone (see list of 40 potential indie publishers). Set self-pub plan if no results by June 20. 

I think these goals are more specific, perhaps more measurable than in the past. We're still on the road until April 5, but then I will have an office again, my research materials, and a big screen for my little netbook. Whoopie. May ROW80 go well for you. Be tenacious! Make commitments! Write on!

I

April and poetry, etc, etc.

I write and no matter where I am,
or in which century,
each word builds story
as the doves chitter and sit on the garden wall
in this Tucson morning sun.
Already the mountain laurel and the marguerites bloom,
the wind chime tinkles softly,
and the palo verde glows green with spring.

April promises to be intense. I'm getting ready for the next round of ROW80 (A Round of Words in 80 Days), which runs from April 1 to June 21 by refining and setting my writing, research and publishing goals.

The A-Z Challenge also runs in April. This year my theme will be writing about research for Rivers of Stone. My characters will cross 19th Century Canada and the United States to reach Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River. Some people write their entries ahead of time, but I like the spontaneity of connecting my writing and reading to the letter-of-the-day. 

April is also National Poetry Month, and it's kind of fun to try to write a poem a day just for April. For me, writing fiction is a way of exploring story, history, characters, ideas, and working out conflicts, but poetry is a way of centering into the present.

Are you in?

Check these websites for more information:

A Round of Words in 80 Days at http://aroundofwordsin80days.wordpress.com/

A to Z Challenge at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

Ways to celebrate National Poetry Writing Month, started by the Academy of American Poets. See http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/41

Z is for Zed . . .

Z is for Zed, the last letter of the alphabet, the end of the A-Z Blogging Challenge, my 24-entry excursion into aspects of the history of Van Diemen's Land.

So today, I end with the beginning. The First Australians.

http://www.programs.sbs.com.au/firstaustralians/content/

This online video overview, hosted by Australian broadcasting company SBS, in 4-5 minute clips, introduces the longer seven 54-minute segments that took six years to create. The entire series traces the journey the first Australians have taken -- from migration and isolation from 'mainland' Australia (a time leap of some 70,000 years), to the first interactions with European explorers, from the 16th through the 21st Centuries, and ending with the great awakenings of self-awareness and the fight for political and legal recognition with very real land rights.

Two impressions stand out for me from this lovely overview. The first, a clumsy painting (most likely water color) that shows early aborigines dancing corroboree with English troops within a few days of the landing of the First Fleet in 1789. An early report says on first sight of the English led by Governor Arthur Phillip, the aborigines "danced furiously" and then vanished into the woods.

The second is harder to put into words. The faces of the descendants of these First Australians carry a sense of pride and sadness, commitment to change, sorrow for what had been lost. For the aborigines did not understand European concepts of land. To these First Australians, land was never something to be occupied and tamed. They were a part of the land, a gift from the ancient ancestors; they were the owners of the land, charged to care for it and protect it. Water holes were sacred. The geography was shaped by these ancient ones, and from father to son, certain responsibilities were transferred.  How could such a responsibility be taken away by the planting of a flag of a foreign king? The land was already occupied by these people and their traditions.

So as I continue to work on Years of Stone, even though essentially the story is not about them, somehow I want to capture some sense of their inner life, and in the 1840s the sense of cultural loss and displacement, the great divide that then existed between convicts, settlers, the government, and the First Australians.

NOTE: The complete "First Australians" is available online (in seven 54-minute segments) at http://www.sbs.com.au/firstaustralians/ or in book form through amazon. Wikipedia lists a brief description of each segment. If I lived in Australia or Tasmania, I would be haunting the library. Here in the wilds of eastern Washington, such research materials are scarce, so I am very grateful for online research and that this video program has been posted. If I had not written of this video today, I would not have learned the longer version is online! This means Z is for Zed, the end, but in reality, my research continues . . . as does the writing!

X is for Xerox . . .

As I glance around my home office, the printer/scanner blinks at me. I can remember when making a photocopy seemed close to a miracle. One of my first jobs involved loading paper into the massive Xerox printer that took up its own room. I had to fan the paper just so to avoid a jam, and God help me if I made a mistake and printed too many copies. That paper was expensive! And back-to-back copying? Binding?

Now I can tap dance my way over to any number of PODs or e-readers or even behemoth amazon.com and wearing the proverbial robe and bunny slippers, use my computer to order books, essays, articles, delivered by paper or paperless. The death of libraries is predicted. Not by me. I have far too many books (and several library cards) to believe one day the brick-and-mortar library will disappear. At least, not before I do.

But the real issue for writers (and for me) is understanding how this fabulous technology affects the publishing industry. Over the last several years, we've gone from raised eyebrows and sniffs over self-publishing to a rapidly growing market that big names now enter.

As Rick Bylina says, we have to do it all. Draft, write, edit, polish, edit, and then, if that were not daunting enough, find an agent. Or, today, maybe not. The brass ring calls. Does it mean I can write the book and then design the cover, proofread the bloody thing at least two or three more times, (by this time, wouldn't I hate nearly every word?), and evaluate which company could best 'publish' my book? And then, as if the next book were not calling me back to my computer, then, wouldn't I need to worry about distribution, marketing, and perhaps the most difficult of all -- self-promotion? And not just worry but actually (sigh) treat my writing as a business? When most days I'm thrilled to just keep writing?

Forgive the rant. I know that these various computer-driven technologies will continue to transform writers and how we write. I can't just say it's all the fault of Xerox. Or was that Xerxes?

This letter in cuneiform was sent to the King of Lagash, to tell him his son died in battle (about 2400  BCE) (source Wikipedia). A librarian at the Philadelphia Library Rare Books Department once brought out such a tablet carefully preserved in a tiny box. Parts of this tablet had crumbled to dust, for people once touched the tablet. Perhaps paper books will be like that one day, preserved in museums, accessible only online.