I love Halloween!

Ghoulies and Ghosties.
Vampires and Werewolves.
Things that go bump in the night.

Oh yeah. I love 'em all. It really is a toss up which I enjoy decorating for more - Halloween or Christmas. This year I decorated the library and the book display was a celebration of horror. Horror books. Horror flicks.

Sometimes I wonder why we enjoy being scared. I think it's the adrenaline rush. It almost feels like sex. Your heart races. You sweat. Your body is tense. And you scream. A lot. Well, not everyone screams during sex, but I digress.

Fear, like sex, is exciting. Horror books and films are a safe scare, just like a roller coaster. Maybe that's the attraction of Halloween. It's a safe outlet for fear. Maybe that's why I love it. Or maybe it's just the candy. ;-)

45 and Counting...

Today I turned 45 years old. It's funny, I didn't have a mid-life crisis when I turned 40. I had fun and went about my day. This year though, I was thinking to myself, "What have I done with my life?" Needless to say, a bit depressing.

Time to break out the chocolate.



But I guess I can enumerate a lot of things I've done well. Got my BA in religion, MA in Library Science. I've learned to fly a plane (still working on that very slowly - it's an expensive hobby). I've made many good friends. I've cared for family members. I've completed one novel-length manuscript and I'm 3/4 through a second.


So I guess I've accomplished quite a few positive things. I'm 45 and I've earned every grey hair on my head and hope to gain a few more before I give up the ghost. All in all, I done good!

I Love Warriors...

I've had my nose to the grindstone for the last two months as I work feverishly to complete my manuscript, Seeking Truth. Ya know what I figured out. I love warriors. Every single hero I've ever written has been a warrior in some way, shape, or form.

What is it about warriors? Why do I love them so? Danged if I know. They are the most contrary characters I've ever written. They won't obey. Obedience is only given to the King or their immediate superior in the work environment. They don't obey me, and God knows they NEVER obey my heroines. My heroines bitch and moan at me because I write such contrary males, completely ignoring the fact that the warriors tax my patience too.

Eaduin, are you listening? Diarmid? All the rest of you guys? Yeah, I'm talking to YOU.

No, they aren't listening. They are out slaying bad guys and grinning fiercely while they do it. The worst part is...they're sexy in their disobedience. I always end up forgiving them their bad behavior. Crap that I'd never accept from a "real" man, I cherish in my warrior heroes. I must have a masochistic side.

The good news? The power of the pen (or the keyboard), and I've got it. They can torment me all they like, but the torment goes both ways. Back to the salt mines...er...the keyboard. Let's see if I can bring my hunky men to full mistiness. Mistiness is usually the best I can do because they rarely cry...they're warriors, right? We'll see about that!

Killing a beloved character

I have to kill somebody and I couldn't do it. I'm not an assassin by nature. I love the character I had to kill off and she's my hero's mentor. But I had to kill her anyway and I had the worst time with it. I wrote all last week but she wouldn't die! Finally between yesterday and today I managed to do away with the old girl.

I created a death musical playlist. No really. I needed to get into the right mental framework to do the deed. So I found some great songs like: I Believe by Diamond Rio, Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton, and Into the West by Annie Lennox - among others. Individually those songs can choke me up - but as a group! Sheesh I was crying long before I started writing.

I'm not sure the scene is as wrenching as I wanted it to be, but I got it written. I'll just have tug at the heartstrings a bit harder when I go back and work on editing. Now if I can just handle the funeral and get her buried, I'll be in great shape!

Have you had any characters who wouldn't die? If so, how did you kill them off? Was it as painful for you as for your characters?

The Journey of a Thousand Pages begins with a Single Letter

I started a writing challenge in the middle of August and have been writing like crazy. It's been a great experience for me because I've had to "report" to someone about my progress. Sometimes it is really helpful to feel accountable for what your doing.

I've always written better on deadline. I'm not sure why, but it's true. I'd be coming down to the wire for short reports and I usually wrote things the night before it was due.

Once I got to grad school I was a little better about writing, but I found the research aspect so fun I would get myself wrapped up in that. I knew what points I wanted to make in the paper, but often the paper would get written in the days before it was due. Somehow I could buckle down at that point and just "get 'er done." I admit, I pulled one or two allnighters in grad school to get a 20 page paper done in time. The irony is that those papers got higher grades. Go figure!

Once I started to write with the intent to publish, I realized allnighters wouldn't cut it. I had to write regularly. These writing challenges provide excellent motivation because I have a deadline of sorts. I've even set my own deadline. I want to get the manuscript I'm writing completed by my birthday in October.

The good news: I'm at almost 80,000 words. The bad news: I've got about 20,000 more to write. I'll keep you posted. I got involved in a September writing challenge too, and it has kept me nicely on track to get my stuff written.

Wish me luck!

The Journey of a Thousand Miles begins with a Single Step...

I first became aware of The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell quite some time ago. My mother was fascinated by the book and when Campbell was interviewed by Bill Moyers some years after the book's publication Mom watched the PBS series of interviews faithfully. Since Campbell talked about Star Wars and how it followed The Hero's Journey, I was intrigued too. So we had long discussions about it.

In the summer of 1977, I saw Star Wars IN THE THEATER at least ten times. Yeah, Star Wars Geek, that's me. But there was something archetypical about the story and Campbell explained the archetypes in ways that made sense to me.

For some reason though, I was kind of resistant when RWA writer friends told me I just HAD to read Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey. I'm not sure what held me back, but I finally decided I should read it so I checked it out from the library via interlibrary loan. I let it sit on the shelf until it was due back, then started to skim the book.

I was caught. It was as interesting as all my friends had been telling me. The other thing was I realized that I used the formula described to write my stories. I hadn't planned it, but I used it nonetheless. And even though it's a formula, just like the hero with a thousand faces, each story is unique based on the face the hero wears at any given trip through the cycle. Sort of like past and future lives...

Now, I want to own the book. Good news, Vogler junkies! An updated and revised edition will be available November 1st, 2007. I've preordered my copy from Amazon.

Medieval helpdesk with English subtitles

This video has been around awhile. I think it has definitely gone "viral" but I adore it - especially since it's in Swedish.

I used to work in tech support and often get these kinds of questions when I'm working the reference desk now. People unfamiliar with the internet will want to use our public internet stations and need quite a bit of hand-holding before they get the hang of it.

After my bittersweet posts on Thursday, I thought we could use some humor today. Enjoy!