More signs

Spotted license plate:  GOIN2AZ

check out this website: www.roadsideamerica.com

5 in 2, I get the picture

Sedona messages keep wandering into my life.  On Wednesday and Thursday, I talked to five people who have visited Sedona.  One man went there for the first time in 1959.  I received advice to a) ride a hot air balloon b) take a train ride c) go to the airport for a fabulous view.  For a little town of 11,00, it sure has a lot of visitors, at least within my sphere.

My daughter is temporarily home, and we've touched on different aspects of the trip.  St. Louis for sure, Santa Fe (which was featured on Rachel Ray less than ten minutes after she mentioned it - did I mention the psychic powers floating around here?)

On a secondary note, I am waaaay too dependent on the internet.  We lost it Saturday and I was forced to call Comcast and schedule a tech visit.  Fortunately, DH wiggled some cables, and we're back in business.  

Writing wise, I've super-duper cleaned Tall, Dark and Slayer, and it is finished.  I've started The Princess Rescuer, which has been renamed  The Dark Ages Detective Agency.  The rule is - there are no rules.  It is a total medieval farce, and I'm enjoying the first few pages written - a talk between two minions, one of whom is pushing the other to join the henchmen's union.  See?  No rules.

2,400 miles down, 4,000 to go

Between July 4th and 11th, DH (and various members of the Sterling family) piled 2,400 miles on to our trusty Malibu.  (three adults do not fit well in the back seat.)  First up-Traverse City.  Best part of the weekend?  A toss up between the Blue Angels airshow and the New Age bookstore we found.

Monday-all day on the road to Pennsylvania, taking Libby home as she packs 

up four years of college life (most of which returned with us Tuesday and Wednesday

)  The best part?  Tooling around the back roads Tuesda

y morning to Ringing Rocks Park.

Thursday-Lake Michigan beach.  A fabulous place that we tend to take for granted.  Best part? The hot pink plastic shovel that washed up, allowing me to repair a moat left by previous visitors.

Friday-the casino.  Best part?  Coming home with only $5 less than I started

Saturday-our local RWA meeting, connecting with fellow writers.

What's next?  What about that 4,000 miles in the title?  Huh?  Our graduation present to Libby was fairly open ended - a trip.  Somehow, it morphed into a trip with Mom, similar to our European romp of 2003.  After much debate, delay and consideration, the possibilities of Iceland, Ireland and Morocco were discarded for (drumroll, please) Sedona, AZ.  At Raw Spirit Fest 2008 www.rawspiritfest.com.   Go figure.  I'm going to spend three days in September not eating cooked food.  Do not talk to me for at least two weeks afterward, or ten Big Macs, whichever comes first.

The best part is, it's going to be a roadtrip.  Why?  With the price of gas climbing every week?  Well, is it going to go down in price?  The cost and hassle of a plane ride for the two of us will probably equal the gas we'll buy.  Which leaves cheap hotels and eating out of a cooler.  The cost of spending two weeks with my daughter:priceless.

Look for more blogs as we map the great American west for awesome things to see.

Look out, giant ball of twine (it's in Kansas)

Feedback

Not too long ago, a member of my Toastmasters club gave a speech on evaluating speeches.  At the end of the speech, he passed out handouts of what he'd covered.  Handouts are cool.  Remember that the next time you give a presentation.  But, I digress.  With a little word substitution, I've borrowed from his speech to give you the rules for effective writing critiquing. Thank you, Bruce.

1.  Give positive reinforcement

2. Help the writer stay motivated

3. Evaluate the writing - not the person

4. Nourish self esteem

5. Show the writer how to improve

6. Show that you care

7.  Suit your evaluation to the writer

8. Learn the writer's objectives

9. Personalize your critique

It's easy to forget we were not always experienced writers and there are tender writers just starting out who should not be treated roughly - as we might have been.  On the other hand, we don't need to sugarcoat bad writing, either.  Use the above guidelines to give an honest, constructive evaluation.   One of the responsibilities earned by our experience is to teach.  Do it in a good way. 

Why writing is like remodeling

It started with a gallon of paint. Luminary was the color. For various reasons, it took almost two months from purchase to application. The results - shocking! A nice, rich gold morphed into school bus yellow. In my bathroom!

A day later, my perspective has changed. Why have a safe gold color when you can have a HAPPY Bathroom? A Cinco de Mayo explosion of color? The start of a bright and expressive place to live?

With the shift of thought, we've begun a complete remodel of our condo. No more boring neutrals (maybe the carpet, which needs replacing.) No more safe choices. Today, we started with a new kitchen table. Wednesday, we pick up my new craft table, which replaces a boring desk I don't use. A large worksurface with shelves underneath equals more opportunities for creativity, which should spill into my writing. If you look closely, you'll see the top has a seam down the middle. It folds onto itself, but unfolded, the worksurface is twice as deep. Notice the shelves, perfect for baskets. I could go on and on.

But wait, you say. What does this have to do with writing? Simple, oh young one. One simple spark, an idea, a twist in the plot, can lead you and your characters on a wonderous journey. Sally isn't the girl next door that you envisioned. Instead, she's a space pirate. The hero's best friend is the real father of his daughter. The heroine's boring backstory suddenly becomes the catalyst of terrible problems. Or choices she has to make, each one suckier than the last. Your characters will go on a school bus ride of epic proportions, with ruts in the road and dead ends, mudslides and terrorist attacks. But somewhere in the adventure, they'll find a new side of themselves. Better. Colorful. And maybe, if they're lucky, they'll find what they didn't know they'd been searching for.

Home again, home again, jiggedy jig

Pittsburgh was great. The Hilton was not. All my flights left and arrived on time. I'm back to the real world with three dozen new books (could have had more) most of them free. It was a feeding frenzy an hour into the Dorch party. The two book limit disintegrated when people realized they could get back in line. I saw women taking them out in boxes. I'm sorry, but let's not be piggy. I only took books that looked interesting, not as a means of financial support once I listed them on E-Bay. As it was, I had to bribe the airport guy to put a "heavy load" sticker on my suitcase instead of charging me extra for the weight.

Now I can concentrate on writing again instead of trawling Goodwill for one more accessory for my costumes. As soon as someone (hint, hint) emails the pictures they took of me, I'll post them. And send them pictures I took of them. The other shots are of the city itself. Was I the only one to venture out more than once?

The little store where I had Pelmeni (meat-filled dough) with a big scoop of sour cream. Yum. You can see one of the three tables in the store. The owner tried to get me to eat Halva, which is a nut/honey/mystery ingredient so sweet the half-teaspoon sample put me into a diabetic coma for a few minutes.

Walking downtown, looking for a place to eat (try Costanza's chicken marsala) I passed this chain link fence. Someone had cut out the pages of three very old books and wired them to the fence. This one had a map glued in it, with a star and the words "You are here." It was so cool, I had to take a picture.

RT Day 700, 982

This is a typical RT conference. (RWA too) Nothing works the way you want it to. I must admit, this hotel is different in that it's under construction. We are woken by hammers, saws and lots of noise. The rooms that are finished aren't. Ceiling fixtures in the halls are missing. The elevators are busy - wait! That's normal. I can't wait until tomorrow at check out time. Imagine 1,500 women, each with four suitcases, cramming five elevators. It's like the Great American Race on estrogen. Whoo-ee!
Now the only big complaint I have is the timing. Why, oh, why does it have to be during hockey play-off season? Thank God for Versus and their coverage. Which meant I missed Heather Graham's fantastic vampire ball last night. So sad. I missed losing a decade of my life.
I'd post pictures (I did bring my USB cable) but I haven't taken pictures of anything fantastic.
Off for breakfast and to prepare for the book fair.