Monthly Archives: January 2013

Why Writing is Like Baseball

26 Saturday Jan 2013

Posted by in Baseball, Humor, Writing

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If you’ve stopped by this blog recently, you’ll remember that I’m currently under a self-imposed deadline to finish the revision of my Young Adult (YA) novel.  Now, I admit that I tend to get a little punchy at this stage of a long-haul. But no, I haven’t gone completely around the bend. Yet.

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“There’s no crying in baseball” scene from A League of Their Own

Here’s eight reasons why writing is like baseball:

  1. Writers are in a League of Their Own.
  2. The publication process is a team effort — writer, critique partners, agent, editors, graphic designers.
  3. It’s an American (and a whole lot of other cultures too) dream — seeing a  story we’ve written in print.
  4. Personal history (backstory) affects baseball players as much as it does our characters. Take the players’ personal issues in Bull Durham that stop the game with a prolonged huddle on the pitcher’s mound.
  5. You need a tough hide to survive the slides. Rejection isn’t pretty. Or easy. Ever. And it’s part of the process. [A League of Their Own trailer].
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  6. You’ve gotta have heart to make it in the industry. An entire song in Damn Yankees can’t be wrong.
  7. Shoes are optional. Shoeless Joe Jackson set the precedent there. Would Damn Yankees  (Shoeless Joe from Hannibal Mo) lie? I don’t think so!
  8. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it rains. But it’s fun, goddamit!

I write because the “hard” is what makes it Great!

 

How about you? Why do you write?

Holy Tap-Dancing-Cow, a Bloggaversary!

20 Sunday Jan 2013

Posted by in Bloggaversary, Cows, Tap Dancing

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Today is the 1 Year Bloggaversary of my first blog post ever. Moonlight Serenade was a minimalist post, the sole feature being a video of an elegant tap dancing cow. To be honest, I was terrified of blogging and that was all I could eek out for a first post. I didn’t think about the statement the video was making at the time. But in retrospect, I see it as a symbol of dancing into a new endeavor where I’d meet a terrific group of new friends.

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So that’s why I’m making it a bloggaversary standard. It’s a festive way to mark a truly life-changing occasion.

Because nothing says awesome like a tap dancing cow!

Thank you all for your enthusiastic support, making this past year (and the days to come) utterly AWESOME!

Now go grab a cup of hot chocolate, compliments of my tap dancing guest, sit back and watch her light up the dance floor in true Ginger-Rogers style. Eat your heart out Fred Astaire! [Image credit: Wikipedia]

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Hoofing it and Putting on the Ritz!

How NOT to Skate Through Revisions

06 Sunday Jan 2013

Posted by in Animation, Perspective, Writing

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This past year was a whirl wind of firsts, including a new job and blogging for the first time ever. I also started the final revision of my Work In Progress (WIP) — a Young Adult (YA) supernatural mystery. All good. It’s been terrific, really.

Bambi-on-ice2But… there was an itsy-bitsy snag  in the midst of the newness. With all the new shiny things in my life, progress on my WIP revisions slowed to a negligible crawl. Which is why come November, when everyone else was NaNoWriMoing, I lead a NaNoRevMo Charge on revisions for my WIP.

It was great tapping into the NaNo synergy. I got back in the groove, and the revisions were going well.

And then … life happened. What’s that they say about “making plans is the best way to make the universe laugh. In your face.”? Well, the universe was rolling around on the floor laughing at me…

Because it played out something like this…

Well… ALMOST… I won’t bore you with the deets, but here’s the general rundown:

  1. I had to trap and relocate an entire colony of feral cats, when the property where I’d been feeding them went up for sale. No small task, and especially stressful since I’d cared for these cats every day for more than 9 years.
  2. All the while, I had to keep on top of deadlines at the day-job. Nothing new there. But trapping the colony of feral cats in my spare time left no bandwidth for revisions. Zero. Zip. Nada. Zilch.
  3. To top that all off, a killer cold knocked me flat and bronchitis shoved me head first into the proverbial snow bank. Luckily, after the cats made it to their new home. Deadlines at the day-job still had to be met, and I got the job done! But progress on the revisions? None what so ever.
  4. Finally… I started feeling better. And now…

I’m back in the groove & skating on through…

Bambi-and-thumper-on-ice1I’ve sailed well past the half-way mark of the WIP revisions, and can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. Yay, me! Since I’m driven by deadlines, real or self-imposed, to keep the momentum going I drew a deadline for final completion on the calendar. Then I started realigning priorities. I’m confident I’ll be able reach the finish line in a relatively short time. But that means … something’s gotta give.

Sadly, this blog has to go dark … for awhile

Only for a few weeks folks… And  that’s not to say I won’t post a funny video somewhere along the line. *wink, wink* Just no substantial content, as I need to focus my full attention on my WIP revisions … for now.

I’ll be back after the revision break. Promise!

I have a great series of posts planned for the coming year. But before I can dig intoSteamLocomotive_Wikipedia writing those awesome articles, I have to finish this WIP, so I can hop on the Literary Agent Submission Train.

I’ll see you all in a few weeks on the other side of the deadline! I’ll miss you guys, but this Revision Interlude will pass before we know it! [Image credit: Wikipedia]