Once Upon a Time I Wrote a Short Story - Click the Picture to Read it!
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There is always music amongst the trees in the garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it.
-Minnie Aumonier
Featured! Page 42-43 of Design This Design That Magazine
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams
Eleanor Roosevelt
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Listen to the mustn'ts, child Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.
Shel Silverstein
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Thank you, those who like my blog and want to tell me so! But PLEASE don't email me about advertising your company, as I will ignore you.
Go, go, go shawty It's your birthday We gon' party like it's yo birthday We gon' sip Bacardi - er, grape juice - like it's your birthday And you know we don't give a ... It's not your birthday!
Well, it might be your birthday...
But today in Chez Hopkins we are celebrating the resident six-year-old!
Yesterday Gracie woke up and the first thing she did was call out, "TODAY IS THE LAST DAY I'M FIVE!"
Today she woke up, saw her room full of balloons (balloons on the floor is our b-day tradition - nothing like waking up to a sea of rainbow balloons on your birthday!) and informed me that as she is now six, she will be nice to everyone, including her sister, every minute of every day.
Look at my little lady - amazingly mature in less than 24 hours. Six is a very grown-up age to be.
Gracie's school doesn't allow cupcakes to be brought in on birthdays, and though I was tempted to make them and bring them in anyway and say, "Ooops, I forgot that I can't bring cupcakes!" (like the other kindergarten mothers do - despite the many notes home saying don't bring in cupcakes!), I figured that since her teacher is our next door neighbor and I don't want to find any vengeful yard clipping dumped over the fence between our yards, I'll follow the rules.
(Not that I think she'd actually do that - she's a nice neighbor - but still.)
We opted for goodie bags instead and Gracie spent yesterday afternoon helping me stuff them full of balloons and blowers and twisty straws and candy.
I love goodie bags.
Happy happy b-day to my six-year-old. It's a little bit amazing to me that I've been blogging about this kiddo since she was two, and here she is, all grown up.
*sob!*
MY BABY! WHERE DID MY BABY GO AND WHO IS THIS GROWN UP IN HER PLACE!?
Lately I have been stuffed into very narrow closets, trying to give a little order to my insanely messy studio. And the reason (besides the fact that my studio is an insane mess) - This book: Time Management for the Creative Person, by Lee Silber.
I'm one of those people who picks up a book on time management and organization, has a rush of optimism and dreams of success, immediately rolls up sleeves and gets to work, then fizzles out with a half completed project.
All you creative types out there - are you like that, too? Then read this book, which specifically caters to the right-brainers. I've been reading it for the last month and I'm LOVING it.
But does reading this book mean I'll find myself permanently organized and super time managed and all that?
Well, I don't know, but in the last month I've been more productive than usual, with a tidier house and more time spent with my kids, and outdoors in the sun. And that's in addition to my creative projects. I'm a fan of this book, to say the least.
On a cuter note - check out my new (to me!) bookends:
I can't take it - they're just so cute!
Recently (like, this weekend), I discovered the joy of garage saling.
Seriously, where have I been for the last 3o years?!?! Garage sales! A treasure trove of awesome junk!
Usually it's Will who goes to garage sales, coming home with antique record tables that smell old and don't work (but look cool?). This time it was me that did the garage saling, which means I now have oodles and oodles of new craft supplies (because of course you can never hoard have enough of those) and these ridiculously cute ceramic book ends.
I just want to smile at them all day long, but alas. I have narrow closets to stuff myself into as I organize.
I'm just gonna go ahead and say I love the movie Desperately Seeking Susan. Have you all seen this movie? If not, what are you waiting for! It's so quirky and cute and Madonna and Rosanna Arquette are awesome!
Here is the description from Amazon: Bored New Jersey housewife Roberta fills her days by reading the personal ads and following an ongoing romance between "Jim" and "Susan", a mysterious drifter who leads the kind of free-spirited life about which Roberta can only dream. And dream she does, until the day she actually shows up at the couple's prearranged rendezvous in New York City...and after a bump on the head, a bout of amnesia turns Roberta into Susan and opens the door to intrigue, laughter and love!
I love screwball comedies.
The other day I was talking awesome 80's fashion with my pal Alyssa, and mentioned I went to my Homecoming dance when I was seventeen dressed Madonna-like a la Desperately Seeking Susan and she said, "BLOG IT!"
Then, funnily enough, yesterday my pal Tina blogged her love for this movie, and how it influenced her 15-year-old self when it came to fashion. (Seriously, Tina, I love and adore you even more, if that's possible!)
Now, I wasn't about to rock the parachute pants and though my mom still had her leather pants from the 80's, which looked exactly like the pants Rosanna is sporting on the movie cover, I wasn't about to rock those either. So my mom helped me come up with a skirt alternative.
Costume shopping with my mom is so fun, you guys. We went to Victoria's Secret for a black lace body suit, black bra, and lacy thigh-highs. Hit up the Goodwill store for costume jewelry. Bought lace socks which I painted gold.
And the pièce de résistance: My pyramid jacket! (which my mom made)
Okay, so I don't quite look like Madonna... And I'm not sure how many people at my school had seen this movie (it came out 14 years before) because no one knew what the heck was going on with my outfit.
And the ticket collector took one look at me and said, "It's Cyndi Lauper!" But whatever. That outfit was so totally me and I loved it. You know what else I love? This song:
(which is in the movie)
So, Alyssa and Tina - what do you think? Did I do 80's Madonna-inspired fashion justice?
Have a flashback of your own to share? Join in the fun at Tia's blog!
Guess what! The plan has been in effect for a grand total of four months and currently we STILL have a handle on the discipline situation! With the exception of Annelie's self-cut hair-do which she rang in the new year with, we've been destruction-free for months. YIPPEE!
I've got to say, I sort of missed having fantastically appalling stories to share about my adventures with two high-energy little monsters (- er, I mean angels!). But then, the other day, I overheard this:
GRACIE: Hey Annelie, remember when we used to play sword fights with Mommy's knitting needles and when she'd say, "What are you doing," we'd say, "Nothing!"
...and the horror came flooding back and I am SO glad I haven't had a story to share in ages. Also, my friend Starr reminded me that the best is yet to come, as I'm sure to hear this someday:
GRACIE: Hey Annelie, remember when we stole Mom's car and went to TJ for that weekend and the car broke down, and when we got back she said, "Where's my car?" we said, "I dunno, I think it got stolen"...............
ATTENTION: Fellow time wasters who also love princesses - you are gonna LOVE this.
My writing partner Shauna mentioned this princess-making site {click here!} yesterday, and I shouldn't have clicked the link but I am weak-willed and couldn't help myself and was instantly sucked in.
You guys! I turned myself into a princess!
I thought I looked just lovely, but Gracie took one look at my picture and said, "That's not even pretty. You're wearing black." So after a discussion on black being classic (in which Gracie didn't agree that black was classic) I turned myself into a different princess...
(This one passed Gracie's princess test)
As I was supposed to be working on my book whilst all this princess-making was going on, I figured turning my book characters into Disneyesque princesses sorta counted...
So I turned my character Lia (from my Sleeping Beauty story) into a princess.
And then Hallie, who is my main character from my gods and monsters story. (Although she wanted nothing to do with all the princessy garb and settled for killer boots and a mini skirt)
After that, I turned my computer over to the kids, to make as many princesses as their hearts desired, and finally stopped my time-wasting.
But that might have been because it was time to stop putting off cooking dinner...
The other day, I had a comment with a question from Jamie, and I thought I'd it share it here:
I have dappled in fiction writing a little bit over the last few years but I have a hard time developing an original idea, sticking with it, and turning it into a legitimate work in progress.
I was wondering if you could share how you find inspiration for the main ideas for your books and how you continue to enhance those ideas over the course of multiple years.
That's a great question, Jamie, and I'm going to answer it in two parts - how I find my ideas and develop them and how I turn those ideas into a legitimate WIP (work in progress).
First, I have to say, the more writing friends I meet, the more I learn that everyone writes differently! Some plan their books in detail, some fly by the seat of their pants while they write (I plan much more than I pants). So if you're interested in writing, and haven't already started, keep in mind that what works for me, might not work for you AT ALL! I'm just sharing.
1.) How I find my ideas and develop them.
I'm going to go ahead and admit that finding ideas and inspiration has never been a problem for me. When I'm bored or need a break from thinking about a project I'm stuck on, I pass the time by challenging myself to come up with ideas based on things I'm interested in learning more about. That's in addition to the ideas that fly at me when I least expect them to.
If you're really stuck on the finding of ideas, try this game which I used to play for fun in high school:
Pick a non-fiction book with lots of random information (I like using encyclopedias or dictionaries for this). Grab a pen and paper and open the book to pages at random and write down at least one thing that mildly (or totally) interests you, and a couple notes on it - just a couple! Do this about 12-15 more times until you have a bunch of random stuff on a page that all interest you.
Do any of them inspire you to learn more about them? Do they remind you of other things you love that you might want to learn more about? If so, write down those notes, too. Can you make connections between any of these items? Even randomly weird connections that might turn into plot, setting, or interesting characters? If so, take what is useful to you from this exercise and stick it in a notebook in case you want to develop it further.
Every time I have a potential story idea, I write it down. I'm a notebook junkie so I have spare notebooks everywhere (at back-to-school season, you can usually grab coiled notebooks from places like Office Max for as little as $.12 a book!) and for each idea that I want to develop further - not necessarily to write a book, but to at least see if I want to write it - I give it it's own notebook.
If I'm already working on a project, I only spend an hour here and there over the course of a few months, or even years, writing down small ideas and inspirations along the way - usually in the form of songs or poems that mesh with the characters or tone of the story, so I can recall them when I am ready to work. Also, if characters pop into my head, or dialogue or subplot ideas, I have a place to put them before I forget.
Shiny new ideas are shiny! But if you are already working on a project, don't set it aside! Finish it first and then take on those shiny new ideas.
The most important thing about finding ideas and writing about them is that you write for YOU. My next project, which I'll begin in November for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) combines my interest in the French Revolution and the ethics of cloning, with this as my theme song (picked as inspiration for tone and pace):
Do I think anyone else will give two hoots about a book like this?
Well, I hope so, but if not, that's okay - I'm so excited to write it that the idea of waiting until November to begin is brutal. Don't be afraid to tell the story you are insanely excited to tell regardless of whether you think it will be marketable. If I worried overmuch about the marketability of of my stories, I'd be too timid to write them!
2.) How I turn my ideas into a legitimate WIP
If you haven't guessed that outlining is important to me, I'll just go ahead and tell you: OUTLINING IS IMPORTANT TO ME.
That doesn't mean I fence myself in with an outline. Oh no, I certainly don't. If I did, the end of my fairy tale WIP would be drastically different because of a character relationship I changed halfway though the first draft (and frankly, that original end would have sucked).
I outline because I need to know the beginning, the middle (including several scenes I am excited to write), and the end. I need to have something I am excited to work toward or else I struggle to find the motivation to get me there!
If you are a pantser, outlining might hold you up. If you aren't sure what you are, grab a few books on writing craft and experiment! I only know my process because I've taken the time to figure it out.
Only after I have outlined and researched until I've reached the point where waiting even one more hour before sitting down to begin my story is too excruciating to handle, I open up my word doc and write.
And that brings me to the number one most important piece of advice when it comes to writing:
WRITE.
There are days when I love my book and my words flow and the sky is blue and the birds sing, and sitting in my chair and working is fun and easy and my book loves me and there are rainbows and sparkles! You guys, I love sparkles!!
There are days when I hate my book and my words won't come and the sky is dark and hateful and the only bird around is a mocking bird and it's ME he's mocking, that little bastard! There are no rainbows and definitely no sparkles. Writing is hard, yo.
But I stick my bum in that chair anyway and I write. And I also delete. And smash my head against the keyboard like that guy from Sesame Street who bangs his head against his piano. I stare at the wall. I cry because I'm frustrated and I always cry when I'm frustrated. I also eat lots of carbohydrates and then hate myself for being a stress-eater. But still I write.
So many people say they want to write a book more than anything but they don't have the time...
Guess what? Me neither! Therefore, I sacrifice in order to have that time. Because being a writer is important to me, I know that in order to be successful, I have to write when I want to, but most importantly, when I don't want to. I have to write when there are better things to do. When it's an awesome TV night. When my muse is being a jerk. When I should be folding the laundry. When my hubs and daughters are at the movie theater watching Gnomeo and Juliet, which I really want to see, but which if I don't see, I'll have two hours to write without interruptions!
Only by writing will you see those shiny ideas to completion!
This post is long, but hopefully helpful?
Happy Monday, folks! Hope you have an excellent week!
In fifth grade, my class was assigned a creative spring project and one of the options for the project was to write and illustrate a book, and read it aloud to the first graders at my school.
Write a book!
FOR HOMEWORK!!
And read it to my very first audience!
By age eleven, I was pretty darned positive I would grow up to be an author, so naturally I was pumped by this option. Exuberantly, I pulled out my binder paper and markers and got right to work. I ripped off a storyline from one of my favorite cartoon Easter movies, using my collection of stuffed animals as characters instead of the characters from the cartoon.
(Because if you rip off a storyline that has already been proven to be great, yours is automatically great, too. Didn't you know?)
(Also, I didn't understand the concept of plagiarism until middle school)
My story is long, but here is a sample:
The story is about a group of curious animal kids who are excited by the idea of the Easter Bunny coming and decide to go on an adventure to find the Easter Bunny's workshop.
They fall down a rabbit hole...
Find the workshop (although for some reason they do not recognize the workshop as a workshop. You'd think the painted eggs, candy, toys, and the fact that the head office door has a sign reading: MR. EB would give the Easter Bunny's workshop away, but nope).
They wreak havoc.
And at the very end, they have a story they can pass on for generations of enjoyment.
An EPIC adventure tale, I tell ya.
Gracie had me read this story to her the other day, and she thinks eleven-year-old Marisa was brilliant. It's so very nice having fans. However, in usual Marisa fashion, I then proceeded to give her a lecture on plagiarism and after a couple minutes, her eyes glazed over and her head exploded and she shouted out, "BOING!"
(In our house, BOING! is the girl's mercy word, which they came up with in order to handle situations in which Mommy talks too much about boring, over-their-head subjects)
Sometimes I forget she's only five.
Have a flashback of your own to share? Head on over to Tia's blog and join in the fun!
Happy Easter to all you Easter celebrators out there! And to everyone else - have a great weekend!
Go and catch a falling star, Get with child a mandrake root, Tell me where all past years are, Or who cleft the devil's foot, Teach me to hear mermaids singing, Or to keep off envy's stinging, And find What wind Serves to advance an honest mind.
Go, go, go, go
We opted for goodie bags instead and Gracie spent yesterday afternoon helping me stuff them full of balloons and blowers and twisty straws and candy.
