Category Archives: Blog

Blog, Bonding, Emotions, Family, husband, Life, Men, Valentine's Day

My husband vs Valentine’s Day

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My husband and I have been married a while- over 20 years. So when Valentine’s Day comes around I don’t expect flowers, candy, a card or the big woo. Odds are we have already celebrated it this past weekend to avoid the crowds on Tuesday.

If I get anything I am happy but being married and showing one’s love should not be celebrated just a few times a year on those special days: one’s anniversary, birthday and Valentine Day.

I don’t need the trinkets of a holiday that specializes in making the candy, greeting card and flower industry more wealthy. It is the little things that people might overlook

1-My husband dropping me off at the front of an establishment when my fibro is acting up

2-Buying me a king size candy bar of my favorite brand just because

3-Doing the dishes every morning before he goes to work

4-Watching my sports teams on tv with me even when he couldn’t care less who wins.

5-Getting me a Pepsi even though he knows I am not allowed but I crave it.

6-Not sharing my dessert at a restaurant knowing inside I don’t really want to share

7-Driving almost 3 hours one way to bring me to my doctor’s office

The list goes on. As a female I will admit the flowers and candy do make me go woohoo inside. But in the grand scheme of things I rather know that I am loved year round instead of just a few specific days the industry dictates.

While we ate our official Valentine’s Day meal on Sunday I will be treating him out today at lunch.

Update:

I found out today my husband is always a surprise to me. Sitting on my laptop this morning was a beautiful package, I almost hated to break the seal. Inside was a lovely card with a sentiment that made me pause. Inside that card was a Subway card for a few meals. He does know me well. 🙂

But inside that package was a beautiful hand-woven scarf and necklace. The picture does not do them justice. The girl in me squealed on the inside for the package and for having a husband who loves me. I know this with or without the gifts.

Blog, Dedication, Emotions, People, Ramblings

Dedication

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Have you ever wondered what kind of impact you make on others? I know I do. With my insecurities of how I come across it always amazes me when people tell me what they think- that is in a good way.

My good friend Lisa, who is from one of my writers groups, told me that I bring energy and lightness to the meetings and it is certainly missed when I am not there. Me, energy and lightness?

My friend Gina, who I meet with weekly to talk about life and also writing, has told me on numerous occasions that I motivate and inspire her by my personality. Me, someone who motivates and inspires others?

I consider myself an average run of the mill person. I try to treat people like I want to be treated. Do I accomplish this all the time, of course not. But to hear people tell me positive things they see about me does make me feel good.

It is probably why I try to tell people what I think about them, when they are making a difference in a positive way. Everyone needs that boost, that certain lift to say hey I am not that bad.

Through Twitter and other avenues I have come across some wonderful writers. Some who are quickly becoming friends and people I care about. This has open me up to a world of people who just have taken me in and let me blossom personality wise and for that I am grateful.

The reason for this post is as follows. A friend of mine, Nancy, is about to release another book and she placed me in her dedication page.

My first thought was OH MY GOSH HOW FREAKEN AWESOME IS THAT? That I made an impact to be placed in a dedication page made me speechless. Well ok not entirely speechless but you all get the idea.  We never know what kind of effect we will have on people, positive or negative. Until we are actually told or we can visually see it we may never know.

So the moral of this is to let people know what you think. Let them know what they mean to you, how being around them has helped you. It does not cost a dime. The rewards will be a smile and the person feeling good inside. That is priceless.

Author, Blog, Books, Character Developement, Creative Writing, Writing, Writing Advice

Character Development

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My class “ Character Development” started Monday night. The class was amazing and I have six more to go. Learning how to make our characters strong, believable, lovable, loathed, and focused is something we all should strive for as writers. For as an avid reader, I want to fall in love with my character or hate them so badly I want to see how the book ends. Most times I follow through with the liking of a character. There are some books by the time it ends I wish the one I fell for would just go away as my alliances has shifted to the villain who is suddenly amazing.

If we just stick to the physical aspect of what our characters look like ,while we may describe them so well our readers can image them in their minds, you can only go so far with looks. Well that is what they say right? So invest in your characters, go to the root of what makes them who they are, what they are and why I should as a reader get so invested in this one person. For if you don’t chances are the book will not be read

So the instructor asked how strong were our characters in our book? Do they make the reader get invested in them relatively soon or does it drag on? The format my professor suggested was very simple and something I am sure most of you are all aware of.

Who? Where? What? How? When? Why?

Simple enough but then break it down even further. Who did what where and how did they do it and why? Or you can say how did it happen to this other character that is in the book? The possibilities are endless depending how big your cast is in the book.

So in my mind I mentally went through the two books I am trying to get published and did the math so to speak to see if the characters in those books matched up to the rigor of those six questions.

Fortunately they did, and I did not even know I was doing it correctly. I was happily surprised. For in those two books the main characters I broke down to the core. Not just the physical aspects of what they looked liked. But I talked about their character: weakness, likes, fears, hopes,goals,strengths and so on. I started each character from birth and worked my way up. By doing that you give your person the best chance of working whether it is to be loved or hated. Without that, for me as a reader, the book no matter how well written, will be either read and honestly reviewed or just not read at all.

Each class I will share what I have learned, in hopes I can pass on some insight to others so we can all somehow improve our craft.