Thankful Friday

I'm thankful for the real life heroes who join our armed forces. Like my sweet, handsome son-in-law. And in remembrance of a friend's son...a hero...click here to read about him.

Square Peg, Round Hole?

The other day I was watching a short interview with Ringo Starr of The Beatles fame. For those who don’t know (though that’s hard to imagine), he was one of four fellows who changed the way teenagers look at music. As in most bands, the guys were friends before starting the band, but Ringo wasn’t one of them. He came in later though still before they hit it big in the sixties.

A comment he made stood out. One time, Ringo went to see John, another member, and told him he felt John, Paul and George were the real group and he would step aside. John told Ringo, he had thought the same thing but he considered Paul, George and Ringo as the real group.

That really struck me. How often have we thought we didn’t fit in or someone was smarter or more fortunate? And then we find out none of that to be true. No matter how “big” the person is, they have insecurities too. Maybe not in their craft, as Ringo wasn’t saying he wasn’t the best drummer The Beatles could have, he was talking about how they meshed, were friends. Our emotions can play tricks on us. That’s where friends can help by being supportive. You don’t need to hear how wonderful you are, though that doesn’t hurt, you just need people there willing to listen and hug you on occasion.

Thankfully I have that in Diane, JoAnn and Sande.

Rejection

Of course, there are authors out there who receive an offer of representation the first time they query, just as there are authors whose first books were published. And I know for sure there are others who have more rejections than I do. This is what I tell myself everytime I receive a rejection. Like I did today.

I took it in stride and thought to myself , "How sad," and didn't think any more about it until I got home. After a little while I realized I wasn't acting like myself. In fact I was tired and quiet. Then I remembered the rejection email. Funny how you try not to let something bother you, but your body will let you know what's going on.

Sorry to be so depressing lately. I'm really trying to keep my chin up. There's no way I can give up but changing strategies (again) may be in my future. :-)

Decisions, Decisions

Let me give you a scenario.

A teenage boy didn't show up at school one day. He's known for skipping and wandering the streets of a big city. His sister goes in search for him. She's concerned and wants to bring him home. She loves her brother but understands his need to do what he does, but as any big sis would do, she wants to make sure he's okay.

Now it's almost midnight and she comes across a wounded man in front of an apartment building. Someone has beaten him up. She doesn't own a cell phone and no one is around. What should she do?

Let's see...leave him bleeding in the rain to find her brother? NO! Of course not.

So she checks the wounded guy (she's had some medical training) to make sure he's breathing. Does she leave him now? Goodness no!

So she thinks of ways to help him. Maybe she can knock on the doors inside the apartment building and hopefully someone will call 911 or help. Right? Right. Before she can, the wounded guy's younger brother comes out and tries to bring his bigger brother out of the rain and into their apartment. The younger brother is too little. By the way, they don't have a phone. I know it's hard to believe that some people are too poor to own a phone. (It's times like these I wish there was a sarcastic font.)

Okay. She helps the little brother bring in the big brother. I guess she could dump him in the apartment and say, "Sorry. But I've got to go and look for my brother though you have a little brother and sister worried about rather or not you'll live." Of course, you wouldn't leave. Sure she's still worried about her brother, but didn't I aready mention this wasn't the first time her brother went out wandering around?

Then the wounded guy (a few cuts and bruises along with a big knot on his head) offers to help find her brother because, lo and behold! his teenage sister is with her brother. But he tells her it will be safer to wait until daylight. You have to remember, she's not a cop, superhero or an alien with a ray gun. Those streets are as dangerous for her as they are for her brother and the guy's sister.

Now. Tell me. Would you say, "Sorry but I can't worry about you and I've got to go back out into the big city streets AFTER midnight and look for my brother because I'm WORRIED about him"? Talk about too stupid to live!

As you probably guessed. I received back comments from a judge on my manuscript SHADOW HEALER and the judge couldn't believe the heroine didn't leave right then and look for her brother. It bothered her. Geez! I would like to see her wandering Atlanta streets around midnight. Actually, I have with one other woman and the whole time I kept thinking how stupid we were.

All the points I made were in the manuscript, why can't they read the words I've written? What am I doing wrong? No need to answer. I'm just ranting. This is good therapy.

Old Westerns

I love westerns. One of my favorites was on the other day and I realized there were such strong emotions in every scene, that I could use them in my current book. Not the words, but the feelings they invoked.

My hero has done a lot of things he regrets. Now his life has changed and he sees a future alone and unloved because of those bad choices. See the clip below. The beginning is really only a small portion of the scene. There was so much more. In fact, throughout the movie it showed so much depth you almost couldn't catch it all.

Hey, How About Me?

Come on over to Southern Magic's Romance Magician's blog. I'm talking about self-confidence.

Thankful Friday

I'm thankful I can read and love immersing myself in books. I'm so fortunate. Hmm, I guess that says it all.

Behind The Scenes

This is how they made it...

Strangely Beautiful

Watch the plant life.

Really, Not A Fan

On the TV in my "study" (another word for spare bedroom), there are around 60 channels. Downstairs, on the larger TV, there are easily 200, but that's my hubby's domain. Anyway, on the smaller set, twice I've tried to find something different but funny. I love romantic comedies. Go figure. LOL! But all I found were dramas or ones I've seen.

As I flipped through the channels, I came across one reality show after another. I know lots of people watch them, thus the plethora of reality shows. (Note the new $50 word I used.) My buddy at work likes AMAZING RACE. My sister-in-law loves SURVIVOR. Others watch BIG BROTHER or PROJECT RUNWAY. I don't care for anything even remotely close to those...nope. Not for me.

Yet I will admit the only reality show I like to watch is WIPEOUT. Yep. A real game show. That's the only one. Give me slap-stick. I'm Just wired that way. LOL!