C. L. Norman

This year I was really excited to watch the Oscars. I had missed them last year and I wanted desparately to see them this time around. The strangest thing about it all is that I didn’t see any of the 10 movies nominated for Oscars this year. Because of that I didn’t care a whole lot about who actually won the Oscars. If you are interested in seeing the winners list go here.

Here are the highlights that I enjoyed about this lavish tribute to the movies.

• The fairytale like dresses. I love the fancy ballgowns. This year they were more traditional–flowing skirts, fitted tops, shimmering and sparkling fabrics–the way I like them. Of course the dresses always look better against the neat, black tuxes. I always think of princesses and princes when I see people dressed up in that way.
• Tribute to John Hughes. Matthew Broderick, Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Anthony Michael Hall, Jon Cryer, and Macauley Culkin all together on one stage was a trip back in time to my teen years. It was wonderful to see the montage of some of my favorite films. I have an urge to break out my John Hughes collection of DVDs and rewatch them.
• The Horror Segment. I am not a horror fan but my brother use to make me watch them to “toughen me up.” I had fun playing “guess the movie” with no answer sheet so, of course, I got all of them right.
• The Intro Song with Neil Patrick Harris. The fun and pageantry of that opening number reminds me of the theater scene in the original Annie movie. Full of pomp and fun and pointing out everything that makes folks go to the movies. I watchted it with a grin stretched across my face and wished it went on longer.
• And the Oscar goes to… That moment when the presenter says those 5 little words and everyone in the Kodak Theater holds their breath in anticipation. That moment when the family sitting around the TV shouts out their guess for the winner. It is the moment the whole 3+ hour long show is all about.

Did you watch the Oscars? What parts did you enjoy the most? Did your favorite movie/actor/director of 2009 win any awards?

        

Reading

This week I read Caitlin Kittredge’s Street Magic. I am an avid fan of her Nocturne series and have been wanting to try out this other series for a while and finally broke down and bought a copy.  I tried to be all responsible and read it only at night after I had finished the things I needed to get done but by the third night I was heading to bed earlier for more time with my book and the next morning I finished the book before getting anything else done. It was different but exciting. The central mystery of the story was engaging and well thought out. I really enjoyed it.

Tax Season

We finally filed our taxes this week and I learned a valuable lesson. We have always had H&R Block prepare out taxes and I have always been satisfied with their work. This year, my writing is in the shady area where I might be able to claim some deductions because of it and the tax preparers were not prepared to handle those questions. I learned that I can’t trust professionals to know everything about their fields. A good lesson to know. Hopefully I keep this information in mind when I meet with other professionals in the future.

Dr. Suess

Happy Birthday Dr. Suess. It is such a wonderful thing that children across America celebrate the birth and career of an author every year. I helped with this tradition by reading Green Eggs & Ham and The Foot Book during this week’s storytime. The children never seem to tire of the words of this wonderful writer. A personal thank you to him for One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. I was reading this book when I was 4 years old. Dr Seuss is the author that launched me into the world of books that I live in today.

Revising/Rewriting

Up to this morning I always thought there was something wrong with me that I never rewrote on as massive a scale as everyone else I have heard of. I touch up grammar and word choice, delete repetitive sentences, and in general only clean up my first draft. I don’t delete huge passages or shift around large blocks of text or any of those other drastic measures revision seems to involve. This morning I read an entry in Dean Westley Smith’s Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing series and am now in the process of letting go of that feeling of wrongness, embracing my method, and working up the confidence to believe in my words despite them being the result of only one or two drafts.

Birthdays

My second child turned 13 this week. That brings the number of teens in the family up to two. I am bracing myself for the fallout of that event. Two teen daughters and only two parents. Things could get wild and crazy around here for a few years. I’ve been told my kids are easy and others are jealous, I have my fingers crossed that that trend continues.

How ’bout your week? Did it go well? Learn anything new?

        

Happy Valentine’s Day

Today is the day for remembering your loved ones, especially those you have romantic feelings for. As always my Valentine’s day is not filled with flowers and chocolates (that is a Mother’s day tradition) but with Magic cards and writing panels. Which leads me to my next topic.

Radcon

Every year since I was a sophomore in high school I attended the local sci-fi convention, RadCon, and this year is no different. I use to go for a mix of panels and gaming, in particular the Delver’s Bash. However for the last few years I go to attend every writing panel I can squeeze into so that I may glean every nugget of knowledge about the craft and business of writing I can.

This year I also participated in a Writing Workshop put together very nicely by Deby Fredericks. As a result of some attendance issues, I had the full attention of both Dean Wesley Smith and Darragh Metzger for the entire hour. And I’d like to thank them for the insights they gave me on my writing and on writing as a career. It is much appreciated and I hope to put your encouragement to good use.

Cavalcade of Authors

The first day of the con, or to be more precise the morning of the first day of con, an event was held for local middle school and high school students. This event had students in workshops with several authors including Patrick Carman, Ben Mikaelson, Suzanne Selfours, and more. My daughter was a participant and had a lot of fun. I helped out with Barnes & Noble, selling books and enjoyed observing the excitement in the kids at the opportunity to speak with and learn from their favorite authors. A very successful event in my opinion.

Reading

This week I reread Transformation by Carol Berg for the third or maybe fourth time. Transformation is the first book in a series of three. I adore the world building in this series of books. So many peoples and cultures are included, some are spotlighted and others fill in all the nooks and crannies around the edges. Even more I love the two main characters, Seyonne and Aleksander. They live and breathe and make mistakes. They have undesirable traits and heroic hearts. A lot is going on in this story but it is presented in such a way I don’t have to slow down my reading to keep track of it all. I highly recommend these books to fantasy or adventure lovers.

My week went well, how was yours?

        

Storyboarding and Writing Group

This week’s writing group revolved around storyboarding. One of our members taught a small lesson on it using the first act of Star Wars as an example. This is a technique I’ve heard of before and wanted to try but never actually followed through on. It seemed both easy and hard at the same time–and too much like outlining. Outlining being a technique I despise and just can’t seem to make work for me. After the mini-lesson I am all set to at least give it a try. 

Writing group is about to change its direction. We are changing the open attendance policy to a closed one. We will also be expecting more of the members and hopefully progressing forward as writers.

Reading

Speaking of storyboarding and writing group, I’ve been reading Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell in the Write Great Fiction series. I haven’t finished the book yet but seeing a breakdown on the three acts and what should go into each one is enlightening. It is also helping me understand why some author’s pacing works better than others. I look forward to finishing the book and beginning to use some of what I’m learning in my next story.

Storytime

I do the storytime for the young ones at the store on Tuesdays and for special occasions. This week I had my regular storytime and the Valentine’s Day storytime on Saturday. From my history on the stage I know that different days result in different energy in the children. My approach to storytime is to infuse it with a lot of pep and work the kids up a little bit and then give them a cookie and send them home with their mommies and daddies all sugared up and excited.

Saturday the kids were already so revved up that I was inclined to read them a bedtime story and quiet them down. Don’t get me wrong, I had fun and adore spending a bit of time with the little ones every week but for audience members to have trouble hearing me–me!–is a sign that maybe instead of the cookies and cocoa at the end, I should have given them a blankey and a pillow.

Did your week go as well as mine? Anything new happen you want to share?

        

Another year has just about slipped off the calendars into the past and a new one is beginning.

This past year saw me beginning down the road towards embracing my dream of writing. I attended two cons and participated in my first writing workshop. I took over the infant writing group at the store. I’ve begun to collect a pile of rejection letters. I have started a blog and on two social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter. I participated in NaNoWriMo for the first time and while I didn’t finish I finished about 25k words in 17 days and I am proud of that.

My oldest started high school and my youngest 1st grade.  Two more kids began piano lessons and a third started dance. My husband received a promotion and changed companies.

Life is ever changing.

This year I could be making a dozen resolutions but my resolutions never last a month. So instead I am making goals and I am sharing them with y’all to help me keep them.

Writing Goals

• Finish and polish the novel I started during this year’s NaNoWriMo
• Submit enough short stories to various markets that I have five pieces circulating at once
• Attend RadCon and MisCon. Put my hand out and say “Hi” to at least one author at each.
• Research into a third con to attend, and if money permits go
• Keep up with this blog, including more fiction pieces and more regular posts

Non-Writing Goals

• Pay off at least two more credit cards
• Start saving for a family trip to Disney World in 2011
• Finish a cross stitching kit
• Scrapbook more
• Start keeping track of the books I read in my journal
• Have more fun

That’s my list for the new year. What’s on yours?

        

I have been looking forward to seeing Sherlock Holmes for months and months. Ever since I saw the first trailer with a unshaven Robert Downey Jr swaggering across the screen, I’ve been looking forward to seeing this movie. Today, as a Christmas present, my husband took me to the local theater to see it.

It is my favoritest gift of the day.

I loved the movie. It was fun, fast paced, and engaging. Mr. Downey’s Sherlock wasn’t the upright, moral citizen I’ve seen depicted in so many other versions. He was a roguish Holmes that had me laughing and rooting for him the entire two plus hours. Jude Law’s Dr. Watson while he appeared clean cut also had more character and flaws to him than the usual Watson.

The pace started quick and kept going and yet it didn’t seem rushed. It was like a joyful carnival ride that I didn’t want to end. And the ending of the movie promised more. It was promised in such a way that I want to start counting the days until the next movie is released.

To quote Holmes at the final line of the movie, “The case is reopened.” And the movie is destined to bring Sherlock Holmes back into the limelight.

See the movie, you won’t regret it.

        

I work in the mall in a bookstore. I have worked in the mall in a bookstore on and off since my first job at B. Dalton’s in August 1991.

I think I have seen holiday shoppers in all shapes, sizes, and colors in that time. Some are full of the holiday spirit; polite, patient, and understanding of the over-busy retail clerks and the ever shrinking stock. Others are full of some other spirit; rude, impatient, angry when they don’t find that specific item they were looking for.

I like to think that I don’t know my customer’s private lives. Maybe something awful is happening at home and that is why they are acting so terribly. I smile bigger, take a deep breath, and try even harder to maintain my patience. Other times the rudeness has reached such a level that I become grateful I am not a manager and I can pass the customer off. Or maybe the customer will get so fed up they will stomp out of the store and come back another day when their mood is brighter.

These are the days when we see most of those cranky shoppers. The lines are long, the ‘good’ books have sold, and there are only so many employees to go around. Tempers get short. Frowns and grimaces are on nearly every face. 

I call this time of year the ’swipe and go’ period. The customers don’t want to hear about the offers for this or that. They don’t want to hear about special programs. They just want to hear their total, swipe their card, and leave. It can be very frustrating for the store clerk and a strain on their smiles.

Christmas Eve this all changes. For some strange reason, even though time has nearly run out, shoppers on this day relax. They smile. They joke. They listen to the offers and promotions. They feel the spirit of the holidays and it becomes a pleasure to work with them. This is the time when suggesting a new author becomes easy. Convincing the shopper to go home with something different than they originally came in for is an opportunity to share more of my favorites. Not only the best selling ones.

I like working on Christmas Eve, at least the early shift. I see the spark of Santa in every face that passes through the checkout line and it puts me in the mood for the evening when Santa-in-full arrives. 

So if you are one of the shoppers heading out today, take time to smile at the clerk helping you out. Bring Santa out a day early.

        

Our friends come over and admire our tree. They ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ and tell us how cute the ornaments are that our kids made, how funny the three wise mice are, and then they exclaim “Cool!” as they catch sight of the Millenium Falcon swooping down from a branch high up in the tree.

That’s right. We have a geek’s tree.

On our tree we have Luke Skywalker, R2-D2, C3-PO, an  AT-AT and the Millenium Falcon. We have the Shuttlecraft Galileo with Spock on board wishing everyone happy holidays and ‘live long and prosper’. Indiana Jones cracks his whip on another branch. And not to ignore the fantasy side of our geekiness, we have a dragon wrapped around a castle and a wizard hunched over a crystal ball.

On Christmas day, our geeky side is revealed even further when the wrapping paper comes off. Gaming books, collectible card game boosters, minis and figurines, dice, and movies all reveal that side of our natures. That side that is more at home at a gaming table than a dinner table set with crystal.

What about your tree? What kind of ornaments do you display on yours?

        

If I had a passport and transport to these places and could take my family with me, I’d pack  my bags tonight. These are five fantastical locations I’d like to visit for the holidays. They hold warmth and family and togetherness.

1. Faldor’s Farm in Sendaria: In David Eddings‘ Pawn of Prophecy Garion and his Aunt Pol sit down for a feast at Erastide with all the workers and families on the farm. This place is always ‘home’ for Garion throughout the series and the warmth felt during this scene is one of my favorites. That and the many purposes this scene serves. It shows the relationship between Garion and Aunt Pol and Durnik. It introduces the villain. The fly lands in the ointment here. Hints of Garion’s identity are introduced here. I wouldn’t mind a place at their table this season.
2. The Forest Moon of Endor: Who could resist the furry teddy bears? I know I can’t. These guys really know how to throw a party. Bonfires, storytelling, and good food and music. A holiday party to thoroughly enjoy, these Ewoks would throw. Count me in.
3. Allanmere: Anne Logston’s Shadow books are set in this city. Elves and humans live side by side and Shadow has friends all over the city. The city is a cultural hub with exotic people and rulers. Friendly folks and diverse shops abound. A holiday here would be a treat.
4. The Cheysuli Camp in Homana: In Jennifer Roberson’s Cheysuli books, the native people live in nomadic camps that have a real sense of community. Their customs and powers would be very neat to observe. If allowed in to their community, the loyalty and cooperation they have with each other would be great to be a part of, even if only for a few days.
5. Adam’s House: This place exists not far from my current location in a parallel universe discovered by Patricia Briggs in her Mercy Thompson books. I’d like to find the ticket to that dimension so that I could spin by Adam’s house, if I could find a way to get him to accept me around his pack. They also know how to have a party and they are very tolerant of differences. Being a part of the pack for a day or two, watching Mercy and Adam dance around each other, and seeing magic in my home town would be a totally awesome way to spend the holidays.

How ’bout you? Where would you go for the holidays if you had a genie to grant you a wish that would send you there?

        

I love December. The holidays are almost here. Snow is far more likely to fall in my corner of the world, even more likely in January. I wake up and rush to the window to check the ground and then the clouds to see if those wonderful white flakes have fallen or might be falling soon. Usually my Christmas shopping is almost done–this year I am horribly behind. Christmas decoration are everywhere. And my birthday is just around the corner.

I feel like a kid at this time of year. Very excited about the season and anxious to see what might happen. Plans are being made to see family or at least talk to them if travel arrangements aren’t in the cards. Everything sparkles–not the way Edward does, more like white twinkling lights. Everything is magical.

Magical. That is how this time of year always feels to me. Like maybe there really are unicorns in the woods, fairies and elves in the gardens, and wizards and witches living among us.

Sounds like Halloween, right?

Not for me. Halloween has never had that sense of magic in it for me. Sure it’s fun and a great way to mark the season. But it lacks magic.

What part of the year feels magical to you?