Letters Here, Letters There, and Contests

Sometime in the past year, writer and blog friend C. Hope Clark, posted about some of the letters on her keyboard being totally worn off. If I remember correctly, she also shared photos of them. I got such a kick out of it that I sent her a few alphabet stickers to cover those keys. 


Some of the letters on my laptop keyboard have now disappeared to the point of needing replacements. Although I know what letters belong to those blank and almost-blank keys, I'd still like to be able to look down every once in a while and see them again. So, I'm borrowing Hope's concept and sharing mine....with before and after pictures. 

BEFORE

AFTER

As you can see, I use the E, A, and S keys regularly. And the A has grooves on it, from my left pinky fingernail. Weird, huh? The W and D are getting a little worn, but they're okay for now. On the right side of my keyboard, the O, N, and K are getting pretty worn, too. Interesting.....

What about you? What are the keys you see wearing off the most?? It can give us an insight into how we write. 

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And speaking of writing...Please check out Tiny Lights - A Journal of Personal Narrative. I have an answer included in: "As a writer, what are your priorities?" Don't forget....anyone can submit an answer each month! Your award? Getting published in an online journal. Getting your name "out there."

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 A couple of writing contests I came across:

WRITER ADVICE ANNOUNCES ITS FIRST-EVER

Scintillating Starts

A new contest from Writer Advice

 PURPOSE: To win recognition for the opening of your unpublished manuscript or to get additional perspective, depending on where you are. If your opening is shared on Writer Advice, you’ll be able to tell prospective agents, publishers, and book buyers that you were one of the winners of Writer Advice’s First Scintillating Starts Contest. 

HOW IT WORKS: Submit the opening chapter or paragraphs. Show us how you grab the reader. Entice us. Make us want to know more.

We’ll send you an insightful, practical evaluation and publish the first paragraphs of the works we believe are strongest. $250 in prize money will be divided among those published.

JUDGE(S): TBA.

DEADLINE: October 15, 2012

FEE: $20

QUESTIONS? Write to Lgood67334@comcast.net. Please send your work through Submittable, only.

Questions? Click HERE.

Note from me: I think this sounds like a great contest! What a fabulous name for it! I plan on entering.

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1^st Annual WNBA National Writing Contest 

The Women's National Book Association

http://www.wnba-books.org/contest 

Small fees and $250 cash prize plus publication. (This was found on Writer Advice.) Click on link for complete information.

"If writers stopped writing about what happened to them, then there would be a lot of empty pages." - Elaine Liner

I Got My Mojo Back!

(picture I took of one of my Maxine cartoons) 

For the past two weeks, Vern and I haven't been able to go on our walks because it's just been too darn HOT!  My part of the world has been experiencing 100+ degrees (Fahrenheit) for about 10 days in a row. Although it's been much less humid than normal, it's still uncomfortable. 


Last night it finally occurred to me that Vern and I could walk really early in the morning before the oppressive heat arrives. I wake up early anyway....so duh! We walked at 6:45am and it was bearable. Thank goodness, because I really needed that, both physically and mentally. 


I've been blaming the heat for my lack of creative thoughts because I couldn't seem to write anything for my memoir, or e-mails or snail-mail.


But, guess what? After our walk this morning, I got my Mojo back! 

(credit: moviecarpet.com)

Yeah, Baby!

Neither heat, or humidity, or anything else, is going to interfere with my writing. If you've lost your Mojo, I hope you get it back soon!

"If you saw a heat wave, would you wave back?" -- Stephen Wright

"Barometer, n.: An ingenious instrument which indicates what kind of weather we are having." -- Ambrose Bierce

* Special Edition - Andy Griffith *

A Special Edition ~~ Nostalgic Tuesday 

Actor Andy Griffith dead at 86

I was saddened to hear today of Andy Griffith's death. As regular readers of my blog know, I've been posting Nostalgic Sundays for quite some time and I always use the above picture for those posts. 


I grew up in the 1950s & 60s, and spent some time watching TV. The folks of Mayberry were like my own family and I grew up right along with Opie. Below is part of the post I wrote for my very first Nostalgic Sunday on June 26, 2011:

I'm a nostalgic gal. I love old TV shows like The Andy Griffith Show (only the B&W episodes, ya know!) I'm particularly drawn to the lovely citizens of Mayberry because this fictional town reminds me so much of the real-life hometown of my parents and grandparents: Greenfield, Iowa.

When I was a little girl we went to Greenfield every summer for vacation. It was a magical time. The late 1950s, life was slow and easy, we young kids could walk or ride bikes all over town. I have such fabulous memories of those days, some of which will be included in my memoir.

My grandpa was deputy of Greenfield for a few years, either before I was born or too young to remember. I always thought he'd been the sheriff, so I'd compare him to Andy Griffith when I told stories about him. Imagine my surprise when I realized he was the Barney of the police department, not the Andy! (But grandpa was really nothing like Barney, in his appearance or behavior!)

Thank you Andy, for who you were as a man, and who you were as Andy Taylor. I loved you both. 

** July 4th Note: TV Land is having an Andy Griffith marathon today, tomorrow, and Friday. And also this weekend, I think. I came across it accidentally when I turned on the TV this morning, went to TV Land hoping to see something about it. The TV schedule still showed I Love Lucy and Bonanza, etc., but Andy was being shown. Here is the link for the schedule: http://www.tvland.com/tv-schedule/andy-griffith-show 

"When a man carries a gun all the time, the respect he thinks he's getting might really be fear. So I don't carry a gun because I don't want the people of Mayberry to fear a gun. I'd rather they respect me." -- Andy Griffith

* Tea Cup Tuesday *

I haven't participated in Tea Cup Tuesday in....I don't know how long! I've been so busy with other activities, mostly writing my memoir, but I wanted to join in today.

My little display is a set of three that I bought at Home Goods about two years ago. I loved it the minute I saw it. It's so summery....and I love peaches, too. It was such a ridiculously low price, I just had to buy it! I don't remember exactly, but it was around $5.00 for all three pieces.

The brand is Maxwell Williams, Designer Homewares

The name of it is Orchard Fruits

Fine Bone China

As you can see, it's not the "typical" tea cup usually shown on Tuesdays. It's more of a coffee cup, wouldn't you say? 

Many times in the summer, I use these for my lunch. It just makes a plain ol' lunch seem fancy and festive!

Ahhhhh, my morning coffee! 

(Please excuse my "presentation."
 I threw this all together this morning and didn't do a very good job!)

Thanks for stopping by. I'm joining with Terri of Artful Affirmations and Martha of Martha's Favorites. 

 *Welcome to my two newest followers, Tina and Ellie. I hope you'll stop by often and always enjoy what you read and see! Thank you! *

"Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things." -- Chaim Potok

Homage to Nora Ephron

I was shocked and saddened yesterday to hear of Nora Ephron's death. What an amazing writer, director, and all around talented woman she was.

I first "met" her in the summer of 1987. I was pregnant with my son Mark and came across the movie "Heartburn" on TV one Saturday afternoon. At first it was a sweet love story. The couple: Rachel and Mark (played by Meryl Streep & Jack Nicholson) gets married, laugh a lot, have dinner parties with their best friends and life seems wonderful. Then while waddling around with her second pregnancy, Rachel discovers Mark is having an affair. While watching her be hurt, angry, screaming, and sobbing on the small TV screen, I bawled my eyes out. Nothing is lower, to me, than a husband cheating on his pregnant wife! And since I was sitting there, largely pregnant myself, my hormones kicked into overdrive. The Ronald came into the family room a couple of times and looked at me as if he should call 911. I guess he'd never seen such a spectacle, such a complete breakdown by a woman before. I swore at him and said he better not EVER do that to me, or...or....I don't remember what I said after that, but you can be assured it wasn't something nice. 25 years later, I still love that movie. Why? I just love a really good tear jerker every now and then. 


Then of course she wrote Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally, and Sleepless in Seattle, to name a few. When her book "I Feel Bad about My Neck and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman," came out, I immediately bought it in hardcover. I loved it and have loaned it out many times (always using my "library borrow cards," so I can keep track of who has it!)


I even wrote to Ms. Ephron after I read her "Neck" book, telling her how much I enjoyed it, etc.etc.etc...and how I'm a writer, too. (Bet she never received letters saying THAT before. Ha!) She didn't write back, but that was okay. I surely didn't think she would. 


Thank you, Nora, for giving us Harry Burns and Sally Albright, Mark Forman and Rachel Samstat, Sam Baldwin and Annie Reed, and Karen Silkwood. We'll never forget you, or your wonderful characters.

What about you? Do you like Nora Ephron's books and/or movies? Which is your favorite?



"I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." -- Harry Burns, When Harry Met Sally.

* Nostalgic Sunday * (With Pets)

It's Time for Another Nostalgic Sunday!

Lately I've been thinking about my age, (I just can't be that old!) and the wedding anniversary coming up for The Ronald and me in February. (Can it really be 30 years?!) And during all these years of marriage, we've had three dogs (not all at the same time!) who quickly became part of our family.

First, there was Rocky. (1983) We got him when he was just a pup, a mixed-breed. As I wrote in a story about him, I said he was "part Gordon Setter and part some kind of big dog."

Rocky, and my oldest son Scott, and a much younger, thinner me!

Rocky lived to be about 14 years old and I was so sad when we had to say good-bye to him. I didn't even want to think about getting another dog for at least six months,

but a month later we brought Tiger (Gal) home from the Humane Society. She was 6 months old and we fell in love with her, partly because she resembled Rocky so much.

(Tiger: January 2009)

Tiger was such a sweet companion. I worked from home most of those years and was even more attached to her than I had been to Rocky. When we had to say good-bye to her a couple of weeks before Christmas in 2010, I was devastated. I couldn't even think about getting another dog, yet I knew we would someday because our home was empty without a beloved pet. 

          On March 12, 2011 we brought home our newest family member: Vern!

Vern is a Lab Mix and is the sweetest, smartest dog. He has a real personality & we get such a kick out of him. (As you can see, I've always preferred larger mixed-breeds, bi-colors, and with long noses!) And we've always been so fortunate to have good, healthy, well behaved dogs, who lived long lives. We adopted Vern from the Humane Society when he was almost 10 years old, and we obviously hope he has many more good years ahead. 

“You can say any fool thing to a dog and the dog will just give you this look that says, 'My GOSH, you're RIGHT! I NEVER would've thought of that!” -- Dave Barry 

“Petting, scratching, and cuddling a dog could be as soothing to the mind and heart as deep meditation and almost as good for the soul as prayer.” -- Dean Koontz, False Memory

Naked, Drunk, and Writing

No, I'm not naked, drunk, and writing! That's the title of a book I bought recently, and I love it. It's written by Adair Lara, and also has the subtitle: Shed Your Inhibitions and Craft a Compelling Memoir or Personal Essay. 

I found it while searching on Amazon for "writerly" books on craft, and especially for writing memoir. Somewhere during my scrolling, I came across this gem. After noticing the 63 rave reviews (4-1/2 stars), and taking a peek inside (love that option), I purchased it. Adair writes in terms we can all understand, and does so with my kind of humor.

In the first chapter, she says she called it Naked, Drunk, and Writing because she likes the title and somebody at a party once remarked to her that books with "naked" in the title always sell well. And then says:  "And also because writing about yourself is like stripping down to your Bali bra in a crowd so that others can see the stretch  marks on your belly (and be assured about their own)."

This book is now my favorite in my collection of "writerly" books on craft. Right after it, in no particular order are Old Friend from Far Away by Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, and Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. In fact, Ms. Lamott wrote a blurb for the back of Adair's book: "Very savvy and smart and hugely entertaining."

I haven't read all of it yet, and it's not the kind of book someone reads through like fiction. I read a sentence or two, a paragraph or two. I underline things in pencil that I particularly love and want to remember. It has writing exercises, too. I can't say enough about this book. I'm so happy I stumbled across it.  

 *Welcome to my newest followers, Word Nerd and Kelly and Angellica Bollier I hope you'll stop by often and always enjoy what you read and see! Thank you! *

"Writing is a kind of word-drunkenness that makes you want to do that -- to take off your clothes and turn your experiences into art, despite who may be watching, despite your embarrassment, despite anything the world and your own self-doubts throw against you." -- Adair Lara

Blue Mountain Arts Contest & Calls for Submissions!

How would you like to see your brilliant, creative writing on a Blue Mountain Arts greeting card?! (Hopefully everyone is very familiar with these delightful cards!)


I just heard they are still in need of Christmas card submissions. The deadline is coming up soon: JULY 15th, but that still gives you time to submit your best work. Wouldn't it be incredible to be one of their writers?

  

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Blue Mountain Arts is also having its Twentieth Biannual Poetry Card Contest. Be sure to read the contest guidelines before you submit. I'd also recommend reading some of the previous winners to get an idea of what they're looking for. Another fast approaching deadline: JUNE 30th. 

                   NO ENTRY FEE. ENTER AS OFTEN AS YOU LIKE.

Prize money: 1st Place - $300      2nd Place - $150       3rd Place - $50

"Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don't see any." - Orson Scott Card