Scary Things

Ali's challenge for September is to do something that scares us, do something risky. What am I afraid of? A quick list is: looking foolish, mice, possessed dolls/mannequins/ventriloquist's dummies. None of those seem to relate very well to writing mysteries.

Writing a mystery about a mouse-shaped ventriloquist's dummy that seems possessed seems really silly. Three birds with one silly stone.

But I'm not sure I'm going to go there.

Prompt of the Week

One of your characters won't survive the night. Write an obituary outlining a brief history, a list of accomplishments, the people who will mourn his/her passing and the cause of death.

First Effort

Here is the result of meeting Ali's deadline. I had to have at least earrings done by last Saturday. I'm pretty happy with the result. The yellow is all from the background as the beads used were black, clear or some combination of the two.

I did notice, though, that Ali didn't stop anyone else at the door to check for newly made jewelry.

Prompt of the Week

I used to love using photos for prompts in Feminine Ink. They--like poetry--always caused big groans. But we also got some great responses. Use this as the starting point for your writing today.

Unstuck In Time

"Just remember that the best bits come up and surprise you from behind. " A comment by Whittaker Luckless on a post by John about being stuck that was a follow-up to a post by Ali about also being stuck.

I have been stuck with HM. Nothing that usually works has helped with the unsticking. I even considered the booze suggestion made by a couple people over on Ali's blog. I went to see Stardust last night with a friend (you were right, Ali & Deb), and while negotiating the traffic cones on Austin Bluffs Parkway on the way home I had a flash for a great subplot. That led to an idea of how to proceed.

Maybe the movie sparked something. Or it could have been the conversation at dinner before the movie. Or it was just that I wasn't worrying about being stuck. In any case, it worked.

Jewelry Post

Ali very gently reminded me yesterday that I haven't made a jewelry-related post in a long time. That's probably because I haven't actually made any jewelry yet. I started to on Friday but felt like I still didn't know enough to accomplish anything. Yesterday I bought Jewelry Making & Beading for Dummies. It explains all those terms and techniques I couldn't quite figure out from the magazines I had. So I should be able to have a new pair of earrings done by Saturday. That's the deadline Ali gave me for completing my first project.

I also picked up a copy of Stardust while I was at the bookstore yesterday. I've been reading all the posts and comments by Ali, Deb and Jenny about Neil Gaiman. It may be time to check him out. Deb's offered to lend me Neverwhere and American Gods if I like Stardust. I'm not a big fantasy fan (except for Butcher, who really writes mysteries), but we'll see.

Prompt of the Week

You are summoned for jury duty. The waiting room at the courthouse is filled with other potential jurors. One person seems familiar to you. Then you realize they played an important role in your past. Who are they and what did they do?

Monsoons and Comfortable Silences

Last night was First Monday for The Group. People either arrived earlier (Jenny, Shane and Ali) or later (Fleur and Mary) than usual because of a violent thunderstorm that moved through the area from about five to six o'clock. Visibility was almost non-existent. Wind and mini-rivers on the sides of the roads made driving dangerous. Most of the usual suspects showed up anyway. John even joined us for the first time.

There was the usual spate of venting and catching up with each other. Some of us only see each other at these gatherings. Jenny asked her questions. We groaned, but had a good time answering. Then we'd go quiet for a few minutes. Some would stare off. Others nodded as if agreeing with something in their own minds. But it was never an uncomfortable silence. More of a collective breath-catching.

A half-hour after closing--the people at It's A Grind are really great about not throwing us out--we issued our final challenges to each other and walked out into a damp summer evening.

Now I'm ready to jump back into HM and get to the end. How what we do leads to renewed creative energy, I will probably never figure out. But it works.

Yes, Ali, I'll work on those earrings this weekend, too.

Prompt of the Week

I've been wanting to use poetry as a prompt, but kept running into the copyright issue. Evil Editor has solved my problem. Go to www.evileditor.blogspot.com and scroll down to the Poetry Corner. Read the submissions and pick a line or phrase from one of them. Something that strikes your fancy. Then use that as the first line of what you write. Have fun with it.

Goals

If you've been following along, you know that I didn't get much written this month. I didn't make my goals, but I did get through to a better place to start August. The goals were to write 25 pages of HM, outline D&D and read two Agatha Christie novels. I did finish the outline just under the wire yesterday. I marked up what I'd already written of HM and read half a novel.

This month I'd like to actually write 25 pages of HM, finish the 1st Christie book and 2 more.

And stay in the better place.