In Honor of Thanksgiving - The 2nd Annual Post of.... The Turkey Poem...

It’s Not by Chance

There are some people who haven't forgotten
- that chickens once had teeth;
- that creatures like emus once hunted in packs,
like wolves
- and that somewhere in the spiral
behind the eyes of a vulture
and in the hips of an ostrich
the equation for tyrant lizards lies in wait.

There are other people who know
that a wild turkey
entering a windshield 
at 65 miles an hour
northbound on 35W, is a gift from God

provided
- it's three days before Thanksgiving,
- the only things broken are the windshield and one bird neck,
- you have the number of a very good butcher.


 by shari emerson


Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Falling off that writing thing - easy as falling off a bike!

Hello Friends!!

I have been out - to lunch, breakfast, dinner,....hmm, no, more accurately, I have been out to Life. And, Life is a very nice place, both to be, and to come back to.
However, the Life thing seems to be getting used to doing a few things on it's own, so some writing time popped up on Friday! Yay! Yippee! Wahoo!!

And i grabbed that time with two hands, fired up the 'magic deCrapifier button', scoured the WIP, and wrote the next unwritten scene. I got so stinkin' proud of myself I even went and emailed it to the always gracious Claudia Lefeve (she, of all people, deserves to see that the concept of 'story' is finally sinking in!). I worked for about 40 minutes (goal was 30), wrote about 800 and deleted about 300 total.

One issue that I've been mulling over is plot-why's - as in, during a movie, you sometimes think that the protagonist could easily have saved themselves a whole mess of Trouble if they, you know, just, like, told somebody what was going on. I am specifically thinking of teen-centered horror. Since my MC is in fact a teenaged girl, I wanted to begin validating the information she does or does not share. And giving plausible reasons for her to hold things back.

Also, I wanted to start addressing that whole 'inserting facts that back up the premise of the story' thing. I have been working with the luxury of knowing how it ends, and not putting in a ton of 'how to get there', so I'm happily in that groove, which means I might even be starting to visualize the Finish Line (and then start the obsessing over re-writes part ;-)

So, that's what's been happening with the WIP. My daughter seemed to have shaken the pneumonia, but today she's a bit warm, and a seriously runny nose. Not a good sign. My son - who has really epic struggles with slowing down his 7 yr. old brain - had wonderful feedback from his teacher at parent conferences, and really strong grades to show him the payoff on his homework and classwork. Compared to his struggles last year, this is GOLD for him :-) I've done a bit of holiday baking, we are starting the holiday shopping, and I've been indulging myself aesthetically.

I've been re-watching "The Other Boleyn Girl" - mainly for the cinematography and costumes at this point, and "Black Swan" - mainly for the costumes and the relief of watching someone More obsessive than myself!! I've found some old musical favorites online - currently I am treating myself to All About Eve's "Scarlet and Other Stories". It's a wonderful wintery album - and other than a tune called "December" (a really lyrically/vocally pretty, if very 80's-sounding, song), I couldn't exactly tell you what is so wintery about it. We've the snowy weather inspiring me now - I am one of the few people who rave happily about the gorgeous scenery, chiefly because I Don't Have To Commute, I think.

I want to get back onto my busy day, but I think (despite school being out for my daughter, and Brief for my son) I might be back on the ROW-wagon. At least, I truly hope so!

Hopefully, the weather is kind to you, and you have a lovely week. If you are in the US, I will pray you are Not stressing about Thanksgiving. I'll be adding links here, to gorgeous up the blog, I think!

Be well, I am really happy you came by :-)

S.

Other Fabulous ROW-ers below! See what they are up to - this is a great way to meet another new author!

pneumonia. bleah.

all word-related duties (except the occasional wistful pining - as in 'pining for the fjords') are hereby suspended until after thursday, if her fevers go away, that is. If they don't go away by thursday, more x-rays.

sigh. Carry on. this is not the artistic mothering, this is nervously doing the parenting thing while fretting 24 hours straight. and getting things-done-in-between. sort of.

anyway, more news to come. Later. I promise. :-)

s.

sigh. Under the weather....and the weather isn't even really here yet....

apparently, I have not been as diligent on de-germing my house as I thought I was. Sunday, we realized our daughter was coming down with a cold, and my husband warned me to start taking vitamin C. I did - that day only.

This morning, it occured to me that it was a great day to start 'babying' my immune system (although the cup and a half of homemade salsa I ate Saturday should Really have been working in my favor!!). So, i made a roasted chicken with veggies/rice, homemade (bisquick, anyway) rolled biscuits, and got ready to drink a big glass of water. I'd been proud of myself, mind you - i was drinking water all day, as my vertigo medicine actually tends to make me notice being thirsty!

All that effort(plus grocery shopping, picking up drycleaning, stopping off at the library, doing the pre-school runs, baking brownies, feeding an extra kid at breakfast, and doing the ballet run tonight) has All caught up with me.

I am sniffling, feeling the sore throat, and getting exceedingly grumpy. Did no writing today or monday, and I'm pretty sure I Don't Give a Hoot! Won't be doing writing Friday, as the kids will be home, and I'll be snivvling.

And, you know something, I can tell that you that if you feel even one or two smidgeons healthier than me, than you are doing better than I. Plus, I bet you're not publicly moaning about it!!

so, look for a ROW 80 update next wednesday, I have a feeling that unless my husband gets an extra day off, the writing activities will be superceded by nosewiping duties. Do yourself a favor and clean your computer now.

Just in case :-)

Have a healthier week than I am managing. And, if you've had the thought "maybe I just might want to take better care of myself, well, I'd run with that thought!

Good night,

s.