Wing Nut vs. Water Rat

There is a phrase in the movie EverAfter where the question is posed, “A bird may love a fish – but where would they live?” I always felt this applies to Ed and I. He’s the wing nut, I’m the water rat.

Ed took this picture from his open cockpit bi-wing airplane. We don’t live there, yet. It’s currently a weekend/summer place for us.

The appeal of the lake is obvious, for me. The horizontal rod in this picture is in line with the landing strip of a small private airpark.  This is the answer to the environment where a bird and a fish can coexist. I could spend the entire day in my kayak, or swimming when the water is warm. He will cut half of the grass, in front of his airplane hangar, then go fly in the sky, then finish the lawn chores later. He prefers his fish in packages from the grocery store.

“I write, he flies.” Is how I’ve explained why someone like me, who is not into airplanes and has vertigo issues, knows so much about aviation. It’s also why I never had issues with the hours Ed spent with his airplanes and pilot buddies. That was golden writing time for me. Plus, pilots are interesting characters. Ed and I usually spend our wedding anniversary at an airshow.

When we returned from our weekend haven today – I saw, “This Post is For the Ones You Love” -by literary agent Rachelle Gardner – in my reader feed. As I read it, I laughed. There are many comparisons between being the spouse of a writer to being the spouse of a private pilot.

To Anyone Who is the “Significant Other” of a Writer:

[Her closing statement.] ”Most writers are smart, passionate, interesting, driven, and eager to share their words with the world. (And yes, okay, a little moody and possibly bi-polar.) Enjoy the fact that they have depth and ambition, and something to say!

And definitely make sure you have your own hobbies, passions and interests.  You’re going to need them.”

Excellent advice for anyone who is in a relationship with someone who is passionate about something. Nurture your own passions.

Also in Rachelle’s post:

These points about writers also apply to hobby pilots – except writing is a whole lot less expensive!

1. You can’t change them. Most writers (pilots) can’t help it—they are what they are. … To try and get them to stop writing (flying) would be like taking away their oxygen. Don’t do this.

4. Speaking of the cost…money is a sensitive topic for a writer.(And pilots as their airplanes need lots of maintenance and repair – you can’t just pull off to the side of the road if the engine sputters.)

7. And it IS work. Paid or not, writing is difficult labor. (Tapping keys on a keyboard may not be as physical as flying an airplane but the mental engagement is the same.)

Pilots and writers are both rare breeds who speak their own language. We thrive in environments foreign, or uncomfortable, to the other.

Ed and I have owned eight single engine aircraft, and five different types of water craft. We’ve moved seven times, have lived on both coasts of the country, and have an amazing family.

But – we’ve had the same bedroom furniture for 32 years. Hmm, everything else has been upgraded…

A Day at the Beach

In honor of a 30th birthday, our girls were all at the beach last weekend. The weather was unseasonably awesome and inspired a handstand competition while they were waiting to savor the sunset on the Pacific.

Since life has a way of tossing us on our heads, I’m thrilled they are so balanced. But what I am most proud of, as a mom, is that they all appreciate each other and are always poised to have fun.

The son-in-laws are glad they have each other to share the blame for whatever these sisters decide to do…

They built sand castles then stomped on them. They flew kites, danced in the waves, buried my grandsons in the sand, rammed each other in bumper cars, and lots of other activities. I wasn’t there but through the magic of the web, I was able to see the pictures as soon as they were posted.

When these girls were young, I was always snapping pictures of them having fun. They were immune to the camera, and camcorder. My intent from1983 and through the 1990′s was to be able to mail photos, and share videos, with their grandparents who didn’t travel. The intent of the moment, decades ago, has become a wonderful treasure now. Those videos are now DVD’s and those pictures filled albums so each has a visual record of their lives.

Earlier today, a friend and I were lamenting how we really didn’t want to be sucked into another online network. Yet, neither of us want to spend a whole week unplugged. I’ve had numerous invitations to join a variety of different networks this week. So I’m aware of this dichotomy of – don’t want to spend more time online – savor the opportunity of being connected to those moments.

I’ve been following the blog of a woman with agoraphobia who  forced herself to tour the country and meet her FaceBook friends, who also suffer from agoraphobia. My mom was a polio quadriplegic and she took every chance to connect with people on the phone or when the opportunity arose, out of the house. I know there is a lesson for me in my current fascination with emotional restrictions in comparison to what I know of physical limitations.

I’ve no idea where this journey will lead me… How cool is that?

Upgrade and Maintain

A young woman gave me some advice  that was sort of profound for me. It was practical advice that I often give others but in my current burst of enthusiasm I forgot to apply to myself. Hey, it happens to all of us.

I’m prone to jump into an upgrade and I am blessed to have close personal friends and family who will advise me that it’s time to maintain. Sometimes they have to sit on me. It can take a lot to slow me down. So I took the advice and decided it was time to do some maintenance.

This is a dirty word in a consumeristic society where the message is; upgrade, buy new, here’s the secret to happiness, your well-being depends on having this, doing this, whatever. I’ve never bought into that must-have-frenzy but I can be caught up in it. Upgrading is important. Especially upgrading to a new meditation technique to slow down and maintain.

Our youngest daughter has just purchased a new bed with a twenty year warranty. She’s 23 and is amused to consider what it would have been like to have slept on the same bed her whole life. My advice was upgrades to your furnishings and lifestyle is good in your early 40′s.

A few of my friends are enduring upgrades to their bodies that includes surgical procedures. All of them realize the importance of combining medicine and meditation for optimal health. One of them checked with an astrologer prior to scheduling so I feel the news will be positive for all going under the knife. This is an uncomfortable upgrade but often stuff needs to be cut away when it interferes with our well being.

Now the advice I got wasn’t as drastic as surgery, or new sleep patterns, but it was to pause and reconsider the ultimate objective for my enthusiasm. If I upgrade in a big way now, what would I have to maintain? If I maintain now with a small upgrade, maybe the big upgrade will be better at a different time. Both objectives will require investing my time and I’ll be seeking more advice.

While contemplating these choices I decided to do maintenance on previous upgrades, and I realized they were long overdue. I also need to renew my meditation schedule before I’m in need of medication.

The World Rocks

The world of publishing has been rocked by the DOJ lawsuit against five publishers and Apple.  To find out more, check out Nathan Bransford’s post. I have lost count on how many times “the world of publishing as we know it has ended” in recent years. From the upswing of Amazon to the downswing of Borders, and all versions of electronic entertainment, my recommendation is all writers should go play word games.

Then notice that the globe in my home rests upside down. It has been that way for years, no matter how many times I position the north pole to the top and it stays there, the next time I look at the globe it has flipped. This could be credited to a crack on the surface, the size of the Indian Ocean, from an incident years ago involving a child and a dog.

My interests extend into the esoteric world and I was fascinated to read a Kryon channel that explains the Kundalini of our planet has shifted from North to South during these past 18 years. I can’t help but wonder if this movement of energy relating to the Divine Feminine also explains the romance explosion. Mysteries and westerns also began as pulp fiction but didn’t grow into a massive revenue stream these last two decades.

A shift is also taking place in blogger world, another world I inhabit. Many bloggers I have followed for years are ending their daily regime to sporadic posts when inspired with something special to share. When I first entered blogsphere the frenzy insisted to post daily and be the first to comment on other’s blogs. I never caught that fever but watched many try and burn out.

With all these world rocking events in process, other posts I read today relate to little boy pee, school recess,  business cards, numbers, prayer, and the annual requirements of irrigation and fencing on eastern Oregon farms.

My windows also need to be washed.

Thriving

Easter weekend was quiet for us, there were no egg hunts, parades, chocolate bunnies, or family gatherings. The weather was glorious and I was drinking my coffee on the deck wondering how my life had become so boring. But then the phone rang and it was our youngest daughter, did we want to go out for breakfast? Sure. She and her fiance are following a strict nutrition program and are amazed at how good they feel and they expect to look great in the wedding photos this December.

A few of my friends are at the RT Booklovers Convention, RT stands for Romantic Times which is a monthly romance reviews magazine for fans of the genre. Attendees are a rowdy bunch and photos are already being posted online. I’m sure I’ll go someday, though I am not a crowd person. This convention has exploded from small reader appreciation parties and authors love attending because they are also fans of the genre. Direct contact with readers will fill authors with enthusiasm to get back to writing more books. Next week, I’ll be hearing stories about rabid fans and authors behaving badly.

The MacGregors posted a link to a fascinating Thrive Movement. The movie explains the global financial crisis and how leadership based on conformity is not for the good of all. There has been interstellar communication with humans through history but this is the first time I’ve come across a comparison of Tesla’s free energy generator to the Arc of the Covenant. I have mixed feelings about the conspiracy theories but that’s because I’ve known many who have operated under that, “It’s for your own good,” sense of benevolent dictatorship.

Tonight’s library movie selection for me was “Monster-in-Law.” It’s amusing that I chose  a story of sinister matriarch energy that required compliance and perfection for her child’s happiness. Last night, the Thrive movie I watched exposed a sinister patriarch energy of global influence in government and finance. Who really has more influence on the life of a child?

Fortunately, both movies end with the same message. It is the creative spirit of the individual, who has the courage and determination to fight for happiness, that thrives in the end. Suppression and control are recognized and exposed so they can be relegated to the past and a new happily ever after can begin.

Obviously, I’m not intimidated either by an Illuminati or alien agenda any more than the mother-in-law from hell could impact my life. My maternal grandmother was one! I’d also be interested in a comparative analysis of the number of people devastated by the economic crisis against the number of thematic convention attendees. How do the numbers really stack up?

I don’t want charts and graphs. I’m content in my personal awareness that those individuals that were raised to conform are attending sci-fi, Lego, new age, romance, and TED conventions. Let’s meet for breakfast.

Cats and Dogs

 This 1996 movie was more interesting than many of the cheezy romantic comedies I’ve watched in recent weeks. Be warned, this movie takes “phone sex” to a different level of cheezy. 

The relationship between the short veterinarian and the tall willowy blond model is more fascinating than the romance. The romance is really more a love at first sight story for the dog.

It’s a Cyrano de Bergerac story where the love interest, Brian, is duped that the veterinarian he adores is the tall blond, instead of the short brunette.

However, there was one good, though badly worded, quote:

It’s mentally exhausting feeling really bad about something you can’t do anything about.

This quote is about regret. The vet, Abby, regrets that she didn’t stand up to be noticed at the first opportunity. The actions and events to follow were the journey she had to take to come to this level of regret, and were needed for her transformation. Regret is a powerful motivator because the only solution requires the courage to be totally vulnerable.

I have noticed that lessons of regret and being vulnerable are common themes in romantic comedies produced during the mid to late 1990′s and disappeared after 2003. Helpless victims and narcissistic characters have became the new flavor of fluff entertainment.

Regret is rooted within that which cannot be changed. Regret grows from fact, history, heredity, actions, events, cultures, beliefs, locations on this planet, etc. etc. Regret can also grow from actions not taken, missed opportunities, and overlooked possibilities.

It is mentally exhausting to be on a circular track of “if only” this – whatever it is-  didn’t happen. The more we focus on regret, the more it remains present.

In fiction, it is recommended that the author never save the hero from the journey of regret and transformation. In fiction, the characters need to be aware and in charge of their moment in time and space within the story.

We can learn a lot from fiction.

Buckets of Stuff

This past weekend I attended an intensive and intimate writer conference.

It was at this event last year that Morgan and I did our first marketing workshop and now we are scheduled to present it in May and October. We are creating a workbook to offer more information and examples than we can present in 90 minutes. We have to self publish it in this time frame but we know this is only the first step in building our platform.

I printed out two draft copies of  this workbook so we could show our friends, especially those we’ve included as examples, and we were thrilled how it looked. We were told “very professional” and we’ll be taking it to the next level soon. Neither of us were in our novelist mind-frame but the conference schedule included lots of one-on-one communication with agents and editors. We did our best to put on our novelist hats. I’m okay with the self-pub route for nonfiction but not for my fiction.

Morgan did a better job wearing her novelist hat than I did because there’s some confusion regarding my genre. I’ve been told I’m paranormal, and not just my stories. I was able to chat with the editor from HQN about my current novel and how it should be marketed to readers. I’m now content with contemporary romance with light paranormal elements.

On Sunday, we dove deep into our craft with Larry Brooks as he filled six (invisible) buckets with core competencies for writers. These are huge buckets, vats really, but I’ve spent so much of my life working with engineers and analysts that his process resonates with me at a core level.

Larry researched the romance industry so he would be a greater benefit to us for our genre and we appreciated that extra focus from him. I believe he’ll use that research to explore writing some romance novels. I bet they’ll be great!

“What if?” is how stories begin so I thought about this novel of mine that wouldn’t die, no matter how many times I stuck it on a shelf over the years. The initial “What if?” brainstorming was when my girlfriend and I were having one of our wine & woo-woo evenings. It was good I had a glass of wine at dinner so I was in the right mind-frame for Emily to help me. Now I know to remain true to that genre with future books. Plots and stories are still spinning in my head.

Fortunately, on arriving home, Ed grounded me a bit with recounts of his activities with our daughters and grandsons while I was gone. Ed pointed out that he remembered to clean the kitchen. Then I did my routine of unpacking and organizing. I’m so prone to bursts of enthusiasm that I make a point to be very practical and tactile when I feel overloaded with story energy. I would have been fine with cleaning the kitchen.

April should be a calmer month as Mercury and Mars will turn direct.