... and a middle....

Found my middle yesterday in ABQ just like I expected, but I found it in a surprising place.

A friend invited me to join her camera club on shooting expedition of a working brick factory, so I loaded up batts for my little point and shoot camera and went to play with the big boys with their huge lens and professional equipment. Shooting someone else's work site is an interesting experience and I wondered if they felt a little like zoo animals as the mob of cameras swooped in on them. And there in the middle of the chaos, I found the middle I needed for the new screenplay. I'll have a few hours of work time this morning to see how it develops and then it's off for another day of adventure.

When I think about the writing process, I remind myself that the "taking in" process is a critical part. Too often it's easy to excuse yourself from that part of writing. Writing takes place at your keyboard, by yourself, in the quiet, with your music cranked. But actually... writing is both. In order for there to be something to "let out", you have to "take in" the world around you. I find it easier when I can do the taking in one day and then the letting out the next. The mental processing takes place in the middle.

And now... for some fuzzy, nonprofessional photos from a morning in the ABQ sun at the perfect place for a music video... the BRICK Factory... On Prosperity Street.....

the middle

Currently In Between New Songs & Greatest Hits see related

letters...

Correspondence backed up while I was in NJ. Here's a peek at my responses...

Dear Ex- Company,

I think I'm sorrier than you are that you don't have a position for me any more.

Dear Company A,

Are you hiring bc I'm looking.

Dear Counselor-type Guy,

I'll be there but I just want to say that I'd rather be dumped upside down in a hive of angry bees- it'll hurt less in the long run.

Dear Editor,

Thank you. Your news was a bit of sparkle in a rough day. BTW- I had problems with the exact same things.

Dear Gas Station Guy at Hess in NJ,

Not only did you pump my gas for me, but the chat that accompanied it with your Jerseyized accent made me finally feel at home- thanks!

Dear NJ Friends,

Thanks for loving me in spite of my foibles and weirdness at times. You are family.

Dear Ohio,

Why have 3 lanes if you can only pass in the far lane? Do that many ppl need to pass? I suggest that we just label it "the lane for ppl who want to speed and get a ticket".

Dear God,

The PA turnpike has had enough rain for a while. Much more and my Subaru would have needed to become an ark. Just saying....

Dear Me First and The Gimme-Gimmes,

Your punk version of show tunes made driving in the thunderous rain cake. I need more by you. Keep making music!

Dear Love of My Life,

Glad you got a lot done while I was gone, but it would have been more fun to have you with me.

Dear Pony Canyon,

Putting all but one song on a CD and then making a CD that includes it is cheating.

Sincerely, jerjonji

Currently In Between New Songs & Greatest Hits see related

A beginning and an end...

The new screenplay has a beginning and an end, but no middle... which feels very odd. I know how it starts, the whole backstory, and how it ends, but I don't have a clue what takes them from the opening to the final scene.

But another story that has sat mentally on the back burner roared to life yesterday and I quickly sketched out the first major story plot, the culture and civilization, the main characters and a few minor ones. A fantasy tale that is Naruto meets James Bond and a female Captain Hook. Full of bad guys, good guys, and secrets- it is a lot of fun. It doesn't have a real name yet either... any suggestions?

I'm working on some marketing things as the new website is being developed... things will change around here in the future!

Currently In Between New Songs & Greatest Hits Listen to Your Heart see related

"The Big Project"...

I've been working on a major project that has made me grow as a writer- writing Book 2 of a series that's already published. I had to maintain characters, develop a story plot that was in continuity with Book 1 and finish all the loose ends neatly, all while keeping the tone and feeling of the previous one. It was one of those tasks that make you take writing seriously as you analzye the first tale and try to capture the pace and progression of the first book while still telling the story.

The first draft is off to the editor and the creator for their critique. I know there will be tons of changes to make and I also know that the Creator will determine if this version matches the one he wanted to tell in the first place.

Working on a project that isn't yours and making it yours is a difficult task. You aren't free to wander new places, and in the tight constraints, you write. I had serious writer's block at one point, and was beginning to feel like I was a fraud, wasting everyone's time. Finally shaking it free while watching Show Luo's Cruel Stage Concert DVD non-stop for about 8 hours a day, I wrote until my back hurt, my wrist is rubbed raw, and my brain hurt.

I finished it tonight and sent it off... now I wait...

Who knew writing was such tough work! :) But... if they like it... I'll tell you when to go searching for it at the book store closest to you. If they don't- it's back to the keyboards for draft 2~!!!!!

Currently Best Show see related

Books for Baby....

I've been carefully sifting through all the poorly written crap that is out there for kids to find the best used books for the new grandbaby. You need to start reading aloud to her in the third trimester because research shows that they retain some of what they hear. So I don't want him to hear junky literature before he's born ... thus the great book hunt.

It's amazing how many of my favorite books are board books now- so durable and lasting, even for the kid who learns to read by eating the words. I have most of the classics in good shape and am starting a second set- one for her house and one for ours!

In the meantime, someone asked me what to buy a 2 year old.

This is my list of my early childhood favorites- the ones every kid should have memorized!

1. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

2. The Very Hungry Caterpiller by Eric Carle

3. Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney

4. Love You Forever by Robert Munsch

5. Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Eric Carle (ok- all the Eric Carle books)

6. 10 Black Dots by Donald Crew

7. School Bus by Donald Crew

8. Truck by Donald Crew (See above note about Eric Carle- it applies here too)

9. Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

10. No David! by David Shannon

11. Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi

12. 1 Fish, 2 Fish by Dr. Seuss

13. Go, Dog, Go by P.D. Eastman

14. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! (Best ABC book ever!)

15. Good Night Gorilla by Peggy Rathman

16. Stellaluna by Janell Cannon

17. Curious George by H. A. Rey (any of them!)

18. If You Give A Mouse A Cookie by Laura Joffies Numeroff (you'll want the sequels next!)

19. Sheep In a Jeep by Nancy Shaw

20. On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman

And our favorite book when the kid was growing up... we went through several copies as we fought over turning the next page, giggling hysterically every time as if we didn't know the ending...

21. The Monster at the End of The Book by Jon Stone

Would you add anything to this list?

Edit: Add the following books to this list to make it nearly complete! Can't believe I left off the Jimmy Liao- those books are on my Amazon list waiting for payday... they should be the new kiddy lit classics!

22.  Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

23. Caps For Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

24. When the Moon Forgot by Jimmy Liao

25. The Sound of Color by Jimmy Liao

26. A Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats (any Ezra Jack Keats are perfect!)

Currently Waiting for You (Special Collectible Version) CD+DVD/Booket Package see related