TINA RALPH: Bah Humbug, It’s the Holidays
December 8, 2006 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as What Inspires You
Every year I wonder at the logic of the holidays. We want to get together with family and friends. We want to spend lots of money on presents. And we want to decorate every corner of our house. Then we wonder why we’re stressed.
Don’t get me wrong. I like the holidays and enjoy spending time with friends, but why do I have to do all the other stuff? Can’t I just get together with friends because I haven’t seen them in a while? Can’t I leave the holiday stuff in the storage boxes and just clean the house? Since this is a task I really don’t enjoy in the first place, yeah, it’s a real achievement in itself. Why must I do all this stuff every year?
Guess what? I don’t.
My kids are old enough to put up the tree by themselves. As it turns out, when they have to do the work themselves, they suddenly don’t need a tree! The poinsettia I bought last week is enough!
The gifts have gotten easier too. Nowadays, I visit the grocery store and buy gift cards for everyone. Let them buy their own presents after the holidays when everything’s on sale. We both come out better in the long run.
Now, that you know that I’m a total washout in the holiday department, let me just say. Remember that the holidays are all about friends and family. Forget the stress. Forget the worry. Enjoy the holidays for what they can be — a time to reflect on how lucky we are to have the special people in our lives that make every day worth living.
Happy Holidays.
Tina Gayle Ralph
OCC/RWA Membership Director
NOELLE GREENE: What Did Tolstoy Know About Women?
December 1, 2006 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as Craft“If you want a writer who understood his characters, look at Tolstoy,” my Dad said. “You’ve read War and Peace, haven’t you?”
I choked.
“Anna Karenina?”
Um, saw the movie. Downer ending, right?
The following week, a heavy box arrived from Amazon, a lovely new edition of Anna Karenina nestled inside.
It’s 817 pages, okay? Before the footnotes. But it’s brand-new and sits on my nightstand reproachfully. And I am curious. How did Leo Tolstoy understand characters?
I suspect this is where the term “tough sledding” originated. If slogging through the landscape of nineteenth century Russian literature isn’t tough sledding, what is?
I’m quite happy to leave literary analysis to the English majors. But now that I’m all of 10% into the book (did I mention the small type?), a couple of things are apparent about Tolstoy. And I’m starting to get it.
He writes from at least seven points of view (so far) in Anna Karenina and head-hops within scenes like crazy. But it works. His empathy for both men and women is all the more striking when you see that he holds someone in contempt or dislike. While deep in a point of view, he subtly gives the person plenty of rope. By then you understand the character so well that you don’t want him to hang himself.
Tolstoy wrote dialogue and introspection almost tenderly. Not necessarily nicely, but genuinely from that character’s point of view. Shades of gray are all over the place, figuratively speaking.
He had a genius for describing ordinary people’s emotions. The following passage describes how a heartbroken girl witnesses dashing Vronsky falling for older, married Anna:
She saw that they felt themselves alone in this crowded ballroom. And on Vronsky’s face, always so firm and independent, she saw that expression of lostness and obedience that had so struck her, like the expression of an intelligent dog when it feels guilty.
Can’t you just see Vronsky? It’s that uncanny ability to capture the essence of a moment that will keep me reading. I already know how it ends.
By Noelle Greene
0 0 Read moreJACQUELINE DIAMOND Our Own Tradition
November 22, 2006 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as What Inspires YouA zillion years ago, when I was first married, my husband and I started a Thanksgiving tradition. Instead of spending the holiday with extended family, whom we see at other holidays, we decided to hold our own potluck event for friends and occasionally random (friendly) strangers.
Over the course of nearly three decades, the attendance has risen and fallen – as high as twenty-five, as low as seven – and people have arrived, moved away and sometimes moved back. There’s been at least one minister, whose family was out of town, and several elderly guests from my husband’s church; numerous Jewish friends and I’m sure our share of atheists. We’ve watched our friends’ children grow up and have produced two sons ourselves, the elder of whom is now in college.
My husband, who rarely cooks, prepares the turkey and stuffing. I shop, make the gravy and mashed potatoes, and provide incidentals such as rolls and cranberry sauce.
Looking back, I recall memorable guests and moments. My older son’s first Thanksgiving, being passed from guest to guest. Friends from the Associated Press, where I used to work, including the then-science writer, who donned an apron and washed dishes afterwards.
The food varies each year, although some regulars have developed their own niche. Our older son’s best friend from preschool – now in college – and his family bring pies. One Chinese-American family prepares Chinese food; another prefers to fix sweet potatoes. Sometimes there are two fruit salads, or two types of stuffing, or extra mashed potatoes. Of course, we enjoy the leftovers!
Next fall, our younger son starts college. We hope that, like his brother, he’ll always come home for the holidays. There’s nothing like greeting old friends, making new ones, and enjoying a changing assortment of food.
Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours!
—Jackie Diamond Hyman writing as Jacqueline Diamond
The Doctor’s Little Secret, Harlequin American Romance, February 2007
Daddy Protector, Harlequin American Romance, May 2007
Twin Surprise, Harlequin American Romance, September 2007
Thank you MICHELE CWIERTNY!
October 31, 2006 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as OCC Photos
Caption This! has been a success due to the hard work of OCC’s own Michele Cwiertny It was Michele that sorted through the OCC scrapbook, took digital pictures of the old photos, loaded them onto the computer, optimized them and sent them to me (Jen Apodaca) to put up on the blog. Michele managed to do all this despite her computer having a major break down!
Michele holds a BA in English with a focus on Creative Writing, she is the Co-Editor of the award-winning Orange Blossom Newsletter and a contributor to The Writer’s Vibe. In addition to all this, she takes time away from working on her books to help out with A Slice of Orange!
THANK YOU MICHELE!
7 0 Read moreOCC Photos – Caption This! – October 30, 2006
October 30, 2006 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as OCC Photos
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