A Filter For Your Writing Well by Kitty Bucholtz
August 9, 2010 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as It's Worth ItI had a bad week last month. I got a couple of my final school papers in the mail and I wasn’t pleased with my grades nor all the comments from my teachers. I thought I’d done a lot better than I had. (If you didn’t know, I’m getting my Master of Arts in Creative Writing degree at UTS in Sydney.) Like so many things in life, I didn’t fully understand what had so upset me until a few days after my mini-meltdown.
The shortest explanation is one a friend had to remind me of – the last year and a half has seen a lot of huge changes in my life. Regardless of the fact that I wanted most of those changes (moving around the world, going back to school), they still take a physical and emotional toll. Add in some short-term good things (company from America) and some short-term irritations (accountant needed more tax info from me that I had to find), and I found myself getting angry to one degree or another regularly, finally losing it when I received my school papers.
The reason I didn’t recognize what was happening is that it was all on the inside. I’d get mad about something, vent, and move on to the next thing. I’d get frustrated, take some deep breaths and push through. Then I’d get down about something (grades) and find myself unable to get up again. Because I was focused on trying to push through, to be strong and keep plugging along, I wasn’t paying attention to what was happening on the inside until I couldn’t get out of bed one day.
The day that happened I knew I had some serious thinking to do. It finally occurred to me that I was low-level angry at all kinds of things a lot of the time. In the stress of my first semester of grad school, I’d let my interior monitor get out of sync. By the end of the semester, I couldn’t even tell I was stressed about anything. But that morning in bed I realized I’d stopped making a conscious choice about how I wanted to react to the situations around me. I’d gotten into the habit of letting myself feel frustrated at every opportunity, at the world, at others, and at myself.
So for the last week, I’ve been practicing choosing not to be angry, frustrated, or depressed about things. It’s amazing how many opportunities there were for practice! 
But my interior monitor is getting re-synced. I’m getting better at reading myself again, and knowing when something needs to give, or change, or be left behind.
I was at a friend’s house who has a reverse-osmosis filter at her kitchen sink. She reminded me to fill my water glass using the filtered water rather than the regular tap water. The parallel between the water and my bad week was instantaneous. She needed a filter so that the water coming through her old pipes would not bring up all the rust and other deposits into the glass.
We need the same kind of filter when we are writing. We need something that purifies the water coming up out of our inner well. For many of us, that filter is the joy of writing. But that filter needs to be cleaned regularly or it stops working as well. I’m trying to shine up my joy-of-writing filter every time I sit down to write now. I picture myself writing happily on my book, and I let that image seep into me until I can feel myself smiling over how much I’ll enjoy it. Then I start writing.
Like with any other rejection, I gave myself 24-48 hours to get over the sting of those first semester grades. Then I went back to work on my book, knowing that I understand my target market and believing that I’m doing a good job even if my academic acquaintances only half-agree.
If you haven’t done so lately, take a minute and check your interior monitor. Do you need to take a break? Do you need a cleaner writing filter? Or is your writing well clean and full of fresh ideas? I think I’m going to try to add this to my monthly or quarterly routines.
Kitty Bucholtz is the co-founder of Routines for Writers, a web site dedicated to helping writers write more. She writes romance novels, light urban fantasy novels for adults and young adults, and magazine articles. She is currently enrolled in the Master of Arts in Creative Writing program at University of Technology, Sydney.
Orlando! by Linda O. Johnston
August 6, 2010 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston, Writing Conferences tagged as Berkley Prime Crime, Harlequin Nocturne, Linda O. Johnston, National RWA Conference, OCCRWA
A couple of months ago, my blog on A Slice of Orange discussed my angst about whether I really wanted to go to the Romance Writers of America Conference in Orlando. I wound up going. Am I glad? Yes!
I didn’t stay for the entire conference, which I regret now. But I accomplished most of what I wanted to–saw nearly all the people I hoped to see, attended most of the sessions I’d planned to, and learned about new resources and other information about publishing and promoting.
I met a number of people I’d never anticipated seeing, too. Networked and schmoozed and partied and had a great time.
I admit that the Orlando weather didn’t wow me. I have lived in L.A. long enough to be really spoiled about the minimal humidity on most hot days. Just walking between the two hotels at the Disney Swan and Dolphin Resort wilted me.
But the steaming up of my sunglasses didn’t deter me. The brief walk was worth it, plus the view was really nice, including the waterway between the two facilities.
By the way, as I mentioned in my blog last month, if you’re interested in hearing some of the things I learned at National, I’ll be sharing them at the OCC meeting on August 14. Come and ask questions–and I’ll answer whatever I can.
Linda O. Johnston
http://www.lindaojohnston.com/
http://www.killerhobbies.blogspot.com/
Isabel Swift’s Hyperbolic Coral Reef
July 29, 2010 by Isabel Swift in category From Isabel Swift tagged as Hyperbolic Coral Reef, ProjectsYou may, perhaps, be wondering just what the Hyperbolic Coral Reef is?
So glad you asked!
It’s a project started in Australia by two crocheting sisters seeking to call attention to the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef.
Interestingly, there’s a mathematical angle to all this. I will likely not get this entirely right, but basically for some time mathematicians denied there was a hyperbolic function until Mr Vincenzo Riccati and Johann Heinrich Lambert came up with it in 1760. This despite the fact that many coral grow hyperbolically, so there were examples right under their nose (or toes).
And you can crochet a hyperbolic function by simply creating a chain and doubling it for every stitch–example below:
It was a powerful visual and experience to remind me you can start with something very simple–a single chain stitch. Then do something very simple–double it. And if you continue to add these simple building blocks, you can create something of amazing complexity–perhaps even beauty. Just think about the single cell dividing and dividing and what remarkable organism it can come up with!
The Smithsonian Community Reef is a satellite of the worldwide Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project created by Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring in Los Angeles. It was made possible through the support of the Quiksilver Foundation, the Embassy of Australia, and the Coral Reef Alliance. Find out more about Margaret and Christine Wertheim and the Institute For Figuring in Los Angeles here, and their Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project here. Find out more about the upcoming exhibition of the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef and Smithsonian Community Reef at the National Museum of Natural History on the Museum’s Smithsonian Community Reef Temporary Exhibitions Page. To be included on this e-mail circulation list (or removed from it) please contact sicommunityreef@yahoo.com.
A Fantasy Life by Janet Quinn Cornelow
July 28, 2010 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives
Starting a new fantasy book always takes awhile with trying to set up the new universe. In my alternate universe story, there are several major issues to take care of such as what magical properties are in the new universe.
One of the problems I have had was trying to figure out what the evil wizard wanted. After multiple trips to plot group, lunch at an OCC meeting and discussing it with my critique partner, I still didn’t know what he wanted. I knew I wanted him to be killing people, but why? What was he getting out of it?
Then I got stuck with my son Rob in the drive-through at KFC, which is not an uncommon occurrence. He plays many different role-playing games and often has great ideas. We were discussing what the wizard wanted and I knew it had something to do with a crystal.
So the legend of the great crystal was born. A thousand years ago, there was a magic crystal that was so powerful, that someone found a way to crack it because the holder of the crystal held enormous magical power and could control everyone around him. The crystal has been hidden for years and most think it is but a legend. However, the wizard has found the crystal and now is trying to find a way to heal it. Certain energy, taken from living beings, can heal the crystal. Those energies are not found in the wizard’s world, the magical world. He has tried and the energy he has taken does nothing to the crystal.
Therefore he has to venture into another universe. There he finds people who have the correct energy. Taking the energy kills the person. He stores it in small crystals, then returns to his own universe where he uses the energy to heal the large crystal.
Pax, the hero, is chasing the wizard when the wizard returns to his own universe and pulls Pax with him and there starts the story.
On a person note, Rob is going to be a father in February.
“Understanding Men” with Dr. Debra Holland
July 26, 2010 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives********** permission to forward **********
Hi everyone! Check out the exciting online classes offered by the
Orange County Chapter of RWA!
“Understanding Men”
with Dr Debra Holland
August 16 – September 18, 2010
Do you wish you had a better understanding of men? Now is your chance to improve your real-life relationships with men and enhance your male characters all through taking the same course.
Extended to include an extra week of information and lectures, during this five-week class you will learn how the male brain and hormones make a man think, feel, and behave, especially in relationships. New material will cover male sexuality and how that affects responses, attitudes, and behavior. We will also discuss how men are portrayed in romance novels versus how men are in real life.
About the Instructor:
Debra Holland, PhD is a popular psychotherapist, consultant, and speaker on the topics of communication skills, relationships, stress and trauma, and dealing with difficult people. In this class, Dr. Debra expands on the workshop she has given at the 2001 National RWA Conference and around the country at various RWA chapters and conferences. Just this year, she has added a new segment covering the anatomy and physiology of male sexuality, as well as male sexual responses, attitudes, and behavior.
Although geared to writers, non-writers will also find the class helpful in improving their relationships with men.
As a multi-faceted author, Debra’s first historical romance, Wild Montana Sky, won the 2001 Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart award. Subsequent books in the series, Wild Montana Sky and Starry Montana Sky both earned finalist honors in the OCCRWA Orange Rose contest. Her fantasy romance, Withea’s Way (retitled Sower of Dreams) was a 2003 Golden Heart finalist. Her science fiction/fantasy novel, Lywin’s Quest, was a 2005 GH finalist.
In 2008, she sold a nonfiction book, Back On Track, to Transformations, and is currently finishing a book on boundary setting with difficult people. Her column, “Ask Dr. Debra†can be found on her website: www.drdebraholland.com
Enrollment Information at http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclassAug10.html
COST: $20 for OCC members, $30 for non-members
Coming in September 2010–
“Creating that Fatal (or Not So Fatal) Flawâ€
with Laurie Schnebly Campbell
September 6 – October 2, 2010
Giving likable, plausible characters a truly compelling conflict is easier with Enneagrams. Counselors and HR managers use this tool to identify the nine distinctive personality types. Each one has its own uniquely heroic and appealing traits, as well as a troublesome (if not fatal) flaw that will naturally bring them into conflict with other people…AND with themselves.
Laurie Schnebly Campbell draws on her background as a counseling therapist AND as a romance novelist who beat out Nora Roberts for Best Special Edition of the Year to help you find out which strengths and weaknesses will make your characters’ lives more rewarding as they reach their happily-ever-after, and more challenging along the way!
COST: $20 for OCC members, $30 for non-members
http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclasses.html . Check out our full list of workshops.
Want to be notified personally two weeks before each class? Be sure
you’re signed up for our Online Class Notices Yahoo Group! Sign up at
the bottom of http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclasses.html or send a blank
email to OCCRWAOnlineClassNotices-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
********** permission to forward **********
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