A Slice of Orange

THINGS THAT MAKE ME GO MMMRUH!

Stealing Back the Thunder

Geralyn Ruane

Recent conversation that took place in a supermarket parking lot between me and a homeless man:

Homeless Man: Do you have any spare change?

Me: (Giving him seven bucks) Here ya go. Hey, I have some old blankets in my car. Do you need a blanket?

Homeless Man: I could use a blanket.

Me: Okay. Iâ€™ll be right back. I just have to run to my car to get it. Youâ€™ll stay here?

Homeless Man: Iâ€™ll be here.

I run to my car, grab a blanket, then grab an unopened bottle of water off the back seat. I hurry back to the man.

Me: Here. (I hand him the blanket.) And hereâ€™s some water. (I hand him the bottle.)

Homeless Man: Thank you! (Takes the stuff then looks me in the eye.) Youâ€™re a Christian, arenâ€™t you.

Me: Actually, no.

Homeless Man: But you believe in the Lord.

Me: I believe in being nice to people.

Homeless Man: I can see in your eyes that you have the Lord in you.

Me: (Waving as I turn away) Take care.

Homeless Man: (Calling to my retreating back) The Lord is in you! I know it!

God is stealing my thunder and I donâ€™t like it. Or rather, people are stealing my thunder and giving it to God. Why does everyone insist on giving a Higher Power credit for the things I do right here on earth – or for the good things people do in general? What about my friend Kristin? Does God get her thunder, too? She gave me those blankets in the first place because she knows I dole out blankets and socks to the homeless once the whether starts turning cold.

I donâ€™t think the human race gets enough credit for its goodness. Sure, I actually know some people who help others because they are getting older and want to build up points for Heaven. But I know far more people who help others because, for them, there is simply no other way to live.

My ire on the subject of misappropriated thunder rumbles deep and strong, but not out of brewing jealousy or rankled pride. The big picture is far more disturbing, especially when you flip it over. Do you see it? Giving God credit for the good people do is the mirror image of making God the scapegoat for all the evil people do.

Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, pickets the funerals of fallen servicemen, shouting at the mourners that God is killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq to punish Americans for their tolerance of homosexuality. Does God deserve to take this bullet? Or does such inflammatory rhetoric instead serve to distract from the reality of what certain people are doing to other people, and why? If we give God the blame, or the credit, we miss out on what our fellow humans are doing.

Like the woman who chased me into Trader Joeâ€™s the other day.

Woman: Excuse me! Excuse me! Do you drive the red Volkswagen?

Me: (Turning around) Yes.

Woman: You need to put change in the meter. I know itâ€™s Sunday, but theyâ€™ll ticket you. The car in front of you has a ticket.

Me: (I follow her back to my car and see both the other carâ€™s ticket and the sign Iâ€™d ignored posting the parking rules.) Thanks!

Woman: I just know that I hate to get a ticket.

Me: (Putting change into the meter) No, really, thanks!

Was God looking out for me by sending that woman to prevent my possible ticket? I prefer to let that woman keep her own richly deserved thunder. She helped me out. Mmmruh!

I steal back the credit or blame given to God whenever I can. No matter what Higher Power we believe in or how we pray, we should acknowledge the thunder of humanity. We need to recognize the good done by people, or weâ€™ll miss the sublime moments of mmmruh! that give life its pulse and light and hope. And we need to recognize the evil done by people, so that we can do something about it.

Mmmruh! It’s all about people. John Lennon could imagine it. Can you?

Geralyn Ruaneâ€™s favorite Hardy Boy is whichever one Parker Stevenson played, and these days she writes romance, chick lit and womenâ€™s fiction. Last year her short story â€œJane Austen Meets the New York Giantsâ€ was published in the New York Times Bestselling anthology The Right Words at the Right Time Volume 2.

It’s Worth It

SOMETHING EXTRA

By Kitty Bucholtz

Some days I can hardly wait to start writing. Last night I was writing right up until my husband turned out the lights. Other days I really needâ€¦something. So this month I decided to try participating in NaNoWriMo â€“ National Novel Writing Month (www.nanowrimo.org). With close to 100,000 people around the world writing their little hearts out to get 50,000 words down in 30 days, I figured that kind of motivation could be just the kick I need right now.

I’ve been writing for about a week and wow, what a week it’s been. Two full days were devoted to out of town guests. Nearly two more days had to be spent doing some “life stuff” that couldn’t be rescheduled. Yet I’ve still gotten nearly 7,000 words down, most of which would not have been written this week if it weren’t for my competitive streak and NaNoWriMo’s artificial daily goals.

Even though I’m behind schedule, I’m still excited! My November calendar is crowded with visits from family, an online class, and a usually-coveted four-day holiday weekend. Writing is work that constantly makes you choose between your writing goal and one of the numerous other things you’d love (or need!) to do. But I’ve found a joyful place inside where I can live and work, a place with magic and monsters and heroes and romance. I can’t live there without effort, but I say, it’s worth it!

Kitty Bucholtz writes romantic comedies because, well, she lives one! She wrote her first book in the NBC cafeteria, the second snowed in at a Reno hotel, and the third from a tiny apartment in Sydney. Even though she loves talking about, writing about, and teaching about writing, sheâ€™s pretty sure she knows at least three people who arenâ€™t writers.

ORDER YOUR BOOKS!

OCC NOVEMBER MEETING
Saturday, November 10
Brea Community Center

Order your books now for Saturday’s meeting!

STELLA CAMERON (Afternoon Speaker)
A Cold Day in Hell
MIRA Books

CHARLENE SANDS (Morning Speaker)
Bodineâ€™s Bounty
Harlequin Historical

JENNIFER APODACA
Extremely Hot
Brava

LAURA WRIGHT
No Ring Required:
Millionaireâ€™s Calculated Baby Bid Playboyâ€™s Ruthless PaybackSilhouette Desire

If you plan to purchase books at our monthly chapter meeting,please pre-order them by Midnight Tuesday, November 6

To place an order, telephone (909) 720-6226

Orange Blossom Award

The 2007 Orange Blossom Award
has been presented to
Jann Audiss!

This award honors many years of outstanding service to the chapter. And Jann certainly deserves this recognition.

During the 15 years she has been a member of OCC, she has volunteered in many positions. She has been on the committee of our Orange Rose Contest for Unpublished writers several times, then Co-chaired the contest twice–this is a huge undertaking. The editors in the industry love our contest, citing it as one of the best, so the entries are quite numerous, and itâ€™s a big job.

She was also our Ways and Means chairman for two years, and a roving committee member before that. Ways and Means is pretty much the backbone of our chapter, and she did a fabulous job of coming up with ways to keep our treasury healthy.

In addition to other volunteer and board positions, she also handled our Write For the Money, where she encouraged our members to set a writing goal each month and meet it.

She was Co-President of our chapter for two years, in 2001 and 2002. During her term as Co-President, Jann was co-coordinator of our Orange County Chapterâ€™s first, and very successful Autumn Affaire conference.

These days you’ll see her name right here on the Slice of Orange with her fellow critique group members of “Writers Rock!”

Congratulations, Jann!!

President’s Message

A FEW CHANGES AT OCC

In the coming months, members will be hearing a lot about bylaws. National RWA has set forth new Chapter Bylaws Standards, some of which will be mandatory, some only recommendations. Chapters are required to revise their own bylaws into the standardized format, and submit a â€œRestatement of Bylawsâ€ by May 1, 2008.

OCC had already implemented some of the required changes in our last revision of bylaws four years ago. Since we will be going through the steps for changes set forth by National–including a printed and mailed version of proposals, and vote of approval by membership — this is an excellent opportunity to review the entire document to suit our current methods of operation.

One area to address is leadership. For 22 years, OCC has had two co-presidents sharing the workload so both can continue writing. (In theory, anyway. ) In the last six years, this dual position has evolved into a two-year commitment with one co-president running for a second term with a new co-president who spends her first year learning the job. Unofficially, these two leaders serve as senior and junior co-prez, which allows a smooth transition year-to-year.

While I have always been strongly in favor of the shared position of co-presidency, I now realize that our leadership is already basically functioning as a president and president-elect. And it is working beautifully. The current board of directors agrees that it is time to formally change the terminology used from â€œco-presidentsâ€ to â€œpresident and president elect.â€ Why? Because we need to publicly set in place a president-in-training who will eventually step into the role of president after a year â€œinterningâ€ in the position. The way it stands now, both co-presidents can step down at the end of their term, and anyone can run for the office even if he/she has no board experience whatsoever.

Having served as a co-president in 1989 before the immediacy of the internet, and comparing it to my term as co-president this year, I am acutely aware of the changes that have occurred with this position, and the need to assure our membership of consistently strong leadership for such a large and complex writing organization.

Another proposed change will be altering our election year to coincide with National RWAâ€™s, which begins November 1. Currently, OCCâ€™s new board takes over at the peak of our annual membership drive in Januaryâ€”grueling for our membership director and treasurer, especially if they are new to the positions. Our February Valentineâ€™s Meeting is one of our two biggest celebrations in the year, but is often a rush-job for the new board if things arenâ€™t already in place. Finally, coinciding with Nationalâ€™s election year will make it simpler for an OCC board member to run for national office when they step down from the local chapter board. As it stands now, they have to resign mid-year from the OCC board if they run for National, or wait several months to run for the next term.

So changes are definitely on the horizon. Be on the look out for more news in the coming months.

SUE PHILLIPS