This Just Hurts

Image courtesy: Erwyn van det Meer

I did not want to send my children to school today. But I am not ready to homeschool them out of fear—yet. I am a mathematician. I understand the odds of them dying in a school shooting are tiny.

Our school district sent out an automated phone message last night assuring parents that they were working hard with the local police and would meet to review safety protocols. That’s good, but will it be enough?

Would banning assault rifles make a difference? I’m not a gun owner or enthusiast. Banning weapons that spit out lots and lots of bullets seems like a fine idea. But I don’t have any confidence this will happen in today’s political climate.

Wouldn’t it be great if we had buckets of money to throw at the problem? How about bullet-proof safe-rooms in every classroom? Or maybe those fancy airport security machines at the door that let the operator see every mole and freckle on your bod.

Those fantasies are even less likely to happen than a gun ban. So, do we just hunker down and pray this doesn’t happen in our town, in our school, to our kid? We could just hope the odds will remain in our favor. But that feels like giving up. It also also feels like reality.

As a novelist (yes, still aspiring), I’m not a big fan of reality. So let’s take off into a different fantasy. You remember 9/11, right? The last plane went down in Pennsylvania after the passengers realized their lives were in danger, that their plane was en route to kill others.

It wasn’t a happy ending, but it changed the way people reacted to terrorism on a plane. Before then, the prevailing wisdom in such a crisis was to hunker down, cooperate, and wait for things to get resolved. That’s not the case anymore. Since 9/11, some intended victims have gone on the attack. Richard Reid (the 'shoe bomber') was subdued by flight attendants and passengers. A passenger also helped subdue the ‘underwear bomber’.

I wonder: would it be possible to attack a gunman in school? Now, I would not suggest placing guns in schools for defense. But are there things in the classrooms that could be used as weapons? What if a gunman gets into a classroom and everyone started flinging desks, chairs, and heavy metal staplers at him? How about a couple cans of long-distance wasp sprayer?

Crazy, right? Realistically, there may not be enough time to grab anything. But I wish there could be some way to fight back. My kids have been given fire-safety training and have lots of drills. Our district even has a small ‘fire house’ on a trailer that comes to the schools. Kids go inside and fake smoke is pumped in so they can practice escaping. Could you imagine a traveling 'school-shooter' trailer? Some guy in lots of padding holding a wooden gun prop comes in and everyone attacks, knocks him to the ground, kicks away the fake gun and wraps him up in duck tape and shoe laces. High fives ensue.

I know this is nuts and will never happen, but dreaming up these scenarios makes me feel better, for a moment anyway.

Children are taught to never hide during a fire. Yet, with a gunman it's best to stay out of sight. But would it be of some value, no matter how small, to possess self-defense skills in case the worst happens: if the gunman does see you?

My Favorite Book

Today I'm over at So Write. Us with an article rhapsodizing about my favorite book of all time: Shadowland by Peter Straub, which is not to be confused with C.S. Lewis's Shadowlands. 

Also, So Write. Us is hosting a 'best first chapter' contest. If you're interested in submitting the first 1000 words of your work, please see the details here. Tomorrow is the last day to enter and the prize is $50!

How was your Thanksgiving? After a long, hard day of cleaning, cooking, and calling each other poopy-head, we managed to have an incredibly tasty dinner. And I made it myself! Okay, the cranberry came out of a can, but the stuffing was made from scratch. And taking a turkey breast, dumping on basting oil and enough garlic to fend off vampires, and throwing it into the oven doesn't make me Chef Ramsey. But my kids ate it. Score!


Image courtesy: mystuart

 I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and can still fit into you writing chairs.

Wild, Wild Life

This is not my backyard or my birdfeeder (or my bear). It's my parents! Yes, they have all the fun in Asheville, NC. Bears and cubs ravage the birdfeeders, raccoons and raccoon-lets hang from the trees and get stuck in the garage. Plus they see coyotes, wild turkeys, foxes, and pumas. Okay, the last one's not true. Just seeing who's paying attention.

We will be visiting their wildlife adventure palace for Christmas. Grandma has a large flashlight for shining out the windows to catch the nighttime critters' highwire acts. It's a blast.

I've been on blogging hiatus for a couple of reasons. First, I'm trying mightily to get my second book into readable shape by Christmas or maybe Valentines Day--St. Patrick's Day at the latest, I swear. I'm on the third draft, but the thing has bloated to 130K. It's a historical novel, so I can let it run a bit long, but not that much.

The second distraction relates to my husband's health problems. But I am pleased to announce that something wonderful occurred on November 6! Yes, I did get the candidate of my choice elected prez, but even more exciting, the hubby's vision is back. Whoot! He has more or less given me permission to blog about his illness, so I will have to consider how to approach that.

Writer's are always on the hunt for interesting tidbits (at least I am), and there's a lot to be mined from serious medical conditions. One of the oddest parts of our story is how normal life can be even in the midst of dealing with a brain tumor. Those dread words conjure up the direst of circumstances, yet, for us, for now, things are blessedly stable. So I might spend a few blogs in the near future discussing some of our experiences. For instance, if you ever have a character get an MRI, it's loud. There's a buzz-saw noise and a jack-hammer noise. Earplugs are a must. There's even such a thing as a mobil MRI (like a mobile library) on a trailer.

On a lighter note, a member of my local writer's group, Jim Bessey, has launched a new website for writers called So Write. Us. You can enter a thousand-word 'best first chapter' contest and win $50 or more, so check it out. But please, please don't tell me if you do enter, because I am one of the judges.

A Dreamy Debut

Today, I am pleased to present the debut novel by fellow blogger, Justine Dell. Legend has it this lady started her journey to publication a mere three years. After a long hiatus from reading, she finished one book and decided to write. Amazing.

I met her on Bransforums while we were both trying to get our first books published and have been following her ever since, first in the forums, then her blog. Here's what she has to say about her journey:

Me: Looking back on your road to publication, what were the highlights and lowlights?

Justine: The highlights are simple: writing and the WONDERFUL people I have met. Truly, I think writers are the best buddies ever and without their support, this would be a road I would have steered FAR away from.

And the lowlights? Hmm....editing. *shudders* It really is my worst nightmare. 

Me: I agree with you on the highlights, but I'm a editor at heart. (Does that make me weird?)

Second question: What led you to Omnific and what has your experience been like working with them?

Justine: It just so happens that this particular story is a lot shorter than most publishers (and agent) require. But I didn't want to add fluff simply for the sake of adding to the word count. Sometimes a story is meant to be on a shorter side (I think RD is just under 70K). Omnific accepts stories 50K and over and I was ecstatic about that! Another blogger/writer friend, Susan Quinn had been accepted and published by them and she had nothing but wonderful things to say. The rest, they say, is history.

Me: Ha! Once again, I'm on the other end of this spectrum, overwriting and having to cut, cut, cut.

And now for a teaser from Justine Dell's Recaptured Dreams:

Ten years, the Atlantic Ocean, and several rungs in society have kept Xavier Cain from having Sophia Montel. Now twenty-seven, he’s spent his entire adult life building a fashion empire that could finally prove his worth to her family. When fate reunites him with Sophia at London’s premiere fashion show, one problem lodges in Xavier’s path: Sophia doesn’t remember him.

The only obstacle that has kept Sophia from Xavier is a horrific car crash that erased her memory at seventeen. She’s spent the last ten years fighting to reclaim a sliver of her past that her mother refuses to help her remember. When Sophia meets Xavier at the London show, however, all her fantasies come to life in one night of passion. Discovering he is the missing link, she is determined to find all the pieces to their love story and her memory. 

Xavier wants forever. Sophia wants her memory. If they take this chance, they’ll have to start over. How far are they willing to go get what they want? And when the past catches up to them, can they handle the truths it has hidden?

For more information on Recaptured Dreams, Contests, Giveaways, Entertainment, Grammar Police, and other cool stuff, check out Justine's website.

To buy the book on Amazon, go here. 

Barnes and Nobles fan? Go here. 

Where are you on your publishing journey?

Happy Birthday to Me . . .

Once you get past a certain age, somewhere between 12 and 22, birthdays start to lose their luster. Yesterday was a case in point. My darling youngest managed to scream for an entire hour from getting off the bus to our arrival at the restaurant. Dinner was actually pleasant, if somewhat subdued, but I consider any meal out a success if my offspring consume more than two bites.

But enough about the trials of motherhood. On to the presents! You remember the ditty, "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth"? Well, all I want for birthday is a stack of books, a stack of books, yes, a stack of books. Here's some on my wish list:

1. Ken Follett's Winter of the World

The sequel to Fall of Giants is finally here! Okay, Fall of Giants wasn't as freakin' fantastic as Pillars of the Earth, but it does serve an important purpose. It teaches you about World War I, something I never learned in school because for some reason we had to rehash the Revolution and Civil War each and every year. Winter of the World will cover World War II and I'm ready to be both educated and entertained. I wonder what the third novel in this series will cover? Perhaps Vietnam.

2. Ann Brashares' 3 Willows

I just finished Sisterhood Everlasting and My Name is Memory. Both were excellent. It was fun to read them back to back and study the ways Brashares keeps her star-crossed couples separated until the very end.

3. J.K. Rowling's The Casual Vacancy

The lady can spin a tale. Despite the absence of letter delivery by owls or invisibility cloaks, I'm pretty confident this will be good.

4. Justine Dell's Recaptured Dreams

I'm firing up my Nook as we speak! Yes, fellow blogger Justine Dell has her book on the Barnes and Noble Website! Awesome. I will be a host of her blog tour this Friday, so stop by.

What is on your book wish list these days?

Beware the Ides of . . . July?

Image courtesy: Biker Jun

Hello, I'm back. Will I be posting regularly? Not a clue. The question on everyone's lips this time of year: "How was your summer?" You are supposed to say, "fine, good, great" or some other quick, but vague remark before replying, "How was yours?"

Well, my summer started out totally, freaking awesome. I was writing a strong second draft to my ms, working in my daughter's school garden, getting in shape, reading a ton. Our family was spending weekends flying down water slides and spinning ourselves silly on the Tilt-A-Whirl. I remember thinking, and I'm not making this up, "Wow, life right now is so good--too good. Something's got to give."

Then came July 15. My husband's slight vision problem got serious. For his privacy, I won't delve into the whole spiel, but there's been an ER visit, doctor's visits, procedures, surgery, and more to come. He's not in mortal peril or in any physical pain, but it's a game changer.

As this was going on, my youngest caught a virus. She's on an immunosuppressent drug, so her body couldn't shake the fever. On day ten, we had to go to the ER for fluids. She handled the long day of tests, X-rays, and collection of body fluids like a champ.

To add to the mounting chaos, my fourteen-year-old cat was suffering from some ailment that was causing her to drop weight and pee in massive chunks. Diabetes? Yes, that's what I thought since my other kitty has that. But no. After two rounds of antibiotics, three urine collections and an X-ray, it turns out the animal has kidney stones. My vet told me he'd never seen kidney stones in a cat in 24 years of practicing. She's on a new diet and I'm mixing a medicine into her food, but that's it. Surgery on a fourteen-year-old cat is asking for trouble and only specialists attempt it.

Is that enough stress? No. In the middle of my new role as medical transportation specialist, I found a lump in my armpit. First available appointment was a week away, giving me plenty of hours to stew over the dire possibilities. Then my luck turned. The lump dissolved by the time the appointment rolled around. The doctor believed it was just a blocked sweat gland. Whew!

During these mad weeks, I would glance at the calendar and dream of September 6, the first day of school. I would fantasize about writing again, even blogging! That blessed moment was only two days away when my 'healthy' daughter caught a fever. I almost lost it. My long awaited free time was disappearing fast like a desert mirage. Instead of gently offering popsicles and cool compresses, I turned into a cursing, raging, rhymes-with-witch fiend. Then . . . the child got better yesterday. I put her on the bus this morning with her sister. They were all smiles. I'd post a picture, but the camera batteries bit the dust just as I was snapping the shot. But it's no biggie. They'll get on the bus again tomorrow. And here I am, writing this blog to you fine people.

Our family's not out of woods, healthwise, but we're on a path of recovery/management, living as strong as possible. It's funny how fast things can change. As writers, we are told to give our characters hell. Bad things bring a plot to life and move the story forward.

Note to whoever is writing my family's life: Could we take a little breather from the bad stuff, pretty-please?

So, how was your summer?

Letting The Ball Drop

Image courtesy: Visions by Vicki

Life is busy, but things seem to reach a fever pitch in summer around here. End of school picnics, kindergarten graduation, trips to pools and parks, not to mention vacations, volunteer work, and summer camp. Oh, and I can’t forget my parent’s August visit, which will induce me to go into hyper-Virgo-manic cleaning mode.

Do you know where this is headed? Yes! I can’t keep up with the weekly blog schedule. Not the posting really, because I could always come up with something. The real time involved is visiting and commenting on other blogs. I don't know about you, but the number of comments this blog recieves is proportional the number of comments I leave at other blogs. 

So my presence in the blogoverse will be sporadic. I’m not totally throwing in the towel, but my free time seems to be disappearing faster than my natural hair color, and my current ms needs mucho editing.

What is the busiest time of year for you? Do you take blogging breaks or stick to your schedule no matter what?