Back to my playground

If you ever want to try something interesting--and many of you writers out there may already do this--brainstorm with your children.

There's an archive here--a story start that has stuck in my mind from the time I wrote it, and those are the ones I know are clamouring to be heard, that sometwhere in the back of my mind the conclusion sits, waiting to be told.

Well, sometimes that conclusion just hides away deep and dark back there. Because I have pondered and pondered where the start should go, and nothing has popped up that's been satsifying, and so I printed it out the other day. (Twice. I lost the first printout within an hour. And they let me drive!! ARG!!!) And I chewed and chewed and chewed on ideas till the whole thing was tough and tasteless, like old gum that needed to be tossed.

When my youngest came up and asked what I was doing, I handed it to him and said, "Tell me what should happen next."

"Is this something you wrote?"

"I'm supposed to write what comes next," I said, hedging.

So he read it, and voila. The ending was never hidden in my mind. It was hidden in his! :)

I always thought my kids were good inspiration. Just never knew how good!

Prompt Work

Create a character: This one is male. You decide where he is from, his age, his build, appearance. Write down any other information that will make him an individual, then name him.

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I don't know yet where he's from. He's middle aged--if he lives to be 90. He's starting to worry about the fact that his hair is thinner and his skin looks old. But he is still dark, just a little gray at the temples and in the eyebrows--which he secretly plucks with his wife's tweezers. He's got definite laugh lines and they don't make him look "distinguished" in his opinion. They make him look old.

He lives in a suburban two story house like he's supposed to at his age, though the company is downsizing and the mortgage could end up being way too high if they decide he's too old to stay. Of course that's not the way it's supposed to work--age discrimination and all that--but then things don't work they way they're supposed to very often.

Today is Saturday and he should change into a pair of jeans and a couple shirts--layers to ward off the cold--and go rake leaves in the back yard. Of course he's asked the kids to do it, and they got a good start on it, but his oldest son had a ball tournament and his daughter was on the cheerleading squad. His third son had awful allergies and his chores didn't involve yard work. Of course his wife probably got out there and raked together a pile or two when she wasn't shuttling kids back and forth or working on a new ad campaign for a company she'd quit but who was in desperate need of "temporary" assistance.

He understands why the raking isn't finished because he has no intention of doing it either. At least not right yet. The paper glistens in its plastic sleeve in the driveway and his wife had turned on the coffee pot before she disappeared with all the kids for whatever it was they had on the agenda today. The house was his, and he was going to enjoy the morning, the paper, the coffee and the quiet in a pair of sweat pants and an old college sweat shirt. Then, maybe, he'd consider what needed to be done in the yard.

His name is Carson. Carson Trent.
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Well, I didn't do that quite like I thought I would when I dreamed up the prompt! LOL! It's easier for me to create people in a setting....

Finding a Rhythm

My life is playing that weird music that my dh and son enjoy. The kind that's got no real rhythm--none that I can find anyway. It seems random and spontaneous, which would explain why they enjoy it.

I need something I can tap a toe to.

But today is the last day of the 7 days a week, 12 hours a day work for dh, so I think we'll be able to get back to a more even keel.

What else.... Having a hard time getting going today. BIL is going to be fine. He's hurting as anyone who's ever been injured in a car accident can attest to. The heart attack--if there was one--was a "baby" one that did no damage. It could have also been a panic attack, which I was witness to when my dh had a car accident and broke some ribs, dislocated a shoulder. It's a scary thing. Also they told my sister that sometimes when the airbag hits it can tear the aorta (now pardon my sidetracking here, but isn't there something they should be doing about that before they continue putting them in cars????????) and the symptoms from that will mimic a heart attack. So the tests in Tulsa ruled that out. They let him come home. Thankfully the accident was not his fault. He'll be off work for a while, but is in an industry where if you're not there, you're not paid. So it looks like the other guy's insurance will be on the hook for lost wages, etc., etc. I hope it goes smoothly for them, but somehow just the thought of dealing with an insurance company and getting what you're supposed to get from them just makes me tired. We've been through it. I guess with a totalled car though, they can't quibble on how much it should take to fix it.

The good thing to come out of all of it was that they learned of some other health problems in early stages that need his attention. My sis's comment was, "we simply have some work we have to do" as far as his health in concerned. I liked the phrase. Acknowledging that a committment to health is work. We get out of it what we put into it, and it may not always be enjoyable, but it will yield a "wage" if you will.

I need to work along with him.

And that OWFI deadline is marching ever closer!!

But I am excited about Cousins. I love how it's coming together. Perhaps that will be my first OWFI project--a synopsis so I can submit this to the contest....

Funny how things work themselves out while I sit here and type. But now, I have work to do! :)

Oh, and you might want to check out my latest project, Cereal Fiction.