Friday, February 28, 2014

Soft and sweet,
she kisses your face.
Hard and driving,
she shapes the landscape.
Malleable and supple,
a sustainer of life for all.
En mass she moves mountains,
raises rivers, lakes and seas.
A wonderful, terrible force is she.

I was waxing poetic today.  

Monday, February 24, 2014

Lessons Learned

Unfortunately, with my kids in the car, we were rear-ended on Friday.  It was very traumatic for my daughter, and when my son learned he was missing his baseball game and first time as starting pitcher, upsetting for him as well.

I heard the car coming.  I clenched my hands, tensed my back and neck, and gritted my teeth as I watched the car plow into me and push my car into the one in front of me.  I know that being relaxed would have served me better, as I sit here still sore and aching, but knowing didn't override my body's automatic reactions.

The next day my son asked me to take him somewhere.  We had to get there quickly as they were closing and the street we would have to drive, like the one we had the accident on, would be filled with stop and go traffic.  I tensed again.  I looked at my husband, eyes pleading, and said, "Your father will take you."  My son said, "No, I want you mom."
My husband, happy to stay ensconced on the couch said, "See you later."
I looked at him pleading him again with my eyes, unwilling to admit that I was nervous to drive in stop and go traffic.  He was not getting it and time was running out, the store would be closed soon.
"My car was towed.  Honey, you take him."
"You can take my car."  I thought of the huge, heavy, hard to stop truck he was telling me to drive.  I have a mid-size sedan.  I don't enjoy driving his car on a normal day.  Today it seemed treacherous.  Yet I did not want to admit this fear.  I looked at my son and knew I didn't want his life in my hands again.

I admitted my fear and got the flack I expected.  I was left alone to research concussions and think about what I was feeling.  I cannot stop driving.  In fact I love driving, fast.  I purposely take the longer way to work because it is a fast, curvy, bumpy road; in short fun.

I have myself scoffed at people before for letting a fear stop them from doing a normal function of daily life.  I in fact know someone who will not drive and someone else who will not drive on the freeway, another will not go over bridges or drive at night.  I never mocked or berated but was internally shocked at their seemingly inane limitations on their lives.

I had to go to work later that night and I had to drive the large, hard to stop truck.  I was fine but I did drive a bit slower, left more room when I stopped and I noticed the fog rolling in.  It was at the level of the road on my way to work.  Normally I would have returned home the same way but instead I went inland to avoid the fog when I drove home two hours later.

Internally I was berating myself for being a wuss.  Why would I be doing that?  I had an accident, one that I am still feeling the effects of.  Aren't we supposed to learn from our mistakes?

If I continue to act in the same manner as before this accident is doomed to repeat itself.   Yes, I was at a dead stop but I was too close to the car in front of me so when the driver behind me failed to stop she plowed me into that car, making the accident worse.

I do need to rethink my actions and change my behavior but I cannot let this accident dictate my behavior out of fear.  Caution to protect my children and myself yes but fear that stops me from thinking rationally and gives into the tiniest of voices saying don't drive yet, don't drive the kids, would only reek havoc on our lives and would not be helpful.  If I give in to that voice I could be such a tentative driver that I would cause more accidents and not avoid them.

I have learned from this accident how precious life is and that stopping further behind a car and traveling further back based on speed is something I will start doing now.   I would be an idiot to make the same mistakes and expect a different outcome.  It is not wussy to make the safer choice it is wiser.  Me and everyone else out on the road have a lot to live for.

Be Safe!

Monday, February 17, 2014

To Theme or not to Theme

I have once again signed up for the A to Z challenge.

Arlee Bird's 'Tossing It Out' blog, the man who created the A to Z challenge, has decided to reveal his theme on March 21st.

I did have a theme last year. I am questioning if I should do that again because the themes I keep coming up with all involve audience participation.

I am excited by these ideas and haven't come up with an idea that doesn't involve audience participation that I am even slightly excited about.

The issue with audience participation is that I will have to write the blog every day.  There is no way I can work a head if I have to wait for audience help for every post.  The one thing that is always constant in my life is how many things I have to accomplish in a day- many more than I seem to have time for.  Adding another item that must be completed daily for a month seems as if I am setting myself up for failure.  But if I choose a theme I am not excited about I could be setting myself up for failure as well.

Is there anyone else out there participating in the A to Z challenge this year or who has in the past that can offer some advice on theme or no and what worked best for them in the past?

Has anyone asked for audience participation? How'd that work?

Thursday, February 13, 2014

An amazing offer


I recently attended a seminar on editing your book hosted by the Book Doctors, Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry.

http://www.thebookdoctors.com/who-we-are

I walked away with an amazing amount of valuable information.  I learned so much about your opening paragraph, your pitch, writing dialogue.  It was worth every moment of my time and ended way too soon.

At the end these fountainheads of information gathered from years of real life experience made an amazing offer.  "If you buy our book and email us a copy of the receipt we will give you a free twenty minute consultation."

I immediately jumped on the offer and now they have graciously allowed me to extend this offer to others who did not attend the seminar.  I cannot stress enough how helpful their seminar was and would highly recommend any level of writer taking them up on their offer.

Below is a link to their website and on their website is information about the book and how to contact them is at the bottom of the page.  Please let them know you were referred by Kathryn Thornton when you submit your receipt.

Happy writing!

http://www.thebookdoctors.com/our-book


Thursday, February 6, 2014





Sadly, I am still fighting a cold and eating soup.  I saw this cartoon yesterday and had a much needed chuckle and thought to myself,  I would, of course, write it down or at least record it on my phone.
Hah!

When I lie down at night it is taking at least 20 minutes for all the phlegm-my gunk that is stuffed inside of me to finish oozing out or find a nook or cranny to settle into so that at least one of my nasal passages is clear and I can finally fall asleep.  As soon as this lovely process had come to a close and I was comfortably falling asleep.  I had an amazing, wonderful idea about fixing dialogue or a turn of phrase that I absolutely loved and had to use in my New Adult novel.  I thought of this lovely cartoon and then thought of sitting up and having to spend another grueling 20 minutes getting all the stuff back in it's crannies and began repeating the phrases to myself over and over in my head.  I thought of the last panel of the cartoon that I am now a victim of and convinced myself that I really would remember.

Well I didn't and it is driving me crazy!  I can almost remember the great idea but then it hides in the shadows again.  It is drowning in some phlegm filled cranny and I can't pull it out.  I will never again be so arrogant as to assume I can recall what ever I want from my ever weakening brain!

I am sure there are many people out there who can associate with this.  Is there something that works for you to get the idea or the memory back?

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Sandwiches

I am fighting a cold and have been eating a lot of soup and find myself fantasizing about creating a perfect sandwich.  I tire pretty quickly of the thin, lack luster broths of canned chicken soup.

I love sandwiches.  Okay, I love most things food so I should clarify that I love building a sandwich.
If I have a tomato in the house I am definitely making a sandwich.  A tomato slice is a must have on a sandwich for me, especially a burger (which most don't consider a sandwich but anything in bread is a sandwich).

The next key component for my sandwich is some sort of spread.  This really depends on the rest of the ingredients but I favor a few things, creamy Dijon, pesto, tapenade and even flavored hummus.

Roasted vegetables elevate any sandwich from ho-hum to great.  As does the bread choice.  There is no one right bread but there is the perfect bread for the sandwich you are building.
Naan, french, sourdough, wheat, rye, pumpernickel.  I could go on for pages but I am salivating already!  Even though with this terrible sore throat bread is the last thing I could swallow at the moment- which of course makes me want it more.

Cheese is a sandwich staple for most people, including me.  I do enjoy a sharp cheddar on a sandwich, especially if I add apple slices (I know it sounds weird but think about a warm turkey sandwich with melting cheddar and then the crisp refreshing thin apple slice, oh delicious.), feta has a nice bite as well but don't forget the softer cheeses that you can spread onto the bread, cambozola, brie, soft swiss, pub cheeses, they may just be the perfect accompaniment.  They also add a layer of protection to keep your bread from getting soggy if you are piling on a spicy slaw or pickled veggies.

As I sip my tea loaded with lemon and honey I envision warm steaming pastrami lovingly wrapped in naan with pickled carrot slaw.   This will be my first sandwich when I have walloped this cold into submission.

What is the food you would crave most if you couldn't have it?