Blogging Challenge Favorite Zs

*wipes brow*

Wow, I made it. And those of you who have been kindly making the rounds and commenting ... thank you. I thought I would end this A to Z challenge with some my personal favorite Z words.

The guy it's easy to hate.

Zeniff

from Greg Park's Earthsoul Prophecies

The guy you have some sympathy for

and kinda wish you could like, maybe.

Zane

from Well of Ascension, Book 2 of Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy 

Hero

Zorro

Antonio Banderes and Anthony Hopkins were both hot as Zorro.

Scrabble

Zarf

I learned this word from my father and confunded my kids for years using it as a password.

(wonder what it is?)

When hot coffee became a fad a bazillion years ago,
they created these cup holders to keep the drinkers from burning their hands.
What's the modern equivalent to these beautiful old zarfs?

It's that outer thingy ... uh ... zarf ... that keeps you from burning your hands



And my very favorite Z?

Bronze Fir e Lizard

Zair

from Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern

Robinton, Masterharper of Pern, and his loyal friend Zair



 Anne McCaffrey is a wonderful writer. I love her use of language without sounding pretentious. She's been quite a proliffic writer as evidenced by her list of books here. I'm thrilled to hear they may finally be making the first book into a film!

Anne is obviously one of my writer idols.
What about you? Which writer(s) would you love to be like?

Blogging Challenge Y (words for Scrabble) -- and Harry Potter (there's a Y in his name)

It's been a long week, and I have a lot of stuff to do this weekend--like get my 15 page critique ready for Bootcamp at the Storymaker conference next week.

I'm glad we're nearly at the end of this blogging challenge. I certainly didn't know what I was getting myself into, but I'm glad I did it. It's been a challenge, and I've met a lot of lovely people.

I found this really fun site with words you can use when you play Scrabble. I want you to notice that the column to the left is for words that begin with Y, and the column to the right is for words that end in Y. I laughed when I immediately responded to all those to be avoided "ly" words.

Dang but this writing hobby is starting to impact my real life ... like another hobby I still cling to.

And speaking of that other hobby, check the new Deathly Hallows 2 Trailer. If you've read the books and know what happens, there are some poignant scenes in there.


All I can say is SQUEEE!

Blogging Challenge X (marks the spot)

In the third Indiana Jones Movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade there's a scene in Indy's classroom where he tells his students that X almost never marks the spot. And in a lovely poetical moment later in the film X, indeed, marks the spot--or in this case the Roman numeral for 10 (aka X) marks the spot.

It was was clever way to make a sometimes arrogant Indy eat his words.

Have you ever had to eat crow? How about your characters? Are you one of those mean writers who sets up your character's credibility only to crush it with a humility smack down?

Blogging Challenge W(ordsmith)

I love wordsmith.org. A long time ago I signed up for their email list, and Monday through Friday I get a fun email about words, their history, useage, and even a link telling you how to pronounce it. Today's word is "shirty." It means bad tempered or irritable.

I'm afeared if people said it quickly too many times in a row it might get them into trouble in polite company.

Besides the fun books you read, are there any good sites you go to that broaden your vocabulary?

Blogging Challenge V(engeance)

I hate vengeance, petty vengeance that taints and spoils until the seeker's life has become so twisted and dark the character's life has been wasted, a life full of missed opportunities for something rich and worthwhile. I compare vengeance to putting a little bit of dog poop on a pan of brownies. It's just a little bit of crap, but it ruins the entire batch.

So how come I love Inigo Montoya

(besides the obvious reason that Mandy Patinkin is dang cute)?

I like the sweet justice (call it vengeance if you like as I won't split hairs) when the bad guys get their just desserts. The injustice is corrected and the victims/survivors can move on with their lives. But even Inigo questions at the end of the film what he'll do now he's gotten the justice he sought for his father's murder.

I doubt I'd be able to spend much time writing a significant character or protagonist that was stupid enough to run around seeking petty vengeance. Those people irritate me in real life and bore me stupid in fiction.

In terms of writing, how do you deal with your own biases / dislikes?

Blogging Challenge "U" Words

Nothing immediately came to mind for a "U" topic, so I thought I'd do a Google search to see if it triggered something. I found this interesting site for cross words. Some of the words are really curious, and I just have to find a way to use them in a story or play Balderdash with:

Ugsome - Ugly; offensive; loathsome
This one has such a caveman sound to it, don't you think?

Uloid - Resembling a scar; scarlike
Okay, this seemed like it would be medical.

Unbe - To cause not to be; to cause to be another
Hmm. Hamletlike. To unbe or not to unbe ... or whether or not to unbe that dude down the street.

Unbishop - To deprive, as a city, of a bishop; to deprive, as a clergyman, of episcopal dignity or rights
I initially thought about a chess move.

Unbosom - relieve oneself of troubling information; to disclose freely; OR to reveal in confidence, as secrets; to confess; -- often used reflexively; as, to unbosom one's self

I won't even say what flashed through my mind, especially when I saw the word unbosomer right below it.

Unboy - To divest of the traits of a boy

So how do you use this in a sentence? Does it refer to a boy becoming a man and casting off childish things? Or something else it might be? I notice there was a group called Unboy.

Unclue - To unwind; to untangle

This was definitely not what I thought. When I tried to find a Google image for this word, a lot of Uncle Sam pictures came up.

Upstare - To stare or stand upward; hence, to be uplifted or conspicuous

I'm trying to envision standing upward ... isn't that kind of what standing is--upward?

Do you like to use unusual words when you write? What do you do to expand your vocabulary? Have you found any particular thesaurus helpful?

Blogging Challenge T(ense)

Are your characters tense? Or maybe you're tense? Perhaps you're tense because you can't figure out what tense you're writing in?

So here are some questions for you.

Say your WIP is written in first person, past tense. Your main character talks about people and their characteristics. Some of them are dead, so it's not misleading to talk about them in the past tense.

But what about the characters who aren't dead--and still have those characteristics? Do you continue to write in past tense, implying that either the characters are dead or they no longer have those character traits? Or is it ever appropriate to jump tenses and move into the present tense?

How do you handle knarly tense problems?

Blogging Challenge S(how)

As a lot of us do, I struggle with the showing part of being a storyteller. I was reading recently in Sol Stein's Solutions for Writers. He starts out by explaining why it's so easy for us to tell when we're writing. It can begin when we're children and we're being read to. We get used to someone telling us a story--and not always as well as we could have imagined it ourselves (depending upon the reader, of course). Even in school, children hear from others about things that happened somewhere else such as what a classmate did during summer break or on vacation. Learning to read ourselves changes the experience from being about something to being something.

Stein says (bolding is mine):

"All these early experiences ... can be a liability to writers later in life because the writer has to change his mind-set from telling what happened somewhere else to creating an experience for the reader by showing what happened."

I really like the way Natalie Palmer described it for me, when she critiqued my WIP #1 (and she gave me permission to quote her), because she does it in a way that makes sense to me:

I’m a movie buff.  As much as I love reading books I love watching movies even more and when I read a book I want to be able to have a movie like scene going through my head.   So instead of walking us through the events ... just pick out the most important scenes and create an entire picture of that scene.  Then make that scene tell us more than just that scene normally would ... I want to feel more depth with Lyn’s history, with her past relationship.  Instead of just telling us about ... give her a flashback that puts us there… that lets us see how she was when she found out the news.  That lets us smell the soup burning on the stove when she got the phone call, that lets us feel the paper cut on her finger when she’s rummaging through his things ... as a reader I want to feel the torture of that moment for Lyn.  Then I’ll feel more connected to her, I’ll care more about her.

Stein says that if you're concerned you're telling rather than showing, you should ask yourself some questions.

1. Does what you're writing allow the reader to see what's going on?
2. Are you as the author talking--is it possible to silence the author by using action to help the reader understand what the character feels?
3. Are emotions being named rather than conveyed with action?
4. Is a character telling another character something the character should already know?

Drawing pictures with words has never been my strength. I've jokingly called myself a minamalist when it comes to description. But I'm discovering there are more ways than I ever imagined to "show" and they don't have to include lots of flowery prose.

Is showing easy for you? Do you have any techniques that help you limit the telling?

Blogging Challenge R(eview)

I recently finished a book that's been on my to-read list for some time. I've heard from numerous people that it's supposed to be a compelling read.

But ... wow. Serious wow.

The book is I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells. If you're interested, Robin Weeks talks about the book on her blog here where she discusses building better villains.

The protagonist is John Wayne Cleaver, a 15-year-old sociopath. His mother and aunt own a mortuary where John helps out. He thinks a lot about death and is fascinated by serial killers, recognizing within himself the tendancies that could someday turn him into one. So he establishes strict rules (like no stalking). John doesn't connect with people emotionally, and he's a smart kid. He knows he's different from 'normal' people, and he makes an effort to try and not seem quite so weird.

But when a real monster starts killing people in his town, John has to let loose his own monster so he can stop it. Unfortunately, without his rules to keep his monster in check, John could be more dangerous than the killer.

One of the most frequent comments I'd heard about this book is about the fine job Dan Wells does making John a sympathetic character. But really, you have to read the book to see just how well he does it.

I'll be honest. It was a hard read for me and creeped me out. I haven't been into the horror genre, since I gave up Stephen King (it's difficult to be a parent when you're afraid to walk down a dark hallway). As I was reading this book, I found myself saying over and over again, "No, John. Don't. No."

I really felt for this kid! I like John. A lot.

I've already purchased the other two books in the series, Mr. Monster and I Don't Want to Kill You. I've read reviews that say these other books are even better than this first one.

I definitely recommend it.

If you can handle it.

Shhh ... I'm taking an emotional break before I begin the second book.

Blogging Challenge Q(uotes)

The first thing that came to mind for today was Query, so I figured there'd be a lot of posts about the process. I decided to do Quote. I love to read inspirational quotes. Besides being inspirational, they can be examples of great writing. Following are some that have touched me ... or made me laugh.

Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.
~Albert Einstein

A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read.
~Mark Twain

Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold.
~Helen Keller

Some of the greatest battles will be fought within the silent chambers of your own soul.
~Ezra Taft Benson

It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action, and discipline that enabled us to follow through.
~Zig Ziglar

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
~Winston Churchill

A man only learns in two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people.
~Will Rogers

I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond.
~Mae West

Blogging Challenge P(ride)

Pride can be a good thing ... or a bad thing. We saw much trouble it caused for Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.

Colin Firth is the epitomy of Mr. Darcy, btw.

Pride has a lot of interesting synonyms as found on thesaurus.com:

amour-propre, delight, dignity, ego, ego trip, egoism, egotism, face, gratification, happiness, honor, joy, pleasure, pridefulness, repletion, satisfaction, self-admiration, self-confidence, self-glorification, self-love, self-regard, self-respect, self-satisfaction, self-sufficiency, self-trust, self-worth, sufficiency

I've bolded the ones I think have the most positive connotations. I think it's important that writers have some pride because it's tied so closely to self esteem, which we need to have if we wish to take risks. You know what I mean. The risks like the first time you let someone read what you've written and you open yourself to hurt and ridicule. Or the time you finally send out a query, knowing--KNOWING--that you will be rejected. Until I started writing I never realized what a hazardous trade it could be. But pride is also a reflection on the quality of the work we wish to share with others.

Pride also has negative connotations. Unlike Athena, writers don't spring fully formed with flawless grammar, brilliant plot ideas, delightful character development, and an unlimited vocabulary. It takes a lot of work to learn the craft--and a willingness to take feedback.

We need to be confident in what we write, but we also need to be teachable, which can mean humble. So one of a writer's balancing acts is to have pride (confidence) while being humble.

That's no small feat.



Do you struggle with pride and being teachable? Are you too teachable, finding it difficult to stand up to criticism and therefore are forever trying to change your work to be what others want it to be?

How do you find the balance?

Blogging Challenge O(verused Words)

I recently discovered a website called autocrit. I think it's pretty cool because you can submit some of your writing and the program will evaluate it for a number different things. I was surprised at some issues I hadn't previously considered--like overused words.

Above is the report on overused words from a short segment of one of my WIPs. After seeing this report, I became aware of areas where I tended to used the same type of phrasing or word useage over and over again. Like adverbs, we need to use moderation (I've already gone through the ms killing adverbs right and left, so I'm quite pleased that I got a "Great work" report. Same thing for uses of "that". But it's obvious I still need some work.)

I'm not expecting this program to be a cure for all that ails my writing, but like Grammar Check on Word it can make me more aware of areas that need more attention.

Do you have any challenges with overused words? What do you do to add variety?

Blogging Challenge N(otes)

Creativity is a fickle creature. That great idea that comes to you while you're in the shower somehow makes off on its fleet feet before you have access to pen and paper. So what do you do when you have the flash of brilliance at an inopportune moment? Do you grab your smart phone and start talking into it? Do you keep a notebook handy in the restroom, your nightstand, your desk, your car?


JK Rowling's Plot Outline for Order of the Phoenix

 What do you do to capture those illusive thoughts?

ETA--thanks to BayGirl for being my 100th follower!

Blogging Challenge M(oving Ahead)

I've been on an editing treadmill. One where I keep thinking I'm close to completing WIP #1, yet something comes up that throws it all back to the beginning again. Some of it is studying the craft and going back to implement what I've learned. Some of it is feedback from critiques.

The above is a colored map I did back in February, when I was planning to completely revamp it. But then as I'd faced the project at my computer, I'd decided not to shift the format of my 3-part ms, which made the mapping unnecessary. All those nifty post-it notes have been on that whiteboard for over two months, while I've worked on show not tell, dialogue tags and dialogue beats.

Natalie Palmer, who is on new baby hiatus, kindly did a critique for me. It's funny because my hubby tends to be very protective of my writing, so I don't always read him feedback I receive. It makes him mad. He likes my story just the way it is. But, no offense, he doesn't have particularly discerning tastes either--he's very easy to please. I did read Natalie's review to him, and he kept nodding his head and muttering, "Yes. Yes." for most of it. So hubby's made a mental leap in my behalf and is willing to recognize ways I can make it better.

As I considered Natalie's observations, I realized that the best way to remedy some of them would be to do shifting around of the story. So I'm back to my story map and glad I hadn't gotten around to putting all those little post-its in a folder as I'd intended.

I've been on vacation and/or sick for two weeks. I've managed to read four books (The Mage's Daughter, Princess of the Sword, Starship Troopers, and I Am Not a Serial Killer) and I've started another (City of Fallen Angels). I'm feeling rejuvenated (kinda--if I can throw off the vestiges of this dang cold and quit hacking up my lungs every morning) and ready to move ahead and get back to work. Funny what a difference a few days can make.

I really appreciate all the supportive and encouraging comments from everyone when I was having my pity party the other day. I'll close this post with a quote from my friend Robin Weeks:

Remember the definition of a published author:

One who doesn't give up.

Blogging Challenge L(ies)

"Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story."

Lies. What are lies? 

Are they simply tall tales? Like in the song by Gaelic Storm in the video below?

Or are they just the attempts to get out of trouble? You know. Like when you were a little kid. Mom goes into the restroom and notices someone has used the last of the toilet paper and calls out, "Who used the last of the toilet paper?" Your heartbeat races as you remember pulling off the last few squares--just enough to do the job--but then you totally forgot to put on a new roll, so you call out, "Not me."

Are they the little social "white" lies people tell each other all the time? Like when the quirky girl at the office decides to go really bizarre with her hairstyle and has all her purple hair cut off and her head bicked, so you say, "Wow, looks great." even though you think she looks absolutely ridiculous and can hardly stop yourself from laughing everytime you look at her. At least until you realize some guys think a girl with a bald head is sexy.

Are lies a social lubricant that smooth our interactions, or are they slowly tearing away at another social lubricant--trust? As a very little girl, I was an almost compulsive liar, and it took many years of being completely honest to gain my parents' trust. As a result, I'm ruthlessly honest now. Or silent if I can't think of a creative way to get around awkward social moments.

Do your characters lie? What do you think is a good reason for people to lie? Or do you think there never is a good reason to lie?

Blogging Challenge K(indness)

Something I've experienced quite a lot of in this writing journey is how very kind writers can be to each other. And helpful and supportive. I find this in my day job as well, but I know it's not always the case. I think you fellow writers rock.

Things have been crazy with the blogging challenge and my trip to Ireland, so I haven't had a chance to thank Deirdra Eden-Coppel at A Storybook World for giving me two awards:

Blogging Challenge J(aded)

I'm lying in bed as I write this, struggling to overcome a nasty cold I got while in Ireland. Being awake for 27 straight hours yesterday didn't help, I'm sure.

I stepped away from editing WIP #1 for my trip to Ireland. While I was encouraged and inspired by my surroundings for another WIP (#4) I have in mind, I find I'm feeling jaded about WIP #1.

worn out or wearied, as by overwork or overuse.

I recently received a critique that had some great suggestions but also discouraged me, and I'm not quite sure why. I love my tale. I love my characters. I want my little story to be like that old Army commercial--be the best you can be. But I'm wearied. And discouraged. I'm not sure I can ever be the writer I want to be. I've had the inclination several times over the last few days just to walk away.

So as I sit in my sickbed, having a pity party, I wonder what all of you do to bolster your confidence and your energy to persevere. How do you keep yourself from feeling jaded?

Blogging Challenge - I(inspiration)

"Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief,

is more powerful in the mature than in the young."
~~W. Somerset Maugham

Since I've been on vacation to Ireland, I was really tempted to make today's post about that, but I've already got pictures I've posted on this blog and have a day by day description on my personal blog.

 But as I've been wandering the streets of various communities and checking out forest trails and assundry ruins, I've been so inspired as far as my writing goes. And this has made me wonder what others are inspired by in their writing. A couple of my WIPs began as memorable dreams (nothing like the nightmares Stephen King must have).

What inspires you?

Blogging Challenge H(urry)

We're hurrying around Dublin today. So much to see and so little time.

In the meantime, enjoy "Drunken Lullabies" by Flogging Molly.

The Irish really do have a lot of songs about drinking.

Blogging Challenge - G(alway)

As I've mentioned on a few of my posts, I'm in Ireland this week, Galway specifically. Bigger details are available on my personal blog here. So, my topic today is going to be Galway. It's a pretty community right on the ocean. And windy. Everyone told me to expect rain (duh, if any place is noted for being green it's because it rains a lot--unless they use that new astroturf--seriously, I wish I could convince my husband to replace our lawn with the stuff), but no one mentioned the wind. Holy cow!

Anyway.

The Irish like colorful buildings.

Galway has the amazing St. Nicholas Cathedral. It's filled with beautiful mosaics, stained-glass windows, wall statuary, and woodwork. It seats a LOT of people.

I had my first hot cross buns here.

Blogging Challenge F(ilms)

Today's topic is about a few films my hubby and I have watched recently.

The first was I Am Number Four based upon the YA SciFi novel by Pittacus Lore (pseudonum for Jobie Hughes and James Frey). I haven't read the book, so I can't compare the two, but we enjoyed the movie. It wasn't high film art, but the story was entertaining; the actors were nice to look at; and there was romance, creepy aliens, and explosions. What's not to love? And if you want to read a hilarious take on one of the explosions in this film, you'll have to check out Brodi Ashtons's post here. It's toward the end of her post.     I Am Number Four Trailer

The second film we saw was Beastly, based upon the book by the same name by Alex Finn. I first saw the trailer for this movie on Stephanie Perkins blog. I was intrigued by it and ordered the book. It's a quirky retelling of beauty and the beast, though the characters in the book are younger than in the film. And, yes, the cute kid from I Am Number Four also stars in Beastly.

It's the story of self-centered though gorgerous Kyle who makes the mistake of getting on the wrong side of a witch. She curses him to become the beast on the outside that he is on the inside. Kyle must find someone to love his ghastly exterior within one year or stay that way forever. There were changes, obviously, between the book and the film, but I thought they were true to the story--and some changes in the film I liked better than what happened in the book. The true jewel though is Neal Patrick Harris, who plays Will, Kyle's blind tutor. I want to see the movie again just to see Neal. Beastly Trailer

The film we saw this past weekend was Sucker Punch. I don't know if it was based upon a book. (The female love interest from Beastly, Vanessa Hudgens, is in it). It's the story of a girl, Baby Face, (played by Emily Browning of Lemony Snickets fame), whose mother has just died. The girl is confronted by her vile stepfather, who is angry his wife left her wealth to her two daughters. Disaster strikes when Baby Face  tries to save her sister from the psycho stepfather. When she's locked up and scheduled for a lobotomy, she has five days to escape.

It's a surreal kind of film full of dark themes and stylistic fighting. The fight scenes include an interesting array of orcs, and dragons, WWI gas filled dead soldiers, and futuristic vehicles--to name a few. And it delivers a sucker punch ending--you can decide for yourself which of the definitions in the link describe it once you've seen the film. Not really my taste in movies but worth a viewing once.

One of my complaints was one I have with almost all fantasy chick fighting. They always show the girls/women half clad, while they're out there hitting and kicking and punching and climbing and flying. With narry a scratch, cut, or burn. Right. That'll really make me believe. I can guarantee that all that pretty exposed skin will end up cut and scarred and won't be so pretty after just one really good fight.    Sucker Punch trailer

Blogging Challenge E(lantris) - Book Review

Today's post is a review of the first widely released book by one of my favorite authors, Brandon Sanderon. He's a fantasy writer, a college creative writing professor (though he may have given that up now that he's so busy writing), and one of the cohosts of Writing Excuses with Dan Wells--I Am Not a Serial Killer and Howard Tayler--Schlock Mercenary.

I only became aware of Sanderson, when he was chosen to complete the Wheel of Time series by the widow of Robert Jordan (James Oliver Rigney, Jr.). I mentioned at work that I wanted to read something by Sanderson, so I could see how well I thought he would do finishing the series (he's done incredibly well, by the way).

A coworker lent me the book Elantris.

Elantris is the name of a city where godlike beings used to live, until it was "cursed" ten years before. The story revolves around three characters. There's Raoden, who is the prince of Arelon, the city adjacent to Elantris. He's taken by what is called the Shaod, which is a viewed as painful, ongoing death, and the victims are cast into the ruin of Elantris.

Another main character is Sarene, the princess who was on her way to become Raoden's political bride.  Unfortunately for her (or not--you decide) her marriage contract is still binding, so she remains in Arelon as Raoden's widow.

The third main character is Hrathen, a Derethi high-ranking priest tasked with converting Arelon before the armies of his religion come to destroy the city and its inhabitants.

I love the way Sanderson weaves the story between the three characters. He says this is his weakest work, and you can see how much his writing has grown as he's written other books, but I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the plot twists, and the characters. I love his characters.

I especially appreciate how, when the climax of the story occurs and what we've been waiting for since the beginning happens, it's not like Superman, secure in his wondrous powers, descending from the heavens to save the day.

If you've been wondering about Sanderson's works, Elantris might be a good place to start. It's currently a standalone novel, and it's probably the shortest of all his works. I highly recommend it.

Blogging Challenge - D(obby)

Before I get on with my "D" post, I'm going to give another update on my Ireland trip. On Sunday, we went driving around the area a lot and got to see the bridge from the movie The Quiet Man and also the beautiful Kylemore Abbey.

Monday was somewhat stormy, so we hung close to home and went grocery shopping. Now that was interesting ....

Dobby

Anybody who knows me, knows that I'm a Harry Potter geek. I've read all the books countless times and in the months prior to the release of the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I spent hours every day online moderating theories on the Leaky Lounge. I was even interviewed on local TV about whether or not I thought Harry would survive (I so nailed that one--as well as Snape's loyalty AND the reason for it).

There are many characters I love in the series, but one of my favorites is Dobby. A lot of people find him irritating or think of him only as comic relief. I feel sorry for people who have only watched the films because they've missed so much of the Dobby character. He was such a funny, quirky, noble little guy. My post today is a Dobby quote from Chamber of Secrets.

"Ah, if Harry Potter only knew!" Dobby groaned, more tears dripping onto his ragged pillowcase. "If he knew what he means to us, to the lowly, the enslaved, we dregs of the magical world! ... "

"Harry Potter survived, and the Dark Lord's power was broken, and it was a new dawn, sir, and Harry Potter shone like a beacon of hope for those of us who thought the Dark days would never end, sir ..."

Sweet, downtrodden little Dobby. A dreg of the magical world. He wouldn't do much to help himself, but he would do anything for Harry.

Even die for him.

Who is your favorite noble character, either in your own work or in the works of others? What characteristics do you think make a character noble?

Blogging Challenge C(hildhood)

There's something so magical about childhood and the sweet way they view the world. It's how they're excited about everything because everything's new. As we get older, we lose that charming perspective and rue the days when we were younger and we wished childhood away in our rush to adulthood.

I love the song "Catch Another Butterfly" sung by John Denver, words & music by Mike Williams.

Do you remember days not so very long ago
When the world was run by people twice your size
And the days were full of laughter
And the nights were full of stars
And when you grew tired you could close your eyes?

Yes, the stars were were there for wishin'
And the wind was there for kites
And the morning sun was there for rise and shine
And even in the sniffles kept you home from school in bed
You couldn't hardly stay there after nine.

And I wonder if the smell of mornings faded.
What happened to the robin song that sparkled in the sky?
Wheres all the water gone that tumbled down the stream?
Will I ever catch another butterfly?

Do you remember campouts right in your own backyard,
Wondering how airplanes could fly?
And the hours spent just playing with a funny rock you found
With crystal specks as blue as all the sky?

And I wonder if the smell of mornings faded.
What happened to the robin song that sparkled in the sky?
Wheres all the water gone that tumbled down the stream?
Will I ever catch another butterfly?

Now I watch my son. He's playing with his toys.
He's happy and I give him all I can.
But I cant help feeling just a little tingley inside,
When to hear him say he wants to be a man.

And I wonder if the smell of mornings faded.
What happened to the robin song that sparkled in the sky?
Wheres all the water gone that tumbled down the stream?
Will I ever catch another butterfly?

Ireland Update

This is not part of the A to Z Challenge, but I've posted a detail of Day 2 on my family blog here.

Blogging Challenge B(etty Botter)

Something fun for B day. This is a tongue twister. Try saying it out loud as fast as you can.

Betty Botter bought some butter,
"But," she said, "this butter's bitter.
If I bake this bitter butter,
it would make my batter bitter.
But a bit of better butter--
that would make my batter better."

So she bought a bit of butter,
better than her bitter butter,
and she baked it in her batter,
and the batter was not bitter.
So 'twas better Betty Botter
bought a bit of better butter.

Went to see Bunratty Castle, the Burren, and the Dolmen. Had fish and chips for dinner. Yum. But I'm going to do South Beach and Body for Life when I get home.

*sigh*

You can kinda see me above. It was crazy windy. We almost got blown off one of the towers.

My friend Arlene in front of one of the cottage.

This burial portal (Dolmen) is older than Stonehenge.

A to Z Blogging Challenge - Letter A(rmy)

I promise that they won't normally be so long ...

I served in the U.S. Army and twas he second woman assigned to my unit in Germany. Liz was the first, and she arrived in the morning, while I got there in the evening. Cheese worried about us all the time, so you can imagine his panic, when he realized he would have to take two women on Reforger. (Reforger was 10 days, but I got sick with Strep on day 5, and Cheese gratefully sent us home early). These European war games included troops from many nations. Our unit was responsible for repairing electronic equipment, including the very early models of computers. Traditionally, for Reforger, our unit would bring a long trailer that could be hooked up to a generator to provide power, and served as a repair shop. When the guys got tired, they'd move the equipment to the floor and sleep on the work tables.

But now there were two young women, and Cheese wasn't comfortable with that. He wanted to make sure we got field experience, but he also recognized the need to protect us. As the number of women in the Army increased, the number of rapes did, too. Every new duty assignment included a seminar on rape prevention. During Reforger Cheese made sure Liz and I had an armed guard with us whenever we left our area.

  

There was one little problem.

We only found the latrine once in five days. So, you're wondering. What did we do? The guys just wandered off into the woods to do their business. If someone came upon them, it was just another guy, so no big deal. There were very few women out there, and we never saw any others. Unfortunately, wandering out into the wood wasn't an option for Liz and me. We had to wait until dark.

Reforger was held in September...12 hours of daylight.

You can imagine how full a bladder gets in twelve hours. Twelve long hours. Out unit was located deep in the German woods, surrounded by tall, skinny trees. No stars. No moonlight. We could hardly see our hands before our faces as we staggered away from the long trailer trying to find out way with only a little help with our flashlight. We didn't want to draw attention to ourselves by having the light on us broadcasting what we were doing. And flashlights ruin your night vision.

Now let me describe the lame uniforms we had to wear. For one, they were tropical lightweight. Isn't it brilliant to send women, dressed in fabric made for the warm tropics, to freakin' cold Germany? They were also pooly designed (I'm sure they were anticipating that we'd have desk jobs). Whereas a man's uniform included a zipper in the front (go figure), our fatigues had buttons on the sides. It's a little too adventurous for me to have to undo 6 buttons, when you really, really have to go.

Liz and I made our way far enough from the trailers to be sure (kinda) of our privacy, and we split up for some privacy. Remember now, there was no latrine, no raised anything with a seat. Squatting was required. I guess I was in a bigger hurry than Liz, because I'd already assumbed the position, when I heard her scream.

I immediately stood up.

And immediately squatted down again. Um ... you don't shut off the bladder after holding its contents for 12 hours. I called out to Liz, frantic to know if she was okay. She giggled. Seems she'd backed into a tree and thought someone had grabbed her. O_o

I was mortified. We only had four sets of fatigues, and we were scheduled for ten days. Now I'd soiled a quarter of my clothes.

Good thing I can laugh about it now.

What's your most embarrassing moment?