“Well-behaved women seldom make history.”
(Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, American Quarterly, 1976)
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‘Now, Students,’ said the teacher, ‘I’ll Tell You What This Poem Really Means’
Oh, that I were a poet.
I would share thoughts so sublime.
I’d create lovely images,
In meter and in rhyme.
I’d delve my inmost being
And discover truths so pure.
Then I’d carefully release them
Into words that would endure.
Oh, that I were a poet –
Not just one who writes in verse.
But to be a genuine poet
Is both blessing and a curse.
Poets true to their great calling
Must give forth all that’s inside.
Every piece they write’s revealing,
Secret selves they cannot hide.
For in halls of education
Teachers who are “in the know”
Will interpret all that’s written
And out of proportion blow.
If the name below the poem
Is one famous as a bard,
Then his simple words and pictures
Are by education marred.
So – I’m glad I’m not a poet.
It’s much better to be free
From high-brow interpretation
And write verse that’s just plain me.
I figure I can get away with this slam against most literary interpretation since I spent many, many years of my life as an English and Literature teacher. Standard curricula encourage and often require teachers to help students learn to “interpret” poems. Occasionally, there is a real underlying meaning to the words in those stanzas, but more often than not, they mean exactly what they say and nothing more. In the last several years as a high school teacher, I tried to help students develop a love and an enjoyment of poetry rather than pushing them to try to find hidden meanings in every piece. Life is best when we keep it simple. So is poetry.
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Coffee Thursday – 3/15/17
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Coffee: It’s the elixir of love. I know there are those who believe that title belongs to various other concoctions, but not so. It’s coffee. I’m sure of it. In fact, as I was preparing to do this week’s “Coffee” post, I started thinking about how I’ve used coffee as the primary beverage between the romantic couples in all my novels. So I thought I’d throw together three excerpts from those stories for today’s take on the subject.
From Cameron’s Rib, page 119.
Thursday morning Suzanne sat across from Cameron at his desk and placed her tape recorder between them as she prepared to begin their interviews. The room was fragrant with the chocolate, hazelnut coffee they were enjoying, and as Cameron looked across at Suzanne, he felt a sense of deep contentment, sharing this time with her. …
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From Jonah’s Song, pp. 95,96.
That decision being made, they decided to play a game of Scrabble and have more coffee, and before they knew it, the evening had grown late, and all four of them were ready to turn in. At the door to his room, Jonah turned to Vallie, who was just opening her own door. … “Why don’t we plan on setting down around 9:00 tomorrow morning,” he said. “And see what we can come up with. That way we’ll have time to run through the music a couple of times before tomorrow night.”
Vallie nodded her head. “That sounds fine.”
“Good,” he said, smiling his signature smile at her now. “And thank you, Valentina … for agreeing to be my partner in this venture.”
Vallie smiled back, genuine happiness in her face. “I’m happy to do it, Jonah. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, my dear,” he said, and turned to open his door.
As Vallie prepared for bed, she kept thinking about how he had called her “my dear” several times recently. Every time he had said those words, Vallie had felt a tingling all through her. She told herself he hadn’t meant anything special by the term, but still, the endearment lodged in her heart, to be taken out again later and treasured. …
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From Slate, pp.3-6.
Slate sat in a back booth at Katy’s Koffee Korner, his eyes slowly scanning the room. They came to rest on a woman sitting alone in a booth across from his. She was sitting with her head bent forward and was massaging her temples.. Headache, he surmised, and glanced back at the waitress, winking at her as she set his coffee on the table and promised to be back with his breakfast in a couple minutes.
While he ate, Slate glanced occasionally at the woman across from him. She had raised her head now and was sipping her coffee, her eyes closed. Her hair was a warm light brown shade, with just a tinge of highlights from the sun here and there. It barely skimmed her shoulders in soft waves. Her features weren’t classically beautiful, but she was really pleasant to look at. Her complexion was unblemished, and her eyes and eyebrows seemed to be etched in at exactly the right angles to highlight her whole face. Her mouth was rather wide, and her lips looked as if an artist had sculptured them. Yes, all in all, the sight was something he took pleasure in this morning.
He’d evidently taken just a little too much pleasure, because he’d been staring. Suddenly, she looked up and right at him, a question in her large, brown eyes. Almost exactly the color of a copper penny, Slate thought to himself as his attention focused on those eyes. He was caught off guard by the vulnerable look on her face, and instinctively he smiled his most genuine smile at her and then went back to concentrating on his food. A minute later, he heard her conversation with the waitress who had come back to bring her a fresh carafe of coffee.
“Can you give me exact directions from here to the Sandstone Motel?” she asked.
“Sure, Hon. It isn’t hard. I’ll write it down for you and be right back.”
“Thank you,” she answered, smiling and lighting up her face for just a moment, but when the waitress left, she went back to rubbing her temples and then her eyes. She finally leaned her head back against the high divider of her booth and closed her eyes, but Slate, glancing sideways at her, noticed a couple of tears trickling down her cheeks. After a minute more, she took a deep breath and opened her eyes, wiping the tears from her face with her hands, and by that time the waitress was back with her directions.
“Thank you so much,” she said and handed the waitress some bills. “This is for you.”
“Thanks, and you come and see us again, Okay?”
“If I have time,” she said smiling slightly at the retreating waitress, and then she slid out of her seat and stood up. Before she could take a step, she swayed and reached for the back of the booth to regain her balance. She was sitting in the last booth across from him, and no one else had noticed the unusual action. She sat back down on the edge of the booth, holding her head. Slate had learned better than to interfere in someone else’s business, but something about her just seemed so vulnerable that he couldn’t keep from getting up and walking over to her booth.
“Are you all right, Miss?” he asked, resting one hand on the table and leaning towards her. She looked up at him then, her eyes registering her pain.
“Yes,” she answered in almost a whisper. Then she cleared her throat and tried to speak louder. “It’s just this stupid migraine headache. They often make me woozy. Eating should help, but I guess the food just hasn’t had time to get into my system yet. I’ll just sit here another minute. Thanks,” she added, smiling wanly.
Slate sat down in the other side of the booth. “How about another cup of coffee?”
She turned back into the normal sitting position in the booth and nodded her head as he picked up the carafe and poured some into her cup. She began drinking it immediately, and Slate stepped over to his own booth and retrieved his cup, bringing it back with him. He poured fresh coffee for himself and topped hers off again. She smiled at him, her eyes seeming to show a little relief now. …
If you’d like to join in the fun for “Coffee Thursday,” just post your own picture, story, article, or poem on the subject and hop over here to leave us the link in a “Comment” window below. I look forward to seeing your take on coffee this week.
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Wordless Wednesday – 3/15/17
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Daily Post Prompt: Murmuration
‘Releasing the Creative Writer in You: Lesson 4
To access other lessons in this series, simply click on “Creative Writing Class” in the navigation bar, and scroll through to find the lessons you need.
LESSON # 4: PLOTTING YOUR STORY
First, let’s look again at the main parts of the plot of a story:
Most authors and writing teachers agree that all stories should have an arc of somewhere between five and eight steps. That arc takes the reader from a state of rest (before the story opens) into action, then through the process of one action causing another and another, until those actions reach a climax and finally ebb into the resolution of the story. A normal arc generally includes all of the following:
A. The presentation of the conflict
B. The hero’s attempts to resolve that conflict
C. His deliberate choices to fight or give up – use force or peaceful measures – take the legal way or the illegal way, etc.
D. His ultimate success or failure (the climax of the story)
E. The resolution into a changed situation, due to the outcome of the climax.
Each writing course will label these steps a little differently, but, in the end, they represent the same 5 simple parts of a plot that we’ve mentioned here. In the chapter coming up, “Developing Characters,” you will see a similar list of steps through which every hero and heroine move as they progress from beginning to end of the story. It is not particularly important that the writer label each individual step based on one writing course or another. What is important is that the writer understand that the natural progression of action or character development is most successful if it follows the pattern we see in real life, which generally does include an arc similar to the one we’ve just described.
CONFLICT
Conflict is always based in the very broad primary concept of Good vs. Evil. However, that “good” and “evil” can wear many faces.
Conflict can be rooted in the relationship and/or rivalry of two individual characters, two families, two nations, two worlds. It can also be rooted in one individual character’s battle with an ideology or a system (for example, a battle to avoid or annihilate a totalitarian government). Some stories create conflict between a character and some force of nature or some element or power outside of the human realm – such as a killer storm, a deserted island, a sorcerer’s curse, etc.
However, conflict can be totally internal as well – within one character himself – possibly between the character’s realization that he needs to overcome some aspect of his nature or personality and the desire on his part to avoid working at overcoming it or letting it go. Conflict can also be internal in the sense that the character is battling an enemy coming against his own mind or body (for example, a deadly disease).
Any or all of these kinds of conflict make for great stories, but you want to be sure that the type of conflict you choose is the best carrier of the story you’re telling so that the story accomplishes exactly what you want it to accomplish.
Also bear in mind that most good stories have more than one conflict going on. The major conflict will decide the resolution of the story, but while it is played out, many of your characters can be experiencing their own minor conflicts that affect how they act and react to the major conflict and how they fit into the climax of the story.
For example, you may have a story in which the main conflict is between law enforcement officers and a huge crime syndicate in their city, which they are trying to bring down. While much of your conversation and action will involve the actual fight between these two elements, some of your individual characters may be battling a sickness, or a divorce, or some kind of character flaw that they can’t seem to overcome. Each of those individual conflicts will have some effect on the job these characters do in resolving the main conflict. Of course, the longer the story, the more possible conflicts you can include.
WHERE TO START
In all fiction, the first three pages of any novel (and the first few paragraphs of any short story) are the author’s only chance to grab the reader’s attention. Once he has that attention, the action or characters must develop quickly enough and realistically enough to hold that attention and keep the pages turning.
Make sure you have your reader securely in your grasp by the end of chapter one. If he isn’t in a hurry to turn the page to chapter two, there’s a moderate chance that he will do so anyway, but most of the time, at that point, he’s usually made his decision about whether or not he’ll finish the book. (A few readers out there force themselves to finish every book they start, whether they like it or not, but you cannot count on that handful of people picking up your book.) And for the short story writer, it’s safe to say that after the first 500 words, the reader has decided whether the story is worth his time.
So how do we capture that reader and hang onto him? Science has the answer. Does that surprise you? Well, believe it or not, two of the world’s greatest physicists have provided the basic truths that generations of writers have used as foundational principles for telling stories. Albert Einstein, after years of scientific work and research came to the conclusion that “nothing happens until something moves.” And another great physicist and mathematician, Isaac Newton, is credited with giving us the basic understanding of the laws of motion. He proved that an object at rest stays at rest unless it receives pressure from an outside force. Then he further proved that an object in motion will remain in motion, going in the same direction, unless acted upon by an outside force.
So what does that have to do with writing fiction? A LOT: Good plotting puts things into motion quickly and then makes sure they stay in motion, or change direction, or come to a complete stop in such a way that those actions carry the reader along at a satisfying pace. And the gifted story plotter makes sure that every one of those actions and reactions – every motion and counter-motion – has realistic motivation and cause. (And remember: ‘motion,’ as we refer to it here, can be physical, mental, or emotional. However, be careful to avoid getting your reader bogged down in thoughts or emotions with no physical action to relieve them.)
When the writer begins his story, he needs to have some kind of action taking place in those first few pages – even if his story is mainly character driven. The reader wants to get to know the characters the way he gets to know real-life people – through talking with them, seeing them interacting with other people, and seeing what they do and how they do it. A couple centuries ago, authors got away with giving lengthy descriptions of characters early in their books, and readers put up with it. But in the 21st century, we can’t find those kinds of readers.
All rules have exceptions, of course, and if you are writing a totally character-driven story that requires your reader to be thoroughly acquainted with the thought processes of the main character, you just might be able to begin your story with a monologue of that character’s own thoughts. However, the point we made earlier bears repeating here: keep in mind that too many pages of thoughts with no accompanying actions does get boring for most people.
That being the case, even if you’re focusing on your reader getting to know and understand your main character in the first chapter (or the first page of your short story), you’ll want to let the character say and do some things that will make his nature and personality clear.
So when your reader sees the words “Chapter One,” he will generally expect to see a situation that was at rest before the story started now beginning to move in a specific direction because a character does something or a specific event takes place that starts the ball rolling. Some people like to line up long rows of dominoes and then knock them all down with just the touch of a finger on the first domino in line. Until the outside force – with a motive – does something to the first domino, they all just keep standing there, silent and boring. However, as soon as the outside force causes domino number one to fall against number two – at just the right angle – there’s no stopping the chain reaction. That’s the process of good story telling.
Now, the guy who pushes down that first domino has a motive. He wants to enjoy watching all the other dominoes fall down. In the same way, your first movement in your story –whether it’s by a character, a force of nature, or even a big machine – will have to have a motive. You may not want to disclose that motive in the first chapter, but you, as the writer, have to know what that motive is, and you have to build your story so that when the reader finally does discover the motive later on down the line, the whole story makes sense.
Directly below this article, I have included a sample Plotting Questionnaire that writers can use to help them lay out the important points of their storyline and get a good picture of whether they have all the bases covered before they start.
It’s interesting to note that in the past few decades, the literary world has seen a slight shift in what readers want when they pick up action (plot-driven) novels. Even these readers now seem to want at least a lead character that they can relate to and develop feelings for. They want to know what makes that guy tick – what’s important to him and why – and what it is that he wants to accomplish. Because, ultimately, it’s what that main character wants to do – save a city – a country – the world – and all the battles he has to fight in order to do it – that makes the story.
So one of the most important things a good story teller can do — even in plot-driven stories — is develop three-dimensional, true-to-life characters that his readers can relate to. And if the story is intended to be character-driven, then all of the characters need to be carefully developed so that the reader feels so attuned to them that he really cares whether they manage to get what they want by the end of the story. And if the reader really cares, he isn’t going to put that book down until he reads the words “The End.”
In the next lesson, we will discuss in depth the best ways to develop well-rounded characters.
* Releasing the Creative Writer in You, © 2013 by Sandra Pavloff Conner
PLOTTING QUESTIONNAIRE SAMPLE: USE THESE QUESTIONS TO BEGIN PLOTTING YOUR STORY.
PLOT QUESTIONNAIRE
Opening Sentence OR Opening Scene: Write this out to get started. Keep it down to about 1 to 3 sentences. You can always edit or augment it later.
Then write out the answers to the questions below. No need to use complete sentences unless you just want to do so.
Question 1: Does the reader need to know how or why the main character got to the place/position he is in when the story opens? If so, how did he get there?
Question 2: What is the main character’s primary goal or aim in this story? What will he be working toward that will make the reader want to see him succeed?
Question 3: What problems or conflicts will arise to hinder the main character’s carrying out his wishes/goals/plans?
Question 4: Is the main character going to solve the problem(s) and carry out his plans?
Question 5: Will he try some solutions that do not succeed before he finds the right solution? What will he try, and how will they fail.
Question 6: What final solution does he use that is successful?
Question 7: If he is NOT going to solve the problem(s), what will he try to do, and how will he fail?
Question 8: How does the story end?
Question 9: Have I put all necessary characters into place in the answers to the questions above?
Once you have these answers, you’re ready to lay out your outline of scenes in order, from beginning to end. It’s not necessary to use complete sentences or write in paragraph form in that outline. It’s just for your own personal use: a picture of where you are going and how you plan to get there. The picture and the plan will sometimes change a little — or a lot — as you work through the story, but that’s okay. Ideas grow out of each other, and you may find that your story has a lot more to it than you originally imagined. Just keep double-checking to make sure that what your characters are doing and saying makes sense. Are their actions and reactions connected in a logical, realistic manner?
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Daily Post Prompt: Abstract Art According to Hillbillies
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Two Hillbillies in an Art Museum:
“What is it?”
“It’s an abstract.”
“A what?”
“An abstract. You know – that’s where somebody who thinks he’s an artist takes a canvas and slops a bunch of paint onto it in weird patterns. Then somebody else who thinks he’s an art expert comes along and says it represents that artist’s feelin’s when he was rejected by his lover or it represents man’s inhumanity to man, or somethin’ like that.
“Where’d you learn that?”
“We got Internet up on our mountain now. I been readin’ about all kinds a stuff. I come to this one place on there with all these god-awful weird pictures, so I stopped to find out what they was all about.”
“And it told all about these here abstracts?”
“Right. And purty dern boring stuff if you ask me.”
“Hmmmm. Ain’t there any abstracts that say somethin’ positive?”
“Oh, yeah, there’s a few that are supposed to represent man’s great intelligence or his overpowerin’ love for the world or that kind of thing. But, according to this here report I read, the real value of an abstract is supposed to be that each separate person who sees it will give it his own — a — interpretation I think they called it — based on his own personality and life experiences.”
“Hmmmmmmm. So what do you think this one represents?”
“I have to go to the outhouse, and I’d better get there quick.”
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To participate in Daily Post Prompt, follow the link.
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Coffee Thursday 3/9/17
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My, there’s just nothing that quite equals the soothing, uplifting aroma of fresh-brewed coffee. And I’m tired of hearing all the uninformed critics out there who try to make coffee drinkers feel guilty because there is an element of caffeine in coffee. I have always maintained that, since the Lord told us in Genesis that He made the seed-bearing trees and plants for us to eat, then we should be able to partake of coffee with a clear conscience and a happy heart. And let’s not forget that God made the coffee bean with the caffeine in it. We human beings did not add the caffeine the way we add so many artificial ingredients into our food. That caffeine must have some good qualities in it, or the Lord would not have put it into the bean in the first place.
Furthermore, there have been numerous medical and scientific experiments done over the past half dozen years that prove coffee has many beneficial qualities for the human body — everything from quickening our brain function to eliminating headaches as quickly as aspirin to protecting the body against several kinds of cancer and heart problems.
Naturally, nothing is good for our bodies if we partake of way too much of it, to the exclusion of other important elements. But in moderation, coffee is a great blessing. And considering the fact that, in my family, a good cup of coffee has always been associated with family togetherness, wonderful fellowship, and comforting relaxation, coffee is, for sure, a substantial ingredient in the recipe for living the good life.
If you’d like to participate in “Coffee Thursday,” simply post your own article, picture, story, or poem about Coffee, and hop over here to leave the link in a Comment Window below. I’m looking forward to your posts.
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Breaking the Mold
Some of the happiest hours of my life have been spent reading great inspirational fiction. But during the past couple of decades, I’ve noticed a trend in that genre that troubles me deeply – not to mention that it takes the fun out of reading inspirational romance and mystery novels. What I’ve been seeing is that nearly every major publishing house now has a mold into which they force every Christian novel – with characters that are carbon copies of scores of characters before them, and with a plot that requires characters to meet within a certain number of pages and to carry out specific types of actions within a certain number of chapters – and worst of all – with themes that carry the reader into the erroneous doctrines of man’s traditions rather than the pure Word of God.
I’ve failed to find one inspirational novel in the past several years that does not promote the erroneous belief that God is behind every single thing that happens in our lives and, therefore, is behind all of the trouble, afflictions, sickness, hurt, and heartache that we undergo. The doctrine that says God deliberately allows (sanctions) those things in our lives in order to teach us something or bring us into a more Christlike character is rampant throughout the Christian bookstore shelves. Now, let’s not beat around the bush: If God deliberately allows those evils when He has the power and the know-how to restrain them it is exactly the same thing as His putting those things in our lives Himself. That teaching goes against everything Jesus Christ taught and lived.
I don’t intend this biographical vignette to be a major Bible lesson, but I will say here that the Word of God is extremely clear for the New Covenant believer that God says He is not in control of all things, and in fact He does not get His own way about a lot of things. He wants all men to be saved, but they will not be. Jesus taught us by His own personal example that God wants all the sick to be healed as well, because He never refused one sick person who came to Him for healing. Moreover, He sent out His disciples to visit the surrounding towns and to heal every sick person in those towns – announcing to them as they did so that they were experiencing the Kingdom of God in that deliverance and healing. He wanted the people in His own hometown to be healed as well, but His Word tell us clearly that He “could not” do any mighty miracles because of their unbelief.
God does not want us to suffer from sickness, deadly storms, earthquakes, accidents, or any number of other horrible destructive forces. But we experience them simply because we live in a cursed world where sin has opened the door to those things, and most of us do not yet have enough of a handle on God’s Word to be living every aspect of our lives according to it. But none of that is God’s plan for us. If it were, He wasted His breath when He breathed out Psalm 91 to the Psalmist and had it included in the canon of the Holy Bible.
So the Christian novels that promote the teaching that it is actually part of God’s will and plan for us to suffer the kinds of things Jesus delivered people from is simply another attempt by man to cop out of our personal responsibility to study and learn God’s Word for ourselves and then to believe it for ourselves. If we can blame God for all the problems we’re facing, we don’t have to take any responsibility for their cause or their cure either one. It’s convenient for the lazy believer, but it is a pack of lies about our God.
His Word also tells us clearly that He has given us His Word, His promises, and His Holy Spirit that will impart to us “all things pertaining to life and godliness” and will create into us the Divine nature of God. The teaching that problems, hardships, and heartaches create the Divine nature of Jesus Christ in us is a direct contradiction of God’s personal Word on the subject. Yet hundreds of inspirational novels that have lined the bookstore shelves for years now keep preaching that demonically inspired theme again and again.
So when the Lord called me to write inspirational novels, He called me to write stories that were true to His Word and that presented Him in the light of what Jesus showed us daily in His time with us on the earth. Jesus said He spoke only what the Father wanted Him to speak and He did only the works that the Father wanted Him to do. So I make every effort in my inspirational novels to show God doing exactly what Jesus did and said. And because He’s still the same “yesterday, today, and forever,” I show Him doing and saying the same things in the everyday lives of ordinary believers in the 21st century.
It’s past time for us to have some inspirational novels that don’t fit the molds. It’s time for stories that show us what it’s really like to live in the 21st century with a God who is just like Jesus Christ.
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A Novel in Progress – New on ‘Debut Writers Journal’
As most of you know, I am the editor of the Debut Writers Journal – an online magazine that showcases the work of students in my creative writing classes at John A. Logan College in Southern Illinois, USA. This term, I will be adding work by at least two or three new writers, and today begins those additions.
I’m excited to announce our publication of this first chapter of a brand new novel in progress. Joe Corso is one of the few creative writing students who is working on a project of this magnitude, and he’s offering us the opportunity to publish several of his first few chapters. It’s a great way for Joe to keep himself challenged, and for readers of the Journal to see the growth and progress of a new novelist in real time.
The Summer of ’32 takes readers on a journey into a time and place in American culture that is gone, but certainly well remembered by many people even in this modern age. Joe enjoys relating the feel of that time in history, but he is also seriously focused on his characters, and their depth and development are what give the story its impact.
Click on this link to read “Chapter One: Death of a Friend”, and if you find yourself caught up in the story and wanting more, be sure and leave a comment for Joe and let him know. Or if you have anything else encouraging to share, please use the “Comment” window and tell us.
Thanks to all of you who take the time to read the work of these new writers and encourage them.
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Daily Post Prompt: Vivid
Buttermilk
I just want to say that I LOVE Farm Fresh Buttermilk. It’s the only brand that I enjoy, but some days I suddenly find myself desiring a glass of its rich, cold goodness. Yesterday was one of those days, so I indulged myself.
Take part in the challenge by visiting Daily Post.
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COFFEE THURSDAY! – a new invitational
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Hi. Today I’m embarking on a brand new INVITATIONAL post. It works like a blogging challenge, but I don’t consider it to be a “challenge.” Instead it’s an invitation to all other bloggers out there to share a post on the same subject.
And what is that subject you may ask? COFFEE.
Yes, you read correctly. As most of my readers know, I am a lover of the brew, so I thought it would be fun to devote one day a week to focusing on a post dedicated to that aromatic, refreshing, comforting, and (yes) healthy beverage.
So if any of you readers would like to share you photos, graphics, poems, or prose on the subject of coffee, please join me on Thursdays. I’ll try to post very early in the day, and then you will have that whole week (until the next Thursday) to post your own response and hop over to my post for that week to leave your link in a comment window. And, of course, if you miss a week, we’ll be posting on the same subject again the following Thursday.
So let’s get started. My inaugural post is below. I’m eager to see some of yours. And while you’re working on that, have a cup of coffee on me.
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Share Your World February 27, 2017 – by Guest Blogger Mariah Jacoby
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Disclaimer: The following is a blatant advertisement:
I decided I’d do something different this week: Instead of answering Cee’s questions as myself, I’m giving a guest blogger the opportunity to answer. Cee keeps telling us to just have fun with this challenge and even let our alter ego answer if we like. So meet Mariah Jacoby, the heroine in my inspirational romance Everything’s Jake. Here’s Mariah’s take on this week’s Share Your World.
Question # 1: Ever ran out of gas in your vehicle?
Are you kidding? Really? Never! But, of course, you may not realize that I’m an auto mechanic. I didn’t start out to be. But after two college degrees in journalism and education — and a host of jobs that I just couldn’t fit into — I finally admitted to myself that I’m just a grease-monkey at heart. I love cars, trucks, vans, and busses. Anything with an engine that purrs when it’s happy makes me happy. And, in reference to the question at hand, why, I’d never forget to put gas in a car anymore than I’d forget to eat. So — I guess the short answer to that question is — No.
Question # 2: Which are better: black or green olives?
Now, that’s a hard one. I love both. I enjoy the smooth, sweetness in the black olives, but sometimes I crave something salty, and you can’t beat the green olives for that, especially since they add just the tiniest bitter bite along with the brine. I especially love olives on pizza. Neil Warner and I have been having pizza together every Friday night for the past month — when we work on the books for his auto repair business. It’s sort of like a non-date, which I hope will eventually get us to a date date — if you know what I mean. But that’s all in the book.
Question # 3: If you were a great explorer, what would you explore?
Chrysler Manufacturing plant, General Motors manufacturing plant, Toyota manufacturing plant, and Neil. Oooops, I guess that didn’t come out exactly right. What I mean is that I’d like to get to know Neil even better — learn what all makes him happy and sad, what his dreams are, what I can do to be number one in his life. He’s probably someone you’d consider just an ordinary guy: late thirties, slightly overweight, kind eyes, a mega-watt smile — and he looks sexy in his green coveralls with a dab of grease on his chin. (sigh). I think I fell half in love with him the first day I met him because he was so kind to me, giving me a chance to prove myself even when he knew he was taking a chance where his business reputation was concerned. Yep, I think I’d like exploring that man more than anything else.
Question # 4: Quotes List: At least three of your favorite quotes?
I’m going to share just one quote: It’s my favorite of all time:
“To thine own self be true.” (William Shakespeare as the character Polonius in Hamlet)
I’ve finally followed that advice. One day, after a horrible relationship failure, I got up from my bed where I had lain for an hour bawling, looked into my bathroom mirror, and got real with myself. I said, “All right, so maybe you’re not a femme fatale who can bring men to their knees. But you’re a gentle, kind, loving, hard-working woman of God. And, dang it, girl! You’re also the best darn mechanic that this town has ever laid eyes on!” (Everything’s Jake, p. 89).
That’s when I really started enjoying my life completely, and that’s also when I opened the door to the love relationship I’d wanted my whole life.
Bonus Question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
I’m grateful I discovered the truth about Carter Sanford and what he wanted from his relationship with me. And in the weeks to come, I’m looking forward to becoming the one woman Neil Warner can’t live without.
If you’d like to find out how successful I am in that endeavor, be sure to read my story. You can find it in paperback or digital at Amazon.
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Silent Sunday 2/26/17
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