Marval Movie

Well, Dr. Gupta (from previous blog post) would be proud of me. I did something scary. I was the speaker at the Abilene Writers Guild Workshop, thanks to Sheryl Nelm's invitation.  I titled my talk "Soundtrack of a Writer" and my little snippets of tunes brought some chuckles. Best laugh from Three Dog Night's "One"  i.e. "one is the loneliest number.....NO is the saddest experience..."  Writers with rejections understand. Here I'm chatting with Ginny Green - hadn't seen her in...

Here's the grand finale from my talk.  Play the song and think about it............enjoy! 12. Seasons of Love from Rent Henry David Thoreau wrote “The author’s character is read from title page to the end.” Whether it’s a memoir, flash fiction, poetry, or a movie review – I know there’s a piece of me in the pages. Each of us is unique and as writers we share bits of ourselves through our words. As we journeyed today through soundtracks of a writer, I hope a piece caught your attention,...

Look out Katniss Everdeen from Hunger Games – you have a serious rival in this age of heroines. Beatrix in Divergent looks mild and meek in her Abnegation gray drab outfit. But her conversion to Dauntless, name change to Tris, and new workout regime has her in full fight mode.  I gave a review of the Divergent trilogy in a previous post, and I do recommend reading the books. However, the first movie is worthy and you’ll be caught up in this futuristic world.   Chicago...

Enjoyed a walk in the park yesterday for a good cause. Actually I didn't walk - I volunteered and helped at registration. But Fort Worth's Trinity Park was THE place to be. Gorgeous day. Energy and enthusiasm abounded, and hopefully funds were raised for research, wellness programs, and other ways to help folks living with MS. I have two friends whose husbands have MS. One developed it after college back in the 1980s. The other learned a year or so ago he had it and he's in his 50s. Both...

It's that time of year - April - and I'm taking the 2014 http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com as created by Alex Cavanaugh. My theme - character names. I've got the Complete List of Baby Names (editor Lesley Bolton) in reach and we shall explore the alphabet. As a rule, I've been horrible at picking names for characters. My guys always seem to be called Nick. My female names are bland.  I'm hoping this month of discovery will kick start some character development and give some oomph...

and we are off and running in the challenge. Most popular names of the 1920s - Betty for girls Betty and Barbara in the 1930s and in 2010 - Boys names with B - Benjamin, Brayden, and Brody Girls in 2010 - Brianna, Brooklyn, and Bella as for my B character names - Drat -  Beatrix is taken thanks to Divergent Thus I shall pick Blair - it's Scottish and means "from the field of battle".  This young lady will have cropped red hair, piercing green eyes, and she carries a sword...

I'm casting characters based on a name book. I tend to get bogged down in boring, so this April I'm looking at options.  Hope you enjoy my journey and feel free to pipe up with an awesome name. From the way past - my grandmother's name was Clarissa My husband's grandmother was Cleo Not a lot of those running around these days 1920s - no popular girls names.   Charles for boys 1930s - no girls.  Charles hung in there 2010 - Christopher, Christian, and Caleb for boys Chloe,...