Toothless

I have a cat.

He thinks he's a dragon.

That probably happened when I named him after a dragon and continually call him a dragon.

And to be honest with you, I got him because he looks like a dragon.

Dragon mode activated.

He can't breathe fire...

Yet.

I fear for the day when he figures out how. The house will never be the same.

For some reason he thinks I make a good climbing post.

This climbing post disagrees.

Picture from Google Images
I tried to find one of him curled up... but I could not scroll past this!

He's very distracting when I try to write.

It's probably because I am giving the flat, glowing box more attention than I'm giving him. But it's okay. It's very easy for him to walk across the bottom flat part to get my attention back to him where it belongs. He usually doesn't like being put on the floor when that happens, though.

Have you heard about the time where he laid on my keyboard and managed to lock it somehow? Google said pulling the battery would fix it. It did. I don't leave my laptop open on the table anymore, just in case.

Sometimes, he just sits on the table or couch next to me and watches while I write. Or disappears all together.

My dad suggested I write a children's book series about him. I rather like the idea, the problem is, I know very little about writing children's books. I also have a hard time imaging the adventures he would get into, considering he spends around 22 1/2 hours a day sleeping, 1 1/4 hours staring out the window, and the last 15 minutes is total time spent running frantically around the house.

For now, he'll just be my furry little mascot, annoying at the worst possible times, and adorable 100% of the time.

A Book Well Traveled

Picture by Debbie Tung.Me too.

I was one of those kids who always had a book with them. If I was leaving the house, I had a paperback clutched in my hand or a hardcover tucked unto my purse. Even if we were simply driving from our house in the country the nine miles to town for ice cream, I took a book.

I always had at least one novel stuffed into my book bag when I left for school because the 30 minute bus ride was just another half an hour I got to read. If my life was a movie, the other kids would've picked on me and tried to steal my book and called me a nerd, but my busmates were pretty cool. They just did their own thing and left me alone...

Except that one time a girl in the class above me told me to put a foil gum wrapper on a filling. Still makes me cringe in pain. But she didn't do this because I was reading, it was because I was an underclassman who she could pick on.

I digress.

My reading-in-the-car problem was probably the reason that I didn't know how to get a lot of places once I started driving. I was lost in the pages of a book rather than paying attention. That, and my shoddy sense of direction (thanks Mom).

One of the hardest decisions for my young mind to make while packing for a trip was how many books was enough to last the whole time I was away from home but not so many that I couldn't lift my bag.

Picture from Bushwick
That looks familiar.

I have books that are better traveled than some people my age. Some have gone to New York with me for family Christmas, one or two went to Mexico with me on a Girl Scout trip, at least one traveled to Toronto by bus with me to see the Pope, to Colorado/Missouri/Kansas/Wyoming to visit my sisters, dozens went to college in South Dakota with me, then home to Nebraska, then back to college- two dorm rooms, three apartments, and a house later they wait for their next adventure.

In the days before iElectronics, texting, and in-the-car DVD players (I realize that I just dated myself and it is happening more frequently with each passing year), my parents encouraged my siblings and I to bring books, travel activities, and pillows with us. And with a car full of four young girls, any trip more than 20 minutes was too long without distractions.

I realize now, it was for their sanity, not us.

My apologies. That was extremely mean to say about my parents. I am going to be doing so many dishes to pay for it the next time I go home.

Encouraging reading was just something my parents did and I thank the Lord everyday that they did. But I'll sing their literary praises in a different post.

Over the years, I have lost the need to carry a book with me everywhere all the time. It kind of happens when you are the one driving rather than being allowed to be an oblivious passenger. That, and all of the adult stuff I have to carry in my purse doesn't leave much room for a paperback let alone a hardcover.

Plus, wallets and flashlights, lotion bottles and knives tend to beat the heck out of a book. I have so many that went into my purse slightly loved and came out looking like they just went ten rounds with Ali, the neighbor's new Great Dane puppy. (There isn't really an Ali the puppy, but you know what I mean)

This book was pristine when it started living in my purse, poor thing.
(Not visible: the mental scars left by a heavy, blinged-out wallet)

I do make exceptions, though.

If I happen to be in the middle of a book that absolutely sucks me in, I might throw it in my purse to read over my lunch hour. Then I have to deal with being late back to work because I lose track of time and the inevitable haze that I get stuck in for the following hour because I want nothing more than to get lost in the story once again.

What about iPads and Kindles and Nooks, oh my?!

E-readers have definitely made traveling with books much easier. Instead of having to worry about making your suitcase so heavy you can't lift it, you can just throw a Kindle or iPad in your bag and tote thousands of books with you at less than a pound total.

It's not the same as a real book (I'm not a book snob, I'm really not!).

I have an iPad that I have a hundred or so books on. It goes everywhere with me. And e-readers are significantly lighter and hold more books and plastic holds up to abuse a little better than paper...

Still not the same.

Books are Immortality

As I approach the anniversary of 30 years stumbling around in this earth pretending to know what I'm doing, thoughts about my own mortality come more frequent. Although, I plan to live forever (so far, so good), it's probably time for me to come to grips with it.

Then this showed up on my Facebook newsfeed:

Photo found here
Beautiful... but depressing.

That can really get a person thinking. How many people have come before us that nobody remembers. It's like they cease to exist as soon as the last person who knew about them leaves this life. Then, the cycle continues.

It scares me and it fascinates me.

This is probably a factor in why I love history so much. When you learn about the past, it is keeping the people who came before us alive.

The ancient Egyptians believed that as long as your name is spoken, your soul will exist after death. That is why they carved their names in stone and written in stories everywhere. It helped ensure their names would be spoken for generations and they would continue to live.

"Some day soon, perhaps in forty years, there will be no one alive who has ever known me. That's when I will be truly dead-when I exist in no one's memory. I thought a lot about how someone very old is the last living individual to have known some person or cluster of people. When that person dies the whole cluster dies, too, vanishes from the living memory. I wonder who that person will be fore me. Whose death will make me truly dead?"
-Irvin D. Yalom, Love's Executioner and Other Tales of Psychotherapy

What does that have to do with books?

In a century, when I am long gone and anybody whose memory has kept me alive is also gone, I hope my books are somewhere out there, keeping me alive.

I think this is a goal of a lot of authors. We want to touch lives in a way that our words are passed down through the years, keeping a part of us alive.

But I do not want this for my sake. I am not vain enough to hope entire generations know me because I want to be known. No, I want my books to live past me for my characters. I love them so much that I hope they live beyond the time I can give them on this earth.

They are better worth remembering than the lowly author who created them.

Pray for us

I'm Catholic.

But don't worry, this post isn't about conversion or preaching.

It's about divine intervention.

Okay, not really.

It's about patron saints... well, one in particular.

Patron saints have always been an interest of mine growing up and that interest has grown in recent years. Heck, I named my car Jude Thaddeus after St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of lost causes and desperate cases.

Because it's a lemon... but beggars can't be choosers.

Anyway...

The saint that started this whole debacle of a post is the patron saint of writers/authors, St. Francis de Sales. He was your run-of-the-mill 16/17th century Frenchman born into an affluent family, destined for greatness, educated at the best schools, and handed a rich noblewoman on a gilded platter.

Photo from Google Images
Is it just me or does Francis look 1000% done?

Despite Francis's father's desire that he become a lawyer, Francis's desire to become a priest was too strong. Unlike most stories that end in in anger and disowning, Francis's father eventually supported his decision to sign his inheritance to his younger brother and join the church. With, Francis's gentle demeanor, education, and devotion to the faith, he soared through the ranks and found himself Bishop of a Calvinist Geneva (which is actually a harder gig than you would expect if you don't know anything about the Calvinist vs. Catholic war).

During his tenure within the Catholic hierarchy, Francis devoted many, many hours to writing different books about the faith. His most famous, Introduction to the Devout Life, was written specifically for laypeople, which was very unique for the time.

Photo from Google Images
This isn't where I parked my car.

There was a point in here somewhere.... I really need to start bringing a map for these adventures.

Ah yes.

Writers need all the help we can get.

My parents often advised to pray to the patron saint of a particular situation for help and guidance (I prayed to St. Anthony a lot no matter how much of a Hufflepuff I am now) so when I was struggling with writer's block, I did a little googling to find out who I needed to have a chat with. St. Francis de Sales was the guy. I don't know if having a one-sided conversation with him helped much, but it was comforting to ask for help from a being bigger than myself.

Plus, he's been dead for like 300 years so there was no embarrassment from asking for help or whining a little.

Now, I'm not saying get religion and you'll have the answers. But I don't think there is anything wrong with sending thoughts out to the universe or prayers to your deity of choice for a little guidance when things get hard.

And you know what? Writing is hard.

...And two hours later I'm reading an article on how to speak Llama

The Internet.

A wondrous invention that has brought the world to our fingertips, 'meme' to our vocabulary, and a worship of cats that would make the ancient Egyptians say "whoa, guys, rein in the crazy."

It is also the best friend and worst enemy of writers.

My sister found a llama... and I can't decide who was more
uncomfortable, her or the llama.

I can't tell you the number of times that I have gone to Google to look up one tiny detail for a story only to realize, 45 minutes later, that I am for some reason looking at pictures of the Blue Mosque when I set out to find out what year Constantinople became Istanbul.

And this isn't unusual!

Research for me has always been a rabbit hole of sorts. I learn one thing which leads me to another thing, then to another, and another, so on and so forth. The Internet just makes that easier and more dangerous considering the vast amount of information available. And those stupid "If you enjoyed this, check out this article!" links just make it worse. They're evil.

Add that the insane amount of information out there can make finding the information you're looking for impossible to find and it's amazing that anybody ever leaves the internet! I spent three days researching the cost of a saloon in Wyoming in the late 1800s and ended up learning far more about the modern housing market in Cheyenne than I've ever needed to know. That roadblock kind of put a stop on that project for a while, unfortunately. I have it stuck in my head that I can't continue with the story until I find out exactly how much the main characters paid for the saloon the book is named after.

Doesn't make much sense but it doesn't really have to.

And I wonder why I can never get any writing done.

Oh! And don't get me started on how distracting social media is... mostly because I'm sure you are well aware of it through your own experience (Unless you've been living under a rock, and if that is the case, thank you for finding and reading my blog. Not sure how you were able to under that rock, but I appreciate it.).

I've thought about shutting my wifi off while I'm writing and if I come to a spot that I need to look something up, I just write it down and mark the spot in the story. Then, set aside some time later to look everything up and plug it into the story. 

I have yet to do this for two reasons:

1) I'm worried that what I needed to look up will actually undo all of the writing I did because I was working under a wrong assumption.

2) Facebook.

What's in a name?

I've had people ask... wait, no. I don't think I've actually had anybody ask, but I'm sure there are authors out there that have had people ask how they come up with names for their characters. I have a few different ways of naming characters-some more involved than others- and any author out there reading my blog is welcome to chime in their different methods in the comments.

The least interesting way one of my characters gets named is by me just plucking a name out of thin air. This usually happens in the early stages of writing when I am just trying to furiously get ideas down on the page and more often than not, the name gets changed to something more fitting as the character develops.

A perfect example of this is Alfie Vihar, the main character of my Henchmen series. Alfie was a name I just picked because it was very ordinary and I fully intended to go back and change it into something more interesting. By the time I got done writing First Shot, the character had become Alfie, so I left it. (As for his last name, I literally made it up by rolling through the alphabet and putting syllables together... which is a way I make up names for fantasy and more than a few other last names.)

Sometimes, I name characters after other fictional characters or people I know. Although, I really try to avoid the latter. I don't want to offend people if they think I based a character on them and that character ends up being an asshole.

I named Jeremiah Gibson from the Henchmen series after Leroy Jethro Gibbs on NCIS, whom I loosely based the character on.

picture from www.fanpop.com
Leroy Jethro Gibbs: Silver Fox/Ass Kicker

The method I most often use to come up with names for my characters is by searching baby naming websites. It was kind of weird at first, what with all the sidebar ads for diapers and formula, but it is seriously one of the best ways to name characters. I already have an idea of who they are, so finding a name is fairly simple after that. Plus, I like picking names that have meaning. Sometimes, that meaning applies to the character.

For example, I have a character in my novel, Tribute, who is of Polish decent and is the Chief Justice responsible for keeping the peace. I named him Casimir which is a Polish name that means "announcing peace."

I've also done some historical research to find old names that would work for characters. Nikolai Maklakov from the Henchmen series came from two leaders in Communist Russia and many of the names for The Whiskey Widow, I found by searching for the most popular names in the 1800s.

The easiest way I find names for characters is by asking people for ideas or finding them as I go about my day. Sometimes I'll find an interesting name in an article or while I'm at work and I add it to the list I keep in my phone to use later. Gideon is a name that I've carried around for nearly a year before I found the perfect character to bare it.

The way I name characters that is the hardest to explain is that some characters come to me named already. I don't pick it. It is already so entwined with their character that it is the first thing they tell me on our adventure together. Red is the main character of a trilogy that I am in the process writing. She came to me as Red. Granted, it is actually a nickname and it took me a while and some digging through baby name sites to get her real name, but she will always be Red.

picture from http://ellawilliams.deviantart.com/art/Little-Red-Riding-Hood-393051934
Spoilers

Burke from Love Drunk and Dragon Tears is another character who came already named... which is pretty much why Lydia, the main character, couldn't think of a nickname for him, because I couldn't think of him as anything but Burke.

Naming characters is one of my favorite parts of writing. For my characters, the name helps establish ethnicity and therefore aids in how the character might look, move, and react. A character named Seamus brings to mind a man of Irish/English decent while a Phil could be any ethnicity. The names also show how important a character is going to be. If somebody has a more generic name like Sarah, the chances of them being a side character is high, while somebody who has an interesting name like Ciara, is probably going to be pretty important. That isn't a rule for literature by any means, it's just one more way I keep myself entertained while writing.

Snow Day!

My little corner of the world got hit with a pretty awesome storm system last night and into today. It is one of the biggest blizzards in recent memory,with over a foot of snow and wind gusts up to 50 mph. To give a little perspective to how bad it is, all schools are closed, the college is closed, all of the city offices are closed, they are only plowing emergency snow routes, the interstate is closed... and most surprising, Walmart is closed. It's kind of a big deal.

My front door, Monday at noon with no snow.

My back yard, Tuesday at noon with 12 inches of snow and counting.

And of course it happened on my day off. Which I'm not too upset about. I get a snow day without losing pay so that's a bonus. Plus, my roommates are snowed in with me which means Harry Potter marathon!

Which also means that I have been staring at a my computer screen trying to write in between cruising Facebook and watching movies.

In the midst of this, I have been keeping an eye on the local exchange group and the official city Facebook page and I was incredibly heartened to see how willing my neighbors are to help each other. People were offering to give free rides to nurses and emergency personnel who needed to get to work, a local coffee shop was offering free coffee all night for emergency personnel and anybody out plowing the streets, people were volunteering to scoop out drive ways and blow out sidewalks, and many people were posting humorous videos or pictures to lighten up the situation. One person even posted a picture advertising "Free Snow, You Haul."

It makes me enjoy the earthy, caring people I live around.

It also brings to mind an important part of being a writer, or any kind of artist, really.

We create stories about humanity. We have to be able to understand all sides of humans, both good and bad, in order to create well-rounded and real characters. To do this, we have to watch the people around us. Our greatest teacher about humanity is humanity itself. Sometimes, all we see is the dark, the evil, but other times, we see the good and the wonderful. Extreme situations seem to bring out the best and the worst in us.

If you are struggling with creating a character who is real, look at how real humans react in a similar situation. Heck, even Facebook can help with that. Humans are alike, no matter where they are in the world. They are capable of great compassion and great hate. Remember that when you wonder what a character would do in a situation. Think through all of the different reactions a person could have and see which one fits the character the most. They could really go either way, it is up to you to decide what kind of person they will be.

Or your character may surprise you. They may make their own path and just drag you along for the ride.