tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10533602676992523622024-03-12T21:29:24.530-07:00MusingsI plucke up the goodlisome herbs of sentences by pruning, eate them by reading, chawe them by musing. (Queen Elizabeth I, 1603)
Why musings? Check out the OED, the roots of the word is more than meditative pondering which sounds as though I'm going to say something profound. Not so. This blog will be a place to gape and wonder, idle or loaf around, perhaps even sniff about testing the air of discussion or even hot air and it's certainly a place to stare and waste time!Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-82071141802901293752018-07-09T09:38:00.003-07:002018-07-09T09:38:37.185-07:00Learning as you goToday Carol Williams posted some great questions about "The Vehicle of Character" in her writing blog. I'm basically finished with <i>Joy to My Love</i> but sometimes I'd like to rewrite the whole thing! Not really. There are some good parts. I actually like my characters though the plot is not fast moving. So I hope the sequel and the other two books I'm working on will benefit from those questions. <br />
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I'm going to concentrate particularly on this:<br />
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<li>Make your character relatable. “I get that!” “How do you know how I feel?” “I’ve been there.” When we connect with a main character, we’re interested in sticking around. Write a list of 50 things about your main character. Now do that for each of your other major players. Think outside the box. Think backstory. Think, “Who is she, really?</li>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Bitstream Charter, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">My problem is that I want to write those 50 things and backstory! It's particularly hard when you're writing historical and you have to give explanations of the culture both from a different country and from the past! I have too many conversations giving background and I need to find another way of adding this stuff without an information dump. </span></span></div>
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Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-80019302262688887332018-06-20T10:09:00.000-07:002018-06-21T18:24:27.844-07:00House Clutter and Draft Revisions<br /><br />The last couple of months have been busy and for that reason, the house (and even the yard) have taken back seats. And so, it's time to have a declutter and tackle the weeds too. But I also need to do a final revision on Joy to My Love before I send it to a professional editor. It just seems to be dragging on and on. It's beginning to feel like clutter!<br /><br /><br /> This is the definition of clutter from Brooks Palmer, a professional organizer. I don't know where I found this (shame on me for not citing my source immediately!) but I like the philosophy. <br /><br /><br /> Clutter : things that exist in your outer life to distract you from the inner things that you're avoiding. If you avoid something, it grows.... The great thing is, the reverse is also true: when you honestly look at something, it shrinks. When you see the situation for what it is, bypassing the emotional layers that coloured it and made it into a clutter monster, it becomes simple. That's how peaceful clutter busting is. You're honestly looking at each layer of distraction, questioning the thing, letting it go, and realizing what's underneath. Looking directly at something has the power of a magnifying glass in the sun. The sun is you; the glass, your attention ~ Brooks Palmer<br /><br /><br /> As I'm so involved with revising my first novel right now, this seems to be a metaphor for revising: the distracting scenes or words, questioning meaning or relevance, deleting those words I want to hang on to, and connecting to the core of the story. AND connected to house clutter, there are all those printed pages with various comments by different critiquers and files of various drafts on my computer. For some reason, I don't seem to be able to let go of those until I've completely finished. Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-35673253324475832102018-01-22T21:10:00.001-08:002018-06-20T10:10:16.144-07:00Images of CreationThe Gospel Doctrine teacher asked the ward to send an image of creations that "blew you away." I sent a link to photos of nebula that are absolutely stunning. Here's the link to <a href="https://www.space.com/12605-50-deep-space-nebula-photos.html" target="_blank">50 Deep Space Nebula</a> And I thought of Psalm 8 that goes along with it.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">1 O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">9 O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So what does this have to do with writing? Awe of creations great and small inspires sublime words. </span><br />
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<span class="text Ps-8-9" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Right now for book group, we're reading <i>A Gentleman in Moscow, </i>a beautifully written literary novel that would drive the majority of readers at Utah Valley Writers crazy as it's extremely slow and meandering. But the language! It's no good my being jealous--I'm writing a different genre--but I'd like to have a few sublime sentences in my novel nonetheless. </span></span></div>
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Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-77152775489296721292018-01-20T11:21:00.000-08:002018-01-21T21:23:22.911-08:00Vision Board 2018So, here's what I finally ended up with for my vision board. I have it on my laptop and will print it out to put on the fridge. It's interesting that on my laptop it's usually hidden because I have other things opened on my screen. So I need to close programs every day so I'll see this first thing when I open the computer. And just that practice will give a sense of "completion" to my day. I always have "stuff to do" niggling at the back of my mind. "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." (Matt 6:34) Mindfulness seems to be a popular mantra these days. But Jesus already told us this: "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself." I'm sure He's not saying, don't plan, but fretting about tomorrow today, makes today less productive, less enjoyable.<br />
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What the different pictures/words mean: I have a lot of ordinances, especially sealings to do that have been sitting around for a couple of years or more. Writing looms large including revision and publishing, and, of course, the focus on Effie and Calum's story, hence the picture of Pittenweem. The picture of myself as a 12-year old with a suggestion for a different kind of New Year's resolution by the church. Why my 12-year old self? I look eager, happy. I was a form leader/prefect for my class and doing well in school. The other photo shows me about 20 when I was at my optimal weight. I don't expect to get down to that size at my age now, but to lose at least 10 lbs to a more healthy weight by the end of the year. And, I do need to get out into nature more frequently, even if it's just spending time in my garden, even in winter, and taking the dogs for a walk around the block! When putting this together, it was hard to get the vertical lines completely straight, but for some reason that's also inspiring in an odd way: "tell it slant" as Emily Dickinson has said.<br />
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I'm in the process of adding new links, especially to writing blogs. (I'm keeping the Science link because there may be information that could be the basis of a new story, even a historical story though I don't read it as frequently as the writing links.) I intend to use these blogs as I get ready to publish with Amazon. And, the other thing---and this is a big step for me---I'm going to share this blog more than in the past. I've given only a few people links to it but now I'm getting bolder to share thoughts, ideas, musings.<br />
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Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-18996121025646708092018-01-09T09:35:00.000-08:002018-01-09T09:48:12.807-08:00Re-VisionI'm in the process of putting together a Vision Board instead of a list of resolutions. I've been working on it on and off for the past couple of weeks, not really knowing what direction to take. I do need to cover family, friends, family history, and, of course, writing. I often feel overwhelmed with things--though why I should since retirement from work has released me to do things at my own pace--which is why a vision board appeals to me instead of feeling guilty about not keeping those good resolutions.<br />
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Today I read the email from the English Department for English majors--something I rarely do---and a short admonition from Lance Larsen, now Chair of the Department, resonated with me. He shared a poem by a Norwegian poet, Olav Haugue, that came to him as he impulsively picked up a book from his shelf, not having read it through. I don't know if this is plagiarism, but I'm going to share the poem and his thoughts because it's what I needed to hear/feel now today. I've included the poem in my vision board because it relates to writing, revisions . . . re-visions . . . not just for today but for the whole year.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizP2xrV4-a-fXdtoRyTWykO76RXtRwQSZqvo91oLGLQpPDBjJKFNeCCdHMNGTwvn32t9LRCSZgMm2Xr2uBNOdBSIe0WU5TMRu5kyQguH5xI4nSp7sKSwOP-a6LXqk6XAAMEOTUVDdiiQ/s1600/hummingbird.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="72" data-original-width="72" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizP2xrV4-a-fXdtoRyTWykO76RXtRwQSZqvo91oLGLQpPDBjJKFNeCCdHMNGTwvn32t9LRCSZgMm2Xr2uBNOdBSIe0WU5TMRu5kyQguH5xI4nSp7sKSwOP-a6LXqk6XAAMEOTUVDdiiQ/s200/hummingbird.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="background-color: #fafafa; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;"><i>Don’t Come to Me with the Entire Truth<br /><br /><span id="m_395498767993854324OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION">Don’t come to me with the entire truth.</span><br />Don’t bring the ocean if I feel thirsty,<br />Nor heaven if I ask for light;<br />But bring a hint, some dew, a particle,<br />As birds carry drops away from a lake,<br />And the wind a grain of salt.</i><br /><br />(translated by Robert Bly)<br /><br /><span id="m_395498767993854324OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION">We might consider this a revision, or at least an updating, of Dickinson’s savvy advice: “Tell all the truth but tell it </span></span><span id="m_395498767993854324OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION" style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #656565; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;"><span style="color: black;">slant</span><span style="color: black;">— Success in Circuit lies.” She ends her own thimble-sized poem with these plain but oracular words: “The Truth must dazzle gradually / Or every man </span><span style="color: black;">be</span></span><span style="background-color: #fafafa; font-size: 12px;"><span id="m_395498767993854324OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION" style="font-family: "helvetica";"> blind.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: "helvetica";"> </span></span><br />
Lance went on to show how this idea relates to students' studies. We often want some great truth or knowledge to find us. But sometimes, it's the little things that shake us to the core. He went on to say: "Nibble, experiment, explore. And let this new alertness leaven all aspects of your life. Who knows, perhaps that thing you most need is already within your grasp, as it was with me." This idea seems to relate to a phrase about ordinary things. I can't seem to come up with it at the moment . . . on the tip of my tongue . . . on the edge of my mind. I can almost "see" it written down on the page. Ecstacy of ordinary things? No. I can't quite conjure it up. I'm sure it was a poet who said it, though my mind's eye sees in in a piece of prose. But in trying to find the quotation, I came across this poem which is lovely. I just need to read more poetry which distills experience to its essence.<br />
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The Patience of Ordinary Things<br />
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Pat Schneide<span style="background-color: #fafafa; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">r</span><br />
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It is a kind of love, is it not?<br />
How the cup holds the tea,<br />
How the chair stands sturdy and foursquare.<br />
How the floor receives the bottoms of shoes<br />
Or toes. How soles of feet know<br />
Where they're supposed to be.<br />
I've been thinking about the patience<br />
Of ordinary things, how clothes<br />
Wait respectfully in closets<br />
And soap dries quietly in the dish.<br />
And towels drink the wet<br />
From the skin of the back.<br />
And the lovely repetition of stairs,<br />
And what is more generous than a window?<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">From <i>Another River: New and Selected Poems</i> (Amhert Writers and Artists Press, 2005) </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fafafa; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span>Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-59547565638141882612017-04-23T19:37:00.004-07:002017-04-23T19:37:52.911-07:00On Writing BiographiesI've been trying to write four biographies: my two grandmothers and Peter's grandmothers. It's been slow going. Part of the problem is having to scan old photos that had been lying around for years, especially those from Peter's side of the family; I don't have that much, especially on Mary Rees, my father's mother. Then comes certificates and dates and places some of which I have because of doing family history/genealogy for years. And those were a mess because I had to redo my filing system after getting new carpets and the files and contents got out of order and I didn't have time to refile things in order.<br />
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After looking through a plethora of photos, I had to decide on which ones to use to represent that person's life. And then I needed to fill in the gaps with historical and geographical information because our ancestors did not live in a vacuum but were affected by their immediate surroundings, politics, and international events as we are today.<br />
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I thought I'd finished but then a new piece of information pops up and I decide to add that. And so the biographies don't get finished. It comes to a point where I have to stop and say, "That's it; it's the best I can do." When I decided this I had déjà vu of the time my thesis committee told me that my thesis was good and sufficient and I wanted to tweak and add more things. "No," they kept saying. "You're done. It's fine." I need to remember that experience more frequently to help me finish stuff.<br />
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(It's not just the biographies but also the novels I'm writing. They've been read multiple times and revised multiple times. I could go on <i>ad infinitum</i>. Though I've got a few more things to fix in Effie's story, I'm at the point of contacting a copy-editor to read the first in the series then I can move on to the sequel. I think knowing when to call it quits and know that you've done your best, makes the difference between people who write and never publish or don't even share their writings, and those who get published or self-publish.)<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I3W7rQxMh0E/VVrHoisjvNI/AAAAAAAAF8U/tZzEtPAanRcofjZXRPFsKt83249zYIN_gCPcB/s1600/1913%2Bpietro%2Banna%2Betc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I3W7rQxMh0E/VVrHoisjvNI/AAAAAAAAF8U/tZzEtPAanRcofjZXRPFsKt83249zYIN_gCPcB/s320/1913%2Bpietro%2Banna%2Betc.jpg" width="223" /></a>I need to get some people to read the biographies; only part of them have been read by others. And then, I'll put the finishing touches and add all the photos, etc. <br />
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I suppose if I did want to add things later, I could do a "2nd edition" in print, but if I also publish an e-copy, which Blurb gives me the option to do, I can add or change things afterwards. But I want to start on new biographies of my father and father-in-law so unless something major comes to light for the four grandmothers, I'm done.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y-GvowX62r0/WP1kFnuUaCI/AAAAAAAAPB0/PEmaeVeFrmQzGs-iupzrEBsP99wZzzrQgCPcB/s1600/bonthrone%2Bgirls%2Bsepia.tif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ot8NEejOWLU/WP1kT-rDRsI/AAAAAAAAPB8/oYSzvzRBWL4TBo70Xu09nHVEXW_9JvtlACPcB/s1600/1901%2Bruffell%2Bfamily.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ot8NEejOWLU/WP1kT-rDRsI/AAAAAAAAPB8/oYSzvzRBWL4TBo70Xu09nHVEXW_9JvtlACPcB/s320/1901%2Bruffell%2Bfamily.jpg" width="320" /></a><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y-GvowX62r0/WP1kFnuUaCI/AAAAAAAAPB0/PEmaeVeFrmQzGs-iupzrEBsP99wZzzrQgCPcB/s320/bonthrone%2Bgirls%2Bsepia.tif" width="251" /><br />
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Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-17446829125960518522016-10-27T17:48:00.000-07:002016-10-27T17:48:07.493-07:00Love Among the RuinsI don't know why I'm more embarrassed to share the contemporary romance novel than the historical romance with Utah Valley Writers (UVW). The historical romance has taken a lot of research and is more serious in tone so it seems a more "worthy" genre as though romance is a sappy, easy-to-write genre; it's not. The first chapter I shared with the two Michelles didn't go well. They had some good comments and I fixed their concerns. The main problem was that I was not connected to the characters. I keep changing their names for one thing. Once I settle on a name it's as though they come to life for me and I can visualize them better. Last Thursday I dared to take the first chapter to UVW and it was generally well received. I do need to do some tweaking, but not a lot. So, while I'm reading Michelle Stoddard's manuscript and editing Effie's story, I'll return to LATR as a little break. One of the people at the critique table has several unfinished novels and that seems to be the way it is for others too. Ideas come faster than the writing and we don't want to lose the idea so we begin writing a new book. But, the important thing is that we actually finish a manuscript.<br />
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I'm impressed with Shaela Odd who I met through UVW. She has published two books already through Amazon publishing. I'm also impressed how well she is promoting her book. Most writers seem to want to publish with bona fide publishing companies and that really is more prestigious. But I want to be like Shaela and have something published! I honestly can't be bothered going through writing pitch letters, though it is a good exercise. I've only done one for the Pitch Wars contest so I really haven't tried very hard. Part of my reasoning is that Effie's story is a cross between a historical novel and a historical romance and publishing companies are more likely to publish something that fits a particular genre. I've decided to finish the edit and get it looked at through the agent who read my pitch and first chapter. I wasn't chosen by her, but she has a professional writing service in Los Angeles and offered a discounted service. I'd like to get feedback from professionals and then go from there. Then I will get a copy edit done and publish it through Amazon. That's the plan. <br />
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<br />Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-73407995510244332042016-10-27T17:46:00.002-07:002016-10-27T21:08:26.142-07:00Reading Good BooksThey say that reading good books helps you become a better writer. I used to think that. But now as I am trying to write, I get more discouraged when I read well-crafted books. I think my writing is pretty bad compared to others. Of course, I haven't seen the work that went into a book before its final copy and publication. What I am battling against is the boring prose and hackneyed phrases that seem to pour out of me.<br />
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For example, trying to "show" not "tell," trying not to use adverbs (Stephen King's idea), showing emotion without using the world "feel." I can't seem to come up with adequate substitutions and continue to use the same old stuff: the clenched fist, the tears, the sigh, etc.<br />
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For Book Group tonight we're discussing <i>All the Light We Cannot See</i>. It's such a moving and beautifully written book so when I come back to my own manuscript, it is so ho hum. Of course, I'm not setting out to write a literary novel or set it in WW2 and the natural conflicts that arose, but even with the genre I'm writing it feels shallow.<br />
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I've been having a hard time getting to edits. My post on procrastination tells it all. But I had a breakthrough last night. I was reading over the scenes where Effie talks with her mother who explains about her rape. It occurred to me in the middle of the night (I was having one of those sleepless nights) that I could just leave all of that out. I never felt comfortable with it anyway because the way I wrote it felt forced and puts Maggie, the victim in a worse light than the man who deflowered her. It also seems repetitive after the conversation Effie had with Elspeth Mackie who gave background about Maggie. I also decided to have Maggie die and not meet Effie. It felt forced again when I had her worrying about whether she should associate with her mother who had fallen to the lowest of the low in society and balance Effie's new rise in society as Vandemark's protegé and heir. Duh! I mean to say, that's a no brainer. Why would she even think about this, except that she wants to do the right thing. But, I think I'm going to keep the half-brother and bring him into the second book. (If I ever finish this one!)<br />
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When I made that decision and started rewriting that part, it felt as though a weight was lifted off. It will make the book more cohesive. I'm also going to beef up the romance and interactions between Effie and Calum. I've found some great information on physicians in the navy during that period and how they sketched and collected plants. This will also fit in well with Effie's discovery of the herbal book so they can have a conversation about that. So more romance, less angst.<br />
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I've also decided to shorten the title from Joy to the Person of My Love, though I love the "antique" feeling of this title. I think I'll call it Joy to My Love, but I may come up with something else that describes the book better though the song is about unrequited love which Effie experiences.<br />
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<br />Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-38068439499106005592016-09-21T17:24:00.000-07:002016-10-27T21:09:54.873-07:00ProcastinationI've been reading others' manuscripts and putting finishing touches to the contemporary romance which needs a lot of work. But that's been an excuse because I have not felt like visiting my manuscript again to do the edits. I don't know why. It's as though the longer I am away from it the more insecure I feel about it. But, once I start reading it again, I begin to have a little confidence that this is a book worth publishing . . . at least in my mind!<br />
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I need to get back to Effie's story and just finish editing it. I want to send it to Jennie Nash's editing company and take up the offer of a discount from the Pitch Wars contest. I know I already have great feedback from my critique group, but I would like to see what feedback I get from a professional organization. Mostly out of curiosity. I am probably going to self-publishing mostly because I don't want to spend more time on the manuscript and so I can get on with book 2. I want to start book 2 with NaNoWriMo this November so I need to get going on the edits! But gardening and harvesting vegetables, etc. is keeping me from the manuscript. The next couple of days it will be rainy, so I won't be tempted to do gardening. But I do have a writing conference to attend on Friday and a meeting with the Saturday Morning group for afternoon tea.<br />
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The next step is to get a copy editor and I'm not sure about who to contact. I have lots of people I could ask but it depends on if they have the time.. Even after finishing a manuscript there's still lots to do before the final product appears. With luck I should get it out on Amazon by the beginning of December. Christmas presents anyone?<br />
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<br />Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-13094573531949713362016-08-07T09:10:00.000-07:002016-08-07T09:10:32.561-07:00Sunday Writing<div class="tr_bq">
On Sundays I take a rest from writing novels, but I still write or at least research for family histories and biographies. </div>
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In the past few years when I attend family history/genealogy conferences, I attend the presentations on writing. My expertise on research in finding ancestors is pretty good after all these years and writing is where my interests lie right now. Below are several snapshots I took of presentations. (I'll need to find who the presenters were and cite them.) Many of these ideas are great overlaps for writing novels, especially historical fiction. And, of course, these will be used in the family history class I'm teaching at church. [Aaargh! I'm frustrated that Blogger doesn't give me table options like a website so some of these slides are in weird places.]<br />
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1 August 2014<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw8Kva2YdQwAXS8amudhjcCkRDcOlEs2D73oEIP65cdgERmekEMtzu-VgPXb8WW4_-yJ-Qwg41WalTMJFXgPG5FBUuYRTdjquOJNIp8I0MTzaYvNWHFaVhdG316nnnLO6toiooUmL1mg/s1600/stories+move+in+circles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw8Kva2YdQwAXS8amudhjcCkRDcOlEs2D73oEIP65cdgERmekEMtzu-VgPXb8WW4_-yJ-Qwg41WalTMJFXgPG5FBUuYRTdjquOJNIp8I0MTzaYvNWHFaVhdG316nnnLO6toiooUmL1mg/s200/stories+move+in+circles.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtfHrdCjJ9HwMS20NT67zPx4rP4iTtoNS6ihmq5Mq_bT6nBaB6gbLUf5BnWk2cdpowEh4GwDZDMlZeUXQLolxzQzUEIfbtarBKGtU5LxFfnzaqcNBcHYqbFrbamvCVbLJWABbR_BO1-w/s1600/2014+8+1+power+of+story.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="display: inline !important; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtfHrdCjJ9HwMS20NT67zPx4rP4iTtoNS6ihmq5Mq_bT6nBaB6gbLUf5BnWk2cdpowEh4GwDZDMlZeUXQLolxzQzUEIfbtarBKGtU5LxFfnzaqcNBcHYqbFrbamvCVbLJWABbR_BO1-w/s200/2014+8+1+power+of+story.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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1.Pick one person, event or location<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirqG2GcOXJX61LXgGAlKIcOsqm3SnCNM-SjlXphP_La-dc6504Ro8eoLJRft1sitqGD2kXTz8LVVIoPXRwi2TcgjcDDrERRopzo6q5aRKFiwZtepIQ7Gl2u96mi639xSVoDSKnkD1oBw/s1600/2014+8+1+storyboarding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirqG2GcOXJX61LXgGAlKIcOsqm3SnCNM-SjlXphP_La-dc6504Ro8eoLJRft1sitqGD2kXTz8LVVIoPXRwi2TcgjcDDrERRopzo6q5aRKFiwZtepIQ7Gl2u96mi639xSVoDSKnkD1oBw/s200/2014+8+1+storyboarding.jpg" width="200" /></a></blockquote>
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2. Create a story board</blockquote>
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3. Make a powerful beginning and end</blockquote>
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4. Stay focused</blockquote>
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5. Doesn't have to be perfect---just share it.</blockquote>
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In writing the biographies of the four grandmothers I'm in the middle of writing, I didn't have a lot of stories about them, especially my Welsh grandmother, Mary Rees, so had to glean stories from documents and bring in historical facts and events. In writing the historical novel, I used names and events from census records and other documents I came across, especially the Kirk Sessions. In fact, it was through these sessions that a plot evolved.<br />
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Not only do characters in a story evolve and change, but we do too. I like the idea of being a character in my own life, it not only gives a new perspective on events, but also helps me see patterns and decisions that changed my life in so many different ways. Last year the focus at RootsTech seemed to be on writing stories that help families, especially children become more resilient. Research shows that if children know their family histories, they are better able to deal with hard things they are going through. One of the main speakers at the event was Bruce Feiler who wrote an article in the NYT: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/fashion/the-family-stories-that-bind-us-this-life.html?_r=0" target="_blank">"The Family Stories that Bind Us."</a><br />
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This is a hard one. How much do you reveal in a autobiography or biography. I know the trend is to "tell it all, warts and all" but is that productive in the end? For example, I've heard a few stories about our grandmother from my cousin, Jane, and there's one story that I'm trying to decide whether to include in the biography or not. A lot of the stuff I have about her is sort of negative already: she was a difficult person, and to be fair, it seems like it's the negative things that are remembered. "The good is oft interred with the bones" said Marc Anthony in the play, <i>Julius Caesar.</i> So do I add the story that as soon as Grandpa died, she threw his pipe and smashed it saying "Well, that's him gone"? And yet, by other accounts she loved him deeply. It's about changing. She was a different person at age 74: bedridden, bitter, confined, lonely, except for her unmarried daughter, Elsie. Unconsciously, I included her as a character in my historical novel, not so much with the interaction with the protagonist, but the idea of a bitter, sickly old woman with a mean tongue. Perhaps in telling hard things it makes a difference how you frame it.<br />
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But this slide, also is very hopeful in that if there are hard things in your life writing them down helps somehow to diffuse the terrible memories, even if you never share them and destroy them; you never get to that safe place. It is a technique used in psychology: write down your resentments against a person making them concrete, not vague. Read them aloud, one by one, and then destroy them one by one by shredding or setting on fire. I tried it when I was having continual years-past issues with my mother. It is cathartic, empowering, and helps you love that person better without that barrier of self-preservation. You feel safe.<br />
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Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-13711912245579539812016-08-06T23:32:00.000-07:002016-08-06T23:32:09.222-07:00Pantster or PlotterPeople want to categorize writers into the either/or pantster or plotter, but I seem to be a hybrid. And, truth be told, I think that is the norm. For a historical novel you need to be a plotter if you are going to have a credible historical setting. But, I then discovered NaNoWriMo which helped me finish the historical novel. And for that I became a pantster with ideas flowing one after the other and sometimes random scenes that came to mind. Though I kept the ending in mind, I came up with a few surprises. But, I made a spreadsheet of chapters to make sure that the plot was falling into place. Several times I moved chapters back and forth as the storyline developed and I need to be a plotter for that.<div>
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For fun, I wrote a romance novel. It started off with a vague premise but I challenged myself to do a Camp NaNo in July and the book is basically finished and all by the seat of my pants! I had a hard time starting mostly because I couldn't "see" my characters. But once I had a better idea of them, the story grew and I began to like the characters. At first I didn't. That surprised me. </div>
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A blog I saw on Facebook shared by a neighbor about having more women protagonists was interesting. There are apparently more male protagonists though the romance genre seems to center on female protagonists and their POV. But, even then, the female protagonist's interests and focus are on men! How to get your man! So there's always going to be a strong male character in the story. One thing I have a hard time doing is getting inside the male psyche without making him a stereotype. I guess it comes with practice. </div>
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Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-66718334017077572522016-08-04T09:53:00.000-07:002016-08-07T09:19:41.858-07:00Digital Storytelling: An Application of Vichian TheoryWhen you finish a thesis you're just so relieved to finish that you never look at it again. At least I haven't. And you expect it to just lie on the shelves of the university library with maybe a few eager students stumbling over it almost by accident as they do research for a class paper. But, with the option of an electronic version of the theses/dissertations, the readership becomes world wide.<br />
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As my thesis is on the ScholarsArchives website at BYU, I get an email periodically telling me I've had more downloads; I usually get at least one a month. I have a readership of 94 people so far, a lot more than I would have anticipated. Actually, there may be more readers; these 94 people actually downloaded my thesis.<br />
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I have an international readership! Of the 94 downloaders: 27 are from the USA, 8 from China, 4 from Malaysia, 3 from Canada, 2 each from the UK, Italy, Philippines, and Taiwan, 1 each from Germany, Estonia, France, Croatia, Indonesia, Iran, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia and Tunisia. I don't know why getting readership in some of these places amuses me. I think it's because they are so random in such out of the way places. I would have expected more from Italy because of Giambattista Vico, but I think the real draw is digital storytelling and its application in education as well as in social life.<br />
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Today I discovered, there are five papers where the thesis has been cited. So not only did they download it but actually quoted from the thesis. Wow! One was a dissertation by a Tunisian at the University of Victoria in Australia, two articles by people in Portugal, and two articles by people in Taiwan (they were in Chinese; I would like to know what they quoted!). All of them were writing about using digital storytelling in education.<br />
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As I am now writing fiction, eventually I hope to have a larger readership. In some respects this smaller readership of my thesis probably has more impact internationally on education systems and thus to students, though indirectly. But, fiction also can impact others if only to entertain so I'm not going to say that my novels will not impact others. Our book group was reading Maisie Dobbs, which is set in WW1; we learned a lot about WW1 and how it impacted ordinary people, more than just dry events from a history book. So fiction can be instructive too though that is not its main goal.<br />
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One thing that is better in creative writing, is that the only committee you need to face are your critique groups; they are a lot less intimidating and they are not grading you like a thesis committee. I wish I'd found out earlier that I had the aptitude to write more than academic papers, though my life was too complicated in the past. This new passion has opened up new possibilities I just hadn't anticipated. Writing fiction is a lot more fun!<br />
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<br />Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-90509698344798770792016-07-30T13:52:00.002-07:002016-07-31T07:21:10.072-07:00Joy to the Person of My Love<div>
How I came to write a historical novel: a story in itself.</div>
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<i>Joy to the Person of My Love</i> is the title of the historical novel I'm writing. It's taken from a 17th century Scottish ballad about unrequited love and I think it suits the novel. Euphemia Innes known as Effie is the protagonist in the story. I chose the name Euphemia because I came across several ancestors with this name and it seems to be peculiar to Scotland in earlier times. Little did I know at the time that Sir Walter Scott had a heroine called Effie in his novel, <i>The Heart of Midlothian</i>. So Effie seems to be a good name for a protagonist.<br />
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As mentioned in an earlier post, it began through my researching family history. What stories can we put together from the list of names on a census record or the stories of village life in a Kirk Session, a sort of ecclesiastical court in the Presbyterian church? The church was very prominent in the lives of the villagers with people, mostly women, being brought before the session to confess to having sexual relations outside of marriage.<br />
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A session helped clarify the parentage of one daughter in an ancestor's household. She was listed as a daughter in census records but I couldn't find her birth records. Through the kirk sessions I found she was actually the illegitimate daughter of my great great grandfather by another woman. The woman must have died, because the wife, Margaret Brown Mitchell, ended up raising her along with her 11 legitimate children. Usually an illegitimate child is brought up by the grandparents, so I don't know the reason why Isabella ended up in her father's household. In fact, not only did Margaret raise her husband's child, but also three illegitimate grandchildren. The two daughters went on to marry other men but, as seems to be the case at that time, the new husband did not want to raise another man's child. And this happened even a generation later, even for the son through a legal marriage whose father had died; no blended families in those days. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Overlooking Pittenweem</td></tr>
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I wondered what was it like to be illegitimate in a small community in the 1800s. Rather than fictionalize this history, I decided to set a fictionalized story in the village where my grandmother was born. And, of course, I dramatized things a lot more. But from research on the village, added the idea of a war conflict that would affect the protagonist after reading that John Paul Jones bombarded nearby Anstruther in 1779. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittenweem" target="_blank">Pittenweem</a>) I needed one of the characters to be press ganged so chose the 1812 war with America because press gangs were more prevalent at that time and, in fact, were one of the reasons that America declared war on Britain. So the story grew from church records, the history of the village itself, and the history of the 1812 war. </div>
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Superstition seems to be deeply ingrained in the Scottish psyche, especially in fishing villages where the men were subjected to dangers from the sea. My mother and grandmother were particularly superstitious about certain things: no white flowers in the house, stirring the porridge widdershins (anti-clockwise), etc. Pittenweem had several witch hunts over the years. The last witch, <a href="http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/The-Pittenweem-Witch-Trials/" target="_blank">Jean Cornfoot</a>, met a terrible death. So I brought in an element of superstition to add to Effie's burden of illegitimacy. I also included a little bit of the power of second sight; it seems to be quite common in Celtic lands though it was hard to convey that the protagonist didn't have strong psychic powers to turn the story into a fantasy; you know, just your normal premonitions. </div>
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One thing that readers have a hard time with is the language. I chose to write in modified Scottish dialect, not too broad, but able to be understood easily. Since part of the story focused on the protagonist's becoming more educated, I wanted to have a difference in language between the common folk and the more educated. However, there were sometimes words that people had a hard time understanding. (I hope only at first!) Wynd is one example. It's a small alleyway that in Pittenweem goes from the High Street down to the harbor. Pittenweem and most of the Fife villages are built on slopes with everything converging onto the harbor. Wynd is not just a term used in the fishing villages of Fife but in other places such as Edinburgh. You'd think the alleyways would be winding, but they're not. There are also closes, little courtyards that can be glimpsed through tunnel-like passageways. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Monastery ruins attacked by Vikings<br />
in 800 AD</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglgBdHhVf_jXYqLsGfslkW7ODhpJcb4jKKD88BpU6EGdYZqy3tMpTBgvKzz35IHXROX2m_F2eSXxHWvCtCcMTFOWECwg9NdK2p-XoiV7DE0iR4h4HQSkRLCh3SlYUkkJUEIFo9jiVMRA/s1600/may+kirkhaven+harbor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglgBdHhVf_jXYqLsGfslkW7ODhpJcb4jKKD88BpU6EGdYZqy3tMpTBgvKzz35IHXROX2m_F2eSXxHWvCtCcMTFOWECwg9NdK2p-XoiV7DE0iR4h4HQSkRLCh3SlYUkkJUEIFo9jiVMRA/s200/may+kirkhaven+harbor.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8BFr8UJVf99lgGTyKxClG_fXWVpa76u1joyaKKbGtTcQkHr47UfhLO3_Aa43HDNV34WnMQwilDLwdwrCOoqljZnZpzbcpOndeAEvxqvStxRy5Nv3VcGqLayqOqL07GFaTkx0d5oITsQ/s200/may+seaview.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isle of May from the boat</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_OB07qDo_XsCRou484KVMS2ge8luQa6lTe4VSkuNjWLo6LcKFEheM7oDmdmhpkkPdTzMvbHjM0wy8pAH85txSTjGtYaHbDbd2fHGMWb4l4hB1LagfuiA4IDfCbTveY1PfSbhpyFPbg/s1600/may+beacon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_OB07qDo_XsCRou484KVMS2ge8luQa6lTe4VSkuNjWLo6LcKFEheM7oDmdmhpkkPdTzMvbHjM0wy8pAH85txSTjGtYaHbDbd2fHGMWb4l4hB1LagfuiA4IDfCbTveY1PfSbhpyFPbg/s200/may+beacon.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruined beacon; it was a lot taller</td></tr>
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In writing a historical novel research gives you an "embarrassment of riches" so that it's hard not to "information dump" but to try to weave history seamlessly into the story. A couple of chapters is set on the Isle of May which has a rich history and I was tempted to information dump mostly because it's such a little known place. I spent a day roaming over the little island. It was out of season and there were only about six passengers on the boat from Anstruther so I was able to wander around on my own drinking up the atmosphere of the place. What lonely lives the lighthouse keepers led. I was hoping to see a puffin or two but they had already migrated as had most of the birds so it was quiet without the voices of seabirds and that added to the sense of isolation. There were some shags (cormorants) strung out on a rocky promontory and a flock of gannets flew over from Bass Rock. I did see a few seals but only from a distance. It's easy to research places because of Google Earth, but actually being on the island gave me a better sense of the smell and feel of the place. I would never have felt the spongy yet rocky pathways that must have come from hundreds of years of decaying vegetation.<br />
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The book needs some revisions but it's basically finished. I want to move on and start a sequel. There are still a few loose ends I need to tie up. And, because I've been so involved with Effie, Calum and Davy on and off for about four years but with full focus for about a year, it's hard to say goodbye to them.<br />
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In writing the novel, it really has given me new skills in writing the biographies, my original goal. But, I would never have thought that through this process I would actually finish a novel, start another one, and consider publication. And best of all, Serendipity: meeting new people, making new friends through critique groups and writing conferences. I thought, as I think most people think, that writing a novel is something that you do on your own---the artist in the attic---though there is an aspect of that, but really it's a community thing. I'm happy to see others in my critique groups succeed and help with critiquing their novels. And they encourage me more than they realize. Thanks: Daphne, Laura, Meg, Michelle B, Michelle S, and Mikki <br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida sans" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; line-height: 18px;">If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn’t matter a damn how you write.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: "lucida sans" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">– Somerset Maugham</span><br />
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Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-2662942309511368682016-07-25T11:14:00.004-07:002016-07-25T11:21:58.716-07:00Tea TimeA post I began in July 2010:<br />
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Last month the Readers' Knot book group decided to do an English tea. Strangely enough there have been articles about tea time one in a British edition of Country Life. It's bringing back fond memories of a cream tea at Fortnum and Masons in London, or at a out-of-the-way tea room deep in the Sussex countryside. I couldn't remember how to find those tea rooms. Brian Collins, my then boyfriend, would encountered them on trips along the meandering side roads to Bodiam Castle or en route to Rye, one of our favorite haunts. Mmm. cucumber sandwiches, Scotch eggs, scones with cream and jam, and lots of traditional English cakes. I'm looking forward to this tradition for our book group.Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-91699791177870136292016-07-25T11:09:00.002-07:002016-07-25T11:18:16.755-07:00Three Years LaterI can't imagine that three years have passed since I last wrote a post for this blog. But I have been doing a different kind of writing in the last year and a half: creative writing.<br />
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I embarked on finishing the novel I began in Cheri Earl's Honors creative writing class that I audited about four years ago. What started out as an exercise to help make the family histories/biographies I'm writing more interesting, turned into a complete historical novel. It took me a while because I stopped and started, researched---and researched some more. Ironically, the biographies are still in the process of being written, but the novel is finished thanks to my joining the Utah Valley Writers, doing the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) contest in which I finished over 50,000 words to complete the novel, and finally joining a couple of critique groups. The critique groups are encouraging and spurred me on to actually finish the novel . . . and start another one!<br />
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My experience in doing creative writing: exhilarating, frustrating, insecure-making, and, most of all, fulfilling. Gardening, reading, sewing and other hobbies, even watching favorite shows on TV, have taken a backseat to writing. (But my all consuming passion is my family; I drop writing for them!)<br />
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I now have more time to write. People ask me if I'm bored since I retired: not at all! I couldn't have done this while I was working and bringing up children; some people can do this, but not in my situation. And anyway, I didn't think I had a talent for this; academic and business writing was enough. But now writing is becoming a huge part of my day and week. What is also enjoyable is meeting budding and published writers at UVW and at conferences. I am so impressed at how many young people are writing . . . and writing good stuff!<br />
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So what turned out to be an interesting exercise has taken over my life! Now I need to just exercise my body with the same focus! But I need to do more than exercise my fingers as I sit glued to the computer screen writing!<br />
<br />Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-26341786475155390342013-05-31T21:33:00.002-07:002013-05-31T21:33:27.395-07:00RelaxationAbout four weeks ago, I retired from Brigham Young University. I had worked there for 29 1/2 years and it has been strange to be at home and not on vacation. Every day seemed like a Saturday; I kept thinking, "I need to go and buy this as tomorrow's Sunday." Then I would realize that it was only Tuesday and I could do that the next day. On Memorial Day Monday, I met Angie and Clint at Sundance where we had lunch and watched the mountain bike races. While I was sitting outside with the dogs and Angie and Clint were buying a sandwich, I had an epiphany. I was enjoying the peace and beauty of the place even though there were many people milling about. But, for once in many, many years I was not thinking about all the things I had to do at home. It seems for years as though I couldn't really be engaged and enjoy the holidays because in the back of my mind I felt I was wasting time because I had so much to do at home, an opportunity to get caught up with household chores that were often neglected because of my busy life. I realized then that for years I have not really relaxed, even on my days off. And even if I didn't accomplish much at home (I felt overwhelmed with it all even then) my focus was on chores and sometimes what needed to be done at work. Talk about a workaholic!
And now, after four years I am actually sitting down to write on this blog. The last four years have been busy with new grandchildren and visits to Scotland and to various conferences. But the worst was the last two years when I was so busy I think I was actually depressed as I felt so harried all the time. There were more and more stresses at work with conflicts with people and the workload and it wasn't until I retired that I realized how stressed I really was. Now, I am hurting from unaccustomed "hard labor" as I have been working in my garden to prepare it for the book group's annual garden party. It has really been neglected for the past two years (as has the house). That has been somewhat stressful too as some of the work that I wanted to get done---the concrete work, reconfiguring of the sprinkler system---is not going to happen before I leave on my trip to Washington. But, it will get done eventually, not just in the time frame I wanted. Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-15387371162103838452009-08-17T16:53:00.000-07:002009-08-17T16:56:59.658-07:00Using Google MapsI'm trying to use GoggleMaps to chart my trip to Fife. It's still a work in progress but here's the map so far. I will add photos when I get the time.<br /><br /><iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=105018452167713832911.000471577c9b3dfb1aecd&ll=56.269612,-2.969427&spn=0.133449,0.291824&z=11&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small>View <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=105018452167713832911.000471577c9b3dfb1aecd&ll=56.269612,-2.969427&spn=0.133449,0.291824&z=11&source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">Fife Villages </a> in a larger map</small>Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-61630120165321517462009-06-13T08:29:00.001-07:002009-06-13T08:31:45.606-07:00Gardens are not made by singingRudyard Kipling wrote "Gardens are not made by singing, "Oh how beautiful," and sitting in the shade." How true! They are a lot of work. Today I have a young man helping to dig up the masses of peppermint that has loved this rainy weather. This afternoon another group of young men with Becky Buxton will come by and help out. Gian and Andrea have helped a lot too. I suppose I could simplify and take out all the roses, etc. but it wouldn't be the English garden that brings me joy in spite of the weeds and tons of work!Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-87030523412372640762009-03-31T07:57:00.000-07:002009-03-31T08:00:17.318-07:00Debris in SpaceI heard on the news last night that there's an international conference being held in Germany on the topic of debris in space. Apparently there's bits and pieces of old satellites, etc. floating around our planet. Not only do we mess up the ground we live on but we also have to pollute space too.Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-42100578688273730872009-01-15T13:59:00.000-08:002009-01-15T14:04:51.315-08:00Hope vs grumpinessA copy of "Insight," the Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, reached my desk today. I liked the quotation from Elder Maxwell so I thought I'd share it in my blog:<br /><br />"Ultimate hope and daily grumpiness are not reconcilable. It is ungraceful, unjustified, and unbecoming of us as committed Church members to be constantly grumpy or of woeful countenance. Do we have moments of misery or some down days? Yes! But the promise is that Christ will 'lift thee up' (Moroni 9:25). The disciple can note the depressing signs of the times without being depressed. He can be disappointed in people without being offended at life. Thus it is that ultimate hope, if it does not finally dissolve our daily dissapointments, at least puts them in perspective." (Thanksgiving speech, November 26, 1980)Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-30730282913149440172008-11-13T15:40:00.001-08:002008-11-13T15:57:38.054-08:00JudgmentsTeaching is always difficult You never really know how much students are taking in until you read their papers and get back exam scores. I saw an article in <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/sci;319/5869/1493?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=archaeology&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&issue=5869&resourcetype=HWCIT">Science </a>magazine (March 14, 2008) about archaeological studies on how people learn. Although they are looking at primitive cultures, I wonder what it means for more complex cultures and what it means for students and teachers in a formal (school) setting. Maybe we're going about it wrong. And with the focus on assessment and learning outcomes right now in the universities, we are very conscious of the fact that learning doesn't always happen, or at least how we expected it to. I just finished grading another batch of papers for my first-year writing course. What students don't always realize is how hard it is to grade and how it is the most unpleasant part of teaching. No one is happy about it so why do we do it? It's the same idea of what's going on with the assessment of courses, schools, etc.---everything has to be quantified for some reason or other. I suppose value judgements are all around us in so many ways; it seems to be part of our lives. Judge not that ye be not judged! Yes, try doing that as a teacher! The only thing we can do is to be as fair as we can be.Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-12372988464615947002008-11-06T09:05:00.000-08:002008-11-06T09:40:47.577-08:00Next BlogOnce in a while, out of curiosity, I click on the link that says, Next Blog. I don't know how they categorize what Next means because the "next blog" to my Family Files blog has always been different. Anyway, today I clicked on the link and found this fashion blog. I was trying to find out what the language was and ended up typing in one of the words magazinok (magazine, I presume) and then got more links with the same strange language. I finally recognized the word, Magyar and so found out that this is a blog in Hungarian. The last entry was the most interesting with a model wearing knitted clothes that are pretty weird as far as clothing goes, but as far as art is concerned, very creative. Check it out at<a href="http://modellekesmindenmas.blogspot.com/"> http://modellekesmindenmas.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br />I also tried the next blog from this site and came up with an Italian photographer. At least I recognized the language this time! Look at the stunning photos of the carnival in Venice taken in November: <a href="http://angelobattaglia.blogspot.com/">http://angelobattaglia.blogspot.com/</a>Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-8439687719061473612008-07-11T10:33:00.000-07:002008-07-11T11:26:32.126-07:00SerendipityHorace Walpole has called serendipity<img src="http://dictionary.oed.com/graphics/parser/gifs/sp/em.gif" alt="{em}" align="absbottom" border="0" height="14" width="13" /><img src="file:///D:/DOCUME%7E1/kp3/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg" alt="" /><img src="file:///D:/DOCUME%7E1/kp3/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.jpg" alt="" />looking for one thing and finding another.<br /><br />I was looking for a quotation from Giambattista Vico when I came across a site, Think Exist that lists quotations from famous people. I discovered that my son, Gian was listed among the famous and infamous. I did a double take when I saw his name, thinking, "Wait, that can't be my son?" Sure enough it was my first-born with a quotation taken during his involvement with Provo city's ban on dancing and another about his now defunct band, Midwife Crisis. (<span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://thinkexist.com/quotes/gian_pierotti"><span style="font-size:100%;">http://thinkexist.com/quotes/gian_pierotti/)</span></a><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Another bit of serendipity came across my desk the other day when I received a flyer from BYU Faculty Center about a discussion group on Alasdair MacIntyre's book, <span style="font-style: italic;">After Virtue</span>. When I was researching for my thesis, I kept coming across various people who quoted MacIntyre. I thought I might read him someday but forgot about it until the flyer appeared. I feel as though I'm being nudged to read him so I signed up for the discussion group. It should be interesting to see what the BYU community makes of a Marxist Roman Catholic's point of view. But MacIntyre's book looks back at Platonic philosophical thought, especially that of communities. And that is what Vico concentrated on too. My thesis examined Vico's <span style="font-style: italic;">sensus communis</span> and how a community could come together in a technological world through digital storytelling.<br /><br />I recently found an article that also looks at Vico's views on community. (I hadn't come across it for my thesis, and anyway I had so much stuff I couldn't use all that I'd already found!) John Shotter of the University of New Hampshire looked at "</span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;">Vico, Wittgenstein, and Bakhtin: 'Practical Trust' in Dialogical Communities" (<a href="http://www.massey.ac.nz/%7Ealock/virtual/js.htm">http://www.massey.ac.nz/~alock/virtual/js.htm</a>).<br /><br />I was recently invited to join a Facebook group and with that venue for communication as well as blogs, what elements of Vichian theory are evident in these communities? There's food for thought, grist for research.<br /></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" ><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" > </span><o:p></o:p></span></span>Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-30571361075756887282008-06-06T10:18:00.000-07:002008-06-06T10:32:45.795-07:00PollutionWhile checking the weather for Orem for the week something I would normally not do in June because we usually have contually sunny weather, I came across a linked site called Forecast Earth. There was a good article with ideas on how to use kitchen appliances more effectively and lots of other good stories. When I travelled to Heathrow from Edinburgh, when buying the ticket there was an option of adding a pound or more to help with emissions costs. There was a debate there about air travel and the effects of emissions from airplanes. Heathrow is the busiest international airport in the world despite what the Forecast Earth says (Atlanta) and I saw a huge line of planes before and after my plane. It seemed as though the planes took off almost 2 minutes apart. Also in Edinburgh they are bringing back trams to cut down on pollution from buses, and I recently read how train lines and stations that were closed during the infamous Dr. Beeching's time (1960s) to help with costs, are now beginning to be opened to help with pollution from cars. Like the UDOT people in Utah they were surprised that people actually used the trains instead of taking cars. Hmm. Could the ordinary person be wiser than the bureaucrats? If you build it they will come or use it.<br /><br />So, as the majority of musings on this site seem to have some kind of scientific bent, I'm adding the Forecast Earth as a link on this site because we are "all involved in mankind" (to coin a phrase from John Donne) and we all play a part by the way we live and interact.<br /><br />Pollution of the earth and the environment is one thing, but there are other pollutions such as pornography, war, and other social ills that affect not just the physical but emotional, mental and spiritual health of the human family. But that's another discussion.Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1053360267699252362.post-67280418836282749042008-06-04T08:51:00.000-07:002008-06-23T15:43:41.385-07:00Preventing GenocideThere is an interesting editorial in Science Magazine about how to prevent genocides. <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/320/5880/1133">Editorial - May 30, 2008</a> Perhaps this idea can also prevent racial tensions. For example, when I was in the UK recently, I read an article in which a comment jumped out at me. People there (and in many Western countries) are facing immigration problems. The writer made the comment that decisions about how to bring in immigrants and how many are being made at the governmental level, but the people making the decisions are not actually living with the immigrants. The people who are touched directly by an influx of immigrants are the lower class people. They come face to face with people taking their jobs and making cultural changes around them. And they're not equipped to deal with this.<br /><br />I think it's easy for me to be tolerant of differences in race because I don't always have to deal with them, or they're different enough that they are interesting. Actually, I find that it's not a matter so much of race for me but of values and life style. Or maybe it's not even that. I suppose I could converse and like someone who occasionally uses vulgar language, though I wince inwardly. I think the most important thing is that they are kindly and not violent or have a complete disregard for others. There are two families in my neighborhood who do not fit in with the rest of the neighborhood because they do not value a well-groomed garden and house, use bad language, and are loud and a little obnoxious. Ironically, they seem more "difficult" for me than the Hispanic family who lived here for a while and who didn't speak English and felt threatened by having to learn the language, but seemed to "fit in" a little better. Perhaps I'm more tolerant of a more different culture such as Hispanic than what would be considered from my background, "a lower class" of people. I suppose this is my British background coloring my prejudices---class (and usually education) is my touchstone. And, if the Hispanics had been perceived as not having similar values and life styles, I would have probably been just as judgmental.<br /> And yet, I do have interaction with the neighbors who don't "fit in." I know that one family's children has benefitted from living here and it is the next generation who rises to a different level of community living. I have to examine my biases and prejudices, not just from demographics and stories of racism in the news, but with the people from all walks of life that I come in contact with. It is a matter of loving and respecting your neighbor even if you don't understand them or they have different values. But then, what does one value? There are standards for a good society to live up to; such societies need people of good will to make it work. And that leads to Greek philosophy concerning good will as expounded in Aristotle's <span><i>Nicomachean Ethics</i></span>. (An interesting article about good will can be found at <a href="http://pages.interlog.com/%7Egirbe/Good_Will.html">Good Will.</a>) Of course, this discussion can be continued in accordance with an LDS perspective: don't we believe we are children of God and therefore have sparks of divinity in us and that divinity seeks to reach for the good. But we do not stay static, we need to be using our will for good. And that's the dilemma of earth life, torn between the natural man and the divine within--we are continually making choices, good or ill. And, we cannot really understand others unless we "walk in their moccasins" for a while. I have to remember C. S. Lewis's essay, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Weight of Glory</span>, in which he asks us to look at and value our neighbors:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbour's glory should be laid on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no </span><em style="font-family: arial;">ordinary</em><span style="font-family: arial;"> people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilisations--these are mortal, . . . But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit.</span><a style="font-family: arial;" title="_ednref26" href="/cslewis/weightOfGlory.htm#_edn26" name="_ednref26">[xxvi]</a></span><br /> <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/320/5880/1133"> </a>Boireannachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12086489342679343453noreply@blogger.com0