I Want to Pull My Hair.

I want to pull each strand of my hair one-by-one. Ouch! The truth hurts, always. I have so many stories brewing in my head and I am clueless where I should begin or go next.

Yes, I understand that step number one is to sit and write. However, for me it's a little different. I use the pantser method to write short stories, but for full length novels I use a loose plot. Very loose!

I want to see my characters in my head in order to bring them to life. Right now there are a few of them jumping up and down in my head behind a curtain. I can hear their voices, but can't for the life of me see their faces. Oh I know some will say go on and write, their faces will come later. It doesn't work for me.

There are things I can't write without. Like I must have a title in order to begin a story. I have to see my characters. If the title change later on, or their names change so be it. But those are the two main things I need in order to get my muse moving.

What are some of the things you must have in order to start your writing process?

Most Recent Historical

I'm not a major fan of historical fiction, but I like some of what's out there. I have never been a major fan of history-period. Recently, I read Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez, I enjoyed this book. Though many readers were able to complete the book in one sitting, I wasn't able to. But nevertheless, I did read it from cover-to-cover.

Wench was the January BOM for my online book club. We started off the year on a good note. This is also a great way to start a writing career. Ms. Perkins-Valdez had to do a great deal of research in order to create such a believable story that took place back in the 1850s. The characters were so vivid in my mind's eye, and so was the setting. The four main characters, were slaves, that served as mistresses to their masters. During the summer, these ladies and their masters would go on vacation (well that's what I call it) and temptation takes hold of some to be free. See, the slaves came from different states in the south, where slavery was still going on. But where they went for the summer was in the north, where slavery was no more.

These women came in contact with free black people, who cooked, cleaned, and owned their own businesses. If my freedom was being kept from me because of the state that I lived in, I would want to figure a way out as well. However, Lizzie, one of the slaves, thought about the relationship she had with her master, Drayle and the lives of her children. If she escaped from slavery, she would be leaving her children behind and she couldn't fathom being away permanently from her children. I feel the way she does about her children.

Lizzie and Drayle had a different type of relationship than the other slaves and their masters. To some, Lizzie and Drayle were in love with each other, but to me Drayle was obsessed with what he found in Lizzie and not his wife. Poor Lizzie, she was blinded by naivete. I won't say too much more on her in fear of giving away the essence of the story.

The character I most connected with and could even see myself in was Mawu. She was feisty. She did not sit down and take what was given to her easily. She fought like hell. That's my type of an attitude. All I can say is thank goodness I was not born back in those days. I wouldn't have made it alive for long.

Wench made me feel sorry for some, angry with others, and at times I shuck my head in pity for the rest. I even talked a loud as if they could hear me.

You should read to find out yourself what Wench is all about. I bought this book for my reading pleasure and felt compelled to share my thoughts on it.

5 stars

Scraps in Cooking

With a title like "Scraps in Cooking" a person would think oh she's taking a little bit of this and a little bit of that to create a meal. Not really!

"Scraps in Cooking is my idea of a scrapbook with recipes. The book will have random pictures of my family and a recipe for a dish that I have either made or a family member has made and I love it. This idea came to last year, close to Christmastime, when I realized that we would not be giving out any Christmas presents, due to our financial situation. I figured why not do a quick recipe book with vegetables, entrees, and of course desserts. But with my 13yo helping me there were too many recipes she liked and time ran out.

So instead of gifting the book, I am now going to create this book with my children and pass down to them. Here is what I hope to accomplish:

1. My children will have memories to share with future generations.
2. They will also have old recipes from their childhood that they enjoyed.
3. A family tradition.

If I can get them to see how fun this can be, maybe they will continue to do the same thing with their children. I'm going to try to do one with each one of my 3 kids. But since my daughter is already 13yo, I need to hurry up with hers because before I know it she will be out of the house.

If you could do this project, what recipe would you add? If you want you can put the recipe here for others to possibly try.

Written Words

Me and words or words and I have always had a relationship. We don't always get along, but our connection to each other has always been tight. Everyone with a love for the written has their own specific reason as to why.

The written word for as far back as I could remember has provided me with an escape from my life. I've been all over the world, while sitting in my house. It's so freeing from the every day hustle and bustle.

I remember in the summers when I was growing, how I would walk to the library. I would get there early and I recall times where it was very dark when I came out due to me losing track of time. But when I left it was with a arm full of books and excitement. That's what I am trying to instill in my children; excitement for books and reading.

I'm trying to get my children to love the written word almost as much as I do. My 13yo, used to love it and would read as fast she could everything she got from the library. Now she is a teenager who wants to be on the phone and IMing. Sometimes her favorite author gets her attention for a little while. My 9yo, is a challenge, but after speaking with his reading teacher today, I'm succeeding. He gives me a very hard time with reading, but she can see how much his reading skills has changed over the past 6 months. When she was ready to exit him from the program, she told us he begged to please stay. And she said she couldn't say no. She loved his dedication, and I love the fact that our school has these amazing people in place to help us. Then my 5yo, will make us all nuts with his I can't go to bed yet. You forgot to read me a story. Yes, he comes with a book waiting for his story. So maybe all my effort I put into the other two has seeped into his blood and he will love the written word as much as I do.

He goes with me to the library and helps to pick his own books. He was so excited to have his own library card. Seeing the gleam in his eyes makes me appreciate the written word more and more every day.

When Life Becomes Overwhelming

Since late October my life has become very overwhelming. That's not to say that I haven't had my share of stressful situations on a regular basis. However, I think my stress level is at an all time high.

My cake topper happened this morning, when I was fussing at my 9yo son to come on because he was going to miss the bus. No I was not the reason he was not ready, but he was (because of his on going issue, that is another one of my stress factor). Not only would he miss his bus, but so would his 5yo brother. Then my 5yo will address every thing, whether it needs to be addressed or not. First thing in the morning is not a good thing when I'm already yelling at the other child, and I have to listen to commentary from the youngest person in the family.

Oh, back to my cake topper... As I reversed out of my garage, I ripped my left rear view mirror right off. Because instead of paying attention to what I was doing, I was trying to make sure one, my 9yo come out the house and two, make sure the bus wasn't coming. I'm not thrilled with myself at all.

My financial status at the moment cannot handle the cost of repair to my mirror, and I cannot drive my car like that. This has put a serious black cloud over my head. I'm so disappointed with myself right not I could scream.

What could I have done differently to avoid this situation?

1. Let them miss the bus and then drive them to school myself.
2. Took a deep breath before putting my car in reverse.
3. Ask for help.

I want to address #3. When life becomes overwhelming we should ask for help. Truth be told we should ask for help way before life becomes overwhelming. That would save many lives. I know for me, when I'm upset I tend to lose all sight of everything around me (ie. speed limit, sounds, garage wall, etc.).

The other part of asking for help is to know who you're asking for help. That person has to be willing to do whatever it takes (within reasonable limits, of course) to give you the help needed to help alleviate the stress. Unfortunately, there isn't always someone, so what can a person do?

1. Pray!!!
2. Make sure that every day you take time for yourself. It doesn't matter the amount of time, just take time.
3. Remember not to sweat the small stuff.
4. There is no sense in worrying about the things you cannot control or change.

Well, I can't change the fact that I broke off my mirror, but I can find out how much it will cost to fix it. And get it fixed when I can. That may cause another issue for me, but what can I do? Nothing, but not sweat the small stuff. I will pray for a solution.

When life becomes overwhelming, take a step back.

Ramblings of Sorts

Earlier this week, I read a blog post by Amy called "On Being Offended." Read her blog and the comments to understand why I felt for her and could relate in a sense.

What I didn't realize until I read Amy's post was that yet another book with a person of color as the main character, was draped in a cover with a white person on it. Why are we still enduring this madness? I think people of color and other races and nationality are just as beautiful as white people.

The author, Jaclyn Dolamore, herself states in her trailer of the book that her main character is really a person of color.


Last year, it was Liar by Justine Larbalestier. These publishers are doing a grave injustice to these authors. When you start off readers with a bad taste in their mouth because so many of us still judge a book by it's cover. The problem is authors, unless they are self-published, really have no say in the covers of their books.

Here is what these two books have in common, their publishing house. Maybe someone over there still believes that people of any other race besides white, don't read. Well newsflash, I read all sorts of books, by all sorts of different authors. And it really doesn't matter to me who wrote the book. All I'm looking for is a good book.

Well if there is anyone looking for some great authors let me know, better yet, I'll let you know. I will try to open your eyes to different authors with a natural gift for crafting words. You can share some with me as well. I'm sure I don't know them all.

Namaste

Black History Month

In 2009, for Black History Month I showcased 28 different African Americans that made a different in history.

I know I still have just about two weeks left before the first of February, but I'm trying to figure out do I want to do the same thing or something totally different. One of my ideas is to write a short story that continues from the 1st day to the 28th day. Another is to bring to light books in the historical genre that deals with people of color. Or do what I did last year.

Please share your thoughts with what I should do. Your opinions matter here.

Namaste