Thursday, June 30

The Secret to a Good Pudding Cup

Yawn. Short post tonight. It's been a long day, but a good one. My publisher says I've struck gold with my latest Johnson Clifton book. Hayley was the secret. She's so much fun. But I won't spoil anything for you. You can read all about it as soon as the book is released.

Until then, I will tell you the secret to a good pudding cup. Get a plain vanilla cup, none of this mixing colors going on, open it, stir it up, and add a spoonful of peanut butter to the top. Creamy or crunchy, whichever you like. Or, if you're in a sullen mood (peanut butter is for good mood celebration times), add a palm full of chocolate chips, you know, the kind for baking cookies. Mix those in or leave them on the top.

Mmm. It's almost as good as strawberry ice cream.


Keep it real...unless you prefer fiction.
~Heather Bliss~

Thursday, June 23

Growing in Beauty - Old Blog New

After more than a year of inactivity, I am taking a new look at the world with Uluwehi, my old blog.  Beauty has been on my mind and heart, and at Uluwehi I hope to share with you my thoughts and experiences on the reality of beauty—both of the world we live in and of women—not to-do lists that anyone has to live up to.  I write Uluwehi with the hope that it will be a place of encouragement.

Gentlemen, you can read this blog and join the conversation.  It might grant you a better insight into the hearts of women (it's not impossible).  Ladies, Uluwehi is written with you in mind.  I've met women who didn't think they were even pretty, who thought their form of beauty wasn't enough, who were afraid of being overlooked, who would rather stay hidden, and more.  I'm one of them.  So I come at this blog in an effort to correct my thinking to the truth and to share it with you.  We don't have to be Megan Fox in order to be absolutely stunning beautiful.  You are beautiful.  You may or may not think so, but you are.

Obviously I am not the ultimate say in the matter of beauty, but I hope to look to the One Who is as I write Uluwehi and as I live life.  I will be imperfect.  Though I will always put effort into writing with clarity, I may not always succeed.  I don't even know if the blog will be of any help or not, but I think this is important, so I will try.

I've added a link to Uluwehi in the sidebar under "There's More Here" and you can click this link to jump directly to yesterday's post renewing the blog.

Thursday, June 16

{phfr}


round button chicken


{Pretty}

I bought this claddagh at the local medieval faire this year as a "class ring."  This picture was taken before I had it engraved (though if you could see the engraving, that could work as {real} since they engraved it upside down), and was used in my graduation invitations designed by Vaughan's Ink.


{Happy}


This...was a long time ago, but oh so happy.  I really should make it again.  I got the recipe for this apple crisp at StartCooking.com.  Such a great site.


{Funny}


Once again, my niece is the star.  She found our Christmas tree decorations that were still out and about and brought them over, so I put them on my ears to be silly.  But "Ah-Die" (Aunt Dotty) was happy to be imitated when Lucy asked for the ornaments to be put on her ears.  Then, in her adorable high voice, she said, "Take picture," and posed while you can believe I took several.


{Real}

I am not always serious.  And we like blankets in our house.

Thursday, June 9

Behind the Goal

A story begins with two things.  It needs four or six things (depending on how you like to count).
1) A protagonist,
2) an antagonist (who can be a villian),
3) directly conflicting goals between the two characters,
4) and motivation for them both.
Here's why.

I recently wrote a short story that went through a lot of revamping and rethinking before I got very far. My main character, Valerie, started out as a bounty hunter almost in a corner, choosing to fight instead of run. But she didn't care if she lived beyond the battle.

Um... No.

That is a weak, inactive protagonist. Not interesting to read (and a pain to write if you want to make the story go anywhere). My flaw was pointed out to me (I'm looking forward to the day I catch on quicker—or just stop making this error), and I rethought.

Okay, so Valerie wasn't who I thought she was. So who was she?

She needed a goal, yes, but she had that. Survival. It just wasn't strong enough. But wait, survival can be a very strong goal. What was missing? Motivation. She needed a reason to want to live. She needed a reason to want to take out the man hunting her.

This was my "Aha" moment. Or, if you prefer.

She needed a motivation behind her goal. That's not something I've heard explained much in my writing classes—at least, not in that wording. But it's one of the most necessary aspects of a protagonist, or any developed character. The why behind the what. And the answer? It had to do with a relationship. Relationships are always on the line in a story, the only question is which one. Then why that one. And, of course, how. Once you answer those questions, you're rolling.

I answered them. I answered the why she needed to survive with two relationships. A boyfriend. And his daughter. (It just became more interesting in your imagination, didn't it?) The answer to why those two relationships and how they're on the line has to do with the antagonist's goal and motivation. See how it all ties together? Before my eyes (...okay, twas all in my planning head) the story was building in strength. I had a goal with motivation for my protagonist and had further developed the direct conflict of goals with my antagonist/villian.

Now the story had heart. There was purpose to Valerie's actions. She had a reason to care enough to pursue her goal, and pursue it she did. Ta da.

So, a story needs...
1) a protagonist
2) with a [strong] goal
3) that's backed up by [deep] motivation,
4) and an antagonist/villian
5) with a [strong] opposing goal
6) that is also backed up by [deep] motivation.
Now you know why.
 

Saturday, June 4

It's Another Mezcla Day

If you've ordered pizza online you've seen the little additional comments window.  Well, with a little inspiration from the interwebs, I decided to have a little fun and experiment.
I ordered three pizzas and asked them to draw a rocket.  The fun part is interpretation is up to the folks boxing up the pizzas.  I figured a rocket would be a good experiment to see what they would do.  Nothing too crazy, though next time I might get a bit more inventive.  We'll see.  Here's what I got:


I know it's kinda lame, but fun, just the same.

~~~~~

I have now been to the ER two times, neither time was I the patient.  I would like to not go a third, as patient or friend or family of the patient.  However, I am glad that I took a first aid, CPR, AED certification class a couple weeks ago.  Here's hoping I won't need any part of it ever again!
~~~~~

Flowers are a nice thing to have in the house.  A friend dropped by with three white daisies, which are now in a small vase in the living room for everyone to enjoy.  A lovely gift anytime.

~~~~~

I took the week off from reading and writing blog stuffs, Twitter, and Facebook.  I'd caught myself on them (particularly FB) far too often for far too long without reaping benefits (or giving them, either).  So, this addict stepped back for a time, and it was nice.  I need to always remember that as fun and handy as social media can be, they are not, in fact, life.  Balance, as with everything, is important.

~~~~~

This blog post is possibly the hardest thing I've ever had to format.  I managed to get the separation tildes in the center twice without aligning all my text with them, and now they have completely flummoxed me.  I have no idea how I did it before.

~~~~~

Last, and not least, if you're in the area:
Free admission. Come and see beautiful dance today.

Southside Christian Dance Recital 2011
6pm, June 4th
Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College
3701 S. Service Rd.
Moore, Oklahoma

This is one of the highlights of my life every year.