Scribes

Nine years ago I wrote "The Legend Of Story Cazaunoux" which is about the Voudou of South Louisiana. Story, the Voudou is the leader of a sect of voodooist in New Orleans. The main character, Story (who is my favorite character ever) was a lot of fun to develop and having the power to make a character what you want is great, but I quickly learned that editors want a "3 dimensional" character. Since I was discouraged from majoring in journalism I didn't know a LOT of terms, meanings and techniques necessary to write. Three dimensional is just what it sounds like. The character can't be a flat, told about person. It takes a while to make someone come alive on paper. And no matter how much the writer knows about the character, the readers will never know ALL there is to know about him. Though I am not as good as probably 95% of writers, the book did get published by a small publisher, and I made some money off of the sales. The best part of the whole process was seeing the book on shelves in New Orleans French Quarter shops. It was nice to see it in Books a Million and for a while it was sold on Amazon. Reading "Story" now makes me to re-write it. I see so much that I could have made much better. For several years I have been thinking of writing a second part to the 'Story'. Well, as the editors say you have to have a plot. I had about half of one. Then a few months ago I got an idea for the book. I wrote a bio on the character, a plot, a synopsis of it and sent it to my old editor. He said to write it and so I am working on it. This one will have all of the same characters, plus a few new ones, and will incorporate some historical events with total fiction. It is set in New Orleans and Manchac Swamp. I am enjoying writing it. Even if it isn't published for some reason it will still be created, and the characters will be brought to life. Once they are created you cannot stop then from taking on a life of their own even if only to you. And you cannot make them do things that are contrary to their personality. It simply will not work if you do.
Writing fiction is fun and mixing it with some history is fairly easy, but requires a lot of research. Rewrites are not fun. My editor taught me to show not tell, use a lot of dialogue, description, give protagonists and antagonist good and bad traits, have a decent plot and always have a lot of conflict. And to cut, cut , cut. He also said it your can't write a thirty word sentence you aren't worth a shit! He and I have clashed over re-writes. He is usually right. And I make the changes he wants. I learned by listening to Jeff Eastin not to use the words 'just' and 'besides'. He calls the use of either "lazy writing".
The second little book I wrote is called "The Magic Of Isha Swift" and it a kids book about a handicapped kid. It's a small book and I only had four areas that the editor wanted me to re-write.

The third book I wrote is called "Different Dancers" and it about a Native American boy who is a grass dancer and the son of white teachers who move to the reservation. The two become unlikely friends. The main character in "Dancer" is Harley White Eagle. I love that book and Harley. I mailed it out to publishers and as always waited for the rejections to come. (THEY ALWAYS DO!) I mailed it to a group called Council of Indian Education in Billings that I though sounded really promising. Nothing came from them. For two years. Then one day the phone rang and a man who identified himself as Hap Gilliand said he was the editor there and that they wanted to publish "Dancer". Being a big shot author (ha ha), I asked him what had taken so damn long. He said the manuscript had gotten lost in one of their 'preview readers' home for two years and when found he like it and wanted it. TWO YEARS!! The book had to pass inspection by a council of eight Native Americans writers from various tribes for authenticity and it did. I only had to make two changes in the book. One was the weight of a buffalo and the other was the menu for a Powwow. Not bad, I thought. That is one I've very proud of.
Well anyway, I'm writing again and even if it doesn't amount to anything I enjoy it. I have a friend that likes to write but refuses to send anything to any publications for fear of rejections. I understand that. It's scary to think that someone will think that your baby is ugly. But rejections make your skin tough and your writing better. And when it's finally published you laugh about them when you clean out your 'rejection drawer'. Your baby was pretty after all.

Heard that all senior citizens will recieve another stimulus package.
It will contain two watermelon seeds, cornbread mix, and 10 coupons to KFC.
The directions are in Spanish.

How to Feel Better!

I am passing this on to you because it definitely works, and we could all use a little more calmness in our lives. By following simple advice heard on the Dr. Phil show, you too can find inner peace. Dr Phil proclaimed, "The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started and have never finished."So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn't finished. Before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of White Zinfandel, a bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream, a package of Oreos, the remainder of my old Prozac prescription, the rest of the cheesecake, some Doritos, and a box of Valentine chocolates! You have no idea how freaking good I feel right now. :-)

But The Pulitzer????

First the Saints won the Super bowl and now the National Enquirer is in the running for a Pulitzer Prize. Looks like this is going to be one of those 'I'll be damned' years. My grandma loved the Enquirer and believed every word that was printed in it. She was on a fixed income and did not waste her small monthly check of anything. But she bought the Enquirer. And she pass it on to me when she finished with it. Most people think that real newspapers are sold on newsstands. The magazines you pick up at the supermarket checkout, alongside the chewing gum and all-capitals headlines and cheap paper that they're not to be taken seriously. You might learn, this week in the National Enquirer, for example, that Whitney Houston is "DYING!" — "SHE COLLAPSES after cocaine and booze binges" — but even if you buy it, you don't necessarily believe it. It's entertainment. Whether it's true or not is largely beside the point. It seems that is about to change. It might have come as a surprise last week to learn that the Pulitzer committee, bestowers of the world's most celebrated journalism awards, had stroked their chins, weighed the arguments, and concluded that the Enquirer will be eligible to be considered for their investigative reporting and national news reporting awards. The magazine's executive editor, Barry Levine, who just a few days previously had been telling Pulitzer committee-members that they needed "to get their heads out of the sand", was jubilant. "That persistence, that old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting that we exhibited on this story, (The John Edwards Scandal) at the end of the day, is what the Pulitzer committee recognised," he said, Maybe my grandma was on to something or maybe this is just an indication on how low the main stream media has gone with the slanted, bullshit they attempt to force feed their readers. Personally I hope the Enquirer wins.

Maybe He's Bored With Koreans Too?

Why does Apolo Anton Ohno yawn before his races?
By Martin Rogers

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Seconds before the biggest moment of his career, the excitement and adrenaline were finally too much for Apolo Anton Ohno. He couldn't hold it in any longer.
He yawned.
Television viewers were stunned by the American's apparently lackadaisical approach to the race, which would determine whether he would become the Winter Olympian with the most medals in U.S. history. (He did, with a bronze.)
British Open golf champion Stewart Cink even Tweeted that Ohno's action made him yawn, too, as he watched on TV.
Yet some sneaky investigation by Yahoo! Sports revealed there is madness behind Ohno's moribundity.
A friend of Ohno's – who asked not to be named because, er, "Apolo might not like it" – revealed that the yawning lets extra oxygen into his lungs in the seconds before bursting across the ice.
Ohno himself confirmed as much to Yahoo! Sports. "It makes me feel better," he said. "It gets the oxygen in and the nerves out."