Wednesday, February 29, 2012

13 Things You Didn't Know About Peacocks

I have been researching peacocks for about 5 years, not just for the book that I have written -- The Peacocks Tale -- but also because I was intrigued by the phenomenon of the Peacock's Tail in Alchemy. So here are a 'bakers dozen' of  little known facts about Peacocks that I bet you didn't know!
1.   The Peacock is the male peafowl, the female is less adorned and is called a peahen.
2.   The Peacock is one of the largest flying birds in the world; they roost at night in trees to be protected from predators. Peahens nest on the ground in dense foliage.
3.   The Peacock's tail makes up to 60% of its body length.
4.   Groups of peafowl are called a party; a family of peafowls is called a bevy.
5.   Generally there are two species of peafowl: the blue of India and the green of Southeast Asia.
6.   A third species, which is found in the Congo,  has a red neck with shorter brilliant blue and black tail feathers.
7.   The train of feathers of the Peacock are actually the elongated feathers of the upper tail. Under that are shorter feathers, which can be lifted to 'show' the colors of the upper feathers to attract females. (When a male displays his tail to another male - he is not gay! This display is to warn off the aggressor male from his harem of females!) 
8.   Peahens are thought to choose their partners by the size, color and 'quality' of the Peacock's tail.
9.   The white Peacock is often mistaken as an albino, but it is actually a variation of the blue peacock of India.
10.  The Peacock is the national bird of India.
11.  Peacocks are associated with royalty because their screeching cries - especially at night - warned of the approach of enemies.
12.  Once a year Peacocks molt their feathers, but they soon grow back.
13. The alchemists of old thought the appearance of a show of iridescent colors on liquid metal indicated the end of the first of three alchemical stages of changing lead into gold. This show of colors was called 'Cauda Pavoris' -- the Peacock's Tail  -- and was considered the turning point of the alchemical transmutation.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Jumping in Feet First

Sometimes I feel like this task I have taken on -- of getting a book published -- is foolish and just too big. However I think about people I admire and know that they didn't get to where they are just by sitting on the sidelines and waiting for the action to come to them. They jumped in feet first. Now this is important - that they went feet first. They didn't dive in head first because as anyone in the medical field will tell you, that's risking breaking your neck. When you dive in head first you don't use your head other than as a battering ram and the water maybe a whole lot more shallow than you thought.

When you jump in feet first you are taking the plunge with some foresight. You are able to test the depth and temperature of the water, but at the same you have gotten yourself wet! You are half way to to figuring out what your next move will be. Sometimes it is just moving forward that is called for and other times it is paddling like crazy to keep yourself afloat.  Right now I think I am making slow progress for the promised land, but goodness there is a long way to go!

I want to thank all those of you that have read the first draft of  'The Peacocks Tale'. Your comments have helped to buoy me up and keep me going. It's like a life preserver when someone says, " I really, really liked the story."  It seems unexpected to me to hear this, as I love my own story, but for others to appreciate it ... well that is sweet.  I also am appreciative of those that have given me lots of feedback as their suggestions act like targets to dive for - sometimes clearing up the muddy waters and at other times taking me down to an unexpected depth. Thanks all! Your comments are appreciated!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

"On Old Olympus Towering Tops ..."

"On Old Olympus Towering Tops ..." If you have ever trekked your way through Anatomy 101, you will recognize that little rhyme - made up to remember the Cranial nerves: Olfactory, Optic, Occulomotor, Trochlear, Trigeminal, etc. The rhyme is called a mnemonic device, however, I could only recall four of the first five nerves this morning. I'm afraid the sing-song nature of the rhyme did little to jog my fuzzy memory. It seems that this isn't the only one of those mnemonic devices that went fuzzy in my brain. I received an urgent email from one of my more careful first draft readers. Up until this time no one had pointed this gigantic boo-boo out to me. It seems my main character, who is an art instructor, doesn't know the correct order of the colors of the rainbow! 

My mnemonic device for the colors of the rainbow, which I used several times in my book, was twisted! Roy G. Biv became Roy B. Giv!! So blue got turned around with green, making any art student sit up and smell that this author didn't know what she was talking about! The order is important because they are arranged according to the size of each color's wavelength. From now on I have vowed not to use Roy G. Biv and have instead decided to use this little ditty: "Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain." I don''t think I can get my wavelengths mixed about as long as I remember the right place Richard is from! Or for that matter what Richard's name is ...

Saturday, February 25, 2012

What is In A Name?

Names are often some of the most important parts of your story, but is a rose as deliciously scented if it was named otherwise? It's not just characters that need names but places and objects. I love naming as I write. Sometimes the names are very integral to the plot. When you name in that situation, you really have to fit the name to the person, object, or place. A lot of thought can go into a name. Sometimes I find writing down of list of names, then rolling them around on your tongue to see how they sound is helpful. If the name still is mystery to me, I check out those baby name web sites, like babynames.com  or behindthename.com. Those sites are instrumental if you want to have an underlying meaning to the name. Say you want to have a character that is evil, you could research names that mean devil. 'Lilith' pops up with this explanation:  "In Jewish tradition she was Adams first wife, sent out of Eden and replaced by Eve because she would not submit to him." So naming your mean, miserable, mother-in-law character in your story, Lilith, would be a great way to remind both you and the reader that this is not a nice person!

If the character is more inconsequential, or you just need a name 'out of the air', I love asking strangers I meet their name and then popping that name into the book. I often tell them I am writing a book and I needed a name for a character. They either look at me like I am crazy or become excited that their name was included. I remember being in McDonald's one day and striking up a conversation with a grandmother and her young granddaughter. Later, as I was writing and struggling to name a student in my story, I asked for the girl's name so I could name my character. I think it made her day - her grandmother certainly thought it was great!

As for places, sometimes a name just pops into my head, like the name I gave my main character's home town. But of course I had to make sure there was no real town named that! I find it fun to name places with family member names. Like using my sister's married name to name a diner in that fictional town!  Having a notebook full of interesting names can be a treasure trove for finding just the right name when you need one. That would be great - of course my list of names can be found on little pieces of paper -- now if I could just remember which clip it's squashed in ...

Friday, February 24, 2012

Time to Read

Today I had time to read. It seems like an entire week has gone by and I haven't had time to sit down and read more than a chapter or two at a time. However today I actually made some time to read! Unfortunately, the day started out with a visit to a funeral home for a 'Celebration of Life' event. A lovely woman I had met, not 3 or 4 months ago had died. We had found a lot in common and had gone out to dinner a few times. She was more than a casual acquaintance. I had even discussed with her some of my ideas for futures plots. This lady believed in angels and was a protector of children, so I identified with her.  It felt odd going into a funeral home and having a brunch; I wasn't comfortable eating as I 'celebrated' her life. After I told her brothers that I would miss her and that I was sorry for their loss, I left. Perhaps it was the sadness that I had that made me want to read.

So I went to a restaurant and was able to delve into the latest book I have been trying to read -- Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. Verghese is the type of writer that builds and builds his scenes and then suddenly runs with his prose so you can hardly put it down. Then once that scene crescendos, he begins again to slowly build up another scene. If you have ever watched for a pot to boil, you would understand how his prose at first mesmerizes and then surprises by bursting into a boil! After one of these runs, I looked up and realized I had five minutes to get to my hairdresser. It was a good thing that I was close by!

After the hairdresser I ran into Micky D's for a plain ice cream sundae. I sat there nursing it and reading Verghese's tale until I was almost half way through the book. Satiated, I decided to run to the bank. It was more like a walk, as road construction showed down traffic to a crawl. That little errand took over an hour! I came home just before dark to the dogs and all the other distractions of the house. I haven't been able to get back to the book, but now that I understand Mr. Verghese's style of writing, I can't wait to dive back into the roiling pot!   

What are you reading right and how did it captivate you?

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Good News

This has been a red letter day! No, not about my book, but it is about a BOOK. For five long years the world has waited for this and finally it has been announced. A Scottish working mom with three kids has finally announced that she has signed on the dotted line with Little, Brown and Company to publish her 11th novel. Why is this such a big deal? Because that working mom is none other JK Rowling. Her seven part Harry Potter series with three companion books have sold millions all over the world, and in so many languages that I'm not sure anyone knows how many! Now she says she is writing a novel for adults. Other than her statement that "my next book will be very different to the Harry Potter series". There was no other mention as to what the book is about, or what the genre is, or when the release date will be.

Nevertheless, the news has electrified the book world. David Shelley of  Little, Brown Book Group said, "She is one of the best storytellers in the world, and I am looking forward enormously to helping bring her new novel for adults to her fans and admirers, and to introducing her writing to new readers the world over." Well I can certainly attest to that statement! Having studied the Harry Potter series, chapter by chapter in each book, over and over  again since 2006 as a reading group leader with The Leaky Cauldron , I can certainly state that Ms Rowling is an amazingly brilliant writer. Her plots are extremely tight, well researched and very, very clever. What is so fascinating about her writing is what is underneath the obvious story. She is a master of literary allusions; look closely and you can find allusions to a load of classical writings (See John Granger's book Harry Potter's Bookshelf: The Great Books Behind the Hogwarts Adventures.) Her naming of characters, objects and places have well thought out backgrounds and underlying meanings. She pays particular attention to numbers - with most numbers she quotes adding up to, or reducing to, either 3 (#12 Grimwauld Place), or 7 (Snape insisting the class read Page 394 ). Then there is the alchemical framework in each book, as well as the series itself of the Black, White and Red Stages of Alchemy.

I am looking forward to how she is going to construct a plot in a different genre other than fantasy. I know that her writing is good, but whether she can continue to amaze readers with her underlying meanings, literary allusions and plots twists is a question I can't wait to find out!

In the meantime I will plod along trying to rewrite and spruce up the manuscript I have. It's with total truthfulness that I can say I am not in the same class as JK Rowling, but I too love to write and construct stories, so my hat (sorting hat?) comes off to her. And I will labor on trying to at least write something that  readers will enjoy and remember. Come join me in my endeavors! Just click the  Join This Site button and you can then follow along on my adventure!  

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The Tale

Some of you know the Tale I have been chasing, but many of you don't, so I thought I would share the synopsis with you tonight. Priscilla Vickers is a young art professor living in Winter Park, Florida. On her return from a Fellowship in Edinburgh, Scotland, she begins to have some strange encounters with peacocks -- live ones, dream-induced ones and art inspired ones. As she encounters these pesky birds, she realizes that things about her past are being revealed to her. Secrets that her Aunt Clara hid are slowly surfacing. The reappearance of  a wavering Scottish boyfriend, complicates Prissy's search for what is locked in her past. A trip to her old Indiana home town is key to the remarkable peacock treasure hunt. A Peacocks Tale is Prissy's story of finding out about her past, as well as the family of her future aided by a parcel of peafowl.

Come follow me as I try to prefect this story and breath life into the idea of a published book called A Peacocks Tale.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Seven Great Places to Read

I have to admit that being able to sit and read is one of my dearest activities. I seem to be able to read in many different places despite what is going on around me. I like having a noisy background or at least some nice elevator music. Even better is having an animal on my lap as I read -- preferably my own foo-foo dogs. They are half Bichon Frise and half poodles. I call them my hip huggers because they enjoy sitting on either side of me in my big comfy chair. As I began to think about this I realized that I have at least seven places that love to read the most. So today, I thought I would list my favorite places to read. Here goes:

1. McDonald's - Nothing like the noise and bustle of Micky D's to provide a great place to sit and read for chapter after chapter. No one cares that you sit and nurse a diet drink or slurp on a vanilla shake for hours at a time. They also happen to have Free WiFi.

2. Firehouse Subs - Besides having a great meal with unlimited diet drinks, one can sit and read in a sunny window seat for as long as you like. The staff soon knows you by name and if they don't, they at least remember you are the 'extra pickle lady'. The advantage of both McDonald's and Firehouse Subs is that there are several locations within easy reach of my house, so I  can vary my reading room location and not overstay my welcome in any one location!

3. Darden restaurants like Olive Garden, Red Lobster or Longhorn's - Again I can have a decent meal - a bit more expensive than 1 and 2, but you get waiter service to allow a truly uninterrupted reading time. Now I do prefer to go during lunch because towards nightfall they lower the lighting and unless you carry a book light with you (as I have been known to do) it's more difficult to read. You generally can't sit there for hours at a time like you can in the two aforementioned places. 

4. Ci-Ci Pizza - Cheap and noisy. Again they don't care if you stay there for long periods but you could  over-dose on all that  pizza.  The lighting there is always good. (Do you see  a trend here?)

5. The backyard - Now this is a tricky one. In Florida, the advantages are a nice warm, sunny place to sit and immerse yourself in a great book. However the disadvantages are - a stifling hot place, with the sun so bright you have to squint and go practically blind from the reflections on the pages. Then there are the bugs and other wildlife ( such as a snake who one day decided to take a short cut across the patio). If you have a nice shaded area, and the weather is warm but not raging hot, maybe a casual breeze, the backyard can become tolerable as a reading room. I, myself, find that I cannot remain in the backyard a long time as either  the sun, heat or bugs will put me off sitting out there. If you try it, make sure to wear plenty of sunscreen and a hat. Perhaps, I would feel a bit differently if I had a pool ...

6.  Doctor's offices - Yes, I know that's not very conventional, but I seem to be stuck in Doctor's waiting rooms for an inordinate amount of time. Reading there not only fills the time, but keeps your mind off of why you are there. The big problem with reading in this setting is that you have to be ready at the drop of a pin (or should I say needle?) to mark your place and gather your stuff so you can jump up and float into the doctor's exam room where you wait again! It makes for choppy reading. I find my Kindle is great for this type of setting.

7. Last, but certainly not least, is my big comfy chair in the living room. The TV will be on low and tuned to the music channel - the light classical station. The dogs are on either side of me and there are no bugs or uninvited critters. The light is just right. The only disadvantage to this is the phone which I try to ignore most the time. I find doing late night reading at home is best when most people don't even attempt to call me. And if you happen to fall asleep reading, well all the better because you are in your big comfy chair which was made for naps!

Where is your favorite reading place? Feel free to comment below.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Scraps of Paper

I was talking to some friends the other day about how we organize those little things we want to remember. Some touted that they opened a file in their computer and stuck these niggly facts there. Others have various notebooks that serve as a haven for the minutia. I, however, stick to little notes squashed within a giant squeeze clip. You know the kind? Those spring loaded soft handled ones that close up your chip bags? I have several different crushing clips. Most of these have been garnered from various medical equipment or home health organizations from exhibition halls at  meetings for physical therapists. These enterprising companies must think therapists really need to have gigantic clips on their desks to remind them of the many exhibitors they walked past at the meeting.   'Revolutionary Rehab' screams one; University Hospital Las Vegas, cries another. My favorites are ones that can be stood up so the conventional notes take less space than those that lie flat. One - that has 'Health Services' written on it with a convenient 1-8oo number - instead of being a flat squishy clip - jams the notes up against a rounded buttress, so the whole clip lies flat but the notes stay upright. Quite clever - and although the notes placed in it are inconveniently permanently curled from that rounded buttress, it remains my 'go to' clip. I keep all the passwords, security key words and user names for the ever growing number of places I visit on the World Wide Web.

At some place in time, I was told by some computer nerd that keeping all these sacred words and numbers should never be kept in a notebook! What if you lost it? And keeping it on your computer was stupid too. What if your system was hacked? So I did the only thing my disorganized mind could think of - I chronicled these precious keys to the kingdoms on little slips of torn papers, sticky back notes and old business cards. Then I smashed all these slips of paper, in no particular order, between the jaws of all these clips. Thus they remain in one place - of course if I wish to discover - say the password to get into my yahoo account - it may take the same amount of time it would take for me to walk to Nevada where that hospital resides. 

In another of those delightful clasps I keep all my important business cards - doctors, therapy centers, the dog groomers, my hairdresser. I am not sure how I would ever call any of these people if I didn't have that clip. In a smaller clip I keep the phone numbers of the important people in my life. Others keep those numbers on their phone, but sadly my phone has disappeared more than once, while the undignified jaw clip sits on my messy desk securing those phone numbers and addresses just for me.

If I had a memory for these things at one time, it is long gone, but, thank goodness, my lowly clips remain faithfully fastening those bits of paper - tying me to people, places and things.  I can't imagine that a robber would look twice at those silly clips - if they could even locate them among the detritus on my desk!    

My writing process is similar to those raggedy slips of paper - bits and pieces of my life that are scrunched together within a story.  The story is like the clip that binds all those little thoughts together. I adore taking out one of those little paper scraps and building an imaginary scene around it, then pasting together a thread of imaginary scenes that becomes a story. That's what writing is like for me - binding ideas together in a clip! 

What's your method of sorting out and retaining your collection of VIS (Very Important Stuff)? I would love to hear from you! Comments are welcome!

 

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Passions

I have had many passions in my life. Mostly starting from the time when I was a little girl. Tennis was like that. My father used to watch loads of sports on TV. I hated baseball as it was so slow. Nothing ever seemed to happen. Football was too violent. And even though my grandmother loved to watch fights I thought they were savage. But tennis! Now that was another subject - I was mesmerized when I saw women playing competitively at Wimbledon. ( This of course was long before Tittle IX). My dad - bless him - seeing me have some interest in a sport, took me out and taught me the fundamentals of the tennis. I was hooked and played as much as I was able to well into my forties, but feet and back injuries slowly killed my joy of playing and I eventually had to give it up. I suddenly found myself with lots of extra time on my hands. I decided to go to grad school. As I took courses it became obvious to me that I still enjoyed writing even if it was for the purpose of term papers. The other benefits from taking grad courses was that I began to get proficient on the computer. Things were working out well until I changed jobs and the new company was not as generous with time-off and financial support of my further education.  So forced to quit, I once again I found I had plenty of time on my hands. I tried golf but striking that tiny ball just wasn't fun for me.

As someone working with children, I was always trying to keep up with the trends in what the kids enjoyed, so when all the hype about the Potter books by JK Rowling came out I began to read them. I soon realized these books were much more than children's tales, so I trolled the internet for information and luckily I came upon The Leaky Cauldron (LC). Eventually when they announced a reading group for exploring the books, I joined the forum and the reading group. I would write every night and found I really enjoyed the discussions. It wasn't long after that in 2006 that I was invited to come onto staff as a reading group leader. That pretty much turned the corner for me as far as writing and delving into books goes! Here was something I did well, really enjoyed, and as long as I didn't fall off my chair, I was in no danger of further injury to myself. 

My years of writing in-depth discussion thread on everything from Alchemy to Xenophilia Lovegood for the Leaky Cauldron Reading Groups has stoked my passion for reading, writing and analyzing good writing. In addition I have found a wonderful community of like-minded individuals that I communicate with at least weekly if not daily via Skype. Eventually the fever for Harry Potter had began to settle, so seeking an outlet I tried NaNoWriMo first in 2009 when I was still working. The challenge of writing a novel in a month was great fun for me. I came away from that first effort with a long story with no ending. Discouraged, I didn't try in 2010, but then I retired in January of  2011. Writing for The LC Reading Group had become rather tame by that point, so I again was looking for an outlet for my need to write. I decided I had nothing to lose and tried again in November of 2011 to write a novel in a month. This time I planned a bit better and decided on my ending before I even wrote the beginning! And lo and behold at the end of that month I had a 50,000+ word manuscript for a book!

Now after two and a half months, I have rewritten the manuscript several times, formatted it into a 'first draft' and actually printed it off for a few select readers to read and comment on. The journey has really begun now. I need your support of feedback and encouragement to continue on. I will be updating you on all the ends and outs of the journey as we go along, so feel free to follow this blog. All you need to do is click the blue button on the top right hand corner of the page that says 'Join This Site'. Comments are always welcome.  

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Who I am and what am I doing here?

As a young child everyone in my family read. My father especially was always reading something - the newspaper, his beloved National Geographic (he had a lifetime subscription), Life Magazine - whatever was around. I don't recall him reading to us three girls other than perhaps Bible verses, but nonetheless I knew  reading was cherished in our house. My mother was a reader too, but she also wrote. She kept  diaries that to this day I have never read although my older sister has.

I remember the day of discovering my calling as if it was yesterday. I was too little to sit at a table and hold the newspaper as my wingspan wasn't wide enough to handle the pages. So I would sit crossed legged on the floor and spread the pages out in front of me and read whatever I could understand - mostly cartoons and the ads. I loved looking at the pictures of all sorts of places and people. I would wonder what it would be like to be in those places or be those people. One day when I was about 10,  I was turning the pages to our local newspaper The Fort Wayne Journal and as I turned the very last page my eyes drank in a scene which changed my life. It was a full page black and white picture - an ad from Easter Seals. This was the era of the last big polio epidemic and so this ad featured a young girl of four or five. She was beautiful, a cute-as-a-button blonde with her hair up in sausage pigtails. She was standing between a set of rails on metal uprights. She was obviously holding tight to the rails. On her legs were metal upright bars with white leather straps assisting her little legs to stand. But what caught my eye and my heart was the lady standing there beside her,  helping the child to manage this great feat of standing. The lady was rather plump as I recall, she had on a sparkling white uniform and on her shoulder was a triangular patch with writing on it. I could just make out the words: American Physical Therapy Association. It hit me like a neon sign - this was my destiny; this is what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to help little kids to walk. I never changed my mind from that point forward.

Being a physical therapist is, and will always be, part of my identity, but now I am retired - a retired pediatric physical therapist. Reading and writing have always been a secondary passion to my first love of helping children. So now I find I actually have more time to indulge in those passions. This journey is just starting. This redefining of myself as a writer - an author -  is just beginning! And believe it or not, I am having a blast! Come with me and join my journey! Better yet, join my team to cheer me on as I pursue the Tale to tell! 

Friday, February 17, 2012

Sticking One's Toe into the Water

In January of 2011 I changed my life by retiring from the being a busy professional in the dynamic work force of a busy children's hospital, to the more sedate life of a retiree. Or so I thought! It seems that over a year after this momentous change, I can't say that I have slowed down a great deal. Yes, I no longer have to travel to work, or put in long hours, or heft up my body (or someone else) off mats on the floor. But I now do other things that fill my life to the brim. I find I am having more fun, and discovering again things that I have always loved to do.

Retiring seems to be a time of redefining oneself. You find that some of the things you have always wanted to do - you no longer crave. On the other hand things which you never had the time to refine before, you now you have time to explore. This happened to me when I decided to try again to write a novel in the month of November on the NaNoWriMo web site. I had tried in 2009 to concoct a story of 50,000 words and had written until I had more than the required amount of words - thus winning the challenge. But I didn't have a story! Just a beginning and lots of little incidents, but no ending at all. I put it all away as I realized writing a book and working was just crazy for me. Once I retired, I did some traveling (which I loved!); joined a senior group; as well as a book club and turned my thoughts again to writing good stories.

This time when November rolled around in 2011, I was armed with an idea and a muse!  I spied it when I was in an import store - A peacock necklace. There surely was a story behind that necklace somewhere ... Having had some encounters with peacocks and knowing the area where I live has a history of live peacocks, a story began to spring into my mind. When I say 'spring' I mean like a spring - at first a slow drizzle flowing out of the synapses of my brain. Then a steady flow of ideas that I had to make sure to write into a notebook or I would lose them. And finally the beginning, middle, and end gushed out onto the notebook pages. All I had to do was write it! Fifty thousand words in a month! How did I do?

I told all my friends what I was doing. I told my doctors, my hairdresser, my massage therapist! I told anyone that would listen, including waitresses and cashiers! Once I announced what I intended to do I found I had made my own cheer leading squad!  I found I truly enjoyed the process of writing a story - of putting down words on a computer screen. So that is what this blog is about. My journey of learning about the big scary world of putting together one word at a time to make a story. A story strong enough to be thought of as a novel; good enough to be a book. This Blog is also about redefining myself from a pediatric physical therapist - retired, to being an active author. I invite you to join me in my journey and be my online cheering section.