Monday Moment #119: a writing prompt for your work-in-progress

(If you’ve already read this then skip past all the italicized blah-di-blah and start writing.) Monday Moments are writing prompts for your work-in-progress. They are questions that come from my experiences and are my favorite way to find out more about my characters. I find I learn a lot. Some of it I use. Some of it I don’t. But I always, always get to know my characters better just by answering the question. I hope you do too.)


I was just opening Blogger to write my next Monday Moment about carnivals, but this Moment has now been hijacked by eavesdropping. That is, I'm  eavesdropping on two unsuspecting teen girls.

I wish they'd speak up so I can hear all they are saying word for word.

But now I bring you: THINGS OVERHEARD WHILE EAVESDROPPING ON TEENS WHEN I'M SUPPOSE TO WRITING (nobody ever warns teens that a writer might be sitting at the table next to them)

"She looks like someone who would eat people." Yep! This is the line that caught my ear and made me keep listening. 

"It looks like a diamond booger."

Girl One: "How much do you weigh?"

Girl Two: "Uh, about 106 pounds."

"Girl One: "I think I weigh about 109."

 A bit later, 109 lbs. says to 106 lbs., "Your hands look really skinny right now. I don’t know why." 

Now, they are dancing. One teaching the other dance moves right here, about four feet from my table.

I wonder what they'd do if I asked them if I could learn, too?

Maybe I should start to beat box. 

Who can get anything done when there are dancing teens in the room? Not me.

Okay... dancing is done. Back to eavesdropping.

"Well, I'm a loner so..."

And, back to dancing.

"I'll never go anywhere without my eyeliner. I have gel black eyeliner. I have black pencil eyeliner. I have purple black eyeliner..." (Oh, I give up. I can't keep up with that many eyeliners. There must have been 8 or more.

No, no, no. Don't whisper. Now I can't hear a thing!

Ah...they're packing up, heading to dance class. Bye, girls. It was fun. Always a learning experience.

But now, three older teen girls have just joined the party. Let the next round of eavesdropping begin.

Q: When has your character eavesdropped and what did they hear?

Monday Moment #118: a writing prompt for your work-in-progress

(If you’ve already read this then skip past all the italicized blah-di-blah and start writing.) Monday Moments are writing prompts for your work-in-progress. They are questions that come from my experiences and are my favorite way to find out more about my characters. I find I learn a lot. Some of it I use. Some of it I don’t. But I always, always get to know my characters better just by answering the question. I hope you do too.)


In last week's post, I mentioned pulling off multiple surprises. And I did! So many that I was too exhausted to actually write about it last Monday (plus it was my oldest's double-ones day).

On May 1st my wonderful parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary, and for the past couple of months I've been plotting and scheming to throw them a party.

Perhaps there's a couple things you should know. You might wonder why such a big bash for 40 years instead of waiting for 50. Well, this was the year that felt really important to me. My dad, only 60 years young, has been battling early-onset Alzheimer's for the past 6 years. So, as 40 years approached, I knew it was time for something special for an incredibly wonderful, and very loved couple.

Mom and Dad

The plotting began.

At first, I didn't think the party would be all that large: just some close friends and a few family members who might be able to make the trek all the way to the peninsula. Knowing that I would also have many friends and family who wouldn't be able to join us, I wanted arranged a most lovely gift to commemorate the special anniversary, as well.

But...SURPRISE! I ended up being the first to be hit by the unexpected. I thought that we might have an intimate gathering of 20 to 25, but the party grew and GREW. Suddenly I was expecting 50 plus at a party I was hosting in our home. Whee...let the ride begin.

The surprises for my parents started small. First, I had to be very nonchalant (ie. keep it cool and not panic) when my mom starting talking about plans she might make herself. On the Wednesday before the party, as my mom struggled to figure out what she and my dad should do, or where they should go, I told her that my brother and I had just talked and we really wanted to a have a special dinner for them on Saturday. Of course I was sure to let her know that we didn't want to ruin their plans *wink wink*, but we'd really like to celebrate with them.

Success. The set-up was in place.

The start of big surprises started the next day, beginning with four of seven family members arriving from out-of-state. They rented an incredible house right on the bluff of in Port Townsend overlooking the ferry dock.

My dad and oldest with the magnificent view. If you look close you can see Mt. Rainier.

My parents didn't suspect a thing until I called them on Thursday afternoon and asked them to meet me in town.

"Why?" my mom asked.

"Because I want you to see a friend's house."

"Okay." She said with great suspicion. "Where should we meet you?"

"The Post Office."

"The Post Office?"

"Yes. Park at the Post Office and call me when you park."

You'd be confused too, right? You see, this great house was directly across the street (from the PO).

When they arrived, I walked them into a strange house, and of course they were utterly confused. Until they saw this view, as well as my grandparents, great aunt, and cousin sitting below in the living room. Joy!

View from the entryway of the house. We never tired of the view.

This is when the tears started, and continued for a few days.

Surprise two was my uncle's arrival later that night.

Followed by surprise three, the following day, when my dad's cousin and his wife arrived. Seven family members from four different states. It was wonderful.

View again from entryway. We had a great time hanging out there.

By the time all arrived, I said to my parents, "So, a few more people are joining us for dinner tomorrow."

And, I'm sneaky. I dropped hints like, "I'm going to dress up tomorrow. I like to have a reason to wear a pretty dress."

The preparations started bright and early on Saturday morning, as I scrambled around, cleaning house, picking up the cakes and flowers, plus some cleaning and chopping. Then all the food and drink came out from their hiding places, and family arrived to be extra hands as the kitchen geared up for the big event.

All the craziness revealed the next surprise. Clearly I was preparing for something much larger than a family dinner.

"There will be some friends joining the celebration," I told my parents and then I continued directing in the kitchen. Frankly, I was panicked it wouldn't all get done, but somehow, at the last minute, it all came together. Beautifully!

My Great Aunt Liz works with my girls putting together caprese bites.

The doorbell began ringing, and with each person who walked through the door I watched my parents' eyes light up. I think that might have been the biggest joy of my day.

Entrway table of the party, celebrating a beautiful couple.

As person after special person came through the door, our home filled with about 60 people, most traveling quite a distance to celebrate a special couple.

But the surprises weren't over. One that had been in the works for a while.

Richard Jesse Wastson and his wife Susi were two of our special guests. About an hour into the party, an easel and a covered something-or-other was placed in the living room. We gathered and I attempted to thank everyone for coming and say some special words to my parents. That said, I was so choked up, I struggled a bit (or a lot) to get it all out.

Trying to hold it together.

Richard then helped me unveil a gift given to my parents from their many friends and family: a commissioned piece of art done by Richard.

Richard Jesse Watson talks about the painting, and some special touches.

It was a most beautiful surprise.

My mom has said many time, "Someday I would love to own an original piece of Richard's." But more in a dreamy-wouldn't-it-be-wonderful sort of way.

Now, not only do they own one, but it was done just for them, filled with many things special to them: the beach, mountains, moon, eagles, and heart-shaped rocks (something they collect). And to make it that much more special, sprinkled on that beach are forty heart-shaped rocks. Perfect.

Art by Richard Jesse Watson from loving friends and family to celebrate my parents' 40 years.

I'm sure it's pretty obvious that this was far more than a Moment for me and my family...but let us not for get the Moment and the prompt. And thanks for letting me share this beautiful celebration with you.

What surprise(s) has your character pulled off?

Monday Moment #117: a writing prompt for your work-in-progress

(If you’ve already read this then skip past all the italicized blah-di-blah and start writing.) Monday Moments are writing prompts for your work-in-progress. They are questions that come from my experiences and are my favorite way to find out more about my characters. I find I learn a lot. Some of it I use. Some of it I don’t. But I always, always get to know my characters better just by answering the question. I hope you do too.)


I'm going to make you WAIT for this one (or I guess the next one).

Because I like...

SUSPENSE (plus, I don't have time for what the post will require)!

It was a very busy weekend around these part.

I pulled off multiple surprises.

To be continued...

What has your character had to wait to hear about?

Monday Moment #116: a writing prompt for your work-in-progress

(If you’ve already read this then skip past all the italicized blah-di-blah and start writing.) Monday Moments are writing prompts for your work-in-progress. They are questions that come from my experiences and are my favorite way to find out more about my characters. I find I learn a lot. Some of it I use. Some of it I don’t. But I always, always get to know my characters better just by answering the question. I hope you do too.)


I hope everyone had a lovely weekend, whether it be from finally seeing sunshine, a lovely Easter celebration, eating some yummy candy, or all of the above. I have to say, the sun finally coming out in the Seattle-area brought some much needed sanity.

My hubby and I had a very early start to Easter. This was a preparation, organization, and communication issue. Meaning, we didn't do any of it well enough.

How about we start with the fact that I left the basket center pieces (huge Belgium chocolate eggs) in the back of the car, which ended up in direct sunlight. Not pretty. The eggs pretty much imploded.

That was just one issue.

In the early evening, I could have been stuffing eggs and filling baskets, however I couldn't because all of the Easter essentials were up in storage in an area I couldn't get to alone. Not a big deal except for the fact that my husband ended up needing to work ridiculously late, which left me alone to munch on Easter candy and wait...wait...wait.

The hubby finally rolled in around 12:30 AM. Happy Easter. It was time to fill baskets, stuff eggs, hide eggs, and oh, yeah...remember we always send the kids on a scavenger hunt. So we got to work. And, of course, on a night when we are already doing it things way too late, my hubby prepares a fairly elaborate hunt.

Here he is at about 2:30 AM, hanging a clue (that had to be found using binoculars) on the fence, wearing his boxers and boots. Nice look, no? It gave a me a good early morning giggle.

He's pinning up a paper bird that has a clue written on it.

We finally crashed around 3:00 only to hear our kids stirring just before 5:00 AM. I kid you not. The tone was serious when I told them to go back to sleep. And if they couldn't sleep to just try to. And that there would be no talking until 6:00 AM. And that the adults were not to be woken up until 7:00.

But it all ended up worth it. I don't have a picture of them looking through the binoculars at the bird clue, but I love this one of them looking at a clue that was taped to the ceiling.

They did request that this basket and egg hunt be more challenging, and I think they got what they wished for (even if it meant their parents were up way too late).

When has your character wished for something to be more challenging?

Monday Moment #115: a writing prompt for your work-in-progress

(If you’ve already read this then skip past all the italicized blah-di-blah and start writing.) Monday Moments are writing prompts for your work-in-progress. They are questions that come from my experiences and are my favorite way to find out more about my characters. I find I learn a lot. Some of it I use. Some of it I don’t. But I always, always get to know my characters better just by answering the question. I hope you do too.)

 

It's taken me a while to get here, but *here* I am. And happy to be so.

I'm fresh off an incredible conference. If you were there, you know. Unbelievable, huh? If you weren't, well then you have to travel to Seattle next April because, DANG, this region knows how to put on a show. And this year's faculty was A-mazing. I've been to too many conferences to count, and this was one conference where I didn't feel like I was hearing the same thing over again. Loved it.

That said, coming out of this conference, I have mentors on my mind.

So, as you know from the previous post, I hosted a little Orientation for the first-time attendees. Well, maybe not so little since there were over 100 first-timers.

Here's one of them.

Look at how terrified that little robot looks.

One of the pieces that I think makes the Orientation so successful is that many (like 55 attendees) volunteer to be mentors. They come into the conference early and meet several attendees, in a sense taking them under their writerly/illustratorly/conference-goerly wings. (Mouthful, anyone?) Love that.

Not only that, but during lunch on Sunday, there was a special announcement. SCBWI WWA gave it's first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award and it went to one of my mentors, Peggy King Anderson. Man, I love that lady!



Here she is in the pretty blue, not expecting a thing!



Peggy's daughter (in purple) looks on.

A handful of those who Peggy has touched shared a thought.

And Peggy listens as the rooms send lots of love her way!

Now, she is a mentor to me in a couple of ways. First, she was my start; my introduction to this crazy industry and to SCBWI and she has remained part of my writerly life for the past ten years. She is also a mentor as a writer teacher, and I look up to her so very much. I too teach, and had just received excited news the day before the conference kicked-off: I was offered the instructor position for the Foundations portion of the UW Writing for Children Continuing Ed. program. So exciting. I'm thrilled to be joining such an amazing instructor team. And, Peggy...well, when she found out, she made me feel like it's what I'm meant to do, just like she always does.

Who does your character look up to, and why?

Monday Moment #114: a writing prompt for your work-in-progress

(If you’ve already read this then skip past all the italicized blah-di-blah and start writing.) Monday Moments are writing prompts for your work-in-progress. They are questions that come from my experiences and are my favorite way to find out more about my characters. I find I learn a lot. Some of it I use. Some of it I don’t. But I always, always get to know my characters better just by answering the question. I hope you do too.)

Have you ever let anything spill out of your mouth, and the second it did you're tyring to slurp it back up like a big-long noodle?

Wait...that's not what I meant. That didn't sound right. You know what I mean. Right?

*Hit self between eyes. Insert foot in mouth. Hide in corner.*

I'm feeling ever-so thoughtful about my words at the moment (well...sadly, not as I type this, but in a broader way) because I'm preparing for the upcoming SCBWI Western Washington conference which is coming up this weekend. I'll be welcoming the first-time attendees and conducting an Orientation just prior to the open, to hopefully set a good tone and start the weekend off right. I'm hoping to say just the right words in order to set new attendees at ease, alleviate stress, and ground them with realistic expectations.

I try and do those same things when I teach my group fitness classes. My hope is that when I do, I inspire, motivate, and keep people working safely. Teaching group fitness (that's choreographed) is truly the ultimate in multi-tasking. Not only am I working out (and hard), but I'm coaching (position, technique, timing) while trying to push people to work their hardest. All the while my mind must be one move ahead of what we're doing in class. A true brain and body workout.

That said, this can easily result in a verbal faux pas. Or two!

I was teaching my Bodypump class (the ultimate bar-bell workout) this past week, and as we were warming up I mentioned that it was so nice to see new faces in class, and great to see older faces return. I knew it as soon as I said it, and I was looking to specific person who isn't the youngest kitten in the gym, that it was a poor choice of words. Good grief!

You'd think I'd hold together during the rest of the class. But no, I bit the dust during biceps. Again. It was meant to be a compliment, as I told the roomful of lovely ladies that there were "no rockin' bodies" on the floor. (Come on, Jolie. All their bodies are rockin', because they take Bodypump. That's what a I yelled at myself in my head.) It was really meant to be a big compliment during bicep work, as you don't want to rock your body to move the weight, but it sounded all wrong.

Good thing I can be a bit self-deprecating. Usually they all get a good laugh at my expense. Works for me.

What has your character said that's come out all wrong?

Looking forward to seeing a whole bunch of you at the conference. And if you're a first-time attendee, I'll try and get my words just right. :)

Monday Moment #113: a writing prompt for your work-in-progress

(If you’ve already read this then skip past all the italicized blah-di-blah and start writing.) Monday Moments are writing prompts for your work-in-progress. They are questions that come from my experiences and are my favorite way to find out more about my characters. I find I learn a lot. Some of it I use. Some of it I don’t. But I always, always get to know my characters better just by answering the question. I hope you do too.)

This past week was a big birthday week in our family. On Wednesday we celebrated my youngest's 9th birthday (only one more year having a girlie with a single digit). And on Thursday we celebrated my dad's 60th, a special one for sure. 

We didn't do anything over the top, instead opting for lovely steak dinner at home with my family, and my brother's. 

There were wonderful gifts and cards (we'll get to the cards, or the card, in a moment).

This is a painting of my dad's Grandma Powers. It was painted from a photograph of her at the OTO Dude Ranch in Paradise Valley (MT) where she worked...with Dudes (my Great Grandpa Powers was one of those Dudes). 

Dude, how cool is that?

There was also a spectacular hit at the party... a card. 

Take a peek:

Here's my dad's face when he opened it up. 

Now notice how the wee ones are quick to gather. 

And what happened as the night went on? Take a look.

Oh my! What a bit of inappropriate fun.

You know, there are those times as kids when the adults let the door to adult humor open, just a crack. It's quite hilarious. And extremely memorable. I still remember my grandpa's 50th birthday cake that had a provocatively posed doll dressed in a see-through gown sitting on top of it. Sah-weet!

Now, I'm sure my girls and their cousins will remember their papa's 60th birthday card with the large boobs that vibrate to the beat of the stripper song (I hope they don't hum that diddy at school). 

What glimpses into the at-times-inappropriate adult world have your characters encountered?