I was having the hardest time coming up with a topic for today. Then Leanne Shirtliffe recently played this game on her blog. Ah-ha!
If you’re not familiar with Two Truths and a Lie, it works like this. One person offers three statements about herself, one of which is false. The other players then guess which statement they believe is a lie.
Two Truths and a Lie always results in bizarre stories being shared, and it pretty much always goes sideways, drifting into PG-13 or R territory.
Can you spot the lie?
Natural Disasters
I’ve lived through an earthquake.
I’ve lived through a tornado.
I’ve lived through a hurricane.
BFF
We became friends in a high school creative writing class.
We got kicked out of a bar.
We take a 10-day road trip every year.
Before That Man
I worked as a Nanny.
I worked as a Driver Ed Instructor.
I worked as a Travel Agent.
That Man
We are the same age.
We met on a blind date.
We are both the oldest child.
Collections
I collect Winnie-the-Pooh bears.
I collect shot glasses.
I collect Santa Clauses.
Wee Beasties
3 of the 4 are gingers.
3 of the 4 have blue eyes.
3 of the 4 cut their eyebrows, requiring stitches.
In the comments, guess the lies.
Feel free to play along and leave your own three statements for the rest of us to guess which is the lie.
Oh where, oh where, has the time gone? Right. Wee beasties were out of school for two days this last week.
Then Friday was a wasted day with repair people in and out. Really, from 11:30 am to 7:30 pm! Poor Roxy got way too much sun as I needed to keep her outside much of the day. Do they make sunscreen for dogs?
The writing: still working my way through notes from betas, revamping the MC, solidifying the SF elements, and nailing down conflict. It’s very doubtful this will be ready for the sub call. But I’m okay with that. The sub call pushed some limits. The betas pushed craft. I’m learning and growing so it is all good. I want to keep pushing those deadlines and limits so I’m continuing to work on this as if I’m going to submit it for the call.
I have a love/hate relationship with deadlines and August McLaughlin had a great post, Deadlines: Lifelines for Writers. How are you with deadlines?
The blogging: still holding to a week cushion by the skin of my teeth. Seriously, can there be an odder saying?
The social media: still failing miserably with commenting and taking part on the different sites. However, I AM getting around to them all every day without killing myself. I have no idea what switched and that is my social media goal for this week. Once I have that figured, get the commenting back up to par.
The health: I am back on the wagon completely with the water and slowly working in those dog walks. The Beastie Girl and I got out twice this last week. Additionally, for March I’m cutting out some of the extra sugars. I started implementing that by substituting Truvia for sugar in my morning coffee. My goal is to slowly reduce the Truvia until I’m down to just taking cream in said morning coffee. I’m such a tea person, LOL.
Angela Wallace really hit the nail on the head with her Squeezing Time post!
The reading: yep, been doing some of that too. Sloan Parker highlighted a number of free reads Don’t Read in the Closet Collections that can be download from Goodreads. A little M/M romance in the evening
Temperance, the combining of opposites, is number fourteen of the Major Arcana. According to Raven’s Tarot site “14 as two times the 7, adjustment of destiny.” It is also the number of cards in each suit when you count the court cards.
For a fire card I don’t get an overwhelming sense of the element. Though there is a feeling of steam, fire mixing with water. A very Lady of the Lake image with her raising from the pool like that. I get a sense of day blending into night, or vice versa. Rainbows can symbolized the bridge between heaven and earth, and more currently GLBT, which leaves me thinking of acceptance and finding peace within ourselves. It maybe the story I’m working on, but I also get a feeling of mixing cultures, races, and/or bloodlines. The overall color palette speaks of art and creativity, the blending of colors to create others.
Light (upright) Reading:
The serenity of the middle between polarities.
Keywords: Tolerance, Moderation, Blending, and Adaptation.
Shadow (upside down or reverse) Reading:
Beware of a struggle to blend opposing sides.
Keywords: Volatile, Excessiveness, Outlandishness, and Haste.
Plots:
The rainbow has become a symbol of gay/lesbian rights, perhaps your story revolves around that. Angels and demons? It looks like she’s raising from a pool of water, perhaps a Lady of the Lake type story. How about the obvious guardian angel? Maybe her wings mean the ability to cross between worlds, spirit and physical. Or maybe the colliding of worlds?
Temperance is one of the four cardinal virtues, perhaps the cutting of something with water or alcohol abstinence? Temperance is the blending of opposites to create something new, maybe your story focuses on wine making, cooking or a nutritionist, a pharmacist, a doctor or nurse or healer.
Themes: Balancing Opposites, Art & Creativity, Healing, Moderation, Finding the Middle Path, Owning Your Light & Shadow, Boundary Between Conscious & Unconscious/Thought & Intuition, or Blending to Create Something New.
Characters:
Temperance is a mixed-race child with the bloodlines of many cultures.
Archetype: Alchemist, Healer, or Guardian Angel (the Higher Self).
Mentors represent the Self, the god within us, the aspect of personality that is connected with all things. The higher Self is the wiser, nobler, more godlike part of us [think Jiminy Cricket in Disney's Pinocchio]. ~The Writers Journey by Christopher Vogler
Mythical Figures: Hestia, Panthea, Asclepius, Chiron, Vishnu, and Apollo.
The personality enneagram, a nine-pointed array of personality types, might also be a useful reference for character building.
Temperance is E5: Observer, Investigator, and/or Sage
Self Image — I see through
Passion — Greed
Virtue — Detachment
Narcissistic Trap — Knowledge
Avoids — Emptiness
Speaking Style — Explaining or Systematizing
E5 people are ruled by their head. They need to understand the pattern of events, where all the pieces fit in the puzzle of life, and are often detached from their emotions. Their objectivity may hide feelings of isolation or confusion.
Additionally, look up one of the Fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) for personality traits.
When the Temperance card appears in your writing practice, you might want to reflect on how you find balance in your work as a writer. ~Tarot for Writers by Corrine Kenner
Image: Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert from Llewellyn Worldwide
Maria Zannini brought a cool movie, Dimensions, to my attention earlier in the week. Love the premise.
The writing: is off to betas. Scared. Nervous. Excited. Looking forward to learning from the process.
I took a couple days off. But am now in that joyful process…synopsis writing. Thank goodness for resources like Barbara Karmazin’s Outline for Character & Plot Based Synopsis. Synopsis are so MUCH harder to do after the fact and my process is uncovering little things.
I’m not surprised. This MS was very old, as in before I knew about things like character development. A piece I never expected to bring back into the light of day despite loving the idea spark behind it. I knew going in my MC was weak, early beta returns agree, so I’m taking a page from Juliette Wade’s Know Your Character Inside & Out and going to rework the MC.
The blogging: I’m still maintaining that week cushion. I’d like to get it up to two weeks.
I’ve started thinking about my blogiversary coming in April…there will be giveaways If you have a book coming out in April, I’d love to do a ‘pimpage’ post so drop me a line, all genres welcome. I’m also open to interviewing. I’d love to have reader related posts for all four Tuesdays of the month.
The social media: well, most of my contributions this last week have been automatic updates. Still horribly behind on the blog commenting but I’m getting back up on that horse.
The health: yay, back on the water bandwagon. Still struggling to get those doggie walks in. We did get out once this week which is better than last week
I uncovered my desk. Whew. Amazing how much easier it is to work without piles at the elbows!
The lovely Claire Hennessy nominated me for this award. Thanks so much Claire
The rules are to share ten facts about oneself and pass the award on to six fab bloggers. It is hard to come up with interesting facts about yourself. And if you’re really curious I’ll point you to my Versatile Blogger posts here and here plus the 7 X 7 Link post.
Instead, I offer up to you, my Top 10 Sexy Men
(alphabetically so no one feels slighted of course)
Adrian Paul
Christopher Eccleston
Clive Owen
Eric Etebari
Gerard Butler
Hugh Jackman
Mark Dacascos
Oded Fehr
Sendhil Ramamurthy
Shemar Moore
Will Smith
Oops. Miscounted.
Who is in your top 10?
Okay, on with the nominations…
So many of you have been beyond awesome, especially over the last few weeks when I haven’t been as good about getting to your blogs, and I’d love to name you all. In the end, I looked at my stats and picked the top visitors without this award.
Back in January, when the parental units were visiting, we went up to Imperial Palace to the Auto Collections. Le Sigh. I found the perfect car…
'62 Chevrolet Corvette Roadster
A two-seat Date Night car…
With my perfect license plate…
Is this me or what?
Laugh all you want, That Man did. He says the new leather sofa has more play room. He may have a point
The Specifics
I really want this beauty. Maybe I can take up a collection
That Man just doesn’t appreciate a sweet ride. If it gets him from point A to point B he’s a happy camper.
Am I alone? Any other car enthusiasts out there?
The Date Night…
We finally had one! Gasp and shock. January is That Man’s busiest month of the year. The “don’t know if you’re coming or going” kind of busy.
If you’re here in Vegas, I highly recommend Bootlegger Bistro on the south end of the Strip. It is the only restaurant worthy of braving the Strip on a Friday night!
The writing: I’ve revised. I’ve searched and destroyed (though I’ll need to do at least one more of these). I’ve fiddled. I’ve deleted. I’ve moved. I’ve tweaked. I’ve revised again. OY! Yesterday, I sent the MS to the ol’ e-reader, read through it, and made notes. Hoping I’ve finally cut it down to where it needs to be for the sub call but as of typing up this post I haven’t had a chance to implement the notes.
I’d love to get at least one more beta reader. This is a SFR, 1st person POV, sitting at 36K as of typing this post (needs to be under 35K for the call). If you’re interested please drop me an email to BuriedNWords [at] gmail [dot] com. Thanks!
The blogging: still maintaining that week’s worth of cushion.
The social media: sorry folks. Number one on the ol’ list has been monopolizing my time. Hope to catch up soon.
That evil brilliant Jenny Hansen convinced me to join Triberr. (Be sure to check out Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 because Jenny is a master at navigating the techie waters.) I’ll probably start a Tarot Tribe once I’m more comfortable with the site
Death. Sadness. Release. What do you associate with that word? The Death card is number thirteen in the Major Arcana. Boy, the poor card can’t catch a break.
This card is very apropos for me at the moment. I see the sun glinting on the water, in Celtic traditions it’s often seen as a goddess manifestation called the White Lady. The Lady of the Lake anyone? I even get a sense of the Otherworld (Celtic) with the islands in the background. I think of Vikings placing their dead in a boat and sending them off. Does that broken boat mean the traveler made it? Or not? (Probably a story somewhere in the answer.) There is certainly a feeling of death with the decaying bird and the circling vulture. Yet, there is rebirth with the butterflies.
Light (upright) Reading:
Release what no longer serves and clear the space for new beginnings.
Keywords: Transformation, Renewal, Cleansing, and Liberation.
Shadow (upside down or reverse) Reading:
Profound, permanent change may trigger intense fears of the unknown.
Keywords: Obstinacy, Decay, Obsession, and Paranoia.
Plots:
How about the Phoenix, the bird that burns and is reborn of its ashes? A forest fire, which can destroy while purifying. Life after death. Or even a ghost. According to Kenner, the rising and setting of the sun symbolizes death and resurrection.
Water is the emotional element, perhaps your story focus is on “la petite mort” (the little death) of orgasm.
You can explore the number thirteen. The thirteen lunar months (full moons) of the year. The negative side, thirteen diners at the Last Supper. The positive side, thirteen in a baker’s dozen.
Themes: Transformation, Physical Death, Conclusion, Rebirth, Ending, Transition, or Renewal.
Characters:
Standing at the gateway of life and death.
Archetype: Death, Rebirth, Transformation, or Metamorphosis.
[Trickster archetypes] bring about healthy change and transformation, often by drawing attention to the imbalance or absurdity of a stagnant psychological situation. They are the natural enemies of the status quo. ~The Writers Journey by Christopher Vogler
Mythical Figures: Hades, Pluto, Kali, and Hecate.
The personality enneagram, a nine-pointed array of personality types, might also be a useful reference for character building.
Death is E4: Tragic Romantic, Individualist, and/or Connoisseur
Self Image — I am different
Passion — Envy
Virtue — Equanimity
Narcissistic Trap — Authenticity
Avoids — Ordinariness
Speaking Style — Lyrical or Lamenting
E4 people are relationship oriented. They are concerned with what others think of them, image and prestige. They see themselves as being for others and often believe they know what’s best. They dislike being alone and may feel sad or inadequate.
Additionally, look up one of the Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) for personality traits.
…the Death card can also remind you to eliminate words, phrases, scenes, and chapters that don’t move your story along. ~Tarot for Writers by Corrine Kenner
Image: Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert from Llewellyn Worldwide
Why I picked it up: Actually, I won this one but it’s been on my to-buy list since she first started talking about it on her blog. Sloan was my intro into the M/M world and I probably measure all others by the standard she set.
What I liked: This is a friends to lovers story which has to be one of my favorite romance devises. Both characters are well developed, a good chunk of the story takes place on a train (which I thoroughly enjoyed as both my grandfather and father, for a bit in high school, worked for the railroad), and she wove in a neat little mystery.
What I disliked: One aspect of the mystery seemed extreme even as it was believable. It made for exciting passages but felt a little over the top for a contemporary setting.
Reading (Actually, we’ll have two Just Read this time.)
Why I picked it up: Again, it was on my to-buy list radar but I won this from Keri’s site.
What I liked: This has a strong first person point of view. It satisfied my POV junkie habit beautifully Keri has built a fascinating world of angels and demons locked in the classic good vs. evil battle. There’s bit of mystery and enough questions at the end that I’m looking forward to the next book.
What I disliked: There’s a bit of a “love triangle.” Normally I’m all for it, love the tension. This one started out well but ended up too one-sided too soon. And I think the story could have had the same level of suspense and tension without it.
Will Read
That’s a really good question. I’m in the middle of revisions so reading right now isn’t high on the ol’ list. I did just get this in the mail…
Why I picked this up: I’d seen it recommended. It sounded worth a try if I could get my hands on a used copy…which I did.
What I expect to like: The way this book is broken down. Seriously, there’s Characterization: the Outer Life; Characterization: the Inner Life; Applied Characterization; The Journey; Suspense; Conflict; Context; and Transcendency. And in a quick thumb-through, sections within on romance.
What I expect to dislike: Hard to say. I’ve never read anything by Mr. Lukeman before so am coming to this with fresh eyes.
And I’m looking forward to The Frugal Way, Smart Grocery Shopping by Maria Zannini coming in March. With four growing boys I can use all the grocery shopping help I can get!
There’s this place in me where your fingerprints still rest, your kisses still linger, and your whispers softly echo. It’s the place where a part of you will forever be a part of me.
by Christopher Vogler
by Corrine Kenner
by Joanna Powell Colbert from Llewellyn Worldwide
