Only the select few know that the true dreamer is the great doer. —Carl Sandburg

Dream on, LJers.

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I’ve been to all of these and remember it. Apologies to those States that I snubbed. They weren’t on the ininerary at the time.

create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out ourCalifornia travel guide

And I’ve been to all of these and remember them too.

create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide

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A good plot is like a fine wine. It’s aged to perfection in the right temperature and conditions to bring out its flavor and develop its structure. An aged wine shows hints of flavors that wouldn’t be perceived by the taster if the cork were removed right after the wine was bottled. It opens up and isn’t so dense that you can’t taste the subtle layers of flavor.

A well developed plot, aged and worked through to perfection, is much the same. It takes time for an author to develop the layers of flavor necessary for the reader to feel pulled in and satisfied. Uncorking a fresh idea and pouring it out quickly doesn’t bring out the necessary layers of flavor. Ideas must be mulled and reworked over time.

My plots, however, come together really more like aged cheese than wine. Slightly smelly, packaged in a layer of inedible wax that must be removed before the plot can see the light of day, and completely full of holes.

Swiss cheese plots are my default but I’m hopeful I’ll learn the patience it takes for aged wine plots too. After all, wine and cheese together often make for a great reception.

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My writing process is much like a “birth” within a cocoon. The worm of an idea flashes through my mind, then wraps itself tightly in layer on layer of spun thought. Often, there are many worms in various stages of cocooning. I like a busy mind like that, a sort of greenhouse planted with idea-attracting flowers like music, journaling, reading and mind-wandering. I often type in a title when an interesting thought arises and make a Word document and save it with no text. I might not ever use the idea but more often it develops (cocoons) then struggles forth to freedom. Sometimes beautiful, sometimes quirky and full of character, sometimes disturbingly distorted.

I’m learning not to question their differences. I help them in their struggle to break through but if I force them, they often end up unable to fly…until more time passes and I find what they need to gain their strength. Time after time I see how patience may not bring perfection but it brings exactly what was needed.

May that be true for each of us as well as our stories.

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Hey, diddle diddle,
I’ll tell you a riddle,
Who lifted the girl o’er the moon?
Who gave her esteem
to follow her dream
and taught her to hum her own tune?

More than another,
her warm-hearted mother
who gave her the hope to aspire
that she could achieve
what she dared to conceive
and modeled a role to admire.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY, MOM! I love you.

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I have no idea when the Constitution was written. I’m sure that’s the one I missed.

You Passed the US Citizenship Test

Congratulations – you got 9 out of 10 correct!

Your Blog Should Be Purple

You’re an expressive, offbeat blogger who tends to write about anything and everything. You tend to set blogging trends, and you’re the most likely to write your own meme or survey. You are a bit distant though. Your blog is all about you – not what anyone else has to say.

Proof that some books translate well. Farmer McPeepers and His Missing Milk Cows by Katy S. Duffield in Brazil.
It wasn’t an official translation, just my own off the cuff translation for the kids but boy howdy, did they ever have fun searching for the cows and Farmer’s glasses on each page. Just like my own kids when we read it in English. It was a blast.

Even Dash and Boy Spiderman were impressed. 🙂

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