A-List -- Z to A Blogging Challenge

At the beginning of this month, I said I was nuts for doing the A to Z Blogging Challenge.


Maybe so. But along the way, I found a load of nutcases to share my loony bin. I returned to these blogs nearly every day for information, inspiration, awesome photos, and laughs.

To these wondrous bloggers, I award Blog on Fire.

Alex Cavanaugh
Tara Tyler
Emerald City
Ellie Garratt
Seton Hill Writers
Ready. Write. Go.
Lauracea
Deirdra
Creepy Query Girl


This writing community has an amazing talent, the desire to Pay It Forward. Truly, it is humbling to see other writers, published and unpublished, agents and editors, stretch out their hand to help others who are just discovering the craft.

Let us go onward. And never stop learning.
Now excuse me while I take a nap.

Becoming Lady Gaga – Z to A Blog Challenge

Where Creativity lurks, Ego may surface. Sometimes in odd fashion.

We want appreciation for our work, if not thundering applause then at least recognition. IMHO, there are similarities between the very popular Lady Gaga and us writers.

The singer puts her soul on display and smiles with the accolades. But the meat dress appears when she hears negativity.

Refining our craft is the key to success as well as persistence. Along the way, rejections are a large massive huge part of the writer’s life and a tough skin is a prerequisite.

And if that doesn’t work, I’ve got a freezer-full of beef.

Corrections Officer aka Prison Guard –Z to A Blog Challenge

In another life, I was a prison guard at a minimum-security prison where scary times are interspersed with mind-numbing inaction. It was a great place to witness human nature.

And I have never laughed so hard before or since that time.
For instance:

An inmate came down the stairway, one hand holding his, um, crotch area. A noise accompanied every step. It…rustled.

He stopped and we stared at each other. In the silence, when his pants crackled again, I knew this was going to be hard, I mean difficult.

“What cha got in your pants?” I said, trying to remain professional.

The inmate grimaced and then pulled a cellophane bag of candy out of his britches. It is a rule in prison that an inmate cannot share their canteen purchases with other inmates. It encourages debt and debtors. By hiding them in his pants, he thought he could get around this rule.

He rolled his eyes and half-smiled.

I gave him the stink eye. “You need to take it back to your locker and find a better hiding place next time.”

Now I had a dilemma. Should I write the inmate a violation?

“…I observed Inmate Smith with something in his pants…”

“…Inmate Smith had candy in his pants…”

“…Inmate Smith’s crotch made an unusual noise…”

In the end, I didn’t write the guy a violation. My fellow officers would have laughed for days if I had.

Detailed Descriptions -- Z to A Blog Challenge

Avoid nitpicky, descriptions that throw every bit of eye-trash at the reader. It muddles the brain and slows the current.

Example: The petals blushed in a rosy hue, redolent of a fiery sunset after an earth-crashing storm.

Translation: Roses are red.

First Page Advice: Kill every adverb/adjective on that first page. Add no more than 3 back. See how it reads now.

Give me strong verbs, simple nouns, hold the adjectives please.

Eroticism. A very subjective definition – Z to A Blog Challenge

*must tiptoe with care*

The subject spikes interest, makes the ears perk up. (hush)

But not every reader is similarly affected.

I like Richelle Mead’s Succubus series and Dark Swan. Love the story line, mystery, conflict, and especially her writing style. But, um, well she can get quite descriptive on occasion.

That’s okay. I am not a prude or in anyway offended. But after reading one *insert tab A into slot B* scene, I skip those bits and pieces and move onto the story. In other words, it does nothing for me.

But this passage from Jack London’s Burning Daylight is something else again. The couple has just married and arrived at Daylight’s ranch house.

“She heard the footsteps of Daylight returning, and caught her breath with a quick intake. He took her hand in his, and, as he turned the doorknob, felt her hesitate. Then he put his arm around her and together they passed in.”

To me it speaks volumes, beautiful, subtle, and oh-my-goodness romantic.
Wicked Game by Chris Isaak is, IMHO, one of the most erotic songs ever.

‘What a wicked game to play, to make me feel this way,

What wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you.

What a wicked thing to say, you never felt this way,

What a wicked thing to do, to make me dream of you and

I don’t want to fall in love.

‘The world was on fire and no one could save me but you.

It’s strange what desire will make foolish people do.

I never dreamed that I’d meet somebody like you.

And I never dreamed that I’d lose somebody like you.’

Are there books or songs that affect you? Passage not generally viewed as erotic.