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Friday, January 29, 2010
A spoonful of mummy anyone?
During the sixteenth century the mummy trade was especially lively. A pot of mumia vera aegyptiaca (genuine Egyptian
mummy) could be found on the shelves of most apothecaries. The use of mumia as a remedy declined by the eighteenth century,
yet the pharmaceutical company Merck included mumia vera aegyptiaca on their price lists as late as 1924.
Yum,
mummy! I wonder if this is where the words for the song "Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down"
came from?
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Thursday, January 28, 2010
Plumb Pye
Several years ago, my husband & I visited Colonial Williamsburg. The weather wasn't very cooperative, but still the town tour was great. If you're in that area, I highly recommend
visiting. While we were there, I picked up lots of great pamphlets that had been originally printed back in the 18th century.
One of them was a recipe book: A Collection of the Most tasteful and Approved Recipes in Virginia Cookery. While reading through
these recipes, I thought, if you didn't know how to bake/cook, these recipes really wouldn't help you much. I love
to get in my kitchen and do both, bake and cook just experiment with recipes. However, I'm not sure I could make anything
edible from these recipes. I've listed one for Plum pie below--exactly as it is in my book:
PLUMB
PYE
A good crust for great pies:
TO boil a peck of flour the yolks
of three eggs, then boil some water, and put in half a pound of tried sewet, and a pound and a half of butter. Skim off the
butter and sewet, and as much of the liquor as will make a light good crust; work it up well, and roll it out.
Hannah
Glasse, The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy, 7th ed. (London 1760)
To make a cherry pie:
MAKE
a good crust, lay a little round the sides of your dish, throw sugar at the bottom, and lay in your fruit and sugar at top.
A few red currants does well with them; put on your lid; and bake in slack oven.
MAKE
a plumb pye the same way, and a gooseberry pye. If you would have it red, let it stand a good while in the oven, after the
bread is drawn. A custard is very good with the gooseberry pye.
Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and
Easy, 7th ed. (London 1760)
I'm not sure Hannah Glasse knows what the heck she is talking about. The
Art of Cookery, Made Plain & Easy?? How hard was it before? Could this recipe be any more imprecise? And just what the
heck is sewet? I tried to google it and came up with a bunch of nothing! Now doesn't that make you want to rush to your
kitchen and start baking? :)
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Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Shh...quiet please!
Shhh...quiet please. What happened to this concept at the library? My local RWA® chapter meets at a near-by library.
The last meeting I attended, I arrived late for the PRO meeting, so I sat down outside the room where we meet and waited until
the general members arrived. I pulled out my pen and notebook and began to scribble. A music recital was being held at the
library that morning. Although the music was beautiful, the distraction of the music would not allow my thoughts to come through
clearly. Our group meets in an enclosed room and there are no musical instruments involved. The librarians did have the musicians
tucked away somewhere in the back of the library, but not in an enclosed room. The music was loud and distracting enough that
I could not think straight. How can anyone concentrate to read, write or study with all that noise? Isn't that what the
library is all about. A place of quiet solitude to find escape into our fantasies for a while? A tranquil place to go undisturbed
to study, or work on that next best-seller?
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Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Just a Click Away--Write Or Die by Dr. Wicked
Are you serious about meeting your writing goals? Then check out Write or Die by Dr. Wicked. Depending on the settings you choose, stop writing and only seconds later it will gobble up your words. If you don't
want to lose your wordcount for the day, you will continue writing until you have met your goal.
Genius!
For a minimal fee, you can purchase a desktop copy or use the online version for free. Free is
always good.
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Monday, January 25, 2010
People Watching--Character Building
While waiting for an appointment the other day, I had the opportunity to do one of the things I like to do best, people
watch. It's a great method to store away information that might assist you later when you're building characters.
Because you have to wonder exactly what entices someone to purchase that ill-fitting denim coat with the leopard face covering
the entire back...what ran through their mind when they pulled it off the rack? Or from their closet that morning. What about
the lady who wore the snow boots with the long, wrinkly denim jumper? (Did I mention, she wore a long, wrinkled denim
jumper!) There were people whose sleeves were too long (their hands practically disappeared into them, like a turtle
slipping into his shell), or the shoulders of their coats were too wide (especially the leopard-face lady--made her look boxy),
one young guy, stepped into the restroom and started throwing up. (We could hear him through the door--yuck! Not pleasant.)
What was that all about? Makes you curious though doesn't it?
Next time you're at the mall or just
waiting for an appointment, pull out your notebook and make some notes on the people you see. It might come in handy later
on.
I've included a web site my son shared with me yesterday. It is the People of Walmart. Enjoy!
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Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Just A Click Away
Do you realize all the knowledge available to you with just a click of your mouse? It’s mind-boggling when you
think about it. You can Google anything now days, and a wealth of information on topics such as DNA forensics, biochemistry,
human biology to 19th century fashions and hairstyles, are right at your fingertips to assist you in your writing—not
to mention--writing articles galore!
Cami's Books is one of those sites. She posts reviews on a wide variety of books and various blog tours. Check it out, I think you’ll
enjoy it.
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Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Guilt
My local RWA chapter met last Saturday. It was the first one I attended in a quite a while. It was great to see everyone
and reconnect with old acquaintances even though the visits were short. As I spoke with a fellow writer about her writing
and goals, etc. she expressed a lot of the same frustrations that I have, namely a too-full schedule. She also works full
time. So, she wakes very early in the morning to write, revise, critique, promote or whatever her writing called for that
day prior to her mortgage-paying job. Then she comes home from work and spends a couples hours with her husband to watch
T.V. or whatever she's too tired to drag herself in front of the computer and try to get anymore work done that day, which
only made her feel guilty for wasting the time she spent with her husband.
I could understand exactly how she
felt; she had wasted precious time watching T.V. instead plucking away at the keyboard. But honestly should we feel guilty
for spending time with family regardless of how that time is spent? Just as we need to set schedules and goals for our writing
we also need to set aside family time. It’s so easy to get carried away in our own fantasy land so that’s where
we want to stay. Block everyone and everything out. Concentrate on page numbers and set goals.
Don’t worry
about how many pages this person or that person is cranking out in a day. Don’t compare yourself to other writers. When
I joined my first critique group many years ago, it bothered me when I would hear other writers talk about how many pages
or words they would write in a day. And then I stopped comparing myself to others. I know I’m not a fast writer. I don't
have as much time to write as others do. Like some, I can’t push out pages and pages of writing a day. But I don’t
have to go back and do multiple drafts unlike others. So push yourself, that’s the only way to improve. But know it
doesn’t matter what others around you are doing. Set reasonable goals and don’t feel guilty if real life gets
in the way.
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Monday, January 18, 2010
Guitar Lessons
I have always wanted to learn to play the drums. My husband heard this thought spewing from my lips and he nixed it
pretty quickly. He did not want to listen me take out my frustrations on a set of drums after a long day. I guess he doesn’t
hear the wonderful sounds that I hear coming from them! So we compromised, he bought me a guitar instead—the
next instrument on my learn-to-play list. He even signed me up for lessons.
I went to the lessons. I practiced.
I got callused fingers. I practiced some more. I learned to play a couple of different songs, My Darling Clementine &
Oh My Sunshine. But no matter how much I practiced, I was terrible. I could hear the melody of what I was playing, but others
could not. Now my beautiful guitar stands bound in its case in the corner of my office collecting dust. I have taken it a
few times, but the playing only gets worse each time.
Sometimes I feel this way with my writing--I should be
getting better & better, not worse. After all this time, maybe I should put a cover over my computer, put it in the corner
with the guitar and let it become a dust collector.
Anyone else have days like these? Where nothing you get
on the page is right.
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Friday, January 15, 2010
Butter Bee Happy
I think I have talked about the Butter Bee Happy web site before. It is an online gratitude journal. The thought behind it, write down five thoughts of gratitude each day
and it will make you a happier person. So here are my five thoughts for today.
- Supportive, loving husband
-
My writing
- My puppies
- Birthday party to plan
- the weekend!
Thanks Cami, for sending
me to this web site. Have a great weekend everyone!
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Thursday, January 14, 2010
Techniques
"The more you read, the more you become aware of the techniques that are special to every genre, and the more you
begin to see ways to meld the strengths of the genres into a whole that is, one hopes, more than the sum of its parts."
--Dean Koontz
So how long do you think you have to write to come up with genius quotes like these?
I didn't do so great with my writing goals yesterday. I got a little bit of new writing done. Nothing to
write home about. Disappointed.
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Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Clobber
I thought this a great piece of writing advice.
"You can't clobber any reader while he's looking.
You divert his attention, then you clobber him and he never knows what hit him." -- Flannery O'Connor
While I did get some revising done yesterday it was not as much as I would have liked. I had a horrible day, so
here's to a better, more productive day.
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Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Awful Library Books--One of the Blogs I Read
This is one of the blogs I read. Awful Library Books I found it a while ago and visit every now and again. This site is a collection of amusing, perhaps questionable, public
library holdings.
Some of these books are so old and out of date I’m surprised they would still be found
in a public library…honestly how sad is it that we would still find some of these books in a public library. Why? What
possible reason would they have to still be in circulation? Is anyone going to check out Reverse the Charges, How to save
money on your phone bill? Come on people...really?
I did OK on my writing goals yesterday. I got started
on critiquing Cami's new story--Yay! Sorry it has taken me so long Cami...and I even got some new writing done. No revising.
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Monday, January 11, 2010
New Year--Fresh Motivation
I’ve been remiss in keeping my reading & writing goals of late. I have good intentions. However, other than
this blog I've barely written or rather "rewritten" a word in the case of most of my stories. I need
to snap out of it or it will be a very long journey to publication.
So hopefully, new year—fresh motivation.
Every morning I will post my writing and/or critiquing progress. At least that way I will have someone/something to be accountable
to. Maybe that way I can actually get some work accomplished.
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Thursday, January 7, 2010
About Nielsen BookScan
I logged into the members only section of the National RWA web site the other day and while on that site I came across
an area where I could subscribe to the Nielsen BookScan. This is not the first time I had seen this book/subscription
but I had no idea what it was. So I set out to uncover it.
Nielsen BookScan numbers are like an author's
credit rating. It's an industry service for publishers that reports actual book sales by the ISBN number at retailers
from across the country. It tells the naked truth about how many copies a book sells, because it produces weekly tallies electronically
linked straight from thousands of cash registers across the U.S.
This is no guess, the information comes straight
from the register's till. And the numbers may as well be set in stone. But it only reports about 75% of U.S. retail book
sales. They don't cover sales for Wal-Mart, any book clubs, gift shops, etc.
So even if a book has sold
additional copies, if it is not through the reporting outlets they will not be counted toward the authors ISBN report. Low
Nielsen numbers can impact everything, including your next advance.
The more I discover about the publishing
industry the less I like it and I have barely begun to submit my work. I just want to write my stories and be done with it.
Let someone else worry about all this other crap.
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Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Conscious Mind
"The conscious mind is the editor, and the subconscious mind is the writer. And the joy of writing, when you're
writing from your subconscious, is beautiful -- it's thrilling. When you're editing, which is your conscious mind,
it's like torture. And I've just kind of decided that anytime it's torture, I want to stop. I'll just put
it down and wait until it becomes not torture." --Steve Martin
This quote is so true for me. Unfortunately
lately I seem to have had more torturous days than not! I think that's why I stopped over Christmas vacation. I want to
get out of the editing phase and back to the joy of creating.
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Monday, January 4, 2010
Distracted Writer
Christmas vacation is over for me, and it's back to my usual routine--early morning writing and then off to work
for the day.
I sat down at my computer this morning, opened my story and was completely lost...I had been away
too long. I should have known better than to ignore my writing for so many days, but I had too many other projects that distracted
me. I definitely need to work on scheduling my time better.
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Saturday, January 2, 2010
New Year's Resolution
I don't usually set New Year's resolutions. I can't keep them. Besides, I think if you have a goal, why
wait until the New Year to try to obtain it? However, this year I did. Since it had to do with my diet and the holidays were
upon us, I didn't think I would achieve what I had set out to do unless I waited until after the holiday treats were gone.
I have decided to give up all dairy and egg products. Because I already follow a vegetarian diet, I don't think
this will be as difficult as it sounds--other than the eggs. I do love eggs. But vegan recipes have come a long way over
the years.
Vegetarians were probably few and far between back in the Regency days. Especially in the upper
classes. They loved serving meat dishes and lots of them when they entertained. I read one description of a party that served
about 200 people. Some of the dishes offered: baron of beef, fillet of veal, oyster patties, mutton casserole, venison pasties,
rabbit, duck, pigeon pie, green goose, saddle of mutton, tongue & of course the Christmas pie, which consisted of geese,
turkey, hare, veal, pork & sausages. These are just to name a few. Yum...hungry yet?
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Friday, January 1, 2010
Music Idols
My niece is infatuated with the Jonas Brothers. Joe Jonas, to be exact. She absolutely loves him. She tore a picture
from a teen magazine that she kisses every night before going to bed. She owns every one of their CD's and about every
piece of Jonas Brothers' paraphernalia ever made. So when it came time to find that perfect Christmas gift for her, the
Jonas Brothers were out.
From an early age, she has been fascinated with music. She loves to sing. Her parents
bought her a keyboard, but she usually turns on the background beats and then sing for anyone who will listen.
I knew Santa Claus was bringing her an I-Pod, so I decided to find some music she didn't have. Score! I gave her a
CD from the new pop star, Justin Bieber. Homegrown from YouTube-- Justin Bieber Music. My brother informed me, his picture has now replaced Joe Jonas's for her nighttime kissing ritual.
So
do you think Regency girls became this obsessed with their music idols?
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