Attitude is so often a product of our perception. Glass half empty? Glass half full?
But yesterday morning I discovered that writing description is also a product of our perception. Let me explain…
I did not want to get out of bed yesterday. Sat/Sun was spring forward Daylight Savings Time (which I personally think needs to be abolished because internal clocks are REAL!) I was tired and cozy and wishing to stay that way, for at least another hour, if not more. But, not wanting to be a complete Debbie Downer, I reminded myself how happy and cheerful I was in the evening when it’s still light outside.
Perception.
But you know me, this train of thought was a delightful slippery slope. I bustled around getting the kids ready for school, reminding them to wear rugged shoes, because now that the snow was melting–EVERYTHING is muddy. I know this because I can’t keep the car, the floors or the dog and boys clean. Very quickly I’d fallen into complaining mud mode. Wasn’t it just days ago I had begged for this warm, muddy weather because I was sick of the cold and snow? It was. So now I needed to adjust my expectations and my perception. *sigh*
Since I’m a bit of a weirdo, the self analysis got me thinking about how awareness of perception is involved in how we write descriptions. And suddenly I realized that the seasons were a great way to concisely illustrate how to avoid cliche and use your unique perception to write great descriptions.
Cliche Seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter
Seasons Negatively described: Mud and Allergy (Spring), Bug and Humidity (Summer), Raking and Gray (Fall), Frigid and Shoveling (Winter)
Seasons Positively described: Warmth and Flowers (spring), Fireworks and Ice Cream (Summer), Cider and Pumpkins (Fall), Hot Chocolate and Pine (Winter)
Seasons by color: Pastel (Spring), Green (Summer), Earth Tones (Fall) and White (Winter)
Seasons by food: Irish Soda Bread and Easter Eggs (Spring), Fruit and Veggies from the Garden (Summer), Turkey and Carmel Apples (Fall), Christmas Cookies and New Years Champagne (Winter)
I could go on and on and on, finding new ways to use words to capture the seasons in a non-cliche way, but I think that gives you the idea. I would love to hear your perception description of the seasons in the comments.
May is almost here and there is more reason to be excited than just the thought of warm, snow free weather. You should be super pumped because the next installment of Linda Grimes’ Ciel Halligan series will be available on May 12th!!!!
And trust me, you want to read this book. Actually, you want to read this series. (IN A FIX and QUICK FIX) How often do you get to read stuff that’s smart, creative, sexy and hilarious all at once? You can if you read Linda’s books. Here’s a little bit a about THE BIG FIX…
Linda Grimes’s sexy and hilarious urban fantasy series that began with In a Fix and Quick Fix continues in The Big Fix.
Aura adaptor extraordinaire Ciel Halligan, who uses her chameleon-like abilities to fix her clients’ problems—as them—is filling in on set for action superstar Jackson Gunn, whose snake phobia is standing in the way of his completing his latest mega-millions Hollywood blockbuster. There’s only one thing Jack fears more than snakes, and that’s the possibility of his fans finding out he screams at the sight of one. Going from hero to laughing stock isn’t part of his career plan.
Seems like a simple enough job to Ciel, who doesn’t particularly like snakes, but figures she can tolerate an afternoon with them, for the right price—which Jack is offering, and then some. What she doesn’t count on is finding out that while she was busy wrangling snakes for him, his wife was busy getting killed. When Ciel goes to break the sad news to the star, she finds out Jack was AWOL from her client hideaway at the time of the murder.
Ciel begins to suspect Jack’s phobia was phony, and that he only hired her to provide him with an alibi—but if she goes to the police, she’ll have to explain how she knows he wasn’t really on set. Up against a wall, Ciel calls on her best-friend-turned-love-interest Billy, and her not-so-ex-crush Mark, to help her set up the sting of a lifetime.
Told you it sounded great. Aren’t you jealous because I got to read it already????
Kimberly’s Review of THE BIG FIX:
I love ALL of Linda Grime’s Ciel Halligan books, but THE BIG FIX made me go…”WHAT? I can’t believe she did THAT!!!!” And I mean that in the most flattering way. I’m still shaking my head LOL!
Grimes’ writing is creative, smart, intriguing, sexy and funny all rolled up. I haven’t enjoyed an adult series this much since I fell in love with the Outlander books. Grimes had better be writing fast and furious because I NEED my next FIX!
Linda grew up in Texas, where she rode horses, embarrassed herself onstage a lot, and taught teenagers they’d have to learn the rules of English before they could get away with breaking them for creativity’s sake. She currently resides in Virginia with her husband, whom she snagged after he saw her in a musical number at the now defunct Melodrama Theater in San Antonio. (There’s nothing like a rousing chorus of “If You Wanna Catch a Fish You Gotta Wiggle Your Bait” to hook a man for a lifetime.)
Like IN A FIX’s globetrotting main character, aura adaptor Ciel Halligan, Linda has spent her fair share of time overseas, though fortunately under less stressful circumstances. Kidnapping and daring rescues are all well and good in fiction, but she prefers sanity in her real life.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that Linda is one of my Wolf Pack Sistahs–we share the same fabulous agent–Michelle Wolfson of Wolfson Literary. <3 That’s how I scored an ARC of THE BIG FIX. And even though it’s mine and I pet it lovingly, I am willing to share my copy with one lucky winner because I love you. All I ask is that the winner review THE BIG FIX and help to spread the word about how awesome it is. (Yes, I’m pretty confident you’re going to love it.) Here’s how you enter…
Want to learn more about Linda Grimes, Ciel Halligan and THE BIG FIX? Check out Linda’s Website/blog. My blog question for the day is in the Rafflecopter giveaway. :o)
I wrote just over 2,000 words yesterday and I’ll be honest, it was relatively easy. Don’t get me wrong, it was still the, I have to force myself not to fart around on social media kind of hard, but the words came easy. And as I danced around happily while sticking a SILVER star on my March calendar, a piece of me still couldn’t be happy, in between dancing, because, obviously I can do this 2,000 word a day thing when I want to. Right?
But then I reminded myself where I am in the manuscript. I’m over 50,000 words into the draft and I’m a detailed drafter, not a slap it on and fix it later kind of a girl. At this point, characters have started to become familiar, the world has good definition and there is a light at the end of the tunnel akin to spring after a long, cold winter. I want to get there. I have a beginning, a middle and by golly I want and end. I don’t even care how messy that end might be. I just want one so I can stand on the top of a mountain and plant my revision flag.
I love the revision flag. I LOVE revision. *sigh* But if I spend too much time blogging here, it will take me further away from the day when I’m shoving that flag…well…you get the idea.
Which do you prefer, drafting or revision? Do you write at a steady clip or are some areas of your process more lucrative than others?
We’d been warned that our good little puppy was going to begin to test boundaries. And he did. Let’s just say there was some counter-surfing-steak-snatching going on among other antics. *sigh*
In the middle of the chaos, when I wanted to be writing but I was catching a 50lb dog as he flew through the air off the couch, (THAT off command being the only one he obeyed all day) I may not have found him amusing. But as the boys and I laughed about it later, I felt sure that MUCH later I’ll be thanking the wee beastie for providing me with lots of very interesting and entertaining book ideas.
So, with mixed emotions about admitting it, I guess I have to say…thank you, Riley.
Do you have any “Marley” stories you want to share? All pets and kids are eligible for “Marley” status. Make me laugh folks…
With the 40th Anniversary of Saturday Night Live being celebrated, my family and I have been belly laughing like crazy as we’ve relived some of the best SNL moments. There are so many classics, but there’s one that none of us had seen before and it’s now become a Sabatini favorite.
But before I share it with you, I’m going to make this an even better blog post (the video alone is pretty hilarious) by asking you to view it through the filter of a writer. No matter where you are in your writing journey there’s always a gate keeper telling you no. Across every desk, there’s someone who can’t see your vision for the next big thing.
Because, no matter what obstacles are thrown in your path, the best thing you can do–the only thing you can do–is do what you LOVE!
Keep writing and eating pizza. I’d love to hear your “best” rejection stories. That way, we’ll have them on record when we make it big. Keep handing people the pen, my friends!
