Archive for January, 2011
Thursday, January 20th, 2011
This one takes the cake. And I LOVE cake. Chocolate cake (preferably red velvet with cream cheese icing). But I digress… If you’re looking for love and need a little help finding your mate–or at least not marrying your cousin–I give you a “fool”proof visual aid to keep you from producing heirs without extra limbs or digits or even more disturbing multiple body parts.
Click the image to enlarge and enjoy every deicion point in this “thinking” tree–BUT FIRST make sure your office door is closed, because you’re going to pee yourself laughing!!!
This is priceless. So valuable, I’m surprised there isn’t a patent.
No more thought required. Signs throughout this wall chart will stop you before disaster strikes. Date with confidence and ease. Know you’re safe from violating crimes of morality, nature, and civil governments everywhere, just by following these few simple steps to making your next “match” from the comfort of your very own double wide.
For more background on how this wacky guide to streamlining stress in your personal life came to be, go here.
Tell me you love this as much as I do!
Tags: creativity & inspiration
Posted in I Hear The Craziest Things | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, January 19th, 2011
What does it take to go beyond the basic description of a character’s goal, motivation and conflict and make their deepest desires and fears come to life on the page? Brainstorming and critiquing with someone who knows your writing and is willing to put time into helping you dig down to the heart of your story is a highly recommended approach. And since Jenni and I are talking all things critiquing and brainstorming on How We Write Wednesdays, let’s take a closer look at how we’ve done that a time or two (BTW, check out the list of upcoming topics at the end of this post for the skinny on what we’ll be talking about next).
In each of our HoWW posts, we’ll start with the simple, then dig a little deeper–which, you’ll soon notice, is Jenni’s and my overall paradigm for growing your craft and asking other hard-working writers for their take on your work. You can always dig just a little deeper.
Pretty much anyone can understand the basic terms and techniques that fiction writers work with. There are countless experts to remind you what motivation is. There are great books to read. You can even take a class or two. But until you try to weave the concept of motivation into your characters and their stories, you can’t really understand how complicated and convoluted it can become, moving a character through a range of actions and emotions and the challenges of a tightly plotted story. Turns out…this writing thing isn’t so simple after all.
So, basic motivation is the following: (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, brainstorming, character growth, characterization, critiquing, fiction, fiction writer, narrative structure, novel, novel structure, plotting, publishing, writing, writing articles, writing coach, writing craft, writing resources
Posted in How We Write | 22 Comments »
Tuesday, January 18th, 2011
I dreamed about storms last night.Well, this morning, actually, because my mind was racing when I tried to sleep, so that little feat took a while to come together, and that’s when dreams come strongest for me.
A lot of blog readers have asked in comments and emails for me to share my dreams, since I typically remember them clearly, and I have fun puzzling out what I think they mean.I’m not a professional interpretor (though I play one in my books ;o), but over the years (like since I was a kid), I’ve gotten pretty comfortable weaving my sleeping mind’s fantasy imagining into my everyday reality.
So, here goes–we’ll talk dream theories at least once a week, when I wake with something fun on my mind, until you tell me you’ve had enough! Starting with last night’s nocturnal journey… (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, Dream Theories, dreams, fantasy, fantasy author, Legacy Series, parapsychology, psychic, Secret Legacy
Posted in Dream Theories, The Psychic Realm | 7 Comments »
Monday, January 17th, 2011
It’s a tricky thing, weaving dreams and fantasy into contemporary world building, the way I’m crafting my paranormal stories. Dreams are something we rarely remember clearly. Yet, they’re most often subconscious reflections of our real worlds that our minds use to tuck away memories. Memories that we slip back into and hopefully learn from.
We either learn, or we repeat the same mistakes over and over–one of life’s lessons. One of our brain’s solutions to hurrying that process along is dreaming–revisiting key episodes and the messages we’ve yet to process from them in dream sequences and symbols and fantasies. Dreams that our sleeping minds cycle through and escalate, focus on and reject, and basically play with until the message we’re searching for breaks through to our waking minds, pointing us down a new path.
The kicker is that the barrier between dream states and waking consciousness is designed not to let things easily bleed through, (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, contemporary fantasy, creativity & inspiration, Dream Theories, dreams, fantasy author, Legacy Series, parapsychology, psychic, Secret Leacy
Posted in Books, Dream Theories, The Psychic Realm | 7 Comments »
Sunday, January 16th, 2011
My quest to visit all waterfalls in the North Georgia mountains continues. On it, I’ve discovered that it’s not always about the water. Or the hike. Or the remoteness of the area I’m trying to see. Though the fascination with all of that is part of the journey for me, sometimes the challenge becomes about sitting and seeing and hearing things I wouldn’t anywhere else, except right where I am in moment where water’s speaking to me above everything else.
Toccoa falls is a tiny blip. It’s a barely there cascade controlled by a damn. A damn that broke over three decades ago and decimated the small college community around it, killing three dozen people. In middle school, I read a biography written by one of the survivers, and the experience lead me to avoid visiting the falls for longer than I care to admit. Places of great destruction tend to maintain a negative rush of energy I’m rarely comfortable with. But Toccoa falls is part of my journey now, so this past August I made my way to its base.
Access to the area’s restricted by a gate. You actually have to walk through a gift shop of all things to get to the sedate, paved path that leads to the sprinkling of water that is all that remains of the falls. Along the way you pass a plaque that tells the story of the tragedy that happend in this quiet place so different from the rugged, wild journeys I’ve taken to other water destinations. It was like visiting a grave. Not scary. No dark energy. Just…nothing. As if the past has been whitewashed away in an attempt to pretty up the present for our viewing enjoyment.
You’re struck by the hush. The almost non-existent brush of water over stone. (more…)
Tags: anna's world, Clayton, creativity & inspiration, Rabun, Toccoa Falls, travels and memories, waterfall
Posted in Waterfall Challenge | 4 Comments »
Saturday, January 15th, 2011
In honor of the white and black swan (just saw the Black Swan and LOVED it), I give you two of my favorite winter booties!
For day:
Anne Klien, camel suede, faux fur trim. All I need is a Victorian dress, snow, and a horse-drawn sleigh, and I’m in heaven.
For night: (more…)
Tags: anna's world, creativity & inspiration
Posted in Shoes are My Heroin | 8 Comments »
Friday, January 14th, 2011
We’re still snowed in in Atlanta, so a critique partner and I are “working together” over the internet instead of in our coffee shop. Checking in regularly. Keeping each other honest and focused on work. And it’s nice. Not the same, but nice. Settling into our routine. Welcoming the work because someone else is there to make it a little more fun. Not feeling so isolated in your solitary world.
My #writetoday prompt on Twitter yesterday was to write like your work-in-progress is your best friend. (more…)
Tags: anna's world, creativity & inspiration
Posted in What About Everything Else? | 12 Comments »
Thursday, January 13th, 2011
The snowed-in conditions many of us have dealt with over the last month brings to mind great analogies for Revising a Year.
- When we don’t see clearly outside, we can still walk and drive–not that it’s advisable in the midst of a storm.
- When there’s ice on the roads instead of fluffy snow, it can look good to get on with your busy day, until you have to stomp on the brakes, then suddenly you’re spinning out of control.
(more…)
Tags: anna's world, creativity & inspiration, writing articles
Posted in Anna's "Soul of the Matter" | 10 Comments »
Wednesday, January 12th, 2011
A $20 Amazon Gift Certificate and Secret Legacy eGalley (they’re ready, they’re ready!!!) are up for grabs through the end of February.
Leave a comment in any January or February blog entry (or all of them), to be in the running for one of these great prizes.
The more you comment, the better your chance to win! Check out the categories to the right for the fun things you can read about the next few months!
Winners announced in early March.
Tags: Legacy Series
Posted in Where Contests Go When They're Over | 32 Comments »
Wednesday, January 12th, 2011
Thanks for the patience, folks. We’re digging ourselves out of the ice here in the deep south and slowly dragging ourselves back to work.
Congrats to all my December Contest Winners!!!
There were two different chances to win this time (I’m sneaky that way, so keep your eyes open, you never know when I’ll pop a new opportunity up there ;o)
- Both posts have now been updated and moved to the “Where Contests Go When They’re Over” category.
- The winners are also posted below, and everyone should have an email in theirin boxes, too.
Oh, and the January is already up! More good stuff ahead, including the chance to win an eGalley of Secret Legacy ;o) (more…)
Posted in Where Contests Go When They're Over | 6 Comments »
