Showing posts with label groundhog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label groundhog. Show all posts

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Ground Hog Day....

….is tomorrow.   Does it really matter?  To those of us who are winter-weary, I say we’ll be lucky if all we do get is another 6 weeks of winter! The litany of suffering from this winter season is as endless as the days of snow we’re enduring.  Perhaps we’ve just become accustomed to much milder and drier seasons over the past decade or so.  In fact these past two months are typical of childhood remembrances.  Snowbanks at the end of driveways that were fort-worthy.  Day after day of bulky coats, snow pants and boots.  To this day, the smell of wet wool conjours up boots drying over heating vents and sodden mittens laid out on top of the hot water heater.  Oh and dare I say it, but in those days winter was fun.

As I type the snow continues to fall and squirrels are hunkered in branches of trees outside my window.  At least the grip of bone chilling cold has lessened.  For small things we can be most thankful!

                See how well the grey squirrel blends in on a sunless wintry day


But one thing this hibernation-worthy weather is good for is writing!  Pam and I have been enjoying developing new characters for our latest story.  I recently found a template online to help with character building and we’re using it to good measure.  Really helps us get to know our characters and what makes them tick.  Funnily enough we’ve even found that characters originally created as likeable have become thoroughly distasteful – and we’re excited about that.

Google docs is such a wonderful tool for us and has helped simplify our collaboration because we can work in real time and chat as we go along.  The next best thing to a face to face session.  And that’s scheduled for next Saturday – weather permitting of course.

We’ve booked our hotel room and sent off the registration for Bloody Words 2014 and are excited to be going once again.  Surely by the beginning of June our weather will be more appealing?  

I hope you’ve been enjoying the interviews Pam posts – is there an author you’d like to hear from – or a question you have?  Let us know and we’ll do our best to accommodate you.

On a side note, today I saw a post on FaceBook which I’d like to share.  Truer words were never spoken, and while its probably an old adage, with today’s internet exposure, these words take on a new meaning.  Once spoken, words can never be reclaimed and who hasn’t suffered the sting of a cruel word, intentional or otherwise?   But once in print, the damage can be even more far reaching and lasting.  So……
  
Before You Speak – THINK
T – is it   True
H – is it  Helpful
I –  is it  Inspiring
N – is it  Necessary
K – is it   Kind


Here’s to warmer week and hey, spring is now only 48 days away!

Cheers!  (and good luck tomorrow Mr. Ground hog)


Liz

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Blame Game





The Groundhog should be shot.  The Groundhog got it wrong. He lied!  Poor groundhog – such responsibility to bear and he can’t even talk!  Never mind that he’s annually disturbed from a nice winter snooze to suit our purposes.  Perhaps this is his payback for years of abuse and who could blame him?  Or perhaps it’s the fault of ever optimistic golf courses announcing they’d be open April 11.  Oh, and the fact that I switched out my winter tires for new all season tires on Thursday would have nothing to do with it either.  For those who live in my neck of the woods I don’t have to explain the lovely weather we’ve endured the past couple of days.  Yesterday morning, I stood in the teeming rain for almost twenty minutes trying to hack off the coat of ice on my car.  Only to sit for the next forty minutes in rain soaked jeans as I took a slow drive to work.

We love to blame don’t we?

But now the weekend has arrived and while it’s still dreary and damp out there I’m happy I can stay put, cozy and warm.  Some chores beckon, but after that, coffee and writing are on the agenda.  Unless it doesn’t happen and then I’ll have to blame the headache pounding away – a coffee and aspirin will hopefully put that to rest in short order.

I spoke of Pinterest last time and yesterday followed a link on Twitter to a commentary on The Creative Penn using Pinterest as a marketing tool for writing and publishing. Some helpful advice there and I’ll see what I can do to incorporate myself and Jamie Tremain into this new found and enjoyable internet tool.  (Time I added the word Pinterest to my computer’s dictionary!)

Enjoyed the day with Pam last Saturday – lunch at Stoney’s was not a disappointment at all!  Then stopped by for a short visit (tea and scones) with my sister and her husband.   And we've diarized May 4 as our next day to hook up -  the plan is to finalize our short story entry for Scene of the Crime.   As well, this week we received back another instalment of review from our CWC mentor, AlisonBruce, so there’s discussion and revising to be done on Body Perfect.  Hoping that Pam and I can do some online chatting later today.

Don’t forget to stay tuned for April 29’s interview between Pam and Barbara Fradkin.   So there’s a reminder and if you miss it, you can’t blame me!

Have a great weekend - and cut the groundhog some slack - he's probably not happy either.

Cheers!
Liz

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