Monthly Archives: August 2009
What do you do with an uncooperative character?
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I’m having difficulty with one of my characters. He doesn’t seem to be working as well as I hoped he would. However, the story falls flat without him since he is an important character. Now comes the time either to lose him or fix him. This is not an easy decision.
What would you do if you have a character that doesn’t seem quite right? Do you rewrite him numerous times to fix him or do you continue plodding on with the story and hope that you can go back and fix him later?
I’m not certain if he needs to be meaner or if he’s mean enough but I haven’t quite caught his character. I can’t seem to get into his head enough.
How do you get into a character’s head? I haven’t had problems with this when I write other characters, so why does this one elude me?
I feel as if I’m spending time banging my head against the wall.
Posted in My blog, My books, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Fiction, Life, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
There was no blueberry feasting at our house
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I’ve been hunting up recipes for things to do with blueberries. I’m dreaming that next year we’ll have some to harvest from the bushes. My cousin gave me some much needed information on how to get them to produce. He told me to add peat moss, iron sulfate, and plenty of mulch to the soil around them. Next time I at Home Depot, or Lowes I’ll make sure to pick up what I need.
The bushes looked puny this year and didn’t produce enough fruit especially with the cat bird making raids on the bushes. Danged bird would look right at me, make his mewling noise, grab a blueberry, and fly away. He beat me to every ripe berry.
The only blueberries I had this year were the ones I picked and brought home from my Aunt’s place. The first thing I did was to make us a lovely batch of blueberry pancakes. Next year, if my bushes produce like the ones at my Aunt’s place, I’ll have enough to share with the blasted bird without missing out.
I’m thinking about all this because I have to start now if I want the bushes to be in good shape next year.
Posted in Misc, My blog, my garden
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
A do nothing day
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Today was a very good day to do nothing. According to the weather reports, tomorrow will also be a great day to sit inside in the AC. I don’t do air conditioned ‘nothing’ very well. I get restless and I want to be outside. Gavin was content to sit with me in the chair and even relaxed on his back alongside me. Patty preferred the couch away from body heat.
Dear Hubby’s mother picked today of all days to ask him to run some errands for her. What the hell? She waits until the hottest day we’ve had so far this year to ask him. I swear she does this on purpose.
Given that this is a do nothing day, this will be a short post too. Tomorrow I’ll spend another day inside in the AC with DH and the pups since it’s going to be hotter.
Posted in Misc, MS related, My blog
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
We’re having a heat wave
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Oh yeah, it looks as though we’re going to have a heck of one. Today was hot, humid, and too much for the dogs and Dear Hubby. Tomorrow is supposed to be hotter and so on for the next week or so. I don’t mind the heat, but DH and the dogs do. The three wimps will stay inside in the AC as much as they possibly can.
Gavin will only go out if his bladder is screaming. Patty will go out whenever you want her to but she’s at the door to come in, in an instant. They’d never survive living in the south. This is fine with me I have no plans to move south. However, I’d love to send this weather back there where it belongs.
I’m no Southern belle. I’ve lived in the south and I prefer to stay in the north. I love the change of seasons. Sure, I’ll complain about the winter snow but the worst snow and a million bucks couldn’t move me south. Sorry, my southern friends I’m a Yankee through and through and can’t change.
Posted in Dog related, Misc
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
We will have to buy some mulch
Posted by doggonedmysteries
The poor pups had a late dinner tonight and they certainly let me know they were not thrilled it was late. Gavin scolded me as I washed and refilled the water dishes. This ritual marks dinner time in his eyes. Patty ran from the kitchen to the living room several times. There she’d sit in front of her dish stand for a second before returning to join Gavin in sassing me. What does this have to do with buying mulch you ask?
I finally cleared the mulch pile from the driveway today. I moved seven wheel barrow loads of wet mulch. I mulched the entire side garden, half of the garden under the Tulip poplar, and a bit of the back garden along the fence. I didn’t finish until after seven and that’s why the dogs were disgusted with me.
I figure we’ll need to buy about five bags worth of mulch to cover the parts of the gardens that I didn’t cover today. Unless, the neighbor’s son just happens to have another truck load of mulch to get rid of, of course.
Tired doesn’t begin to describe how I feel. My legs burn, my back is sore, but I’m happy. Tomorrow I’ll clean the house…yeah, sure like that’s going to happen.
Posted in my garden
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pond, Ponds, Writer, Writing
Coffee and a good book
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I spent a quiet couple of hours at our local Borders today. I stopped in the café, ordered a large coffee and a blueberry scone. I then sat at a table, read Donna Andrews’ Cockatiels at Seven, sipped my coffee, and munched my scone. It was a pleasant way to spend some time. I needed a break and Dear Hubby needed some alone time too.
Although we love each other dearly, there are times when you feel as if you are constantly tripping over each other. Since I was too sick to go to my critiquing group when they met last, I needed to get out a bit today. One of my greatest pleasures is browsing through the book store, treating myself to a new book, coffee, and a light snack.
Usually I buy more than one book when I stop in at Borders but today was a one book day. The guy at the register knows me, and he almost dropped his teeth to see me buy only one book.
I told him, “I’m getting off cheap today.”
Geez, you’d think I’d slapped his mother with the look he gave me. I’ll be back next Thursday, cut me a break here.
Posted in My blog, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
So it isn’t energy efficient…
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I had a scare the other day. We keep our 36 year old refrigerator on the back porch and it’s great for handling the over flow from the new one in the kitchen. Dear Hubby uses it to stash his Pepsi so we don’t have all those cans taking up space in the kitchen fridge. Well, it seems that it wasn’t cold. All I could think about was what am I going to do without the extra refrigerator? EEKS!
I was upset. We are used to the luxury of two refrigerators. The one in the kitchen isn’t big and there’s no space for a large one anyway. The old fridge isn’t huge either, nor is it energy efficient, but I don’t care. So shoot me. I like having the extra space to put things that need to be kept cold. It’s great for stashing that huge bowl of potato salad I make for summer picnics and for holiday over flow from my neighbors. What was I to do without it? What were WE going to do without it?
Thank goodness, Dear Hubby came to the rescue. He may not be able to do many things as he used to but he was able to get the old Coppertone Sears Kenmore fridge running again. HURRAH!!!
Posted in Misc
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
Ahhh, fresh tomatoes
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Our Big Boy tomatoes are beginning to ripen. I picked some today. At that point, dinner became a no brainer, we had BLTs, and they were wonderful! There’s nothing quite as good as fresh home grown tomatoes. We’ve been munching on the grape and plum tomatoes for weeks now. In fact, so have the damned squirrels. We’ve been finding half eaten ones all over the yard.
I’ve been keeping my eye on a couple of huge Big Boys on the vine in the side garden. They are growing to twice the size of the potted tomato plants alongside the house. Those will be one slice a sandwich tomatoes. I guess I’d better stock up on bacon.
I think that next year I’ll plant the same number of tomato plants but I’ll do a pot of a variety of lettuces too. My neighbor did it and it turned out quite nice since the rabbits couldn’t get to it. The Romaine lettuce, that I planted in the pot with the grape and plum tomatoes, has long since gone to seed but it sure was good early on.
We love fried green tomatoes too so we always hope to have plenty of green tomatoes left at the end of the season. Dear Hubby had never had them before he married me. Now it’s something he looks forward to having in the fall.
Posted in my garden
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
The green stalker
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I have a stalker. It seems I can’t weed the gardens now without feeling as though I’m being watched. Yes, that creepy sensation of eyes boring into your back that makes you turn to see who it is. Slowly I turn and, and, and….
GAH! He has webbed feet and a green complexion. It’s Goliath Frog. He’s crept up behind me and is waiting for me to toss him some worms. I can’t go anywhere near the gardens now without his sudden appearance near me. Yes, I’ve told him I won’t kiss him, I’ve already found my prince.
The idea of a stalker frog cracks up Dear Hubby. I’ve had to prove it to him. This man knows that bull frogs are smart — he told me about them using a dead bird as bait for a fly feast. Yeah, I know. How gross!
I’ve seen them stalk and catch starlings. We now have six big bullfrogs and three medium sized ones. However, Goliath makes the five other large frogs look small. I’m hoping that one day we can find tadpoles for the pond that will produce small frogs. I’m tired of relocating bullfrogs.
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pond, Ponds, Writer, Writing
Explore under the sea with me
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I love to watch the National Geographic channel especially when they do under the sea things. I’ve always had a fascination for sea life. Many years ago, my mother and I went to Epcot center and I could’ve happily stayed in the under the sea exhibit the entire day and skipped the rest.
I’d love to go scuba diving in the Bahamas, but I’ll probably never get to do that. I’d also have to purchase specially made goggles since I can’t see my hand in front of my face without my glasses. Without them you can picture exploring under the sea with this blind bat. I’d lose my diving buddy the instant I hit the water, if I could find my way off the boat. The entire experience would be worthy of Picasso’s imagination because what I’d be seeing wouldn’t look anything like what things really look like.
While most people would get that fuzzy feeling looking at the lovely fish and coral I’d just be seeing fuzzy. If fuzzy was a shark I wouldn’t know it until he bit me.
Posted in Misc
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
Heat, humidity, and MS
Posted by doggonedmysteries
We had a couple of days where we didn’t need to turn on the AC. It was nice to have the house opened and all that fresh air. However, the temperature has climbed again, as well as the humidity, and the AC is back on. One of the most unfortunate things about Dear Hubby’s MS is how the warm weather affects him.
He used to enjoy being outside during the warm weather. Now he can’t take it. Only a few minutes outside on a hot and humid day and his legs weaken to the point of collapse. His pain triples and he is exhausted.
It’s during this sort of weather that he becomes most depressed. Yes, he’s on antidepressants. They help some. The pups try to help by doing everything they can to make him laugh. I swear they do. Tonight Patty was hucklebutting it on the couch and had him laughing. Once she’d acquired that reaction, she then jumped up on his chair and settled down next to him. I’ve never seen a more self satisfied look on a dog’s face. Gavin had joined in on her session by racing back and forth from the living room to the kitchen. When she stopped so did he. He crawled under DH’s foot rest for a nap.
Posted in Dog related, MS related
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Is there a decent program for my needs?
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I just spent way too many hours trying to put together a photo slide show of my cousin’s wedding. Only to find that the program I have on my computer won’t burn the slide show onto a DVD.
If I want to do that, I have to buy the program–well gee whiz, Batman, I thought I did when it was installed in my computer. Yep, it pays to read the fine print.
So, here’s what I’m looking for: a program that makes it easy for me to turn digital photos into a slide show and will burn them onto a DVD. I’d also like to be able to add music to the slide show too.
Any ideas people? Do you know of a suitable program?
Posted in Misc
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, digital photos, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
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