Since It's National Metal Day

Some pictures of Chaotic Paradise's show at Uli's Haus of Rock on 11/8/2012

These photos as well as the ones of the Fourth Dan Test were taken by my husband.

Overheard #219

"If everybody liked the same stinkin’ music, it would be a boring world."

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

I regret my critique group no longer meets for Write Night because A Diamond in the Desert by Kathryn Fitzmaurice (Viking, 2012) begs to have a writing exercise modeled after it. 

A Diamond in the Desert has pithy, emotion-packed chapters that get to the heart without extra verbiage. One way Fitzmaurice achieves this is by having characters move instead of experiencing physical reactions.

The Japanese-American family in this novel is interned at Gila River Camp in Arizona after Pearl Harbor is bombed. Living conditions are harsh. The father has been sent to North Dakota for questioning, and the family had to give their dog because dogs aren’t allowed in the camp. When the family learns that the dog ran away from its new home, Fitzmaurice writes: 

“Mama bent her head down and glared at the dust on our floor that’d found its way back into our barrack since yesterday’s sweeping. Then she stood up and swept harder than I’d ever seen her sweep a floor.” 

That angry sweeping speaks volumes about the mother’s reaction to the changes in her life.

Overheard #218

"Take ownership of what you’re communicating."

To Believe or Not To Believe

I just finished reading Through Her Eyes by Jennifer Archer (Harper Teen, 2011). 

In any dystopian/fantasy/paranormal novel, the author faces the question of how characters accept the weird things that happen to them. If the hero stubbornly refuses to believe in the bizarre events, he appears stupid. If the heroine jumps on the paranormal bandwagon immediately, she isn’t credible. There must be doubt, but not for too long.

Archer does a fantastic job of portraying a girl who is torn between thinking she communicates with ghosts and fearing she is going insane. Many of the episodes occur at night and have a dream-like quality without ever being a dream. Also the tastes of the alternate realm start small and expand as Tansy is drawn into the ghost’s world. Her fear that others will find out increases as the ghost begins to affect her perception of everyday life.

For my current project, a fantasy novel, I need to revisit my protagonist’s acceptance of the plot’s premise. She needs to spend some time walking the tightrope between belief and disbelief.

Sunday

The Fourth Dan Test

Last Saturday, Sam tested for his fourth degree black belt in Taekwondo. My husband took nearly 700 photographs, and I've begun to sort through them.

Sam doing a form or poomse.

another kick

Master Shinn and Master Deatrick are seated at the table.

Sam lands a head kick on Justin.

Sam (in red) is sparring with Neil, the drummer in Jeremy's band.

This kick didn't score, but look at the expressions on the kids' faces.

A Day Late

more sun through leaves

I didn't alter the color.

watching the river run

fall in abstract

ripples

Overheard #217

"The truth takes kind of a lot of energy."

Putting the Sin in Syncopation

Lately, my writing has taken a backseat to music notation. Jeremy is creating complete scores of three of his songs for college and scholarship applications. I help decipher Jeremy’s fiendishly difficult rhythms and occasionally enter lyrics in the music notation program.

To check for mistakes, we can use the notation program's playback function. The guitar track has a typical electronic tone, but the vocal line sounds like a heavenly choir of tenors, an interesting effect in heavy metal music. The virtual tenors sing all notes, “Aaaaah” as if they’re going to segue to “alleluia” or “amen”, but so far they haven’t.

The title of this post was taken from a 1921 Ladies’ Home Journal article in which Anne Shaw Faulkner suggested, “the demoralizing influence of the persistent use of syncopation, combined with inharmonic partial tones” was responsible for the corruption of America’s youth.

Overheard #216

"There are no small solos – only small instruments."

Links

This is what I found most interesting this week. 

Preliminary research suggests that different parts of the brain are involved when people are immersed in what they’re reading as opposed to skimming.

At Literary Rambles, Lorin Oberweger offers excellent advice on putting an emotional hook in a query letter summary. 

The Swagger Writers are doing an fascinating series called The October Memoir and Backstory Blog Challenge. Members recount a childhood memory for each year starting at age one. Today is year 11, so scroll back for what has already been posted.