Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Stomping on the doubt and crushing the hell out of it

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Once a week I post about something I’m loving (tv, movies, books, art, photos, romances, authors, or anything else). So here is this week’s For the Love of…

I love being a writer.

I love brainstorming new characters and figuring out what their story is and how to tell it.

I love the editing process, the layering of story and characterizations.

But some days being a writer just plain sucks.

It can be hard to work through the self-doubt, the frustrations with a project, with the characters, with holes in the plot.

This morning was one of those days for me. The conflict for Breathe is a difficult setup for a romance story (I never said I take the easy road). People tend to have rather surprised and skeptical reactions when they hear what I’m writing about, and that fosters some doubt about whether or not I’ve wasted the last seven months. Usually, I’m able to stomp on the doubt and crush the hell out of it.

Some days it takes a little more effort than that.

So this morning I re-read a few of my favorite scenes from Breathe. They helped to remind me why I’m telling this story, what I love about it, and how happy I am with the way it’s turned out. Breathe has become the story I envisioned it to be, and I’m excited to be getting near the end of the writing process. I’m doing a final polish this month, working out a few kinks before I submit it.

It felt odd to use my own writing to cheer myself up, but it worked and I’m back to editing for the rest of the day.

So yeah, I love being a writer again.

The Breakfast Club, still has something to say

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Once a week I post about something I’m loving (tv, movies, books, art, photos, romances, authors, or anything else). So here is this week’s For the Love of…

I watched the Breakfast Club earlier this week. Love that movie, even after all these years. Takes me right back to my high school days.

I like stories where people who would normally never be friends or have feelings for each other move past their differences and find common ground, find something special they didn’t even know they were looking for. Of course all that teen angst bonding them together doesn’t hurt.

My current writing project has a lot to do with finding a commonality where you least expect it, so maybe I’m influenced by that right now. It’s on my mind a lot, that’s for sure.

In any case, I did enjoy watching The Breakfast Club, and today I thought I’d share some of my favorite lines from the film…

John Bender: “Sweets. You couldn’t ignore me if you tried.”

…

Bender: “You load up, you party…”
Brian: “Well, no, we get dressed up, I mean, but we don’t, we don’t get high.”

…

Bender: “Screws fall out all the time, the world is an imperfect place.”

…

Bender: “You won’t accept a guy’s tongue in your mouth, and you’re gonna eat that?”

…

Allison: “I’m not a nymphomaniac. I’m a compulsive liar.”

…

Brian: “Bender, did you know without trigonometry, there’d be no engineering?”
Bender: “Without lamps, there’d be no light.”

…

Vernon: “False alarms are really funny, aren’t they. What if your home, what if your family . . . what if your dope was on fire?”
John Bender: “Impossible, sir. It’s in Johnson’s underwear.”

…

Brian: “Chicks cannot hold dey smoke – dat’s what it is!”

…

Allison: “Your middle name is Ralph, as in puke, your birth date’s March 12th, you’re 5’9 and a half, you weigh 130 pounds and your social security number is 049380913.”
Andrew: “Wow. Are you psychic?”
Allison: “No.”
Brian: “Well, would you mind telling me how you know all this about me?”
Allison: “I stole your wallet.”

…

Brian Johnson: “Saturday, March 24,1984. Shermer High School, Shermer, Illinois, 60062. Dear Mr. Vernon, We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did *was* wrong. But we think you’re crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us – in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? That’s the way we saw each other at 7:00 this morning. We were brainwashed.”

…

“And these children that you spit on as they try to change their worlds; are immune to your consultations, they are quite aware of what they are going through.” -David Bowie

Any others you liked?

Once a week I post about something I’m loving (tv, movies, books, art, photos, romances, authors, or anything else). So here is this week’s For the Love of…

Happily Ever After? A Requirement in Love Stories?

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Once a week I post about something I’m loving (tv, movies, books, art, photos, romances, authors, or anything else). So here is this week’s For the Love of…

I love intense drama in the fiction I read and write. I love emotional and physical conflict. I love when characters suffer. I like to “watch” them squirm (both in and out of the bedroom). Yeah, I’m evil like that. ;-)

I want to experience their journey as they build themselves back up, stronger than ever. I like a love story where the characters help each other find peace and happiness–help each other become who each is meant to be.

And in the end? I want the happy ending. I want to go along for the ride on their emotional journey and feel that peace myself. To be reminded that even when the world around us can really suck, those moments of love and happiness make the journey worth living.

Yep, I’m a sap. How about you? Do you only read love stories with happy endings?

Sloan Parker

Donate a blog post day: Stop the Hate

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No regular post today. Instead, I’m donating my scheduled blog post to a non-profit organization – one I think is worthy of attention from anyone interested in making the world a better place. So here’s my pick for “donate a blog post day.” Please take a look.

“Stop The Hate is dedicated to provide the necessary resources and educational training to combat hate on college campuses; and to actively seek partnerships and collaboration among various organizations with similar concerns to address bias and hate behaviors.”

“Stop The Hate is owned and operated by Campus Pride, the leading national nonprofit 501(c)3 for student leaders and campus groups working to create a safer college environment for LGBT students across the United States.”

Check out their site for information on how to stop the hate, become a trainer, empower your campus, volunteer, and more. www.stophate.org

Thanks for stopping by,
Sloan Parker

For the Love of: Adonis Art Gallery

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Once a week, I post about something I’m loving (tv, movies, books, art, photos, romances, authors, or anything else) that I’ve seen or read about recently. So here is this week’s For the Love of…

Please note: the site linked below contains explicit gay imagery and nude artwork.

I love browsing the Adonis Art Gallery, “the premier gallery of art of the male form.” The gallery and their website include “limited edition prints, art books and a wide range of greeting cards featuring male art.”

Adonis Art “was established in London in 1995. It is situated in the Earl’s Court district of central London – one of the most gay-friendly neighbourhoods in the city.”

Check out their Erotic Art page for beautiful erotic figures, paintings, watercolors, explicit drawings, and much more. Some really lovely stuff here, folks. You can shop and browse until your heart’s content. I found a few pieces I’d love to have in my house.

Enjoy!

Sloan Parker
www.sloanparker.com