This week at my publisher’s group blog, Loose Ends, I blogged about this wickedly cool video (below), the common questions I get asked by non-writers, and what I celebrate about being me. Stop by and share what you celebrate about yourself.
They saw a swing set. I saw a dinosaur.
Here’s the video if you just want to check that out:
Or you can watch it at YouTube
Have a good weekend!
My entire family was sitting around the dinner table after my mom and dad had returned from a weekend trip (during which I had stopped over to feed their cat).
Me: So, Dad, what was that lumpy plastic bag downstairs by the cat’s food?
Dad: All the poop I saved.
Me: (almost chokes on a mouthful of dinner roll) What?
Dad: That cat puts out more than she takes in, so I did an experiment.
Me: What do you mean, experiment?
Dad: I bought a new bag of cat food and when it was all gone, I weighed all her poop to compare.
Me: Say what?
Dad: I weighed the poop and compared it to the weight of the cat food. 2 lbs of cat food. 3 lbs of poop. Something is wrong with that cat.
Me: Did you weigh just the poop?
Dad: What do you mean? I scooped it out and kept it in the bag.
Me: Did you weigh her urine?
Dad: Well, I guess. But that can’t weigh that much.
My sister: I think it does.
Dad: Nah. Probably not that much.
Me: You use scoopable litter. That clumps around the urine and weighs a lot.
Dad: I don’t think so. And I factored in the weight of the litter on the poop.
Me: How did you do that?
My sis: He counted the kernels on each turd.
All I kept thinking with each bite of my food was I cannot believe we are having this conversation.
He’s going to redo the experiment without the urine and report back.
(c) istockphoto.com, Adriana3d 2011
If you’ve followed me on Twitter or Facebook you might’ve seen that I occasionally like to poke fun at my parents. I adore them immensely, but they just say and do the funniest stuff. It’s hard to resist. Plus, my family is known for teasing those we love. Not sure I’ve ever shared some of their funnier moments here on the blog. I figured it was time to remedy that.
My dad’s incredibly smart, especially when it comes to repairing things and working out problems, which is what makes this story even funnier. He also has this little problem of not listening after he asks a question.
So, he got a Kindle for Christmas. He’s been wanting to try out reading e-books and this past year libraries started offering e-book loans for the Kindle. He doesn’t have the 3G version or wireless at home, so I gave him the instructions for loading a library book onto his Kindle via USB. In an effort not to confuse him, I read the instructions right off the website while he followed along with the first book.
It went great. He was reading on his Kindle in no time.
Then…
He tried to load his second book.
He ran into a few problems and gave me a call. Here’s how the conversation went.
Dad: When I click to get the book, it says Save or Find. Do I click to save it?
Me: Yes, then drag it to the Documents folder on the Kindle.
Dad: Okay, I’ll try it and call you back if it doesn’t work.
A few minutes later…
Ring…
Dad: So I drag it to the Kindle?
Me: Yes. Into the Documents folder.
Dad: Okay. I did that. Let me unhook the Kindle and see if it’s there. I’ll call you back.
Ring…
Dad: When I plug in my Kindle the book is there, but when I look at the Kindle it’s not.
Me: When you plug it into the computer, you see the file on the Kindle?
Dad: Yes, it’s there on my Kindle’s homepage.
Me: What homepage?
Dad: The one I see when I UBS the Kindle.
Me: (trying desperately not to laugh at “U B S”) Did you put it in the Documents folder?
Dad: Yes.
Me: In the actual Documents folder on the Kindle?
Dad: Yes.
Me: Okay, when the Kindle window opens on your computer, what do you see?
Dad: Let me plug it in and I’ll call you back.
Ring…
Dad: Okay, I have the Kindle with the UBS to the computer. It says… (reads from the screen the list of directories on the Kindle then below those the name of the book he’s trying to load)
Me: Okay, that means it’s not in the Documents folder.
Dad: Oh, okay. So I put it in the Documents folder?
Me: Yes, just drag it to the Documents folder.
Dad: Okay, let me try that and then check the Kindle again. I’ll call you back if it doesn’t work.
Ring…
Dad: It worked! I guess you have to put it in the Documents folder. The Kindle didn’t load it unless it was in that folder.
Me: Ah, that must be it!
Isn’t that a priceless conversation? I couldn’t stop laughing after I hung up.
It reminded me of this video
I’m on my third pass working on Walter and Kevin’s story, and I had a series of great writing sessions this week. Today I worked on a chapter and a half that needed a few changes, including adding some dialogue and reactions. I ended up rewriting almost all of it. I was in some sort of zone where the dialogue and character interactions just flowed and worked better within the overall story arc. The more I rewrote, the more I knew what I had previously written wasn’t working. When I was done, it felt good to know it was the right call to rewrite those scenes.
Even though decisions like these affect the overall amount of time it takes to complete a project, this type of revising just seems to work for me. The more time I spend with the characters and their story, the clearer the overall picture becomes. Sometimes I can’t see the forest with all those damn trees in the way.
It took about five hours to get that chapter and a half rewritten. I sat in my comfy chair in my office while I wrote. These two little guys came in to keep me company.
(c) Sloan Parker 2012
(c) Sloan Parker 2012
Hope you all have a great weekend. I’m hoping to get in another 5 hours or more of writing on Sunday.
(c) istockphoto.com
Sorry I haven’t been posting much lately. I took an unplanned/unexpected sabbatical from blogging. I’ve been slammed recently with non-writing work and family obligations, but when I did get to work on my writing, I rocked it on Walter’s story. I figured an update on my progress was long overdue.
And progress is exactly what I’m making with Walter and Kevin’s book. I’m writing every day again and finding a groove with this story that feels really good.
Which is nice because this book has been through such a long journey already. Here’s the path of its life so far:
This story is nothing like it started out as, and yet, it’s becoming more of what I had envisioned in the first place. I cannot tell you how much I love the conversations and interactions between Walter and the much younger Kevin.
This book may not have had the quickest path to publication, but I am really happy with what I’ve got on the page now.
I’ve also worked on revisions to part four of Mark and Scott’s story, the serial novel More Than Just a Good Book. I need to review a few more times, and then send to my critique partner. I’ll announce when it’s ready for you to read on the blog and in my newsletter.
So that’s where I’m at this week. Thanks for listening!
Sloan