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A place for writing off-the-cuff |
  Coverart by TheGirlInTheBigBox. Visit her online art portfolio by clicking here: http://thegiriInthebigbox.deviantart.com/ Welcome!  In 2011, my main focus will be on writing a novel. Since I'm a novice novelist, I've decided to come at the project from different angles, exploring the genre and experimenting with its elements. This blog and its offsite sister blog will be my journals where I attack novel-writing one day at a time.As I was creating my BlogSpot page, the inspiration for the blog solidified in my mind. I named that blog "One Significant Moment at a Time." In essence, I want to use the format as a reminder to walk through my life with my author's eyes open, taking in the details, feeling the emotions of the day. As moments unfold and I feel their affects on me as a person, a woman, a mother, a sister, a member of the world community, I'll let the writer in me talk about it. Creative Nonfiction is the genre most fitting to describe what I envision accomplishing here, moreso than blogging or journaling. The style is best suited, I feel, for my ambitions as a novelist. In addition, Friday entries will not be written by me. Instead, I'll turn the keyboard over to one of the characters in my novel. He or she will relate the events of the day as s/he saw them, through the filter of his or her perception. ** Image ID #1779494 Unavailable **  Click this image to visit my Blog City neighbors! I'd Love Your Help If you've read my blog before, and find yourself here again, won't you click this link and check out my BlogSpot? http://www.nicoleducleroir.blogspot.com Leave me a comment there, and I'll send you a WDC token of my appreciation! Become a Follower there, and I'll send you a Supportive Merit Badge! -- You don't have to go to blogspot.com each day; in fact, I post much of the same entries here in this WDC blog. But building up a verifiable readership may prove important one day when I'm knocking on literary agent/publishers' doors! To Follow, just click "Follow" on the right margin of my blog page. You'll have to sign in using, or create, a Google account (it's free and only takes two minutes!), and then follow the short instructions. It's easy, and I'd appreciate it so much!!Merit Badges Sent To:   ~Noelle ~ TY Anon!   ~~sunshine014 ( Where'd Ashy go??)~~Mara ♣ McBain  ~~Adriana Noir ~~Jaeff | KBtW of the Free Folk  ~~🌷 Carol St.Ann 🌷  ~ Leave me a comment anytime ~ even on older postings! Thanks for reading!! |
This process is KILLING me! I'm trying to embrace the "write-by-the-seat-of-my-pants" method for writing, but it feels foreign and strange right now. I'm 4300+ words into Nano, and the actual word vomit on the screen is not good  Am I the only one that's dealing with a real first draft, for the first time?I have to say, though, (even though the whole thing sounded like my diaries from my teenage years!  ) as I wrote about the protagonist yesterday, I had several light bulb moments when I felt her character take a step out of the shadows. I've got to hang onto the belief that that's the point of writing like this. When you turn off your internal editor, close your eyes, and just let the words gush out of your head and onto the screen, you get "first thoughts." First thoughts are raw and ragged around the edges, but they hold the greatest energy of anything you will write.Wrimos everywhere must be dealing with the same feelings I'm having. I have to do what they're doing: stop worrying about it, and write. Don't think. Don't talk. Just write. My dear friend Tornado Day shared what she says to herself, and I promised myself I'd make it my Nano mantra: Just shut up and write!Good Luck Everyone!       Looking for a new sig or contest banner? Click here! "Nicki D-Zigns Sig&Banner Shop ~CLOSED~"  Visit me at: http://www.heftynicki.writing.com http://www.inkspot.com/authors/heftynicki |
| Yesterday I attended the Meet 'n' Greet for NaNo participants in the Athens, GA region. We started out at the Starbuck's across from the main entrance to the UGA campus, but our group grew so large that we realized we needed a bigger venue. A roomful of solemn undergrads buried under textbooks and laptops sighed with collective relief when the decision was made to move our meeting to a building on campus. I haven't been on a college campus in many years, and I loved being there. The air was crisp and vibrated with energy that comes from young people on a mission to attain their dreams. We wound up in an old building with worn hard wood floors and windows with wavy glass. We took over the main room that was somewhat divided by a unique, two-sided fireplace that jutted out from the center of the wall, its mantle forming a ninety degree angle that pointed to the opposite side of the room. I settled onto the center cushion of a victorian style couch perfumed by time, and two women joined me, one on either side. Others sat on wingbacked chairs and chintz upholsered ottomans, and when there were no more seats the others sat cross-legged on the floor. I was feeling less nervous by this time, having gotten over the thrill of seeing real live writers in person. Most of our group was university students, but there were five or six people like me with families or careers. We played some ice breaker games that loosened most of us up, and enjoyed several lively rounds of Apples to Apples. That's when people's creativity really began to show! When someone had "won" with the decided limit of five cards, our ML asked us to look at the cards we still held in our hands and come up with a quick plot based on them. It was fun, funny, and a bit nerve-wracking being on the spot like that  For the rest of the meeting, we talked shop. Those who have done Nano before shared their experiences. We talked about strategies to get going, and keep going. Those of us brave enough (which I was, by this point  ) shared our premises or plots for the novels we planned to write. It was great to hear these near-strangers reacting to my ideas, offering me their thoughts on ways to approach the time frame and chapter organization of my project. Too cool!I'm glad I went, because Nano became more concrete to me, more real, less detached by cyber space. I also met a married couple participating in Nano who live in my city. We may get together at the local coffee house and write! I met Ben who was talkative like me and very open and generous with his experiences and thoughts. He was saying he wished he could explore flash fiction more and I started talking about Writing.com. No one in my group had found their way here (yet  ), so I talked up our community and how great the members are, how generous they are with their feedback and support, and the awesome contests we run. This morning when I logged on, I noticed I had a new comm. recognition point. Turns out, Ben had created started his own port!Ben is a novelist at heart, and I heard him say he has worked on seventeen novels. I would love for him to feel welcomed here, so anyone so inclined to check out his work will find him here: If any of you have the opportunity to attend a regional Nano Meet 'n' Greet this week, I encourage you to go. I'm more excited now than ever to get started! |
I run this awesome contest for WDC's younger writers.It's a monthly contest that closes on the last day of each month. I know it's a busy time of year for all of us, but the current round is set to close in one week and we only have one entry! If you are a writer between the ages of 12 and 18, please check out my contest! It is sponsored by the Rising Stars group, but any WDC member can enter. Several things make this writing contest unique: Unlike most other WDC contests, you compete only with members in your age group: people with similar educational backgrounds, writing levels, and life experiences as you. Each month, I include with the prompt a mini writing workshop lesson. One of the goals of this contest is to expand your knowledge as you hone your craft. Sometimes the lesson will reinforce what you already know, and sometimes (I hope! ) you'll learn something new! Rising Stars has partnered with The Paper Doll Gang on this project. The Paper Doll Gang Newbies participating in that group's current "class" are dedicated to reviewing Young Stars contest entries. This means, including the three reviews you will receive from the judges, you will also receive several more from The Paper Doll Gang. The feedback you receive from participating in this contest will prove valuable to your creative writing exploration. Let's talk prizes, too! First place entries receive a 25K awardicon plus 15,000 GPs!! Second and Third place finishers also receive big prizes!!!There's still a week left before the current round closes. Why not click now, check out the photo prompt and mini-workshop, and get started writing your winning entry today! 
Looking for a new sig or contest banner? Click here! "Nicki D-Zigns Sig&Banner Shop ~CLOSED~" Visit me at: http://www.heftynicki.writing.com http://www.inkspot.com/authors/heftynicki |
I was shooting for a blog entry every day this month -- but that hasn't worked out well for me!  I realized a couple days ago that with NaNo starting on November 1st, I'd better get organized with the contests I judge. Most contests I'm involved in close at the end of the month....so I've been busy reviewing now!I'm caught up with reviews for "Newbie Bitem Challenge - CLOSED" , though other entries may come in before the round closes on the 26th.I was invited into Rising Star's Circle of Sisters this week. I've looked up to that group since becoming a Rising Star last year, so I was thrilled to become a sister! I reviewed all seventeen entries for "Rising Stars Shining Brighter" today.I still have to review the entries for the Paper Doll Gang "Invalid Item" (there are eight so far).And, I'm looking forward to entries for "Young Stars Shine Your Light Contest" , but so far there haven't been any .With all the reviewing I've been doing, panic has been stewing in the back of my mind. I'm worried I'm not prepared enough for NaNo...and that I won't have anything to say when it comes time to start writing. Noelle ~ TY Anon! has been doing Brandywyn's "October Novel Prep Challenge" and says she's feeling ready, so I took a look at the exercises. I just can't seem to make myself write anything related to my novel (ie: character sketches, setting descriptions, refining the outline, etc.). What's wrong with me?!!Well, the car's in the shop until tomorrow afternoon, so I'll make it my goal to review the Paper Doll entries and then write something NaNo-prep-ish. Speaking of NaNo, I'm attending the Meet 'n' Greet for the Athens, GA NaNo region. I'm excited to talk shop with other area writers, and hopefully it will be another motivating experience to help me get myself geared up and ready to start. (*crosses fingers so tightly the tips turn white*) ~~~~~~~~ |
| The kids have been on Fall Break this week -- so my writing time has been limited and my quiet time has been even less We try to balance their need to play/shout/run/eat/explode-with-joy with my need to write. So far, it's worked out pretty well. Today was a perfect example. We spent the morning with friends up in the north Georgia mountains, riding horses. The kids had an absolute blast, and the fresh air and mountain views lifted my spirits high. I had my notebook with me and jotted down sensory descriptions I wanted to remember. Here are the kids on horseback:  Cody  Sidney  ~~~~~~~~~~When we got home in the afternoon it was "Mama's Boring Work On The Computer Time," and the kids went outside with the neighborhood kids to play/shout/run/eat-a-snack/explode-with-joy. I worked on my entry for the finals in WYRM's Gauntlet (such a challenging write for me!), and then I wrote this for Acme's "Invalid Item" :
All in all, it was a fantastic day! I hope yours was too Looking for a new sig or contest banner? Click here! "Nicki D-Zigns Sig&Banner Shop ~CLOSED~" Visit me at: http://www.heftynicki.writing.com http://www.inkspot.com/authors/heftynicki |
| Yesterday, I started working on my entry for the WYRM's Gauntlet final round. I'm writing outside my genre, unsure of myself, struggling. I managed to eke out 183 words. All day. Mingled with my frustrations was terror. How on earth will I write 2200+ words a day for NaNo when I can't even hit the 200 mark? Yup, I'm s-s-scar-ed! Today was better. I told myself I would write 2200 words today, no matter what. And I did!! (Phew) I actually wrote 2631 words. It is the roughest rough draft I have ever written in my life. I only have until the 12th to shape this thing up and get it entered. I'll definitely be going down to the wire on this one. I have to remind myself: Contests are for learning and growing as a writer. I'm definitely achieving those goals. When I stop being so competitive with myself, I usually notice more fluidity in my thoughts and writing. I'm finished for today, but I feel good. Maybe I can do NaNo afterall...(*gulp*) |
| If you missed the kick-off show of Oprah Winfrey's 24th season of the Oprah Show -- here's your chance to see it! I was sipping my afternoon coffee with a neighbor friend when we heard the show begin. "I've Gotta Feeling" is one of my current favorite songs (it's my ringtone ) so Tonya and I moved from the kitchen to the couch and settled in to watch the Black Eye Peas perform. I was surprised that no one was dancing as the opening bars began. I would have been going crazy -- like the one woman in the front row. When the group of people around that woman started dancing, I thought it was some dance everyone under thirty probably knew (like the Electric Slide in the 90s). When the number of dancers kept growing to eventually included the entire crowd of 20,000+, I was confused and enthralled. Oprah's reaction was priceless -- it was clear she was as surprised as the viewing audience. After the commercial break, we learned they had pulled off a flash mob, which is a large group of people performing unusual things in public. They claim it was the largest flash mob on record. Apparently, a director and choreographer taught the dance to twenty professional dancers. After a "casting call" over FaceBook and Twitter, 800 ordinary people showed up the day before the performance and learned the dance. The next day, those 800 people were scattered throughout the audience and taught the dance to the crowd. The flash mob was organized as a surprise for Oprah, who clearly loved it! Interestingly, I have been watching the audition shows of So You Think You Can Dance, and I KNOW I saw the woman in the blue shirt (the very first one dancing during the Black Eye Peas performance) audition. She got her ticket to Las Vegas! So, here's the video. Enjoy!!  ~Nicki~ Looking for a new sig or contest banner? Click here! "Nicki D-Zigns Sig&Banner Shop ~CLOSED~" Visit me at: http://www.heftynicki.writing.com http://www.inkspot.com/authors/heftynicki |
| It had been a while since I took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test, so I thought I'd take it again today. The MBTI is a psychometric questionnaire consisting of seventy-five yes/no questions. It was developed by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers, who based it on Carl Jung's theories on human personalities. They first published it in 1962. I'd never heard of the test before I participated in a characterization workshop. I was so fascinated by the results when I took the test that I started talking about it with friends and family members. I was surprised to learn a couple of my friends had taken the test while interviewing for jobs or for screening with head hunters. Since then, I've used the explanations of the sixteen personality types to create characters for my stories. When I took the test the first time, I found that I was catagorized as ENFJ, or Extraversion Intuitive Feeling Judgement. It wasn't until I read the synopsis of that personality type that my heart started to race. I felt like I was reading about myself -- it fit me to a tee! It was the coolest thing ever. I re-took the test today. It's been about eighteen months since I've seen the test or read the seventy-five questions. I shouldn't be surprised...but I was catagorized the same way! ENFJ, baby! If anyone is interested in taking the test, it only takes about five minutes. I promise that you will be VERY surprised at how accurately it'll peg you Once you know your Type, click around and read about it; it'll probably be like looking in the mirror. And, if nothing else, you may be inspired to create a new character! http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp I'd love to know how you did, if you want to share  Looking for a new sig or contest banner? Click here! "Nicki D-Zigns Sig&Banner Shop ~CLOSED~" Visit me at: http://www.heftynicki.writing.com http://www.inkspot.com/authors/heftynicki |
Hubby, the kids and I left early this morning for a trip into the north Georgia mountains. We spent the morning in Elijay, a small town northwest of Atlanta. It was chilly, though that was the only clue that autumn is approaching. Very few leaves have changed color, and the trees' emerald glow of summer only appears a bit washed out for now. We found an apple orchard where you pick your own apples, and for a nominal entrance fee we had access to the petting zoo, go-karts, hay rides, pig races  , a moonshine museum tour, and apple picking. My daughter and I milked Buttercup the cow -- my son and hubby passed. Whooses!When we got home, we made a couple batches of apple jelly and two apple pies. All in all, it was a wonderful memory-maker of a day! ~ ~ |
| I've had so many wonderful emails today from WDC friends wishing me a happy birthday! It's hard to put into words for people who don't know what a wonderful place this site is, but having cyber friends of the caliber of those I have here enrich my life and remind me everyday of the goodness that is in this world. I hope you all have a warm, wonderful weekend full of joy and love! Nicki |
Today was the last prompt for Legerdemain  's 15 For 15 contest. I have had a blast challenging myself and reading some truly amazing entries. A wonderful group of writers competed this time around, and even more than the entertainment their entries provided me each day, I was touched by the number of people who contacted me regularly, just a quick email, to say how much they liked my short or to congratulate me on a daily win. I feel much closer to mystic_writer, Hyperiongate  and 🌕 HuntersMoon  -- all of whom were recognized over and over for their outstanding entries. Their emails have meant so much to me in the past two weeks.A contest like this one really brings people together while challenging us to keep the writing bar ever higher for ourselves. I want to thank the following people for cheering me on during the round: LJPC - the tortoise , Aennaytte: Free & Wild in GoT  , alfred booth, wanbli ska , LdyPhoenix , Winchester Jones , Winnie Kay  , Kate - Writing & Reading  , KimChi , and Joy  . If I've forgotten someone who sent me encouragement -- remind you so I can thank you properly!As I look around for more avenues to keep me and my daily writing practice on our toes, I've started playing along in Acme 's "Invalid Item" . So much fun -- you should click and participate, you aren't already. I'm working on my Prompt 2 limerick right now, but for fun, here's my winning entry for yesterday The prompt was write a poem about a vampire but don't use the word "blood" or any of its derivatives:I'm A Vegetarian Vampire I’m a vegetarian vampire Cursed with eternal life Roaming the night in search of food I can cut with a butter knife My skin crawls, my stomach churns at the thought of sinking my teeth into the flesh of an animal’s neck and sucking what runs beneath From sundown to dawn, I dig around in gardens and grocery trash Collecting delectable, edible bits to add to my sarcophagus cache Strawberry juice runs down my chin Beets stain my fingertips Pomegranate rocks my world Cherry Kool-Aid smile on my lips Alas, a vegetarian vampire does indulge in one lament For I’ve been told how delicious is tomato sauce with a garlicky accent.
Happy October, everyone! |
| I plan to give myself prompts as I become more comfortable with timed off-the-cuff writing. For now, as I practice opening the flood gates (not easy!) I'll use the advice in my latest book purchase (Writing Down the Bones, Freeing the Writer Within -- publication info in the previous entry): Sit down right now. Give me this moment. Write whatever's running through you. You might start with "this moment" and end up writing about the gardenia you wore at your wedding seven years ago. That's fine. Don't try to control it. Stay present with whatever comes up, and keep your hand moving. (11:11 am) My desk isn’t tidy, though it is neater than some days. There’s only one dirty coffee cup on it, and a screwdriver I didn’t put there. All my tools are scattered around, the rolodex with all my item numbers store in alphabetical order – my nod to organization I wish I had in every aspect of my life. The numbers sit on lined paper, neatly handwritten, sometimes mocking me. The phone isn’t in its cradle – Christian would scold me. That’s why I leave it unhung, maybe. There is an order to my disorder, one that I can live with even though I wish I were more…neat. My desk is bare of what is truly important, that’s my imagination. Or what sparks my imagination. I picture a workspace with lots of color, color inspires me. I want a large wall behind the computer screen dripping with images and papers, colors and ideas like a bottle that’s held many different colored candles, all burned down and dripped over each other’s wax, creating a new surface – landscape -- each time. I want a larger space where my books and references don’t crowd me, where I don’t have to push the clutter away from me every time I want to work. But what would happen if I had more space? Would I just fill it up, like I do when I buy a new, larger handbag? That’s the way it is with me. I empty one thing, de-clutter and throw away the garbage I can part with and stow what I can’t in another place to be forgotten. Then, filled with a new lease on life, I admire my organized, clean space before the mindless task of going through life’s tomorrows filling back up the space with clutter and garbage I can’t part with. This is what I’d like to embrace rather than parent myself into order. I’d like to embrace my cluttered existence and bask in the idea pool that is my surroundings. I look to my left for example and I see the agenda/address book I had in France. It is plastic, royal blue, red and green with garish yellow stitching. I last used it when Cody was a baby. Why is it sitting on the corner of my desk in 2009? I don’t know. But there it is, and if I were to reach over and touch it, hold it to my nose and smell it, flip through the pages and read it, I would have fodder for fiction. There are people in there I don’t keep in touch with, but whose stories are still in my head. There is a notepad in there, if I remember correctly, with notations I made in waiting rooms and at the park with the baby. What stories lie in there! (11:22 am) |
| I picked up a gem of a book today called "Writing Down the Bones, Freeing the Writer Within," by Natalie Goldberg.1 The author discusses the daily writing process and how it opens up creative doors. She wrote the book in 1986, so some of her comments are dated. (She writes in chapter one: I have not worked very much with a computer, but I can imagine using a Macintosh, where the keyboard can be put onto my lap, closing my eyes and just typing away. The computer automatically returns the carriage. The device is called "wraparound." You can rap nonstop. You don't have to worry about the typewriter ringing a little bell at the end of a line.) But, so much of what I read, seated on the floor between the stacks of shelves, related beautifully to the process needed for NaNoWriMo success, and I felt inspired and excited enought to buy the book. In Chapter Two: "First Thoughts," Goldberg says that the basic unit of writing practice is the timed exercise. Thanks to Acme 's daily writing exercises, which I haven't done every day , and Legerdemain 's 15 For 15 contest now on day thirteen, I'm well into a stretch of daily timed writing, and I plan to keep it up in preparation of NaNo.Goldberg says no matter what time limit you give yourself, whether it's ten minutes or sixty, you must commit yourself to that time and remember the following: 1. Keep your hand moving. (Don't pause to reread the line you have just written. That's stalling and trying to get control of what you're saying.) 2. Don't cross out. (That is editing as you write. Even if you write something you didn't mean to write, leave it. 3. Don't worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar. (Don't even care about staying within the margins and lines of the page.) 4. Lose control. 5. Don't think. Don't get logical. 6. Go for the jugular. (If something comes up in your writing that is scary or naked, dive right into it. It probably has lots of energy. So I was inspired, and I wrote for exactly nine minutes. I gave myself one minute to edit -- Hey, we all have to start someplace! Here goes:(4:08 p.m.) The taste in my mouth is bitter, dry even though I feel like I have to keep swallowing the saliva that won’t stop gathering below my tongue. I shouldn’t have eaten that chocolate. I shouldn’t even have bought it. Sidney wanted it and I love my daughter to the point of giving into her whims even when I have my own ideas of what I should and shouldn’t be doing. “Whim.” It’s funny I used “whim” just now. It’s a word I don’t employ that often. But it is on the tip of my bitter, dry-wet tongue since earlier when Sidney asked me what it meant. We were sitting in the café in Barnes and Noble. I was drinking a black coffee; she had a bottle of spring water. Between us were a brownie and an enormous Rice Krispies treat – maybe the biggest I’ve ever seen in my life – and the book of children’s poetry we had just bought. We took turns with the book, running our thumbs across the length, letting the pages fan like a dealer ready to shuffle a deck of cards. Whenever the moment seemed right, we’d stop the pages moving, dig the thumb down and split the book in two, and read that poem aloud. The word whim came up and Sidney asked what it meant. ‘An impulse,’ I said. Like when you walk through a store and see a pair of sunglasses and you think, hey, these would look good on me and you buy them even though you were in the store to get a quart of milk. Sidney laughed at my example, and then she said, we do whims a lot. I smirked. The book of poetry we were reading from was bought on a whim. I guess she’s right. (4:18 p.m.) I'm going to challenge myself every day in October to timed writing. I may not post it all here. I may try writing by hand (  Or not...). I'm interested to see if what Goldberg says is true: (Timed writing) is a great opportunity to capture the oddities of your mind. Explore the rugged edge of thought...First thoughts have tremendous energy. It is the way your mind first flashes on something. The internal censor usually squelches them, so we live in the realm of second and third thoughts, thoughts on thought, twice and three times removed from the direct connection of the first fresh flash.Looking forward to the exploration...! Footnotes |
I should be writing, getting my stuff done...but instead I... Actually, I did write this poem today: I stand, petrified At the shoreline of my life Up to my ankles In the baptismal waters Of my future My back is turned, defiant On rain-soaked yesterdays The breeding ground of moldy dreams Black and blue eyes In the peacock’s plumage When I was a child, hopeful I was given a royal blue betta fish In a gift bowl of water Deadly to others Who would dare to share his space Before me, believe Infinite cerulean sky melts into Azure ocean peace The only proof I need That serenity exists I stand, determined Ready to plunge into tomorrow’s placid waters Cool my scorched skin Soothe my soul Swim again. And now I have to get my stuff done for 15 For 15....Maybe I'll watch this video one more time, first.... |
| I left the Central African Republic in May 1996 when fighting broke out between the then-called mutany rebels and the presidential guard created by then-president Ange-Félix Patassé. In the thirteen years since, much has changed, but much remains the same. Ange-Félix Patassé (born January 25, 1937) was President of the Central African Republic from 1993 until 2003, when he was deposed by the rebel leader François Bozizé.2 Soldiers and sympathizers of the rebel movement continue to fight for their cause, and destabilize a fragile reality on a day-to-day basis. Caught in the middle of opposing political ideologies are the people of the country. Many have had to flee their villages along the road systems for the (unguarenteed) safety of the bush. The following report (aired on French TV in July '07) attempted to shed light on the situation, and I can only assume the state of affairs is no better today, two years later. Hopefully, it isn't worse. Of note as you watch the report: When I left the country, the mutant rebels were well-armed. ("In The Face Of Danger" ) But more than a decade later, resources are scarce and rebels have resorted to making their own weapons. One can only imagine their make-shift guns are supplemented with cruder weapons including machetes, knives, clubs, and whatever the imagination can conjure to inflict pain or intimidate. The villages shown in this video look exactly like the ones I worked in. The people look less joyful and thinner, but as I looked at them I was reminded of a chilling truth: When people have less to lose, they are willing to risk losing it all. I'd designed my Peace Corps program to lower child mortality and to improve the health of women and children. We were building a rural maternity ward so women who couldn't travel to the regional hospital would no longer endure unassisted labor and delivery in their homes or fields. We trained a local woman in midwifery. However, I was evacuated from the country before the project was completed. My heart broke when I saw the images of the new mother being transported in a wheel barrow-style wagon to a hospital, presumably miles away. The hospital in this report looks exactly like the one where I worked in Bambari (the second largest city in the Central African Republic) during our month-long midwifery training. Even in times of peace, there was no electricity (a generator was fired up in the operation room when emergency surgery was performed during the night) and no running water (except a spiquot in one building). In-patients were assigned a bed, but family members were responsible for providing bedding, drinking water and meals. Family members also had to help their patient to the latrine, or were responsible for providing and emptying bed pans.I'm currently researching what I can do to ease the suffering in the Central African Republic. The lack of infrastructure prevents donated food, medicine and supplies from reaching the people that need it most, so supporting aid organizations that go there may be the only avenue for now. I've begun my research here: http://www.nonprofitexpert.com/countries/central%20african%20republic.htm -- wish me luck! Looking for a new sig or contest banner? Click here! "Nicki D-Zigns Sig&Banner Shop ~CLOSED~" Visit me at: http://www.heftynicki.writing.com http://www.inkspot.com/authors/heftynicki Footnotes |
(Yesterday was) officially the last day of summer. How are your 'goodbye' scenes? Do they manage to evoke an emotional response from your reader? They won't if they don't evoke one from you! Write Pour your heart and soul into a goodbye scene of some sort (friendship, lovers, death, school, pet, etc., etc.) (4:20 pm - 4:50 pm) I hugged my sister again. This time we were in the driveway, standing next to the Hummer idling under the hot Georgia sun. My sister hated that car. She'd wanted to buy a Prius but her aristocratic husband had scoffed. "Please," he'd said, "a Prius would look like something my Escalade shit out." I hugged my sister harder, trying to push her husband's face out of my mind. He was the reason she was leaving. He was the only one who wanted them to move to Florida, and since he was the only one that mattered...His actual voice cut into my thoughts. "Come on, Dean, we've got a long drive ahead." Nadine pulled away from me, and I felt cool, aware of the sudden absense of her body heat. I swiped a tear before it hit my cheek and looked up into my sister's face. Her eyes were swimming too. "I'll miss you, Aunt Nicole," my neice said, running around the back of the Hummer and wrapping her arms around my waist. I rocked her back and forth as we hugged, and pictures flit across my mind's eye. Chelsea in front of the Christmas tree holding up the ballerina doll we gave her. Chelsea, with sun kissed skin that made her cerulean eyes dance, and her bright red cast earned after a handstand on the trampoline went terribly wrong. Chelsea, giving me the necklace for my birthday that she'd strung herself, with beads hand selected with me in mind. Chelsea... I kissed her on the top of her head and she was gone, scrambling into the backseat. "Hey!" I shouted, looking around. "Where's Damon?" My sister pointed at the same time Damon said, "Here I am." He slammed into me with typical eight-year old grace, though his hug was soft like a fleece blanket. He tried to escape too quickly but I caught him by the shoulders. He smiled at me, exposing three gaps where teeth must have conspired and fell out at the same time. When would I see him? In a couple months, next year? I wondered if the next time I saw him his smile would be gap-free. He'd almost lost his baby face completely. The tween in him would certainly make his appearance soon. I told him I loved him, kissed him on the forehead, and released him. He stumble-climbed into the car. Nadine and I hugged again. I couldn't stop the tears this time. We sobbed quietly into each other's hair as her husband reminded us, again, that it was past time to go. "We'll come visit," I said. "And we'll play Scrabble all night long," she said in an unsteady voice. "And make chocolate chip cookies," I added, closing her car door for her. Her window lowered and she reached for me. I grasped her hand as the Hummer started to back up. "I love you!" I cried. "Me too!" Nadine said as her hand slipped from mine. I waved frantically as the Hummer headed down the road, arms extended from all but one window. "Fuck you, Adam," I said under my breath, waving in a wide arc now that they were farther away. Their car turned the corner and disappeared from my view. I covered my eyes, shoulders shaking in silent sobs. |
I have writer's block and it's making me crazy!! The photo prompt for Legerdemain "s 15 For 15 has me miserably stumped . I'm feeling sad and frustrated.....so I decided to watch this video and cheer myself up. Anyone else feeling down? This'll take your mind off your troubles  Ah, better already! Now off to write...! |
| My emotions are all over the place today. It's a very special day in a couple different ways: To start with, today is the first day of the class I teach at New Horizons Writing School. It is my fourth term teaching Love Reviews, and my last  . I created this class, wrote all the lesson plans, and felt the pride my contribution made to the creation of the school. I love teaching, but it's time for my writing to soar again to the top of my priorities list. I'm going to enjoy this last term -- live it to the fullest! And, here's a quick shout-out to any students who have popped in: Looking forward to the next six weeks with you!Another exciting thing about today is the opening of Round Eight of Legerdemain 's "15 for 15 Contest --- Closed" . I LOVE this contest; it's my third time competing. I've finished today's prompted fifteen minutes of writing, and in case anyone would like to read my entry, here is the link:"Spetember 18 - Clock" Now, with so much good stuff starting today, why is it also a day of final farewells? Today, September 18th, 2009, CBS will air the finale episode of my favorite soap opera, Guiding Light. I began watching Guiding Light when I was a ten year old girl. My Aunt Charlene watched it every day, and my cousin and I got sucked into the drama and romance -- and enjoyed sharing something adult with her mother. We spent a lot of time back then at our grandmother's house, and we always asked her to turn on channel four at three o'clock. She became one of the shows biggest fans, and the four of us watched the show -- often together -- ever since. When I went to college, my grandmother recorded (on VHS, of course) the show every day and during breaks my cousin and I would sit with her and watch hours of Guiding Light at a time. Once I was an upper-classman, I never scheduled a class between three and four. In fact, except for the eight years I was out of the country living in Africa and Europe, I have been watching Guiding Light for thirty-three years. To say that the characters are like family to me is silly and cliché, but true. Through all the marriages and splits, births and deaths, and crazy storylines, I feel closer to them in some ways than to my own extended family. My family is centered in upstate New York, a place I get to only once every couple of years. But the residents of Springfield have been in my home for an hour every day for three quarters of my life. I still can't believe it's ending... For anyone who doesn't know, Guiding Light is the longest running show in broadcast history. 72 years ago, it premiered on radio. It was the first soap opera to switch from the radio format to television. It is the longest running television show. Here's a quicky video that will give anyone who's loved this show for as long as I have a lump in the throat. Enjoy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| A friend recently gave me a huge piece of mirror, about 3'x4' in size. Much to Christian's dismay, I announced that I'd like to adhere about four rows (four inches total) of glass mosiac tiles around the edges and hang it over the fireplace in our great room. Christian loves a project as much as I do, but our creative visions rarely match at the outset. Unfortunately, math wasn't on my side (I hate math!) because the weight of the mirror warrented a hefty frame, and tile would only worsen the problem. We battled it out with design ideas and came to an agreement over how the mirror should hang, then set out building a frame. Christian is a master woodworker, and I assisted watched him transform planks of wood into a frame that I then painted white. Now, we have the frame lying on a table in the house, and we are painting it in bright, funky colors. We are using symbols that have special meaning for our family (geckos, the globe, tribal markings) and drawing inspiration from aboriginal art and culture. We spend evenings with the kids, painting and laughing. Here are some shots of us [Also here, the kitchen shelf project I mentioned in comments below. Thanks, sunshine014 for asking to see it! ]     |
| Last week, I made it past the first round in WYRM's Gauntlet competition, and I was feeling optimistically confident because the second round challenged us to write a short story. Phew! My comfy-cosy zone! Then I read the prompt, and my chest fell, my shoulders rounded, and my tail went between my legs.... Write a short story inspired by this line: I can still see him burning. And, the genre must be....(drum roll)...Speculative fiction? What the hell is that? Panic didn't set in until I learned what the genre is all about. Speculative Fiction is an umbrella genre under which you may find combined categories of Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Horror. Stargopher described it, and I paraphrase here, as 'stories with stuff in it that doesn't exist, like trolls or supernatural elements.' He qualified his explanation by saying we weren't limited in any way to his examples, but the genre speculative fiction was mandatory.So I started doing some research and learned some interesting things about speculative fiction. The genre is premised by "fiction" defined not by what isn't true, but by what doesn't exist. Spec. Fict. stories either take place in the future, where we don't know what it will be like, or in make believe worlds, or in the past before recorded time, but in a way that contradicts what we believe to be true about ancient times. If Spec. Fict. stories take place in our world, the plot or elements of the plot and characters must contradict what we know to be true or believe to be possible. At this point in my research, my head was spinning. I still didn't quite get it. Then I read an interesting article at LostBooks.org (link is below) that offered me my first ah-ha moment. Speculative Fiction writers often premise their stories on the question "What if..." What if medical science could genetically eliminate the need for sleep thus causing two separate classes, those who sleep and those who do not? The non-sleepers can accomplish and gain at minimum twice what you or I can simply because they have more time to devote to work and other interests (see Nancy Kress's novella or novel, Beggars in Spain)? What if aliens declared Earth to be 'prime real estate' and felt about the extinction of humankind as we felt about the Passenger Pigeon (see James Tiptree, JR's. short story, The Screwfly Solution)? What if Robert E. Lee had won the battle of Gettysberg (see Harry Turtledove's novels, The Guns of the South or How Few Remain)?[The three bullet points were copied from LostBooks.org. Read the article in its entirety here: http://www.lostbooks.org/speculative-fiction.html] So, the way I understand it, Speculative Fiction is the Twilight Zone genre, where reality is skewed and everything you believe to be true may not be. It is a fascinating lens through which to regard fiction, and a genre that takes incredible imagination to pull off. I don't think I'm there yet . But thanks to the WYRM Gauntlet competition, I attempted the genre and wrote a story I never would have penned on my own. Here it is -- comments are MOST welcome!
If you have written a story that would fall under the umbrella category of speculative fiction, send me a link! I'd love to see how others approached the task |
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