July 15th Challenge

Hi it’s Christina –

Good Morning! I didn’t jump right into the blog this morning. While I was checking emails, I received one from a friend saying he had his first article published in Huntington Post, so, obviously, I had to read it.

Wow. I am always impressed with Todd’s story telling ability, and even though I had pretty much heard the story before, it still moved me. A few years ago, Todd and his family embarked on a journey when his daughter confessed she was a man trapped in a woman’s body. His story takes you through the initial shock of the revelation, the acceptance, and the transition of saying goodbye to his daughter and embracing his son.

The article is brief, but it packs a punch. It shows the true meaning of being a parent, loving your children unconditionally. I read through the article as well as the comments, many of which heralded Todd as being courageous for telling his story. Although well-meaning I’m sure, it made me sad.

Having a gay or transgender child, and talking about it should not be considered brave, but because of the narrow minded society we live in, it is. Until people realize someone has as much control over being born gay or transgender as they do being born with blue eyes or curly hair, things will never change.

So, my hat is off to Todd, not for his bravery in bringing light to a subject society wants to ignore, my hat is off to him for being a role model for what it means to be a father. Because of his love and acceptance, his son now has a chance at a happy and healthy life, as opposed to becoming one of the statistics. It truly is a wonderful article, and it’s not very long; so if you would like to read it, here’s the link.

I did not get quite as much writing done yesterday as I had hoped. RV called and needed my help. Although I was able to push her off for a couple of hours, it was still in the back of my mind that I had to leave, so I couldn’t allow myself to become lost in the story. I didn’t want to look up from writing and see several hours had passed, which has been known to happen from time to time.

Because of the incomplete focus, I know I have to go back over what I wrote and “beef” it up. I was able to get the general thoughts down, but the details are seriously lacking. I also jumped from point A to point C in a conversation, and I need to fill that in as well, otherwise it will come off as too abrupt and the character will come across as a jerk, and I don’t want that.

Okay, since I only have three hours and I know there are going to be at least two more interruptions in that time, I should go. I hope you have a great day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

Genre: Mystery; Location: Somewhere down the shore; Situation: Someone is stealing something unusual

“You’re crazy!”

“I’m telling you Mike, they’re not here.”

“Who the heck would steal starfish? What possible use would they have for them?”

Jamie pointed to the shelf, “Then where the hell are they?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you put them somewhere else and forgot?”

“I signed for the box right when we were having that big rush of camp kids, a little after three. I put the box on my desk. As you know, we were busy pretty much the rest of the night. While I was closing up, I saw the box on my desk. I didn’t have the energy to restock the display, so I put the box here in the stock room.” Jamie pointed to the shelf again. “Do you see the box?”

“You could have stuck it on another shelf. You were really beat last night.”

“Okay fine,” Jamie spread her arms wide and turned in a slow circle. “Look for yourself. The box was bright blue with gold lettering. It shouldn’t be hard to spot amongst all this brown.”

Michael carefully looked around. “I don’t see it.”

“That’s what I have been trying to tell you.” She said in an exasperated huff. “You want to hear the strange part? Carly, from the shop over on the corner of 7^th and Ocean, stopped by to see if she could borrow a few dozen hermit crab sponges until her shipment came in, somehow she had misplaced two cases. Then Tyler from Shipwrecked came over, his back scratchers disappeared. Tell me Mike, how does a gross of back scratchers just vanish into thin air?”

Your Next Challenge is:

The morning light looked strange

You have ten minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count, and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.