July 4th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Happy July 4^th to everyone! Today is an extra special day for our family because not only is it Independence Day, our nation’s Birthday, it is also my son’s Birthday. He is twenty-three today, not a “big” birthday, so the celebration will be relatively small, under twenty.

 

My daughter baked his cake yesterday and will probably be spending a good chunk of today decorating it. She is definitely loving making the elaborate cakes. I wonder if I can get Cake Boss blocked on my TV? LOL. I’m sure I’ll have a picture or two to post for tomorrow.

My word count on Corporate Blues is now over 8,500, so it is coming along. I won’t have as much time today to write, but at least I will add to my numbers. I had planned on spending extra time yesterday writing because I knew today would be a challenge, but my time was abbreviated because we had to get the house straightened up for a surprise party my youngest was throwing for a friend.

OK, on to the challenges so I can get to camp.

 

Your Last Challenge was:

 

This, this is what I’ve been dreaming about. Alleys like this, with uneven stone streets, shuttered windows and brightly painted doors. Little undiscovered nooks like this, within the city, where you can close your eyes and imagine a thousand years of history. Yes, Rome is amazing, Florence breathtaking, and Venice almost indescribable, but all so over populated with tourists. It is places like this where I feel I get a true sense of Italy; a sense of the past pulling me in, and wanting to share its stories with me.

I know if I walk down this alley, behind the doors and shutters I’ll hear talking and laughter. I’ll hear pots and dishes clanking as someone prepares dinner, and heavenly aromas will fill the air as I pass. I’ll see an old woman leaning out her window chatting with another old woman across the alley leaning out of her window, and somehow I’ll know they had done the very same thing, nearly every day, for as long as anyone can remember. There will be kids playing ball and dogs barking happily and trying to cut in on the game. People will smile, wave and say “Ciao” or “Buon giorno” as I pass. Yes, this tiny little alley, is why I came to Italy.

Your Next Challenge is:

But it started out so small…

 

You have 10 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.

July 3rd Writing Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –
 

A Happy Wacky Wednesday to y’all! I went to my critique group last night, and as usual, I had a great time. We had an interesting mix of things read: a play about a woman serial killer from California (true story, fictional adaptation), the beginning of chapter one of a mystery novel centered around two Irish pubs at the Jersey shore, the first page of a mystery novel set in NYC, a performance piece about a father coming to terms with his trans-gender child, and chapters four and five of my Simply by Chance (they were very short chapters). We ran out of time before we got to a rewritten excerpt from a fantasy novel and the memoir of a civil war seen through the eyes of a child, so they will go first two weeks from now.

Camp is going well. My ending word count yesterday was 5,588. At this rate, I might actually hit the 85K words by July 31^st, but that means I have to average almost 2,750 a day, EVERY day. OK, I can’t think that way or I will psych myself out. I’m just going to let it flow and whatever happens, happens.

So, did you have fun with yesterday’s challenge? Which book did you get sucked into? Did you become one of the existing characters, a completely new one or were you like a ghost and no one could actually see you?

Your Last Challenge was:

You literally get sucked into the book you were reading.

 

The last thing I remember is sitting on my bed, reading The Sorcerer’s Stone to my children for the fourth or was it the fifth time, I cannot remember, and the next thing I knew I was standing in front of an entire classroom of children dressed in black robes. Quickly I glanced at the stone walls, the stone floor, and then up at the impossibly high ceiling. Hogwarts, somehow I was at Hogwarts. But how?

I raised my hand to massage my now throbbing temple and I hear, “Professor, are you alright?”

 

Then another voice, “Professor Culbreath, would you like us to call Professor McGonnagall or Professor Dumbledore?

Oh heavens. Professor. They meant me. They were talking to me. I looked out at the room and two dozen sets of worried eyes looked back at me. I cleared my throat and gave the class a weak smile, “No, no. Don’t bother. I’ll be fine. No worries.” I will have to figure out how I got here and how to get back later, but for now I have to go on as if everything is normal. Professor Culbreath. I don’t recall a Professor Culbreath. What did she teach? How am I ever going to pull this off? I smiled again, this time hopefully more convincingly and asked, “Would one of you be so kind as to remind me where we left off?”

“You were about to show us how to conjure an illusion you said we could use as a distraction.” A helpful voice replied.

Conjuring. I can handle that. “Alright then children. This is just one example, but the basis is the same no matter what you wish to conjure. Your only limit is your own imagination…”

 

Your Next Challenge is:

 

 

You have 10 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.

July 2nd Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

OK, so the first day of camp went well. I hit 2,902. At this rate, with the goal of 50K words, it says I will be done by July 18th; which is good because my real goal is 85K, but I was too scared to put that into the word count meter.

At camp, you are assigned a cabin, and they just added the last cabin mate to my cabin. I don't know any of them, even though I did try to request a few writers I knew who were participating. When they chose cabin mates for you, they were supposed to do people your age and/or who write in the same genre. Of the three who are actually doing anything, one is a young mom who doesn't know what she's writing yet, and the other two are doing some kind of funky sci-fi stuff. So far, I have nothing in common with any of them. The whole idea behind assigning cabins is for the writers to get support and encouragement from others who are experiencing the same insanity as you, but to be plopped into a group where you have nothing in common with any of the people, I think, is counterproductive. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. There are four more cabin mates who haven’t checked in yet. Maybe one of them will be a better “rah-rah”, because I sure as heck don’t want to be the rah-rah for the group!

Your Last Challenge was:

 Make a story using the following three words: raccoon, party, mouse.

 

While preparing for a big party at our house, I kept hearing a strange noise, but the only time the noise would occur was when I was making some type of noise; moving things, rustling papers, banging pots, vacuuming, etc. When I stopped to try and listen to where the noise was coming from, the noise would stop. It was very frustrating.

Finally, after hours of this cat and mouse game, the noise occurred again and was followed by a substantial thump. Ah ha! The garage, or more specifically, the wall between the garage and the family room. Great, just what I needed before a party. Some critter stuck in my wall, and I could tell by the thump, it wasn’t a little critter. Although, I probably needed my head examined for doing it, I went out into the garage to investigate. What I thought I was going to do with the critter if I actually found it, I still don’t know, but off I went, broom in hand.

No holes that I could see. Lovely, now I have to pull stuff away from the wall, as if I had time for this with a houseful of guests coming. I lay down my broom and start moving junk from the general vicinity of the noise. One thing on my side, the critter wasn’t being shy any longer, so I pretty much knew where he was.

I located the source or the thud. A medal sign which normally hung over the tool box was now flush against the wall behind the tool box. At least the monster was on wheels, so I was able to push it out of the way. I then retrieved my broom and made sure there was a clear path between the sign and the open garage door. At the last second, I donned some heavy leather work gloves, mustered up all my courage, and slowly pried the sign away.

Sure enough, there was a hole behind the sign and within seconds, a tiny masked face popped through the hole. The face looked up at me, blinked a couple of times, looked over at the open garage door and started a slow meander towards freedom. Just as he reached the exit, the raccoon stopped, turned around, sat up on his back legs and looked straight at me as if to say “thank-you”, then he scampered off.

Wow, guess camp has already gotten me into a habit of writing quickly. (I did go back and add the separated paragraphs after the ten minutes, because it was just one big blob when time was up.)

 

Your Next Challenge is:

 

You literally get sucked into the book you were reading.

 

You have 10 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.

July 1st Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Aaahhhhh! It’s July 1^st!! What have I gotten myself into? 50,000 words in 31 days? Maybe if I locked myself away in a cabin in the woods where no one could find me, I might have a chance. This is summer. The kids are home. We have birthday parties to go to, guests coming to stay, and trips to the beach planned. I must have lost my mind when I agreed to this!

OK, I had to get that out of my system, but I’m sure during the course of the month you may hear me panicking again. I am going to be tackling a modern day romance this time, so at least I won’t have the research taking up a lot of my time. I can just write and write in current American English without thinking “would they have said it that way?”, so it should go quicker.

Well, I’m off to camp while the house is still quiet. Have a great day folks!

Your last challenge was:

If you can have lunch with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?

 

If you can have lunch with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why? A favorite writing prompt for teachers everywhere it seems. I know I have received the prompt at least three times over the course of my schooling, and although my answer has changed, I still wouldn’t mind having lunch with any of my previous selections. In middle school I chose George Burns, in high school, Lucille Ball, and in college it was Edgar Allan Poe. Now I’m not sure who it would be. Perhaps, Pope John; although I’m not Catholic, I was always fascinated by the man with the sweet face. Then again it would be kind of cool to sit and chat with Oprah. I love stories of folks who came from nothing and made good, and Oprah overcame some huge obstacles to get where she is today. Brad Paisley, just because he seems fun to hang out with; or Stephen King, just because I’d love to know how he separates himself from the scary in his head; or Gandhi who I doubt needs explanation as to why anyone wouldn’t want to talk with him.

There are so many wonderful people to choose from for so many wonderful reasons, but I think this time I am going to choose for more selfish and personal reasons. I want to have lunch with my Grandfather Daniel, my Grandmother Helen, my Grandmother Alice, my husband’s Uncle Joe, my Aunt Julie, my second dad Ken, and our friend Norm. All of these folks are no longer here with me and I miss them all terribly. I know I was only supposed to pick one, but as I said, I was going to be selfish.

 

Your Next Challenge is:

 

Make a story using the following three words: raccoon, party, mouse.

 

You have 10 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.