The problem with that...

The word that really makes me crazy.
Until someone pointed it out to me, I didn't realize how many times I say, or write that - and that's a problem, especially when you're trying to get your novels published.
That one little word can make a huge difference to a potential agent or editor. If they see the word too many times they might get annoyed enough to throw your manuscript out the window, never taking the time to know if the story is really good or not. I don't blame them. There are times I'm re-reading a scene only to find out every sentence has a that in it.

I'll admit, I've given that an enormous amount of power.

But I am not alone.
From what I hear, a lot of writers - both published and non - have the same problem. Many are not as lucky as I am to have published friends who have editors to teach and correct them, or to have such a great critique partner as I do who'd never let me get away with looking foolish.
The bigger problem comes when I'm on my own and write without having anyone looking over my shoulder. It then, when I must be on my toes. Much, much more difficult than you think.
It's just such an easy word to insert in place. For example, "I knew that I liked red wine from the very first sip." Here's the thing, you might say that when you're speaking but do you really need it?
Probably not.

Let's see, "I knew I liked red wine from the very first sip." See?!

I consciously try to avoid that, but somehow I just can't break the habit. Ugh!

So I challenge you - next time you sit down and write a letter on your computer or listen to a friend explain something to you, count how many that's come up, then try to figure out how many are actually needed.
Have fun with that!

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place ...

Ahhhh .... the classics

Ever since I've announced to the world that I write novels, people are more interested in what I like to read. These are the same people I've shared books with over the years, talked about our favorite authors' latest and greatest, not to mention that these people have recommended books to me.  Honestly, not much has changed since I've started to write, except that I read more of everything, as often as I can.

For years I have made time to read some of the greatest literary works of our time ... Louisa May Alcott's A Long Fatal Love Chase, Pride and Prejudice, Hawthorne's The Scarlett Letter. I've even added a few books of poetry to my library over the years, my favorite is DH Lawrence. But if you really want to know the classic that forever changed my way of writing and reading, I'll tell you about a short story written by none other than Ernest Hemingway called A Clean, Well-Lighted Place. This is the kind of story you can see happening in your head as you read it. It's magical.  The story has the ability to take you out of the world you are in and replant you to an old cafe in Spain after WWII. It arouses so much emotion it's almost difficult to read. The story of the old man stays with you for a long time after you've finished reading it. In your mind's eye you can picture the man, sometimes he wears the face of your father, for others their beloved grandfather and for others they conjure the image of themselves some time in the future.

I REFUSE  to tell you the story, if I did you would not read it for yourself and then you'd be missing out. But, I will tell you this - Hemingway showed the world that he was a master of words and emotions when he wrote it, he showed us what real talent is, and he did so using very little words.

So, if you have a chance and want to know what kind of work inspires writers like me, find a nice little cafe, order a brandy and bring along a copy of a A Clean, Well-Lighted Place (here's the link to make it easier http://www.mrbauld.com/hemclean.html ). Make sure you have plenty of time - the story is only a few pages long - but you'll want to enjoy the brandy and the story will make you think, and you'll feel differently after reading it. I do understand that for many of us, it's not easy to read the classics. It takes time, and let's face it, time is not something we all have a lot of. But there is something to be said for slowing down and taking the time to read something that was meant to make you think differently about the world you live in.

Enjoy!

"In order to write about life first you must live it." Ernest Hemingway

Do Something You Love

Has anyone ever heard of Tom Shadyac? If you haven't you probably will soon enough.  He was the director who launched the career of Jim Carey - "I made him famous by having him talk out of his ass" -  Tom has been quoted saying numerous times. Well, things have changed for Tom. His latest movie is a documentary called 'I Am' and it's coming out this week. I haven't seen the film yet - living in Breckenridge I don't often get the opportunity to see small independents like this until they come out on iTunes, (I literally waited four months to see "Waiting for Superman") but this is one I might just leave my perfect bubble in the mountains and take a trek down to Denver for.

As I said, Tom was a pretty famous director, and as rich and successful as he was, he still felt his life was not complete. Something important was missing, and that thing made him feel depressed and unhappy most of the time.  Well, as it turns out Tom had an accident that almost killed him, and that accident made him see his life from a different perspective. His journey turned into 'I Am'.

I've done a lot of research on Tom and his story and I've walked away a changed person. Two things stand out to me, two things that make me think a little differently about life these days. The first is very simple, Do something you love, or everyday you will die just a little bit. Wow! Think about that. And then think about doing something you don't love every day of your life. Think about what that can do to you.

Now, I'll use a story from my life to put this into perspective for you. I love my son. I love him more than anything in the world and I'd do anything for him so that he grows up healthy and happy and whole. So, for years, I worked and traveled and did something I did not love, or even like, to do - BUT - I did it for Nathan and he benefited in ways that helped him get the goal I had for him. At a certain point though, it stopped being about making him healthy and happy, and it turned into buying him things so he could have that big huge party just like the kid down the street did the year before. That's when I started to get unhappy in my life. That's when I started to see something wrong with everything. I remembered about that same time I needed to travel to Virgin Gorda for a client and I had to stay at one of the best resorts on the planet. I went to a place people dream about, but all I could do was find something wrong with it.

That's about the time I started making changes in my life. Do you see?

Giving up the company I built was easy for me. Leaving Chicago wasn't difficult either since I went to someplace I love to be every day of my life (regardless of all the snow). I gave it all up to do something I loved. Hmm, interesting. But I didn't know that's what I did until other things started falling into place. So, I got it. I understand. Anyway, that's just a little correlation for you to see Tom's concept a bit more clearly.

So I have a question for you. What do you love to do? Are you doing it? If not, what happens when you think about it and then you know you are not doing it? Do you feel a tug of longing in the pit of your stomach that seems to tear at your soul? Do you have to stop thinking about that thing you long to do because it hurts too much and deep down inside you know it's wrong that you're not doing it. Why aren't you doing it? What's stopping you? Are you afraid others will laugh? Are you afraid you will fail? Well, here's a thought - life is short. Tomorrow your world could change. You could wake up and realize that everything is different, that some one you love is gone and you'll never see them again. Or, you could find that suddenly, you are incapable of doing the one thing you always wanted to do, the thing you could have done yesterday. If only ...

Can you imagine living with those regrets?  I can't.

So, I'll tell you what I did, I started doing the one thing I've always wanted to do. The big dream. In April of 2009 I started writing my first novel and I'm proud to say I've completed it. Now, I'm finishing my second.  I've got about seven other story plots sitting in a file on my computer ... this should keep me going for a couple of years. Am I published? Nope. Do I want to be? Hell, yes. Am I doing this just because I want to be published? No, I'm doing it because it's something I love. I cannot stop writing.

What's your story?

Oh yeah, remember I told you there was a second part of Tom's perspective that I'm intrigued with? Another of his theories that makes me think differently - (and by the way - Tom has many insightful issue, these are just the two that I've gravitated towards - this all might change after I see the movie) - IS that everything in our universe is connected. We all ARE. See? I Am, but we all are.  Doesn't make sense yet? Okay, think about this - how can I live my life here without being concerned about what is happening to the children in Africa? Or the polar ice caps? Or the polar bears who are quickly becoming extinct? Or to the little boy in town who doesn't seem to have warm enough clothes?

What happens to them, affects me.

If you get the chance, go see 'I Am'. I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments. I'd love to know if your life changed - even just a little bit.

Thanks for listening to my thoughts.
Andrea

Some links to help you along:

http://iamthedoc.com/toms-profile/

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001723/

http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Tom-Shadyac-From-Millionaire-to-Mobile-Home

If you're interested in following my blog, I'd be honored. I'll continue to keep you updated on my journey to becoming a published author - sometimes I'll even share teasers of my novels. I'll continue to write about interesting things I love to share!

Goats, Moose and Foxes ... Oh My

Crazy stuff last week. Friends from Naperville visited for a few days. It was a great time. The weather didn't cooperate, but we made it work. A little rain didn't stop us from a night on Mt. Baldy watching the sun set below the Peaks of the Ten Mile Range. Home. Life is truly good when you get to see this in your life time.

Miraculously the rain and cold weather stopped on the day we set aside to hike the first 14'ner of the year. Who ever said 'Plan your hike and Hike your plan' knew what they were talking about. The night before the hike we all agreed to tackle Mt. Torreys, the morning of I changed my mind and decided to hit Greys. Bad idea, good story.

It started out well, we were running a little late, but that's not odd for me. It all started getting strange once we arrived. I changed the plan because I started thinking about the summit at Torreys, it's known for it's true peak, something that is sure to cause me a little vertigo - not good at 14K feet. So I looked in the guide and noticed that even though the hike up Grays was a little longer, the term "gentle slope" drew me and kept me there.

The first 1000 feet there was no gentle slope - I'd say moderate to be generous but it was leaning towards difficult. So we huffed and we puffed all the way to the treeline where we came across an old miner's cabin that looked as if it saw the turn of the century - the one before the most recent one.

The guide books clearly states - "the trail will be obvious to the mountain's ridge line." We looked - all three of us did - and we looked but there was no obvious trail. Somehow we missed it - all three of us did - so we started to traverse the mountain.

I proudly thought of how I was accomplishing this very difficult task as I hiked over vegitation, climbed over steep skree fields and finally reached the ridge line. The sight before us was breath-taking, the trail was now obvious and a relief.

Our friend Mark was about a 50 feet behind us when we saw the first goat. A beautiful white mountain goat at 13,300 feet was not rare, but it was exciting. Marcus and I stood there looking at it, I pulled out my camera and yelled to Mark to hurry before it ran away.

As Mark double speeded it up the ridge, I yelled, "Mark, there's a mountain goat, actually there's two. No, there's a whole herd." That's when I realized we were in trouble.

Most of the time goats don't instill fear. Most of the time. But we were standing on a steep ridge line 13K feet in the air. 10 feet behind us was a steep drop off of loose rocks and small boulders (skree). To make matters worse the kids started showing up - Nannies became more protective. When all was said and done I'd guess we were staring down about 15-20 goats with very pointy horns.

The odd thing was they didn't move ... unless we did. The three of us stood there, contemplating our options ... go up the mountain or go down. Easy right. Wrong. Every time we took a step they did. Not good.

We had our dogs with us - Kal just lay down, we believe he was being one with nature. Maggie surprised us. She must have known what she was up against because she got low to the ground and watched the goats every move. Scary.


After 15 minutes, the leader turned his back on us. We high-tailed it down to what we thought was safety and took a seat. Minutes later we ate our lunch and joked about the experience. The whole time keeping our eyes on the herd. Just as I was about to take a bite of our sandwich a flash of white caught my attention - somehow the goats had surrounded us again. We never heard a thing. Fear caused us to react faster than we knew it was possible. Down the ridge line we went - past the skree, past the piles of goat crap - 1000 feet down ... fast.

And then ... there was no trail. Seriously. There was no trail. There never was. So we had to climb down the mountain the same way we came up. Slowly and carefully - without a trail.

We made it though! It took about 3 hours longer and we never summitted. But some things are just not worth going for.

The next night we sat in our yard roasting marshmallows talking about the experience when we realized we had company. A beautiful orange fox had joined us and he wasn't leaving. No pictures though - too dark.

But the next day i got to see something I've been wanting to see since I first stepped on Colorado Soil. A moose. Yep, a moose. Two actually. Just playing in some grassy marsh by the side of the road. I'll never forget it.