Yellow Bloomers

Hello there!

Whether you’re just passing through, or looking for a comfortable online group in which to share your writing journey, you’ve come to the right place! The Insecure Writer’s Support Group offers resources, tips, timely news, how-to’s, and don’t do’s – all the support we writers can use to make the most of our craft.

We meet on the 1^st Wednesday of every month. Feel free to browse around and mingle. As in the words of IWSG founder and “Cassa Series,” author Alex Cavanaugh, “Your words may be the encouragement someone else needs” Join us!

This month’s gracious co-hosts are   Jacqui Murray, Lisa Buie-Collard, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, and Shannon Lawrence!

We’ve had an extraordinary amount of rain over the last several months, so much so that our city has now declared it unnecessary to continue filling our historically-dry riverbed with treated water. Rumors of the return of near-extinct fish and wildlife notwithstanding, there are reports of never before documented species beaching on the banks to bask beneath the branches of what looks for all the world like summer foliage. We may not sport the bright green clovers, but we’ve got the yellow bloomers, alright. These hardy flowering shrubs in brilliant golden splendor prove beyond a doubt that no, it’s not THE dreaded virus, the sneezing fits will pass. It’s merely March in the desert. March already!

It’s not only March into Literacy and Paws to Read Month, but we’re also smack in the middle of National Words Matter Week, and posting on none other than National Grammar Day! Don’t nobody panic ;-)

Today is also Discover What Your Name Means Day. As a kid, I pretty much judged what my name meant at any given moment by the tone in which it was spoken. Were they requesting my company or demanding my presence for a missing cookie inquisition?  This is probably why I learned to love the written word. The writer chooses the words that set the tone. Pretty empowering, huh?  Some of us even manage to do it artfully. I’m still working on that ;-)

One of my favorite things about March is the celebration of St. Patrick, the non-Irish guy who reportedly brought Christianity to Ireland. Rumor has it St. Patrick also drove out all the snakes, though according to Mental Floss and Popular Science, snakes can’t survive on islands. Harder still to grasp is the fact that up until the 1970s all the pubs were closed in observance of St. Patrick’s Day. My all-time favorite tales about March are the legendary miniature gold-collecting cobblers called Leprechauns. I’m fascinated by the mythical sprites and thoroughly enjoy the folklore, including one story where a farmer caught a Leprechaun who then had to disclose where he’d buried his pot of gold. The farmer tied a red ribbon around a tree to mark the spot and went to get a shovel. Upon his return, he was astonished to find red ribbons tied around every tree in the forest. My kind of shenanigans!

So, in answer to this month’s IWSG Optional Question:  “Other than the obvious holiday traditions, have you ever included any personal or family traditions in your stories?”  Absolutely!  I've got a developing series for children starring a Leprechaun in search of new adventures and in need of cooler duds, better tricks, and the answer to one burning question when he finds himself far from the verdant forests of Emerald Isle, and way out of place in the western desert town of Sunburnt.

Trivia Question:  What book idea did Irishman Hugh Beaver originate?

Happy Writing!

Let's Not Try...

Happy New Year!

Have you put away the holiday decorations yet? Around here, there’s always at least one thing that gets forgotten in the clean-up that ends up spending the entire year by its lonesome self on a shelf inside the coat closet. This year, there were two items overlooked by Mr. Fastidious (he was in charge this year, and much more thorough than I am). First, I noticed my neighbor’s door wreath as I looked through the circle of my own. Then, I pondered how long both wreaths might remain on display as I savored a piece of chocolate I’d chosen from a wicker Santa bowl, still on my dining room table. Not bad, I’d say, considering the number of remnants we’re likely to find around the yard after an Easter Egg Hunt.

Honestly, I’m not a whip-cracker.  See, I’ve been relegated to the proverbial ‘observation deck’ since mid-December when I discovered coffee doesn’t exactly enable me to leap tall buildings, as evidenced that fateful morning I tripped over a measly step stool and broke my shoulder. They should have named me Grace. Nevertheless, this new and thankfully temporary vantage point has afforded an extraordinary perspective on holiday celebrations.

Did you tear up the town or block out the sound of New Year celebrations? I don’t think I’ve stayed up until midnight since Y2K. We were, however, awakened not long after the Old Pueblo’s first annual “Taco Drop” this year by one of our dogs barking at her own reflection in a window through which fireworks would have no doubt bedazzled her a couple of hours earlier.

Most years, I look forward to local and national recaps of the preceding year as they invariably jog some potent memory wherein the best creative juices flow.  Curiously, there seems an apparent reluctance or ambivalence in recall, for very few sources deem last year at all notable,  focusing instead on a decade of years already reviewed after each one ended. I, for one, was paying attention.

For instance, something made an historic landing on the far side of the moon (Hint: it wasn’t Pink Floyd).  A single infamous summer made headlines for the 50^th time. A few refreshing new trends have emerged in the discarding of live/cut Christmas trees. One is the placement of them, devoid of tinsel, lights, and ornaments, of course, in lakes and waterways, providing shelter for young marine life. The other, an original form of repurposing by a veteran and true American Sunbeam, (and of special interest to me of late - ha!) is the creation of handcrafted canes and walking sticks.

I didn’t get around to making plans for the New Year before I was sidelined (so to speak), but I have a list of writing projects waiting patiently in the wings for my most anxious return. How about you? Did you make any resolutions you’d be willing to shake on?

Throughout history, handshakes generally acknowledged mutual agreement to a promise or a deal or perhaps greeting a new friend. Shakespeare apparently had yet another reason in mind when he wrote (Iliad) in reference to the settlement of a conflict “Let’s not try to kill each other” Clever placement of words, wouldn’t you say?

Happy Writing!

The Tiger and The Wind

Welcome, all! You’re just in time for the monthly (1^st Wednesday) on-line gathering of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, where you’ll find helpful tips, handy resources, the latest trends in publishing, and a comfortable place for hundreds of writers – just like you and I – to share our writing journeys!

Feel free to meander and mingle. Our gracious co-hosts this month are:

Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Mary Aalgaard, Madeline Mora-Summonte, and Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor!

If you’ve ever found yourself stuck in a writing rut, or in need of the perfect timesaving writing tool, this month’s IWSG Newsletter offers invaluable insight and excellent tips for both!

For member news and clever and witty movie reviews, our founder, Alex Cavanaugh, has it all!  

Happy October! It’s National Name Your Car Day! 

Have you ever named a vehicle? I once had a Mini Van that I named Tony, as in the tiger you could put in your tank along those endless summer road-trips. Tony’s previous owners had evidently been on a road adventure when they limped him into our parking lot one exceedingly hot summer day. The knocking rod sounded ominous at best. When we handed the harried owners an estimate, they handed us the title and walked away. It wasn’t hard to understand their frustration, but they left behind a mystery I’ve pondered ever since.

Under the passenger seat was a dusty unaddressed postcard from Boston. The only words on the back were “The wind” That’s it. No greeting, no punctuation. An unfinished thought on a card never sent. But why?

And whatever happened to Postcards?

An idea likely arising from the illustrated (picture) envelopes of the 1850s, the Postcard didn’t exactly dive into the U.S. Mail stream until Congress passed an act in 1861 allowing privately printed cards, which eliminated the need for an envelope, to be sent by mail at the cost of a penny each. It was John P. Charlton, a Philadelphia printer who copyrighted the very first American postcard in December of that year. Not quite ten years later, Charlton’s business associate began reissuing Charlton’s cards under his own name; Hyman Lipman. Meanwhile, in 1872 the government began producing its own “postcards” for a penny and raised the cost for non-governmental cards to two cents each.

Nevertheless, thirty years and numerous acts and measures later came the “Golden Age of Postcards”; the vast popularity of which led quite naturally to the “Real Photo” era facilitated by the Kodak “Postcard Camera.”

And just when interest began to wane in sending as well as printing the card-shaped carriers of abbreviated messages from afar, a new printing process was devised using a higher rag content, and the Linen Card was born. The linen cards achieved such worldwide popularity they remained in circulation long after the advent of the colorful and enthusiastically accepted Photochrome card.

Union Oil Company began selling the cards; depicting realistic images, in their western service stations in 1939 and while sales remain steady, it is attributed more to nostalgia than for the purpose of brief communications.

Have you ever sent or received a postcard? I wish I had, though brevity is not my strong point ; - )  In many ways I couldn’t do without today’s technology, in other ways I lament the loss of the personal connection, the genuine warmth that comes across in a hand-written note – even if my letters often do exceed the limits of a short story ; - )

On the subject of Short Stories, a Portmanteau (or, Collection) called The Haunted House was first published in 1859 for the weekly periodical “All the Year Round” It was conducted by Charles Dickens; who wrote three of the eight stories compiled in the collection. Could this have been the first-ever Anthology?

Happy Writing!

Missed Callings

Welcome, all! You’re just in time for the monthly (1^st Wednesday) on-line gathering of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, where you’ll find helpful tips, handy resources, the latest trends in publishing, and a comfortable place for hundreds of writers – just like you and I – to  share our writing journeys! 

Feel free to meander and mingle. Our gracious co-hosts this month are:

Renee Scattergood, Sadira Stone, Jacqui Murray, Tamara Narayan, and LG Keltner!

For member news and often funny movie reviews, our founder, Alex Cavanaugh has it all!  

  

In fact, if not for his thoughtful review, I might not have watched SHAZAM during our first annual 4^th of July Movie Night in the Woods! There were giggles and snickers all around, and judging by the satisfied grins, the special recipe S’Mores were the perfect addition.

Then, it was back to the old summer grind; work for most, joyous play for others, and then there was me, coming to the realization that some callings are better off missed. For instance, thinking at age 4 that I would one day be a school teacher. Granted, the odds are stacked against success during summer break when cellphones and video games are much more appealing. On the bright side, I am a formidable Hall Monitor ;-)

On an even brighter side, I’ve amassed over 8500 words (various projects) and read two books. I’ve missed only one submission deadline, and am looking confidently forward to a few that loom in the near future! 

August 7 question: Has your writing ever taken you by surprise? For example, a positive belated response to a submission you’d forgotten about or an ending you never saw coming? Oh, yes! I love sweet surprises. Tortilla Bandits comes to mind. Unintended endings are as much fun as unplanned beginnings ;-)

But, enough about me. Has your summer been relaxing? Inspiring? How so?

Happy Writing!

 P.S. My computer crashed a week ago. I can't yet upload things like pics and IWSG badges!? sigh.

Moon Shadowed

Welcome Readers and fellow Writers, to the April 2019 online meeting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Founded by author Alex Cavanaugh and comprised of writing members just like you (and me), featuring writing tips, resources, articles, contests, and IWSG swag! See what we’re all talking about here and join us as we share our writing journeys.

*We meet on the first Wednesday of every month – join us and enjoy!

Visit our gracious Co-hosts, and let them know you’re here:  J.H. Moncrieff, Natalie Aguirre, Patsy Collins, and Chemist Ken!

April is National Poetry Month! 

Did you know the oldest American picture book is still in print? That’s right, and it’s all about cats!  While there are probably millions of newer books in circulation, the point is that good old fashioned print books still beat out E-books every time at story time. As I recall, the turning of a page was as exciting as what might be on the next – before the age of Kindle; which, by the way, is also a term for a group of kittens by the same cat mom ;-)

The optional IWSG question of the month is: “If you could use a wish to help you write one scene/chapter of your book, which one would it be?”  My wish would be to interview a hypnotist, and I think that’s just what I’ll do – thanks for asking!

Best wishes to all who’ve signed up for the 10^th annual April A to Z Challenge! Having participated in a few, I can honestly say it is one of the most exhilarating (as well as rewarding), and all around fun writing exercises, I’ve ever experienced. In fact, I’d planned to sign-up for this year’s challenge, even bragged about it months in advance, before an old antagonist appeared with other plans.

 

See, for over half my life I’ve been followed by a Moonshadow (my way of making light of an often dark situation). In reality, it’s called Epilepsy, which is normally kept in check with medication. If you’ve ever tried to run under water you can understand why (for this challenge, anyway) my participation will consist of reading as many posts as time allows between clarity, work, and pharmaceutically induced inertia ;-) There are still 3 more days to sign up! 

Just so ya know, my theme for this year’s challenge would have been Unique Destinations such as:

C is for…Conshelf and Coober Pedy

Happy Writing, Everyone!

Do you have a favorite poem? Have you written a poem you’d like to share? What is the most unique destination you’ve ever had?