2018 A - Z Challenge - M

M   Things We Appreciate

I could live on Milkshakes. In fact, I did for a while that last year of high school. Strawberry was my favorite; chocolate was good too. Shakes were just the perfect thing for hunger abatement in between classes and after-school jobs where I also enjoyed Making Money.

Keeping busy was one thing the Sinagua people had no trouble with, as evidenced by the 600-year old rugged high-rise suites their daring builders etched into limestone cliff faces high above the valley below.  Montezuma Castle, as it is called (though no relation to the Aztec Emperor, who hadn’t yet been born), is probably the most well- preserved cliff dwellings in North America, but access to the actual ruins was deemed too unstable in 1951. The National Park operates a Visitor’s Center within plain view of the castle, which affords excellent opportunities for photographs.

Near the Arizona-Utah border lies a high-plains version of our own star of the Silver Screen. Monument Valley in all its ruddy-red glory sports panoramic views of towering buttes and spires that have appeared in numerous media outlets, including films ranging from Stagecoach (John Wayne) to Back To The Future II; fundamentally shaping America’s earliest impression of the American southwest. Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is located on the Navajo nation and visitors are welcome for a nominal fee.

Isn’t there just something about the scent of Maple Syrup that makes you want a pancake? Some folks drizzle it on other things as well, like bacon, ice cream, salads and roasted vegetables. What do you put syrup on?

When I’m anxiously waiting for that first clap of thunder during summer Monsoon, reading a good Mystery helps the time pass. Cranberry Mimosas at a wedding shower have the same effect ;-)

 

The only things more treasurable than the experiences we have are the Memories we keep, and as my grandson brought to mind when he insisted I add Music (of course!) to the list, Motherhood has been one of the very best!

Happy M Day!

Any thoughts? Can you add to the list of things we appreciate that begin with the letter M?

2018 A - Z Challenge - J

J     Things We Appreciate

It was 1890 when coin-operated Music Boxes and Player Pianos were exceeded by a retro-fitted Edison Classic M Electric Phonograph called the Jukebox. This concept was improved upon several times over the years and by the 1940s Jukeboxes were an important source of income for record publishers, and accordingly, received the newest recordings first. Song-popularity counters installed within these units provided a further advantage in deciding which songs to keep or replace. These wildly popular devices delivered music on demand – without commercials – well into the 70s and could be found in frequented establishments ranging from restaurants to video arcades. Question: Have you ever seen one in a Laundromat?

Jazz Music – Known as the “King of Ragtime,” Scott Joplin, during his brief career, composed over 40 original ragtime pieces, the most popular of which; “Maple Leaf Rag,” became ragtime’s first and most influential hit song. It has appeared in the soundtracks of hundreds of films, cartoons, commercials and video games. As it was listed on the White Star Line songbook, it may even have played on the ill-fated voyage of the Titanic.  In November of 1970, Joshua Rifkin released a recording of Joplin’s work that was nominated for two Grammys and effectively generated the Scott Joplin Revival.  In 1976 Joplin was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize.  

     

The first known use of the name Jack-O-Lantern was in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Twice Told Tales in which hiding the ‘Great Carbuncle’ in your cloak might make you look like one. Whether you believe in Irish folklore such as Stingy Jack or entertain notions of ghostly orbs over influential places, cutting up and mucking out a pumpkin is just great family fun!

 

Junk drawers. I’m pretty sure we all have at least one. I’m absolutely sure most are more organized than mine ;-) But they sure are handy for storing everyday things that you wouldn’t put in your silverware drawer. Or for stashing things you don’t feel like putting in its proper place just yet. And yes, for losing things you forgot you put there. Still and all, Junk Drawers are one of the first places an intrepid Estate shopper will look in search of buried treasures. In fact, I once had to remind a zealous bargain hunter that the drawer itself had to stay with the house!

Any thoughts? Can you add to the list of things we appreciate that begin with the letter J?

Where There are Dreams

Where there are dreams, there is magic! And today it seems to be happening right here, as Audrey Mei graces us with a visit along her Diverse Historical Fiction Blog Tour for her fantastic new novel

Available on Amazon

About the Book:
Revolution rages in 20th-century China, a rusting container ship sails the world for two decades, and a tiny fairy is frustrated in a northern harbor town. “Trixi Pudong and the Greater World” is a family saga with a magical twist, spanning Shanghai’s Golden Age to Hamburg, Germany, 2015. It is a tale of four generations of a Chinese family, torn between their deepest dreams and loyalties.

Check out her awesome trailer:

Say hello to Audrey!

Audrey Mei was born in Oakland, CA, and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area before studying cello and biological psychology/pre-med in Boston (New England Conservatory of Music/Tufts University). Following graduation, she received a Fulbright Grant for graduate studies in cello performance at Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland. Since 2006, Audrey has been dedicated to writing prose and poetry and has been published in Gangway Literary Magazine and Glimmer Train among others, as well as participating for several years in the Berlin English language literary scene.

The Anatomy of Productive Inspiration

Thank you Diedre for hosting me on my blog tour! 

My pleasure, Audrey! I know you've been really busy.

This week, I've posted about why I wrote my novel Trixi Pudong and the Greater World on Lidy Wilks' blog, and on Quanie Miller's blog about the secret to writing a page-turner that moves forward. Today I'm writing about Inspiration, how I use Inspiration as a concrete tool in my writing.

I'm one of those authors that writes backward -- to create something that moves forward. My inspiration comes from knowing where my book ends. And how the chapter ends, and how the paragraph ends.

But how do I find a good point of inspiration to work towards? Well, you know that feeling when you see a movie or read a book and that profound moment comes where you think, "This is great"? 

Like the scene at the end of Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation where Bill Murray jumps out of the taxi in Tokyo to bid one final goodbye to Scarlett Johansson on a busy sidewalk. He whispers something unknown into her ear, but exactly what he says isn't important anymore; the moment is pure intimacy.

Or the scene in Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's film The Lives of Others, where the Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler is wearing surveillance headphones in a drab East Berlin attic, spying on his enemy, but instead hearing a beautiful Beethoven Sonata from the apartment below. The moment is infused with Wiesler's tacit longing to be loved himself.

I try to capture this feeling -- what is it exactly, a feeling of emotional Quality? -- and I try to put together elements that will build this feeling. There's a point where I get obsessed with this inspiration and I can't let go. I start working backwards, filling in the story that sets up and prepares this moment. It's a true meditation and it takes concentration.

I didn't discover this process intentionally. It was more my obsession with powerful emotions that move an audience. But then when I finished the first manuscript for Trixi Pudong, and one of my hardest writing critics (a self-described Asberger personality) responded, "I actually cried a few tears when I got to the part where Trixi [spoiler information]. How did you do that, Ms. Mei?!" 

Then I realized that with enough focus and discipline in adhering to the rules of good writing, the emotional state while we are writing can be transmitted through little black-and-white words on the page.

What is your experience in using Inspiration while you write?