Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)




Tue, Nov 30 2010

When life gets busy, the busy get bustling

I'm pressed for time right now, so the blog posts might appear infrequently, like rural train whistles heralding life on some parallel track.

Meanwhile, visit Deb's Monthly Review for festivals and other fun. I've just uploaded the December 2010 issue.

The week thus far has been a crazy mix of shopping for a gift exchange, volunteer work, professional and personal writing, calorie avoidance, calorie acceptance, exercise, making silk flower arrangements, escaped prisoners a little too close to a friend's workplace, trying to navigate Facebook and shopping for fake reindeer antlers for a skit. Tomorrow we'll add court (for jury duty) to the mix. Then it's cookie baking, research for more writing and trying to find time to vacuum the carpet. How on earth do people ever get bored? Life is full of everything if you give it half a chance.

posted at: 21:49 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry



Fri, Nov 26 2010

Thanksgiving, unplugged

Thanksgiving week is always a mixed bag for most of us. We juggle household tasks, travel, work schedules, food preparation and other details in order to get the most use out of a few days available for visiting and sharing. Then we try to factor in things like family members who are ill or who have recently passed away. And sometimes we have the tension of being in the same room with people with whom we've had conflicts in the past. People who own businesses are conscious all week long of the weight of Black Friday. Movies premiere. Ski slopes open. In-laws sometimes vie for precious time with offspring who now have offspring of their own and are trying to please everyone with equal time on the holiday. Churches schedule big Thanksiving production numbers for choir members and preachers are expected to deliver sermons on giving thanks that don't bore long-time members of the congregation and yet don't offend visiting cousins from some other denomination. Let's throw in college football games, nervous pets meeting new people, flight delays due to blizzards, road trip delays due to blizzards, power outages halfway through turkey roasting and the dog stealing and eating the appetizers off the coffee table and then passing very ripe gas throughout the rest of the day's festivities. Is it any wonder we're unable to concentrate on giving thanks except for the seventeen-or-so seconds just before the passing of the mashed potatoes and gravy?

What I think I've decided is that it's all okay. We don't have to have a picture-perfect holiday in order to enjoy ourselves. Part of the experience is the realization that we're human and that we're sad, funny, stubborn, moody, forgetful, argumentative, lonely, too-loud, dyspeptic, sarcastic, shy, fearful and maybe even a little crazy at times. And we have a Creator who accepts us anyway. If that's not something to be thankful for this season, and to pass on to one another with love, I don't know what it. So, maybe you'll understand what I mean when I tell you that I hope you hear someone's old stories one-too-many-times this week or that you have someone in the family who is blessed with morning sickness this week or that you set a picture of someone at the table in the place where he or she used to sit. Part of the joy and the miracle is that we get through it all again and again and we remember it with sadness and joy, with anger and with laughter. And we're learning about the way God invites us us all to His table, no matter how wacky a human family we are.

posted at: 14:34 | category: /Religious and Spiritual | link to this entry



Mon, Nov 22 2010

CALSTAR

A few days ago we traveled to a meeting at a Grange hall in a nearby county. As we were driving into the parking lot we saw an ambulance coming from the other direction. The area is somewhat rural, with twisty roads and lots of tree-covered hills. One of our companions waved us off to a smaller parking lot on one end of the building and we saw a man heading up the driveway to place a flare nearby. We looked up at the other end of the building to see an emergency vehicle and a helicopter in the parking lot. And we were told that a second helicopter was on the way. An accident on a busy highway resulted in multiple injuries and air transport was needed to get the people to a hospital in a timely manner.

The parking lot at this particular Grange building is perfectly situated for such emergencies, though the roads leading to it are tricky. It's a flat, open area, somewhat elevated above the hills and trees, with plenty of room for a helicopter's rotors. Both accident victims were transferred from separate ambulances into the two choppers and taken for treatment. The pilot and other crew members and the ground crews assisting were all top-notch in their coordination of efforts. I should also mention that we had stormy weather and wind in the area that day, so any air maneuvers were especially tricky. The people participating were professional in every detail and all went well under difficult circumstances. I want to give a shout-out to CALSTAR for its rescue work. These folks are very worthy of your notice and support.

posted at: 20:04 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry



Mon, Nov 15 2010

Light

This is the time of year when I start wishing we didn't live right beneath a street light. While it's nice to have a safety feature so close, it becomes a detriment during the holiday season. We enjoy putting Christmas lights up outdoors. the best place for Christms lights to strut their stuff is in a dark space, not one lighted by a lot of other ambient light. We've kidded about calling and asking them to shut the light down until January, but that wouldn't be very practical or fair to the rest of the neighborhood.

One of the other nearby street lights on a curvy road commonly shuts itself down when a badly-aimed car light shines on it in the middle of the night. I suppose its sensor mistakenly perceives that the sun has suddenly risen and that its light is no longer needed. After a few minutes the light flickers a few times and turns itself back on. This sometimes happens several times in one night.

It doesn't take much light to change a dark corner by quite a bit. And darkness has no way to be aware of whether light is from a bright bulb or a supernova. Those of us looking on from the side have a different perspective and can easily see what the light source is.

At first this whole topic seems trite. But the spiritual lessons one could draw from such things leads me wondering why we don't notice the interplay of darkness and light a lot more often.



posted at: 21:49 | category: /Religious and Spiritual | link to this entry



Thu, Nov 11 2010

Everything isn't for sale, but if the only tool you carry around is a hammer...

I've been having a little social media crisis the last few days. Well, crisis is probably too strong a word. It's been more of a realization. Writing is often a rather solitary process and I find myself wanting to connect with other writers. But I think what often happens is that there is a tendency for some folks to think we're supposed to talk about writing and about the process of writing, when what I actually want is to connect with writers. The writing is part of who we are, so an in-depth discussion about the mechanics of writing can easily turn into one of those conversations that people have where they compoare aches and pains. I can chronicle the aches and pains of verb conjugation and outlining by myself. That isn't what I'm after when I used social media to talk to writers. I'm seeking like-minded people who are comrades who will discuss and connect on all the other levels besides word mechanics.

And then there's the problem of spam and those individuals who use social media only in the interest of selling us some tooth whitening magic or hypnotizing us with their secret version of marketing mojo. Many of them do nothing except broadcast one ad after another, turning social media into one big lie. If the people who just want to have conversations get fed up and move on it will be a real shame. I like to think writers can resist that sort of depravity. But spam is the reason I haven't turned on comments on this blog. So, we'll see. We'll see.

posted at: 21:20 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry



Mon, Nov 08 2010

Belay that order.

I wrote most of a blog post and then deleted it. I was right in the middle of it, paused to finish some exercise-via-housecleaning, then went back to the post and read it as so much bunk. Don't misunderstand. It was good information. But it didn't ring true in my own experience, so why would I endorse something for readers that hadn't been truly put into practice by me? Never be afraid to take an eraser or a delete key to your writing. Most of what we've said isn't that wonderful or irreplaceable. (Just ask an editor.) Sometimes we simply need to get over ourselves and write something else. So I did.

posted at: 16:20 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry



Wed, Nov 03 2010

Fiction, holiday-style

It's hard to miss all the holiday-related activites and merchandise this time of year. It seems to begin with Halloween and then suddenly we're bumping up against Thanksgiving and all the rest of the end-of-the-year buzz. I've always been a little uncomfortable putting a lot of holiday talk into fiction. It's great fun to have it in a story, but I'm always concerned it will limit the publising possibilities. I must say though that a part of me wants to just cut loose at some point and write a madcap Christmas comedy.

posted at: 19:16 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry



Mon, Nov 01 2010

No, no NaNoWriMo

I'm a little envious of everyone involved in NaNoWriMo, but I knew better than to heap that process on top of everything else on my plate. I do wish all of you much success as you develop your novels. By now you're steeped it all.
And if you're another writer who's not doing NaNoWriMo, take courage. We can still get plenty of writing done, on our own time, in our own way. (I'm telling myself that a lot latelly.)

posted at: 20:28 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry



Quote Of The Moment
You must therefore love me, myself, and not my circumstances, if we are to be real friends.
--Marcus Tullius Cicero
Categories
Arts and Entertainment
Food
Health and Fitness
Miscellaneous
Playing
Politics
Religious and Spiritual
Science
Writing Life
Some of the Blogs I Like
Adrian's Science Fiction Starter
Angelahoy.com
angelweave
annecentral
Big Stupid Tommy
Blog Catalog
Christina Waters
Detectives Beyond Borders
Faith in Fiction
The Fire Ant Gazette
Jay Michael Rivera
Keystone Military News
Orange Crate Art
PI Buzz
Rabid Librarian's Ravings in the Wind
San Diego Soliloquies
TED Blog
Blog Resources and Blog Tools
The Ageless Project
Blogarama
BlogPulse
BlogShares
BlogSweet
Listed in LS Blogs
Kmax
The Blog Herald
Listed on Blogwise
Ping-o-Matic!
Some of my other web pages
Deb's Monthly Review
Stories
Deb's Writer Cam

Writer Links
Writers' Resources
Hatch's Plot Bank
Instant Muse Story Starter
The Memes List
General Store
Stetson Hats
Levi Strauss & Co.
Jaxonbilt Hat Co.
River Junction Trade Co.
Head 'N Home
Archives
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
Hang Hat Here
Write Lightning button       RSS         email Deb

Follow me on Twitter


Stealin' copy is as bad as horse-thievin'
and cattle rustlin'! Lightning may strike
such varmints when they least expect it!