HELP YOUR CHILD WRITE LIKE A 'PRO.'

                   'LET'S  WRITE!' STARTS  1st. WEDNESDAY IN JAN.2012.

TOPICS:  Help your Child Write Like a 'Pro."
                  My Writing Prompts to help you out of your 'rut.'
                  Words of Wisdom- Writing Hints and Articles.

SEE POSTING BELOW.
              

DO THE 'WRITE' THING--WEEKLY WEDNESDAY WRITING WORKSHOP.

   LET'S WRITE!

 Starting the 1st Wednesday in Jan 2012, I will post one or more of the following: FREE.
  
  "Words of Wisdom"--Ideas on how to make your writing stronger and more professional.
 "Marie's Writing Prompts"--Writing prompts I've developed to help you out of your writing rut and into
  the  sunshine of creativity.
"How You Can Help Your Child Become a Better Writer"--Easy do suggestions that will help your child's school writing shine.

Click on "Let's Write" Tag.(Avail. 1st Wed. in Jan.2012).
Click on "About Me" Tag (To view my experience/credentials).

Debut novel, "Marcel's Gift" release date Feb.2012.

Find me on twitter.com/mariecolligan
email--mariecolligan@gmail.com
                                                
                               

Hurry Up and Wait...Waiting for Marcel's Gift, that is...

We've waited for Godot,
Waited to Exhale,
Waited for the Good Ship Lollipop,
and now we're waiting for MARCEL'S GIFT.

 I've finished correcting the galleys...mostly eliminating the word "WAS" over a thousand times. Yes, I said thousand, folks. You do the math...275 pages with was appearing at least 5 times per page. I've got it down to 265 times, but now I'm was-zy.

Thank goodness the Holidays are coming; I should be pre-occupied with shopping, wrapping, baking and watching "The Miracle on 34th Street" for the umpteenth time that the February release date won't seem so far away.

Soon as my publisher puts it on Amazon for pre-release orders, I'll send out the alert.

A Time to Recall Thanksgiving Traditions Italian Style.

     It's amazing what you don't forget when it comes to the Holidays. After so many years of enjoying the Thanksgiving Day with family and friends, I find it is not the immediate joys surfacing at the present family dinner, but the ones form the past...those backed by tradition, by family members long gone, by stories told and retold until we could speak them from memory.
     Everyone who has ever participated in a Thanksgiving dinner would be surpised to see what is prepared at an Italian Thanksgiving meal. Now, if the aroma of turkey roasting and pies cooling aren't enough to get your saliva glands oozing, try this:
                                                 Thanksgiving Italian Style.
Start/antipasto--salamis, cheese, olives, roasted peppers pepperoni, artichoke hearts shining in
                          100% virgin  Italian olive oil. Crusty bread and individual dishes of 100% Italian
                           olive oil for dunking. And plenty of cross conversation.
Soup/zuppa--the traditional Italian Wedding soup. Not too much conversation. hard to slurp and talk
                          at the same time.
Pasta-- usually la sagna or stuffed manicotti, attended by a phalanx of meatballs, sausage and                           brochiole ( a stuffed, rolled beef cutlet cooked in the Italian gravy, sliced and
                          drizzled with 100% Italian olive oil).
Salad/ensalata--a plain green salad dressed with red vinegar and  100% Italian olive oil, ( served mid-
                          way through the meal as a digestive).
Turkey--Traditional stuffed turkey, rubbed with 100%  Italian olive oil before roasting.
Vegetables--sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, creamed string beans, and cauliflower
                        dripping with a rich cheese sauce.
Dessert--Italian pastries whose name I can pronounce but can not spell. Apple and pumpkin pies,
              and Italian cookies called "Knots."
Coffee--Espresso served with twists of lemon rind and sugar cubes and regular served with (no, I'm  
              not going to say 100% Italian olive oil). Regular coffee was served with cream and sugar
              or black.
 After coffeee--assorted nuts, fresh fruit, figs and dates (sugared and plain).
Last--Conversation, stories new and repeats...especially liked the war stroies told by my
              uncles.
Wines:
A dry, white, pinot g rigio first with antipasto.
A hearty chianti served with pasta and gravy meats.
Either served with the turkey according to individual tastes.
Dessert wines, sauterns or ports.

Now, if you are wondering how long it took us to consume this feast. No less than 6 or 7 hours. We'd start at 1pm and finish around 8pm. Slow and easy. Every course digesting making room for the next.

All this food was served on several dinner sets And the least amount of guests you'd invite was 16; anything less was considered a paltry affair.And just think, we had no dishwashers.

The following day none of your clothes fit around your waist.And you didn't want to see an antipasto or a turkey rubbed in 100% Italian olive oil until Easter.



















either

In case you are wondering. . . this meal took hours to eat. We'd usually start about 1pm and finish
             well afater 8pm.

OCCUPY! LYNCHBURG

           The civil protests of the past few weeks, OCCUPY! WALL STREET, has given me pause to reflect on what my contribution should be regarding this national event.
           As a senior citizen, whose town has not initiated an "OCCUPY!" event, I decided to become an activist in my old age and speak out. And, who better to speak to the issue but one of the minorities that not only Wall Street and Corporate America has thrown under the bus, but our own representatives in Congress.
           I decided it was time to put support behind the people who are standing for justice, for equality, for the American dream--which for many citizens has become a nightmare.
           If your community isn't involved  in "OCCUPY!" then it is time to act individually.
           Choose to do the right thing--albeit a small thing--collectively we will be heard.
            Email, phone, write your senators and representatives in Washington and let them know that America is saying, "enough is enough."           
           Their email addresses can be accessed on-line. Phone and office addresses are in the phone book.
           Let's act as bravely as the men who risked treason in framing our Declaration of Independence and honor them and our current heroes "OCCUPYING" small towns and cities across America. LET'S SPEAK OUT!
          

A TIME FOR CARTWHEELS ???

     I just had a conversation with a writer in my critique group regarding our reactions when we received contracts for our debut novels. Apparently, we had under-reacted.

     Culled from her conversations with yet other published writers, we were supposed to do cartwheels, jump up and down or scream--all de rigueur for the newly initiated.

     While cartwheels may be suitable for writers under the age of 30, for us "seniors," even jumping up and down may be a bit too much on the physical side. That leaves screaming as our last option.

     My initial reaction, a scream, was more the type you see in cartoons, "EEEK!" Then I lapsed into the surreal realization  this had really happened to me.--sans cartwheels.

MY MUSINGS ON THE HAMPTON ROADS WRITERS' CONFERENCE

        Congrats! to the organizers of the Hampton Roads Writers' Conference I attended this past week in Virginia Beach, Va.  The HRW surely must be  filled with magicians as everything was done with what appeared to me (an attendee) as sleight-of- hand precision.
       The daily keynote speakers, NY Times Best Selling Author, Michael Palmer,  and Agent Marisa Corvisiero, respectively, were outstanding.
       Chuck Sambuchino of Writers' Digest Books and editor of the Guide to  Literary Agents gave us guidance and suggestions in a "pitch" session that went beyond cursory.
       The one-on-one pitch sessions, the 15 minute manuscript evaluation, the 10- line reading of your work and the one page reading evaluated and commented on by the prestigious panel was enlightening.
       I came away from the conference with a surreal feeling of confidence as each agent and author found my work--in the words of Michael Palmer--"quality writing."
      I made lots of new writing friends in the Hampton Roads area and have already been contacted by some of them who want to keep in touch. 
     This is one conference that will definitely be pencilled in on my calendar for next year.

COMING SOON! "MARCEL'S GIFT"

          Yes," MARCEL'S GIFT," my debut novel, will be available soon at eBook retail venues. Projected date is February 2012. Lots of things to do before its release date: editing, proofreading, cover design, auhor photo, marketing plan etc. etc. My super efficient publisher has already designed the cover and it is an eye catcher. I love it.
           I'll keep you up to date as things progress.

IN THE SHADOW OF VAN GOGH

          Did I ever tell you I once stood next to Vincent van Gogh when I visited France? At least I think I did. Maybe not. Perhaps it was just his ghost. Nevertheless, I found the image so compelling I had to include it in my novel, "MARCEL'S GIFT.".
         
            While sightseeing in the sunny town of Arles in the south of France (where van Gogh painted and spent much of his miserable life) I came to a clearing between a stand of chestnut trees where an arthritic, old artist-- bent over his canvas and easel--painted the colorful, foral valley beyond.
        
          He wore a light blue shirt under a dark blue or black ( I couldn't tell which) moth ravaged jacket. His navy blue pants were paint spattered and he wore a tattered straw hat that had several broken straws poking through the edge of its rim leaving jagged shadow-lines on his face.
         
          When he saw me approaching, he smiled an almost toothless, yellowed, tobacco stained smile, but the vibrancy of his clear, grey-blue eyes diverted my attention from the one thing that betrayed his age--his weather beaten, leathery face. I imagined he must have been a seaman in his earlier years. Who knows?
        
         I held up my camera and with charade motions indicated I wanted to take a photo. He stood to pose next to his oil painting. To please him I snapped one picture. Then, I motioned with my hand for him to sit and continue his painting. I took more photos when he was fully absorbed in his work and checked the images in my digital camera.
       
        I could have sworn I was looking at the artist, Vincent van Gogh. However, three things were missing: van Gogh's red hair, his mutilated ear, and one of his unfinished masterpieces on the old artist's easel. 
 Au revoir, mon ami.

TIME TO CELEBRATE

     On Friday 9/9/11, I found an email from a publisher that indicated they were forwarding a contract to me for the publication of my first novel, "Marcel's Gift." It will be published as an ebook so all you Nook, Kindle and iPad owners will have access to it as soon as Amazon.com gets it from the publishing house. (Estimate 30 days). Details will follow.
      As a writer, I'm usually not at a loss for words, but ask me, Am I "Happy?" of course; Do I feel I'm in a "Surreal" world?  indeed; "Thankful?"--you bet!

A RELATIVE COINCIDENCE

           What do you think the odds are for 2 first-cousins seeing their works published and sent to market the same week?
            My award winning short story, "No Trespassing!" (1st. Place in Writers' Journal "Write to Win!Contest") was just published in the Sept/Oct issue of the magazine; the same week that my cousin, Anthony Cirone, had his book "The Great American Symphony--A Look behind-the-scenes- of its Artistry, Passion and Heartache" leave the publisher's house and head to retail establishments and Amazon.com. (title of book to follow). Writing must be in the genes.

TO THAT, OR NOT TO THAT...THAT IS THE QUESTION.

          Since I joined a local Lynchburg critique group two years ago,  our leader has made a point of pounding a few golden tid-bits into us to help improve our writing.   One of these tid-bits concerns the word "THAT."
         I never gave much thought to the word that. I used it casually in my writing--perhaps a little too often. For me, it was such a good word for emphasis or specificity as in "I want that one!"
        But on the other sideof the coin of good writing, there lurked the "bad" that that had no business weakening my sentences as in these samples: "Give me the flashllight so that I an see where I'm going." Or, "She was surprised that he was not there."
         If you remove the that words in each sample sentaence above, you'll see that the sentences become tighter and cetainly more professional.
        I actually never noticed that I used so many thats. They were simply words that spilled from my stream of consciousness and that hid in plain sight among the "good" necessary words on the page.
        In our group, we argued and complained that a particular that our leader suggested be deleted was indeed very necessary."It emphasizes the meaning!" or "It highlights the author's intent!" etc.etc. were some of our points about overusing the word that and soon I was truly treating "that" as a 4-letter word (which, of course, it is.).       
        Now, whenever I finish a page, I go to FIND in the MicroWord Tool Bar and type in "that" in the FIND WHAT space. All my "thats"come up highlighted. All I need to do  is cull the unnecessary thats from my page with a tap on the Delete key
        Try this on something you've already written or use my overuse of the word in his posting to get my point.
       You'll see an immediate improvement of your word flow, tighter sentence structure and a cleaner manuscript, query or synopsis that you can send out in the submission process.
        Have fun deleting  the unnecessary thats in this posting. It's worth the effort.
        And, for now, that's all I have to say about "that."

USE OLD SONG LYRICS TO HELP YOU WRITE ROMANTIC DIALOGUE

       While some writers listen to soft romantic music playing in the background for inspiration while writing romantic dialogue, I prefer listening to the lyrics of love songs from the 1940s.
      The words--especially those of Oscar Hammerstein ("Some Enchanted Evening") and Irving Berlin ("Always")--carry me to a special mental place where I translate their beautiful thoughts into beautiful words for my stories.
     Try inserting well-known lyrics into your romantic dialogue. Then, when you've completed the scene, go back in and substitute the songwriters' lyrics with words of your own. Paraphrase!
      Almost immediately, you'll see how the poetic lyrics from those 1940 love songs have influenced and improved your word choices. Try it. Your romantic dialogue will sing off the pages.

Through the Fiction Glass

         

     Fiction is a mirror we hold up to the world that reflects all of Earth’s nuanced drama.

     It takes only the reader’s imagination to replicate the sharp-eyed images provided by the author— the passions, the tensions, the emotions— and indulge, no, luxuriate! in these joyful capsules of life.

     Writers achieve richness for their characters while satisfying voyeuristic curiosity. Writers provide the pantry from which ebook readers re-supply their space-time continuum called Nook, Kindle or iPad—congruent portals to the Universe.

     Others, the purists, are content to caress their paper and hard back books fingering the vellum, smelling the ink, holding them close like soft newborns.

     We turn pages—each a fragmentary reflected piece of drama—where words become heroes or heroines, villains or benefactors, saints or sinners. Where words define good and evil, strength and vulnerability, love and hate. Where words provide exotic worlds into which the mundane or the intellectually curious may escape.

     “Where’s my mirror?”