Thoughts on Current Events and Other Stuff

Well, I don't know what Lucida Grande font is, but I'll give it a whirl (if it shows up, that is).

Yeah, I know... It's been a while since my last post. A lot of things have happened since early November, when I posted last.

I've been concerned with this huge tidal wave that hit every coast in South Asia, affecting countries like India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and many others. It reminds me of a vivid dream that I published as a story on Writing.com some time back. I won't go into it here, not enough time, but let's just say it had to do with children from many different countries fleeing from disaster and rising flood waters. The Tsunami that hit on the day after Christmas is being interpreted in many different ways - Nature culling men, a sign from God that we need to straighten our act up, global warming (though I don't know how global warming would cause earthquakes), and just a plain old natural occurrence that just happened to kill over 120,000 people. I'm going with the last one. The earth will do its thing, regardless of whether Man is here or not. Funny how people always try to read 'meaning' into disaster.

I've joined a new writing group, too. It's just a discussion group, not a crit group, and even though I'm just trying to spark conversation as I usually do, I know I'm already aggravating a few regular old-timers there. They prefer the status quo - everybody writing a little something from time to time, but no real in-depth discussion of writing issues. I'm rubbing their noses in it and some of the older writing queens in there don't like being told that they just might be wrong on the advice that they've been giving to the newbies. But that's just me. I have learned a lot in the past couple of years about writing, and I'm only trying to share what I've found out. The PUBLISHED writers in the group all wholeheartedly agree with everything I've said. I bent a few noses out of shape, but that's about all. I will probably always be a pariah, because I can't ever keep my mouth shut and behave. But then again, women who keep their mouth shut very seldom ever get recognized. I think I should consider myself the "Accidental Troll." I'm coming off as a message board troll, even though that's not my intention at all.

Actually, the only forum where I get any respect is on the UFO forum, a place I've been going lately to gather material for a novel. That IS a subject that I know a good deal about, and I've been putting my two cents in. Some like it, some don't, but that's life. I also rejoined Fictionaddiction.net under a new name and leaving my gender unspoken, hoping to start off on a different foot than I did before. That particular forum is very clicquey, and you have to tread carefully or else you'll piss them off and no one will talk to you. I'm not a butt-kisser, though, and sooner or later I'll speak my mind again, making more enemies. I want to talk about writing and maybe get a little inspiration or encouragement, because lately I've had very little of either. I wanted to write a novel about ghost-hunting and EVP's, but then the movie 'White Noise' is coming out, so that topic will soon be over done. I can't win.

Oh, well.

I want to begin another novel and see it through. I like "Rose and the Dandelion," but I'll never be able to write it the way I really want to. I may just do it anyway, just to get it out of my face. I've come to the conclusion that until I finish that particular novel, I won't be able to write anything else. It needs some revamping, though. There are parts that make no logical sense that I need to work out. I've also been thinking about working on my memoirs, too. I have a good start on it, and I've gotten good reviews on it, so far. I know I could never publish that book though, until Mom passes away. It does make her look like a bad guy in the beginning. I want to work it out so that by the end, it shows how Mom and I finally mended fences and how I was able to (more or less) get back on my feet mentally. I know there are people out there who've had a much worse childhood than I did, so my story isn't unique. I've also been thinking about novelizing it, with a little disclaimer in the beginning about how some events described are based on real occurrences. I want to write a horror novel - one that no one else has ever thought of and even with 'White Noise' out there, my angle is still intact. I keep trying to work 'Shadow People' into it, mainly because I find them scary as all hell. They're hard to make scary in writing, though. Compared to all the crap that's out there in movieland and what Stephen King wrote, there's not much else that's really scary anymore.

In my new writing group we've been discussing Opening Lines, and what separates the good from the bad. The posts on it have been interesting to say the least, with people finally jumping into the conversation. I've been struggling with opening lines for the longest time, and after going through all of my recent writings, I couldn't find a single 'good' one to post to the group site. I ended up writing one out of thin air and was told that though it was good, it wasn't strong. It helps me grow as a writer when I hear things like that. It makes me strive for better writing. I can take criticism a lot better than I used to.

Well, all that being said, I think I'll work on R&D for a little while.

- Jillian