Samhain Publishing Ltd. Weblog

Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

If you’ve been writing for a while, you’ve probably heard this question: Where do you get your ideas?

I was thinking about it this morning while reading the msnbc.com news feed. Each post is one sentence long. Some examples from today:

· Two people who’d moved into a northern New Jersey townhouse a day earlier have died in a fire that started in their kitchen and spread upstairs.

· Thieves staged a Hollywood-style heist at a pharmaceutical warehouse over the weekend and made off with about $70 million in antidepressants and other prescription drugs, authorities said Tuesday.

· The retirement nest egg of an entire generation is stashed away in a small town: $2.5 trillion in IOUs from the federal government, payable to the Social Security Administration.

I got to thinking—that sounds like a list of novel ideas.

Also, I’m sure you’re on Twitter, right? Each post is limited to 140 characters. Some tweets I’ve seen recently:

· Well how about that. My moon is in the seventh house. Wonder if Jupiter is aligning with Mars…
· I love my chicken salad! It’s pretty boring though compared to the stuff they sell around here.
· I didn’t have money either; my stipend & research grant went to my trip to Taiwan & a laptop

With a little imagination, there’s novel fodder there, too.

Ever notice signs? My third Nano novel was inspired by a small sign in my doctor’s office: Please Bring All of Your Medications With You.

Oh, and the headlines on msn’s homepage (I’m sure the same types of things are on yahoo and others’ homepages):

· Injured dog limps into emergency room
· Shakespeare meets Lebowski
· She invited folks to whip her
· Mom & daughter reunite after 50 years

Short and to the point—just the hook, ma’am. The one about the thieves and the pharmaceuticals sounded interesting, and I jotted down a note. I saw a tweet a couple of weeks ago I was absolutely convinced was novel material. I wrote the story, but it only ended up being short story material. Ah well. But the point is this: an idea will grab you—quick and dirty, that’s the ticket.

www.readmoore.com

From a meager 8 to 150,000

I think I read somewhere that Chris Baty started National Novel Writing Month with 8 people…maybe it was 7. Anyway, that was 11 years ago. This year, almost 150,000 people are writing novels in November.

I don’t know about you, but I think that’s just awesome. Not because it’s going to turn out some fantastic literature, although I guess it could. I love it because art for art’s sake is FUN. It’s like kindergarten all over again, and no messy fingerpainting is ever rejected. It’s all “art”! It’ll end up on the refrigerator! Woot!

If you’re a writer, you know the thrill of a new project, the excitement of that first idea and the big opening. Of course, things get tough pretty quick, but the cool thing about nano is the set-up: writing is how you win. You just write. Doesn’t have to be good. Just has to be words. I like that kind of low expectation! LOL

So, I’m working on my nano novel…don’t have a title yet. I did do a plot outline, though. 30 plot points, one for each day. I’m on plot point 4 so far, even though it’s day 5. Up to 8000+ words.

Hey, it’s not too late to dive in. www.nanowrimo.org I convinced a couple of people to try it, and they are having the time of their lives. If you’re looking for a little harmless, wild fun, take a ride with me on the nano train.

See you for edits in December.

Moira Reid
www.readmoore.com

The Top 10 Reasons Being Sick in the Summer could be a Good Thing

I caught a cold about ten days ago that turned into some kind of upper respiratory infection. I’ve been feeling like ass on a cracker all this time, then today, a buddy of mine told me I should write about being sick in the summertime. I got to thinking about it—there are some good things about being sick in the summer.

The Top 10 Reasons Being Sick in the Summer could be a Good Thing:

10. Sickness gets you days off from work.
9. Sickness gets you the sleep you needed but felt guilty for taking when there was so much work to do.
8. Sickness with fever convinces your Mom to stop by with chicken soup and other homemade remedies that are much tastier than condiments, the only semblances of food remaining in the fridge.
7. Having people say “Bless you” every few minutes because you’re sneezing your head off has got to pay off one day in the “great hereafter.”
6. Sickness allows you complete freedom to say “no” to everybody you want to.
5. Sickness lets you watch a West Wing day-long marathon without guilt.
4. Sickness allows you to keep those “hugging people” at arm’s length.
3. Sickness gets you a LOT of sympathy.
2. Sounding like you have gravel in your throat when you speak can be sexy.

And the number 1 reason being sick in the summer is good:

1. Having your sister tell you that you’re just a drama queen and can turn a simple cold into Bubonic Plague reminds me that it will end.

Let's Hear a Book

I know you love to read, or you wouldn’t be here, but remember what it was like to have someone read to you—someone with the perfect voice telling a story just for you?

Enter books on tape—I’m a huge fan. I drive alone two hours every day for the day job so I have plenty of time to listen to something. Books on tape (or CD actually since my car doesn’t have a tape deck) is my entertainment of choice—except on Disco Fridays when I listen to the radio. KC and the Sunshine Band just never gets old. :-)

I get the books from a library I pass by twice a day. Pick one up on a Friday and have it done within a couple of weeks or so (depending on the book), then turn it back in and get another one. Free mental vacation that makes the time fly by. (You don’t KNOW how many times I’ve sat in the car parked in my driveway during a big scene!)

I listened to over 50 books last year alone—some of them a couple of times. Envy by Sandra Brown is one of my favorites followed closely by another of her books, Chill Factor. I also loved Hillbilly Gothic by Adrienne Martini and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. The last two are books I probably would have never picked up if they hadn’t just happened to be on the shelf when I ran in to grab something.

Oh, and Spin by Robert Charles Wilson was fantastic—read by the fabulous Scott Brick. (I’ll post another day on how I’ve fallen in love with the readers of these novels.) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a classic as good as it ever was. All the Shadow books by Orson Scott Card—really love Bean. Matter of fact, I finally got the Bible read that way—had to buy it, the library didn’t have it, but I did finally “read” the whole thing a couple of years ago.

If you’ve never tried it, stop by the library sometime and pick one up. It’s not fattening, it’s free and it’s the cheapest mental vacation around—except for lotto tickets.

Moira Reid
www.readmoore.com

Finally someone asks for advice...but what advice do *I* have?

An old high school friend of mine found me the other day on Facebook. I have some of my books listed there, and he said, “I’ve always wanted to write. What advice can you give me?”

It’s not often people ask me for advice. Often, I want to GIVE advice, but nobody wants to hear it. :-) So, I clicked reply, ready and willing to dispense great wisdom.

And sat there.

Top Ten Things I Learned from My Nano Experience

For the uninitiated, nano is National Novel Writing Month where you write a 50,000 word novel during the 30 days of November. www.nanowrimo.org

I did my first nano in 2002 after a buddy of mine told me about it. This will be my 7th nano…I’ve won it 6 times and had 2 of the stories published and one is being considered by an agent as we speak. (I didn’t quite make it one year, although I was close. Ran out of time when my husband’s grandmother was put in the hospital unexpectedly one year. I spent the entire night of the 29th in her hospital room typing away, but still couldn’t get it done.)

I wanted to tell you what I’ve learned over the years doing the nano.

Crazy Stuff Going On

First of all, I’d like to say “hang in there” to the folks in my old hometown of Houston, Texas. I used to live there back in the late 80’s and early 90’s, and the one thing I remember when it rained out there…the city floods with regular rain, not even hurricane-type rain. I’ve been watching the weather today online, and it is bad. Buddies of mine still live out there, and I’m keeping good thoughts for everyone in the path. For great live coverage go to: HoustonWeather