Rules: For each letter you must come up with a topic that begins with the corresponding paragraph.  You must then write a short paragraph about that topic.

(A) Austen -- I know I've said it before, but it bears repeating: some times I feel like I'm in a Jane Austen novel. Sometimes that's a lot of fun. Othertimes, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. Am I Lizzy in this part of the story? Or am I Elinor Dashwood? Maybe I should take up character study, and be able to slip into one character or another based on the situation.

(B) Blondes vs. Brunettes -- What's black and blue and brown, and lying in a ditch? A brunette who told too many blonde jokes. "Blonde" is a state-of-mind, not a hair color. Therefore, "blonde moments" can be experienced by anyone. Watch yourself.

(C) Carrots -- Out of all the many vegetables available for consumption, why do carrots have to be the one that gets chosen for snacking? The texture is wierd, and it doesn't taste very good. How about we suck on lemons, instead?

(D) Drivers -- People really don't watch out for the "other guy" when they drive.  Maybe that's a generational problem. Post-modern society has a tendency to give people a false sense of entitlement. That sense can then translate into "I have the right of way! I know there's a yield sign/stop sign/traffic light, but I'm on my way for a very important reason."

(E) Elephants -- I have nothing against them, personally, but when a person's name can easily be linked with the common name of the species into an unattractive nickname, they're a little hard to love.  I really don't need a name that draws attention to my ungainliness, nor weight. Although the Elephant's remarkable memory is something I wouldn't mind being compared to.  If only...

(F) Fan Fiction -- Fan Fiction is something that is a ton of fun to write. But only if it for ones own personal enjoyment.  Otherwise, I agree with Robin McKinley: besides the legal issues, it's someone else's world, and someone else's people. If they are great writers, they'll create a world that can sustain itself (IE Middle Earth), and the truly great fan fiction writers will be obviously apparent.

(G) Ghana -- This is a small nation in Western Africa. Part of the "Gold Coast" (the name of the British colony in the same location), Ghana takes its name from an ancient kingdom that spread near the Niger River. They were the first African Nation to be granted its independence from the British Empire, becoming their own country in 1957. Since then, their history has been the common one of men who rise up, calling for a change in the current government, only to become a kind of tyrant once they have attained power.  The nation has gone from being a strict communist state, to being a military dictatorship, to being a capitalist democracy.  Currently, they are enjoying a period of stability, even with the contested presidential elections this past December. So far, they haven't fallen apart.

(H) Hamburgers -- A good hamburger, cooked over the grill with select spices, is my favorite dinner food. Put it on a white-bread roll, with cheese, mustard, ketchup, and lettuce, and it is perfect. So tasty.  They are what I've asked for my birthday dinner two (maybe three) years in a row.

(I) Imagination -- What would the world look like if we didn't get to use our imagination? I know I use mine every waking hour of the day, applying it to real world situations, musing about my stories, and other things.  The world would certainly be more boring, and probably a lot more inflexible, since our imagination helps us to see other sides of the picture.

(J) Jennifer -- The English name "Jennifer" is a modern day equivalent to the Welsh name "Gwenafawr", more familiar to you all as "Guenivere". So that means my cousin and my sister's friend are both named after King Arthur's Queen!  I just figured that out yesterday, so the novelty hasn't worn off yet.

(K) King Arthur -- I love his story.  And I already built an "Arthur" in to the history of my fantasy world.  So you know what that means... I get to retell the Arthurian Legend at some point in the future! Wahoo!

(L) Levitation -- Wouldn't this be a great skill to have? To be able to lift objects (and people) into the air with only the power of your mind could be very useful. It would also mean we could learn how to fly. In the Star Wars Galaxy, it's known as Telekinesis, but "levitation" sounds much more magical.

(M) March -- March is a sadly ignored month. Here in New England, it's the end of winter, so it usually is wet, cold, snowy on occasion, windy, and generally not nice when it comes to weather.  But what March represents is something much more exciting: The END of winter, and the beginning of the rest of the year.  Plus, where would we be without Saint Patrick's Day?

(N) Nothingness --

(O) Orlando -- Happy vacation spot in central Florida.  I was last there over 11 years ago. Dad was preaching for a church that met in the RTS buildings. We accompanied him and had a lot of fun with our day trips to Sea World, Disney, the Science Museum, and hanging out with the Wrights. Of course, our family lived outside Orlando for two or three years while Dad was at the seminary. That was where we welcomed two of my five siblings into the world.

(P) PENNSIC -- The Biggest SCA event this side of the Mississippi River. For a week in August, the SCAdians meet on a field in central PA to live out the "modern middle ages", or, the "Middle Ages as they should have been." I love the idea of camping out for one whole week in period costume, with period tents, where everyone else is also in period costume, with period cooking utensils, and period tents, and period dances, and period music, and period foods, and merchants selling period merchandise...

(Q) The Q -- my favorite out of all the villains in Star Trek.  John DeLancie does a wonderful job with the character. Later on, when they tried to include other "Q" into the story (Voyager), it didn't work, and they still needed DeLancie in order to pull it off. He was so arrogant and egostistical, but I suppose, being a vastly superior life form, that's only to be expected.

(R) Roses -- The flower of June, and the one flower I could stare at for hours on end, letting my imagination run free along a number of different paths. I love roses.  I wish New England winters weren't so harsh, and my schedule so busy, so that I could try to cultivate them. My ideal garden definitely has a number of lovely roses, including some trailing ones that I let grow over either the gazebo, or over the long trellis, creating a romantically enclosed space...

(S) Star Wars -- I just had to throw that in there.

(T) Trees (in general) -- I love trees. Not so much that I am a "tree-hugger", but there is something comforting about having a tree near you, its beauty throughout all the seasons, its stability, its shelter... those qualities all make trees something that I dearly love to have about.  When I've traveled to other parts of the country, the thing that I first notice is the trees, or lack thereof.

(U) Umbrellas -- Last winter the AAS gave out umbrellas to their staff members.  Little did the upper management realize how much we would use them.  This past month has seemed like one gigantic rain storm.  Oh, we had a few lovely days here and there, and we did our best to take advantage of them. But on the others, we've pulled out our trusty umbrellas, spread them wide over our heads, and continued to do our tasks as New Englanders always do, regardless of the weather.

(V) Voice -- I read the opening of a book on Stradivarius, where the author mentioned how the violin was king of instruments, and waxed eloquent about the glories of the violin.  I don't really like the violin, though. Out of all the "instruments" that can be played, I prefer the voice above all. The human voice is so dynamic, and so expressive, a good singer can eclipse whatever expressiveness even the best violinist can create. 

(W) Wal-Mart -- I felt like I betrayed my store the other day. I shopped at a different Wal-Mart. It felt so odd to be walking down the aisles, continously jolted by the similarity between the stores.  At the register, the man behind me was complaining it wasn't a real Wal-Mart, because they didn't have all the departments yet. I wanted to turn around and tell him to go shop at the Leicester Wal-Mart.  We're going to lose some of our business once North Oxford turns into a regular Super Center.

(X) X-Games -- why would anyone voluntarily put themselves into a position where bodily harm is not only possible, but likely?  That's why I don't like football, or Pro Bull-riding, or NASCAR, or America's Funniest Videos, but mostly, why I dislike the X-Games.

(Y) Yellow -- As a color, it's okay, but it all depends on the shade.  Softer, paler yellows are preferable to the bright yellows or golds. And usually, I'd pair it with greens, to make it a little easier on the eyes. You don't want to be staring at the sun all day, now, do you?

(Z) Zoroastrainism -- A "religion" in ancient Persia, whose effects can be felt throughout the world even up to today.  There are many ideas similar in concept to some monotheistic ideas. Basically, there is a "good" versus "evil" in the world that was created by a single creator. The struggle between the two will continue until the good ultimately wins, and then time will end. That's a very rough understanding of what this is, and my World Civ I professor would not be happy with that answer.

The End.  I hope you all enjoyed it!

It's been too long since I've done one of these, but I think I should do one for this past week.

Because it was a very good week.

Sunday: I am always thankful for the opportunity to push all my work aside, and just rest. By the time the beginning of a new week rolls around, my brain feels like a shopping cart with three locked wheels. You have to fight with it in order for it to really go anywhere. The Lord's Day is such a day of relaxation. It was a Nursing Home visit, and all of 12 people went.  I stayed back, because it was my turn to play the piano so the regular pianist could take a turn attending. Back home, we watched TV shows, but nothing new, since Renae was still away with the Suprenants. I got to bed at a reasonable hour.

Monday: Worked both jobs.  Got some writing done, because I knew I was meeting with KB (as some of you probably remember). The story suddenly shot out of my mind. It got a little muddy near the end, but on Monday, things were just flowing like sand in a hourglass: steady and smooth. Got the Exam done, and sent off, had a bunch of actual work to do at the college job, and then had more "Prepare for the State Senator's Visit" price tagging to do at Walmart in the evening.

Tuesday: Worked both jobs. Got more writing done. Had a little less going on at the college job, but was still busy. It was the day before the State Senator's Visit, so I had a little more of those last minute "oh, yeah, we need someone to do this, too. Michelle..." jobs at Walmart.

Wednesday: Worked both jobs. Finished the first rough draft of the story. Tweaked it in places, trying to make the beginning flow match the ending flow. Failed, but still got it into a shape I wasn't embarrassed to share with KB. Yes, I know I complained, but I was so excited about the meeting. At Walmart, I did nothing but "Zoning", which was fine, as I appear to be the only person at Walmart who will admit to enjoying that activity.

Thursday: Worked at the college job only. Printed out my story, had Grammie over for dinner since we were all home, ran to Staples, slipped down to Putnam to meet KB.  Even though I got home at a time equivalent to the time I get home from Walmart most nights...it was so worth it. 

Friday: Worked both jobs.  The college office is empty on Fridays, so I had the place nearly to myself. Got a chapter nearly done on my Gilded Age story. But the chapter is from the middle of the story, so I can't rightly show it to anyone until I've worked on some of the earlier chapters that lay out the foundation for the encounters. Walmart was just Zoning, although I closed by myself. The Only Person In Grocery.  Same thing happened on Wednesday. If any of you want to work at the Leicester Walmart, Grocery needs help desperately.

Saturday: Slept in until ~9:00AM. Lovely. Went for an hour's long walk at the Mass Audobon refuge nearest our house. I needed inspiration, for I was struggling with the question "how do a bunch of men armed with bows & arrows, ropes, and human problem-solving skills capture a Gryphon between the size of a large wild cat and small horse, with the strength of a lion and the ability to fly?"  What better place to think than sitting on a rock in the middle of peaceful woods?  I also worked 1-10 at Walmart. Normal Saturday stuff, which means I was stocking shelves as well as doing returns and zoning. Oh, and I read about 20 pages of "Living Sacrifice" while on my lunch break.

And that was my week.  It may not look like much, but it really was a good week.  I wasn't getting too exhausted by Friday, and I was spurred on because I now have a goal for when I need to get some writing finished. Having a deadline is so much better than just trying to make myself find time to write, although that happens fairly frequently, because otherwise my characters get restless, waiting for me to get back to them.

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you in a few!

Michelle

I'm scared. Not a full-blown "I'm scared out of my wits and can't think or move or do anything", but an "I can't control what people think about my stories and I don't know what to do" scared.

I love to write, and I want people to read what I've written, but there's this mental block that my fear of man has placed inside me, murmuring to me, "What if they don't like it. What if they don't understand where I am coming from? What if the story is a complete flop? What if the characters are unrelatable/unbelievable?" I am acutely aware of the fact that I have no control over what people think. Normally, that doesn't bother me. So what if some one thinks I'm odd...I like being slightly abnormal.  But my stories...

All you writers out there will know what I mean. Any one who has given of themselves to a project that is then sent out to the real world will know what I mean.  Even those of you who submitted applications for jobs and colleges will understand.  How will this product be received? And the more effort a person puts into the end product, the more it becomes a piece of themselves, and the more stress there is when he or she finally relinquishes control.

As I mentioned before, I'm meeting with one of my writer friends tonight to swap stories and discuss writing subjects. I managed to finish the short story (all 28 pages of it) that is really a portion of the backstory for another story. The beginning pace is very different from the ending pace. The end stops rather abruptly, and at I found I slipped into "information overload" mode in the climax (isn't a climax the action? How can you be overloading information if you're in action? Well...if both of my main characters are intellectual scholars...), so we'll see what KB has to say. She is one of only two people outside of my family that I would feel comfortable reading my stories.  Or so I thought.

Now I'm getting the jitters.  It's something like the way I feel before I perform. Little flutters in my stomach (could also be hunger pangs, actually, it's about that time...uh, beside the point. Sorry), my thoughts running up and down the story in my mind, looking for ways to quickly improve it in the little time I have before I "submit" it to my reading board. I can think of all kinds of ways to improve it, but not in the spare spare time I have today. Most of the edits involve major changes to accomodate more action, more dialogue, more information overload (although something tells me I should only say what needs to be said for this short story's purpose, not tell all the back story that will also be included in the big story, and in the numerous other stories about this land that are floating around in my head).

"No," I tell myself severely, "Let KB give her fresh perspective on it. You've been too heavily involved in this, especially in the past week. You're even forgetting to capitalize Gryphon at this point. Let it go, and relax. You know KB will tell you what needs to be changed."

So, to get my mind off the tightness in my gut, and the beating of my heart, I need to look at something else. Distraction is a great way to get rid of queasiness. I guess, though, it only postpones the queasiness, or allows it to build in suspense for another few hours. 

My choice of distraction is reading. Unfortunately, RR hasn't posted any new chapters since yesterday, and I haven't ordered my school texts yet. Perhaps I will plot out my next story, one that will actually have fun and be all about the adventure (and contains certain fantasy cliches that are so much fun to write, even if they've been done a thousand times before).

Deep Breath. Run through your Jedi Breathing Exercises (regular breathing exercises made more interesting with the fact that they are used by Corran Horn, or Leia Organa Solo, or Luke Skywalker in the books). And go eat your lunch.