The Midwest is Humid! Who Knew?

Remember last week when I was complaining about the weather in Colorado?  Well this week I am complaining about the humidity in the Midwest.  I stopped for gas in Missouri and thought I was drowning.  The people who live in this area must be semi-aquatic.  I miss my mountains and my altitude.  Most of all, I miss air so dry your shower evaporates before it hits your skin.  That being said, I'm having a blast.

About a month ago I wrote a post about my grandma Austin's house, and how it was my inspiration when  I first started writing.  I was surprised to find it still inspires me, years later, in a whole new way.  I think it has something to do with being a parent, rather than a child.  My values have shifted, my perceptions changed, and that has made a huge impact on what I write and how I write it.  I look at this place and I want it to be the same source of wonder for my kids as it was for me.  I look at my books and I want to preserve the adventure for them, when they're old enough, in a way they'll appreciate.  I guess what I'm trying to say is I write for them now, while before I wrote for me.  It's a humbling realization.

Anyway, I'm on vacation so I'm getting back to it.  I'll leave you with some pictures of my first muse, and my current muse.

First Muse

Across the lake where I played as a kid (and mysteriously avoided both poison ivy and fire ants)

The dock where I've spent the last two days trying to catch a bass

The bridge that crosses the lake

Current Muse(s)

My son having a creative brainstorm

My daughter with wildflowers she picked herself

My husband and son scoping out the fish

My daughter and my grandma

PS:  Happy Father's Day everyone.  Especially to my husband who makes more sacrifices for his family than anyone I know, and my own dad, who continues to patiently teach me new things.  Thanks for helping me change my spark plugs and breaks, Dad.  I think I could swap out break pads and shoes with my eyes closed now.

My Summer Reading Lists

Table of Contents for this post:

Top 5 Books On My Summer Reading List
5 Books I've Already Read That I Recommend
5 Books I Intend To Read With My Kids This Summer
Grown-up Books I Might Read Soon

Top 5...no, 6...no, 7 Books on my Summer Reading List

These first seven are books people have recommended to me. I haven't read them yet, but I thought they looked good. (The links take you to the book's goodreads page.)

A Spy In The House by Y.S. Lee

I don't know much about The Agency, but Karen, whose reading interests are very similar to my own, recommended it, so I'm giving it a shot. Karen recommended Legend too.

Legend by: Marie Lu

The King of Attolia by: Megan Whalen Turner

This is book 3. Book 1 is called The Thief. You can see a love post by Susan here. I don't know if I'm ready to squee! yet, but I am completely enamored with Gen.

Insurgent by: Veronica Roth

This is book 2. Book 1 is called Divergent. I liked it enough to read Insurgent, but it wasn't one of my favorites. However, I know lots of people who thought it was amazing.

The Fault In Our Stars by: John Green

Sarah recommended this one. I've been eyeing it cautiously for a while, half hoping I would forget about it, but I haven't. In fact, I might work up the courage to read it. 

Shadow and Bone by:Leigh Bardugo

I found Shadow and Bone while perusing goodreads. It just came out, but it's a popular title.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by: Laini Taylor

I thought Shadow and Bone and Daughter of Smoke and Bone were the same book for a little while. In my defense, they sound a lot alike, don't they? 

5 Books I Recommend--(Not necessarily my top 5, just the 5 I thought of first. J)

Leviathan by: Scott Westerfield

I listened to Leviathan on audio. It's well done, but then you miss the pictures, which are pretty cool.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by: Rae Carson

(Book 2: The Crown of Embers comes out on September 18!) Love, love, love this book!.

Don't Breathe A Word by: Holly Cupala

This one I recommend with caution. It's disturbing--about the aftermath of an abusive relationship. It contains strong language and very upsetting situations, but it's a powerful story of hope.

Tuesdays At The Castle by: Jessica Day George

I read this book with my kids, and we all sneaked and read ahead. I love Jessica Day George

Vodnik by: Bryce Moore

Vodnik was a lot of fun, and I can't wait to share it with my teenage son.

6 Books I Intend To Read With My Kids This Summer:

Bloomability by: Sharon Creech

We listen to Bloomability on audiobook every summer and it never gets old. LOVE this story, especially on audio. The reader jumps from Japanese to Italian to Brazilian accents with an ease that astounds me. 

***Edited to add: We just started listening to it this morning. We moved a few months back, so we checked the audio tape out from a different library. Apparently there are 2 different versions of this on audio--I'm sure the one I love is the older version. This newer one is fine though. She is just not the one I've been gushing about.

Gone-Away Lake by: ElizabethEnright

Half Magic by Edward Eager

The Phantom Tollbooth by: Norton Juster

I read this book on my own, and then with a couple of classes when I was a teacher, and then with my older two kids. I'm pretty darn sick of it, actually, but it is worth it to read it again just to see the delight on kid's faces when they get the grammar jokes.

Hatchet by:Gary Paulsen

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by:E.L. Konigsburg

Grown-up Books I Might Read Soon: (There probably ought to be more of these...)

North and South by: Elizabeth Gaskell

The Book Thief by: Marcus Zusak

And I know, I know...The Book Thief doesn't really count as a grown-up book. But I thought it did until just now. Drat.

What do you recommend? And what's on your summer reading list?

The Jumble Method

I love lyrical prose. The kind that's almost poetry, the kind that makes you want to stop and savor each word. Two of my favorite writers, Patricia McKillip and Joseph Conrad, have the gift of lyrical prose. Me? Well, I’m working on it, and on constructing prose that’s evocative but not bloated.

As many writers know, it’s easy to get overly attached to your words. But if you can’t get yourself to let go, your prose can become stale. I used to be especially bad about this. I’d shuffle around my favorite phrases, even tweaking the story so that I could still include them.

One method to combat this bad behavior was to create a Word document of unused phrases. I like to imagine it as a box of dusty costume jewelry. When I first encountered these phrases, they seemed to glitter like real jewels. But with time, the luster fades, and only some of those jewels turn out to be worth anything.

 Courtesy of user love Maegan on Flicker through Creative Commons license.

But they’re still pretty, and it takes emotional effort to dig those shiny phrases out of my text. I figured there had to be a better way, so I came up with what I call the jumble method.

The jumble method is pretty much a new thing for me. I think I talked about it a little in a previous post, but it’s turning out to be a great way for me not to get attached to words. Before, when I started a story, I’d always try to plan and plan and then finally write everything out perfectly the first time. But I’d never get it quite right, and problems would pop up in the plot that I hadn’t anticipated. I’d get hung up on those problems, become frustrated, and lose my flow.

The jumble method involves me writing out a scene with no regard for grammar, paragraph structure, sentence structure, or active voice. Bring on the passive voice and the weak verbs! They’ll go away later. I sometimes even give in to my love of description, and pile five or six into a sentence. It’s very freeing.

Here's an example of a jumbled paragraph from one of my WIPs. Viola is being rescued by her granddaughter (Ivy) from a woman possessed by a demon.

 A shouted phrase, and warm energy flows around Viola, temporarily disrupting the stale air and the putrid spell. Ada spasms, jerks forward, and Viola sees Ivy running down the hill toward them, magic growing in her hands as her lips moved. Viola is so stunned that she forgets the danger, maybe doesn't move in when spell hits again, and gray liquid splatters across her face. But then Ivy is there, swabbing at it, Viola says into the shield, Ivy drags her there as the liquid slides up her chest toward her face. Ivy yanks them through and the energy of the shield sweeps through Viola like a wave. Ivy continues to swab, Viola says no, it's okay, look, and they both stare at the outline of a black web as it dissolves on the shield. What is that? That's the shape of a curse, Viola says.

See? A jumble. It makes very little sense, the grammar is nonexistent, and it’s often unclear who’s doing what. But I have no attachment to it, so deleting any of that text won’t bother me in the least. Also, it helps me realize how ridiculous over-adjectivising (like objectivising, maybe? No?) And even though Curse Story is still a work in progress, practicing the jumble method has already helped me to get rid of unnecessary adjectives in my more complete stories.

What do you all think? Has anyone else tried anything like this?

In Which We Have Our Cake and Eat It, Too.

Sometimes, only having Netflix and no TV makes me feel like that kid who always laughs too late at a joke and then everyone stops and looks at him like he's pathetic. You know the one?

Yeah, so, have you heard about that great new show, Cake Boss? (I'm only four or five seasons tardy in discovering it). Don't look at me like that... Really. Don't.

I love the show. Buddy, the 'Cake Boss,' is so funny, and the cakes are outrageous, and at the end of the day, even after all the squabbles and dropped cakes and pies in the face, the family still loves each other. Aahh. It's my new favorite unwind show.

It also reminds me of the time I decided that I really wanted to decorate cakes. I took the basic Wilton cake decorating course at the local Jo-Ann Fabrics, bought far too many tips, bags and gadgetry, succumbed to delusions of grandeur (don't you know, I was nearly as good as Buddy - in my own mind), and generally had a great time.

And then I got the offer. A friend needed a wedding cake for her daughter. Yes, a real honest to goodness wedding cake. There it is, off to the left there. A three tier heart shaped masterpiece. I made all the flowers, did all the piping and stayed up till 4am getting it all right. The next (same?) day I drove to the church and set it up in the reception area - Gorgeous! - and went home to get a well deserved nap. Four hours to reception time.

The phone ringing woke me a couple hours later. It was my husband, and he had that voice, preternaturally calm, and yet still a little choked. He'd stopped by the church for a look-see at my handiwork.

My handiwork had somehow become a three foot long swath of edible destruction strewn across the reception room floor.

I don't know if the cake just toppled on its own, or if someone bumped the table (there were kids in the building). It doesn't really matter, I guess - the result was the same. My husband found a garbage bag and started shoveling. I called the mother of the bride, my voice preternaturally calm, and yet a little choked, and told her what happened. It was under two hours to reception time.

I panicked.

 And panicked some more.

And then I got to work. I called the local supermarket. They were so kind, and let me borrow their plastic cake tiers (it's common for some layers on big cakes to be fakes). I bought two unfrosted rounds from them and a couple bunches of fresh cut flowers. Quickly, I coated everything (except the flowers) with leftover frosting, then hauled it to the church. I sequestered myself in a little room and desperately started cutting flower stems. Through the door I could hear the music playing and the people walking by. The mother of the bride stopped in several times, very kind, very understanding - it made me feel horrible.

There's the new cake there at the right.

I went home and cried. And I never decorated another cake.

It was only years later that a real live professional cake decorator befriended me. Finally I worked up the courage to confide my story to her in hushed, embarrassed tones. And she laughed! She laughed and said, "Now you've been initiated as a real decorator. And you pulled it out in the end, didn't you? You saved the day. Why'd you quit when you'd finally made it?"

Since I started writing again, I've found a lot of parallels between cake decorating and writing:

• If it doesn't turn out right, scrape it off and try again.
• Words, and frosting, can be delicious.
• Sometimes less is more. Too much sparkle, bling, adjective and adverb can hide the simple beauty of a piece. 
• Practice, practice, practice
• There will always be someone with a different, maybe even a better skill set (Buddy, I'm looking at you). Don't sweat it. You'll find your niche.
• Learn, learn, learn: classes, YouTube, books, observation.
• New techniques feel awkward at the start, but lead to more polished, professional results.
• Don't be afraid of sharing your talents at whatever stage you're at.
• Your lifeline is your support system of people who believe in you (and are willing to scrape the cake off the floor) - cherish them.
• Sometimes your creation will end up nothing like you envisioned it - and that's okay.
• When the cake falls or the rejections flood in, and you can still pick yourself up and keep going, then you know you've made it because you have mastered the tenacity it takes to be a professional.

Last week, for the first time in years, I picked up a decorating bag and made cupcakes with my daughter.
If felt wonderful.

The Dreaded Mary Sue

Both Spock and Kirk had the hots for Mary Sue

The term Mary Sue was inspired by Star Trek fan fiction where original female characters were being introduced into the Star Trek universe who were young, beautiful, talented and loved or envied by all.  They were believed to be author inserts, a way for the writer to interact with their beloved series and its characters.

When these stories were shared, other fans of the show hated them.  They didn’t like their favorite Star Trek characters fawning over and being shown up by some annoyingly perfect new character.  Since then, the term has moved to other fan fiction universes and to original fiction.  It now describes any character that appears to be an author insert or one that seems to be loved too much and protected by the author.

How do you know you’ve created a Mary Sue?

There is plenty of vitriol for Mary Sues on every writing board and tests to see if you have indeed created the abomination (like this one and this one and this one). The fear of creating a Mary Sue often keeps aspiring writers up late at night, making them fight their urges to give a character unique or good looks, question if their character should really be the chosen one or a half-breed or exceptionally talented in any way, and clutch their manuscript tightly before handing it over to a beta reader while repeatedly stating that the main character may be a little bit of a Mary Sue.

The thing is that the term Mary Sue has been thrown around so much that it has little meaning.  Some people use it for any character they do not like or any character that is larger than life.  But some stories, like epic fantasies, call for larger than life characters like Aragon, Rand (wheel of time), Harry Potter, etc., all of which have been labeled as Gary Stues (the Mary Sue male counter-part).  They do have many of the characteristics cautioned by the Mary Sue litmus tests, but they also fit the story being told.  

But Mary Sue is a real problem because readers usually dislike her/him.  A real Mary Sue can undermine the story and alienate readers, but it is hard to determine if your character is just larger than life and works in the story or has truly passed into Mary or Gary Suedom.

I don’t think it is the character that is causing the problem in original fiction (fan fiction is another story), but how the other characters and the world treat that character.  Your MC can be the chosen one or a hidden heir or exceptionally gifted in some way as long as every other character doesn’t fawn over him/her or be secretly in love with him/her or be constantly in awe of him/her, and as long as the world where the story takes place doesn’t bend over backwards to accommodate him/her.

How to avoid a Mary Sue

Bella from Twilight is often referred to as a Mary Sue, and I’m not saying that she is, only that I can see why people see her this way.  I’m going to use her as an example because most people have read Twilight or seen the movies or at least have heard about it.  I could use Harry Potter as an example, but honestly, I really don’t see how he fits (other than being the chosen one).  But then I’m a true, devoted Harry Potter fan, and J. K. Rowling can do no wrong.  :)

Bella, as she describes herself, is pale and clumsy, rather shy and socially awkward.  She has little interests and never mentions missing any friends from Phoenix (I’m guessing she didn’t have any).  Honestly she doesn’t sound like a Mary Sue type character at all.  There is little that is special about her, at least initially (that does change). 

WARNING:  massive spoilers.

How the other characters react.

When Bella moves to Forks, the whole town is a buzz about her.  I get it, she’s the sheriff’s daughter and new in town and Forks is really small, but that newness is going to wear off really fast especially when she gives everyone the cold shoulder.  Instead, Bella is asked to some dance by three different guys (none of them are Edward or Jacob).  I know Forks is a small town, and the local boys are excited to have someone new to date, but unless she’s some smoking hot goddess (which she isn’t) or very outgoing and flirtatious (which she’s clearly not) the boys are going to lose interest fast.

But it doesn’t stop there.  All the vampires except Rosalie (who seems jealous of her), love her and accept her into the family.  The werewolf pack easily accepts her too even though she had dated the enemy vampire.  These two powerful supernatural forces join together and risk their lives to protect her.  It really feels like every character in the whole Forks universe seems to revolve around her.

Why is this annoying?  When the world seems to revolve around one person, it makes that person appear selfish, conceited, and self-absorbed even if they aren’t.  It also is unrealistic.  In real life, everyone has their own problems and issues to deal with.  While people care about others, they can’t devote their lives to solving other people’s problems.  In a book when it feels like the supporting characters’ only concern is for the main character (MC), it makes the supporting cast feel shallow and undeveloped  (I’m not saying this happened in Twilight, just that it can happen when the focus is too much on the MC).  When all the characters seem to only care about one character, that character feels like a Mary Sue.

How to avoid this.  I think this is tough because your plot should focus on the main character.  After all, it is his/her story you are telling.  Sub-plots are great, but they need to be connected somehow or they feel distracting.  I’m not for adding scenes just to prove that the MC isn’t the center of everything.  I think this needs to be done more subtly. 

Give the illusion that there is a world beyond the MC, filled with people who don’t know or don’t care about the MC.  For example, if the boys at Forks high school seemed to ignore Bella after the first day and go on with their lives after she clearly so demonstrated she wasn’t interested, it would at least have shown that Bella wasn’t the center of her group of high school friends.  Also secondary characters need their own motivations for helping out the MC.  Everyone can’t just do it because they love her/him.   They all need realistic motives for risking their lives.

A world that accommodates the main character

An important part of every plot is forcing the MC to make some hard decisions.  Bella does make some tough choices throughout the Twilight Saga.  She chooses Edward over Jacob.  She chooses to become a vampire, to carry the half-vampire baby, to get married out of high school, to stay and fight the Volturi.  When she makes these choices they all have serious consequences or risks, but Meyers seems to protect Bella and doesn’t make her suffer any of the long term consequences.  In the end, Bella gets everything she wants without losing anything.

Bella chooses Edward but in the long run, she doesn’t lose or even hurt Jacob because he imprints on her daughter.  Thus, Bella gets to be with Edward, keeps Jacob as her friend and future son-in-law, and no one is really hurt by her choice.

She chooses to carry a half-vampire baby.  The half-vampire baby could be a monster.  The werewolves fear it and want to kill it, and Jacob even breaks away from his pack to protect Bella.  The baby grows too fast and sucks all the life from Bella threatening to take her life.  All of the vampires except Rosalie, who now loves Bella, want Bella to abort the baby.  But everything works out perfectly.  Bella survives and becomes a vampire which was what she wanted anyway.   Jacob imprints on her daughter so the werewolf pack no longer sees the half-vampire baby as a threat and are now willing to protect it.  And all the vampires are just thrilled to have two new members of their family.  There is no fall-out at all about her making this decision.

Bella chooses to become a vampire.  There is a huge lead up to this decision.  In Eclipse, we see what new vampires are like.  Strong, blood thirsty, with no self-control.  Bella is told that if she becomes a vampire, she cannot have children, she will never be able to see Charlie or her mother again, and she will spend a few years blood thirsty and murderous until she learns to control herself.  Also by turning her into a vampire the Cullen clan will null the treaty they have with the werewolves and have to leave Forks forever. It is a big sacrifice, but she is willing to do it to be with Edward. 

Only she doesn’t suffer any of those consequences.  Bella has perfect self-control from day one.  In one day, she manages to control those urges that Jasper still struggles with.  Before becoming a vampire, Edward gets her pregnant, and although she nearly gives her life to have the baby, she still gets her baby.  Since Jacob has imprinted on Bella’s daughter, the werewolves will no longer attack the Cullen clan.  They have kind of joined with each other as one big happy werewolf-vampire family.  And furthermore, Jacob lets her secret slip to Charlie, who is fine with it.  So Bella gets to be a beautiful, graceful vampire without any of the nasty urges to murder.  She gets the gorgeous husband, a baby, and doesn’t have to leave Forks or her father.  I’m guessing at some point in the future, Bella will visit her mother who will be fine with everything as well.  In the end, Bella gets everything she wants. 

I could go on, but this is getting rather lengthy.  The point is that Meyer sets up some hard decisions, and Bella makes them expecting to face the consequences for those choices, but through plotting and world-building, Meyer makes sure everything works out perfectly for Bella.   This makes Bella feel like a Mary Sue.  I’m not saying she should suffer from all of these consequences, it is okay for some things to work out, but she never suffers the consequences of any of her decisions ever, at least not long term. 

Why this is annoying.  In real life, unless you are evil, when you see someone suffering, you feel sympathy towards them.  When you see someone who seems to get whatever they want without any difficulty or sacrifice, you tend to feel envious or annoyed or at least unsympathetic to the person, especially if they whine about how hard their life is.  It is no different for characters in a story.  Characters who never really have to suffer for anything are annoying.

How to avoid this.  Main characters need to make tough choices, but the author cannot protect the characters from every consequence.  Sure it is okay for things to work out once and a while, but if it happens every time, if the character seems to get everything they want without paying any sort of price, some readers will get annoyed and cry out Mary Sue.  

Make your characters suffer the natural consequences of their actions at least some of the time.  Remember, you are not your character’s parent.  :)

So go ahead and make your character special or larger than life or even beautiful, but remember, the story may be theirs, but the world you create and the characters in that world do not revolve around your character.   If you build a world to challenge not to reward your MC and fill that world with characters who have their own problems and goals, I think you will be able to avoid creating the dreaded Mary Sue.

~MaryAnn

Dating

Okay, so for this analogy, pretend I'm a young Brad Pitt. Take a good look at the picture on my right, and imagine the person talking is that guy.

MaryAnn, I think you looked at me just a little too long.

:P

The Dating Analogy

Seriously, MaryAnn. My words are over here. 

When I tell people I'm a writer, the first thing they often ask is "Where do you get ideas?" 

The fact is, idea's are everywhere. Imagine that you are in a bar, ( which apparently is a place where you meet people...I don't know, I'm a Mormon.) or at a party, trying to fall in love. Ideas are like cute girls, and as a writer/ young Brad Pitt, it's my job to pick up any of these girls/ ideas and try to make things work. 

Ideas, like hot girls, can fall into a few categories. Please allow me to label you.

The Girl that is Too Hot For Me.

There are simply story idea's that are out of my league.  Now, I'm a young Brad Pitt of writers...obviously... but still. :) 

Some idea's I'm just not ready for/ would laugh in my face if I attempted to pick them up. I know this, so I don't choose them. No offence, hot idea. Maybe it'd work out, but I'm not gonna waste my time only to be rejected.

The Two Timing Girl

 This has happened to me more than I'd like to admit, but often I start writing an idea, and then I find out that the idea is currently dating another writer. Has this ever happened to you? You start writing a story, only to find out that someone else, often a smarter, more published writer has already climbed that hill. Doesn't work. Heartbreaking, but you got to move on.

 The Bad News Girl Who Won't Let Go

I knew this girl who dated a great guy for a while, and then they broke up, because they knew it wouldn't work out between them. It wasn't anyone's fault, they just weren't compatible. But they wouldn't stop hanging out, and she lost years... YEARS... on a guy she knew wouldn't work for her. 

I've seen this happen to writers too. Sometimes an idea just won't work, nothing wrong with the idea, nothing wrong with the writer, they just aren't compatible. But as the writer focuses on this bad news idea, there isn't room in their head or their schedule for any other idea. Walk away, girl. Walk away.

The I'm Not So Sure Girl

This is the relationship I'm in right now...writing wise. I have this idea. I like it. I like the dynamic between  the girl and they guy, the casual flirting, the history of pain. I like the system of magic. But it hasn't swept me off my feet. 

I keep writing it, asking questions, finding out more, spending time and energy trying to have a relationship with this idea. And you never know... I could get all the way to the end of this story without ever committing.  I guess you could say I'm settling for this idea until a better idea comes along. You could also say I'm a jerk.

I don't care. I'm a young Brad Pitt.

The Love At First Sight Girl

Our eyes meet across a crowded room. This is the one,  I  think. We start talking, and every expression, every second I'm with her is amazing. My heart starts racing. When I'm not with her, I constantly think about her. While I'm working, while I'm making breakfast, while I'm in the shower (...did I just loose my G rating?). A song will come on the radio, and I'll think of the girl. I have to tell everyone I meet about this girl; my mom, my friends, even complete strangers, all need to hear about this perfect beautiful girl. This is the girl I can commit to. 

See, writing a novel is a commitment. But when you can write something you love, it's not work. When the idea is right, writing is like falling in love.

Now, for fun, I'm going to label boys/writers. Super Fun!

The I Won't Ask Anyone Out Guy

You've met him. He's nice. He's not bad looking. He would be a great boyfriend/ husband/ father but he won't ask anyone out. Maybe he's spending too much time at work, or playing video games, but this guy just won't show up at the party. He might make an occasional appearance, click on Word, look around the blank screen, ignore the hot girls, and then go back to playing Zuma. This guy/ writer is wasting his time, and his good looks on video games/Facebook/ Pintrest.

Sad.

The Big Talker

He talks a good game. He tells the girl how he wants to be in a committed relationship, the house, the kids, the publishing contract. But then after a couple of weeks( or chapters) he finds a reason to end things. And then he's back to talking big, about his goals, his dreams... Girls flock to him, but then nothing happens. He could even fall in love. Meet the girl of his dreams, complete a novel to the end, and then never pop the question/ submit a query.

Sad how much I resemble this jerk.

The Best Friend

This is the guy who has it right. He's trying. Honestly he's trying. He's there for the girl. He asks the right questions, submits to the right markets. But all that happens is the big fat rejection. It's scary being this guy. Putting his heart out there so often, waiting for the time it'll click. Soon, he might stop trying. Soon he might give up.

But then, he'll find a girl. Things will click, the right words will fall into place, the story will start making sense, and all of the heartbreak, all of the rejections, will prepare him to treat this girl right. 

Things work out in the end for the best friend, they always do.

You just can't give up.

What other comparisons can you come up with?

One Car, Five People, Twenty States, Two Months

(Or as I like to call it, "Operation: Road Trip")

It's hot here in Colorado, but we keep getting freak rainstorms that quickly flood the highway and turn my backyard into a river.  This past week, we were locked inside two days in a row because of a tornado.  It brought enough hail to cover the roads in a couple inches of ice.  It was cold and stormy and felt like the middle of April instead of the middle of June.  Then the next day it was ninety-one.  So I've decided it's time for a road trip!

(The tornado pictured is not one of the ones that struck us over the last few days.  I just happen to think it's a cool picture!)


The Participants:
My husband, our two children, my best friend.  And me, of course!

The Goal:
To see as many places in the United States as we can squeeze in over the next two months.

The Plan:
We'll drive through Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.  We'll stop to camp in about half the states, and stay at least a week in a few of them.

The Equipment:
Aside from normal camping gear, I don't need much.  My Kindle, my phone and a journal.  I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to bring a few toys to keep the kids entertained on the long trip.

The Sights:
We're hitting up Lincoln's birthplace, Mammoth Caves, Lost River Caves, Olbrich Botanical Gardens, the Mall of America, Mt. Rushmore, Devil's Tower, Old Faithful, the Olympic National Forest (and yes...Forks), Crater Lake, the Golden Gate Bridge, Big Sur, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Four Corners, and finally the Cliff Palace of Mesa Verde.
What's wrong with me?  I blame the tornadoes.  I think they showed up to ruin my summer fun.  No?  Oh, fine.  I blame writing, too.  I am inspired by new people, new events, and (especially) new places.  I set most of my stories in the real world, and I love it when I can describe something from memory, rather than an image I found while scrounging through Google's search results.  (Sorry, Google, I love you!)  It's what drives me to explore a cave by boat, or find castles in Ohio, or hike over fifty-foot rocks to see the beach.  And yes, it's what pushes me to sit in the car for nine hours each day, staring at the road in front of me, wondering when we're going to arrive.  It might sound crazy, but it's an adventure.

I'm sure I'll be posting pictures and talking about how amazingly hot and/or humid it is in the coming weeks.  I'm not used to the humidity, and I'm going to miss my air conditioner, but I think we'll survive.  In the meantime, what kind of summer adventure are you going to have?