Conundrum Update - Words

I am still suffering from conundrumitis. Yep. That's a word. I just made it up. Actually, probably not. I'm sure someone else suffering from conundrumitis has coined the phrase. To combat this condition I have started a children's story that's been in the head for a few years. It's a fun little story about how two squirrels save spring. My kids are going to read it when I'm done. But that got me thinking about words. The Oxford Digital Dictionary has added several words. The big 2013 word is "selfie." Now, I've never made a selfie and really don't plan to do so in the near future, but it got me thinking.

My kids have used words like "derp"  and "squee." I had to ask them what they mean.( Derp is an exclamation when you say something stupid, and squee is another exclamation when one is excited.)
I wanted to make sure it wasn't anything inappropriate. There were a lot of words that had been added I never knew. These are pop culture words and well, I'm not up that much on pop culture. Did you know "twerk" has been around for 20 years, but started getting popular in 2002? Me neither. Then I began to wonder about writers. If we use these pop references in our stories, will that date our stories? I can't speak for other writers, but I tend to hide in my "writey-hole" and write my stories. I'm not all in the face of what's going on outside my own little world. That's probably not good. As a writer I suppose I need to keep up with all that stuff. My main goal is to do what it takes to tell a good story. That is my goal. So I may just throw in a "derp," "squee," or "selfie" and see where the story leads.

I let you know the progress on the fun little squirrel story.

See ya soon.

Conundrum

I like the word conundrum. It just feels fun to say it. Conundrum. Did you know the first time it was used was in 1645? Me neither. Just one of those weird facts that pop up when you look up a word in the dictionary. Contiguous is another fun word to say. That word popped up in 1609. Can you tell I can't sleep? It's 11:30 pm Eastern Standard Time and I have to get kids off to school early in the morning, but in the meantime  I guess we'll go back to conundrum

I have a bit of a conundrum. My friends would probably not think it a conundrum, but I do. What do I write now. I've been pondering that for a bit, and I've been told I should do some free writing. I suppose I could. I could post more to this blog than once a month, but I really like to have something to say and not post just for posting's sake. Maybe I should just peruse my dictionary for some funny words and blog about them. That might be fun. I don't know.

I was going to write the G.W. mysteries, but I think I'm thinking about those to much. Maybe I'm overthinking the whole story and should just sit at my computer and see what comes out. I was trying to plan a bit and sort of create a world, and well, it's just not working for me. Like I said, I'm overthinking a bit. Also, since I wrote the original story for my dad with him as the main character, I'm not sure I'm ready to make all the changes I had planned to make for it to be a young adult novel with the main character a girl. Sometimes it makes me realize how much I miss him. He passed away several years ago.

Then I was going to work on Amy Dodd, and one of my friends said it sounded a lot like Fat Farm. I don't agree since it is a totally different story with a totally different outcome. I can't speak for all writers but I tend to put a piece of myself in my stories, and Amy Dodd is no different. Sometimes I work out feelings that are troubling me through the actions of my characters. I did that in Fat Farm. I was angry and I let it all out.

Amy Dodd is not an angry story. I started it many years ago, and really feel it needs to be updated and finished. This one would be more about bullying and the ramifications of those actions. Do I plan this out or just write by the seat of my pants.

The next set of stories is a bit more intimidating. I wanted to do Bible stories for middle grades. I want it to be Biblical, but creative and entertaining as well. It would be a series of books based on certain stories in the Bible like Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, etc. So I was thinking...what kind of conversations would Adam and Eve have with God. Is the snake one of God's creations, if so, did God give it free will as well? How come it talked. Did the other animals talk as well? If the snake was not from God. how did the snake get into the garden to tempt Eve with the apple. It's a conundrum. See

So much stuff in my head and not knowing where to start.  A conundrum of conundrums. Fun, fun.

I'll let you know what happens.

Back to the Farm

Yep, I'm back on Fat Farm. I finally got it loaded on the Kindle Direct Store, although I know I may have missed the mark on this one. I was fighting with some inner demons when I published this book. Fear being the main one. It's very scary putting your story out there to be judged and found to be wonderful, or found to be lacking. I know that most the people who purchased the book were friends and family, and that is okay. I absolutely love them for it. Now, I'm putting it out there again on Kindle. I don't know what is going to happen. I'm so bad at marketing, but it's nagging me, so I had to go again.

I kept thinking of the world today. It's a scary place. I fear for my children and what it's going to be like when they are grown. This story may be an exaggeration of what could happen, but just think of how things are today. We are lost. It's like we forgot who we are. It's like we forgot to be a grown up and just want everything our way. Fat Farm is an exaggeration of that sense of loss. It's speculates what would happen if we allow others to take care of us instead of us taking care of ourselves. If we allow this to happen, we may not like what we get. Well enough editorializing. Time to get off my soap box. :-)

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Grace and peace be with you.

Lisa

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F0SXGCQ

Building Worlds - Creating Characters

As you  can read I got a new computer - Yay me!!! It has Windows 8 and a few cool bells and whistles that I'm still trying to get used to. But so far I like it. What that means is that it is time to get back to writing. I have been putting it off a bit, (No I'm not addicted to Candy Crush ;-) ), because I'm thinking,  and what I've been thinking about is world building.

I think with this new story, G. W. Sanders,  that I may actually have to do a little world building. I'm not much into world building, but some of my friends are. I know I've said that I "write by the seat of my pants." Which is not necessarily a bad thing, but I'm learning it really depends on the kind of story you want to write. With this story I will be bringing in historical references and I need to make sure they are correct and fit in with my story. There are parts of the story that reference a journal, and although the whole journal will not be in the story, enough of it will that I am going to have to write the journal before I get to far into the story. (Don't you just love run on sentences?) Hence, the world building.

Another thing about this particular story is that I may actually have to do an outline. I have another friend that does that one. I have a story in my head and I usually just write it down. Now I may actually plan pieces of this one. Heaven forbid! My friends and I have had discussions on this before and they may actually get a chuckle from this.

So it begins. My research, my world building, my outlining and character building. It's all going to be an adventure. My adventure is probably going to start at the Kennesaw House on the square in Marietta. The museum has research materials so I can find out how life was in the 19th century. It's also reported to be haunted. Maybe a ghost will show up to add to this little adventure. We will see.

Grace and Peace be with all of you.

My Computer is Dead.

My computer is dead. The mother board is bad. The good news is that I am able to retrieve any data I need. The bad news is my computer is dead. I am once again on my husband's computer. I wish I had enough money to go out and buy a new one, but that is not the case. I need a computer. I feel like I must be an idiot or something because I cannot write on this machine. The thought of trying to compose one of my stories on a machine that is not mine causes some anxiety. The keyboard is different. It's a Mac. Nothing against Macs, but I do prefer my PC.  I know my machine. I worked fine when the keys got stuck. I worked fine with the backspace and the x keys missing. I was able to compose, search, get e-mail and interact with my friends. I can do some of that with this one, but not with the ease of the other When the hubby comes home, he wants his machine, as is his right.

I am surprised on how dependent I have become. I am surprised I just don't take my paper and pen into the kitchen, sit down at the table and write. I used to to do it all the time, but now that I don't have a computer to save it to, I am lost. It is weird and I don't like it. Why don't I buy myself a new computer you ask? Well we all suffer a bit in today's economy. I can't just go out and buy myself a new computer, so I am diligently saving my money and hopefully by my birthday I can buy myself a new present. A shiny new computer. Enough whining for today. :-)

I am off to do stuff, and hopefully work on my new project. A short story of being bold.

The Seven Dreaded Beeps

I turned on my computer last night and got the beeps. Nothing, no screen, no nothing. Just seven beeps in a row. My computer passed out. I'm composing this on my husband's computer. I'm not sure if my computer is just in a coma or if it is really dead. I'm going to take it to the computer doctor to find out for sure. According to all the information I could find the seven deadly beeps means the motherboard is bad.  And that means it's dead. I just want to cry. I live by my computer. I started a new short story for a project and have written about a 1000 words and I can't get to it. ARRRGHHH! AND to top it off, I just bought a new battery and power cord. I just got those in last week. I hope I can send them back, if my computer is indeed dead.

I normally write stories and outlines on paper first because I'm pretty old school, but not this time. This time I composed my little heart out on my laptop. I was pretty pleased at finishing about half of the story. I figured it was going to be about 2000 to 3000 words. And now I can't get to it. Hopefully the data can be retrieved because the problem is not the hard drive. If not, I'll have to try to recreate it. And that's going to be be a bug.

Well, at least the outline for G. W. is on old fashioned paper. Maybe I ought to get out my typewriter. :-)

G.W. Sanders - Harder than I thought

I feel like telling a story should be easy. You have this idea and then you put it down on paper. Yay!! Then you have a friend read it and they say, "that doesn't make sense." And you think, sure it does. Well, to you it does, but maybe not to your reader. That is what I am coming across with this new book. I know what story I want to tell, but it has to make sense in some way, shape, or form. I learned a lot when I had my writing friends read Fat Farm. I believe their comments helped shape the book and made it a better story instead of the angry ramblings of an obese woman. So now I'm using what I have learned in the new G.W. Sanders book.

I would say I'm a "write by the seat of my pants" type of writer. I don't really build worlds, I just write the story. I think with this one I may have to do a little world building just so it makes sense to other people other than just me.

I have done some characterization and realized I'm going to have to be careful or my side-kick/best friend Zoe can take over the story. This makes me realize I need to work on the character of G.W. a little more. I need to go more into who she is, why she is like that and how her past circumstances effect her.

Then there is Justin. He's the character giving me more fits than the others. He's a good kid, but the circumstances surrounding him are what is giving me pause. It's his character that doesn't make sense and it is his character that is the reason to build the world. So instead of just sitting down and telling the story, I have a little more work to do. I guess I had better get to it.

Fat Farm - Self Fulfilling Prophecy

I wrote Fat Farm because I was angry. Angry at the way the obese are treated. Angry at society. Still am. I think I was laughed at in the grocery store on Monday. It was not one of my better days. I don't like being angry. I try not to be angry. All it does is make me eat. Yes, I'm one of those people. I didn't choose alcohol or drugs for my escape. I chose food. And that's what people don't understand. There are usually some deep hurt, or abuse that can lead to overeating. The same things that make people drink and do drugs are the same triggers for some obese people. I'm not going to share my story right now because this is not what this blog is about. To be truthful, I'm still figuring it all out. After hearing the story of the sodas in New York, and reading about it; I felt compelled to write my thoughts

When I was in high school, my history teacher had an exercise where members of class were the founding fathers and we were trying to determine how the country was to be run. When it came to voting for the president or representatives, the class thought it should only be the wealthy, educated people making those decisions. I was very shy, but I spoke up and said, "That's not right. They may be uneducated but that doesn't mean they are stupid."  We are not a stupid people. I think we are tired. I know I'm tired, but I'm not so tired that I'm ready to have the government take care of me.

I read in the New York Times online about the state Supreme Court overturning Mayor Bloomberg's ban on large sodas. He wants to keep restaurants and other places from selling drinks larger than 16 oz. It did not include all drinks just soda.  There were a number of legal reasons that I'm not going to go into, because, well, I'm not a lawyer, but it is a scary thought that someone in power can tell me how much to drink. I would like to think his heart and thoughts are in the right place. The comments on the article varied to yes, punish those making our insurance rates higher to understanding what is slowly happening in our society. I will tell you these thoughts scare me. Think about the consequences.

First soda, then candy. Let's not forget cake or heaven forbid, Starbucks. Wait, we're not allowed to watch this on TV or listen to that kind of music, or worship how we want. We're not allowed to own that car we've been saving our money to buy. You know, we have to send these people away to get "re-educated." They are a drain on our society. They don't think like we do.Your child is fat, take him away -  oh wait. That happened.  

Do I want someone coming in and telling me what to do and what to think? No! But if we aren't careful we are going to allow the powers-that-be to legislate our rights away and the the events in Fat Farm could come to pass.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/12/nyregion/judge-invalidates-bloombergs-soda-ban.html?pagewanted=all


http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Farm-Lisa-Haman/dp/1482343304/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365092829&sr=8-1&keywords=fat+farm+lisa+haman

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/lisa-haman

Fat Farm Revisted

I decided to put Fat Farm back out there in print form. Why? Well, as popular as e-books are, there are people who like to hold the book in their hand. I'm kind of the same way. I'm trying to get used to those e-books, but there's nothing like curling up with a book and feeling the paper as you turn the pages. Although, I may have to go more digital since my eyes and I are having an argument on whether or not they want to see the tiny print or not. It will look better carrying around my Nook than a large print book. :-)

I decided to go with Amazon.com's Create Space, because everyone I know uses Amazon. I use Amazon. It was fairly simple to use and once I got the book proofed, I was ready to go. So now it is available on Amazon. I saw it today and was so excited. Will I sell any more books? I hope so.

I know marketing is the thing I need to work on next and I'm doing this whole thing backwards, but this is research on how the whole things work. We'll see how the next book goes.

Here is the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Farm-Lisa-Haman/dp/1482343304/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360964945&sr=1-2&keywords=fat+farm

G. W. Sanders Private Eye

This is the beginning of a series. I originally wrote a story for my Dad. He was a firefighter who got into private detective work on his off days. He really enjoyed being a private eye, so I wrote a story for him. It was called Peyote For Your Thoughts. It was a cute story, although I don't think I will ever publish it. Dad liked it a lot. I've wanted to do something on a teen level and thought about changing G. W. into a teenager who has adventures. Although I think G. W. will be a girl. I'm still working out the kinks, but be on the lookout for G. W. to show herself.