Tonya’s Writing Cottage

Today is Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day.

I think of my son’s paternal grandfather, a Marine, whom we lost in Vietnam. Even though neither got to know him, my son and his father (a veteran Marine) carry his name. He is remembered at the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. 

I think of my grandfather, who passed away a few years ago, and the time he served our country in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was among the many that stormed the shores of Normandy; he earned a Purple Heart. His brother was in that battle that day, too, and they didn’t know they were there together until years later. Nightmares of that war stayed with my grandfather. [I think it’s because of my grandfather I’ve been intrigued with old war movies, particularly those of World War II. My favorite one is, of course, The Longest Day.]

I think of my uncle, my mom’s brother, who served two tours in Vietnam with the Army. I remember my grandparents' happiness each time we got a letter from him. I remember their joy when he came home and how we all met him at Byrd Airport (now Richmond International Airport). I also remember my mom's younger brother, my beloved uncle we lost several years ago to cancer, who also served during the Vietnam era. Thankfully, he remained stateside at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. I think of my other uncle, my husband’s uncle (Who’s been a longtime friend of my family, long before I’d met my husband! Like I always say: Richmond’s big, but it’s small, folks!) – he also served in Vietnam with the Marines. Both of my uncles still live with the memories of combat.

I also think of my daddy, who served in the Air Force, before I was born. His military service, along with his dedication to his subsequent career as a police officer, helped carry him up the ranks to become one of the first high-ranking black police officers in Richmond.

Today is Memorial Day.

I think of our troops presently overseas. I think of their families. I think of those recently lost and I think of those who are here, back in the states, thankfully with their families and loved ones, yet remaining within the turmoil of the war and striving to move forward.

Today is Memorial Day.

Troops now and then… You have my Respect and unwavering Thank You. You are our heroes. God bless you.

I can’t stop pinning!

Pinterest... OMG, I just can't help myself!

Why in the world did I sign up for this? I'm more than hooked, I'm beyond addicted. I'm just in.

The majority of my boards consist of home decorating ideas. That’s how my page began. For many years, I've been saving pictures of home decorating ideas on my hard drive in a designated folder. I still do. When I decided to create my tumblr page, posting such pictures dedicated to interior design and thoughts of home was a natural for me.

Then, into my life drops Pinterest! A new and easier way to save pictures AND the ability to communicate with other folks about it. In other words, another spectacular, online detour for text and play!

With the "Pin it" button, I seem to save everything I can and I organize them in the most glorious fashion, too! It’s awesome!

In college, I used to save my favorite magazine ads. Some of them I kept in a notebook, others I’d use to decorate my dorm wall. In recent years, as I came across some those old, and even older, ads on ebay, I’d save the page as a reminder to order later to perhaps frame. Well now, I’ve got boards for them too! It’s a ball “meeting" others with like interests… especially fellow book lovers. Most of us seem to be in love with quaint bookstores!

It is exciting to see what folks find interesting of mine, too. I pinned a “St. Elmo's Fire” poster noting my mental comparison to Jules and it’s got the most repins of my images to date. As far as movies go, I didn’t even stop there; I’ve added many references to classic movies. Visit my page!

I just can’t stop pinning!

I am trying to figure out a way to make it work for my writing… gotta make it useful, not just fun, y’know. Well, I have added a board of writing retreats to consider...

Since I'm not a stranger to saving images on my computer, I’m not surprised by my intense attention to this project. This concept just makes it so easy for me. Also, the real fun of it all has been becoming a member of another fun, engaging and creative community.

Do you Pinterest too? Do share!

Lucky7

There’s a new Twitterfest for us writers called #Lucky7. This interesting activity was posted on the Goodreads (Anne Gracie) website: “There’s a new twitter thing going around between writers. When you get tagged, you’re supposed to go to the current manuscript, to page 7 or page 77, count down 7 lines and then post the next 7 lines of your manuscript on your blog. Then tweet about it and tag 7 more writers, including #Lucky7 in the tweet.”

Sounds simple enough... and besides it's making me share some portion of my WIP with the world! Whew.

I want to thank Robyn Leatherman (@RobynLeatherman), author of Summer Rain, for tagging me. Please visit her site to read her #Lucky7 post, "Tag, You're It".

Well, here goes… This is from page 7 of my manuscript, still untitled at the moment. Brent, my main character, and his wife had a phone discussion about his mother coming to convalesce for a few days, after she was wounded in an accident. He was thinking about it here.

“She can’t go to Dad’s and she doesn’t want to go to Julia’s. We have room...” Brent spoke in a low tone, through his teeth.

Another sigh from her. It sounded like Aggravation. Annoyance. He just knew it.

“I didn’t mean...,” Ginger replied slowly, taken aback by Brent’s rare, autocratic tone toward her.

“I know what you mean,” Brent had said, by then calmed down, as he twisted his forefinger within the phone cord…”

This passage happens to represent a key moment of discovery for Brent about his marriage, so I'm thrilled to offer it. I thought I’d be afraid putting it out there like that, but actually, I’m excited!

I’m not gonna tag others today, but I'd love to read your manuscripts and posts, too. So, feel free to tweet me @tonyalit with the #Lucky7 hashtag and the post to your manuscript and I’ll retweet it!

And many, many thanks again, Robyn, for tagging me! This has been fun and I really appreciate your thinking of me!

THIS is why I read

In a most unusual fashion, after a month, I'm still dragging through the current novel I'm reading, William Faulkner's Light in August. The time I'm spending with the work of my own piece and life in general have plucked away moments from my favorite pasttime of reading. I generally read two to three novels per month.

I breezed through The Sound and The Fury and As I Lay Dying, so I realized how frustrated I'd become when I noticed that my bookmark had barely moved in a few weeks. My TBR list has even gotten longer and the book stacks from the library and bookstore have become higher.

My husband - bless his heart, a computer person/techno-geek/reader of non-fiction - has always wondered why I love to read novels so much, even as I write my own. I still gasp at the thought of such a question! (As an English major, bibliophile, and avid reader, I'm entitled.) To him, my time should be solely on reading and writing my piece and, of course, the reading the drafts of my group partners in my writing group. I guess I can understand the wonder, but all I can really say is that it is simply not enough.

We writers are keenly aware that reading is our apprenticeship. I not only look to reading other people's novels to learn the craft, I simply enjoy reading a damn good story.

So recently, I got to a particular passage in the Light in August. Stopped and took a breath. I was mesmerized. A situation, a character description, so plain and ordinary. It could have possibly been said in a few simple words, but it was literally spilled upon the page, gloriously and seemingly effortlessly. Faulkner made me fall in love with the English language again. He was one to work diligently to marry the right words and in this one moment, he reminded me just WHY I read:

She had always tried to be kind to him, from that first December evening twelve years ago. She was waiting on the porch --- a patient, beaten creature without sex demarcation at all save the neat screw of graying hair and the skirt --- when the buggy drove up. It was as though instead of having been subtly slain and corrupted by the ruthless and bigoted man into something beyond his intending and her knowing, she had been hammered stubbornly thinner and thinner like some passive and dully malleable metal, into an attenuation of dumb hopes and frustrated desires not faint and pale as dead ashes.*

I read that passage to my husband shortly after I returned to Earth. In awe, too, all he could muster was "Wow" and has since left that question alone. So I thank you, Mr. Faulkner, through the heavens for appropriately answering it for me.

What keeps you reading? Do share!

*Faulkner, William, Light in August, Vintage International, 1990, pg 165

Stream-of-consciousness method is natural to Me

Here's another post from my earlier blog about my novel process dated August 8, 2011. I'd chosen to bring all of those posts over to Tonya's Writing Cottage, over the past few weeks. This is the last one to come along from there.

It's been good to revisit them. It's actually encouraged me to keep going while I tackle this piece in rewrite and has shown me just how far I've come. Not just with this story, but as a writer too.

Long ago, I discovered how natural the stream-of-consciousness method is to me.

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The Middle of my Novel Stifled Me!

Here's another post from my earlier blog about my novel process dated May 14, 2011. I've chosen to bring all of those posts over to Tonya's Writing Cottage, over the next few days.

With all of my excitement stemming from getting to the climax of my novel in Chapter Eight, I was shocked as the subsequent Chapter Nine eluded me. I was so gung ho in getting there, but it wasn’t going with me. I stared at that first paragraph for days.

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I've Reached the Climax of my Novel!

Here's another post from my earlier blog about my novel process dated April 28, 2011. I've chosen to bring all of those posts over to Tonya's Writing Cottage, over the next few days.  

A few days ago, Easter Sunday, I reached the climax of my novel. I got to the point of the story where the poop begins to hit the fan. What a moment! It was so exhilarating! With the aid of my storyboard, I’ve known what the unraveling segment would be, but nothing prepared me for the emotions that came with getting to that spot.

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What?! Rewriting and Editing during the process of the first draft?

Here's another post from my earlier blog about my novel process dated April 20, 2011. I've chosen to bring all of those posts over to Tonya's Writing Cottage, over the next few weeks.

I've been on the first paragraph of my Chapter 7 for more than a week. Now, per the intended direction of my writing group, I'm way off course. I'm editing the previous chapters as I go along drafting the rest of the story.  From what I gather, it's The Big No-No! (Click on the link below:)

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Divine Inspiration - literally

Here's another post from my earlier blog about my novel process dated March 30, 2011. I've chosen to bring all of those posts over to Tonya's Writing Cottage, over the next few weeks.

While I was in church the other day, the format of my novel popped up. Like driving or taking a shower, clearly the most inopportune time. (Click the link below:)

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Know How Your Story Ends at The Beginning

Here's another post from my earlier blog about my novel process dated March 22, 2011. I've chosen to bring all of those posts over to Tonya's Writing Cottage, over the next few weeks.

In my writing group, which is my guidance towards my novel, our latest task is to tackle the draft by way of the end. Our next thirty pages we present to our critique sections should be the ending. This would normally sound daunting to me, but today as I began, I noticed I didn't panic. (Click the link below:)

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