Friday Faves & Funnies...

Another week has come and gone. It's Friday!!

So let's see... I think my Faves this week will be:

Food! Of course. One of my favorites is pizza. I'm sure that was obvious. But it will lead me to my all time favorite thing, ever. My newest Marinara Sauce recipe. I tell you what... it is the BOMB! I got it from my brother and I will never, ever buy jarred or canned sauce ever again. E V E R.

If you want the recipe, you'll have to bribe me. And I'm a geek, so I'm easy to bribe.

Okay! On to the funnies!

That's it! What's your favorite food? Leave a comment and have a good weekend!

Wednesday Writing: Origin Tales...

When writing fantasy, origin tales for your entire world are just as important as the rest of it. If you aren't writing fantasy, depending on your story, your origin tales are just as vital.

Origin tales can mean just about anything, though.

They can mean:

* The age old folklore tales told around campfire and hearth fire. These are the origins of how the world was created, who the heroes and legends were.

* The origin of your character. Where they originated. Sometimes, in Young Adult fiction, if the main character is in high school, their classmates might gossip and spread their own origin tales.

* If you're writing paranormal, the origin tales can describe the history of vampires, werewolves or even cursed items.

*Maybe you are re-telling a fairy tale, in which the origin story is the most important part.

While this post may pertain to mostly fantasy, you can still glean some information on why origin tales are important.

Origin tales set up the background of everything. It describes kingdoms, people, places, items. They shape and define entire cultures and personalities.

When the United States decided to break from England, Americans fought hard for their freedom. They fought to control their own lives, their own destinies, to free themselves from tyranny. Now, because of our bloody history and hard fought battles, Americans are viewed as a crass, independent (spoiled) country. Unless someone is in trouble, then we're the savior, because we know how to fight for what we feel is right.

So perhaps you're writing of a kingdom of warriors. Everyone turns to them in times of trouble and need. They'll drop everything to help their neighbors, yet they are honorable enough to listen to both sides before choosing whether or not to send aid. But what happens when they need aid? No one will know how to help them. They aren't used to having to rescue the strongest kingdom in all the lands.

If dealing with a paranormal cursed item, the origins are vital to figure out how it became cursed and how to break that curse. That item was part of a significant moment in time where someone felt they had no other option than to cast a curse on an object to ensure that whoever found it in the future would not only feel the misery of the one who cast the curse, but also understand the need for the curse.

Origins have the power to shape futures, whether it be a person, place or thing. So when you are coming up with your origin tales, think of the complexity of the original story. Also remember that they will have been told over and over again, and we know what happens then. Things get jumbled and mixed up or changed to meet the needs of the storyteller. You'll have to figure out from beginning to end what the origin tales will be, if different cultures had different perspectives.

Have any other suggestions about origin tales? Leave a comment!

GTKM 11...

Ah, Monday. These weeks just keep marching on.

I almost missed last week due to a fall off a curb. I twisted my right ankle and banged up/cut my left knee. After those two things began to heal, other injuries began to appear, like a huge lump in my right thigh and a large knot on my right knee.

I'm slowly healing, though, so it's all good.

Today's question is:

Who was your first crush?

It was a guy in Junior High School. Up until that point, I don't think I ever really had a crush on anyone. I had liked a few boys, but nothing like this guy.

Looking back on it all, I totally made a fool of myself. Of course, that's what we do, right? Make fools of ourselves as we go all ga-ga over someone. I wrote him notes. Too many, which irritated him. His friends would just roll their eyes when they saw me coming. I'm sure I was borderline stalker-ish! I did everything I could to impress him, but I was a tomboy. I didn't do the hair and make-up and cute clothes.

It took awhile for me to just let it go. Which, I did. I tried to act all aloof and "over him" when I saw him. When I started acting like that, it seemed like the universe decided to throw us together as often as possible.

Later on, in high school, after having moved away for to a new school district, I ended up running into him and his friends. None of them recognized me, of course, because I had changed so much. I had the hair and make-up and what I considered cute girl clothes. I actually got to go out with him for a little while.

Ahhh... memories.

Okay, so spill. Who was your first crush? Leave me comments!

Friday Faves & Funnies...

It's Friday! Another week done and a weekend looming on the horizon.

This Friday, I'll tell you one of my favorite television shows:

Supernatural.

Ooooh, how I love this show. From the first moment I saw it, I was hooked.

I mean, seriously... There are many, many reasons why I love this show. It's a good show, it keeps my attention, which is kind of rare. It makes me laugh, it makes me cry. Yes. I said cry.

I also like this show from a writing perspective. I mean... OH. MY. GOD! What awesome characters. What great dialogue. What a cool story! And the fact that it's on its 11th season helps, too.

Outside of the show, there are also lots of reasons to love Supernatural. Jared Padalecki has admitted to battling depression. There are now, that I know of, two t-shirts to help campaign for this disorder. One I battle myself. The cast seem like a tight knit group and that makes the show even better. Of course this is all part of the fandom and I could go on and on and on, but I won't.

On to the funnies!

There it is! The end of the post! Have a good weekend everyone!

GTKM: 10...

Monday, Monday...

You're going to have that song stuck in your head all day long, now. So sorry. Sort of.

Today's question is:

What is the most interesting thing you can see out of your office or kitchen window?

Well, since I have neither, I'll go with my living room window.

Trees. And a train occasionally. Apparently, when I was a baby, we lived near train tracks in Illinois. My first words were "Choo-choo". I have no memory, as we moved into our house when I was three, I think. Who knows.

Anyway, we live near train tracks in my town. It doesn't matter where you are in this town, though, as you can hear that whistle blow. I don't mind, but sometimes it seems like that engineer is being a jerk with those blasts. Then there was the one that played "Jingle Bells" at Christmas. I only heard that once. I hope he didn't get in trouble.

How about you, what is interesting out your windows?

GTKM: 9...

It's Monday! Don't shoot the messenger...

I hope you all had a good weekend. I work most of the weekend. Then, the one day I do get to spend with hubs, is spent doing laundry and grocery shopping for the week.

It works. It's a good routine!

Okay, so today's question is:

On a scale of 1-10, how funny would you say you are.

10. I'd say a 10, Bob.

(In case you are wondering, I am speaking to Bob in my head like he's a game show host.)

Seriously, though, I'd have to say like a 4 or 5. I think I'm funny, but I'm sure most people don't get my wacky sense of humor. I have even considered trying to do stand up comedy, but I'm a chicken in front of a crowd. I get stage fright so bad. Which is also why I don't sing in front of people.

Ask me to act like a pirate for a play, though, and I'm all over that. Go figure.

How about you? How funny are you on a scale of 1-10?

Writing Wednesday: Language...

Before we get started, I want you all to know I participated in an author interview on Natasha Orme's blog. You can see the interview here. Now, on with the post!

I'm not talking about vulgarity in writing, although, that could be a whole other topic one of these days...

No, what I'm talking about is creating a language or using an existing one in your writing.

For those writing any sort of fantasy or sci-fi, sometimes you'll have some pretty weird languages. How do you present the language? Do you just type up some garbled nonsense and pass it off as the language of whatever species you've dreamed up?

"I told you, I'll pay you the rest of what I owe in a few days."
"Glkwer lkdjfi beedok crazzt fluker!"
"Don't you swear at me like that!"

I'm sure it's doable. Sort of. I mean... how the heck do you pronounce any of that??? Most of the time, people just sort of gloss over the different languages. Me, I'm sort of a purist and will try my damnedest to try to pronounce each word.

Not everyone can be Tolkien, though, and be a linguist and create their own. I'd love to, actually, but ... no.

Personally, I've combined an Elven language with Latin and have come up with some pretty good results. I'm so stereotypical fantasy, though, that most of my stuff has a lot of apostrophes. Don't know what to tell you, I'm just that sort of fantasy author.

There are a lot of language generators out there, so you'll want to think about using those and maybe coming up with your own combinations. Especially if you are a fantasy author. And I'm sure as far as sci-fi goes, you can just use grunts and clicks, maybe some chirps to get the point across.

Most world building should include ancient texts of a language long gone and very rarely will there be anyone left alive that can read it. Or perhaps there is one person who has such a desire to learn ancient tongues, he's learned how to read these things. This is something to consider in your world, just as much as the more common, current languages of other races.

To have everyone speak the same language the world over, well, that's rather boring and very simple, but I'm sure it'd be acceptable. But choose wisely. We fantasy/sci-fi people, we can be very opinionated about this sort of thing!

Have any suggestions or tips you'd like to share? Leave a comment below!

And don't forget to stop by and read my interview! Have a great day!

GTKM: 8...

::Sings:: It's Monday, it's Monday... please don't shoot me...

It happens every week. The weekend ends and Monday doesn't creep up on us, it explodes in our faces with the fury and vengeance of a woman scorned.

Ahem.

So it's Monday! And it is time for another Getting To Know Me post.

Today's question is:

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

On a beach. In the Carribean. Napping.

Well, I'm only half kidding about that. But in all seriousness, I see myself living in a home built by me and hubs. There's a garden out back with all sorts of veggies. A greenhouse with other plants that we grow year round.

Of course, we're both still working, but he's finally able to work his dream job while I do my job from home. I want to have a place where the family visits regularly and grandkids come for the summer. In the winter, we travel for a couple weeks and then start all over again.

I don't have huge, grand schemes. I'm pretty simple.

How about you? Where do you see yourself in ten years? Leave your answers in the comments below!

Friday Faves & Funnies...

It's Friday, it's Friday! Woohoo! Well, for the many of you who have weekends off, you get to celebrate and relax. Me, I have to work, but that's okay. I love my job!

This week, my Faves topic is going to be Animals.

One of my favorite animals of all time is the wolf. I love wolves. I can't explain it. When I was around 22 or 23, I got my first tattoo. I got a wolf on my right ankle. I'd like to get more tattoos and maybe another wolf or even the tribal wolf paw. I have lots of time to decide.

Okay, on to the funnies!

All right, that's it for this week! What's your favorite animal? Tell me in the comments!