The Dance is the Thing

When I picked today's #wanafriday post theme, I thought it would be easy. Click a picture from one of my Pinterest Boards, scribble a few words and voila, I'd be done. Not! The more pictures you have, the harder it is. And I have lots.

I finally decided to concentrate on dance. We all love to move our bodies to music, even if it is only to tap our toes. This first picture speaks for itself. 

When you feel it, you can't stand still.

Whether classically trained 

or culturally evoked, (whew, steamy)

we all get happy when we dance. Ever seen a sad dancer?

So go feel the music and dance today, even if only by yourself in your room, or in your imagination. I bet your mood will improve.

Go visit the other #wanafriday bloggers who have great pictures and comments:

Kim Moser
Liv Rancourt

(More posters with #wanafriday will be added as they post today and tomorrow.)

You might like to visit my board for more pictures on 'photography' and 'dance' here.

All Those Pretty Little Apps

Going into fall, I will start to revive from our hot summer (although today is supposed to be 105) and post seriously, though don't count on me being THAT serious. I have a couple of posts on short story writing coming up, but today's not that day.

I am joining the #wanafriday gals today to post on: A NEW DISCOVERY. I have been very -- I hate to use  the word, busy, it sounds so excuse-laden -- so let's say, I have been very occupied with all kinds of disparate things going on in my life (don't we all?) that wouldn't yield to getting out any kind of serious posts these past several months. One major thing being finishing my next novel--which takes center stage at this point--almost there.

So, what's my new discovery? My new Samsung Galaxy S4. Why would I list such a thing for a post? Well it is not to advertise for Samsung. I suspect all new I-phones and present day androids (or whatever-I'm not tech savvy) do the same sorts of things. It is because it allows me to be me.

I suspect I don't think in sequential ways as other people do. I am more a circuitous thinker--around in circles--no, more like spirals. I often get that, huh? look because I am just off center at times. I know that about myself so those looks don't upset me much anymore. My husband and gal pals understand me and love me anyway so it's all good.

But I digress.

I love all those lovely buttons (well, pictures of buttons) and things to click on--so pretty. I really don't get that distracted, it just makes my life so much easier--and now I have my music! (my last phone had so little memory that putting up the Twitter app drained it of all remaining life--forget getting music)

My critique partner understands -- she tweeted, "How's your love affair with your phone? He cheat on you yet?" (romance writer humor)

That's it. 

So, what's your new discovery? 

I will be adding other #wanafriday posts as the gals post (no men yet):

Liv Rancourt -  Discovery, What Does the Fox Say Crazy new music video from Norway.

Recipe for Murder

What if you had a story that needed a recipe before it could be published? That was the situation I found myself in many years ago.

So, when today’s #wanafriday blog post challenge was chosen: Give your favorite recipe and story to go with it, I had to be a bit vice-versa, (because that’s the way I tend to be anyway) and start with my favorite story that needed a recipe.

When we started our local chapter of Sisters-in-Crime  a long time ago we also started a short story contest called The Coveted Dead Bird (emphasis on the coveted part for who wouldn’t want a fake, upside down, Poe-like black bird on a trophy?). It was to encourage our budding writers to start writing and submitting—me being one.

Long story short, I wrote a short story for the contest. I didn’t win but re-submitted that story to a German branch of Sisters-in-Crime who was putting together an anthology of short stories. The catch was, it had to have a recipe to go with it—which was perfect because poison was my means for the murder (means, motive and opportunity being the necessary aspects of a murder mystery). It was accepted for publication.

The story takes place in the restaurant where we Sisters held our meetings, the now-defunct Daily Planet which we all loved for its art deco interior (with booths and velvet curtains on them for privacy), an ideal setting for a murder (heh, heh, she cackles and rubs her hands together).

I found my method of poison while researching the effects of the Jimson Weed which grows wild along the highways (Datura). The plant puts out little black seeds that are deadly.

I read an article about a family that had gathered some of these seeds and left them to dry on the window sill above their stove (it has a pretty, trumpet-like white flower and I can only guess they wanted to plant them around their property). You can see where this is going—the seeds fell into the food cooking on the stove but the mother picked them out of the dish and served it anyway.

Deadly decision—they all died.

But, a perfect means for a murder, don’t you think? 

All I needed now was a recipe that disguised the black seeds. My protagonist waitress at the Daily Planet had to be able to sprinkle them on her two-timing (motive) husband’s favorite dish that he always ordered when he came in with his ‘bimbo’ girlfriend—opportunity.

What dish has cracked black peppercorns liberally sprinkled on top that could hide the Datura seeds? Steak au Poivre (Peppercorn Steak). Not exactly a favorite of mine—but it made for a good story.

If you want to try it (minus the Datura seeds of course) here are a few recipes:

Epicurious  

Anthony Bourdain  

Simply Recipes (also provided the picture)

Have you ever written a short story or murder mystery? What was your inspiration?

Now go visit the other #wanafriday writers who are participating in this theme on their blogs and see what they have come up with.  (They will be added as they put up their posts on Friday and Saturday.)

Ellen Gregory - gives the most yummy sounding recipe for chocolate pudding.

Janice Hall Heck - and how about another chocolate dream dessert?

Kim Moser Griffin - meatballs and what?

Liv Rancourt - a recipe you can't eat

Seth Swanson - awesomesauce

Tami Clayton - favorite soup from Fez medina

That Magical Fire Agate

Take a moment to step away from real life and into enhanced life, like a video game where you can do anything you want. What would you want to do? If you could do anything? Whoa, that’s heady. 

Anything? Isn't that magic? Yes.

You start by finding an object with magical properties for this journey of doing anything you want. That is exactly where I find myself this Friday, #wanafriday, where we write to theme:

      If you could have one magical item, what would you choose?  Why?

I have to work backward to choose.

First, what would I want to do, be, have that I don’t right now? Explore another time and place—with the safety net of avoiding the scary stuff that might kill me. 

So maybe an amulet I wear around my neck that would whisk me away when I touched it, in case I got into a dangerous situation. And then it would thrust me to another time and place of my choosing, for more exploration and adventure. 

A glowing, Mexican fire agate would do for that. Yes, hung around my neck with a soft leather string.

Now, where would I go? I would go to Mesoamerica, to the Maya. I want to know exactly how they lived and all about their culture and mindset and mathematical abilities and things I don’t even know about them that existed a thousand years ago. 

(Maybe the original Maya were star travelers. It could have happened. And I want to know.)

                                                                                          
                                                                                                                          Picture is by Tomas Orban

Oh, wait—isn’t that the journey I took in my recent published book, Dance the Dream Awake? 

Yes.  Except for the star traveling part--although that mystery was hinted at.                                                                                                                                      

My amulet for that novel was my imagination and it was a fine journey—but I want more. I only scratched the  surface of ancient Mayan experience in that romantic, paranormal suspense story. My amulet would actually allow me to walk through the jungles, hear their music, eat their food, take part in their rituals—except the sacrifices (—rubs amulet).

So what object would you choose and what would you do with it?

As always, fellow WANAs that choose to add their post to this theme will be added here as they post, so check back or check #wanafriday:

Ellen Gregory What does Ellen take away from Harry Potter?
Tami Clayton What do wands and pickles have to do with each other?
Kim Moser Griffin A very versatile object.

Siri Paulson What's beyond the portal?
Liv Rancourt Very practical, and definitely magic.
Seth Swanson  Practical magic.

How Far Will You Go?

What place (in all the world) that I have been to is my favorite?

#WANAFriday* theme

(In reality there are two, but because of my ulterior motive this week I'm picking only one.)

Let’s start with why I chose my favorite place:

• Adventure   

• New experiences   

• Meeting new and different people that I might not ordinarily associate with   

• The magic—that special something that happens when you expect the unexpected  

• Synchronicity

I moved to San Francisco at the end of the Beat Generation and eased right into the Flower Children generation, moving on to explore New Age concepts and higher consciousness modalities. I have always sought that artist’s edge of new ideas and explorations. 

When I read an article about the Mayans (I had taken classes on Mesoamerica that fired my imagination to learn more) and their prophecies, I felt as if there was this big secret I had to learn about.

So, I felt compelled to visit Mexico again in August of 1987, and be at Teotihuacan on one of two days, for what Jose Arguelles was calling the Harmonic Convergence. Many people in the New Age movements were talking about it, and like an itch you have to scratch I had to be there for that event. There were power places around the planet that people were heading for on those two days in August. Even though Mount Shasta was closer to me, I knew I had to be in Mexico.

There was El Tule Tree in Oaxaca,  Teotihuacan outside Mexico City and Palenque. But I only made the first two (time and distance being factors). Instead of Palenque, we went to Coba—a lesser known pyramid system close to Chichen Itza. The Yucatan Peninsula is rife with ruins and I wanted to see as many as I could in the time we had to travel (plus, being close to the beach was an absolute must for me).

Why? For what reason did thousands of people trek to these supposed power centers? I remember asking one young man I met in the Cancun airport, that had just flown in from the East Coast, that question. His answer was also my answer:

"I felt compelled by something other than logic, by some draw that goes beyond rational thought. I just knew I had to be here."

Someday I may write that memoir I've been asked to do, and explain the why better, but for now, the results of that trip (and the reason for my ulterior motive for choosing Mexico today) was my novel, 

Dance the Dream Awake. 

It was published this week! 

I hope you will check it out. More details about my novel (paranormal romantic suspense) can be found on my website: www.coraramos.com

It will be out in e-book eventually (not sure when) on Amazon, 

but for now the paperback can be purchased at:

Oak Tree Press Books  (listed alphabetically) for $10 + shipping

Amazon  for $14.20 + shipping

*WANAFriday is a group of writers that each post on their own blog on Friday (or thereabout) on our agreed upon theme of the week. The other authors participating this week will be listed below (and updated as they post):

Kim Griffin: Who Am I? Dorothy?
Ellen Gregory: What's Your Favorite Place?

Siri Paulsen: Favorite Place
Julie Farrar: 5 Reasons I Love Dijon and France

The Sniff Sense

Or,  

What I Learned from my Dogs About Writing and Writers

Every day my dogs require that we do our pack walk around the neighborhood. They want to walk or trot together, but then they stop individually to sniff those stinky wet compelling sniff spots. They have slightly different tastes in smells (eew, that came out weird), so some stops take longer than others—more to smell read, I guess.

Those dogs that came before, tell my dogs things that only a dog would love, (sorry that was too good to pass up), and then they add their own pee comments on top of the really good ones of others. Sometimes they make their own statements and start their own conversations and maybe brag a bit. It’s all part of the ritual conversation.

When my Buddy (Lhasa Apso with his summer cut) scratches the ground like a bull, I figure he’s proud of his last comment that topped some other dog’s previous comment. Maybe he said something really funny and is applauding himself, but probably not since he doesn't have a very good sense of humor--more the cuddly type.

When Milton (a Ratcha-that's a rat terrier/chihuahua mix) drags his feet in getting started on the walk, I have to pick him up and carry him until he warms to the idea (but his nose is in the air informing him of the latest news) until his curiosity gets the better of him and he wriggles to get down, closer to the action.

Observations on the walk: (You can make the analogies as writers)

-          They are aware of and keep tabs on their pack mates even while they wander a bit on their own.

-          They add notes of confidence when appropriate, to the 'writings' of others?

-          They pace themselves.

My dogs have very different temperaments yet they pack together in a harmonious walk. (Even if they start off pulling in different directions, by the end of 15-20 minutes, they are in sync.) Are your dogs energies all going in the same direction in a harmonious 'walk', or is all the information out there pulling you in different directions? Be a good pack leader and stay in control of your dogs energies.

*

Writers who stay current daily by reading the work of other writers (blogs, books, articles and social media) learn more quickly and improve their own work, inspire their own creativity and learn the latest in publishing. They support fellow writers.

Writers who pace themselves don't burn out.

and

Writers who pack together can learn and grow faster than going it alone—or, at the very least, have more fun: 

• Critique partners that make constructive comments can accelerate your progress by giving you suggestions that you might not otherwise think of. 

• Online social interactions with other writers glean valuable insights and help. They keep you centered from getting too far into your own head--which might be a very weird place (from some of the writers I know).

So take a lesson from the dogs and try commiserating with other writers.

Do you think writers are better as pack animals? 

(See WANA (We Are Not Alone), Kristen Lamb’s pack invention).

Do you learn from your pets? What?

Don't forget to visit other WANA writers who are writing today on the same theme of our favorite pets, real or imaginary: (some very creative blog posts)

Ellen Gregory

Janice Hall Heck

Liv Rancourt

(more links will be added as more of our WANA writers add their posts throughout the day)