Summer is over, and my daughters and teacher husband are all back in school. That means I now have more time to write and to search out cool things to share here on Mondays.
During an earlier Thursday 13 post I listed some of the reasons why Toronto is a great place to live. One of the first things that comes to mind when thinking about Toronto is our skyline and the famous CN Tower – formerly the tallest freestanding structure in the world, but that honor now goes to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It is, however, still the tallest freestanding structure in the western hemisphere.
Recently, the CN Tower launched a new attraction – EdgeWalk. People can now walk around the outside of the disk section high up on the tower.
Let me repeat that … you strap into a harness and walk OUTSIDE the CN Tower. Personally, they couldn’t pay me enough to even consider doing it. It’s proven to be a very popular attraction, though. Recently, Jann Arden appeared on the Rick Mercer Report and Rick actually convinced her to try it out with him. I’ve attached the video clip of that segment. I can only shake my head in wonder as I watch this.
I saw a tweet last week that made me very excited. At the risk of exposing the English Lit nerd in me, I was very happy to see this USA Today article that announced Bradley Cooper would be starring as Lucifer in an upcoming Paradise Lost movie.
Paradise Lost, people! The Milton epic poem that tells the story of Lucifer being cast down into hell after the war in heaven, and his subsequent temptation of Adam and Eve. I can’t wait to see if Bradley Cooper will be as good in the part as I think he’ll be.
If you haven’t read the poem, the most startling thing about it is how the character of Lucifer is portrayed. He’s compelling and sympathetic, and actually comes across as a hero. You find yourself understanding him and relating to what he has to say. Well, in the beginning anyway. All that changes when the story moves on to Adam and Eve. That disappointed me when I first read it – how Lucifer seemed so three dimensional at the beginning of the story, but became more one-dimensionally evil by the end. I suppose that was inevitable given the time when Milton was writing.
I really do recommend reading the original poem, but if the idea of reading a poem that is 12 “books” (really parts) long makes you go, “Hell, no!”, I found a truncated, hitting-the-highlights version on Wikiquote here.
I’ll leave you with a couple of quotes that will probably seem familiar to many of you. They come from the opening, when Lucifer is trying to console his followers (he’s rallying the troops, really) who have been cast down from heaven with him, and now find themselves in a much darker place.
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heav’n. - Book I, lines 254-55
[…] Here at least
we shall be free; the Almighty hath not built
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:
Here we may reign secure, and in my choice
to reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven. - Book I, lines 258-63
When we bought our house in late 1999, the garden was a blank slate – it was all grass. I’ll confess that I may have gotten a little carried away during the planning stages. I grew up in downtown Toronto and we had a postage stamp front yard and a concrete backyard. Our house is in midtown Toronto and it has a nice sized front and backyard. I spent a lot of time pouring over gardening magazines and websites, looking for the perfect plants.
What follows are pictures of thirteen trees and shrubs that we planted after buying our house.
1. Japanese Maple
My neighbors have a Japanese Maple in their front yard. I love them and just had to have one as well, so we planted ours in the backyard.
2. Skyline Honeylocust
I love the dappled shade of our Honeylocust. It was no more than a twig when we planted it eight years ago and is now a nice-sized tree.
3. Serviceberry
Serviceberries are the perfect four season tree. In the spring they’re covered with delicate white flowers. In summer the tree has blueberry-colored berries. In the fall it has the beautiful orange leaves you see below. In the winter the many twisted stems provide nice structure for the garden.
4. High Bush Cranberry
Pretty white flowers in the spring, lovely groups of berries in the summer. I’m also amazed at how tall this shrub has grown.
5. Golden Mockorange
I love the light green color of the leaves of this Mockorange.
6. Dogwood Shrub
Pretty variegated leaves during the spring and summer, and bright red stems in the winter.
7. Dwarf Burning Bush
I love the bright red color of the Burning Bush during the fall. It complements the yellow leaves of our Honeylocust very nicely.
8. Purple Leaf Sandcherry
Pretty light pink flowers in the spring, lovely dark purple leaves in the summer.
9. Butterfly Bush
Butterflies really are attracted to this thing! Our butterfly bush is covered with monarch butterflies during the summer.
10. Rose of Sharon
This shrub is very popular in my neighborhood. I fell in love with it and it took me a while to find out what it was, but as soon as I did I bought the one pictured below.
11. Pussy Willow
After a long winter, seeing the catkins on our Pussy Willow is always a very welcome sight.
12. Forsythia
Following the Pussy Willow catkins, out come the flowers on our two Forsythias.
13. Tinkerbelle Lilac
Unfortunately, our Tinkerbelle Lilac didn’t survive the winter a couple of years ago. I loved the delicate light pink flowers that bloomed after traditional lilacs faded.
I don’t actually have a lot of pictures of my garden. I should remedy that. For now, though, I’m going to share a picture I took of my front yard when a dump truck took down some power lines. This picture was taken a couple of years ago and the tree is already quite a bit taller.
I can’t believe it’s that time of year again! For those of you not attending RWA’s national conference, the Romance Divas site is hosting an online conference of their own.
Not Going to Conference?
Attend Romance Divas’ Annual Not Going to Conference Conference June 28-July 1
Romance Divas’ annual virtual conference features workshops, publisher spotlights, pitch-your-book opportunities, fabulous doorprize giveaways and more.
It’s FREE!
And nobody says you can’t wear fabulous shoes while you’re recharging your writer batteries from home.
One of my all-time favorite songs is “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie. It definitely ranks as a Desert Island song for me. A while back someone on one of the blogs I visit posted a link to a video of a man performing it with two Kermit the Frog puppets. I adore this song and enjoyed the performance very much. I thought this video would be the perfect way to kick off my new Media Monday entries.
Music is an amazing thing. It lives on, often in the background, as a soundtrack to our lives. I’ve always loved listening to music and still have a massive CD collection from pre-mp3 days. When I started writing, however, something interesting happened. Some songs started to spark story ideas for me. And when music isn’t inspiring new ideas, often it will put me in the frame of mind to write. I can’t actually write while music is playing – I get too wrapped up in the lyrics of a song, which distracts me from my own writing. I do, though, often listen to various playlists I’ve created to help set the mood for me before I write.
What follows are thirteen songs that either put me in the mood to write, have inspired stories I’ve written, or demand that I write a story for them.
I’m Still Searching – Glass Tiger
I actually did write a story inspired from this song. It was posted on the internet back when I was treating writing as a hobby (i.e., when my twin daughters were young and I could barely think straight, let alone attempt to pursue writing for publication.) *
If We Ever Meet Again – Timbaland
I had a very strong reaction to this song when I first heard it. The basic plot for a new book came to me pretty much fully formed right away. I have other writing projects I need to finish first, though, before I can even think about writing it.
Paralyzer – Finger Eleven
This song is the theme song for my favorite couple from another story I wrote and posted online. I’m seriously considering revamping it and rewriting it as a traditional book.*
The Enemy – Godsmack
Anyone who’s known me in the past would be very surprised to find Godsmack (or Hinder) on my list. I was an 80′s new wave kinda girl. When I started writing, however, something strange happened. Songs I never would have listened to in the past started to grab me by the throat. It’s all about the lyrics and the story a song paints. This one … well, I can’t share too much right now, but I really hope I have the chance to write the book that goes along with this song.
Serenity – Godsmack
I was already writing my current novel (it’s finished and I’m editing it now) when I heard my husband play this song. I remember sitting there, stunned. It is absolutely perfect as a theme song for my current book.
Mr. Brightside – The Killers
This song is also a theme song of sorts for my current novel.
Heaven Sent – Hinder
“Heaven Sent” is the perfect soundtrack for a romance novel. It’s a “hey, I’ve known you all my life but I’ve only just realized you’re amazing and I think I love you” song. Hinder has become one of my favorite bands because of the emotion in their lyrics. They may be bad-boy rockers, which isn’t really my thing, but I can overlook that and appreciate the brilliance of their song writing.
Thing for You – Hinder
The raw emotion in this song really gets to me.
Can’t Breathe – Dido
I know there was already an excellent television show that used this song as its theme song (Roswell). I loved that show, but when I hear this song all I can think about is the story I really want to write that draws on the song’s emotions.
Summer Lovin’ – John Travolta and Olivia Newton John
Good girl meets bad boy. Need I say more?
Love Song (Acoustic) – The Cure
The acoustic version of The Cure’s “Love Song” haunts me. Listen to it and tell me if it doesn’t evoke the image of a tortured romance hero.
Whataya Want From Me – Adam Lambert
Another tortured hero song that makes me itch to write every time I hear it.
Bring Me To Life – Evanescence
The story I have in mind for this song is a paranormal one.
And there you have it, thirteen songs that either make me itch to open up a new document and start working on a new project, or that put me in the proper head space to help me work on my current WIPs. I’d love to hear what song/s do the same for you.
*I mention that I’ve posted a few stories online. Those stories are no longer available (although I have no idea if anyone who read them bothered to save a copy.) I thought long and hard about whether I wanted them to stand as is, but in the end decided that I wasn’t comfortable with those stories floating around out there. They were stories that I wrote and posted, serial style, and were, in essence, first drafts. Since my goal is to become a professional author, I want the stories that I make available to be as polished as I can make them. I will probably offer free stories again at some point, and when I do I promise they won’t be first drafts.
1. Draco Malfoy (from Harry Potter) and I have something in common – we both have mothers named Narcisa.
2. I’m a Trekker! Being in Toronto I’ve attended more than a few Toronto Trek (now called Polaris) conventions over the years with my brother. I’ve also dragged my husband to a couple of them. (He accuses me of geekifying him. It’s true.)
3. I’ve been known to fall in love with one of my characters. I’m sure this is something I have in common with many other writers.
4. Despite the fact that I have a specialist degree in English Literature, the highest marks on my university transcripts are for Calculus, Computer Science, and Astronomy (the last was a half course to which I treated myself in final year.)
5. I used to post original fiction in a gaming forum and even had a Livejournal account dedicated to one of those stories. In fact, I’m still a moderator for that forum (though in a lesser capacity now.)
6. I’m certified to teach in the province of Ontario.
7. I’m in an interfaith marriage. I’m a practicing Catholic while my husband is Jewish.
8. I hate summer. There, I said it. I take no joy in sweating, and laying out in the sun somewhere while my skin roasts bores me to tears. The last time I tried to sunbathe I was in high school. I lasted about five minutes before I thought, “This is so stupid!” and went inside to do something more interesting. Besides, I quite like my natural skin tone.
9. I hate conflict and like the fact that my life is a drama-free zone. Some might think that’s boring, but the lack of stress in my life is more than worth it.
10. I’m shy. Not debilitating shy. I will talk to strangers and can get up in front of a room full of people and wing a presentation. Ask me to attend a party, though, and I run screaming into the night.
11. I never learned how to ride a bicycle.
12. Nor do I know how to drive. Good thing I live in a major city with an amazing transportation system!
Thirteen is my lucky number. I was born on March 13 and the 13th has always been a good day for me. So much so that my husband and I chose to get married on April 13. We’ve been married for 14 years, together for 19, and we’re still going strong.
Thirteen is my lucky number. I was born on March 13 and the 13th has always been a good day for me. So much so that my husband and I chose to get married on April 13. We’ve been married for 14 years, together for 19, and we’re still going strong. 