SCENTsational Saturdays- Time Runs Wild...

Tribe....A Fragrance Uprising...

(Top notes are green notes, mandarin orange, raspberry, peach, apple, bergamot and lemon; middle notes are cyclamen, jasmine, lily-of-the-valley and rose; base notes are sandalwood, amber, musk, oakmoss and cedar.)

Today is my 37th birthday and today for SCENTsational Saturdays I'll wax poetic about one of my favorite scents of my youth, and a favorite movie from back in the day.

It's becoming more and more clear to me that most of my favorite perfumes were put out by Coty and I always lean toward those with Oriental tones. I was 16 the year Tribe was launched in 1991 and I used to run through bottles of this stuff like a marathon runner goes through water. I couldn't get enough. You see, I go nuts over fragrances the way some women do over shoes. Or purses. Or jewelry. (I'm the same about nail polish.)

This fragrance always made me feel youthful, free spirited and more extroverted than I normally was. I was a wallflower most the time, but I balanced it with my wild child nail polish colors and different boisterous perfumes. Oh, and my kooky earrings. (If you remember Calliope from Days of Our Lives, you know how kooky her earrings were and I had a whole jewelry box full.)

Tribe though, was right up there with Exclamation! and Electric Youth on the list of scents that made me feel totally different from my shy-violet self. Needless to say, Tribe is no longer on the market, but if it was- I'd rush out and buy a bottle (or two) right now.

And for a little musical entertainment- another little something from my youth. From the Dream a Little Dream soundtrack, starring Corey Feldman, Meredith Salenger, ♥Corey Haim♥, Piper Laurie, Jason Robards, and Harry Dean Stanton-

Time Runs Wild by Danny Wilde


This song, along with the Tribe scent, lift me back in time and reminds me that it does run wild and it gets away from us. I'm older, but not necessarily wiser (thought I sure hope I am! LOL)

What's the plan for the big old 3-7 today? Not much of anything. Maybe dinner out with hubby. Not even sure I want anything fancy, just a quiet day and maybe a few good hours of writing.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Fun Feature Friday- Purrfect Voyage by Ruth J. Hartman

(Click link above to purchase for Amazon Kindle)
($3.99)

Kitty Carter is used to getting into strange situations when she chases her cat, Arthur. But this latest escapade is just too much! When Arthur chases a mouse at the marina while she's doing research for her book, she follows him down the dock and onto a yacht. Not entirely her plan, since she falls down some stairs and hits her head, and wakes to find herself out to sea. And she and Arthur aren’t the only ones on board!

Review

“This is a well-written, delightfully charming story with equal time given to Kitty, Arthur and George. It's obvious Ms. Hartman loves cats, and her natural humor makes this sweet romantic story sparkle. Trust me, you'll love the ending.” ~Suzanne Barrett, Romance Author

“Ms. Hartman also has a sense of humor. It makes her story fun to read. ~LASR Reviews

“I loved this book, laughed all the way through it, and look forward to more by this author.”~The Romance Studio

Author Bio: Ruth J. Hartman is a published author and licensed dental hygienist. She lives in rural Indiana with her husband of twenty-eight years and their two extremely spoiled cats. Ruth’s published works include a memoir, romance novels, and short stories.

Hello! My Name is Pantser

From where I sit, I see the mist...

The other day I was checking out a blog over on Fresh Fiction.com because of an interview Joan Swan (a debut author of Fever due out at the end of February) was having with Cindy Gerard for a discussion on setting goals and having a book giveaway. I left no comment, as I'm not a registered member. I clicked the link Cindy had posted just to check out what was being discussed and though the book giveaway sounded nice, the thing that stopped me was Joan's take on writing. The very thought has stuck with me for the past few days—

Here is what Joan had to say....

Now, my goal setting techniques are a lot like my plotting techniques. I write (and set goals) into the mist. It's similar to the panster way of writing, but with a tad more structure. The best way to describe it is that I'm standing a point, looking forward. I can only see so far—to where the landscape gets a little fuzzy (that's the mist). I write (or set a goal) to the farthest distance I can see, then set out for it. I know where I am, I know where I'm headed, and if time is an important factor, I have a rough idea of how long it will take me to get there. And somewhere, out there beyond my scope of visibility, is an end point. In a story, that might be the next chapter, the next act or, if we're uber lucky, The End. It's the same with goals for me.

I really like her take on how she writes into the mist. I am a bit more structured when I write, too, though I don't plot at all but I kind of take it as far as I can see into the mist myself and her sentiment really rang true to me, so I just had to share that small gleaning of commonality. Her debut novel also sounds intriguing (title links to the amazon page for it)

Anyway, the first thing this sentiment made me think of was one of my favorite quotes about writing—

It's like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.
~E.L. Doctorow~

It's amazing how often I forget that other authors out there are really, truly just like me. We all are traveling this road to reach similar destinations and I think we all enjoy our own method of getting there. Just as some cannot type a single word without a clearly defined outline, there are also those of us who want to walk into the mist, taking that mysterious journey with our characters as they make the journey as well. Either way, I think that's what is so exciting for us.

Writing revs our engines, fills us with a need for the adventures that lay ahead and whether we use a road map or just jump in the car and drive with only a few little clues as to where we're going, we still know we're going to make it to our chosen destination just the same, with all the little bumpy scenic routes along the way.

This felt very appropriate for this blog today— Into the Mystic—

Here's to lovely travels today my friends. Stop by tomorrow to check out what's on the roster for Fun Feature Friday.

WIPlash Wednesdays-Question from Marlo

WIPlash....it's what I get when I work with on my current novel(s)-

Unlike the real word "whiplash"- I'm putting a new spin on it.

WIP= Work In Progress Lash- the flexible part of a "WIP"

Wednesdays are also flexible. They're not quite so stressful as Monday, but not nearly as exciting or as looked forward to as Friday and the weekend. It's a nice little in-between to take inventory of where you've been and where you're heading.

WIPlash Wednesdays will be that place for me in my writing. It will be a day to take inventory of what I've done on my current manuscript, whether it be writing, editing, or whatnot. It will also be a nice place to just answer questions from friends and family about my life "as a writer." Questions that other writers also get from family and friends or curious strangers and their readers. Eventually I'll probably pool all the questions and my answers into a FAQs section on my website, but for now, I'll just be flexible and go with the flow.

Hopefully soon though, I'll be adding word count to my meter again(I added 3,046 new words to my WIP just the other night), working through various manuscripts, and talking again about the thrill and excitement of creating, of actually getting words on paper (or on screen, as the case may be.) I have more stories to tell and many miles to go before I sleep.

Today's WIPlash will include a question from one of my friends on FB. Of course, as my fellow writers can attest, these questions remain the same, but the answers are usually as personal and as individual as the writer who answers it and those answers vary tremendously among all of us in the writing industry.

Here's my take on one question. I think I'm going to get long winded on this question, so bare with me. Other questions will follow on other WIPlash Wednesdays in the coming weeks.

From Marlo- I've always wondered how writers come up with their characters.

My characters come to me in a variety of ways.

Catherine, from Castaway Hearts, came to me via, of all things, a Myspace background in 2006, which I'll touch more on when I post my blog in a few weeks that introduces her. (not sure who this image actually belongs to, but this is where Catherine really started to come to life in my mind)
See, though the story came to me via this "black & blue" image, Catherine Barrett had actually existed on paper since I was a teenager. I wrote what I considered the introductory couple of pages—just one sheet, front and back, but I never got any farther than her stepping up the planks of her grandfather's ship. I knew the story was historical, I knew she was going to sail away to a new world she was not accustomed to, but I hadn't yet dreamed what that story would possibly be. The image above helped bring Catherine from my past to the present. It haunted me as I'd lay down to go to sleep at night. This girl was so forlorn, so heartbroken and I knew the ghostly ship meant something, but what?

But what of all the other characters? Some were born when I gave them names, and their personalities bloomed from there. Literally. Others, names just came to me and I just already knew what kind of person they were and still others, a name has come to me, but they are playing coy and keeping their secrets about themselves a mystery for now.

In my Love By series, the four sisters originally started out as individual book ideas, single titles. There wasn't going to be a series, but their names all seemed "flowery" and this formed a synapse in my brain that said they HAVE to go together, those characters are SISTERS!

Some authors name characters and give them characteristics based on their names, the origins of the names, based on the cultural and ethnic backgrounds of their characters but I go on gut instinct a lot in choosing names. The wrong name can make or break the character, or do little more than create a block when it comes to writing them as they should be. The right name that suits a character feels like it fits them like a second skin, blends with who they are and makes writing and reading them a pleasure.

Tune in next Wednesday for more and questions from Mary Ellen & Katie!

Feel free to leave me more questions in the comments here at anytime.
I'll be happy to answer them.

Happy Hump Day! I can see the weekend from here!