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I Can Still Remember the Days We Communicated in .... English!

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OMG, IMHO, I wish that we could speak in the old fashion, everyone knows what the #@%^& you are talking about, English language. I am old, therefore, I have been taught how to spell out, add vowels and pronounced everyone letter as I read. This new age of get your point across in five lets or less is wigged out. Yes, that's right, I said wigged out. It's like taking a head sweating, nauseating test every time I try and decipher it. Acronyms are hard enough. Let's evaluate what I mean. NCIS: Navel Criminal Investigation Services or No, Can't. Infant sleeping.  CSI: Crime Scene Investigations or  Career Suicide Idiot, FLA, Family Leave Act or Four Letter Acronym, FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigations or F***ing Brilliant Idea. FNG Federal Networking Group or Freaking Nice Guy, and IMHO: International Medical Health Organization or In My Humble Opinion. The list goes on and on and on and.... You get the idea. When I receive a text, I almost need some sort of a

Atlanta Guest, Darlene Buchholz and Annie Oortman, the Grammar Divas

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The Grammar Divas graciously treated us to a 'Grammar' workshop on the 5th of February. The all day workshop at the SLC Library was awesome. And not just enjoyed by URWA members, we had several writers from the Utah League of Writers join us as well. Yeah! The audience questions seemed to be about what the editor wanted and what the writer wrote. Do you follow each 'suggestion' because the editor said to, or do you 'the writer' get to decide. Its our voice, right? This is our story and we should be able to write it our way. Sometimes it is a Grammar problem that needs fixed and sometimes it is simply the editors preference. So, as a writer, we need to weigh our options. If it fixes the line or paragraph, then you take it and say, 'whew, thanks, sounds a bucket load better.' But, if it changes the 'author's voice' then the author has to decide. There are so many ways to repair a sentence that doesn't touch the voice at all. And

Okay, So Let Me Get This Straight!

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Does anyone ever say to you, "Huh? I don't get it? Maybe you see confusion printed across their faces as well!   I hear you, I just don't get it. I've read it, but....   Kids love to have their parents read to them. Why, because they might use different voices for all the characters, even act out a incident or two. This way, children could comprehend what the writer was saying. As a writer, we should make it self-explanatory. I'm an adult, I don't want my kid to have to tell me what I just read. So...Plotting your story becomes essential to your audience. Each event should show progression. Like in Science class, if you do this, this follows. If I read this happening, then.... MaryAnne shivered as her toe made initial contact with the icy water. Each step was excruciating but she would make it. The last thing she wanted Lane to think was that she was a wimp. The idea of a hot shower weaved in and out of her thoughts. Standing below the pulsing spr

Does Your Character Have Character?

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Does your character have Character? When you read a story, do you walk away with the feeling that you know the character? Is she the little girl next door, or the high school Cheerleader that you envy? I finished reading a book yesterday (YA, As You Wish) and came away from it remembering a friend of mine from when I lived in Missouri as a Junior High Student. It was such a great feeling to take a walk though my memories. I applaud the author. She did what I, as a writer, strive for; that character that you can relate to or remember. My grandson (pictured here in his grandfathers glasses and baseball cap) is a little character. His teachers tell his mother that this little four year-old is cute. He always has a funny story or says something funny that makes his teachers laugh. He gives them a reason to 'remember him.' Your characters should do the same. From the DunMiller's Mansion series, I introduce a teen (fifteen) that has been pulled away from her childhood fri

Carriage Ride to View the Lights

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Merry Christmas from John, Jessica, Judy and Doree Christmas Lights Tour with Lisa at the Helm. Merry Christmas from me. It was a beautiful night, last night as we rode in a carriage and enjoyed all the many twinkling lights of downtown. Temple Square boosts about the thousands of lights they start string in August, -- no kidding, every tiny bush, even up the sides of the buildings. And the huge Nativity, really highlights the true meaning of Christmas. We clip clopped around the block, with Lisa Williams-Cox (fantastic friend) and Charlie (horse debonair complete with lights and flowers in his hair) . Lisa is a fountain of information. Not just what the buildings are, but interesting incites into each one. Like...there is a wall at the LDS Conference building that is the same length as two 747 parked nose to nose? I KNOW.  It was the greatest experience for all four of us. I highly recommend that you experience downtown in a carriage (Carriage for Hire).  

We May Be On Our Way!!!!

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The Ghosts of DunMuller's Mansion -  Book One - EXCUSE ME by yours truly, has been requested by another agent. Here's the fun part - I get to wait for a very long time to see if somebody will love it as much as me. That's okay, I'm well into book two: ANTE UP Good Luck - Excuse Me.

It's That Time Again

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Christmas is coming up. What a wonderful time of the year - yeah right! I've never been a happy camper during this time. I didn't enjoy it a lot as a kid. Although now, being a grandparent, it is fun. Yeah, the same headaches are there. Money is always an issue and for all of our preparations, it only takes seconds for it to be over with. True. But look at the spirit. More people smile. Amazing, I know. Some people are even courteous and giving. I watched a guy I would never have pegged as a giver, actually put in some change (okay, a penny and a nickle) in a bell ringer's can. I was floored. I saw a guy count out his groceries before going up to the 15 or less isle. He still went up with more than 15, but at least he counted. The neighborhood has lights on more houses than it has ever in past. That's something, right? Mine doesn't, but this year I'm the exception. the exception being... I didn't want to fall and kill myself. I KNOW, every now and then