Are we risking our lives for ice cream?

I have to admit I love ice cream. Pumpkin. Peach. Chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. My mouth waters just typing the flavors.

Now...

I also have to admit I gained twenty pounds in the past year. First my bum knee kept me from walking, which was the way I kept my weight under control. Then the recovery month sealed the deal. Two weeks of sitting in a chair, getting minimal exercise and then only through rehab, made the twenty pounds official. :)

For the past week, now that recovery is over and summer is nearly here and I can't fit into any of my summer clothes, I've been pondering the fact that I face a choice...lose weight or buy a new wardrobe.

The new wardrobe is very tempting. It's the path of least resistance. And who doesn't salivate at the prospect of getting ALL NEW CLOTHES!

But keeping the twenty pounds has ramifications in terms of family pictures. I won't merely be taller than everybody in photos...I'll be the fat one. Ye Gawds.

Plus, last night something else struck me as my husband (who also needs to shed a pound or two and who has high cholesterol) pulled the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream from the freezer. I suddenly realized that extra weight translates to lots of "heart" things...and that reaching for that half gallon of bliss every night could be considered like scaling the side of a mountain.

In Susan Wigg's latest release a few secondary characters climb an icy mountain for the sheer joy of it and I gasped, thinking...I'd never risk my life like that. Then I dipped my scoop into the half gallon of delight and realized that maybe I would. LOL

Just returned...

Good morning, everybody!



I just returned from an intense one-day workshop I presented for the multi-genre writers group Pennwriters. What a great time! The hotel was wonderful...the lunch divine! Ayleen Stellhorn, who coordinated the event, deserves a round of applause!


But the students in this class were exceptional. Very talented. Very personable.


In the morning, we took apart the concept of "plotting" and I saw some ah-ha moments in the crowd. Making the distinction between the skills needed to come up with a story, decide what to write as a scene and then create those scenes with word mastery helped a lot of people. But the magic plotting formula of action/reaction and decision really brought down the house. LOL


In the afternoon we worked on characters and creating external conflict with goals and internal conflict because of an incorrect core belief. We even hit a bit on Michael Hauge's (screenplaymastery.com) identity and essence theories.


But the real lightbulb moments came when we distinguished between our book's theme and the "idea" that showcases the theme and learned how to write a one-paragraph pitch designed to easily relate your story to an editor or agent so you don't spent a whole pitch session saying...Um...Well..Ah...Instead, you easily get to the heart of your story and make yourself look super smart!


So it was a good day. We all had fun.


I think we also learned something!



susan