Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Things I didn't know -- Fireflies

It's amazing the things I still don't know, despite the length of time I've lived on this earth.

As a child I caught many fireflies, kept them in my room flashing away in a glass mason jar, and letting them go in the morning.  This evening my two granddaughters did the same.  They were all set to sleep in a room lit with fireflies in jars.

BUT

Suddenly they came running into the room, screaming that one firefly was attacking the others -- in each jar.  Sure enough, there was a much larger firefly attacking the others.
Since I was busy handling a condolence call, I suggested they go look it up on the internet.

Sure enough, there are different types of fireflies.  The females are larger and attack the males after sex. (oh my.  I've exposed my grandchildren to insect sex.)
Personally, I knew about spiders doing this, but had no idea that fireflies also did this.

This action grossed them out so much that they decided to let the fireflies go -- this instant!  They ran downstairs onto the back porch and opened the jars where several immediately flew back into the house. YIKES!  Now I had one grandchild running around the hall trying to catch the escapees while the other one stayed on the porch complaining that the rest of them wouldn't get out of the jar.

So much for getting them quietly and quickly to sleep.
They finally settled down -- fireflyless -- after 10:30 pm.  I guess they'll be sleeping in tomorrow morning.                    -wo

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Why this blog has been quiet

I'm sorry, but I've been very involved with other things in my life. So much so that I haven't been able (and probably won't be able) to post anything on the blog for a while.

Because -- My husband of 46 years, Francis Old -- known as Chip, died of complications from Lung Cancer on Saturday.

Obviously, I'm beginning a new adventure here, and I'll be posting about the many aspects of it whenever I can.  Until then....
wo

Friday, June 1, 2012

Does your story need a critique?

Okay,
You've written a story/ a book/ a tale that you love.
What's the next step?  Slip it into an envelope and sent it out to publishers?
perhaps.

Or, you might ask a professional in the field to take a look at it and critique it.
You don't want an unpublished writer who will try to turn Your writing into His/Her style of writing.
You don't want someone who looooves your writing and will only give you praise.
You want to find someone who can help you make your work better.  (more publishable, even)

Local writing conferences often offer critiques of your writing by published authors and even by the visiting editor/speakers. Take advantage of them, the cost is low, and they might help solve plot problems.

Or -- There's a guest post over at Morgen Bailey's Writing Blog by the author, C.S. Laken, that asks the question, "Does it Really Pay to Get YOur Manuscript Critiqued?"
Go thou now and read and ponder her words.