Latest posts from GEnie's Sisters in Crime
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Latest posts from GEnie's Sisters in Crime. Always interesting ideas here.
Subject: SINC
Date: 94-12-10 17:09:16 EST
From: j.romanow@genie.geis.com
To: rhondack@aol.com
RHONDA:
Season's greetings, Chappy Chaunakah, Merry Xmas, and may all your solstices
include a dance in the moonlight.(phew! did I leave anybody out?) Oh yeah,
may you enjoy watching "It's a Wonderful Life" for the 1.0765 to the 13th
time.
Enclosed is the usual. not much new this time. I'm going to be out of
touch from 20th to jan 4, so the next despatch from the electronic trenches
may be tardy. If you fear inconvenience contact me and I'll make other
arrangements.
jd
Writers' Ink RT
Category 10, Topic 16
Message 178 Tue Nov 29, 1994
M.POWER [Margo] at 18:15 EST
>>>>>>>>>>>>GRAND FINALE<<<<<<<<<<<<<
WRITER'S MIND by Susan Wade
Mystics in India sometimes drink green tea (which
has far less caffeine in it than black tea) to get
a slight buzz. According to a report I heard on the
radio, the trace of caffeine enhances alertness without
making the tea-drinker restless. This state of alert
stillness is called "tea mind," and is considered
desirable for meditation.
That little tidbit gleaned from a three-minute
radio report has stayed with me for months. Why? Many
people pay no attention to such things, or if they do,
they forget them quickly. Why are writers' heads
cluttered with so many odd bits and pieces? My
explanation is writer's mind.
A lot of writers live around here, which has given
me a chance to observe them in their natural habitat.
I've noticed that writers seem to share a couple of
interesting characteristics: They tend to be
observant, and they tend to come up with explanations
for the odd things they observe. The explanations
aren't necessarily accurate or even reasonable, but
they're usually plausible.
One day a couple of years ago, I noticed a flier
on the mailbox near my house that said MISSING FERRET,
WHITE WITH BLACK MARKINGS. In smaller letters
underneath, it said, "Friendly, Will Not Bite," and
gave a phone number to call if you'd seen this friendly
lost critter.
All the way back from the mailbox, I wondered how
the ferret had gotten misplaced, and why the owner
expected posting the flier would help locate the strayed
pet. Ferrets are very small, and much less
domesticated than dogs or even cats are. Most people
who saw a ferret in their house would probably call an
exterminator. I puzzled over that flier, and soon
found myself making up explanations for how it got lost
in the first place, and why the owner thought it might
head for somebody else's house instead of straight for
the hills.
When I realized how much mental energy I was
applying to the case of the missing ferret, I tried to
put it out of my mind. But that was years ago, and I
still remember the sign and all the questions it raised
for me. My theory is that writers find unanswered
questions unbearable. The salve we use for that
question-itch is making up answers that satisfy us. I
believe that's how most stories are born.
One night at a recent meeting of my writing
workshop, the group was talking about a Jonathan
Carroll story. One member mentioned she was interested
in reading his books. I said, "I have BONES OF THE
MOON at home." (It's the title of one of Carroll's
books--a wonderful one.) One of the other members
looked at me oddly and asked, "What did you say?" I
repeated it, and he relaxed. "Oh, I thought you said
you had the bones of the moon at home. You know, the
actual bones."
None of us was surprised when he brought a short
story last night that began with, "I have the skull of
the moon at home."
My brother got married this weekend. A big church
wedding, with all the men in tuxes and the bride in a
formal gown with a long train. As my brother took his
vows and the rest of my family sobbed with joy, I found
myself watching the priest and wondering where priests
get their clerical collars.
I've never noticed white collars in the menswear
section of Dillard's or seen an Accessory Father shop
in the mall. I puzzled over it for a few minutes
before deciding there must be catalogs for priests.
They get those special collars by mail order, from
warehouses filled with stacks of white collars and
vestments and stoles and altar cloths. Satisfied with
the explanation, I was able to return my attention to
the ceremony.
A writer's mind just works like that. Our heads
are always filled with small puzzles, like so many
sticky notes that we pick up and move around until they
form a pattern that pleases us. At least, that's the
explanation that satisfies me. Now if I could only
figure out what causes our minds to work this
way . . . .
------------
Writers' Ink RT
Category 10, Topic 16
Message 179 Fri Dec 02, 1994
C.GORMAN2 [Carol] at 21:05 CST
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
Sharon Gwyn Short will be signing copies of her second novel, PAST
PRETENSE, in the Patricia Delaney mystery series, as well as copies of her
first Delaney novel, ANGEL'S BIDDING:
December 8, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. Little Professor Book Center, Cross Pointe
Centre, 101 E. Alex-Bell Road, Centerville, OH.
January 17, 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Books & Co., Town and Country Shopping Center,
350 East Stroop Road, Dayton, OH.
------------
Writers' Ink RT
Category 10, Topic 16
Message 180 Mon Dec 05, 1994
M.POWER [Margo] at 20:41 EST
The next featured author is:
>>>>>KATE DANIEL<<<<<<
Kate Daniel lives in rural Arizona with her husband,
teenaged daughter, and assorted cats. Her son and his wife are
both in the Navy. She grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. She
has a bachelor's degree in piano. Before her marriage, she
lived for a year in southern Mexico, where she learned to love
mountains. She then moved to Arizona for the horizons instead
of the climate, and has lived in the southwest ever since.
She spent three years teaching high school music and
English. Later she taught piano privately in southeastern
Arizona. She learned computer programming and spent several
years doing free-lance programming. This led indirectly to her
current career as a novelist, since it was because of her
programming background that she was asked to become a sysop
(systems operator) on the GEnie Computer Network. On GEnie,
she was encouraged to write and made the contacts that led to
publication of her first novel in April, 1992.
She now has six novels out, published by HarperCollins, as
well as one under a pseudonym. The titles of her books are:
BABYSITTER'S NIGHTMARE
TEEN IDOL
SWEET DREAMS
SWEETHEART
RUNNING SCARED
BABYSITTER'S NIGHTMARE II
In addition, she has short stories in several fantasy and
science fiction anthologies. She is currently director of the
SFRT On-line Writers' Workshop on GEnie, where her writing
career began.
------------
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