The Bridesmaid Wore Green, With Red Polka Dots!

Oh, the styles date me; I'm not 22 anymore!

I noticed recently that all of the stories I've written include a wedding of some sort. I have one ceremony that gets rained on, and another washed-out from a sprinkler system. One of my novels has the retelling of an actual wedding that I sang at. Funniest thing I ever saw!

I think every wedding needs some sort of kink in order to distinguish the event.

Totally Stumped!

I just finished Camy Tang's Deadly Intent. Can I just say, "WOW!"

This story is more than a suspense novel. The plot weaves in and out of the characters' lives with a master's touch.

Naomi Grant's terror from

Surely Not

For some crazy reason, as I'm driving down the road on yet another volleyball carpool errand, this old Gospel song keeps running through my mind. Words were written by Reverend Josiah Alwood around 1880, but the song has been recorded by Toby Keith, Willie Nelson, Brenda Lee, Randy Travis and Jim Brown to name a few.

Oh, the land of cloudless days
Oh, the land of an uncloudy sky
Oh, they tell me of a home where no storm clouds rise
Oh, they tell me of an uncloudy day.
 
I THINK I'VE FOUND THAT PLACE!

Windows and What You Might Find There

On the Fourth of July, I was with the only Bible Bowl team from Texas in Cincinnati at the National Bible Bowl Tournament. We had an amazing view of at least 17 counted different fire works displays in and around the area.

But the best display happened on July 3rd, right outside our hotel! We sat watching and singing patriotic songs.

Where Does This Take You?

Can you imagine how this building stood out in 1931?

We stayed in the most amazing hotel in Cincinnati. It was the Historic Netherland Plaza, now owned by Hilton. Romance and intrigue leaped from the walls and danced across the ceiling of this beautiful example of 1930’s architecture. I had a field day with my camera. The angles and details offered one piece of eye-candy after another.

I loved the history of the building, too. I’m a bit of a history buff--not an expert by any means, but I love the stories behind the buildings. This place had tons of stories:

Murder Mystery in the Making!

I usually have a post during each week where I show a different place and discuss its merits as a setting for some story.  I realize, though, that I've never explained why I do it.  I mean, I like getting the pictures of interesting places on my blog, but that's really not the reason.

I'm pretty visual and seeing new places helps me put the people in them and imagine the situation that might be happening around those people. 

Mystery Writes Itself - Where Does This Take You?

Skeletons of a medieval knight and a female companion were found under the floorboards of a chapel in a castle in Scotland. Further info proves that the knight had several old injuries, doubtless from battles, but the killing blow was struck as the man was lying on the floor, by a sword through his face. There were no details about the cause of death of the woman. Does this just beg to have its story written?  

Now the attached article takes a little of the romance out of the story as I read on, but with just that much information, my mind went wild! 

First thing that caught my mind’s eye was the fact that the knight was found under the floor boards of a chapel.  Nice outta the way place to hide a body that someone didn’t want found.  

I was just starting to deliberate on why he might have been killed when I a second thing caught my mind’s eye: the skeleton of a woman was found beside him. Well, that makes it juicy! I could just see the lord of the manor bursting in the room full of jealous rage as he witnesses his wife in an intimate conversation with another man.

Third interesting thought is the origin of this man; there is some speculation that he was French, so the husband intrudes on this heathen from a foreign land, who not only infiltrates his home, but seduces his wife.

Oh, the places my mind goes!

I could see a political plot to overthrow the lord be squelched by the murder of the man; maybe the Frenchman was a spy, settled into the role by an opposing ruler who wanted to gain the land. Maybe the Frenchman was a messenger from that ruler, bringing a letter from the opposition in hopes of wooing the wife and gaining that power. 

What if the knight wasn’t killed by the lord at all!  Suppose the lord was blamed all along for the disappearance of his wife and the knight, but since no bodies turned up, nothing could be proved.  Maybe the knight’s family took out their vengeance on the lord, because he had been the only one, on the surface, who would benefit from the man’s death.

I don’t think the lord killed the spy-knight at all. I think he was killed by the opposition because he betrayed them.  His great love for the lord’s wife wouldn’t allow him to put her into any danger.  I think she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and was killed to cover up the original murder.  As for hiding them beneath the foundation of the chapel that the lord was having built, that was just making the most of the opportunity!

Well, that’s the way it all looked in my mind anyway.  Truth be known, the chapel was built much later over a small cemetery – plot killer!                  

Here’s the whole story! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1279306/Face-mystery-medieval-knight-finally-revealed-modern-day-CSI-skills.html

Writers - Where Does This Take You?

A couple of weeks ago, I took my girls out to a special event at Hawaiian Falls in The Colony.  They had a sopping wet blast, and I enjoyed some great reading and people-watching.

Going along with my regular weekly post about settings, though, I couldn't resist this picture of one of the play areas in the park.  This particular area was for little kids only; all of my girls were too big.  But my inner child was just the right size and I could imagine the sorts of trouble and pranks that she could play in this wild, wet castle. 

I was particularly intrigued by the top-most area of the playground.  It's a little hard to see in the picture, but the bird sits on a pipe that pours a steady stream of water into the bucket.  When part of the bucket fills, it dumps the water out, sending it down the blue slanting roof and showering the steps beneath it. 

I can't hide that I'm a mystery buff at heart, so as I gazed at this area, it wasn't hard for me to picture the ultra-dramatic body rolling out of the bucket and down the blue roof to the stairs below.  A book that started that way would be catnip, to me. Yum!

The girls and some buddies at the park.

Since it is a kids' park, however, I cleaned up my imaginary situation.  In my second set-up, I pictured Megabadguy chasing Sweet-lil-innocent all up and down the stairs until, like Li'l Orphan Annie, Sweet begins to climb through the netting and onto the intricate weavings of pipes and rails.  Up to the top of play-place she climbs, becoming trapped with nothing around her but sky ... uh ... and that big parrot. Still, Megabadguy draws closer, but unfortunately finds himself on the wrong side of the bucket.  Oops.  He falls onto the sloping roof and rolls down it, like a kid on a grassy hill, only to splat into the pond beneath it.

Oh, I can SO see that happening!

So what type of story can you see here? A YA novel about summer love? A kids book about building courage? What about pirates? Oh, wait, that was the Smart Car thing, wasn't it? 

Share your idea, and while you're at it. Take a few minutes to put some words on paper and start your story!

Writers - Where Does This Take You?

Okay, I know that's a loaded question to ask about a car, but I'm thinking story settings here. Search for the title on my blog and you'll find a few of these articles. I use pictures of the places I go to stimulate fictional situations. 

Most of the time, I use interesting architecture, but this car just stands out. Is there anyway anyone would miss this car coming down the road or mistake it for another car? I confess, I'm not a car-watcher. (Well, the occasional 'Stang or Jag, but I digress.) Even I would have no trouble at all identifying this car. And I won't even touch the fact that the makers dubbed it "Smart."

This car could really mean trouble for someone in a story.  Imagine what would happen to it if a bear took a liking to it? No, strike that. No one would be so "smart" as to take this car to the woods. How about a train missing it by inches because it tucked in its booty. (Well, it looks like it tucked it in to me!) Speaking of booty, maybe it could double as a futuristic pirate's chest. Okay, I'm grasping at this point.

Still, I plan to have fun with this car - well, as you can see, I already have, but I intend to have a little more fun with it.  Maybe I'll have my main character find a body in it!  That sounds intriguing ...

Oh, and just in case you're curious--putting 2 and 2 together from yesterday's blog article--no, this is not my new car.  I'm claustrophobic, and me getting into this hot, tiny space felt like stuffing a teddy bear into a Hot Wheels!

So what would you do with this car that's called "Smart"?  I want to hear your idea, and then, why don't you go ahead and write up the story?