Showing posts with label #BWLAuthor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #BWLAuthor. Show all posts

Saturday, April 20, 2024

What is My Favorite Point-of-View to Read and / or Write By Connie Vines #Round Robin Blog, Writing Tips, #Tips for Authors

 My Favorite and My Not-So-Favorite Point-of-View.


Thank you, Skye, for this month's Round Robin Topic.

Omniscient, 3rd person, or 1st Person, What are the advantages and disadvantages?


Reading:

The omniscient POV allows you to enter the heads of multiple characters, but you will act more as an observer than a reporter.

As a child (and even today), I enjoyed reading the Greek myths and Homer (author of the Iliad and the Odyssey)

The Odyssey is uniquely arranged in that the narration is split between a third-person omniscient being and a first-person narrative by Odysseus himself. The omniscient point-of-view is present in excerpts at each chapter's beginning generally.

 In terms of gods, the Greek pantheon consists of 12 deities who were said to reside at Mount Olympus: Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Dionysus, Hephaestus, Hermes, and Poseidon.




Writing:

While I might consider this POV in a Nior-type crime story (short story or novella), I do not believe it would be widely accepted in a contemporary story.




Reading:

First Person POV

In first-person narration, the narrator is a person in the story, telling it from their own point of view. The narration usually utilizes the pronoun I (or we if the narrator speaks as part of a group).

Writing:

I write in the first person when writing Young Adult contemporary and Young Adult historical novels.

I remain in the main character's point of view. At the beginning of each chapter, I may insert information using a quote, historical fact, etc. I also include an Epilogue.




Reading:

3rd Person POV

In the third-person point of view, the author narrates a story about the characters, referring to them by name or using the third-person pronouns "he," "she," and "they." The other points of view in writing are first person and second person.


Writing:

3rd Person POV

My contemporary novels (excluding YA) are written in the third person. While I may change POV (heroine/hero), I strive not to head-hop. 

First and foremost, this mode of storytelling comes most naturally to me when writing a romance. The third-person narrative is as old as time.

Third-person subjective:

From this point of view, you can get into the characters' thoughts and perspectives. It goes beyond narrating the character's thoughts by telling the reader "she thought" or "he wondered." It lets you really be in their head the way first-person POV does.


My excerpts from "Gumbo Ya Ya," An anthology for women who like their romance Cajun Style!

(Opening Teasers from my anthology)

Marrying Off Murphy

Settling into his office chair, Professor Murphy Flynn glanced at the faxed copy of the OP News. "I Want to Get Married!" the headline shouted. He upended his coffee mug when he realized the grainy photograph was of him, sending the liquid perilously close to a six-inch stack of upgraded papers.

He snagged the papers with one hand, using the other to dab at the puddle with his tie. His gaze locked on the name of the submission's editor: Sylvie Dupree. The memories hit him hard and fast, leaving Murphy to feel like he'd taken a direct blow to his solar plexus.

Love Potion No. 9

"Don't shake your finger at me, Simone Basso. I know what I'm doing," Persia Richmond said, holding a pipette to fill a crystal half-ounce atomizer with perfume. The top notes of peach blossoms, bergamot, and mid-notes of gardenia, honey, and tuberose tanalized. Meanwhile, the tuberose, the most carnal of the floral notes and the high-ticket natural essence for her fragrance compound, merged with peony and orange blossom to temper the intoxication properties. The base notes linger, while a hint of something unnamed and mysterious beguiled and skimmed across the narrow processing room, saturating her senses.


A Slice of Scandal

"Hey, now, 'dis key lime pie's like de one I serve at my restaurant. Simple to make and good to eat! Key limes perk up de mouth and makes you happy."

Producer/Director Julia Kincade focused on her monitor and adjusted her headset's mic. "Camera One, tighten that headshot." She watched as the camera feathered over the chef to capture the best angle. The camera should have loved Franklin. His height was average, his black hair was short and curly, and his skin took on a polished bronze color under the harsh camera lights, but the camera didn't like Franklin.


1-800-FORTUNE

The moon was full and huge in the sky, a brilliant iridescent orb that stared down at the earth. Enza allowed the energy to feather over her as she removed the silk cloth protecting her Tarot cards.

The tarot deck has seventy-eight cards, four suits of fourteen cards each, Swords, Cups, Wands, and Pentacles, and twenty-two cards called the major arcane—the big mysteries.

Enza's mother told her mother told her she would learn to associate cards with people. She knew this was true. Because through her travels she had met them all...






I hope you've enjoyed this month's post 😀. 


Please click on the links to each member's blog. 

(I'll be doing the same in a few minutes!)

Amazon and Barnes and Noble. also available at your favorite online vendor. 

Happy Reading, 

XOXO

Connie

Bob Rich - https://wp.me/p3Xihq-3aE

Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/

Diane Bator https://escapewithawriter.wordpress.com/

Helena Fairfax http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog

Victoria Chatham http://www.victoriachatham.com

Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea




Friday, January 20, 2023

New Beginnings: How to Jump-Start Your Writing By Connie Vines #Round Robin Blog #Writing Tips

Round Robin Blog Fest, January 21, 2023 

While increased personal responsibilities have forced Rhobin Courtright to retire as the leader of our monthly round-robin, Skye Taylor has volunteered to oversee the Round Rhobin flock. 


This month's topic: 
New Beginnings - how do you motivate yourself to get back to writing when 
Life has interrupted your flow, and/or how do you begin a new writing challenge?

The holiday season and the winter weather prompt me to reassess my life and goals for the incoming year. 

I'm ready to start a new project upon January's arrival.

What works for me?

  • My local writing chapter offers monthly online workshops. I participated in several during the holidays. Penny Sansevieri taught one workshop. I also participated in a workshop led by Allie Pleuter. Both of these workshops were interactive, informative, and fun!


  • I read and study some of the novels I have stacked in my office. 1 non-fiction, 1 NY Times best-seller, a favorite classic, and a book my mother sent me: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (a pristine 1945 hardbound copy ) and genre fiction. 

  • I still keep my daily journal, but I enabled the mic feature to switch it up a bit this time. I will return to the pen-and-paper method as it feels like a diary. Speaking my thoughts verbally seems...less intimate.

  • I also spend time with family members (2 winter weddings, holiday celebrations, children's birthdays, etc.). Change of location, interaction, and ensuing chaos, always gives one a new idea/ slant on life.

  •  I also tried new recipes and ordered take-out/delivery meals with unfamiliar (to me cuisine). Why take-out? I was noting my sensory response from a character's POV. Tonight I chose from the Japanese menu: Okonomiyaki (an eggy pancake) and Shoyu (Raman Soup with veggies, protein, seaweed, bamboo shoots, and noodles). I expected the soup to taste salty, but it wasn't. The flavors were unfamiliar, and some of the textures were unexpected. 





  • And lastly, I varied my writing routine. I wrote 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours after dinner. I've been a night owl since birth. Therefore, this was a challenging change in my way (it required additional cups of coffee while a bit of snarkiness embedded itself into my easy-going temperament).


The other Round Robin Blog Hop members have tips and ideas to get you writing in 2023.

 

Connie

 Dr. Bob Rich             https://wp.me/p3Xihq-2OQ

Anne Graham               https://goo.gl/h4DtKv

Connie Vines              http://mizging.blogspot.com/

Diane Bator               https://dbator.blogspot.com/


A.J.  Maguire                http://ajmaguire.wordpress.com/


Victoria Chatham         http://www.victoriachatham.com


Fiona McGuire              http://www.fionamcgier.com/

Skye Taylor                 http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea

Saturday, February 5, 2022

Saturday Photo (Things That Make Me Smile): Photo # 5 By Connie Vines # Navajo Nation, #SandPainting, #FourCorners, #Dine, #Native American Art

My family and I have vacationed throughout the United States. The Native American artwork (featured today) was created by Navajo artists on the Reservation. 


From My Personal Art Collection


Sandpainting is the art of pouring colored sands and powdered pigments from minerals or crystals or pigments from other natural sources onto a surface to make a fixed or unfixed sand painting. 



Because the symbols are sacred, the Navajo artist makes respectful changes to the symbols to the original sand painting (which is destroyed after the healing ceremony).


From My Personal Art Collection

From My Personal Art Collection



An Art of Healing: For the Navajo (Dine), the sand painting is a dynamic, living sacred entity that enables a transformation in the mental and physical state of the patient. The sand painting is considered toxic and destroyed because it has absorbed the illness or problem.

Navajo word for Sand Painting is

 iikaah ("ee-EE-kah").



Wood Box  a gift from a friend

Thank you for stopping by today!

Connie

XOXO






Saturday, January 29, 2022

Saturday Photo (Things that Make Me Smile) # 4 By Connie Vines #LiveOakCanyon #Photo, #PhotoSaturday

 My year-long plan is to post a photo each Saturday about things that make me smile. 😀

Many things make me smile, so you will find different photos pop up. Of course, my pups, and friends of my pups, will be posted.  




Yes, it is January, but I found this photo of three of my granddaughters during a family outing at the Live Oak Canyon Pumpkin Patch. 

Why is it that the tallest child (middle-child) scrunches down, while the shortest (the baby) teeters on top of a ladder to position for the photo session?  The eldest child (to whom I can relate) just steps up and attends to business. 😉🦇📷


liveoakcanyon.com/pumpkin-patch/



Good Times!

Connie

XOXO


Friday, October 22, 2021

Halloween Memories, Good, Bad, or Frightening? By Connie Vines #RR (89), #BWLAuthor, #MFRAurhor. #Halloween, #HalloweenTreats

This month's Round Robin topic: Your most frightening Halloween, or childhood memory. 🎃🍬👻

Well, as I've stated more than once, I enjoy Halloween without the gore and nightmare-making, fright-night events.

As a child, I dressed up in a homemade costume: I was a Zombie, a Genie, a Cat, but never a princess or a frightening monster.
Even as an adult, I would take my children, along with half-a-dozen or more neighborhood kids trick-or-treating, rather than sit on the porch and hand out candy.

Fortunately, my husband's favorite Halloween event was handing out (and sampling) candy from the witch's cauldron or large plastic pumpkin beside the wooden bench.

My favorite activities during the Halloween Season? I watched: "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown", I also watched the Classic Universal Studios movies: "The Mummy", "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" ( in inspiration for the gory-updated version "The Shape of Water), "The Wolfman", and "Dracula". I also watched, "The Bride of Frankenstein". Once.  "The Bride of Frankenstein and Frankenstein," caused nightmares for me. As did Mary Shelley's novel.

In all deference to Mary Shelly, "Meerkat Manor" gives me nightmares, too.

meerkat manor


So, it goes without saying, my novel, Here Today, Zombie Tomorrow, is not The Walking Death type of novella.


 Movies are recommended for skittish people: (Pumpkin = I watch/ Ghost = I can't watch)

1. Hocus Pocus 👻

2. The Addams Family (classic and updated) 🎃

3.  It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown 🎃

4. Ghostbusters (original) 🎃

5. Frankenweenie 👻

6. Halloweentown 🎃

7. The Nightmare Before Christmas 👻

8. Little Shop of Horrors 👻

9. The Munsters (classic) 🎃

10. Practical Magic 🎃

11. Casper 👻


What move do I always watch?  It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.  I love, love this movie.  Snoopy in the pumpkin patch always makes me smile.

The crazy thing is, I can read and re-read the novel Dracula by Braun Stoker and watch the 1990’s movie version of Dracula and I am fine.  (Dracula, like The Phantom of the Opera, falls under the umbrella of tortured hero and love story).

Please visit these "spooktacular- blog hop participants.  What Halloween Tales are They Spinning??


Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea

Victoria Chatham http://www.victoriachatham.com

Marci Baun http://www.marcibaun.com/blog/

Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/

Dr. Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-2sc

Rhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobincourtright.com





After visiting the other participants in this month's Round Robin Blog Hop,

Stop by CTR and sign up to win a gift certificate!



Happy Halloween,

Connie














Monday, August 9, 2021

Barbara Drake, Tongya/Gabrielino, Tribal Elder-- Dedicated Teacher, Colleague, and Dear Friend By Connie Vines #BWLAuthor, #MFRWAuthor, #NativeAmerican, #RandomThoughtsScatteredAbout

 

Weekly Feature #2

Hello, My Lovelies,

Today I would like to honor a dear friend of mine.  

Barbara Drake was introduced to me when I was a member of the Parent Advisory Council, San Bernardino County, for Title IX and Title X Programs through the public schools' program. 

She, along with Tribal Elders: Maha-Tal-Meh (Jacques Condor), Linda Baguley, and Larry Sellers (Cloud Dancing/Dr. Quinn MedicineWoman) encouraged me to write my YA historical novel, Tanayia--Whisper upon the Water.


Barbara Drake was loved by all, never spoke ill of anyone, and always brought a positive light to her interactions with students, staff, and community members, always seeking to unite rather than divide.

Born in West Los Angeles in 1940 to Tongva mother Dolores Lola Lassos and Anglo father Charles Milton Scott, Barbara Drake (née Barbara Ann Scott) was raised exclusively on her mother’s traditional plant-based medicines until she was in her teens. 

Barbara was an enrolled member of The Gabrieleño/Tongva San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians and served as Tribal Secretary for many years. She worked in Indian Education Title VII for San Bernardino Schools, before coming to Pitzer College in 1993 to lecture on ethnoecology.  Her Tongva name was Kwi Tokor, meaning Acorn Woman.

I was honored to call Barbara my friend.  

Her knowledge of Native American healing plants and culture is shared with her interviews on PBS, (Public Broadcast System) Television interviews.

Please visit these links:  

https://www.kcet.org/shows/tending-the-wild/episodes/gathering-medicine

Native plants educator Barbara Drake talks about what has been lost by separating native people from their land. For years as the founder of Chia Cafe Collective, she has worked to restore, research, and promote the use of indigenous plants in California and elsewhere. 

Co-produced by KCETLink Media Group and the Autry Museum, this six-part multimedia series and one-hour documentary special are presented in association with California Continued, a groundbreaking exhibition now on view at the Autry.

Also:

Barbara's yearly arts program:

https://idyllwildarts.org/barbara-drake-tongva-walks-on/


This is only a small sampling of the vast knowledge of medicinal plants used by the Tongva.

http://runajambi.org/tongva/introduction.htm






Walking together in spirit as we walked together through life.
Barbara Drake 
February 2, 1940 - November 18, 2020


Connie

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