April's Coming by Bonnie Le Hamilton

I can’t believe its nearly April already! Where has the year gone? And I have yet another grand-niece. Claire gave birth this past week, so yes, Konnie is a first-time grandmother, and there’s been a lot of other things going on here, but nothing so momentous as all that. I did manage to make some baby blankets and get them sent to Claire before her baby was born, just barely, which in and of itself is an accomplishment.

With me, finishing anything at all, let alone on time is an accomplishment. I tend to flit from one project to another, and since not all my creative endeavors fall in the category of writing, I haven’t been doing much of any writing, or editing, for a while. I have been knitting, sewing, and crocheting. The last two evident in the blankets I did send to Claire.

I’ve wanted to do some baking, just haven’t had the time when I had the energy to do it. (I’m blaming that on my age.)

And well, I do tend to get distracted easily, I’ve mentioned that many times before, but now I seem to have another excuse for why I don’t always stick to a task until its done, but sometimes I do stick to it (I do have 6 rough draft novels completed) anyway, my problem might be explained by an article Claire sent to Konnie (and Konnie later sent to me) about the signs and symptoms of WOMEN who are actually undiagnosed on the Autism Spectrum, and boy do a lot of those things describe me! You can find the article at http://taniaannmarshall.wordpress.com/2013/03/26/moving-towards-a-female-profile-the-unique-characteristics-abilities-and-talents-of-asperwomen-adult-women-with-asperger-syndrome/

Fair warning, it’s a rather long list. And it describes Konnie’s daughters too, which is why Claire sent it to Konnie. Claire had seen herself in the list, Konnie saw her twin and all her daughters in the list. One of the big ones was that such a woman has one of the forms of ADHD or ADD and are at lest mildly OCD. BINGO!

And that’s just one thing on that list that described me. Konnie insisted she saw more of me than any of her daughters in it, but it sure explains why her youngest daughter runs, skips, or walks up and down their hall incessantly. I’m the one who always has something in my hands to fiddle with, or I play with my hair or drum my fingers, or snack. There are other things I do. There seems to be no doubt about it.

And the first thing on the list was that such women quite often have average to high IQ’s; that’s me and Konnie's daughters. Meaning Konnie has four kids and a sister on the spectrum, not counting a niece, a nephew, and possibly a sister-in-law, that I know of.

And I’m already off track. I was going to talk about Camp NanoWriMo, which is in April (hence why I’m surprised its nearly April). Who has signed up for it? What’s your goal?

I’m going for editing 100 pages of Forbidden Connection. I really need to get that done.

Who’s with me?

And yes, I know editing isn’t writing. If this were Nano, I’d start or at least add to some unfinished story, but as I can set my own goal for the month, I’m editing.

To sign up, go to http://campnanowrimo.org/sign_in to sign up, and you can use your Nano username and password.

Anyone want to be in a cabin with me?

What are your goals for the month? What are you working on? Do you have a project in mind?

And one more note, do any of you have a story that includes April Fool’s Day? I know I have one, though I’m not much for jokes and stuff, and I only mention the little brothers of the heroine pulling pranks, but not what they are. Have any of you written a scene where the character pulls a prank, or joke on another character for April Fool’s Day?

I can personally say, that other than once trying to change places with Konnie (and that was on a dare) I’ve never pulled any April Fools pranks (something else on that list above). I have been accused of pulling April Fools prank when I wasn’t. The last time that happened my father accused me of doing so when I called and told him I was having twins on April 1^st. He told me to call him the next day and say that again.

Konnie took my side, knowing full well I wouldn’t joke about anything, let alone that! And I wouldn’t. I don’t joke, and I hardly ever get jokes. The people who can make me laugh are few and far between. And maybe I should write a character like that sometime.

Happy writing everyone!

My Least Favorite Holiday by Bonnie Le Hamilton

This coming weekend will be my very least favorite holiday of the year. I so detest this one certain day of the year (or rather the holiday associated with it) that when I wrote my last post I originally said it was one holiday I’d never put in any of my stories. Konnie corrected me in the nick of time. I do have one story with this horrendous holiday mentioned.

And I have no idea why I forgot it. It was the first novel I actually finished writing. Though I also know when I wrote that story, I had wanted to ignore this one day, but according to the time line I had worked out, things happened on this most annoying day of the year.

Can you tell I can’t stand it?

I have actually tried hard to ignore it, and when possible, I’d hole up in my room to avoid my family on this one day of the year, when I could. However, if it was any day other than Saturday, I had to interact with others, unfortunately. Though now days, the only day I can’t avoid contact with people is well, usually Sunday, except, thankfully, the first Sunday in April is when my church holds their semi-annual world-wide conference, which I can view on my computer; I can hole up! Yeah. I can avoid any and all persons acting the fool, unless they happen to call me.

My father did that one a few times. Actually one year, Tom and I received big news on April 1^st. We weren’t sure any of our family would believe us when we called them, but we did try. I remember being totally frustrated with my father, the consummate prankster, who refused to believe it wasn’t a prank.

I ended the call before I started yelling at him and called Konnie. When I told her the news, she believed me right away, and when I told her how frustrating our father had just been she not only agreed he was being pigheaded, she got off the phone with me and called him and told him off!

My quiet, shy twin told off our father! Of course, she knew, I’m Bonnie. I don’t joke, I don’t tease, and most importantly, I can’t stand April Fool’s Day!

Now, Easter is another issue. As a good Christian, Easter, like Christmas, is important. And since this Easter falls on Conference weekend, I have two things I’m looking forward to, and will enjoy, on a day I usually wish wouldn’t happen.

And this is something else we need to consider when adding holidays into our stories. How do the characters feel about the holiday? How will they respond to the holiday? Do they have any traditions for that holiday? Do their traditions differ from each other? Are they compatible? Or not?

All of these can affect how you portray the holiday in your story, and how your characters will act.

Happy Writing everyone! 😊