Christmas and Writing by Bonnie Le Hamilton

 

Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful, Joyful, and triumphant, oh come ye, o come ye to Bethlehem!

Sorry, I couldn’t help it, this is one of my all-time favorite hymns, along with Hark the Harold  Angels Sing, and Silent Night. Yeah, if you didn’t already know, one of my very favorite holidays is coming up this week.

Though I guess you could figure that out just by entering my living room. I have over 130 Nativities on display in the front room alone, and that’s without counting the Nativities ornaments on my tree.

I might also point out that I have no snowmen decorations, and only three “Santa at the manger” decorations, but no other Santa-themed decorations. Is it any wonder that most of my tree decorations are Nativities? (By the way, this is by choice.)

Then again, if you were to enter my living room you might also be able to decern what my second favorite holiday is. The clue is in the middle of the top shelf of the small bookcase by my microwave cart. An Eagle, two Star-Spangled Banner-themed knickknacks, and a replica Liberty Bell.

Figured it out yet?

Another clue is my all-time favorite song from a musical.

That song?

Why it’s, “God Bless America!” from “You’re In The Army Now.”

Other favorite songs are “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “God Bless the USA.”

And no, my love for Independence Day has little to do with its proximity to my own birthday, though I do enjoy that they are so close together.

I love Independence Day because it celebrates the birth of our great nation just as much as I love Christmas because it celebrates the birth of our Redeemer.

I also like Easter (it does celebrate our Redeemer’s resurrection) and Thanksgiving, though I admit that it is at the bottom of my favorite list, mostly because I feel it is better to be thankful every day of the year, not just one. I do enjoy the food and being with family but that is about it.

Independence Day has parades, picnics, and fireworks, and Christmas – well, I love finding just the right gift for my loved ones. Though some are easier to shop for, that’s another issue.

When thinking about holidays, have you considered what your characters do for holidays?

If you are in fantasy or sci-fi you must consider if they have any, and what and when they’d be, and how they celebrate, but in Contemporary novels, you already know what the holidays are, now you need to decide how your characters observe the occasion, and why.

First, you should start with whether your story will cover a period when there is a holiday.

And, since it is so close, let’s just use this time of year as an example.

This time of year, has several different religious or cultural celebrations to choose from, and of course New Year’s Eve, so what festivities will your character take part in, and why? What sort of traditions does your character have for this holiday?

Do they open gifts on Christmas Eve? Or do they celebrate Hanukkah? Are some of their friends Jewish? And there are other celebrations going on around now, too. What are they? How are they celebrated? What are those traditions?

Don’t use one you know nothing about. In this case, you really must write what you know.

So, for me, if I were to write something taking place in December, my main characters are going to celebrate Christmas.

Of course, being one to celebrate Christmas can mean a lot of different things. Some focus on Santa and all the giving and receiving of gifts, others (like me) put little energy into Santa and focus on Christ. Either way, there can be a large variety of traditions for someone to follow.

Some open gifts on Christmas Eve, while others read from the second chapter of Luke on Christmas Eve. Some make candy and cookies in preparation for the big day, while others just buy all the seasonal favorites.

And for that matter, what are your character’s seasonal favorites?

Some people like fruitcake while others loth it. What about your character? Some attend church, but only on this special occasion, while others attend year-round. Some participate in pageants and shows, while others avoid them. Where does your character fall?

For that matter, are there other holidays in your story? I have one story that includes Easter break from school, and April Fools Day. Though my main characters only get annoyed at all the pranks people are pulling, but don’t pull any of their own. How would your character act?

Something to consider, isn’t it?

Anyway, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Writing everyone!

Of Time Crunches and Illness by Konnie Enos

This is finals week, and I was working until quite late on my last few assignments and didn't remember today was Wednesday until I got into bed. I was so tired I had trouble keeping my eyes open by that time.

I had talked to Bonnie about possibly covering for me, but, of course, I had been too busy to realize I needed to let her know I wouldn't be able to write the post.

Since I went to bed so late last night, I got up too late this morning to have sufficient time to write a proper post. And I was able to get ahold of Bonnie only to discover she's not feeling well.

So, my apologies. We'll get one up next week.

And Happy Birthday to my son, Tony.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

Karen's and Me

 

There has been a lot on social media about women dubbed as “Karen’s.” I have noted that the physical description of these women is usually on the lines of older, females. Sometimes they even add the adjective, short. In fact, the only part of the descriptions I’ve heard or read is that these women have short hair-cropped hairstyles.

If you don’t know already, Konnie and I are short, middle-aged women. The only difference is that we both have long straight hair, and we are polite. We’re also smart enough to know the difference between a store employee and a fellow customer, unlike a lot of these “Karen’s.”

I just wonder if they need eyes checked, or maybe their head examined, considering all the stores I’ve ever been to the employees all wear either a vest or an apron with the store logo on it and they also have a name tag, also with the store logo on it.

How can anybody mistake a customer for an employee?

I read one where a couple with a young baby were shopping together, but the baby was fussy, so the father was scurrying around getting their groceries and taking them back to his wife who was standing by their cart rocking the baby. He still wearing his coat, and not wearing anything with the store logo on it, but this rude woman ordered him to stop “helping” his wife and help her!

He wasn’t dressed like an employee! What more clue do you need that you were in the wrong woman? I mean, I am a middle-aged woman, and I’m short, but I would never accost anyone, let alone a fellow customer, to assist me.

I’m not saying I don’t ask for assistance; I occasionally do. My method is to look for the closest adult and say, “Excuse me, could you help me for one second?”

You wouldn’t believe how much help you can get that way!

Actually, I read one of those “Karen” stories where a short older woman was trying to reach something on the top shelve and this genuinely nice taller man saw her and offered to reach it for her.

She was in the middle of thanking him when another woman started scolding him for lollygagging and demanded he help her too or she would complain to the store manager and get him fired.

We all know where that went. I’ve met a lot of people like that. I’ve had tons of people offer to help me when I’m not even looking for help. There was one time, I saw what I needed, and I started to stand up out of the electric cart I always use when a woman shopping nearby ran over to me saying, “Let me get that for you!”

Of course, I thanked her, but no “Karen” showed up. I have never met a “Karen.” I’m not sure they exist here. Idaho is mostly nice people.

This brings me to the worst “Karen” story I’ve ever read was about a guy in a wheelchair. This man wore a yellow safety vest, for his safety, and the nearby store he frequented also had their cart wranglers wearing such a vest, as in out in the parking wrangling carts, but theirs had black trim and the company logo, unlike his.

Well, this guy is in the store with a basket of groceries in his lap when a “Karen” approached. At first, she tried clearing her throat to get his attention, but as he wasn’t an employee, he didn’t pay attention. She escalated to grabbing his wheelchair and spinning him around to face her.

That terrified him to the point he went into a panic attack and couldn’t respond, couldn’t find his voice, so she proceeded to push him, against his will, to the store service desk.

Luckily, he was such a frequent customer that the store employees and manager knew him. One of the salesclerks upfront called security the second he saw that woman pushing this guy’s wheelchair.

This encounter ended with “Karen” being arrested for assault because it isn’t just rude to grab an occupied wheelchair without the occupant’s consent it constitutes assault. That Karen did time.

But what I don’t get is how women who are supposed to be in my age group can be so rude? Didn’t their parents teach them any manners? Didn’t they ever learn that even stock boys and janitors deserve respect as fellow human beings?

By the way, I’m writing this post because my brother-in-law is in the hospital again, ergo Konnie couldn’t write her post this week.

I hope you get better soon, Jerry!

Happy Writing everyone!

My Age and Nano by Bonnie Le Hamitlon

 

How young do I look? I am serious here; how young do I look to you?

I’m asking because the other night I ended up taking my sister-in-law to the emergency room. Now, you need to know that my sister-in-law is only about three months younger than me and Konnie’s big sister, Jacki, AKA Dictionary. They were born the same year.

So, I took my sister-in-law, Shirley, to the ER the other day because she’d taken a fall (yes again) and passed out for a time. And this happened to me.

I had helped Shirley inside at the door, then went to park my car, when I joined her at the registration desk, the lady there glanced my way and asked Shirley if I was her daughter!

I said, “Come on, I don’t look that young, do I?”

This lady excused her faux pas because the masks we had to wear hid tons.

I simply pointed out that Shirley wasn’t old enough to be my mother.

But that wasn’t the last of it. Once we got to the exam room (and could take off our masks) the nurse walked in, glanced at me, and asked Shirley if I was her daughter.

Now come on! I do not look that young!

Yes, my hair was in a ponytail, just as it is in the picture above, but I have definitely aged over the years, just like everyone does. Okay, so I don’t show my age as much as others do, but that is just ridiculous.

Though I admit it isn’t the first time someone has considered me the daughter of the woman I was with when the woman I was with was only a year older than me.

The first time it happened, I was in Downtown I.F. with Jacki, and she ran into someone from her past, they spent several minutes catching up, then that person asked if I was Jacki’s daughter. Boy was Jacki mad!

Which seemed funny, since when Jacki was in her mid-teens, she’d been in downtown Poky with our mother, and they ran into someone our mother knew from work, that someone asked if Jacki was our mother’s sister.

Jacki had felt it was cool that an adult thought she was an adult too.

It had never once dawned on Jacki that looking older than you are at fourteen or fifteen usually means that you’re going to look older than you are at forty plus. (At this point she is now sixty.)

On the other hand, Konnie and I always could pass for younger than we are, which frankly came in handy being behind in school. But even still, our junior year, after moving to Tacoma Washington, I had someone think I was still in junior high!

Okay, I admit, it was January, and I did have my warm enough for Idaho winter's coat on, so that did cover my build, but still, I can’t possibly look that young! I was eighteen back then, not fourteen.

But over the years few people have ever guessed my age correctly.

There was once a lady who came within five years of my age, but she admitted she guessed higher than she normally would have guessed because I was there (this happened at Lagoon, which is a theme park near Salt Lake City back before I got married) with a bunch of clear young adults.

The people in my group ranged in age from pushing thirty to barely twenty-one, and I was not the youngest one there, I was in fact twenty-three.

The lady said I had been there in a group that was a mix of ages, she’d have assumed a “family outing” and guessed me to be a younger teen than what she had guessed.

I wasn’t even a teen!

I can think of plenty of other instances where people had my age all wrong.

I once mentioned my husband went to high school with my youngest uncle, and the lady I was speaking to said, “I thought he was quite a bit older than you!”

There was another lady present for that interchange whose husband is ten years older than her; Tom wasn’t even four years old when I was born, at least not quite. His birthday is in August. He’s not that much older than me, but then neither was my uncle. He was five when Konnie and I were born.

And I can’t tell you how many times someone has been shocked when I revealed my age! And that was even recently.

So anyway, how old do I look?

Happy writing everyone!

PS. I did finish Nano this past Saturday. How did the rest of you do?

Of Grand Stories and Elaborate Tales by Konnie Enos

A few years ago, my youngest son, Royce, came to me and wanted to tell me all about this new show he found and loved to watch.

I let him tell me about the adventures of Smith and Regg. That first one was about how Regg hoodwinked an unsuspecting Smith into helping him with his mission. Regg is something of a spy. Poor Smith was a very bookish accountant or something like that. They became quite the spectacular team, a la “Scarecrow and Mrs. King.” Their stories were entertaining and funny.

As time went on, he continued telling these tales and added other starring characters in this universe, The Grand Oracle and his friend LuLu (better known as Lucifer). His description of LuLu was a very tall, thin guy in a red suit (think three-piece and tailored). He’s also one of the good guys despite having a considerable temper issue. Namely, he abhors anyone so much as scaring an innocent child. As such, he is a terrific babysitter because if anyone even attempts to kidnap the kid, they’re toast. Kill a kid, and you will spend eternity feeling his wrath.

The Grand Oracle is probably the best character in the bunch. His usual form is that of a young man/older teen. But if you question his age or say he’s young, he could display a temper even LuLu would avoid provoking. Ask his age, and he’ll say “old, very, very old.” He’ll even tell you he’s older than Earth since he’s lived through the life span of 16 separate universes. (Or something like that.) He does have his quirks, but I think the best one is, he gets into his scraps and adventures because he’s bored. When he’s bored, he pretty much does anything that comes along to have something to do for a day or two.

Smith, that bookish accountant, is brilliant and created his own AI and security system, both personal and his home. He also got married and had a daughter, who later married and had a daughter. So the story went on for a couple of generations.

Then, of course, there is the family of dragons that live at Smith’s place. There are four of them: Mom, Dad, and their son and daughter.

Every story he told me was elaborate, full of detail, and usually hilarious. I got to where I liked him telling me what they were up to this time, and he would occasionally mention that he was looking forward to the next issue being out.

I got busy, and he’d come to me with his tales of Smith, Regg, The Grand Oracle, LuLu, and their friend less and less often. I even got to the point of thinking about looking them up to watch some of these great shows myself. Since Royce likes Japanese-style cartoons, I figured it was something similar and didn’t think it’d be hard to find. I just never bothered looking. Mostly because I already knew the stories thanks to Royce’s colorful storytelling.

Yesterday evening, not long after I’d returned home (that’s another story), Royce told me he had to confess. I could not figure out what he wanted to admit, but he told me his brother’s friend discovered his secret by searching online.

I’m confused. What secret and what did he find online?

Folks! HE MADE IT ALL UP! There is no show about Smith, Regg, The Grand Oracle, or LuLu!

Every story. All that detail. Everything my son created that whole universe!

We have told him he has to write every story down now.

He is resistant to this. Not only because he has been spinning these tails for a couple of years but because he insists he can’t read or write.

He can, but like his dear mother, he can’t spell. He’s also unsure of the grammar. My daughter, Melinda, suggested he start recording them.

So our task now is to convince this creative young man to get his stories on paper so that they can be published and presented to a larger audience.

But mostly, I’m blown away. He is my one child who has displayed the least interest in weaving tales, but he is exceptionally talented at it.

So the universe creating storytelling bug has struck all my children. We only have to convince Royce that he is imaginative and talented too.

We can also thank him for this post.

Due to yesterday being our 31^st anniversary, my mind had been on what I would be doing to celebrate. What did I end up doing? Visiting my husband in the hospital. That’s where I had come home from when Royce dropped this bombshell on me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

 

Nano and Other Things by Bonnie Le Hamilton

 

As you know, this is November, better known to writers around the world as Nano. I am yet again trying to accomplish this challenge. For those of you who haven’t heard of National Novel Writer’s Month (better known as Nano) it is a challenge to write fifty thousand new words toward a new novel in the month of November.

It is a challenge, especially when you haven’t been writing regularly in the months leading up to this, but I did have an excuse most of the time. Not just my work schedule, but my old computer dying on me last month.

(Yes, folks, I have a new computer. Thankfully.)

Its nice that this computer will work with me, instead of fighting me. With my old computer, I had to hit buttons several times for it to do anything  at all, and it would take multiple times to highlight any text so I could copy it. (Let alone it wouldn’t highlight all of what I needed.) I was constantly taking longer just to get my post from word to our blogsite than to write it and that was driving me crazy, but I was trying to make do with it, because I didn’t want to spend any extra money right now.

In the end I didn’t have choice.

I needed a working computer.

And this one is fantastic!

Would you believe I can start to type some phrases and longer words and my computer will, on its own, fill in the rest. I just hit the tab key when it does that for me to skip to the next word. I’ve never seen anything like it before, but its great. Some of the longer words, I don’t need to try to remember how to spell it, the computer will do it for me!

On another note, I am doing great on the Nano. I reached the halfway point a few days ago and am on track to finish early (per my usual).

Of course, I have had some extra time on my hands since I stopped working at DI at the end of last month but the new program, I applied for has yet to place me in a position. So, I’ve all day to waste and I promise, while I am doing well with my writing, my screen time on my phone is way up too.

I really need to curb that.

Also need to wrap what Christmas presents I do have, figure out what I still need, and get those gifts going out of town shipped this month.

Does anyone have gift ideas for a few of the men on my list?

If it were Tom, I could manage. Mostly because he was good about giving me a wish list. But also because I have a knack for seeing things someone I know would love and, well, I think about that person. So, if I think about that person, it’s a great gift for them.

I just wish it would happen more often with men like my one sister-in-law’s husband, Claire’s husband, and well, Konnie’s husband and one son. The other one I hope I finally picked the right gift for him. I did think about him when I saw it. So, that is a good sign.

And it would be nice if I were better at finishing projects, because I did start a gift for Konnie’s husband a couple of years ago and I still haven’t finished it. Yeah, that’s me, started but never finished. Is it any wonder I have so many more unfinished WIPs and only a handful of finished WIPs?

I’m counting myself lucky I actually got to “the end” as many times as I have. By the way, I believe my number of finished WIPs is six, but don’t quote me on that, I’m not looking at my list and for once my computer isn’t helping me.

I’ll figure it out, new system and all.

And I would write more right now, but I do have other things to do. Like write my newest WIP.

Are you doing Nano this year?

If so, comment your username on the Nano site and I’ll make you one of my buddies.

My username is FaithfullSpirit2. Look me up.

Happy writing, everyone!

Of Jury Duty or Not by Konnie Enos

Quite recently my income earning, therefore tax-paying, not to mention registered voter, son received a jury summons.

When he got his mail that day he came to me ranting about being called and asking if he could just ignore it. Not a good idea. Jury duty is mandatory but what consequences you’ll receive for ignoring one differs by the jurisdiction it’s for, local, state, or federal. The consequences range from receiving another summons for a different date, up to criminal penalties, including fines and up to 180 days in jail.₁

I explained to him that it was his civic duty.

He was not happy as he grumpily left my room and I heard no more about it until several weeks later. When he again came to talk to me. “You guys might have to take Andrue into work Tuesday.”

“Why? Why aren’t you going to work that day?” Tony has been driving Andrue to work since Tony does have a driver’s license and a car. But now they are also both on the same shift. Not to mention how close Andrue lives to us.

“I don’t know if I’ll be working that day.”

“Why not? Are you sick or something?”

 “No. I might have to report for jury duty. I find out Monday.”

Oh, yeah. Been there. “Okay.”

As it turned out, he didn’t have to report to jury duty.

Then I recently read something else about the writer getting out of jury duty because they had a nursing baby. Now I’m not sure about all jurisdictions, but in some, taking care of small children, especially nursing said child, is an automatic exemption from duty.

Oregon is one state that does give this exemption.

I know, because technically I got it.

While we were living there, I received a jury summons (i.e. before our boys were born). In this particular jurisdiction, they requested you hold three specific months for possible service.

I looked over the paperwork. Among the exemptions to serving would be a hardship in some way or you were a nursing mother. Technically I wasn't nursing. However, my third child was due in the middle of those requested months. So I would be nursing. Then again, this was my third child. Not only that, but I provided childcare for my sister-in-law. So at some point, I’d have primary responsibility for five girls under 6. Three in diapers/pull-ups and one of those I’d be nursing.

I let them know all of the above.

I never heard from them again.

I also know you can be released from serving for extenuating circumstances. One of those is not currently living in the area where you are registered to vote, such as being away for college. In my case, the first time I ever received a jury summons, I had only been on my mission about a month when my mail from home caught up to me. Yeah, I wasn’t anywhere near my home state and couldn’t return for about a year and a half.

So I received a jury summons in my mid-twenties and again in my mid-thirties.

Now I’ve had people tell me they’ve had multiple jury summons and even served a few times. And that’s including that a federal summons will exclude you from being called for several years after you've served.

So as the years went by I wondered when I’d get called again.

Now, mind you. Unlike the majority of people I’ve heard talking about it, I’m not opposed to serving. And ‘third times the charm’ so I have always figured I’d serve eventually.

Well, in my mid-fifties, I did get that third summons. Okay, I’m completely available. Jerry could deal with any appointments or anything the kids needed while I was serving. I did the paperwork and was notified when I’d have to check to see if they still needed me. I discussed it with Jerry so he was prepared for me being busy during that time.

Then before I got another notice. I was no longer needed. Because I was willing to serve on a federal jury that still exempts me for at least a year. It’s been longer than that so I’m wondering when I’ll be called again since they’ve been so few and far between.

I had about a decade between my first two calls, and two decades between the second and third call. If my fourth call is three decades after the last one I’ll be in my mid-eighties when I get it. At this point, I’m wondering if I’ll ever serve on a jury.

How many times have you been called for jury duty? And thank a vet for their military service.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.