What We Can Learn from the Pope's Visit

I am ridiculously excited about the pope visiting the US, almost to the point of Royal baby watching days of yore. I don't live in an area Pope Francis will visit, and while I am a lifelong Catholic, I don't agree with half the stuff he says.

Love him, hate him, or feel indifferent about him, he is kind of like a superstar. Everyone knows who he is. If they can't recognize him as a man, they can certainly recognize him by how he dresses. He is the leader of the oldest church (or so I am told by my priest). And, Pope Francis is cool.

He reminds me of Pope John Paul II. He was instrumental in bringing change to the Catholic church with the Vatican II, but he also brought something else....public interest. Like Pope Francis, Pope John Paul II had an air to him, a charisma, that people liked. It made people like the church.

The Catholic church has been losing numbers in droves as new generations lose faith in organized religion and scandal marks the church. Pope Francis breathes new life into the church. Nothing major has changed (there still aren't women priests and that contraception thing continues to be ignored by most of the people attending mass), but the perception has. Pope Francis is likable, and the twitter hashtags and emojis make him feel current.

Both Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis prove that it isn't so much the message you bring, but the feeling people have with your presence/message. If you bring a feeling of hope, you may be elected president. If you bring a feeling of love and liberation from rigid practices and evil secrets of the past, people may like you as a pope.

I hope he enjoys his stay in the US. I will be following on Twitter. 

Book Review: To Kill a Mockingbird

More than 50 years after it was first published, "To Kill a Mockingbird" is getting a lot of interest with the release of a new book by author Harper Lee.  This interest is only a reminder that this classic novel is as relevant today as the day it was published with its warmth and delicate handling of racial inequality.  This one is a must read.

The story follows Scout Finch going to school for the first time in Maycolm, Alabama during the Great Depression. This moment in history is captured in perfect detail in the classroom with children with no shoes, no lunches and no baths. Scout and her brother, Jem, become fascinated with a spooky house in the neighborhood and "Boo" Radley, who supposedly has lived inside for years with no one seeing him. Their fascination turns into a friendship of sorts as Jem loses his pants sneaking around the Radley place, only to find them mended on the fence when he comes back for them later and the pair find treasures tucked inside a tree outside the Radley place.

Their father, Atticus Finch is a lawyer who defends a black man accused of rape. There isn't much hope for his client in the atmosphere of time and place, although Atticus provides some convincing testimony of his innocence. The very act of defending Tom Robinson brings repercussions for the Robinson family as well as the Finches.

"To Kill a Mockingbird" has been so successful, winning a Pulitzer Prize and topping the best seller list for many reasons. It is very readable, with relevant topics that are made palpable to children through a very relatable and lovable Scout.

Why Stars Matter

I spent much of August on a lounge chair at midnight, staring at the sky. News reports promised the Perseids meteor shower, which peaked during a new moon phase, would be more visible and more amazing than ever.

Well, they weren't. I saw a meteor or two, but then there were several cloudy nights in a row where I couldn't see a single star. Then I gave up.

Still, it was the best writing time I had in awhile. Perhaps it was the fresh air, perhaps it was being alone with my thoughts staring at nothing for a chunk of time. It reminded me that as important as it is to get the butt in the chair to do the work, it is equally important to stare into space with the promise of seeing something incredible to fuel the brain and get creativity in motion.

The Family Vacation

It has been a few years since we took our family of three sons (ages 16, 13 and 8) on vacation. It was time to brave the open road again. It is expensive to fly five people anywhere, so we packed up the family car for an old fashioned road trip.

Riding in a car with a week's worth of luggage and five people for dozens of hours doesn't sound fun. We were in denial that we would actually do this until the morning we left. We didn't leave until the afternoon to give us time to pack our bags and book some hotels at the last minute.

Traffic was terrible. Maybe it always is, or maybe it is because getting on the road in the afternoon makes it more likely to hit rush hour. The weather was hot and humid, making us wonder why we left the north.

But something happened along the way. As miserable as the trip was at times, we were doing it together, which was the point. All those endless hours in the car led us to create playlists (I didn't even know my car could DO that!) Cramped hotel quarters informed us our oldest son still suffers night terrors. Hokey touristy things led to the greatest jokes.

Sometimes it wasn't so miserable. Sometimes it was great. We were together for that, too.

The family vacation, with its frequent bathroom breaks and questionable food, was a bonding experience. It was us against the elements of long hours in the car without a radio station, traffic, tourists, summer heat on concrete, fast food. We made it out alive, and we wouldn't want to do it with anyone else.

Where Do Writers Get Their Ideas

Where I get my ideas is the second most common question I get as a writer. The most common, curiously, is, "How many pages is your book?" 

I thought I would poll other, more famous authors, who have surely heard this question one million times. 

Stephen King (from Stephenking.com)

I get my ideas from everywhere. But what all of my ideas boil down to is seeing maybe one thing, but in a lot of cases, it's seeing two things and having them come together in some new and interesting way, and then adding the question, "What if?" "What if" is always the key question. 

JK Rowling (from jkrowling.com)

“It was 1990. My then boyfriend and I had decided to move up to Manchester together. After a weekend's flat-hunting, I was travelling back to London on my own on a crowded train, and the idea for Harry Potter simply fell into my head.

I had been writing almost continuously since the age of six but I had never been so excited about an idea before. To my immense frustration, I didn't have a pen that worked, and I was too shy to ask anybody if I could borrow one…

I did not have a functioning pen with me, but I do think that this was probably a good thing. I simply sat and thought, for four (delayed train) hours, while all the details bubbled up in my brain, and this scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who didn't know he was a wizard became more and more real to me.

Perhaps, if I had slowed down the ideas to capture them on paper, I might have stifled some of them (although sometimes I do wonder, idly, how much of what I imagined on that journey I had forgotten by the time I actually got my hands on a pen). I began to write 'Philosopher's Stone' that very evening, although those first few pages bear no resemblance to anything in the finished book.”

Jerry Spinelli (from jerryspinelli.com). 

Jerry gets his ideas from everyday life, memories, his imagination.

Linda Sue Park, (from lspark.com)

From the idea store, of course! 

Just kidding. I get ideas from reading books and articles, listening to people talk, watching TV and movies; from things I see and hear; from sitting around daydreaming. Ideas are everywhere: important thing is to find the ones that interest you. 

What Linda Sue Park does not say is her husband is a journalist. She got her idea for "A Long Walk To Water" from a young man her husband introduced her to. 

By now you are getting a theme. Writers do not have any secrets about where the ideas come from. They come from observations of everyday life, people, experiences. You don’t have to live an extraordinary life to write a great story. You just have to use your imagination and ask yourself, "What if?"  

Book Review: How to Make Your Cat an Internet Celebrity: A Guide to Financial Freedom

I am reviewing a different kind of book this month, mostly because I think it was hilarious and must be shared. My sister pointed me toward this book, by Patricia Carlin (Quirk Books, 2014). I read it in a couple hours and laughed more than I do watching an episode of Seinfeld. Carlin is clever and funny and captures pop culture purrfectly.

I am pretty sure my sis found this book looking for actual advice, as she has a cat cuter than the Grumpy Cat. There are some poignant thoughts about cats as internet sensations in the book, and a lot of silliness that is fun for cat owners and YouTube browsers alike. I could not identify my cat in her analyses of celebrity cat types, but perhaps my cats are not destined for internet fame. Alas my financial freedom will have to be found elsewhere.

Although I have some gems, trying to outdo the Grumpy Cat with my annoyed meezer. Here she is in a party hat!

Don't Forget the Fun

It seems the last couple years I have had my eyes on the screen and fingers moving on the keyboard. I have written, revised, rewritten, studied craft, studied the industry. I've gone to conferences, written pitches, synopses, queries and done all the things we writers are supposed to do.

I forgot to have fun. OK, there was a little bit of fun. When you make up imaginary worlds on a regular basis and move made up people through them, it is a lot like playing with Strawberry Shortcake dolls, except this is serious work with character development and a plot that makes sense and moves at a good pace and don't forget to have tension on every page.

Yeah, I forgot the fun. It is the reason writers get into this business. It certainly isn't for the money. I was reminded of this by the main character in the brand new novel I am writing. She has a huge obstacles to overcome, and sees the sad underside of life, but has the cheeriest, most optimistic outlook I have ever met. She wants me to play, and so I must.

Perfect timing for her to come along as we start summer 2015. Get out and play! This is supposed to be FUN!