Why Teach Literature

One of the duties of my day job is to write a blog.  Today I posted an entry entitled Why Teach Literature, a subject near and dear to me.  The new Common Core Standards of English call for public schools to increase nonfiction reading, so that by senior year 70% of reading material be nonfiction.  In effect literature is being driven from the high school curriculum.  Read Why Teach Literature for my reasons why this is unacceptable, and let me know what you think.

Keeping It Real at The Jot 'Em Down Store with Lum and Abner

Which comes first:  plot or character?  I say most good stories are character driven and that plot comes from character.  If you're a writer struggling with character development, one of the best examples of character-driven drama that I can point to is the old radio program, Lum and Abner, which aired from 1931 to 1954.  If you've never listened to radio drama/comedy, you've missed out on one of the most entertaining of all art forms.  Created by Chet Lauck (Lum) and Norris Goff (Abner), Lum and Abner centers on two old backwoodsy men who own and operate The Jot 'Em Down General Store in the fictional town of Pine Ridge, Arkansas.  The real town of Waters, Arkansas, which served as inspiration for Pine Ridge, actually had its name legally changed to Pine Ridge in 1936.

Lum and Abner's fictional exploits stem from the unusual characters that they are.  Lum, pretentious with dreams of being a big man, considers himself president of the Jot 'Em Down Store and serves as the town's justice of the peace.  Lum often ventures into new enterprises with the hopes of making a big splash on the world.  Often his schemes are attempts to make a lot of money, attempts which are usually foiled by Squire Skimp, local flim flam man.  Other schemes are attempts by the old bachelor to woo the newest in a long line of school marms with whom he has fallen hopelessly in love.  In one series of episodes within the span of a couple of months Lum falls in love with Miss Fredericks, opens a library, becomes a lion tamer and a fight manager, and starts a bakery.  His side kick Abner is a simpler sort with a literal turn of mind and a much more practical nature than Lum.  It is Abner's misunderstanding of most of what Lum says that drives much of the humor, humor that is more innocent than that of contemporary drama, but is actually quite hilarious and surprisingly stands up to the passage of three-quarters of a century.

In addition to doing the voices of Lum and Abner, Lauck and Goff voiced all of the other characters.  Lauck was Cedric the village idiot and Grandpappy Spears, the feisty old cuss who hangs out in the store to play checkers and gossip with Abner.  Goff was most of the other characters including Squire Skimp and Dick Huddleston, the voice of reason amidst all of the eccentric characters in town--think Andy Griffith in Mayberry.  Lauck and Goff went on to act in several Lum and Abner movies and even filmed a t.v. pilot though the television program never came to fruition.  The Andy Griffith Show, which employed several  Lum and Abner writers, is an homage to the old radio program.  Howard McNear (Floyd the barber) was a regular guest star on Lum and Abner, and Opie and Gomer were named after Opie Cates and Gomer Bates of Lum and Abner fame.  Norris Goff even appeared as a shop keep in the sixth season of The Andy Griffith Show.

Lum and Abner originally aired before I was even born, but the old radio program began playing in syndication on radio stations around the country back in the early seventies when we were living in Pennsylvania.  My father, who had listened to radio shows in his boyhood, introduced me to Lum and Abner.  When we moved to Illinois a few years later, we found several southern Illinois stations that aired the syndicated Lum and Abner, and we followed the show as faithfully as any television sitcom.  Years later, in 1989, I moved to Ohio and found a station in Portsmouth that was still running Lum and Abner.

In the nineties I became a card-carrying member of The National Lum and Abner Society and bought up all of the extent Lum and Abner episodes on audio cassettes.  The episodes run for about 15 minutes a piece, and I like listening to one or two of them while cooking or driving.  Today anyone can listen to the program online:  For some good old-timey fun, click here.  To get the flavor of Lum and Abner, I recommend starting with episode #261 (10/9/41) "Lum's Infatuated with Miss Fredericks" and listening through at least episode #290 (11/27/41) "The Petition of the Lion."  By the way, grade-school children (being less jaded than their older siblings) will probably love Lum and Abner.  My own daughter used to listen to the program at bedtime.

This you tube link is the traditional Lum and Abner Christmas story that aired every Christmas of the show's run beginning in 1933.  The story takes place in Pine Ridge, but reflects Bethlehem's nativity story.

Out of Africa

If you've been reading my blog, you know that I have been hoping to get visitors from Africa, thus giving me readers from every continent (save Antarctica).  Pop open the champagne.  Last week the fruitcake files was visited by a reader in Uganda, one in Egypt, and two in Morocco.

Incidentally, my current top three entries are "The Blood of the Children," "Grimm's Tales," and "Interview with Dan Boehl."

April Pilkunnussija

It's April Fool's Day and a perfect day to write about my particular foolish idiosyncrasy.   I am a pilkunnussija, as the Finnish say, which is a person who corrects grammar excessively.  I always have been a bit of a pilkunnussija.  I can remember laughing at a friend's grammatical error way back in second grade.  Though I no longer find it funny when someone makes a grammatical mistake and am fairly tolerant as far as the spoken work is concerned, I do have a few pet peeves with grammar in written form, especially in publication.  I mean copy editors are getting paid to make sure a piece of writing is grammatically correct, so, damn it, copy editors of the world:  Know your trade!  Following are some of my grammatical pet peeves:

1. Use of the word "utilize" when the writer means "use."  "I am going to utilize my basement for a man cave" is vastly inferior to "I am going to use my basement for a man cave."
2. "Less" used for "fewer."  If you can count it, the correct word is "fewer."  If the item is not countable, then "less" is correct.   "I have fewer cookies than you, but you have less ice cream."
3. Incorrect use of colons.  Just because your sentence contains a list does not mean a colon is required.  A colon should never separate a noun from its verb, a verb from its object, or a preposition from its object.  "The colors of the flag are: red, white, and blue" is not correct.  "The flag has three colors:  red, white, and blue" is correct.  When in doubt, leave the colon out.
4. Double possessives.  When a possessive takes an apostrophe, it replaces the word "of."  If the word "of" is retained, no apostrophe is necessary.  Correct:  "Larry is Sam's friend" and "Larry is a friend of Sam."  Incorrect:  "Larry is a friend of Sam's." (Sam's what?)
5. See picture above.

Happy April Fool's Day.  Love to hear some of your grammatical pet peeves.  Please share them.

The Joy of Discovering Good Blogs

Since I started working part time, I don't have nearly enough time to do things that are just fun, like looking for and reading new blogs.  In fact, it's an effort just writing mine once or twice a week.  Sometimes I stumble upon blogs when doing an internet search.  For instance, last week I was looking for retired Girl Scout cookies, in particular, forget-me-nots, a granola cookie made in the seventies.  Anyway, one of my hits was 17 Retired Girl Scout Cookies, an entry for the blog List 17.  I think this is an awesome idea for a blog, although, if I'd thought of it, I would have picked my favorite number:  16.  Some of the topics covered in List 17 include 17 Childhood Games from Hell, 17 Best Disney Songs of All Time, 17 Movies to Make You Smile, and 17 Things You Can Do Without.

My circuitous route to List 17 made me wonder how do people find blogs.  Those of you who follow my blog--officially and unofficially--how did you find your way to the fruitcake files?  Leave me a comment and let me know how you got here and tell me about yourself.  I read the bios of my official followers--and, at long last, I welcome you all.  I would have done so sooner, but I'm not savvy enough to leave you a message via the internet--and, believe me, I did try.  Also, I'd love to hear about other blogs that you read.  So next time you stop by, take the time to leave a comment and share.  I promise I'll reply to everyone who leaves a comment.

Recent Blog Stats

I haven't enjoyed the last couple of books I've read and haven't seen any new movies lately, so, while I fish around for something to review, I thought I'd share recent blog stats.  Since posting my Interview with Dan Boehl on November 11, 2011, it has been the most visited of all my posts.  But yesterday Grimm's Tales (November 5, 2011) surpassed Dan to become the the fruitcake files favorite post.  Four of the top ten posts are from this year:  Facebook Time Travel (February 9, 2012), Spend Valentine's Day with Cary Grant, Harrison Ford, Colin Firth, or Johnny Depp (February 13, 2012), The Blood of the Children (January 16, 2012), and Drinking Rum with Johnny Depp (February 17, 2012).  Following are the top ten posts:

Grimm's Tales
Interview with Dan Boehl
Facebook Time Travel
Spend Valentine's Day with Cary Grant, Harrison Ford, Colin Firth, or Johnny Depp
The Blood of the Children
In Defense of Chop Suey
Harry's Makeover
Tom and Huck Down on the Farm
Solid
Drinking Rum with Johnny Depp

Other hard hit posts this past month include:

Goodbye Whitney Houston, Jill Kinmont, and Florence Gree
Robbing the Rich and Giving to the Poor
Chinese Cooking in the Year of the Dragon
Summer of Butter Pecan Ice Cream and the Brooklyn Dodgers
No Escape from Stalag 13

Though I'm still waiting for readers from Africa and Antartica, I am getting more readers from the Middle East, Australia, and South America.  Currently, the five countries with the most fruitcake files readers are the U.S., Russia, Germany, the U.K., and Canada.

Interview with Dan Boehl

Naomi and the Horse-Flavored T-Shirt by Dan Boehl is an imaginative dystopian novel set in Endless Ranches, Texas in a post-gasoline world.  One corporation, the factory, controls all of the food supply, and there is only one food:  paste.  Fourteen-year-old Naomi knows something is amiss and sets out to uncover the truth about Endless Ranches.  You can read more about Dan and his writing at http://www.danboehl.com/.  Following is my interview with Dan about his art and his life.

What were your favorite books when you were a kid?

My favorite books were by John Bellairs. Particularly the House with a Clock in Its Walls and the Trolley to Yesterday.  I also loved Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time.  So, anything kind of scary and fantastic.

 

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I was 13 or 14. I had just read The Blue Sword, and I remember sitting on the front porch of my house with a pad and writing, "Kai had a sword." That was as far as I got on that one.

Where do you get your ideas?

My ideas arise from settings.  I grew up in the country outside of Baltimore, MD and York, PA.  Many of my stories have a country attitude.  Naomi and the Horse-Flavored T-Shirt came about because I traded the story to my friend Naomi for a T-Shirt.  I asked her what kind of story she wanted and the book arose from her request.

Why is your first book a novel for teens?

The book just kind of happened to be for teens.  I really liked the style of writing.  It is like spinning a yarn rather than trying to write literary fiction.  It is fun and exciting, and teens are more accepting of the fantastic and the weird.

In Naomi and the Horse Flavored T-Shirt paste is the only food the characters have available to eat.  Until they discover the delicious taste of vegetables and fruits.  (I suppose only the absence of produce would make vegetables taste good to most children.)  Is the paste--I won’t give away its main ingredient--in any way analogous to the overly processed foods Americans consumer today?

Yes, I think paste is a stand-in for the overly processed foods Americans eat and analogous for American consumerism.  But really I just wanted paste to be something discussing and bland.  Something that people accepted because they had no imagination.  Naomi has imagination, and therefore she hates paste and the conformity it represents.

Your novel is set in Texas after all of the oil is used up.  No more gasoline.  What do you imagine the country would be like when there is no more oil?

Well, I think by the time the gasoline runs out there will be electric alternatives for transportation and a better bicycle and mass transit structure.  There is a lot of coal in America, so we are not teetering on an energy crisis, but there needs to be an alternative to gasoline and car culture.  I imagine fewer roads, more trains, and cleaner air.

The paste corporation controls everything to the point that children are indoctrinated with paste propaganda in their schools.  Do you think corporations have undue influence over what schools teach?

The paste propaganda in schools in Naomi is a nod to Fahrenheit 451, one of the great dystopian novels.  I do feel there needs to be less corporate presence in public schools that make junk food and sodas available to kids.  Also, in Texas, there is an ideological debate being waged about what should and should not be taught in science class.  I wanted Naomi to experience this culture in her classroom.

This is a weird question that I read in an interview once, but in light of the purple horse-flavored shirt Naomi wears, I’ll ask it.  If you could be any color, what would it be and why?

I would be two colors: pink and grey. These are my favorite colors. One is soft and pretty, the other soft and strong.

Who is your favorite Beatle?

George.  Is that the right answer?  I like his spiritual mindedness.  Have you seen that interview with him on the Dick Cavett show?  He is amazing when he talks about the Beatles and how he fits in, how he doesn't fit in.

What is your favorite food?

Maryland crabcakes.

What’s the weirdest job you’ve ever had?

I was a high school English teacher in a Baltimore County prison.

What would you do if you weren’t a writer?

I would be a lawyer and I would sue the Maryland Department of Juvenile Justice on behalf of incarcerated teens.

Do you have any advice for people who want to write?

Get up every morning and write 300 words.  Do it 5 times a week.  Get one person to read your work and make sure they are only allowed to tell you good things. 

If you'd like to order the Kindle version from Amazon, click here: 

Naomi and the Horse-Flavored T-Shirt.

"the fruitcake files" Is a Year Old

I can't believe I've been writing this blog for a whole year, but it's true.  I launched "the fruitcake files" on November 13, 2010.  I wrote a post on blog stats on May Day, and I thought the first anniversary would be a good time to revisit stats.

In my first year in the blogosphere, I wrote 77 posts, roughly six a month.  Not too bad.  The top posts (drum roll) are:

Tom and Huck Down on the Farm
A Christmas Movie
In Defense of Chop Suey
Harry's Makeover
Solid
Celebrating the Winter Solstice Full Lunar Eclipse
Harry's Law
Grimm's Tales
Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
Blog Stats

Given that Harris and Me is one of my favorite books, I'm not surprised that Tom and Huck is the most read post, but I confess I didn't expect my interest in chop suey to be shared by so many.  I'm pleased to see that I'm not the only one who still likes The Mod Squad (Solid), and I'm glad that others agree that Harry's Law, which I confess I still watch, took a wrong turn this season with its makeover.

Recent posts that have been hard hit in addition to the above list include:

Thirteen Halloween Movies
Veteran's Day 11/11/11
Aliens Among Us
The Galloping Hessian of the Hollow
Banned Books 
You Gotta Walk That Lonesome Valley
I Love Lucy and Ethel
Uncle Bill Knows Best
$200 A Day, Plus Expenses

Readers come from every continent save Africa and Antarctica.  I'm not holding out much hope for Antarctica--though it is the world wide web and those stationed down there do have computers, don't they?--but I sure would like to add Africa to my hit list.  The three countries with the most fruitcake readers, in order, are the U.S., Germany, and the United Kingdom.

No discernible thematic connection between today's post and Eric Clapton's "Hello Old Friend."  I just happened to be listening to it while writing today.

Interview with Dan Elish

I recently had the opportunity to interview Dan Elish, author of The Attack of the Frozen Woodchucks, Born too Short:  Confessions of an Eighth-Grade Basket Case, and, his most recent, The School for the Insanely Gifted.   The School for the Insanely Gifted concerns Daphna Whispers' search for her missing mother.  Daphna, a brilliant musician whose music lulls listeners into a trance, is aided by two friends, one a computer genius, the other a gifted actress.  Their search takes them from New York City to the snowy Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa.  You can read more about Dan and his books at http://www.danelish.com/.

What was your favorite book as a kid?

I got hooked on reading in fourth grade.  And my favorite book, and the book that inspired my career more than anything, was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  After college, I came to New York to write shows and music.  When I was twenty-four, I came across Charlie on my bookshelf – it was the only kids’ books I still owned. I read it in a single sitting and immediately determined that I would write a book like that.  Of course, I ignorantly thought that it couldn’t be very hard and that I would write mine in about three months.  Suffice it to say, it took much longer.

What was your favorite subject in school?

This is a weird answer for someone who became a writer, but my favorite and best subject was always math.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

Well, my first interest was to write shows, as in Broadway musicals.  I started playing piano in tenth grade.  My senior year in high school, I got listening to an old record my mom had:  Ella Fitzgerald Sings Rodgers and Hart.  I fell in love with the songs.  In college, I got into writing by writing two musicals.  The first was based on Paul Bunyan. I only got interested in writing books after college. 

What was your first publication?

My first book was The Worldwide Dessert Contest – it’s still one of my favorites.  The book tells the tale of John Applefeller and his epic quest to win the annual Worldwide Dessert Contest held every year in his hometown of Appleton.  Applefeller has a problem, though – every year his desserts change into something else at the last second.  (For instance, his apple French toast have previously changed into knee pads).  As a result, he is the laughing stock of the contest and has earned the special enmity of the head judge, Nathaniel Barkle, who has one of Applefeller’s changing desserts stuck to his face: a giant caramel apple where the caramel turned into a powerful glue.  Eventually, Applefeller travels to a tropical island, Iambia (where everyone speaks in rhymes), in search of a magical pie chef, Captain B. Rollie Ragoon, who can teach him who to make a non-changing dessert that will defeat the story’s villain, Sylvester S. Sweet, an evil man who wins every years with his double-chocolate-fudge-raspberry-coconut-lime-swirl.

The Worldwide Dessert Contest is still in print and available on Amazon.  Better yet, this fall, it will be released as an ebook – but with a twist.  Throughout the text there will be links to songs I wrote for the musical version of the book.  Should be fun.

How did it feel getting published?

It was a big thrill.  I was pretty obsessed with writing The Worldwide Dessert Contest.  I made all my friends read it.  I rewrote it a million times.  The plot changed a lot.  The first drafts had a mythical animal called a hoogar who had the body of a leopard and the face of a monkey and wings.  That got cut.  Finally, I got accepted to the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference in Vermont.  I can’t say enough about going to places like that.  Often, other writers are very generous if they think you’re ready.  It was through contacts that I made at Bread Loaf that I was introduced to my first editor, Richard Jackson.

Why do you write for teens?

Because teens are so passionate.  They are depressed or ecstatic.  In love or a seething mass of misery.  But more than teens, I really like writing for middle grade kids who are young enough to fully appreciate a zany story, but old enough to read about real characters.  In a book like The School for the Insanely Gifted I really enjoyed making up the weird stuff: Harkin’s flying Thunkmobile, the chewing gum computer – things like that.

In The School for the Insanely Gifted two of your characters are computer geniuses.  Are you a bit of a computer genius, too?

Uh, no.  Not even remotely.

Several of the characters are ambitious and competitive to the point of dishonesty, while one has dropped out of the human race and has absolutely no ambition.  Is that lack of ambition a virtue or a fault?

This is an interesting question.  I think a total lack of ambition could be considered a fault.  I do think that people are ultimately happier and more productive members of society when they desire something they are willing to work for.  On the other hand, unbridled ambition can be a disaster – that can lead to wanting something so badly that competitive feelings ruin the joy of doing whatever it is that you enjoy.  In the case of Ignatious Peabody Blatt it can also lead to a twisted life of crime.

Do you think that everybody has an insane gift—even if they have yet to discover it?

I’m not sure if everyone has an insane gift.  Then again, what really is an “insane” gift? Mozart?  Van Gogh?  If that’s the standard, then no – barely anyone has that kind of gift.  But I do think that absolutely everyone has certain real gifts.  Part of life is about finding the time to cultivate whatever they are.

What would you do if you weren’t a writer?

Actually, I would do what I already do: teach piano.  If anyone out there is looking for lessons in New York City, I’m your man.

What’s the weirdest job you’ve ever had?

The summer between freshman and sophomore year in college I had a job photographing garbage on the streets of New York.  The goal was to use the photos to get store owners to clean up.  I don’t think it worked.

Tell us a little about your family.

My immediate family includes my wife, Andrea, my daughter, Cassie (third grade) and my son, John (kindergarten).  Both kids go to public school in the city and are in a dual language French class – that means half the day is in French and half in English.  It’s fantastic, except my wife speaks French and I don’t.  Which means that in a few years my entire family will be able to talk about me in front of me.  Not looking forward to that.

What’s your favorite food?

My favorite food is mocha chip ice cream. Otherwise known as java chip ice cream. As a kid my brand of choice was Howard Johnson’s. Now it’s Starbucks. I’m obsessed with it. It is a daily struggle not to eat an entire gallon.

Who is your favorite Beatle?

This is the greatest question I’ve ever gotten.  I was born in 1960 and grew up with the Beatles.  The first movie I ever saw was A Hard Days Night.  I love them.  I remember the moment when my brother told me that Paul was dead.  I cried when they broke up.  So I can’t pick just one.  I will say this:  There is no greater joy in life than reading a chapter of The School for the Insanely Gifted while listening to I Am the Walrus.  Try it sometime.

Do you have any favorite television programs or movies?

Favorite all time movie: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.   Favorite TV show: ALIAS.

What are you working on now?

Right now, I’m trying to get another idea for a book.  I’m also working on a musical that is based on one of my other books Nine Wives, a novel for grown-ups, published in 2005).  I’m also working on a play.

Do you have any advice for people who want to write?

Just do it.  Carve out some time every day, or five days a week, and work a little bit.  Even if you can only devote an hour a day to it, little by little, you’ll churn out a draft.  It sounds obvious, but the key to getting started is to do it consistently.  Don’t be scared.  Produce something.

Objectives on Target

This is the last time I'm going to revisit my 2011 New Year's objectives; after all I'll be making new ones for 2012 before too much longer.  Probably the same ones, but that's beside the point.  Needless to say all my goals were not met, though most were to a certain degree.

I continue to eat 5 fruits and vegetables daily.  Great time of year for it, too:  I've been frequenting farmer's markets for tomatoes, beans, corn, and peaches.  Plus, I still drink V-8 several times a week.   And, while I haven't given them up entirely, I am limiting my sweets to a few a week.

About two months ago, I took on a part-time job, which has cut into my writing time.  I do try to post on my blog at least once a week, but I have not worked on my play since.  On the flip side, though I have less time for my own writing, there is some writing involved on the job, which does keep my skills honed.  I'm also learning some things about graphics art, all tricks that I can use--and have--for my blog.

There are other benefits to the new job.  More money obviously.  The plan is to save all of my salary and live off of my husband's.  And we are still trying to curb the spending, though I must confess my Diet Pepsi addiction has not abated.  One of the best benefits of the job is that it forces me to exercise every day.  Rather than drive, I ride my bike to and from work, about four miles round trip, which takes me about forty minutes a day.  Once winter comes, I'll have to switch to commuting by automobile, but at that point I'll exercise on the stationary bike after work.

Clearly, the objective I need to work on most is carving time out of my schedule to do some creative writing.  I expect that when my son goes back to school next week, I'll be able to write in the morning after he leaves or in the afternoon before he comes home.  Additionally, we'll institute a quiet period after dinner--meaning no t.v., no video games, no web surfing--when all three of us can read, write, or study.  Then maybe I can finally finish the play I've been working on or start a completely new project.  Wish me luck on that front!

My Very First Blogger Award

         

Hi everyone!

I want to thank Jennifer at http://jennyleeyoung.blogspot.com/ for presenting me with the Stylish Blogger Award.  Thank you so much:  I am honored.

The Rules:

1. Thank and link back to the person giving you the award.

2. Share 7 Things About Yourself.

3. Award 10-15 Blogs Who You Think Deserve This Award.

4. Contact these bloggers and let them know about the award.

7 Things About Me:

1. I am a mother of two:  a 29-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old son.

2. I love reading and would do it to the exclusion of all else if I could.

3. My favorite foods are pizza and steak.

4. I like going to the movies almost as much as I like reading.  (I did say almost.)

5. I like watching my son play baseball.  Until he came along, I never watched any sports, but have now gone to many baseball, basketball, and even football games.

6. I am a very funny person.  In another life I was probably a stand-up comic or a court jester.

7. At one time I was fluent in German and French.  But that was many moons ago; I'd need to do some serious studying to brush off those skills.

My 11 Stylish Blogs I pass on this Award to are:

  1. http://kdkbooklove.blogspot.com/

  2. http://www.chefdruck.com/

  3. http://jillsbooks.wordpress.com

  4. http://thenonconsumeradvocate.com/

  5. http://medinger.wordpress.com/

  6. http://orangette.blogspot.com/

  7. http://plantingdandelions.com/

  8. http://www.readalouddad.com/

  9. http://juliezickefoose.blogspot.com/

10. http://www.chicagopizzaclub.com/

11. http://www.rockingranola.com/

I feel like I've been pictured on the cover of The Rolling Stone.

Writing Prompts

George Harrison was once fishing around for an idea for a new song.  While visiting his mother, he pulled a book off a shelf, opened it, and pointed to a random phrase:  gently weeps.  The resulting song, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," is probably the best song on The Beatles, commonly known as the "White Album."

Choosing random words or sentences is a fantastic way to begin writing when you're stuck for ideas.  I once took a playwriting class that had us employ this technique to start a play.  The teacher had us all write a page describing a place.  When we were finished, we passed the description over to the person on our left.  Next our teacher had us call out a series of objects, which he wrote on the chalkboard.  When he'd compiled twenty or so items, he told us to pick two.  Finally, he had us write on three slips of paper three things: a birthplace, a talent, and a physical characteristic.  For each item he passed around a hat for us to put our slips in, and then passed the hat around again for us to take out a slip of paper, so that we each ended up with a birthplace, a talent, and a physical characteristic.

Our assignment was to write a two-character scene set in the place written for us by our classmate.  One of the characters was to possess the three characteristics on those three slips of paper.  Of the two objects we'd chosen from the board, one was to be the goal and one the obstacle of the scene.  Our teacher supplied us with the opening and closing sentences.

I had a description of Bourbon Street in New Orleans; a good speller from Truth or Consequences, New Mexico who had big hands; a record player as the goal with the obstacle being an orange; the opening sentence "They were trying to make us think we'd met at some point," and the closing sentence "It's tragic to think that anyone reaches their potential at 35."

We had two weeks to write the scene.  I put the assignment aside and continued work on a play already in progress.  About four days later I woke up with the entire scene in my head.  I'd never had that kind of experience--and haven't since--and I used the two object technique for the goals and obstacles for each scene of that play, Bourbon Street Spell, which went on to win first place in the 2005 Firehouse Theatre Festival in Richmond, Virginia.

Sometimes when I'm stuck on a piece of writing, I still employ writing prompts.  I have an Apples to Apples Gamein my office that I sometimes pull three or four cards from in an attempt to get the ball rolling.  If any of you have a creative writing prompt that you'd like to share, I'd love to hear about it.

Blog Stats

I'm having a little trouble finding the next middle school book to review.  (It's times like this I wished I signed up to review picture books; at the very least I could read through a stack of them a lot quicker.)  Yesterday, I read The Westing Game, a 1979 Newbery winner.  It was o.k., but hardly worthy of a Newbery.  I'm sure it was awarded this prestigious medal based on its concept more than its execution.  I certainly don't see too many middle-school students lining up for this one.

So while I hunt around for a new book, let me talk about stats.  No matter how much I say I'm not going to look, one of the things I do every day  is track the stats of my blog:  how many people are reading each day, how many over the course of the month and how many for all time; what are the referring sites and what are the search keywords that lead them to the fruitcake files; which posts are visited most often (A Christmas Movie is the most visited of all-time, RIP Michael Sarrazin is the most visited this past month, The Mod Squad is the most frequented tv post, and Countdown the most frequented book post, followed by Harris and Me, The Outsiders, The Tough Winter, and Moon Over Manifest); and, finally, from which countries do my readers hail.  This morning when I checked my blog's stats I found that someone from Trinidad and Tobago was reading.  How cool is that?  I've had readers from all over the world; my top three countries are all English-speaking countries: the U.S., of course, the U.K., and Canada.  But I've also had visitors from Singapore, Germany, Brazil, Croatia, Israel, India, Pakistan, Australia, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Hungary, Spain, Japan, China, Thailand, and, yesterday, Russia.  No readers from Africa or Antarctica yet, but the rest of the world is pretty well represented.  One thing my blog stats don't tell me is how many of my readers are repeat readers and how many are one-time readers.  I certainly hope most of them visit from time to time.

To my new followers, I welcome you, and to those of you who are reading my blog regularly (whether or not you've signed on as a follower), I thank you, and from all of you I welcome any suggestions on which books you think would lure middle school students away from their video games.

Like My New Year's Objectives, Better Late Than Never

In my last entry on my New Year's objectives I promised, yes promised, to update my progress by April Fool's Day.  As you've gathered by now, I'm not the most disciplined person around, which is why I need to set yearly goals for myself in the first place.  I'm two weeks late, but here I am with my update.

First off, I did manage to clean my entire domicile: scrubbing, sweeping, and dusting.  One mere month later and my digs need cleaning again.  So by this time next month, I expect I'll have cleaned the whole place again.

As to my consumption of produce, I took a hiatus while on spring break in Chicago, where I ate a lot of pizza, Chinese, and Italian beefs, and not so many fruits and vegetables.  But, happily, I'm back home downing my daily V-8 plus three or four servings of whatever else is around, usually a banana, some broccoli, and some salad.

I'm still falling short of my 30 minutes of walking, and I've decided to dust off one of the bicycles in the garage and take it out for a spin every morning.   That sounds like a lot more fun than a morning constitutional, and anything that gets me moving is good.  I even count the housework towards my half hour of exercise.

As far as frugal existence, well, my grandmother saving string I am not.  We seem to be spending a lot of money on takeout food again, a habit we reclaimed while on spring break.  So this month I apply more discipline to saving money by refocusing on home cooked meals and eliminating all unnecessary spending.

In the spirit of saving the best for last, I have finally started work on revising my play.  Inspired by Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life,I've set myself a goal of writing or rewriting one scene a week.

No promises on when I'll report on my progress, but I will do so before school's out.  At least that's the plan.

New Year's Objectives Relaunch

Hedonism and sloth have overtaken my life.  Though I am still eating my vegetables, the less said about my commitment--or lack thereof--to my other New Year's objectives the better.  But I'm nothing if not persistent and a new month means a new chance.  So for the month of March with spring on the horizon I put myself on a daily schedule to achieve my goals; the two I am most determined to launch are walking and writing.  And to these goals I add spring cleaning.  I am going to give our home a thorough scrubbing and purging of unnecessary stuff.  I vow progress towards all my objectives and promise to report on them by April Fool's Day.

New Year's Objectives Revisited

It's the last day of the month and time to take stock on the progress of my New Year's objectives.  Hell, might as well call them what they are:  Resolutions.

1. Stop frittering money away.  I have cut back on spending, but there's still work to be done there.  I can't seem to break the Diet Pepsi-a-day-habit.  Shoot, that alone would save me $12 dollars a week.  At least.  We've eaten lunch at McDonald's a few times, too, which is strictly verboten.  So, by next month I want to see that habit completely broken.  Also, though we usually make pizza at home on Saturdays, we've eaten out the last couple of Saturdays.  Well, nobody's perfect, though that is the goal.
2. Cut back on sweets.  Here, I've been pretty successful.  I do bake a cake or a batch of cookies every week--remember, I'm allowing myself homemade sweets--but most of those go to my husband and son, who is after all 14 and always very hungry.
3. Eat five or more fruits and vegetables a day.  This I've also succeeded in doing.  Yesterday, for example, I had seven:  two of V-8, an orange, a banana, two servings of beets, and a serving of broccoli.  Most days I wouldn't make it without my V-8, of which I always drink two servings.  I love that stuff.
4. Walk 30 minutes.  O.k. I confess I don't do this.  I maybe walk 15 minutes a day on my way to the library, store, or mailbox.  It's just been too cold to be out any longer than this.  I know, I know, I'm a wuss.  But I've had my husband bring our exercise bike in from the garage, so that if the weather is inclement, I can ride that instead of walking.  Now, of course, I don't have the bad weather as an excuse for my obvious laziness.
5. Write 30 minutes on my play.  This is the one I've failed at utterly.  I haven't written a word.  I've thought about it a lot, but not one word of writing.  It's not that I'm blocked, though I may be; I'm just afraid to do it.  What is that all about?  Why are writers always afraid to work?  Fear of failure is probably the root of it for me, but, if I don't make a stab at it, I fail by default.  Well, here's hoping February brings out the bold playwright in me.  I am nothing if not eternally optimistic and full of hope on this front.

I'd love to hear from you readers, if you're still out there, how your resolutions are going.  If you're writers, let me know how you deal with fear.

New Year's Objectives

I make resolutions every year, but I never keep them.  So this year, instead of making resolutions, I'm listing specific objectives that I'd like to pursue daily.  They say that those who write their goals down are more likely to follow them.  Certainly, publishing them online will make me more accountable.  In fact, at least once a month, I'll revisit this list and see how it's working out for me.

1. Stop frittering money away.  Save those nickels and dimes.
2. Cut back on sweets.  If I don't eat processed foods and only eat treats I've made myself, my sugar intake will plummet.
3. Eat five or more fruits and vegetables a day.
4. Walk 30 minutes a day.
5. Write 30 minutes a day on my play.

These  objectives actually work together.  If I'm not eating purchased sweets, I won't be spending a dollar on a candy bar or a bottle of pop.  Not eating sweets will also mean I'm more likely to be snacking on fruit.  Instead of running to the store to buy junk food, I'll take walks, which will stimulate my creativity and aid in the half hour of writing.  And in the big picture, I should get healthier, wealthier, and more productive. We'll see how it works out in the coming months.

Fruitcake Time Again

It's that time of year again:  the fruitcake catalogs and brochures are coming in the mail.  Gethsemani Farms Trappist Monks bake a delicious booze-soaked cake, one of which my husband orders every Christmas.  I used to turn up my nose at those fruitcakes, but after a few years of them being around for the holidays and feeling a little adventurous, I cut off a piece, picked out the raisins, and sampled one.  Not bad.  In fact, it was pretty good.

It was last year at fruitcake time that I decided I would start a blog.  First I had to learn all about blogging, so I read The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging and The Everything Blogging Book.Then I had to decide what I would write about in my blog.  This is where it got a little tricky.  I knew I wanted to review books for middle-school readers.  But I also wanted to blog about writing.  And movies and old television programs.  Maybe music.  Occasionally cooking.  So, like a fruitcake, my blog will have a little bit of everything, and like a Texas fruitcake heavy on the pecans, my blog will be heavy on the middle-school book reviews.  At least that's the plan.

So before another year goes by and the fruitcake beckons again, I begin my blog.