Yesterday I called my mortgage company again and they told me they were still "researching" my issue. Now, the issue was that I'd paid off the mortgage but they had no record of that. I had the Fed Wire number for the funds. If they couldn't locate them in 2 days, it's pretty obvious that they weren't trying. So I went to the title company and the woman who handled our closing and I called in together. 40 minutes later we were still on the phone, and the mortgage company found my funds and said they were wired to the wrong account. They tried to tell me that I had to accept a new payoff amount because they wouldn't backdate the payoff. The title company straightened them out on that one. If they have a problem with the title company, they need to take that up with them, not penalize me over this.
What's even more unacceptable here is that the mortgage company didn't much care whether they found my money or not. They literally said to me, "Well, we'll keep looking and let you know if the check turns up." Being late on mortgage payments means my credit first gets dinged, then trashed. Unless I keep making payments on the mortgage that I've already paid off. That is a disaster, not the kind of thing to shrug off. If I was late on a mortgage payment and told them, "Oh, I didn't get your bill. I'll let you know if it turns up," I don't think they'd take too kindly to that.
So, anyway, the funds should be in the right account now. I'll call again Monday to make sure. This company name, incidentally, rhymes with "Ace". Don't go with them for a new mortgage. They've been incompetent my entire relationship with them, from delaying the closing 2 days at the last minute because they hadn't put the paperwork together (I used to do that paperwork as a lawyer, requiring two days means you really don't know what you're doing; it's an hour or two job at most) to misbilling a friend of ours. When the friend paid the amount of the bill, "Ace" applied that amount to principal and then dinged my friend's credit because he "didn't pay the interest on time".
My latest experience is one of those situations where I wonder what normal people do. People who didn't used to do real estate law, have done maybe one or two closings in their life, and who really don't want to have to care about this sort of thing. I suppose they just get taken to the cleaners, their credit totalled. The fact that the "Ace" employees didn't seem to care about this happening to me makes me despise them. Being unabashedly judgmental here, they're bad people.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Last Con?
My son's been to three science fiction conventions, and he is seven months old. What's strange to me is that a few months from now we'll be in London, and probably not attending many cons. Cons have been a part of my life for the past nine years, ever since I graduated from Clarion West and went to my first WorldCon in Philadelphia (the Millenium PhilCon). That was where I met the other members of my writers group, Critical Mass, and where Nalo Hopkinson sneaked us into the Hugo Losers Party (the hardest party to crash at a WorldCon).
Cons are where I got the chance to reconnect with my Clarion West classmates and instructors and meet other writers and aspiring writers. Over time, there was a regular group of us who'd share hotel rooms and go to events together.
This last con I went to was MileHiCon, in Denver, and the experience really has changed over the years. Seven and eight years ago, I'd drive up to the con with Daniel Abraham and share a room with him, Carrie Vaughn, Mike Bateman, and whomever else didn't have a place at the last minute. (Piling as many people as will fit into a room is a long-time con tradition. It allows cash strapped writers to save money.) We'd choose one evening to go to the Tattered Cover Bookstore and then head back to the room for a readers' circle, which was an event that we'd sort of come up with spontaneously. We'd all cram into the hotel room and each of us would read a piece, either a story that had been published (or not) or a fragment of a novel. For once, we didn't offer critiques, only applause. That readers circle included, over the years, me, Daniel, Mike, Carrie, James Van Pelt, Brian Hiebert, Aynjel Kaye, Karen and Barry Fishler, and countless others I can't remember because the readings would go into the wee hours of the morning.
This year was different. The past few years I've paired the con trip with doctors' appointments for Trevor and stayed with friends rather than at the con hotel. Daniel's not always come (though he was there this year). Mike Bateman did not attend because he has a newborn and the swine flu's circulating in Colorado. Brian Hiebert had a stroke over the summer - a big shock to all of us. It was caused by a congenital deformity in the arteries to his brain. He hadn't recovered enough to be there. Karen and Barry, who live in the Pacific Northwest, did not travel out to attend. Aynjel Kaye has fallen off everyone's radar (come back to us, Aynjel! I'll never forget your reading of "Sisters and Sirens"). Carrie is now a big name - she still spends time with us because she's cool like that, but she's got an ever growing fan base and her own late night program every year. Jim Van Pelt attends with his family. The readers' circle is history, and has been for several years.
I attended with my mother, who helped watch my son. That was a lot of fun, showing her the con-culture, and she was an enormous help. On Saturday night after a day at the con, we drove back to Boulder, handed my son off to Trevor, and returned to spend time with Connie Willis in the bar and see Carrie's program.
Obviously, times change. What's bittersweet for me is that for the next three years, I won't see how times continue to change. Not that I regret our decision to move to the UK. That'll be its own adventure. But leaving the American southwest means leaving these friends and colleagues, for a few years at least. They all know they've got a place to stay if they're doing research on Britain for a novel, though. ;-)
Cons are where I got the chance to reconnect with my Clarion West classmates and instructors and meet other writers and aspiring writers. Over time, there was a regular group of us who'd share hotel rooms and go to events together.
This last con I went to was MileHiCon, in Denver, and the experience really has changed over the years. Seven and eight years ago, I'd drive up to the con with Daniel Abraham and share a room with him, Carrie Vaughn, Mike Bateman, and whomever else didn't have a place at the last minute. (Piling as many people as will fit into a room is a long-time con tradition. It allows cash strapped writers to save money.) We'd choose one evening to go to the Tattered Cover Bookstore and then head back to the room for a readers' circle, which was an event that we'd sort of come up with spontaneously. We'd all cram into the hotel room and each of us would read a piece, either a story that had been published (or not) or a fragment of a novel. For once, we didn't offer critiques, only applause. That readers circle included, over the years, me, Daniel, Mike, Carrie, James Van Pelt, Brian Hiebert, Aynjel Kaye, Karen and Barry Fishler, and countless others I can't remember because the readings would go into the wee hours of the morning.
This year was different. The past few years I've paired the con trip with doctors' appointments for Trevor and stayed with friends rather than at the con hotel. Daniel's not always come (though he was there this year). Mike Bateman did not attend because he has a newborn and the swine flu's circulating in Colorado. Brian Hiebert had a stroke over the summer - a big shock to all of us. It was caused by a congenital deformity in the arteries to his brain. He hadn't recovered enough to be there. Karen and Barry, who live in the Pacific Northwest, did not travel out to attend. Aynjel Kaye has fallen off everyone's radar (come back to us, Aynjel! I'll never forget your reading of "Sisters and Sirens"). Carrie is now a big name - she still spends time with us because she's cool like that, but she's got an ever growing fan base and her own late night program every year. Jim Van Pelt attends with his family. The readers' circle is history, and has been for several years.
I attended with my mother, who helped watch my son. That was a lot of fun, showing her the con-culture, and she was an enormous help. On Saturday night after a day at the con, we drove back to Boulder, handed my son off to Trevor, and returned to spend time with Connie Willis in the bar and see Carrie's program.
Obviously, times change. What's bittersweet for me is that for the next three years, I won't see how times continue to change. Not that I regret our decision to move to the UK. That'll be its own adventure. But leaving the American southwest means leaving these friends and colleagues, for a few years at least. They all know they've got a place to stay if they're doing research on Britain for a novel, though. ;-)
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Money matters
Okay, pop quiz. You sell your house, move, get settled, then leave home for a couple of weeks and when you return you're still getting mortgage bills. Worse still, because they are being mailed to your old address, your account is already in collections. What do you do?
That one should be easy. You call your mortgage company. The mortgage company says they've never received the payoff. What do you do next?
That one should be easy, but it may not be for everyone. You call the title company that handled your closing. The title company says they cut the check a month and a half ago. What do you do?
You get a reference number to track the check. If you've got a good title company, they give this to you without asking. You then call your mortgage company with said number. Why do you have to call your mortgage company?
This is important. Only you can access your account information, so even though none of this is your fault, you need to be the one on the phone. The person at the mortgage company tries to transfer you to another department and the call drops. What now?
Keep calling, and calling, until you get to talk to another flesh and blood person. Said person asks for a bunch of information you don't have because your old mortgage statements are in storage. What do you do?
You could go get stuff out of storage, or you could ask to speak to a supervisor. I did the latter and we got my account information that way. After about 20 minutes on the phone with the supervisor, I got her to promise that the issue would be resolved. Now, what should you do before hanging up?
Get her direct phone number and a number assigned to your issue and its progress. What the heck does this have to do with writing?
More than you realize. Bills, mortgages, rent, and other finances are a part of life, and there's a clear line of demarcation between people who get money/customer service/asset management/etc. and people who don't. You can't afford to be someone who doesn't. This morning's exercise reminded me of another case that came across my desk when I was a lawyer. Non-Latter-day Saints (and even some Saints) may not know this, but if you work as a professional, you may be asked by priesthood leaders to counsel people who can't afford your services. You can say no, of course, but I always said yes. Let's run through this like an exercise.
Your mother dies and has a pile of debts. You are the executor of her will, what do you do?
Hire a lawyer, ideally. You can pay their fees out of the estate. If you don't, you must at least know that once you've exhausted the amount of money and assets she had at death, the creditors are out of luck. They can't ask for more money. What this person did was take out a mortgage to pay off the debts. Now, if you take out a mortgage, what do you need to know?
There are a ton of answers here, but let's stick with the basic ones. You need to know that you own the land you are mortgaging. This may sound silly, but if you've got family land that you assume is yours, hire a title company to run a title search just in case. In this case, the person's ancestor had sold the land. You should also make sure you are protected by title insurance (he wasn't), and you need to know the terms of the mortgage. In this case the title company were morons and the bank only found out that he'd mortgaged the neighbor's property when the neighbor complained. Rather than claim the money from the title company, the mortgagee went after the mortgagor (the guy I'm telling this story about) and foreclosed on his property. Now, you're in foreclosure, what do you do?
Try like crazy to pay off the debt. Get a buyer for your land, quick, or take out another loan. You also need to know whether or not your state limits debt collection to the value of the liened property, meaning, once the bank takes your house, can they still come after you? In New Mexico, they can. Say all other options fall through, the home is foreclosed upon. Who now owns the house?
The bank. You have to leave. Again, this may sound simple, this person didn't understand what had happened and was forcibly evicted. What made this case a real nightmare was that before he came to me, eighty five million other people talked to him about it and offered nonsensical advice. The guy had no clue what was going on, and a very long meeting with me didn't remedy that. He still thought he owned his house and that he should get some hired thugs to restore him to it (I did talk him out of that.) I then talked to other friends about the facts (keeping the person's name and other identifying detailes out of it, of course) and was shocked to find out that practically no one understood the scenario. My visiting teaching companion at the time - who is not a stupid person by any stretch of the imagination - got hung up on why the neighbors would be mad, because she thought the mortgage money would go to them "because it was their land". I learned that normal people really don't know much about mortgages, even though most have them.
My point? You can't afford to be a normal person. In fact, nobody can, but people who work project to project without a regular paycheck especially can't. If this kind of stuff scares you, get over that and learn it anyway. Whenever you do *any* kind of financial transaction, learn exactly what it is you're doing and how it works. Drive the loan broker/bank rep/whomever crazy if you have to. Go to their office and make them show it all to you point by point. It wouldn't hurt to take some classes in tax preparation and investing. And keep up the learning. Financial transactions evolve over time. Don't ever be that guy who just lets his accountant take care of it.
I've always prepared my own tax return and managed my own investments. I pay my credit cards off every month and the only debt we have is a mortgage (when we had one) and student loans. All other assets, like cars, we own outright. And no, the fact that my husband and I have had good jobs doesn't guarantee this. Only being on top of matters does. Always make sure you're on top of yours.
That one should be easy. You call your mortgage company. The mortgage company says they've never received the payoff. What do you do next?
That one should be easy, but it may not be for everyone. You call the title company that handled your closing. The title company says they cut the check a month and a half ago. What do you do?
You get a reference number to track the check. If you've got a good title company, they give this to you without asking. You then call your mortgage company with said number. Why do you have to call your mortgage company?
This is important. Only you can access your account information, so even though none of this is your fault, you need to be the one on the phone. The person at the mortgage company tries to transfer you to another department and the call drops. What now?
Keep calling, and calling, until you get to talk to another flesh and blood person. Said person asks for a bunch of information you don't have because your old mortgage statements are in storage. What do you do?
You could go get stuff out of storage, or you could ask to speak to a supervisor. I did the latter and we got my account information that way. After about 20 minutes on the phone with the supervisor, I got her to promise that the issue would be resolved. Now, what should you do before hanging up?
Get her direct phone number and a number assigned to your issue and its progress. What the heck does this have to do with writing?
More than you realize. Bills, mortgages, rent, and other finances are a part of life, and there's a clear line of demarcation between people who get money/customer service/asset management/etc. and people who don't. You can't afford to be someone who doesn't. This morning's exercise reminded me of another case that came across my desk when I was a lawyer. Non-Latter-day Saints (and even some Saints) may not know this, but if you work as a professional, you may be asked by priesthood leaders to counsel people who can't afford your services. You can say no, of course, but I always said yes. Let's run through this like an exercise.
Your mother dies and has a pile of debts. You are the executor of her will, what do you do?
Hire a lawyer, ideally. You can pay their fees out of the estate. If you don't, you must at least know that once you've exhausted the amount of money and assets she had at death, the creditors are out of luck. They can't ask for more money. What this person did was take out a mortgage to pay off the debts. Now, if you take out a mortgage, what do you need to know?
There are a ton of answers here, but let's stick with the basic ones. You need to know that you own the land you are mortgaging. This may sound silly, but if you've got family land that you assume is yours, hire a title company to run a title search just in case. In this case, the person's ancestor had sold the land. You should also make sure you are protected by title insurance (he wasn't), and you need to know the terms of the mortgage. In this case the title company were morons and the bank only found out that he'd mortgaged the neighbor's property when the neighbor complained. Rather than claim the money from the title company, the mortgagee went after the mortgagor (the guy I'm telling this story about) and foreclosed on his property. Now, you're in foreclosure, what do you do?
Try like crazy to pay off the debt. Get a buyer for your land, quick, or take out another loan. You also need to know whether or not your state limits debt collection to the value of the liened property, meaning, once the bank takes your house, can they still come after you? In New Mexico, they can. Say all other options fall through, the home is foreclosed upon. Who now owns the house?
The bank. You have to leave. Again, this may sound simple, this person didn't understand what had happened and was forcibly evicted. What made this case a real nightmare was that before he came to me, eighty five million other people talked to him about it and offered nonsensical advice. The guy had no clue what was going on, and a very long meeting with me didn't remedy that. He still thought he owned his house and that he should get some hired thugs to restore him to it (I did talk him out of that.) I then talked to other friends about the facts (keeping the person's name and other identifying detailes out of it, of course) and was shocked to find out that practically no one understood the scenario. My visiting teaching companion at the time - who is not a stupid person by any stretch of the imagination - got hung up on why the neighbors would be mad, because she thought the mortgage money would go to them "because it was their land". I learned that normal people really don't know much about mortgages, even though most have them.
My point? You can't afford to be a normal person. In fact, nobody can, but people who work project to project without a regular paycheck especially can't. If this kind of stuff scares you, get over that and learn it anyway. Whenever you do *any* kind of financial transaction, learn exactly what it is you're doing and how it works. Drive the loan broker/bank rep/whomever crazy if you have to. Go to their office and make them show it all to you point by point. It wouldn't hurt to take some classes in tax preparation and investing. And keep up the learning. Financial transactions evolve over time. Don't ever be that guy who just lets his accountant take care of it.
I've always prepared my own tax return and managed my own investments. I pay my credit cards off every month and the only debt we have is a mortgage (when we had one) and student loans. All other assets, like cars, we own outright. And no, the fact that my husband and I have had good jobs doesn't guarantee this. Only being on top of matters does. Always make sure you're on top of yours.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Home again
Well, we are home again; we beat the snow that's supposed to blanket the area in a few hours. It turns out that the Call Me widget works, but my cell phone does not. My friend Brent tried it and I wasn't able to accept the call - sorry Brent! Brent's been my friend for nearly 33 years now, though, so he knew I wasn't giving him the brushoff. I wouldn't dare. He's got a picture of me wearing Underoos for a Halloween costume when I was six.
We've also come home to a letter from our mortgage company saying that we're late on our October payment. The house sold in mid-September. Now I'm dreading a long rigamarole, because something in their datakeeping is out of whack and I'm worried that they'll be jerks to us until they get it sorted out. I'll post my snide remarks about the specific company once I get them to stop billing us. (No, it isn't a local broker - all locals reading this needn't worry.)
On a positive note, I think I've got a lot of kinks in this novel I've been freewriting worked out. Tomorrow I'm going to start doing some research on the setting (I'm going to set it in Taos), and then get rolling. With this hurdle cleared, I should have some productive days ahead, until I hit the next roadblock.
We've also come home to a letter from our mortgage company saying that we're late on our October payment. The house sold in mid-September. Now I'm dreading a long rigamarole, because something in their datakeeping is out of whack and I'm worried that they'll be jerks to us until they get it sorted out. I'll post my snide remarks about the specific company once I get them to stop billing us. (No, it isn't a local broker - all locals reading this needn't worry.)
On a positive note, I think I've got a lot of kinks in this novel I've been freewriting worked out. Tomorrow I'm going to start doing some research on the setting (I'm going to set it in Taos), and then get rolling. With this hurdle cleared, I should have some productive days ahead, until I hit the next roadblock.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Call Me Widget
I know, I know, I haven't even responded to comments. Sorry! The Bateman baby is adorable (surprise, surprise) and her parents are doing great. I'm now looking after my husband, who had surgery today to open his airway. This weekend is MileHiCon, and I'll be there on some panels and such, and then many various and sundry Mahs will be in the Denver area for a mini-family reunion. My life has suddenly become very busy and exciting (not normal for me, lol.)
Anyway, I should explain the title of this post. You can call me "widget" if you want, but I probably won't answer. Nor am I demanding that someone named Widget give me a call (I'd have used a comma for that). I'm referring to the new widget I put on this page, at the bottom of the righthand column. That is, indeed, a call me widget. If you click it, you'll be connected to my phone for free (though if you are using a cell, you'll still be charged for airtime.) Feel free to use it if you want to get in touch with me. If I don't answer and you go to voicemail, said voicemail will be transcribed and emailed to me, and then I will either answer you in a timely manner or give you a very good excuse, I promise. When we move to London, this widget will connect to our North American voicemailbox.
All of this is courtesy of Google Voice, www.google.com/voice. Check it out; it's a free service!
Anyway, I should explain the title of this post. You can call me "widget" if you want, but I probably won't answer. Nor am I demanding that someone named Widget give me a call (I'd have used a comma for that). I'm referring to the new widget I put on this page, at the bottom of the righthand column. That is, indeed, a call me widget. If you click it, you'll be connected to my phone for free (though if you are using a cell, you'll still be charged for airtime.) Feel free to use it if you want to get in touch with me. If I don't answer and you go to voicemail, said voicemail will be transcribed and emailed to me, and then I will either answer you in a timely manner or give you a very good excuse, I promise. When we move to London, this widget will connect to our North American voicemailbox.
All of this is courtesy of Google Voice, www.google.com/voice. Check it out; it's a free service!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Colorado Bound
One odd but nice thing about not being a homeowner, I can announce my trips on my blog. Before, it was a public announcement that my home would be vacant, now it's just me getting out of my dear parents' hair for a while.
Fellow writer and Clarion West grad Michael Batemen and his wife welcomed a new baby earlier this month, and I get to go see her! I'll be heading up to help out with all the mundane chores that people welcoming babies into the world shouldn't be doing, like vacuuming and cooking, etc. along with shouldering part of the baby caring load - whatever they need to get rested and have some time to themselves. My son is a very mellow baby, so this shouldn't be a total disaster (though if it is, I have other friends in the area I'll recruit to make it work).
My sister and her husband and baby have been in town all weekend, and so I'll actually caravan up to the Denver area with them. I expect I'll be up there from tomorrow on through MileHi Con, which is the weekend after next - longer if I'm needed, but by then the Batemans will have other family in town.
During this time, I may not be blogging much, and my dragons might need some extra visits and love. If you are a dear friend and have a major event happen that I miss in the next couple of weeks, please do email and forgive me for being out of touch for a while.
But yes, I will keep writing. This is why I write on a netbook; I carry it everywhere so that I can jot down lines in little snippets of time that I can spare. And, for all you fans of Michael Bateman, yes, I will consider tormenting him if he isn't writing - once he's rested up again.
Fellow writer and Clarion West grad Michael Batemen and his wife welcomed a new baby earlier this month, and I get to go see her! I'll be heading up to help out with all the mundane chores that people welcoming babies into the world shouldn't be doing, like vacuuming and cooking, etc. along with shouldering part of the baby caring load - whatever they need to get rested and have some time to themselves. My son is a very mellow baby, so this shouldn't be a total disaster (though if it is, I have other friends in the area I'll recruit to make it work).
My sister and her husband and baby have been in town all weekend, and so I'll actually caravan up to the Denver area with them. I expect I'll be up there from tomorrow on through MileHi Con, which is the weekend after next - longer if I'm needed, but by then the Batemans will have other family in town.
During this time, I may not be blogging much, and my dragons might need some extra visits and love. If you are a dear friend and have a major event happen that I miss in the next couple of weeks, please do email and forgive me for being out of touch for a while.
But yes, I will keep writing. This is why I write on a netbook; I carry it everywhere so that I can jot down lines in little snippets of time that I can spare. And, for all you fans of Michael Bateman, yes, I will consider tormenting him if he isn't writing - once he's rested up again.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Capturing moments
So, I said I'd blog about me taking scrapbooking lessons and what that has to do with writing. I find that learning to use language in different mediums helps me see important skillsets I need from a different angle. For example, I took screenwriting courses to learn more about how to create visual images with words. In scrapbooking, I'm learning that it's all about capturing snapshot images that resonate, and then finding a way to pass that resonance on to the reader.
I'll bend my rule about posting pictures of my son for this example. This picture means a lot to me:
It's my son watching his first Red Sox game, not long after he learned to clap, and here he is clapping for the Red Sox. This image makes me think of the 2005 post-season, watching my husband's mood go from disgust to disbelief as the Sox came from behind to beat the Yankees and advance to the World Series. It makes me think of all those Bostonians walking around dazed after the Sox beat the Cardinals. Their joy thoroughly eclipsed by shock.
Even though Red Sox Nation has gone through much disapointment and tribulation, here's my son in the post 2005 world greeting the sight of this team playing with unrestrained delight. (no, I'm not a Yankees fan. I'm an outsider to this. I'm not into the American League - just can't get past the designated hitter rule.) This image is also about the quirks we have and the details of ourselves that we pass along to the next generation. It's about how we channel a child's new found self expression.
And I've rambled on for two paragraphs there. To scrapbook this picture, I can't just fill the page with text (well, I could, but I shouldn't.) How, then to get all of that into one 12x12 page? Unlike film, which is an almost purely visual medium, a scrapbook is a hybrid. You can use words and journalling, but you convey meaning not just with the words themselves, but how they're set on the page. What means you use to draw the eye to them, and how you juxtapose them with the picture. What color and style you type them in, and whether you put them all in a block paragraph, or scatter them in phrases across the page.
What's this got to do with novel writing? Well, writing isn't just about telling a story with the plain meaning of words; it's about using words to convey multiple levels of meaning. The plain meaning may say one thing, but the juxtaposition of images might convey another. I.e. a long funeral scene in the rain with a lot of narration about how dismal the day was might convey a solemn plain meaning. If the funeral is for a person who's been making your protagonist miserable for the previous two acts, then this scene becomes ironic. The plain meaning and the actual meaning oppose each other. How much space you devote to setting up a scene and whether you express it in long, flowery sentences or plain, simple ones will affect how a reader comes into the images you put forth. Whether you use clear, monosyllabic words or big, Latin derived ones will affect the speed at which the reader comprehends what's going on. All of these tools will shape the reading experience.
Most specifically, in the novel I'm working on now, I'm striving to get my "tentpole scenes" set up - that term is one I borrow from Melinda Snodgrass, who is a screenwriter as well as a novelist. She rightly points out that any good movie or novel has three or four tentpole scenes, ones that prop up the entire rest of the plot, and getting those right means getting them to work on a variety of levels.
How do I do this? Hey, I'm still learning here. I'm still not sure how to scrapbook that picture. And I'm curious to hear what others have to say.
I'll bend my rule about posting pictures of my son for this example. This picture means a lot to me:
It's my son watching his first Red Sox game, not long after he learned to clap, and here he is clapping for the Red Sox. This image makes me think of the 2005 post-season, watching my husband's mood go from disgust to disbelief as the Sox came from behind to beat the Yankees and advance to the World Series. It makes me think of all those Bostonians walking around dazed after the Sox beat the Cardinals. Their joy thoroughly eclipsed by shock.Even though Red Sox Nation has gone through much disapointment and tribulation, here's my son in the post 2005 world greeting the sight of this team playing with unrestrained delight. (no, I'm not a Yankees fan. I'm an outsider to this. I'm not into the American League - just can't get past the designated hitter rule.) This image is also about the quirks we have and the details of ourselves that we pass along to the next generation. It's about how we channel a child's new found self expression.
And I've rambled on for two paragraphs there. To scrapbook this picture, I can't just fill the page with text (well, I could, but I shouldn't.) How, then to get all of that into one 12x12 page? Unlike film, which is an almost purely visual medium, a scrapbook is a hybrid. You can use words and journalling, but you convey meaning not just with the words themselves, but how they're set on the page. What means you use to draw the eye to them, and how you juxtapose them with the picture. What color and style you type them in, and whether you put them all in a block paragraph, or scatter them in phrases across the page.
What's this got to do with novel writing? Well, writing isn't just about telling a story with the plain meaning of words; it's about using words to convey multiple levels of meaning. The plain meaning may say one thing, but the juxtaposition of images might convey another. I.e. a long funeral scene in the rain with a lot of narration about how dismal the day was might convey a solemn plain meaning. If the funeral is for a person who's been making your protagonist miserable for the previous two acts, then this scene becomes ironic. The plain meaning and the actual meaning oppose each other. How much space you devote to setting up a scene and whether you express it in long, flowery sentences or plain, simple ones will affect how a reader comes into the images you put forth. Whether you use clear, monosyllabic words or big, Latin derived ones will affect the speed at which the reader comprehends what's going on. All of these tools will shape the reading experience.
Most specifically, in the novel I'm working on now, I'm striving to get my "tentpole scenes" set up - that term is one I borrow from Melinda Snodgrass, who is a screenwriter as well as a novelist. She rightly points out that any good movie or novel has three or four tentpole scenes, ones that prop up the entire rest of the plot, and getting those right means getting them to work on a variety of levels.
How do I do this? Hey, I'm still learning here. I'm still not sure how to scrapbook that picture. And I'm curious to hear what others have to say.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Eep! Emmigration moved up.
So I'd been waiting to plan my pre-move visits to friends/family until I got the final word on how long we'd have health insurance. People who'd left my husband's employer said they'd had insurance until the end of that month, so that's roughly what I'd had in mind.
Turns out the insurance runs out 2 days after he leaves - given the way the pay periods fall.
This means the kiddo and I are going over to the UK on the same flight as my husband. I certainly don't mind being able to split the caring duties, but this means I have to completely redo my trip schedule. I'd promised my friend Smythe a visit in January (no, her real name isn't Smythe), but now I need to see if December works.
I also want to delay travel until my son can get his flu and swine flu vaccines, since air travel is a good way to spread viruses. He's right on the cusp of the high risk group, age-wise.
The good news, though, is that we found cheapoair.com for tickets and are flying the entire family from New Mexico to the UK for less than $1,000.00. I hope it isn't a full flight, since my son will be crawling by then.
On a totally different topic, I'm putting the finishing touches on that short story that Ling was kind enough to crit for me, and then I'll send it out.
Turns out the insurance runs out 2 days after he leaves - given the way the pay periods fall.
This means the kiddo and I are going over to the UK on the same flight as my husband. I certainly don't mind being able to split the caring duties, but this means I have to completely redo my trip schedule. I'd promised my friend Smythe a visit in January (no, her real name isn't Smythe), but now I need to see if December works.
I also want to delay travel until my son can get his flu and swine flu vaccines, since air travel is a good way to spread viruses. He's right on the cusp of the high risk group, age-wise.
The good news, though, is that we found cheapoair.com for tickets and are flying the entire family from New Mexico to the UK for less than $1,000.00. I hope it isn't a full flight, since my son will be crawling by then.
On a totally different topic, I'm putting the finishing touches on that short story that Ling was kind enough to crit for me, and then I'll send it out.
Friday, October 2, 2009
TGIF
Except that it's only an hour and a half until Saturday. This week's been insane, but I feel good today because I got my scrapbook of the family trip to Alaska proofread and off to the printers. I'm trying a new printer, based in Denver, rather than Shutterfly. This company sounds like they have a better binding process and are even a little cheaper. We'll see how the final product turns out.
I've also designed some custom thank you notes for my sister. I'm getting sucked into the world of digital design - which means I really need to study up on the visual arts! I'm better than I was ten years ago, but that really isn't saying much at all. Anyway, we'll see how the thank you notes turn out, and then I'll see about designing our Christmas cards for this year.
All of which is a longwinded excuse for me not working on my story or novel today. All the writing I did was journalling on layouts. But, for what it's worth, different types of writing are good exercise, sort of like going swimming in lieu of a jog one day. When I've gotten some sleep, I'll blog more about that (might be a few days ;-)
I've also designed some custom thank you notes for my sister. I'm getting sucked into the world of digital design - which means I really need to study up on the visual arts! I'm better than I was ten years ago, but that really isn't saying much at all. Anyway, we'll see how the thank you notes turn out, and then I'll see about designing our Christmas cards for this year.
All of which is a longwinded excuse for me not working on my story or novel today. All the writing I did was journalling on layouts. But, for what it's worth, different types of writing are good exercise, sort of like going swimming in lieu of a jog one day. When I've gotten some sleep, I'll blog more about that (might be a few days ;-)
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