Wow! Time sure does fly when you're busy!!! I've been meaning to write a few things about some of the classes that I took at LTUE. (Life, the Universe and Everything) It is an amazing writing conference with tons of classes. Here is a compilation of notes that I took in the military classes I took. I loved these classes! Since I am just getting to the final battle in my third book, this was perfect timing.

Military & Military SF / Military Strategies

(The presenters of these two classes were all former or current military personnel. You can easily modify this info to Fantasy.)

RESEARCH

*One of the most important things you can do for your book is Research!

*Read military guidelines from around the world. Rules can be different from country to country. In the US Military, it's against the law to use your ranking to make money, but in other countries, it's not. Example - you can use the barges to transfer goods for trade to make money.

*Read military history. Every war throughout the world, both past and present, have all been different. Different weapons and strategies. Find examples of what you're looking for, and there's your blue print! You can even combine aspects of the wars you choose to make the war you're writing about your own.

*Find veterans to tell you stories of war times (actual fighting) and off times (not actual fighting). You can find all kinds of humor for off times of fighting.

*Off times (not fighting) consists of four things: training, cleaning weapons, eating and sleeping.

*Have a mis-hap during training time. It relieves boredom.

Movies to watch: "War & Peace" and "Shogun"

ORGANIZATION

*Typically the officers - General, Colonel, etc. stay behind the lines. They direct the troops, so they have to stay safe.

*Perfect knowledge for the General allows him to know exactly when and where to go. This rarely happens!

*OODA Loop -

 Orient yourself to the situation

 Observe - gain as much info a possible

 Decision

 Act

While you are doing the OODA Loop, so is the enemy.

*The goal of the General is to DECIDE faster than the enemy. "Getting inside the other's OODA Loop"

*Too much information makes it difficult to decide which is the top priority and it slows down the OODA Loop.

*It always seems like the enemy is cheating, but if you do the same thing, you're being creative and thinking outside the box.

*Military officers need to keep removed friendship-wise from the Privates because the officers need to do things that are contrary to human nature. They probably don't want to be there because they are putting other's lives in danger. They don't like it because they WANT to be close to the troops, but they can't. If they were to get close to the troops, they would much rather put themselves in danger instead of the troops because the soldiers would be their friends. And who in their right mind would put their friends' lives in danger?

*Romance between officers & enlisted is NOT allowed! It causes all kinds of problems - jealousy, breaking rules, enlisted won't listen to you or follow orders if they know the officers are breaking rules themselves. EXCELLENT conflicts!!!

*Field commissions never happen. Private to Captain. It only happens to officers moving up. Never enlisted to officer.

STRATEGIES

*On a siege/attack, make sure the attacking force has the defenders believing you're coming from one spot, but actually you're coming from a completely different spot.

*Try to get someone or a small group inside to undermine the walls. Or you could have superior weapons to know down the walls.

*3 kinds of warfare-

1. attrition - face to face. Last one standing wins.

2. maneuver - move your people into place before and during shooting. Moving/acting smart.

3. asymmetrical - unbalanced sides. One side is far superior to the other, but someone with more wits can overcome insurmountable odds.

*Logistics is what keeps the troops moving and getting into place - it includes feeding the army.

*Focus on the "tail" (food, enough artillery, etc.), not just the "teeth" (bullets). It's impossible to have a gun with unlimited supply of bullets.

Quote - "Amateurs discuss tactics, Professionals discuss logistics"

WEAPONS - ideas & strategies

*Bows & Arrows - bunch up for better shooting strategy.

*Artillery - people scatter

*Lazer guns - have people wear reflective clothing to reflect the lazers.

*Rail guns - electromagnetic - can shoot a projectile without any chemical reaction. Power supply is always a problem. (conflict)

*Guided bullet from machine gun - power supply is always a problem (conflict)

- can shoot around corners.

- lazer point projects target directly to bullet, allowing it to go around corners, through walls, etc. until it reaches target before exploding.

*Magic can be used in the same way as artillery

*Military personnel are very creative. They are constantly figuring out new ways to do things, save people, etc.

LANGUAGE

*Military language will always be rated R, just for the vulgarity. The f-bombs can be used in ANY place in the sentence and it will be correct grammar. They cuss A LOT!

*You will never hear "It's a good day to die for our country". Soldiers are willing to do for their buddies, not necessarily for their country, because they know their buddies would die for them.

*Talk to military people to learn their slang. There are slang words for everything.

SOCIAL

*Military life to Civilian life is very difficult. You may need to translate - internal conflict

*War sucks and it affects the mind, especially if they have to kill someone.

They ended their presentation with a plea for us to treat military with respect and dignity, even though there is an audience for military bashing. This can also reflect in Fantasy writing, where if you rip on the military, your readers will relate that to your ripping on our military. The chances of us being called to serve in the military are very small, but these men and women have chosen to put their lives on the line to serve our country. Please show them respect.

Big Plans Ahead

Once again, it's been awhile since I've written, but there is good reason. I've been busy. Do you want to know what I've been doing? Well, you're going to hear.

I found an editor and she has gone through the first book. Great feedback! I found it a huge compliment when she told me that during a section of the book she got so enthralled with the story that she forgot to edit. hahaha. Isn't that great? So I have been doing a re-write for the first book. She didn't want me to take anything out, but just add a few descriptions and a bit more detail to a few places. So that's what I've been doing.

Besides that, I have been over-seeing a project that my boys are doing. They are designing a Facebook game that goes along with my books. Isn't that the coolest? We met with the animators last week and today we met with the programmer. Whew! This is going to be a HUGE undertaking. But it should be great!

Well, back to work. Until next time...

It's been awhile...

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost 2 months since I've had a chance to write anything on my blog. Life can sure get crazy at times, can't it? Now that school is out for the summer and there are no more band concerts to attend, homework to help with and carpool to and from school, I can breathe a little easier.

Or so I thought. hahaha

The month of June has been filled with getting ready for and doing girl's camp - I'm one of the camp directors - and sending my 15 year old son off on Pioneer Trek. Now I can breathe. And write.

Next week is our family camping trip, and I am really looking forward to it. I love being out in the mountains! It's fabulous being able to write with the whisper of the aspen leaves above and in the cool forest shade. When the family goes hiking - because of my foot I am not able to join them - I get to stay and putter around camp. LOVE IT!!!  They tell me when to expect them back and I have dinner all ready for them, can you say Dutch Oven cooking? mmmmm   In the quiet of the mountains, I get to pull out my paper and pencil, sit in a comfortable chair and write. Life can't get any better than that! Now that is my kind of vacation. Relaxing and writing. I can hardly wait!

Until next time, have a great day!

Traditions

Last week was Easter. What are your family traditions for this holiday? Ours is pretty fun. I don't remember which country this comes from, but we heard of this tradition that on the night before Easter, the Easter bunny ties a string - we use yarn - to the child's bed post. Upon waking, the child must untie the string, and follow it, making a ball of the string, until he/she finds their basket. The string represents the trail the Easter bunny traveled, in search of the best hiding place for their basket. Now this trail is no ordinary trail, it goes all throughout the house, yard, garage, over the house, through trees, etc. You get the picture. We have done this for nearly 20 years now. My youngest is 15 yrs. old, and the oldest at home is 22. This year we asked if we had to do the string, and, of course, we did. The problem was, was our 18 year old daughter was out on a date and wasn't coming home until midnight. Do you know how late we were going to have to stay up???

You may be asking yourself what this has to do with writing. Let me tell you: This year we added a new dimension to the search for the baskets. We did the string, as always, but not nearly as much. At the end of the string was a note. On that note was a clue, written in poetry form, that sent them on a Treasure Hunt. The kids loved it! (And the best part was we didn't have to stay up till the wee hours of the morning to hide baskets.) It was great and we all had fun. The kids loved the challenge of figuring out the riddle, and I had a blast writing them.

Traditions are great, even if you have to change them up a bit from time to time.

Profanity - Is It necessary?

I'll be honest, I don't like swearing. It's just not for me. But sometimes it does slip out. oops. When it comes out by accident, it can be really funny. For instance, my daughter and I were driving down the road and we saw a police had pulled someone over and was in the process of writing them a ticket. I started to say, "I bet they're just kicking themselves." But in my mind the word "shooting" was also there. So, of course, something else came out that combined the two words. It started with "sh" took on the vowel sound of "i" and finished with "ting". My daughter's eyes bugged out and I thought she wouldn't stop laughing for the rest of the day. (I must admit that I was right there with her.) Funny, funny, funny.

I honestly don't mind if other people swear. It really doesn't bother me until they drop the "f bomb" or take the Lord's name in vain. That is what I find offensive. In fact, after my nephew read my first book (he is one of my alpha readers), he said to me, "How in the he__ did you think of this? Holy sh__ your characters have cool powers." hahahahaha  So funny!

Stephen King in his book "On Writing" stated that in order to make credible and believable characters, you have to have them in their setting by talking like them, dressing like them and acting like them, even if that's opposite of how you personally are. (Think sophisticated, high society lady and how she would talk, dress and act and put her as a fisherman in the ocean, hauling in nets of fish, gutting them, being smelly etc. It doesn't fit.) But I still struggle with saying the words that I find truly offensive. And let's face it, most "bad guys" don't have clean language.

Here's my dilemma - how can I have my "bad guys" swear in my books without having underlines to finish spelling the words that I can't force myself to say, even if it's in character? Aauuggghhhh!!!!!

So here's what I did - I made up my own world, it is a fantasy afterall, and I've come up with my own form of swear words. How could I possibly be offended with "motherless donkey" or "Holy shades of heaven" or "you dog-licking..." or "sour goat's milk in a bottle"? You get the picture. And you know what? It's been really fun. Who knew swearing could be so entertaining?

Just remember that if you see me walking down the street and I stub my toe on a rock, don't be surprised if you hear a stream of profanity spilling from my lips. It would probably sound something like this - "Why you baby drooling piece of horse dropping, what the rancid piece of bacon do you think you're doing?" Just don't wash my mouth out with soap. That stuff tastes like curdled dog vomit. See? Fun, huh?

The Perfect Day

When is the ideal time to write? Morning? Afternoon? Evening? I guess it all depends on whether you're a morning person or a night owl, and when you are the most productive and energetic. Don't forget your work schedule, that also affects your writing time, and after all, you've got to eat!

In a perfect world, my day would go something like this: after getting the kids out the door at 6:45 for school, I would curl up on the couch or snuggle down in my rocking chair with my pencil and notebook and write for an hour. Yes, I write longhand. If you want to know why I choose that over the computer, check out my previous post. Then I'd fix breakfast for myself. No, I don't eat with the kids, that's just too early in the morning for my stomach to deal with food. Then comes exercise and showers and another two hours of writing. Next is lunch and doing the household chores: picking up around the house, laundry, errands, work a bit, plan and fix dinner etc. No writing in the afternoon for me, because honestly, if I sit down for any reason, I lose all energy and would probably fall asleep. If that happened, because of my insomnia, I'd be awake all night and the next day I couldn't function properly. (Though on those nights, I do take advantage and write for most of the night)

After dinner at 6:00, while the kids are doing homework, I'd write some more before and after my t.v. shows. I admit there are some shows I like to watch and I schedule my time accordingly. Then at about 10:30 I'd brush my teeth and get ready for bed.

But this is not a perfect world and things rarely go as planned. For one thing, my husband and I run our own business from home and our work schedule is never the same one day to the next. Some days our appointments start at 7:00am and on those days I do have to eat breakfast early. YUCK!!! When I meet with clients, I work around their schedule and location, though sometimes they do come to my place.On production days we are in the shop for hours at a time, sometimes days at a time, until all orders are completed. Some days that goes until bedtime, or later, breaking only for meals and family obligations.

My husband is such a sweetie that he takes the brunt of the workload, allowing me to squeeze in more writing time. (It also helps that he doesn't mind the computer, and you KNOW how computers and I get along - not very well!). He does all the lay-out of artwork for products and apparel and runs the embroidery machines, which are controlled by computers, whereas I do all the trimming and work the heat press for the heat applied graphics.

On days where it's a heavy workload - with either appointments or production - I feel lucky to squeeze in 15 minutes of writing time. Please don't think that I am complaining, because I'm not. I love my life and feel very fortunate that I am able to work with my husband. I'm finding out that most people couldn't work with their spouses and I find that very sad. I love the time I'm able to spend with John, working side by side, because we have so much fun and get along so well.

Besides work, there is family and church time: carpools, music lessons, band concerts (between my two kids in band, there are 7 bands/orchestras they are part of), grocery shopping, cooking and church work (I work with the teenagers so I meet with them for lessons on Sundays and have a weekly activity with them). Forget about cleaning, I gave that up long ago; the kids are responsible for that. Plus throw in a writer's meeting/conference once or twice a month, and you have an average life for yours truly.

With all that going on, it's hard to have that "perfect/ideal" day that the schedule just falls into place. But when it happens, wow! Those are the days to make the most of.

So whether it's the morning, evening or the occasional afternoon that I can work on my craft, I feel is the ideal time to write. Because let's face it - if it's writing time, it's the perfect time. Life doesn't get much better than that!

Why I Write in Long-Hand

Yes, I write in long-hand. My family and writing friends always laugh at me when they find out. They say it's so much faster and easier to write while sitting at the computer, and they're probably right, but there are a few really good reasons why I don't change. First of all, I learned to write in long-hand. Yes, I know you can always teach an old dog new tricks, but I'm fighting this one. It feels fabulous circling whole paragraphs at a time and moving them with an arrow to where you want them to go. Crossing out entire sections can be exhilirating! And it's really fun moving things all around on paper and seeing all the changes taking place as you polish your work. Before you say anything, I do know about, and have done, cut & paste, delete, and other computer stuff; it's just not as fun. You see, I can curl up on my couch, or rock in my rocking chair with my notebook and write away! I have also been known to write while sitting in the sauna. Talk about heaven! Then after I make changes on paper, I type it in the computer, making small changes as I go along. Then, after I print it all up, I check for typos the computer didn't find, and make more changes. Back to the computer to make the next set of changes. I do this over and over until I am happy with my work.

Secondly, if you look at my very first thing I wrote in my blog, technology stresses me out! I can't seem to think while sitting at the computer. Things flip around so fast and things pop up that I don't know what they mean and I get flustered. Now, computers are wonderful, and I really like what they can do, I just don't want to have to use them to do everything. Besides, if I sit at the computer for longer than an hour, I tend to get a headache. I have tried all kinds of positions for the screen, chair and keyboard, nothing seems to help.The reason, I think, is that I have overly sensitive ears. The steady hum of the fans start to pierce into my brain and it feels like my head is in a vise. That is the true reason I can't think while sitting at the computer. I've even tried earplugs. Talk about horrible! I don't know how people can wear them. Besides, I like to lean back while I read or write, but if I sit at the computer, I tend to lean forward. True, my computer chair leans back, and I use it when I have to take a break. I lean back and stretch, popping my back in the process, and reduce the sound of the computer fans searing into my brain.

So, like it or not, until I get an absolutely silent computer, I will be writing long-hand and then typing it into the computer in short 45 minute bursts. And I'll be taking my notebook with me where ever I go as I wait for the kids: car pool, lessons, games etc. Hey, it works for me!