IWSG: My Favorite Work

I hope everyone had a good September! My husband and I were able to take a week-long vacation in Boston. We enjoyed the perfect weather and saw a lot of interesting places and things. It's hard to believe how quickly a month seems to pass when you're busy.

Anyway, it's time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group post. Learn more about the IWSG on their website and Facebook.

Our hosts this month are Beth Camp, Crystal Collier, and Catherina Constantine. 

Our question this month is a difficult one: What is the most favorite thing you have written, published or not? Why?

 It's very difficult to pick a favorite story. I was very pleased with how I developed themes and symbols in Lyon's Legacy and Twinned Universes. I'm very fond of my four Season Avatars, but how could I choose a single book from my five-book series? So I'm going to choose something completely different, a story called The War of the Hs, which I've published on Archive of Their Own. This is a Good Omens fanfic I wrote about a quest Crowley (demon) and Aziraphale (angel) must complete to free Crowley from Hell. I particularly like some of the original characters I created for this story, plus this is one of those stories where I just had fun with it and threw in all sorts of crazy but fun bits. For example, here's a bit about angels trying to figure out silly string:

A nearby angel who’s been studying his can removes the green cap and presses something on the top. With a hiss of air, something snakelike shoots out. All the other angels scream and dodge. A couple of them bump into Michael and send them into the path of the material. Green matter clumps onto their chest and arms. Some of it even gets into their hair. Michael tries to miracle it out, but nothing happens. The material is so soft it spreads as Michael tries to brush it away.

 What's your favorite story? Feel free to tell me about it in the contents. 

Super Crazy Summer

Last week was the first time in years that I missed posting for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. By the time I remembered it, it was already too late to post. However, I do have some very good reasons for not fitting it in.

For starters, we've been busy with long-overdue home renovations this summer. We replaced our decrepit deck with a patio, but the biggest change was removing all the carpet and replacing it with wood laminate. We split the project into two stages for the first and second floors. It would have been impossible to do it otherwise, since we had to move things from floor to floor. Although the second floor was finished nearly three weeks ago, I still haven't finished setting my office back to rights. Some of that is due to searching for a replacement desk, but my time's been limited for other reasons described below.

My son's school (a private one that he's attended since kindergarten), closed permanently this year due to declining enrollment. We've known about this since last November. It was a big shock at first, but the students on the whole have shown resiliency and made the most of their final year together. In the meantime, we found him a new school for his senior year. Since he's interested in the military, he'll be attending a boarding school that's also a military academy. This way, he'll be able to see if the military really is a good fit for him. This will be a big change for the entire family, and there's been a lot of work involved in preparing for his new school. I think it will be a good experience for him. Alex's old school offered a special summer session for juniors, so he was attending summer school until the end of July.

The day after summer school ended, we took a short trip to Washington D.C. We were there for about three and a half days, but we still managed to pack in a lot of sightseeing. We saw some of the memorials, two parts of the Smithsonian (American History and Natural History), the National Archives, the Capitol, and the Library of Congress. We also met with friends and took a ghost tour. (The photo was taken at the end of the tour.) I think I set a personal record for daily steps!

Anyway, my son leaves home next Friday, and the following Monday marks the beginning of our unannounced recertification audit window at work. The craziness never ends; it just shifts about to different aspects of my life. It's a miracle I got any writing done this summer! 

Despite everything, I expect to be back to my regular blogging schedule next month. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll even be able to blog from our patio.

Vacation 2023

At the end of June, my family and I took a vacation for the first time in several years. We divided our time between Philadelphia and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. My husband has always wanted to visit Gettysburg, so when we decided to go to Philadelphia, I suggested we add on the side trip. We went on a ghost tour, drove around the battlefield with a licensed guide, and visited several museums in the town. In Philadelphia, our main focus was the historical area, particularly Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Betsy Ross House, and Christ Church, along with the burial ground. We also visited the U.S. Mint, a natural history museum, and Valley Forge. My son will definitely have a leg up for his U.S. History class in the fall! We've already decided our next vacation will be to London, though I also want to fulfill one of my bucket list items and visit Liverpool. Here are a few photos from the trip:

 

A house in Gettysburg that suffered a lot of damage during the battle (the white spots are repairs)

Recreations of some of the cabins used by Washington's guards at Valley Forge.

A statue of George Washington at Valley Forge.

 

  Washington's headquarters at Valley Forge.

Mid-Month Mysteries: Location Themes

 

Although my family is fully vaccinated, our schedules don't allow us much opportunity to travel this year. Perhaps we can go somewhere during my son's next Spring Break or next summer. In the meantime, books allow us to experience other destinations. It's not surprising that there are cozy mystery series devoted to travel or vacations. Goodreads has a list of such series, and this blog has pages of mysteries on this theme. I'll just briefly mention books about places I've visited.

When I was fourteen, I spent a month in Germany but had a short layover in Reykjavik, Iceland. That's why I just added R.I.P. in Reykjavik to my Want-To-Read list. Representing Germany is The Watchman of Rothenburg by Adriana Licio. 

Another place that I've been to is Washington, D.C. I spent six months performing an internship at the National Cancer Institute, but I've also been in the area as a tourist. Elliot Roosevelt has a whole series set in D.C.; the first book is appropriately called Murder and the First Lady.

Before we got married, my husband and I visited friends in Minneapolis. These two series are set in Minnesota: Curiosity Thrilled the Cat and Killer Librarian.

For our honeymoon, my husband and I took an Alaskan cruise. Sue Henry has a whole series on Alaska, starting with Murder on the Iditarod. We also spent a week in London for our first anniversary, and this site has a whole page of mysteries set in London, too many to pick out just one.

When I was pregnant with my son, I accompanied my husband to Las Vegas for a veterinarian convention/continuing education experience. This location brings Carole Nelson Douglas's Midnight Louie series to mind. Start with Cat in an Alphabet Soup. 

In 2009, I spent two weeks in Japan for work, not a vacation (though I did get to do some sightseeing). The Daydreamer Detective is set in a small Japanese town and is free on Amazon.

To keep this post short, I haven't included books about other places, like New York City, Texas, Arizona, or Florida. Where do you like to go on vacation? Have you read any cozy mysteries set in these locations? Feel free to share them in the comments.

IWSG: Five Things in My Writing Space

Welcome to the final Insecure Writer's Support Group for 2018. You can learn more about the IWSG on their website, Facebook, and Twitter. Our hosts this month are J.H. Moncrieff, Tonja Drecker, Patsy Collins, and Chrys Fey. Our question for this month is "What are five objects we'd find in your writing space?"

The easiest way to answer this question would be to take a picture of my home office, but it's too cluttered at the moment to show anyone. Instead, I'll describe a few things that I think will be most interesting or reveal my character.

1. "Let There Be Write." I have a two-page printout of a short story called "Let There Be Write," by Nancy Fulda taped to my desk, right above my laptop. It was published online in Strange Horizons in 2005. It's a parody of the Creation story from Genesis, detailing how a writer creates a story. The twist ending is something that will ring true for many writers, including me. I'm not sure if posting a picture of the printout would violate copyright, so I won't include one.


2. A small statue of an Egyptian scribe that I bought in the British Museum. We visited London in 2006 for our one-year anniversary. The leftover British money from that vacation rests on the scribe's lap as an offering. Perhaps I need to increase my donation to advance my writing career.

3. Christmas Trooper--My son made me a Limited Edition Christmas Trooper by coloring one of his Lego Stormtroopers red and green with markers. I keep it in the original packaging, on the same shelf as the scribe.

4. An acrylic dish with a sunflower on the bottom. I needed a little dish for my tea strainer, and this one cost only a dollar or so. I'm a big tea drinker and go though multiple cups of green, loose-leaf tea daily.

5. Reference books. I still keep paper copies of a dictionary, a thesaurus, grammar/style guides, and baby name books on my desk. However, I almost never use them anymore, since my first instinct is to look things up online.

As you can see from the pictures, there's lots more I could list, but I'll stop here. Feel free to share details about your writing space below.

Indianapolis Trip 2018: As Told by Stan, Rex, and Oscar

Rex: We're back! In case you've forgotten who we are--

Stan: How is that possible?

Rex: I'm Rex the brachiosaurus, this is Oscar the orca, and the loudmouth is Stan the T-Rex.

Stan: Hey!

Oscar: We're here to tell you about the trip our family took last week to Indianapolis, Indiana.

Stan: It was a short trip because Dad had to work Monday, and Mom had to work on Friday, but it was still a lot of fun.

Rex: Thanks again to Dad's cousin Alvin for letting us stay with him!

Oscar: I knew this town really liked whales when I saw this mural.

Rex: After a late lunch, we walked along the canal to see a memorial. The humans got wet, but at least we stayed dry.

Stan: Get to the good part, guys!

Rex: The highlight of the trip was The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. They have brachiosaurses peeking in!

Stan: Even better, I got to meet the T-Rex I was named for! He didn't say much to me, but I think he was impressed.

Oscar: I was more impressed that we got to visit the paleo lab.

Stan: Don't forget how we became terracotta warriors! And the street named for T-Rexes!

Rex: Hey, Oscar, don't you still owe us a root beer for that fight in the Coliseum?

Stan: Well, I'm still waiting for Stan to pour us tea.

Stan: No fair picking on the short-armed guy!

Oscar: Um, Rex, change the subject....

Rex: Unfortunately, the humans didn't take us for a paddleboat trip. They were worried we might get wet.

Oscar: I would have been just fine in salt water, but no, it was fresh water.

Stan: They also went to the Eiteljorg Museum and the Indiana War Memorial Museum without us.

Rex: And the kid went to a coin shop too.

Stan: You don't think he'd sell us, do you?

Oscar: Don't worry, Stan. Mom won't let him.

Rex: So, if you like dinosaurs and orcas, Indianapolis is your kind of town.

Oscar: See you soon!

Stan: Rahhhhrrrr!

Saint Louis and Cahokia

Our family took a short getaway to the Saint Louis area last week. We visited Meramec Caverns...

 and the Science Center, which had a special exhibit with replicas of King Tut's treasures.

 
The City Museum had so many things for kids to do, along with surreal art, that Alex wanted to stay there all day. (We only saw part of it.)

The main reason we went down to Saint Louis was to see Cahokia, the site of a Native American city. About all you can see today are the mounds they created for their ceremonial buildings and a recreation of Woodhenge, which helped the residents identify the first day of each season.

Of course, no trip to Saint Louis would be complete without a visit to the Arch. We also saw the Old Courthouse where Dred and Harriet Scott sued for their freedom.

 On the way home, we stopped in Springfield to visit Lincoln's tomb. For some reason, my photos haven't uploaded to Google yet.

We had a misadventure with our stuffed animals Stan, Rex, and Oscar Friday evening when their traveling satchel was left behind at a restaurant. We had to make a 40-minute round trip to get it, but luckily "the boys" were still there.

We spent a lot of time in the car on this vacation, but I read several books during the trip and nearly caught up with my Goodreads reading challenge. I also finished my second pass-through of Summon the Seasons on the Kindle, but I still have to update the text before I send it out to beta readers.

Museums in Milwaukee

Milwaukee may not seem like a glamorous Spring Break destination, especially when the weather all weekend turns out to be cold and rainy. It's a good thing we were there to visit the museums. We went to the Milwaukee Public Museum, Discovery World, and the Milwaukee Art Museum. Thanks to reciprocity agreements with Chicago museums, we only had to pay admission to the Milwaukee Art Museum. Here are a few pictures from the trip:

This mammoth was found in the general area of the Milwaukee Public Museum.











The butterfly exhibit is my favorite part of the Milwaukee Public Museum.

 Part of the Crossroads of Civilization exhibit at the Milwaukee Public Museum.

 New residents at the aquarium at Discovery World.











Glass reflections at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

  Part of a paper art exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Five Tips for Writing (or Traveling) on a Train

I’m sure many of you have heard of Amtrak’s free writers’ retreat or even applied for it. While I haven’t applied, I recently rode from Chicago to Washington DC and back on an Amtrak train to take a family vacation. The train rides were the most productive parts of the trip for writing, but it’s not always easy to actually write on a train. Here are a few pieces of advice if you want to try writing on a train:

1.    Decide your budget, retreat time, and sleeping requirements in advance. – Longer trips mean more writing time, right? Not necessarily. If your trip is overnight, then you may find yourself in a car with quiet time. During this time, the overhead lights are off, and noise is discouraged. I think you’re still allowed to have your personal overhead light and equipment on, but you will need to sleep sometime. Can you sleep sitting up? If you’re in coach, you may have to. (If you can find two empty seats, then you can stretch out--or curl up. You are allowed to sleep in the observation car, but there are more distractions there too.) Sleeping cars are much more expensive. If you’d rather not sleep on the train, then you either need to choose a shorter trip or stay overnight at your destination before returning home. If you do want to sleep on the train, it may be helpful to bring your own pillow and blanket, as well as a sleeping mask and/or earplugs. You can buy them on the train if you forget them, but why not save money if you can?

2.    Decide what to bring.-- You can bring a laptop onto the train without any problems. (Checking in and boarding a train is much easier than a plane.) Even in coach, you’ll have outlets available, though not all trains provide Wi-Fi. (On the route we took, Internet signals were intermittent, since part of the time we rode through mountains and tunnels.) The train can be rocky at times, so it might not be a good choice for you if you write by hand. Snacks and bottled water are available on the train, but they can be expensive, so think ahead and bring your own if possible.  You can check bags and bring on two carry-ons per person.  If you’re traveling overnight, make sure to put hygiene items in a carry-on. It’s not a pleasant feeling to go for a long time without brushing your teeth.

3.    Feel free to move around if necessary.—Because you do need to eat, visit the bathroom, and take some breaks. After the conductor has checked your ticket, you’re free to move about the train. The seats are wider, and you have more legroom than you do if you’re on a plane. You can hang out in the observation car or visit the café. It may be a bit disconcerting to pass from car to car while the train is moving, but it’s safer than it appears. Be prepared to steady yourself as you walk around, though.

4.    Be prepared to deal with distractions.—Even if you think depriving yourself of Internet access for a few hours will help you write, there are still conversations by other passengers, official announcements (you don’t want to miss your stop or your dinner reservation!), and unexpected stops that may distract you. Plus, depending on when and where you travel, you may want to watch the scenery. (I wrote this in the observation car and was lucky enough to see a rainbow.) Know what’s going to interfere with your writing and plan accordingly. That could mean bringing earplugs or earbuds or even shutting your curtain.  Oh, yeah, and if you’re traveling with a child or children, they can be distracting too, even if they’re well-behaved.

5.    Consider using the trip as research.—Perhaps you can combine the travel with a stop at a setting you want to experience first-hand. Or perhaps you want to get into the mindset of your characters as they journey from one place to another. Even people-watching on the train or in the station can give you ideas for characters. Remember, sometimes writers need to retreat for a while to write (or to stop and take pictures of their stuffed traveling companions), but you can’t retreat from life permanently.


Have you ever taken a train trip? If so, did you find it useful writing time? Do you have any questions about train travel? Please post in the comments. If you can’t sign in to comment, you can always e-mail me too.

A-Z: Alaska

Welcome to April, the A-Z month on this and many other blogs! Here's hoping April won't be the cruelest month, as T.S. Eliot said. I'll be skipping Ten Word Tuesdays and the Week in Science for the duration of the challenge, but I plan to participate in the Blog Chain, even if I have to sneak in extra posts to do so. I would also like to thank Rachael and the other judges for voting my alien restaurant critic the runner-up in the Second Crusader Challenge. Congrats to Bess, the overall winner!

To start the A-Z Challenge off, I thought I'd share some pictures I took on my honeymoon. My husband and I cruised to Alaska. We saw bald eagles, whales, and glaciers; learned how they fished for crabs (and ate some); panned for gold; rode along the White Pass train route; and more. I had a brand new digital camera, and not all my pictures turned out well. Here are some that did.



This house used to be a brothel during the Gold Rush. (I'm sure my parents were thrilled when they got the postcard from me saying I'd been to a brothel.) I think this was in Ketchican.
















My husband after panning for gold near Juneau. Despite his elated pose, we didn't strike it rich.





















I had to include this one for my son. This is the train we rode through the White Pass. My son occasionally likes to watch the DVD we bought of the trip.











Here we are on one of the old cabooses.




















Mountain scenery.















Has anyone else been to Alaska? If so, what were your impressions?

A Writer's Vacation

I found out today I still have five full weeks of vacation time this year at work. (I carried over two weeks of vacation time from last year, and I've only taken one vacation day plus one floating holiday this year.) I think I better start using some of it! It's been a long time since my husband and I took a date day (we both take off work, drop Alex off at daycare, and go off on our own), so we'll have to do that. I'd also love to go somewhere--if we can figure out how to make that work with a three-year-old. Knowing me, I'll probably use some time just to clean the house. It would be nice to have some time to write and edit too.

What do you do on vacation? Do you still write? Or do you go somewhere and do things you can write about later?