Shakin’ Things Up

Yesterday’s earthquake that was in the Chino Hills/Diamond Bar area east of LA is old news by now. In the 20 minutes after it happened I got to calls. One from my mom on the east coast (who had been called by my uncle on this side of the Rockies) to find out if we’d felt it. And Dana Belfry who lives up that way also called me up. Thanks for checking on us!

Basically the house swayed but we didn’t even get any real rattling of knicknacks on the shelves this time. The kids didn’t really notice it and DH was “wobbling in his chair at work” when it happened. So anti-climatic. I’m always amazed when I look at those earthquake makes and lists, and realize just how much activity there is that we never notice around us. BTW, I’d like to keep it that way.

So,… if I’m not talking about the ground shaking… what am I shaking up? My writing. It’s the Divas Not Going to Conference Conference (NGTCC) week. Lots of workshops and such and there’s plenty more out on the net to read through Lynn Viehl’s Paperback Writer blog’s Left Behind and Loving It virtual workshop series.

I’ve been reading up on finding your voice and how plotting can be like a wiring diagram. I did manage to come up with what I think may be a working plot for the short story Bria wants me to submit with her for an anthology at the end of September. I just need to figure out the main characters a bit better now.

A couple of us have been talking about showing vs telling in a couple threads on the forums at Romance Divas. Jodi pointed out to me I’m not so much telling as synopsizing or summarizing actions. So the new focus is to show HOW things happen and to trust the characters in telling their story. I’m going to stop trying so hard, and see what happens.

And where the heck has summer gone? The kids go back to school in less than 3 weeks?! TOO much to do…eek.