Guest Post! Cindy Marie Bell - Haibun

My 6 Favorite Haibun

Each of the haibun on my list have something in common despite their many stylistic differences; they are all journey's of the heart, leaving one with what Jeffrey Harpeng describes as "the ghost in the haibun."

So, here are my 6 favorite haibun --

Marjorie Buettner's Forgotten Roads takes us with her, and reminds us, much like Mary Oliver's Poem, Wild Geese, there is space for each of us, but it does so in an intensely rhythmic fashion.

Zolo's Implacable Time And the Long, Slow Pull of the Irresitable Sun is a piece that almost imparts a nostalgia of sorts. It brings, to my mind at least, a bygone era and it's people.

Billie Wilson's Wordless Poems evokes a dream in which anything is possible. It is a haibun that connects with a deep sense of the power words, and especially haibun, to speak on the intuitive level.

Ray Rasmussen's Fly Fishing evokes a zen-like quality in the description of an "everyday" hike. It brings with it a sensitivity to living that I admire.

Jeffrey Woodward's Question's For the Flowers is a scholarly piece evoking a sense of one's place in the ages. It ponders an age old question we all face: Who am I to commit my words to paper?

Ellen Kombiyil's The Night Sky's Answer is a haibun that center's us in place and time, but too, it places us in the greater context of the universe while broaching the topic of life after death.


How about an explanation about the writing form haibun? I've made this cute video and xtranormal.com that explains why everyone can write haibun!

URL TO WATCH VIDEO BELOW
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7490323

Cindy Marie Bell
The Graphic Haibuneer
Life Begins With the Haibun
www.thegraphichaibuneer.com

synopsis working

Today's project was a study of the synopsis. I never feel like I have synopses right. They are basically a huge pain in my ass.

I decided that in order to suck less at this particular activity, I would study synopses for some best sellers.

The goal is to make a reader want to read the book. This can be done in many ways.

The beginning can be the most important part.

Some jump right into the conflict with the first sentence.

Some set the stage first. These tended to be the books that took place in idyllic or exotic locales.

Some began by relating to the reader. They asked the "you" question. What if YOU were abducted by aliens and given an uncomfortable probe? What if YOU had to save YOUR kid sister's pet rabbit from a burning building?

Synopses for sequels began with a quick one to two-sentence rundown of what happened in the previous installment of the series.

They go on to give useful information, such as primary conflict, personal obstacles our hero or heroine faces over the course of the story, and their name, of course.

and the vocab.
Powerful, urgent words!! The standard writing advice says show don't tell, which means you describe what is happening in the story, rather than just spelling it out for the reader.

Instead of - "She was sad", you write something more like, "She buried her face in her hands and cried like she never cried before".

The synopsis seems to be the opposite, probably due to the limited space you have to convey your message to the reader.

Power words I noticed in the synopses included: gruesome, sinister, pitch-black, unstoppable, action-packed, instant, terror, explodes!!!, chaos, shocking, nastiest, madness, riveting, prevail, heart-pounding.

Hopefully I have improved my skills.

Tomorrow is guest post day! The post is written by Cindy Marie Bell and is about Haibun poetry! We all learn something.
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Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

Guest Post! Margo Smith, The Fiction of Mysteries

I have learned to love mysteries. I like to read them or watch them. I can’t get enough of a good Agatha Christie, either on screen or in print. I need a good dose of a mystery novel or “Monk,” “NCIS,” “Midsomer Murders,” and “Inspector Lewis” quite often or I get a bit edgy. A bit excessive you say? Perhaps it is.

I got to thinking about what the draw is for me. Christie – perhaps the most published mystery writer to date – pokes fun of mysteries herself in her books as being a lesser form of reading. For someone whose favorite books of all time are Hugo’s Les Misérables and Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, how did I become such a mystery hound? It isn’t the gore – I usually look away during those parts. I spend a good time while watching NCIS with my eyes averted actually. It is not the plot – once you have seen enough of any one of these, you can generally make some pretty close predictions for the outcome. I do love a good and completely unexpected plot twist, I’ll admit. Is it the characters? In the case of Monk, perhaps the answer is yes. But it is still something else for me.

What is it? Upon further reflection, I came to realize that it is the resolution at the end. Oscar Wilde said it best, “The good ended happily and the bad unhappily, that is what fiction means.” Now there are frequently some good people who don’t make it to the end of a mystery, but the person responsible is always caught or at least known. Unlike real life, we are not left dangling or with something unresolved. They are fairy tales for adults. I guess I still like fairy tales where it is all summed up for me and the bad guys have to pay, while I cheer on the good guys. It’s simple, it’s direct and it’s all wrapped up neatly. That is why I love mysteries.

About the Author
Margo Smith graduated with a B.S. degree from BYU. Working through college and being in the corporate world give her a great deal to say about subjects as diverse as employee motivation to online schools to kite making.

helllloooooooo there.

Today is a day of free.

But first an announcement.

I am putting together an e-mail subscription list. If you would like to opt in, please send a blank e-mail with the word 'subscribe' in the subject line to learyan@learyan.com.

I know, I know. I had a subscription list before but something happened to it.

I will only e-mail when there are big time announcements like novel or story releases and maybe interviews.

Ok, that out of the way, I have free e-book codes for use on www.Smashwords.com! Woo!!

These are the full novels.

--------------------------------
MacDowell Sisters and AnnaBeth
Coupon code: BE88Q
Expires 11/30/2010

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Babylon Dragon
Coupon Code: EL96C
Expires 11/30/2010
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Please feel free to share with friends.


























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Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

My Best Friend's Girl, movie

Today we have a movie post! Yay!

We watched My Best Friend's Girl with Kate Hudson, Dane Cook, and Jason Biggs (American Pie). The movie is a couple of years old (2008), but guess what, it's my blog and I write about what I want.

This movie is equal parts chick flick and raunchy guy humor. You have the romantic story line - Dane Cook's character (Tank) gets paid to go out on dates and be an asshole so the girls run back to previously rejected 'nice' guys. When his best friend, Jason Bigg's character (Dustin) hires him, Tank decides he likes the girl.

The aforementioned funny parts of the movie involve Dane Cook's efforts to repel women. He plays loud, obnoxious music, takes them to inappropriate establishments (one of which serves dog meat), tells crude jokes, makes over the top rude comments, you get the idea.

What I really thought was interesting about this movie was how much Dane Cook's appearence has changed. He has somehow aged ten years in like five actual years. I used to think he was quite hot.

Now he sorta looks like that guy with prison hand tattoos working at the gas station down the street. Get this man a facial and some moisturizer stat, cuz damn!

The movie was good, not buying it good, but definitely renting it good. B+

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Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

Teaser Tuesday as my 200th post!

Hey there blog readers! Today is Teaser Tuesday.

Below is a scene from my novel MacDowell Sisters & AnnaBeth. Links to the book on Amazon and Smashwords follow the excerpt.

There is probably some spoiler-ish material in here, so if you are sensitive about that sort of thing, you might not want to read on. This is a scene from Chapter 6, Night at Reau House.


AnnaBeth (our 19 year old protagonist) has delivered some spare body parts from the funeral home for the MacDowell sisters, her elderly witch mentors, at their request. This part of the scene begins in mid-conversation. The MacDowell Sisters have just finished explaining that they use bones and bone fragments as vessels for their will.

A few quick bits of info. These witches call themselves 'fates' because they deal in people's destinies and Havens Path is AnnaBeth's house.

Vestra and Madeline MacDowell live in Reau House. This scene takes place in the cellar where there are old corpses piled on dirt ledges.

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I thought of the pendant I saw Thomas Williams leave with on my first visit to Reau House. The MacDowell sisters didn't want him to have children and he took their will home with him in the form of a necklace, a necklace with bone inside.

"What about Ophelia's teeth?"

Vestra answered, "We were friends with dear Ophelia and didn't want to take much from her.
Teeth are easily accessible and we don't have to break them down."

"We ordered only the teeth out of respect for our friend."

Emboldened by how easily I was getting answers, I asked another question.

"Why can't you use the bones of the people down here?"

"They do in a pinch but they don't hold energy like the fresher ones."

Fresher ones?

"Okay, that's probably enough for today," Vestra declared. She'd probably tired of my questioning. "Maddy and I have to deal with the bones, and it's already so late."

Madeline moved to show me to the door, then I remembered something.

"Cecile said she needed replacement because she took too much."

"Ah, another use for our old friends down here. Is Rachel being cremated?"

"Yes."

"That really is the most earth friendly way to do it." Madeline nodded.

"I think they call it 'eco' now, sister." Then to me Vestra said, "AnnaBeth, before you go, would you pack up two femurs and two tibias into one of the bone bags. Lady Madeline will show you where they are. We'll drop them off at Cecile's first thing in the morning."

"You want me to touch the bones?" I asked disbelievingly.

"Yes, dear. Fates have dirty work too. Our old friends don't mind."

I was willing to bet the old friends would mind if they knew and would say so if they had tongues with which to protest.

Madeline suggested, "Maybe some arm bones too."

"AnnaBeth, help Madeline. I will stay here and get started on this portion of the dirty work."
Madeline and I went back the way we came in. She stopped at a wide stepladder rammed up against the front of one of the ledges. She bent to pick up a canvas sack, shook a cloud of dust from it and handed it to me.

"Here we are."

I was about to desecrate a corpse. There had to be some bad juju in that, bad karma or something. If there is a next life, I would end up as a dung beetle or a feeder rat for someone's pet python. Dinner and a show. I stared at Madeline for a few seconds, hoping she'd expose the assignment as a joke.

Instead, she said, "Try to get the bones from one of our friends in the back. They are the oldest and have the least value to us."

Why did they keep calling them friends?

As I reluctantly climbed the stepladder, pounding came from Vestra at the back of the cellar, rhythmic sounds of metal cracking bone. She was breaking Rachel’s bones down into smaller pieces.

I shuddered. Not that my dirty work was much better, but at least I didn't know these people, these friends propped on ledges.

I reached the top of the stepladder and saw into the spread of dry bodies that went on to the far walls of the cellar. There was a thin strip of bare ledge which allowed room for me to climb up before I plunged into the sea of dead. I lay there on my side, staring into bundles of bones and ancient formalwear.

"Is something wrong, AnnaBeth?" Madeline inquired from the floor below.

"No, I'm just taking a moment to adjust."

"Watch for sharp pieces." She warned.

I shut my eyes tight and put a hand in. It landed on a dirt encrusted, ruffled lacy piece of a dress. Not so bad. Old and dry like everything else on the ledge.

Old and dry, old and dry, I chanted to myself internally as I clawed my way across bodies. I guess the idea comforted me because I preferred them in that state rather than the alternative, which is fresh and moist.

Dust flew where I stirred it and clogged my throat. I didn't even want to think about what that dust was made of. I tried not to breathe, which only left me to gasping when I needed air.

Leaning on clothes to avoid direct skin on corpse contact, I felt bones snap beneath fabric. I officially had enough at the halfway point. I chose a skeleton which unlike everyone else around it did not wear clothing. I wouldn't have to undress him or her.

The bones separated easily at the knees and elbows. I cringed every time I made a pull. The person wasn’t alive, but I still experienced some anxiety for separating the pieces. I wouldn’t want this for my bones or anyone else’s.

"Are you far in already?" Madeline asked me when she heard the sound of bones knocking together in the sack.

"Far enough." The firmness in my voice surprised me.

I was caked in dirt and beyond ready for bed by the time I climbed down from the ledge.

"Here." Still breathless from lack of oxygen, I handed the sack to Madeline. I couldn't remember another day seeming so long and perfectly exhausting. My bones ached, perhaps out of sympathy for the Reau House dead. "I'm going home."

I walked away without waiting for Madeline to respond. I didn't want to see her or Vestra or even Justin for a while. Had moving Havens Path been an option, I would have moved her to the westernmost corner of Hawaii, the farther the better.

"Don't worry about coming for your next lesson. We've covered enough for one week." Vestra yelled from the back of the cellar.

"Good night!" Madeline chirped as I trudged up the stairs into blessed fresh air and darkness.

"Sleep tight!" Vestra chimed.

I added in a weak hearted mumble, "Don't let the bedbugs bite."

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MacDowell Sisters & AnnaBeth in print on Amazon

For Kindle

On Smashwords

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Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

book working + goings on + illustration

Halloween was awesome! I hung out with my babies and took the little one trick or treating. The surly teenager went with her friends for the first time ever and returned home with a suspiciously small amount of candy.

Personally, I think she has a secret sugar stash somewhere in or around the neighborhood. The search is ongoing.

In book working news, I finally figured out what I wanted to change about the novella. I had this epiphany over the weekend whilst doing sketches for cover art.

The story is not creepy enough! Yes! I feel much better knowing what I need to work on specifically.

The story itself isn't intended to be a horror. However, looking back over the title, the subject matter and what will probably be the cover art, I realized what I need to tweak. So, that's the project this week - adding in some creepy and more intensity.

I did some research on the internet to try and come up with some ways to meet that end, but didn't find anything substantially helpful.

Much like the candy stash situation, the search is ongoing. If I find anything truly helpful, I'll post links here.

And here is an illustration I'm calling - dark carousel. Prints are up in AvinaLeo. Please click the pic if you wish to acquire one of your very own.

























Tomorrow I'm participating in my very first Teaser Tuesday. People on twitter put up excerpts of their writing either on blogs or on Twitter itself if the excerpts are really really short. So yeah, I'm doing that here tomorrow with a scene from MacDowell Sisters and AnnaBeth.

The post will be longer than the usual because of that.

If you already read the book, the scene won't be anything new to you, but hey, you could share with a friend...or something.

TTFN, ta-ta for now.

_________________________
Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1