No Six Sentence Sunday, Cucumbers

The magnificent organizer of the Six Sentence Sunday institution is judiciously moving the site to somewhere she considers more stable, so I'll just take this opportunity to say that I love that one of Yahoo's big searches this week has been "deadly cucumbers." One of the most unforgettable scenes in the novel I've been excerpting from, The Seven Noble Knights of Lara, will involve a highly ominous cucumber (that has nothing to do with salmonella). No, really. I'll post an excerpt when I've written it.

Come back next Sunday for the titillating banquet scene!

Handsome, Successful Businessmen Love Tree/House!

This is actually a picture of my husband, who enjoyed Tree/House very much and supports all of my writing efforts besides. Thanks, dear!

My husband is the hardest working person I know who does a job he's not especially interested in. When he lost his lucrative position at the big-bad-we-break-your-kneecaps-if-you-don't-pay-your-student-loan place, he didn't hesitate to take a job at a place my dad calls WallyWorld so we could still eat while paying the mortgage with savings. WallyWorld is not an easy place to work for. It is physically demanding: he lost a lot of weight he'd put on because I love to feed him and went through pain relievers like candy because of the aching muscles. It's mentally draining: most of the workers treat the job according to pay level, meaning that they don't care at all. My husband has an inherent impulse to do a good job, so when he was working in grocery the place had never been so spotless, and there had never been so many customers satisfied with the way they'd been treated. There was never a more efficient checker, and when he became a supervisor over the checkers, the place had never run more smoothly.

The situation was not sustainable, because, as I hinted above, the pay is laughably miniscule. We were going to be on the snowy street if we stayed there, and that's one reason we came to Arizona. I know I'm not making up what a good worker my husband is because when he had to leave the Arizona WallyWorld he'd transferred to, they did everything they could to keep him, including offering to hire me in the bakery department. Even with the two small incomes, I'm sorry to say, that situation would have been just as untenable as the previous one in Pennsylvania.

He left that job, which he's called his favorite job ever (!), for something that still doesn't pay what we were used to before economic armageddon, but is just about livable.  It involves working at an office park in the middle of nowhere with scorpions and coyotes in the parking lot, at weird hours, and with an ever-shifting landscape of unpredictable people. And he's doing the best job he can do there, too, and he's so good at it.

He's the thing: when he comes home to me, he really comes home to me. He's with me, present and fully involved, no matter how much his job exhausts him, interested in my day, willing to clean the house, and ever so much in love. I'm so blessed to have such a husband!

Interview Series: The Blackberry Patch Author Gina McKnight

Today Famous Writer welcomes freelancer and children’s author Gina McKnight.

JK: When did the writing bug bite you?

Gina McKnight: I began writing at an early age. Elementary school provided the catalyst, opportunity and inspiration for writing. I had phenomenal teachers/professors that encouraged writing. Having the support of family is of the utmost importance, but teachers provide the tools needed to become a successful writer. Elementary school through college, I always migrated towards the creative writing courses. Characters can be tricky; my children’s books are non-fiction, first person and continue in a series of four releases with the same character. 

JK: Is your latest book a part of that series? What is it about?

GM: My current book release, The Blackberry Patch, is about overcoming the elements to search for fresh blackberries! It has been a great success and taken me to a lot of different places, with the opportunity to meet fabulous people from all walks of life. The story is intended for children ages 4-8; however, the book has done very well for mature readers. It is nostalgic and brings back childhood memories of blackberry picking.

JK: What kind of feedback have you had, meeting all these new people?

GM: The best feedback comes from elementary children, when I visit their school and read my stories to them. The feedback is instantaneous and very rewarding. When I released The Blackberry Patch, the feedback was extremely positive.

JK: How much real life finds its way into your fiction?

GM: To date, my books and articles have been non-fiction. I have a novel up my sleeve –positive that real life scenarios will be a prominent part of my fiction writing. Real life experience is easy to write about and some of my experiences will definitely provide quality fictional plots and characters!

JK: So true. Do you find your writing influenced by fiction at all?

GM: My favorite children’s book is Black Beauty by Anna Sewell; favorite novel is Dracula by Bram Stoker. Books do influence my writing; however, I find that growing up and living on a farm is great inspiration for writing, as well as life events, siblings, neighbors and friends. 

JK: Did they inspire what you’re working on now?

GM: Specific inspiration for my most recent project, which is a new children’s book to be released in late Fall of 2011, comes from my experience with horses and trail riding. Trail Ride to Snake Hollow is about an actual place where I live. It takes readers through Wayne National Forest, USA, on an American Quarter Horse to see the splendor of nature and our environment. The idea of the story is to guide those who have not had the opportunity to trail ride to experience the event first hand. The book invokes all your senses, leaving you with the feeling that you smell like a horse, have listened to the forest, feel the canopy of nature and that you have touched new elements.

JK: That sounds like something we could all really enjoy in this day and age. Tell us a little bit more about your inspiring real life.

GM: I grew up on a farm in Southern Ohio, USA. I still live on the farm with my family.  I am a fulltime author, writer, speaker and poet. I sponsor creative writing contests for my local School District, local County and I had the grand opportunity to recently co-sponsor/judge the Marwar Cup Creative Writing Contest held at the Indian Institute of Technology, Rookee, India. Besides writing, I like to horseback ride, needlepoint (a State and County Fair winner!), crochet and read. I have a son that I love spending time with; he is my joy and priority.

JK: You must have a lot of discipline in order to get any writing done.

GM: I devote a minimum of four hours for writing daily when I am not traveling, the rest of the day I use to collect research and organize information. I have an office in our barn, near the stables, which adds great inspiration (and a late afternoon nap in the hay), as well as an office in my home. The best part of being a writer is that you can write anywhere and new technology makes it even easier to send manuscripts with deadlines from remote locations. The best method I have for collecting thoughts is keeping a handheld recorder with me at all times. Sometimes ideas come at the most inconvenient moments…those are usually the best ideas!

JK: I couldn’t have said it better myself! Do you find that you use language differently when you write for children as opposed to your non-fiction?

GM: Language is important for differentiating characters, of course, and it plays an integral role in story development and conclusion. Writing children’s books, one is limited to language barriers due to the genre; however, writing freelance allows the opportunity to explore new writing styles, themes, characters and ideas. My favorite word is “serendipity.” It means that I can think outside-of-the-box and be creative without much prejudice from my audience, while fulfilling my own need to express myself!

JK: I worshipped the word “serendipity” when I was growing up. That just proves to me that you’re a wonderful children’s author. Thank you so much for stopping by.

GM: Thanks! I sincerely appreciate being part of your blog. 

Gina says, “I don’t blog, would rather spend that time actually writing.” More power to her! You can still find links to Gina’s freelance articles, reviews and all the latest on her work at her website: http://gmcknight.com.


Gina also frequently writes articles for the Going Gaited website.

Follow Gina on Facebook!

Things That Set My Heart Aflutter, Virtual Likes Edition

In this day and age, there are plenty of external gauges of popularity. No longer do we have to wonder whether they like us: the cold hard numbers will tell us whether it's so. Facebook has the "like" feature, which is becoming more common in other venues, and turning into rating features on a couple of my published flash fictions.

As of this writing, there have been 155 hits on "A Business Venture in Glue," five people have rated "The Writer's Wet Nap Dream" "six-tacular" (though that number seems to fluctuate up and down), and I have 33 "likes" on my Facebook author page (that's not as many as I have friends on my normal user account, but I'm still impressed by people's generosity!) I've also received interesting comments on other pieces floating around out there.

Any feedback fulfills my purpose as an author. Seeing the numbers grow, and especially whenever an actual comment appears, makes my job as a writer truly worthwhile. Yes, it makes my heart leap! Thank you!

Happy Memorial Day!

Six Sentence Sunday, Tenth Century Style II

Burgos in 2005, seen from Castle Hill. The cathedral is about three centuries too
late for our story.

I was so pleased that my snippet from last week seemed interesting to you all. Thanks so much for visiting and for all your constructive comments!

Since I don't have any battle scenes in this book written yet (I'd have liked to celebrate Memorial Day in that way), I'm going to continue with the wedding preparations. The bride, doña Lambra, is sitting with her trusty servant, Justa, in their tent, waiting in dread for the ceremony to begin. Remember, this is a first draft, so any suggestions are welcome.

* * *

They both looked at the tent flap when they heard the women's song. Too soon, a line of twenty singing married women opened the flap and beckoned to Lambra. She felt infinitely small: so small that the women lifted her up on their shoulders and carried her toward the city as if she were a water jug. Lambra looked desperately below in search of Justa's braids. She walked solemnly, far behind all the married women. "Justa, don't leave me alone!"

* * *

Thanks for stopping by. Don't forget to check out all the great excerpts at sixsunday.blogspot.com.

Things That Set My Heart Aflutter: Followers Edition

It's been a crazy couple of weeks, for many reasons, one of them being the Mega Author Blog Hop that ended last Monday. I got involved late because I couldn't wrap my head around the concept until I saw an example, so I was scrambling to put it together and make it not seem too bad or lame. Overall, the whole thing, with more than 30 authors, was a giant success.

Here's what sets my heart aflutter: for most of the week, every time I logged on to Blogger, I had at least one new follower here! Wow! Yippee! Without pandering or begging, I now have twice as many followers as when I started the blog hop! I even have more than some of the other authors in the hop. I never really thought I'd have that much of a "popularity" quotient because my writing is so unusual.

So thank you, thank you, to all the truly awesome people who have their picture over there! I promise to keep providing interesting content and make sure you're not sorry that you follow me here. I accept suggestions any time.

New Format For My Poetry Book

After much nose to the grindstone, I'm happy to announce that the digital version of my poetry volume, Dusk Before Dawn, is looking much better than it did before. It contains all the previously published items listed in the Good Reading page (except "Real") as well as many many gems unavailable elsewhere.

It will be available in Kindle shortly, and is already up for Nook. Enjoy!