Exposition Practice Continuation

She leaned her head back against trunk, with a few tangled pieces catching on the bark. The blue birds moved on and landed a few branches away. She dropped her hands to her side, with her legs still pulled close to her body.

...


Well, that is the most my brain seems to want to let out tonight. I plan to write some more this weekend, so more to come soon.

Exposition Practice

The wind blew through her yellow locks. The church bell chimed. Nearby, families were pushing into the pews. Mothers urging children toward the front, while fathers shook hands in the foyer.  The tree rustled. She looked up to catch sight of a pair of blue birds flitting through open patches of branches and leaves. 

She pulled her legs up under her chin and pulled herself against a tree nearby. As her back brushed up against the trunk, flakes of tree bark fell to the soft ground. The blue of her shoes were barely recognizable through the mud built up from her walk through the late night rain. 

Dynamics of Women's Interactions

The group dynamics between women and/or girls is a very interesting one. We all have such distinct personalities  whether we let the world see all pieces of them or not. Growing up I had my sisters constantly around me, but my friends were guys or girls that aligned themselves better with guys (for the most part). Even my sisters had a good amount of male friends although I'm pretty sure they were just around to try and date them. High school was a bad place for all of us, with insecurities swarming our little heads. 

When women get together as adults, the high school thoughts and feelings seem to come back. However, these days were a little older and have more words we've learned that we can use in conversation. This helps us better avoid difficult conversations, or any real topic at all if we've found ourselves check out. A woman can be your best friend or your best nemesis, and you'd never be able to tell the difference in the daylight. No matter what, some sort of insecurities exist in each of us because we've grown up in and around it. We just can't help it. 

Tonight, I told a group of my female friends that I have no insecurities, and that may not be totally true. I think some of my insecurities have caused me to be who I am. Loud, outgoing, talkative, jumpy - all of these come from my insecurity of being alone. I really don't like it, so I've found if I ignore how I sometimes feel about me, I'll talk to more people and constantly be surrounded. Then I don't have to sit at home thinking of all my faults. I know they exist, but I think I've trained myself to stay so busy I don't dig them out of the deep dark hole of my brain I've buried them in. 

If you happen to find another woman you can talk with, bitch with, cry with, laugh with, go out with, hang out with, that's pretty good. Growing up I had a couple different types of female friends, but mostly we all tried to keep a strong, brave face and didn't talk about the "real" feelings. My sisters got to see all that I hid inside - sometimes. There were some times where I'd watch sappy love movies and cry over a bowl of something sugary and bad for me. 

Now, I'm very grateful to say that I've got female friends who will have fun, kick, scream, and yell with me, including some that have adapted from the fun carefree friendships of childhood.  I'm appreciative of all my female friends out there. Thanks for letting me be me, without having to second guess myself too much. 

Attempt to Revive a Story Idea - Possible Contest Entry

One of the magazines I used to submit to in an attempt to get published has an open short-story competition closing at the end of May. Here's the start to an idea for one I've begun playing with.

Life doesn't always work out the way you thought it would.

Kathy Arnold wasn't always the most liked little girl in school. She wasn't always noticed, by teachers or students. She had hazel eyes, almond skin, and her brown, frizzy hair was always up in a bright scrunchy because she was teased when it was down, with some of the boys tugging on it when the teachers looked away.

At home, Kathy was the second of five children, and both her parents worked. By the time she was twelve, she and her older brother were taking care of their younger sister and brothers. 

Maybe over the next two weeks I'll be able to get the rest of this idea plotted out, and give it to someone to review for me before May 31. 

Beginnings of an Author Bio

So, I found that author biography I had been working on about myself awhile back that I never posted. HEre it is:

Jennifer graduated from Mississippi State University in 2005 with her Bachelor’s Degree in Communication.  She was the first of four daughters to go to the home state of their fathers alma mater. 

Jennifer’s passion for writing began when she was eight years old.  Her mother handed her a multi-colored spiral journal and asked her to document her life so that her mother could see what Jennifer was doing. 

She remembers writing in diaries every year and never fully finishing one before beginning another.

Jennifer’s earliest memory of writing was a ten sentence song/poem called “Daddy’s Little Ticket” that she typed and printed so her mother could review it.  She remembers her mom laughing while complementing the accomplishment and pushing Jennifer to expand the work.  Her mother’s kind guidance led Jennifer to completing a full three verse song, with a chorus to link them.  No melody was ever written, but Jennifer does sing it to a tune in her head.  

Jennifer spent her ages 10-13 attempting to form bands with her three sisters and close female friends, while writing lyrics for possible songs.  Eventually she adapted her writing to poetry and short-story form as she found her favorite authors to be Louisa May Alcott, Earnest Hemmingway and Jane Austen.  In high school she continued to journal and began online journal / blogs.  Both her mother and father supported her passion for writing and urged her to continue her poetry and short stories.  In late high school she began to plot several stories that she wanted to create. 

When she entered college some of her writing took the back burner as she was in a new state meeting new people, but in the winter of 2006/2007 she completed her first manuscript – Here I am Again.  With this completion she began to plot more stories and finished several other short stories.  One creative writing class with a new professor, Mike Kardos.  

I'll need to add some information of things that happened after 2007, being that now it's 2013 and I've done a few more things. 

Thoughts on a Friday Night

I'm sitting with my husband after watching Argo, and I am so glad for all I have. I've got him, my family, his family, friends, a job, my dogs, a roof over my head. All in all, good things are happening for me.

I think this is why it's been so difficult to write...no really, stay with me.

When I was lonely, broke, and depressed all the time, I took to my writing. It was an in-expensive way to retreat. It was better than drinking or getting into drugs, and I couldn't throw myself into exercising all hours of the day. People can only run so much in one day.

Lately I've been reading a bit more. I've been thinking a lot more. And I've even gone to pick up a pen a couple times. I have a little notebook a friend gave me for Christmas that sparked my interest again. It's a very cute, small, pocket-sized notebook that stays with me and reminds me to write. The only writing it's received though is one shopping list.

Writing is my passion. I need to get over whatever these walls are that I've been letting myself stay at and just jump over. I've got several pretty decent ideas.

Time to let the pen flow.

Need to write an author bio...

I've had many people pushing me lately to write, which is a great feeling. So many people believe in me. I've got a couple of things that I need to do. Write an author bio, write a synopsis of my finished book, and finish one of the other many projects I'm working on.

I've been at a lull lately. I just started a new job, which is great! I'm a Marketing Coordinator for an Engineering Firm. It's just been so much to take in these past three weeks, that I haven't been writing. I keep getting poked at by Chad asking me if I've written. I'm going to get back on it. I feel like so many of these post say that in the past year, but I really will. All it will take is a good spark and I'll write like I did when I finished my first book. :-)

SOON to come - the first draft of my author bio!