Writing Contest

I received the scores from the contest I entered last December for my novel "A Series of Scandals." It just makes my disappointment all that much more final. The highest and lowest scores were disqualified. But even with that . . . .it was only the first three chapters. And it seems it is not actually a true contest with only five people reading those chapters. And only three scores counting. 

It's weird because I read fourteen different entries in another category when I was a judge. Even the ones I gave high 8's and 9's to didn't make the semi-finals. Maybe we are all horrible writers and no one wants to read what pours forth onto the pages. Or. . . maybe the judges weren't as objective as they should have been. I've heard of contests where friends read each other's manuscripts and gave high ratings. I hope that was not the case.

I don't know what to think. 
A friend read my book last year in May and said, she couldn't put it down. I had forgotten that I had sent it to her, and she had forgotten that it was in her inbox. Months went by and then she called me up and gave such rave reviews. 

Maybe she wasn't as objective either.      

In my category someone did win. So I guess I'm just ranting. 

Historical Romance	Judge 1	Judge 2	Judge 3	Judge 4	Judge 5
Score	8.00	4.10	7.00	8.00	8.70
Is the love story the main focus of the book?	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Is the resolution of the romance emotionally satisfying and optimistic?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Final Score: 7.666666667

Morrow Dam

It's been hot. At least in the mid 90's all week long. On Monday and Tuesday, I was still in the relaxing feel of vacation even though I was back at work. Wednesday wiped the vacation mindset out of my thoughts, and I began looking forward to the weekend. Now sitting here on Saturday morning, I'm refreshed once again.

On our vacation, we visited the Morrow Point Dam built between two cliffs. It was an awesome sight to see. 
So vast that it is hard to take in. 

As always I am behind on my schedule of writing. I should be on the middle chapters of my 2nd book, but I am still on Chapter Two. It is not right and I keep going through it changing the words and the responses that each character speaks trying to get it to where I want it to be. 

I guess it is like re-arranging furnture in a small room. You have the pieces, you know what you want, but until you physically move each of the pieces to different spots you don't know if it has the right feel. However, when it is right you know it and can walk away.

   

Colorado

Back from vacationing in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. It was spectacular. Some of the canyon's cliffs rose from 2303 feet jutting from the earth to the heavens.  We went on a boat tour that brought us further into the canyon.  And then we went on different hikes throughout the canyon that brought us to the "Painted Wall" on the right. In the left hand corner of the picture, you can see the river. The very one that we traveled through on the pontoon boat.   


                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
And then on our second day on our way out of our camp area there in front of us only 30 yards away was a brown bear. He was the size of a very large dog, so we figured he was a cub. But his girth was wider than a dog.  Only the second bear that I've seen in Colorado. The other one ironically was in the area called "Burning Bear". 

During vacation, I was able to write just a little. Cleaned up another section on my first book and re-wrote the first and second chapter of my second book.

And now vacation is over, and this has been my third vacation this year. I am rested, rejuvenated and ready to begin work again.  I think it is only because I have today off that I think the sound of work  - pleasant. I guess I will tell you next week if my thought was true or just vacation euphoria.       

  

Ceilings and Hallways

Two more weeks until my back is healed, I hope. It's never taken longer than that, so I have hope. It has been a crazy week. But it is summertime and what better time to have it crazy. The following pictures are from the Louvre. I've entitled this post as Ceilings and Hallways. Places that most people don't show off and yet at the Lourve these particular areas were impressive. Ornate and full of character.

I have contemplated these pictures more than the others and I wonder why. I have come up with the conclusion that I feel at peace looking at them.  Other rooms require something from you and so I feel that when you are in them you imagine the people from another time doing those actions. Eating, sleeping relaxing or working. A hallway requires nothing except walking and the ceiling is just there whether you look at it or not.

My writing has continued at a good pace. My editor keeps me hopping. I wonder how she finds the time to read and re-read it and ask questions like - Where did she get money?  Where is the carriage being housed? My first reaction is to say they don't matter. But if she's asking questions then maybe my readers will ask those same questions. And there is nothing worse then waiting to hear answers that are never addressed. So I'm off to figure out how my main character found some cash and where is that ghastly carriage. Or I'll look down more hallways and gaze at more ceilings in an attempt to discover their secrets.

Garden, Rain and London

Went for a walk in the rain last night. It was wonderful. There is a peace that comes from simple things. 

This is a flower blooming in my front garden. I took it from my childhood home before my parents moved a few years ago. This is the first year it has bloomed. Hail and errant basketballs annihilated them in previous years.

Still missing Chip, and Libby is still listless. Poor dog misses her friend.  My back is getting better every day.
And vacation to the mountains of Colorado is only two weeks away. 

Working on the second chapter of my second book. I have set goals for the next 20 weeks -- one chapter a week. I have not been great about reaching them, but inspiration has struck and I'm excited to write something new.  Edits on my first book are slowly edging forward. My editor is going to a writing conference in August and will bring my book with her. We shall see. 

Can't post without  pictures from London. Trafalgar Square and Nelson's Column. The city is full of beautiful old architecture. The building with the clock is from 1832

   

Chip

 Amidst all of the things that life brings, this week we had to put down our dog, Chip. He was thirteen and had lived a full life. But that doesn't matter. We loved him and he was a part of our family. My husband brought him home when my youngest son was eight years old. He had hip displasia, so it was hard for him to walk but that never really stopped him. We started by calling him Chocolate Chip, and from there Chip, then on to Dip which became Dippers, to Skippers to Skip to Old man. He answered to all of them. In the evenings, as my kids pet him, they would sing to him about how great a dog he was. How can one ever replace that kind of love. It can't be done and in a way it shouldn't. Our German Short Hair, Libby is sad. She has napped the last two days and looks everywhere to see where Chip is.

Nothing is new with writing. I'm still re-reading A Series of Scandals. I enjoy it but have very little to report.

So I went through my pictures once again and have posted a few from Paris. The Seine River as we crossed the bridge.

The Palace of Justice. People were lined up to go in.

Marie Antoinette was imprisoned there and it was built in 1240 and then began reconstruction in 1857.


Then there is Notre Dame and once again the Seine River.

Snow and Sunshine

From Winter to Spring in less than three weeks. Snow in the backyard that had our tree break in half and land on our neighbors car to spending the day in the mountains at our favorite spot. 

Columbines, Indian Paintbrushes and Mountain Lupine cascaded on the hillsides. Colorado Mountains are spectacular.  But the area surrounding the campsite is still recovering from the Hayman fire that happened in 2002. According to the Denver Post article written by Johns Ingold "By the time firefighters gained control of the Hayman fire — more than one month after it began — it had charred 137,760 acres in Park, Teller, Jefferson and Douglas counties, a footprint nearly twice as large as Colorado's second-biggest fire. On one day alone, it ran 19 miles. It put up a smoke plume so massive that it created its own weather."

I can remember that summer where ash rained down on us, our clothes, homes and cars  in the suberbs of Denver. The orange looking sun was hidden behind the hazy skyline of smoke all summer long.

 Another hard week with my back still giving me trouble. But even moreso as my sister, the one I traveled through London with lost her mother-in-law. As her husband and two sons along with others escorted their mother/grandmother's casket out of the chapel, my heart broke as her teenage sons broke down in anguish of heart.

It was a sweet service. So beautiful that it hurt especially as white doves were released and then circled around the cemetery until the last bird was released. And then they altogether flew out of our sight. Just as Marlene had.

While we were at the cemetery, we went to visit my grandmas. The three ladies that were cousins to my grandpa that took over raising my dad when his mother passed away when he was a teenager.

And now onto writing, I'm starting to plot scenes in my mind. New ideas are coming again. So I have great hopes of starting the process again. It's hard to start anew when I'm still re-writing the first book. Still mining for the right words to set the scenes the way I want them to look instead of how they actually are.

I have left my greatest news for the last. I have wanted someone from the UK to look at my blog for the longest time. To follow my journey of writing and life. Just this morning my first UK viewer came online. I can only assume they arrived by mistake and quickly left but the numbers are the numbers and someone from the UK opened my blog. Yay!!!