Tuesdays with Story

Writer’s Mail
Tuesdays with Story
May 20, 2015

He said it . . .

“Who wants to become a writer? And why? Because it’s the answer to everything. … It’s the streaming reason for living. To note, to pin down, to build up, to create, to be astonished at nothing, to cherish the oddities, to let nothing go down the drain, to make something, to make a great flower out of life, even if it’s a cactus.”
– Enid Bagnold (1889-1981), British poet, playwright, and novelist

Who’s up next . . .

May 26: Jim Salimes (chapter 1, Tones of Home), Judah LoVato (chapter 4, Bridge), Julie Fitzpatrick (prologue and chapter 1, Angel in a Second Skin), and Paul Chrichton (excerpt, Case of the Comic-Con Curse).

June 2 : Pat Edwards (???), Kashmira Sheth & Amit Trivedi (chapter, novel), Cindi Dyke (chapter, North Road), Millie Mader (chapter 63, Life on Hold), Alicia Connolly-Lohr (chapter 20, Coastie Girl), and Andy Brown (chapters, The Last Library).

June 19: Lisa McDougal (chapter, Tebow Family Secret), Amber Boudreau (chapter, Stone), Mo Bebow-Reinhard (chapter, Dancing with Cannibals), Kashmira Sheth & Amit Trivedi (chapter, novel), Bob Kralapp (short story, part 3, “Flamingo”), Judith McNeil (???), and Jerry Peterson (short story, part 2, “Alone at the Hanging Tree”).

Last night at B&N . . .

It was a small group for first-and-thirders (7), but a good one. Here’s who was up:

Lisa McDougal (chapter 29, Tebow Family Secret) . . . Pat Edwards had issues with the use of profanity with one character. She also wanted to know why a Jessica didn’t ask Adam how his brother lost his leg. She describe it as a “loaded gun that never goes off.” Kashmira Sheth and Mo Bebow-Reinhard suggested moving the vomiting part to happen as a reaction. Kashmira also thinks Adam should reflect on his decision while in flight instead of making his decision so suddenly.

Mo Bebow-Reinhard (chapter 1, part 1, Dinner at Marshall Fields) . . . Mo said she’s been having difficulties with a confusing introduction of the narrator in first person giving out too much unrelated information. Bob Kralapp latched on to two lines he felt were pivotal. Mo has since used Bob’s comments to form a new introduction for the novel.

Kashmira Sheth (novel in verse, part 3, Turban Boy) . . . Everyone felt that Turban Boy was on the right path and was working as a story in verse. Pat suggested tweaking a couple of lines in poem about Faith to create a bigger emotional impact. The food poem was well received, causing Kashmira to consider leaving fiction behind to become a food critic.

Bob Kralapp (short story, part 2, “Flamingo”) . . . Mo said that some of the observations of the main character are a bit overdone. Kashmira said that what the main character claims he will not do about the flamingo is very revealing of his character. Pat said that she is enjoying Dan’s cluelessness about his wife and daughter. Kashmira suggested developing the information about Dan’s wife and her gardening.

Jerry Peterson (short story, part 1, “Alone at the Hanging Tree”) . . . Pat made the most significant observation. Said she, James Early has to react in some way when he runs his motorcycle up to top speed for the first time, 118 miles an hour. “Maybe an adrenalin rush or he’s scared by it,” she said. Bob asked for more development of the opening scene in the café at the top of the story, a better showing of friendships/relationships among the regulars there. More food stuff, too, said Pat. There can be the remnants of breakfast on the table.

Our next Fifth Tuesday . . .

Plans are set. First-and-third group hosts.
Date: June 30.

Place: Panera’s on University Avenue. This is not a potluck event; it’s order off the menu.
Writing challenge: Write a two-sentence story . . . two sentences, no more. Of course, the sentences can be long if you are a master of commas and semi-colons. Subject and genre of your story, those are your choices.

Do two things now . . . (1) reserve the date on your calendar and (2) start writing.

Our May editor . . .

Jerry Peterson is our editor this month for Writers Mail. Send your good stuff to him.

Looking ahead, we have our editors for June and July . . . Kashmira Sheth for June and Lisa McDougal for July.

The world of languages . . .

How many languages are there in the world, living languages, languages people speak today? According to a recent Washington Post story, 7,102.

– Two thousand of those languages have fewer that 1,000 speakers. These are the endangered languages, the ones likely to disappear in the next several decades. Half of our 7,102 languages may disappear by the end of the century, say experts at UNESCO.

– The big language today, based on the number of speakers? Chinese.

– The big language in world business and diplomacy? English. More people are studying English than any other language.

– If you were a linguist, what language would make you the most money? German.

Here’s the link to the Washington Post story . . . great graphics to help you and me understand what’s going on: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/04/23/the-worlds-languages-in-7-maps-and-charts/

Great word . . .

From Word Spy Paul McFedreis:

dadbod
Meaning: (noun) A male physique characterized by a slight flabbiness, nondefined musculature, and a noticeable beer belly; a man who has such a physique.

Also: dad bod.

Etymology: dad + body

Examples:
“That’s what’s so great about the dadbods. They enjoy life, and that’s both attractive (if you’re into guys) and aspirational (if you’re not). There’s nothing wrong with having loads of chips, or two lunches, or an entire Nandos chicken while everyone else has a half.”
– Chris Mandle, In praise of the ‘dadbod,’ The Telegraph (London), May 1, 2015

“The dad bod is a new trend and fraternity boys everywhere seem to be rejoicing. Turns out skipping the gym for a few brews last Thursday after class turned out to be in their favor. While we all love a sculpted guy, there is just something about the dad bod that makes boys seem more human, natural, and attractive.”
– Mackenzie Pearson, Why Girls Love The Dad Bod, The Odyssey, March 30, 2015

Earliest:
“Its [sic] cause he has a little thing we at 3OH!3 HQ like to call ‘hot dad bod’.”
– Nathaniel Motte, Its cause…, Twitter, July 29, 2009

Notes:
The word dadbod (or dad bod) began on Twitter, so it’s only appropriate that the #dadbod hashtag is very popular right now in the Twittersphere.