When I was in elementary school, all the 4th-6th graders took part in a musical extravaganza called The Legend Train, where different narrators would ride around on this wooden train, pulled by the…
Source: Don’t Be Afraid to Be Embarrassed by Jo Whittemore
Use your embarrassing moments as humor in your writing. Great post!
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Colors from our garden |
By Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell
Go on vacation, buy an RV trailer.
Go to see my friends, the hubby sells the house.
What next?
The rest of the story . . .
When we sold our first home, I was at a conference in New Mexico with some wonderful ladies. Kevin repeatedly called me, updating the news and asking questions. Finally, his calls took on a list-like look.
“Honey, I sold the fridge.”
“Honey, I sold the boat.”
“Honey, I sold the . . .”
In desperation, I turned to my ladies, who were totally tuned in to the situation. “I’ve got to get home before he sells the kids!”
Many, many years later, the story is similar.
Last week was vacation. We enjoyed a few days with my cousin. We shopped for RVs but didn’t find one we could live in for any length of time. We discussed in great detail EVERY single option of selling our home and finally beginning our bucket list plan to build a small home. And I mean EVERY detail.
After returning home, we made an appointment with our realtor to ask questions and prepare to sell. That was Thursday.
The following Monday we met again and listed the house. The signs went up and photos were taken.
Tuesday was the realtor walk through day, so I loaded up the cats and headed to the other Quantrell’s for most of the day. Not only did several realtors visit our home, we had a showing with a different realtor. Just as I was putting quiche in the oven, we received a text for another showing. We quickly ate, grabbed the cats, and vacated the premises.
On Wednesday, I headed to visit college friends, leaving Kevin in charge of the home selling adventure. Kevin was texted for yet another showing. This one lasted almost 2 hours.
On Thursday morning, we received an offer! After another already scheduled showing later that day, paperwork was completed, and we accepted the offer for our home.
Guess where I was? Not at home. I was with friends on the other side of the mountains. Texts flew back and forth.
“We got an offer.”
“We are meeting to discuss the deal.”
“You need to sign these papers.”
I really need to not leave my husband at home alone! There’s no telling what he is planning on selling next . . .
Providing all goes well with the various sale-of-home proceedings, we will soon be living the RV life.
I guess that means we really are old Nana and Papa grandparents. (And we love it!)
Recently, I saw Penn & Teller live. It was a riveting show filled with mystical “ooohs,” enlightened “aaaahs,” and of course, plenty of laughs. The magician-entertainers are dubbed as a comedy …
Source: Tipping The Scales Between Heart And Humor by @leezaworks and GIVEAWAY
Do I have a secret for pulling on heartstrings? You bet. It’s furry, or feathery, or scaly, and it’s often my favorite character in my story. I give my child hero a pet. First, a disclaimer—I’m a f…
Excellent post about including pets as sidekicks. This post made me realize that I have a LIST. On that list are those books and movies in which a beloved pet (Hedwig, Old Yeller, etc.) or main character (almost any of the YA titles or the newest Star Wars – grrrr) die or are killed off. WHY?????? It’s like losing a family member!
But that is beside the point. Pets are perfect companions in almost any story. Great post!
Have you ever heard the piece of writing advice that goes, “readers come for the plot, but stay for the characters?” This means that often times readers are drawn to a story by a cool premise or pr…
Source: Crafting Characters We Can’t Help But Root For by @megan_shepherd
Great insights into creating memorable characters! Thanks, Megan!
I’ve often described heart as the thing that gives the reader a reason to care about the character and the story. But caring – or, at least, admitting that we care – can sometimes be uncomfortable,…
Source: A Spoonful of Sugar by @SudiptaBQ and GIVEAWAY
How to infuse humor into books for children! Great information and examples.
My co-conspirator, Cece Bell, summed up the way we worked on our Inspector Flytrap series like this: I wrote it to make her laugh. She drew it to make me laugh. That’s really where a LOT of …
Source: Pressing Jokes Between the Pages with Tom
Kids love humor! KidLitSummerSchool strikes again! Yay!
Humor sells. We’ve all heard that before. But how do we write something funny? As authors, making people laugh can be challenging. We can’t use physical humor and pratfall our way into chuckles lik…
Source: 1-2-3…Hehehe: Using the Rule of Three by @kamikinard plus a #Giveaway!
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Love locks at Chambers Bay Park |
By Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell
It’s true. Time flies. But not only when you are having fun – though those particular minutes, hours, and days seem to sleep more easily through our fingers.
I’ve found that time. Just. Flies.
For instance, my honey was on vacation last week. There were just not enough hours in the day! We . . .
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We had a wonderful time. I think maybe they were embarassed by us! |
– traveled to see my cousin in the Tacoma area where we ate, hiked, visited, walked, sipped coffee, ate some more, and watched exploding fireworks
– shopped for an RV trailer as a part of our long term plan to build our own small home
– returned home and cleaned house with much attention given to fine detail
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On the first hike we got lost. This was our trick for choosing the correct path on the next hike. |
– decluttered, packed boxes, moved furniture, and prepared our home for sale
– shopped again for an RV trailer – and purchased a lovely used model that we pick up on Saturday where we will attend a class on how to make everything work
– washed windows and removed cobwebs
– spackled and touched up painted walls
– filled the garage with boxes, bags, and large items for storage and donation
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Titlow Beach at low tide |
– spent hours talking on the phone with various service providers and business people, asking questions and learning the ropes about selling and building homes
– and finally, put our home on the market
We are exhausted!
The above schedule did not allow time for reading email, blogging, writing, or any other creative endeavor. I barely had time for grocery shopping, but we were getting hungry and I had to cave and make the trip.
The fun continues tomorrow. The gray girls and I are banished for 4 hours while realtors visit and walk through our home. I think Monet, Mabel, and I will visit some grands. Won’t that just make their day fantastic? The grands will love it. The cats, not so much.
Oh, friends, I could have used you. At the least we could have stopped for a bit and sipped a cup of tea. Rest and relaxation. Do consider a visit soon so we can catch up. I may not have furniture, but I always have hot water and tea.
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Fireworks on the 4th |
Welcome to Kidlit Summer School Orientation 2016! Today we’re here to tell you what to expect so that you can feel comfortable and confident going forward. Looks like you’re sitting up straig…
Source: #KidlitSummerSchool Orientation 2016. Class Starts Tomorrow!
Love, Laughter, and Life 