Colleen Ryckert Cook

After weeks of scrounging the internet for free clips, I broke down and bought the season pass on ITunes.

*Happy sigh* Life has meaning again.

He's got my vote.

head over to the ICL chat board and ask EA your burning questions. Sample of a great answer about synos (lizzy, did you see this?)

"When I look at a synopsis, it's only after I've read your sample chapters and
a) they were so promising that I want to know where this is going.
b) they were so confusing that I want to know if you know where this is going.

So a synopsis doesn't need to tell me the whole story.  It needs to convey the conflict, any important themes, the MAIN plot points (ie, the big ones, not every one).  And (very importantly) how the story ends.  You'd be surprised how many people don't know how to end a story--or simply haven't yet.  (Don't send me your WIP!).  And it all needs to make logical sense, so don't leave out the details that make it make sense. 

Don't send me a list of these points, either.  You're a storyteller; you should be able to tell me a short story about your novel.

There are great, great examples of good and bad queries on Query Shark, and the good ones are basically the first part of a good synopsis."

Enjoy, and learn lots! 

Go Dara Torres!! I watched you in the trials, and you rock!

Must take kids to skateboard park now. We have a good two hours before the teens show up :)

Swing by 

elizabethcbunce

 and wish her another year of wonderfulness.

As my struggle with show vs tell continues...

Check out 101 Best Scenes Ever Written: A Romp Through Literature for Writers and Readers Alike by Barnaby Conrad. He includes books and screenplays, compares the written scene to what appears in movies and movie adaptations, and more. Sprinkled among the excerpts and analysis are anecdotes about the writers. Enjoy!

What does that song have in common with these eight?

“GirlShapedLoveDrug” by Gomez

“Everyday People” by Sly and the Family Stone

“Waiting for Wednesday” by Lisa Loeb

“Lurch” by Buen Chico

“Fester” by Joe Deans

“Props” by Pugslee Atomz

“You Sexy Thing” by Hot Chocolate

“Goody Two Shoes” by Adam Ant

Come on. This one is really easy...

(Inspired by 99.7 The Boulevard's "Nine at 9" theme-based playlist.)

Next week will start and end with two family reunions, at least the way my family tends to reunite: at funerals and weddings.

Monday we will say goodbye to Roy, my Aunt Katy's husband of twenty years, a wonderful and loving man who lived to 86, survived two strokes with humor and determination, and once jumped the rails  with his daughter for an afternoon ride through western Colorado. He'll be buried with full military honors, having served in the army during WWII. Cousins I haven't seen since my own dad's funeral six years ago will be there. Six years is too long to reconnect.

On the other side of the family, my cousin will marry off her daughter on Saturday. Her father, my uncle Joe, is the last surviving sibling out of seven children. A true Catholic family who procreates as best it can, it's produced more cousins than I can count. I asked my mom to join Husband and I at the reception, saying it will be great to visit with everyone whom, again, we haven't seen since Dad's funeral. Her reply: "There isn't really anyone left anymore." 

My sisters and brother and I, we are laughers. We will laugh at Melissa's wedding and reception. We most likely, through tears, will laugh at Roy's funeral too (and he, I believe, will be laughing with us). But that comment, from my mom? Couldn't laugh at that.

Just a few weeks ago my sisters, brother and mom gathered our own families together for a portrait sitting. We laughed throughout it, of course, and I think it shows in the final shots. Our children are close, closer even than I once was with my own cousins so many decades ago. They spend the night at each other's houses, they consider themselves best friends. 

I wonder: In thirty years, will they only see each other at funerals and weddings?

Here's a one-word meme, designed to let you avoid real responsibilities. Feel free to play along!

1. Where is your cell phone?  countertop

Yes, that's right. THE Judy Freaking Blume, in my in box, thanking me for reading her books and telling me to not give up.

Holy cow. Judy Freaking Blume.

I must go wipe my eyes now.

My husband, David Cook, has been riding the David Cook craze for the last several weeks. Thought I'd give you all a peek at my very own American Idol:



And here is his new producer:



Have a peaceful Memorial Day.

I confess. The words “Show, don’t tell” make me cringe. I think I’m showing, and still someone will say “too much telling.” I see what I think is telling all the time in books that I love, to the point that I now wonder if I know what "show" is.

So tell me: How do you recognize when you are telling, rather than showing? And how do you know when you've shown?

Picture this: A six-foot tall reverberating snorer. A six-year old sleep talker who flails. Me contorted in the middle. All three on an incredibly shrinking, eighteen-year-old double mattress. I usually awoke to numb arms and multiple aches because I couldn’t move.

No longer, my friends. I’m still stuck in the middle, but I have room to languidly move arms and legs at will. The snores seem farther away, as does the morning breath, and the dervish that is No. 2 son asleep causes nary a blip during my slumber.

Granted the oversized-- and did I mention pillow-top? -- bed in our late 1930s bungalow means we have about 32 inches on two sides of the bed and about 38 at the end for furniture and traffic flow. But who cares when we’re finally getting sleep! Well-worth dealing with Regan and no wi-fi for another several months.

On the horizon: A book launch celebration for elizabethcbunce  this Friday! A writing powwow Saturday afternoon with

lizzy_lyn

kidlit_kim

Must return to freelance work. The credit card statement that includes the bed and new bedding purchases arrived yesterday. Shudder. Happy Spring, all!

I've been away for a plethora of circumstances. I'll give you a little peek into my world these last eleven days:

1. My computer, henceforth to be called "Regan", taunts me each time I power up, freezing for no reason, shutting down without provocation and doing everything short of spewing split pea soup at me. I threatened her with replacement but she merely laughed in my face, knowing full well I don't have the money. Right now she's watching, waiting, storing up an electrical charge to get me...

2. We're on Day 7 of Spring Break. Today is only the second day of sunshine. The count thus far: five full-blown wrestling matches, seventeen screaming fits, three losses of computer privileges, two one-on-one basketball games with No. 1 son, four forts built with No. 2 son, and one breakdown by Dad to purchase the Transformers Movie.

3. Go Jayhawks!!

4. In others' news, my friend Deanna received an email from from Ze Frank, geek extraordinaire (insert binary solo in his honor), who asked about this painting. My friend Angie won a "Healing Through Art" award for her poem "LIttle Girl Lost."

5. That's all for now. Regan has been very patient while I posted. I don't want to wear out her good humor, as I must check my email periodically.

Happy Vernal Equinox, everyone!

A cranky computer and intermittent online access has made me late to the game, but the wishes are sincere!

And now I must log off before my computer crashes -- again

And another good reason to get to a bookstore pronto!



Congratulations, Jody Feldman! jodyfeldman  

Get out of the kitchen and soak up every second of this day!