Hero's Journey and Peppers

Don, glad you made it back okay, and sorry about the snow. I tried hard to keep it here for an extra day or two (I really wanted a snow day) but the wind had other plans. Hopefully you made it home alright and that thoughtful neighbors had plowed out your driveway and walks, turned the heat on for you and put eggs, milk and bread in the fridge.

Your comments about peppers helped me remember one of my favorite culinary students who started growing peppers last year. His favorite was the ghost pepper. According to the heat index, one seed from this little delight can cause burning for up to 30 minutes. Peppers do do wonderful things to tough meat! Sometimes I’m sorry I’m a vegetarian! But after trying a Serrano and a cayenne pepper, I’m not too upset by my diet choice. I know there are many recipes that are pepper based, I just haven't gotten the nerve up to try them out.

This last week I’ve been teaching, and writing, the hero’s journey as set out by J. Campbell. I get to read creative short stories next week! Which I’m looking forward to.  I’m also amazed at how many students don’t know the format. I’m grateful for pop movies that follow standard story telling, otherwise, I’m not sure my students would get it. Getting them to apply it to their own lives and to realize that they themselves are on a hero’s journey is not easy. Too many think Superman and Iron Man are what a hero is.

So I’ve been pounding the keys for the last 10 days and have finally finished my own story. The process was laborious at first simply because I couldn’t find enough time every day to write even though I know it is easier to maintain a story line if I do. Out of frustration, I finally just ignored my schedule and wrote. Thanks to my long suffering husband, I finished it Saturday.  I’ve sent it off to the editor with directions to not spare my feelings. I tried to follow the journey and the pulp thriller concept, but I know there are times it drags a bit.  I think it is a good story, but then again, I wrote it. Now it’s time to get back to editing the stories that have been turned in. Glad you’re home, Don, I can use the help.  

Okay, so here’s a thought for you Don. I’ve been considering doing short interviews with the Wormhole authors and putting it on the blog. I can come up with all the mundane questions about character and plot, but surely there are questions we can ask that would help readers, and editors, better understand the thoughts behind the story that help develop the story. What questions would you ask an author in an interview?

Riddle: snow shovel it is! Hopefully you don’t have to use one too much longer!

My guess for yours is dirt. I had originally thought about washing machine or dish washer but I couldn’t apply operas to it.

Sometimes tall, sometimes squat

 

Maybe thin, maybe not

On the floor, on the table, swinging left and right

Sometimes bright, sometimes dull

Uses are many; all for ascertaining the view

 

ADVERT!

Samples of the new Wormhole Electric Fantasy Collection are now available on the Wormhole website. Larry and Scott did a great job organizing the home page. I’ve been looking at other websites to see what we might do differently. I think these two guys are moving us in the right direction. I like the look and feel of the new page: clean, easy to read, easy to follow.
AND: March Writing contest has been combined with the February contest and there is more money and more opportunity to win! Check it out! sowrite.us.com

 Welcome home, Don!

Further Note:
Editor returned the first 5 pages of my manuscript - the first two pages are dripping red.

"Really?" whined the author, "is there nothing good about it at all?" Author reads first two pages. "How'd that get in there? That's not what I thought I wrote!" Chagrined, author retreats to computer to try again.

I am on my own hero's journey -

 

Have a great week everyone,

Carolyn