Conflicting Emotions

As I watch my two-and-a-half year old grandson, it brings back memories of my childhood. He loves playing with balloons. We play balloon catch, balloon volleyball, balloon soccer and balloon baseball. But balloons also scare the dickens out of him when they pop. When he comes over weekday mornings, he will go over to a bin that has a balloon in it and say, “Balloon pop.”  He’s always hesitant at first to play with the balloon until he gets into the game.

I remember a similar reaction I had as a small child. My dad belonged to an Elks Club. In a storage area near the parking area was stored a stuffed elk. When we went there I was always afraid of what I called “the dead horse” but had to go look at it. It was both terrifying and exciting.

Similarities Between Novel Plots and Two-Year-Olds

In addition to my writing, my major focus in the last two plus years has been getting to know my grandson (now two and a half). I’ve learned a great deal watching and interacting with him. Here are several of the lessons that apply equally to writing novels.

My grandson loves playing with his toy train, which he pushes by hand over wooden tracks. He enjoys a specific track configuration for several days, then wants to change it. Equally true of novels. Readers don’t want the same plot over and over. They want new twists and turns.

My grandson will run the train along the track for a while, but this is too easy. He will then remove a piece of track so the train can’t proceed and say, “Oh, no.” Often he will replace it with a different piece of track. Other times, he will put toys on the track to block the train. As in writing novels, there need to be obstacles and conflict to bring the story alive. We don’t want a boring story where everything is fine with no challenges to be overcome.

It’s fun to watch him construct his own stories as he plays with his train.

Speaking at Libraries

I have enjoyed the opportunity to speak at libraries. In January, I co-taught a class on short story writing with fellow author, Gayle Bartos-Pool, at the main library in Glendale, CA. This week I met through a Skype call with a group at the Nederland, CO, library. I gave a brief presentation and then answered questions. I particularly enjoyed talking with this group because I used to live in Boulder, CO, and visited Nederland many times on my way up Boulder Canyon for hikes on trails leading to the Continental Divide. With tools such as Skype, it now makes it possible to speak with book groups all over the country.

Life of a Two-Year-Old

I’ve been learning a lot from our two-year-old grandson. Hopefully, I’m teaching him a few things as well. My observations come from being with him almost every day, actually spending more time with him than I did with any of our three kids when they were this age because back then I was working full time rather than my current retired lifestyle.

One of the things I’ve enjoyed watching is how he responds to friendship. He has one good buddy who he plays with at the playground. They see each other several times a week. My grandson is always excited when he first sees his friend again. They run up to each other, jabbering excitedly. But most of their time together is parallel play, each doing his own thing with a truck or shovel. They also like to chase each other, and sometimes one of them wants to tackle the other. Occasionally, one wants a toy the other is playing with, and this leads to a tugging match, once resulting in a broken toy cement mixer.

Usually, my grandson doesn’t want to leave the playground, but once in a while he climbs into the stroller to indicate he’s ready to head back to our house for lunch and a nap. In either case, he waves to his friend and we’re off.

You Know You're Getting Older When . . .

Many of my published books feature older characters. I also like collecting saying about growing older, which I often use when giving presentations. Here are a few of my favorites.

You know you getting older when. . .

Your back goes out more than you do

You find your favorite childhood toys in antique stores

A postage stamp costs more than a movie ticket did when you were a kid

You stop lying about your age and start bragging about it

A policeman pulls you over, and you ask for a senior discount

Your actions creak louder than your words

Your spouse says you’re hot, but it’s because you use a heating pad

New Book Contract

Signing a new book contract is always an exciting event, no matter how often it occurs. It represents a milestone along the path of conceiving an idea, writing it down, editing it into an improved form and gaining the acceptance of a publisher.

This week I signed an agreement with Encircle Publications for my fifteenth book, Unstuff Your Stuff, for publication in October of this year. Here’s a brief preview:

Millicent Hargrove must deal with the murder of her husband as she begins her new life as a widow and professional organizer. She escapes attempts on her own life and figures out the mystery of the cryptic messages left by her husband. She discovers how to organize people’s stuff while sorting through the clutter from the secret life her husband led.

Physical Aspects of Aging

Many of my mystery novels include older characters. I guess that’s appropriate because I am now an older character.

For all of you young ‘uns and even the oldsters, here’s what I’ve learned about the physical aspects of aging.

1.      It happens. Get used to it.

2.      Things that used to get done quickly, take longer. Bending, lifting, moving all take more time than in the past. I also find I get distracted more. My wife refers to this as the intervening thought. I go into a room to get scissors, notice a magazine I haven’t finished and forget the scissors. I leave the room and then realize I need the scissors. Much slower that doing it the first time. My morning routine of getting up, grooming, eating breakfast and doing my stretches now takes close to two hours. Part of this is because of my slower pace. The other part is that after shoulder, neck, back, hip and knee pain, I have more stretches and exercises to do.

3.      I played competitive tennis as a kid and in college, but now my main exercise is walking. The joints can ‘t take jogging any longer, but I enjoy an hour walk. It gets me outside, I get my sunshine vitamin D, and I can enjoy the scenery while getting a good workout.

So there are changes as we get older. But as my stepdad used to say, it sure beats the alternative.