Sister Scribe

This week I finished Chapter Two of Someday at Christmas, and I'm loving this story. Here's the meter as of yesterday:

I spent most of the day housesitting for my sister and working on a short story (excerpted from one of my early manuscripts) for Love Stories magazine,

Hopefully I can get a few pages in while I'm cooking today. Everyone is coming to our house, but they're all contributing to the menu. All I'm doing is the turkey and dressing, corn pudding, sweet potato souffle' and two pistachio cakes.

Since my mind is in the culinary arena this morning, I'd like to leave you with this thought ...

The case for real whipped cream:

Cool Whip

A delicious blend of sugar, wax, and condom lube.

Water

 It's the main ingredient. But like any whipped product, Cool Whip contains a high percentage of air. At 41 cents per ounce, you're buying mostly water and air for just over twice what it would cost to whip real cream yourself.

Natural and Artificial Flavorings

Cool Whip doesn't really taste like much, but Kraft's recipe for blandness is a trade secret. That means the company doesn't have to disclose the specific flavorings.

Corn Syrup and High-Fructose Corn Syrup

Sugar by other names. Corn syrup is mostly glucose. High-fructose corn syrup is corn syrup treated with amylase and other enzymes, which together help convert glucose into fructose. A diet high in fructose is known to make lab mice fatter than other diets, so keep your research animals away from

Hydrogenated Coconut and Palm Kernel Oil

Cool Whip needs to feel like whipped cream in the mouth without actually being, you know, made with cream. One cheap, reliable way to replicate the texture is by using semi- solidified plant oils. The best method of solidifying plant oils: Bubble high- pressure hydrogen through them. Of course, if not done completely, the result is trans fat. These days, Kraft avoids that.

Polysorbate 60

Polysorbates are made by polymerizing ethylene oxide (a precursor to antifreeze) with a sugar alcohol derivative. The result can be a detergent, an emulsifier, or, in the case of polysorbate 60, a major ingredient in some sexual lubricants.

Sodium Caseinate

Also common in powdered non-dairy creamer, this protein derived from cow milk helps oil and water mix.

by Patrick Di Justo

WIRED MAGAZINE: ISSUE 15.05

Now that's a case for REAL whipped cream ...

Enjoy your friends, family and food and have a wonderful Thanksgiving! No matter what you're going through, if you're alive and breathing then you have a lot to be thankful for.

I want to take you into the holiday with a little music:

Last night I spent some time working on Christmas shopping lists and plans for this coming weekend.  Hubby and I are usually standing in the dark on line somewhere on the morning after Thanksgiving, and we always come home with some great bargains.

I had to laugh when I saw that Wal-Mart's (my second home) ad was leaked to the press on Saturday.

http://www.bvonmoney.com/2009/11/18/black-friday-walmart-ad-2009/

This year the retail giant is trying a different tactic. If you're a die-hard Black Friday shopper, you might want to read this.

http://news.holidash.com/2009/11/11/walmart-moves-black-friday-to-thursday/

My entire family is tightening its collective belt again this Christmas and keeping our gift exchange under $40 per person. But if I had my choice, this is what my ultimate Christmas list would look like:

Amazon Kindle

Leather Kindle Cover

8-GB iPod (I think 10,000 songs will be sufficient)

Wii Fit w/EA Active Games

Pink Digital Camera w/pink case

Alphasmart Neo (so I can give my old one to a writing friend)

Red HP Netbook

 What's on your dream Christmas list?

Someday at Christmas is coming together faster and easier than I expected. I wrote a scene yesterday that I laughed all the way through. It's great when that happens!  Here's the meter:

I'm rushing to get out of here this morning. I have to drive a friend to the doctor, so I'm taking my Alphasmart with me. I can write while I wait for her.

Since it was another perfect, sunny 70 degree day in Atlanta, I decided to find a new place to hang out and read my research material for Someday at Christmas.

Thanks to a very nice man at the Fayette County Recreation Department, I discovered a beautiful spot called Starr's Mill right on Highway 85. Here's where I spent a couple of hours today:

Here's a little history on this scenic spot from http://www.times-herald.com/Local/Starrs-Mill-a-popular-attraction-643159

"Starr's Mill, just a few miles north of Senoia, is probably one of the most famous -- or at least the most-photographed -- sites on the old McIntosh Trail, featured in numerous magazines and even in the Reese Witherspoon film "Sweet Home Alabama."

But even though a mill was located at the site from a very early period, when Creek and Cherokee Indians were still living in west Georgia, the current structure isn't nearly so old.

The mill changed hands three more times in the 20th century. This mill -- the building which still exists today, built on the foundation of the original burned mill -- operated until 1959, using a water-powered turbine, instead of a wheel, to grind corn and operate a sawmill.

The Starr's Mill site also included a cotton gin and a dynamo that produced electricity for nearby Senoia.

The Fayette County Water Department has owned the site since Feb. 1991. The county has used the millpond as a drinking water source since 1994 and has repaired the building's foundation and painted and fixed the roof."

Great day ...

I have mentioned many times that I do my best work away from the house, and Atlanta Bread Company is one of my favorite places to write. They offer free WiFi (which I don't need for my Alphasmart), but it makes the store a hot spot for meetings and studying.

If you write, you know how important comfort is. The ergonomics of the furniture are a major consideration. Something about the design of the benches and height of the tables at the Fayetteville ABC were perfect for me, but I have also worked at the Morrow and Peachtree City locations where they did a total remodel last year. The wooden benches are gone -- replaced by padded booths with a pendant light over each table. The booths also have high backs, which cuts down on distraction, and there is a half-wall separating the seating areas.

When my friends in Fayetteville announced that they were closing on Sunday night and reopening on Tuesday morning so they could remodel, I was thrilled.

Yesterday I spent three hours at the newly redecorated ABC. They're really going to have a hard time getting rid of me now.

This is kind of what the old decor looked like:

 This is the new look.

This booth in the bottom left corner is my new home. Headed out again in about an hour ...

Busy day on tap today. Hopefully I'll get some writing done while I'm sitting and waiting at my various errands.

A friend sent this to me, and I thought the ideas expressed the hearts of many women ...

On Saturday I attended a workshop entitled, "Editing for Writers: How to Grow from Good to Great." It was held at the beautiful Southwest Arts Center in Atlanta. The workshop presenter was Malaika Adero, Vice President and Senior Editor of Atria Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster.

First of all, I had never been to the Southwest Arts Center before. It's about forty minutes from where I live, but I'd heard that it is a very active venue for black arts events - film, music, dance, literature.

The number of participants was limited  to twenty-five, so the workshop had a small, intimate feeling. Ms. Adero shared for over two hours from her vast experience in the publishing industry. I was so impressed by her relaxed, confident demeanor and even moreso by her knowledge.

Ms. Adero talked about:

*  What makes a writer great

*  How to shop for an agent

*  What makes a writer successful

*  What makes a great book proposal

*  What makes a professional manuscript

*  What happens once you're offered a publishing deal

*  What do acquiring editors and publishers actually do

Even though the host could have easily charged $25-$50 for the seminar, it was provided for free. That's one of the things I love about Atlanta. There's always something going on, and it's not always expensive.

Right before the workshop started, I saw a woman come in and sit at the back of the circle of chairs. I thought to myself, "Wow, she looks like Jasmine Guy."  Come to find out it was Jasmine, the actress who played Whitley Gilbert on "A Different World" from 1987 to 1993. She writes stage and screenplays now.

Did you do anything interesting this weekend?

This isn't funny, but it sure is interesting ...

Michael Fuller, author of Chronicles of a Nappy Head, told me about this workshop. So that's what I'll  be doing tomorrow.

The meter on HOLLYWOOD SWINGING has jumped because I added a storyline from another manuscript that I wrote several years ago. It was the most exciting part of story, and since I never submitted that story anywhere, I figured I'd steal from it..That story was written in third person and changing it to first is time consuming. As I go through it, there are a lot of changes to be made. I see how my writing has matured in five years.  

So here's where it stands today:

With the start of the new television season, I've been trying to sample the new shows and decide which ones I'll stick with. So far, I absolutely     ABC's Flashforward and CBS's The Good Wife.  Castle was my favorite debut last season, but I'm skipping Dancing with the Stars (boring cast),

Whatchadooin?

A few weeks ago the Seekerville blog had a post entitled, "Theme Song for Your Life." I thought about it for a while and came up with two very different songs that represent my life. The first is from the late 1960's by one of my favorite bands back then, the Buddy Miles Express. The video features a guest appearance by a very young Carlos Santana. It's called, "Changes."

The other is by Yolanda Adams and is entitled, "This Too Shall Pass." The video is beautiful.

To use a phrase from Oprah, what I know for sure is that nothing stays the same ...

 What songs would you choose as the theme songs for your life?