PRICKLE FORREST CHRONICLES

January 2020 (Posted 01/21/2020

By Chrissy Hartmann

 

Happy New Year! It is 2020! Wow! Another decade nears its end. Holy smokes! What will this year bring?

Right now, with the lack of the Ohio winter season of falling snow and bitter cold one might question if they have truly arrived in Ohio. For a writer the incentive to stay in and write vanishes each sunny warm day.

Crazy or not, but some writers prefer the decline in temperature and sparkling snowflakes in the air. And yes, some do prefer a blizzard or two. Actually a wonderful time to write. And read up. But not to worry. Because Mother Nature has finally arrived to entice Old Man Winter to climb out of his comfy chair and take a whirl around the floor. With their footsteps in sync, they dance gracefully to a tune of a chill in the air, icicles tinkling, and confetti of snow to celebrate the New Year. So grab your dance notebook, strap on your pen, flex your finger tappers for the keyboard, and strut out for the perfect time to waltz your words out onto the dance floor of creativity.

 

 

THE TOP 5

1. Writing.
2. Hot coffee and shortbread cookies.
3. Reading.
4. Dark chocolate kick-ass knee-hi boots.
5. Punkin.

 

 

WIP (Work In Progress):

I have written 12 pages of the thirty I need to finish the edits on Rescuing Whiskey’s Salvation©. Spent a week researching how I could close the gap on my MC emotional distance. Thought of the perfect solution almost immediately, but wanted some verification if the idea would work. The Muses loved the idea, so of course, my doubts grew. But my beta readers did a read through of the material and loved it. So the goal now is to get the last twenty or so pages written and added to the novel, then proofread, and throw it out to the wolves…or I mean my lovely beta readers. Hahaha! Hopefully by February I will be back to writing TAGS…Because Everything Has A Price©.

 

 

QUERYING:

Honestly, after sending out a few last month and beta reading a couple of novels for some writing buddies, I put the query letters on the back burner. Probably not a wise move, but got it penciled in on the calendar for February to get ten more sent out. Keep your fingers crossed.

 

 

THE CRAFT

This month’s writing tip…

If you plan to read any books on writing, make sure that is what they actually are. Currently I’m 50% into a book on setting your pages on fire and from what I can tell, its just about writing fast. Not bad advice but I had hoped for more sustenance on how to make each page a real page-turner. Unfortunately, this book on the craft is not the page-turner I hoped for…Bummer. Too bad too, loved the title. Sorry, will not mention the book by title, do not want to shine negativity on anyone’s work of writing, but a hint of the title is above. Now back to the drawing board for page turning techniques.

 

THE HOLIDAYS:

* New Year’s Day is over…nothing big that day but a few mimosas and a nap after work. Yes, had to work, not novel writing work though. I wish!

* Looking forward to National Winnie the pooh day, which is January 18th, (this will probably be posted by then…I hope.)

* Also ready for the big celebration at the end of the month…yes, the big birthday. That is correct, I will finally be 21…again…and again…and, did I say again?

 

MY BOOKSHELF:

1. Elenor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
2. The Other side Of Hell by Bob Adamov
3. Waiting For Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey
4. Voice by James Scott Bell

 

 

ALL-TIME FAVORITES:

SEASON: Autumn (Only 9 months until its back!)

SPORTS TEAM: The OSU Buckeyes (13 – 1) Big Ten Champs But lost playoff to Clemson Tigers and FCC Zebras.

COLOR: Dark Brown (Got a new pair of dark brown lace up kick-ass knee-hi boots!

CAUSE: The Seeing Eye www.theseeingeye.org

SONG: Truly Madly Deeply by Savage Garden

FOOD: Shortbread cookies and bacon Brussel sprouts (Yeah, shocked me when I wrote Brussel sprouts too, but hey, they are fabulous in the air fryer!)

HOT DRINK: Pumpkin Spice Latte with or without Rum

FLOWER: Daisies and roses…better yet…both!

 

 

DID YOU KNOW…

Author of Winnie the Pooh, A. A. Millne wrote at least 10 funeral readings in his book Winnie the Pooh?

My favorites are…

“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred ……minus one day so I never have to live without you.”

 

You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart…I’ll always be with you.”

 

“Sometimes,’ said Pooh, ‘the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.”

 

 

PRICKLERS OF THE MONTH…

• High cost prescription prices for life sustaining drugs.
• Congress wasting time on false charges of impeachment.
• Not having enough time to write.
• Sinus infections.
• Slow workdays.

 

 

THEY SAID…

This month’s quote is by

 

 

HOMETOWN UPDATE:

• Author, Bob Adamov is speaking to the Wayne Novelist Guild at the WCPL Thursday, January 30th from 6-8 pm. Woohoo!
• University of Akron Regional Writers Contest Award night is Wednesday April 23, 2020. Good Luck writers!

 

 

GOOSING OFF>…

Goosie & Gander

…are thrilled…they finally get to play outside in their Frosty the Snowman outfit and Geese dress with snowballs. Adorable. Hoping to soon post a pic on Twitter of them out in the snow. They do want me to tell you that the new addition to the family, Punkin, our kitten, is quite entertaining when she tries to hide under them. Another picture that needs capturing. They were also touched to find that the kitten does not like them leaving her behind when they go out to play in the cold. Unfortunately, they don’t have an extra goose feather to keep her warm. Sorry, Punkin looks like you’ll need to wait for spring.

 

FIND ME…

Twitter: Chrissy Hartmann @USAWriter355

 

Facebook: Author Chrissy Hartmann https://www.facebook.com/pg/USAWriter355/ads/?ref=page_internal