by Christine | Observations
Wow.
It was all kinds of amazing. I’d wanted to get a NoH8 photo taken ever since I first saw Louisa Bacio’s – I had no idea that “regular” people could get them. I thought it was just for celebrities and such.
Boy, was I wrong.
Yesterday, Burbank opened its new headquarters with a photo shoot. It was scheduled to go from 1pm to 5pm; first come, first served, but they promised they’d get to everyone in line.
That should have been my first clue. And it was, to a certain extent – I made plans to get ready (after laundering my “white” shirts) and leave my house by 11:15am to get in line. Surely I’d be close to the front.
Um, no.
11:45am
I got there at 11:45, and knew immediately where to go from the line of animated people wearing white shirts. I parked several blocks away, in the first spot I could grab, and went to join the adventure.
It was an amazingly diverse group. The two people directly in front of me were young lesbians, a tall, gorgeously round black woman and her younger, shorter, only slightly less round (and gorgeous) Latina girlfriend. They were affectionate in line; and as I looked up and down, listened to the chatter, I realized everyone who was there was with someone, and they were all affectionate.
Loving. Hugging and smooching, laughing, touching up each other’s makeup (or rad hair, for the guys), tugging on shirts. There were babies and old people and everything in between. If I had to guess, I’d say the median age was mid-30s, though every age group was represented.
They must have started shooting early; before 1pm came along, the line was moving and we were given model releases to fill out. The number on my page was 104; the line stretched long behind me. I’m guessing there were 500 people there, but that’s just a guess.
Once we were inside, there were stations with volunteers wearing red shirts ready to put the tattoo on. Ah, so much sense! Not hand-painted, which I can see would take forever. (Note: when someone changed their mind about where on their face to put the tattoo, the volunteers removed the first one by placing duct tape on it and rubbing it hard before peeling it off. I used baby oil when I got home – much easier!)
I nabbed a chair after getting tattooed, and alternatively read and people watched. There was a group wearing rainbow colored leis and waving a rainbow flag – it looked like maybe 8 or 9 family members. In another corner, two women in their early 40s I’d guess held a sign that mentioned they’d gotten married 3 times in 3 different states to each other; they were celebrating their 10th anniversary. A gal next to me had white boxing gloves – one of them had the NoH8 symbol on it, the other Just Love (except a bright red heart was in place of the word Love). People were friendly – groups formed, separated, formed again. The first 75 people seemed to go very slowly. Time ticked on.
Numbers were called and a group of us got up and moved to a different line – the one where we paid. Once we were in where the photographer was, things picked up.
The photographer was a slender young man with a businesslike camera and flash, a fan behind him and the appropriate reflectors behind him, a white backdrop in front. He posed us all – babies to grandmas – looking fierce, looking like love, looking like hope. I paid, got in another line, got my piece of duct tape over my mouth (glad I kept remembering that and didn’t bother with lipstick), and then it was my turn.
Sideways to the camera. Lean forward. Hand on hip, other hand in V sign over my head. Straight on, turn head, hands in prayer position. Lean forward. Great, girl. Hug, next.
Taken at home – the real thing will be better!
It was over. Exhausted, I stripped the tape off my mouth, walked through the t-shirt shop without buying anything, and made the long walk back to my car. The silence on that walk was deafening; when I got in my car, it took me a few minutes to get my seatbelt on and get going.
3:45pm.
I’d spent 4 hours in line, two minutes getting my photo taken, all to take a stand for equal rights for all people – gay, straight, black, brown, yellow, blue, green, transgender, bisexual, honey it doesn’t matter. If you’re human, you’re my equal. I did it for family, for friends lost and living, for love.
As I drove away, I realized that not once while I was waiting did I feel uncomfortable, out of my element, or threatened in any way (which can sometimes happen when you’re with that many strangers). I don’t know if it was the common cause that united us, or if it was just all that love and affection pouring over everyone that made a difference. But those people I spent four hours with? Those are my people. And they were all over whatever spectrum you want to judge them with. Age wise, sexuality wise, color wise. It may have exhausted me physically and mentally (I only got about 800 words written last night), but in hindsight?
It sent my spirit soaring.
by Christine | Writer Wednesday, Writing
I’m re-launching Writer Wednesday, and am so happy to introduce Teresa Noelle Roberts to you! The first time I met Teresa, it was WAY early in the morning (or WAY late at night) and she was one of my roomies at RWA National Conference. Four of us crammed into one hotel room for several days – and we had a blast.
The lovely Teresa, beachside on the east coast.
Here’s Teresa, and here’s the interview!
- What made you decide to write a novel? Because the voices in my head don’t give a choice? The serious answer is that I started dictating stories to my mother before I’d learned to write, got a subscription to Writers’ Digest for my twelfth birthday, and started my first (aborted) novel in junior high. Story-telling is in my blood.
- What genre do you write in, and why? I write romance, erotica, and some fantasy. Cougar’s Courage is an erotic paranormal romance, which combines all three of my favorites.
- Is this a series or standalone book? If a series, what is the name of this series, and how many books/short stories do you have planned? Cougar’s Courage is numbered as book 3 in the Duals and Donovans: The Different series. Confusingly, there are currently 4 published books in the Duals and Donovans world, but one, Fox’s Folly, takes place before the series timeline. I’m currently wrapping up what will be the last book in the series. I may set more books in this world, but the big conflict of the series will wrap up with my WIP so I’ll need to find a new antagonist.
- Where would you live, if you could live anywhere in the world? That’s a tough question. Definitely near the ocean. Possibly coastal Maine, but there’s so much of the world I haven’t seen yet!
- Name 3 simple joys in your life. Sharing daily life with my husband. (He’s hardly simple, though!). Cooking. My big, lazy, loving cats.
- If you could give just one piece of advice to a writer starting out, what would it be? Write, write, take a break to read, then write some more. Lather, rinse, repeat. Education, be it degree programs, workshops, or online classes, is valuable, but nothing beats the act of beating your head against the blank page.
- What do you do when you’re not writing? Do you have a Day Job? When I’m not writing, I’m often cooking, gardening, or doing something else vaguely homesteader-ish. I’m between day jobs at the moment and am loving it far too much. Past day jobs have ranged from field hand at a winery (my favorite ever, though the pay was just above minimum wage) to development/fundraising officer.
- Name one thing your fans would be surprised to learn about you. This crunchy, hands-in-the-dirt woman went through a phase of wearing 4-inch heels and red lipstick no matter what the occasion. I still yearn for sexy heels, but my knees and back will never forgive me for years of abuse, so I stick to flats even when heels would be appropriate. (Still love deep red lipstick, though.)
- Is there anything else you’d like to talk about? To celebrate the release of Cougar’s Courage, I’m running a contest on my blog—the prize is an e-book of Cougar’s Courage and a print copy of the first book in the series, Lions’ Pride. (Or an e-book if the winner is outside the US.) Comments on my blog count as entries, but check my site for details.
Thanks so much for stopping by, Teresa, and best of luck on the novel! Off I go to download…
FIND TERESA HERE:
www.teresanoelleroberts.com
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorTeresaNoelleRoberts?ref=hl
https://twitter.com/TeresNoeRoberts
Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0047V74PC
Blurb: Toronto cop Cara Many-Winters Mackenzie is still reeling from her fiancé’s
murder when her orderly life takes a turn toward the weird, complete with voices in her head and phantom bleeding wounds.
This violent awakening is the rise of her Different gift—a chaotic, Bugs-Bunny-on-crack magic that she must learn to control before it destroys her. There’s only one place to get help: her mother’s ancestral village, and a mentor who seems to have stepped straight out of the smoke of her erotic dreams.
Cougar Dual Jack Long-Claw reluctantly agrees to take Cara under his wing, though he’d much rather take the beautiful city girl into his bed. As he guides her through a crash course in shamanic magic, sparks fly—some sexy, some snarky. But when an ancient enemy attacks the village, they must work together to hone a magical weapon against certain destruction.
Common sense tells them it’s a terrible time to fall in love. Their spirit guides have other ideas. And shamans who don’t listen to their spirit guides are dead shamans…
Warning: Hot shape-shifting feline hero. Strong but shell-shocked heroine. Snarky, meddling spirit guides. And lots and lots of sex: angry sex, crazy sex, magical sex, and just plain sexy sex.
Amazon US/Amazon UK/Kobo /Barnes & Noble Nook/Samhain
Bio:
Teresa Noelle Roberts started writing stories in kindergarten and she hasn’t stopped yet. A prolific author of short erotica, she’s also a published poet and fantasy writer—but hot paranormals and BDSM-spiced contemporaries are her favorites.
Teresa enjoys belly dance, yoga, medieval re-creation, playing in the ocean, cooking, and growing more vegetables than she and her husband can possibly eat. She shares her home in southern Massachusetts with her husband, a Leo who works in law enforcement, and two overstuffed cats, who deserve their own shout-out as inspirations for her works. She and her husband often plan vacations around food, history, and/or proximity to water. Next up, Rome, Florence, and Venice!
~oOo~
Remember, Teresa has a contest going – check out her page for all the details!
by Christine | Life, Observations, Writing
I’ve been a stress puppy, instead of a sleepy kitty. (I prefer to be a sleepy kitty, in case you were wondering.)
Zaphod, snoring.
A total stress puppy. I’m getting snappy and snarly at work and at home, and I’m not loving it.
And then this happened.
My head exploded.
Yep, my head totally exploded. Okay, so I was coughing (but I didn’t have a cold!) and that kicked off my gag reflex, but still. Head. EXPLODED.
Artist’s interpretation of the pain close up.
I could barely breathe, it hurt so bad. Like someone had taken the back of my neck and tried to stretch it to my nose. I haven’t hurt that bad since brain surgery. So, I went to the doc, and got myself diagnosed with a post-nasal drip, plus an ergonomic stress headache. Fix the body, fix the stress, lose the headache but, in the meantime, here’s some muscle relaxants.
What has the hubby been saying to me for the last month? “Get your cough checked out. Sit up straight at the computer.”
Tom Ashworth, Self Portrait 2008 (?)
So, yeah, he’s been saying “I told you so” and nagging in a loving way ever since. (Please note – I am sitting up straight and my shoulders are down as I type this.)
And now I’ve got more stress coming (in a good way) – The play development group I’m with, Fierce Backbone, is doing a full reading of my play tonight. Gulp. And I’m on muscle relaxants.
- Title page to Cassandra Cries.
My two actors were supposed to meet to rehearse – one couldn’t make it the first night, the other couldn’t make it the second night. My leading lady now has an interview at 6pm tonight – which is when they were going to get together to get a quick rehearsal in. And I’m still not sure if I have a narrator (but I’m assured I do). We’re supposed to start by 7:30pm tonight. I’m on muscle relaxants and I’m still somewhat of a stress puppy, but at least it’s a “good” stress. (???) And a milestone event!!!
So, in order to celebrate this milestone, Hubby made cuppy cakes. CHOCOLATE cuppy cakes. Which we shall take with us tonight to bribe everyone. Along with some red wine.
CUPPY CAKES!!! Unfrosted, true, but still…CUPPY CAKES!!!
As I look back at the last two years and three months since I started this new Day Job, I realized one thing – I haven’t had a vacation. I’ve taken time off, but that was always to go to writer’s conferences, not to sit in the Mammoth mountains and chill out for ten days. If I had, maybe I could have missed out on this little stress headache adventure. Because writer’s conferences ARE NOT VACATIONS. They are work days. Fun? Yes. Stressful? YES. I wouldn’t have missed them for the world, but…sigh.
My advice? Vacations. Take them.
Big Squishy Hugs to you ALL!
by Christine | Observations, Writing
What Do I Want?
In August, I had the pleasure of going on a writer’s retreat with the East Valley Authors chapter of Romance Writers of America. The speaker that day was the talented Shannon Donnelly, and her focus was on storytelling (which also included writing well-rounded characters).
What really stuck with me was something that I’m using in my personal life now. As I get older, and as the family dynamic around me changes, and as I spend more time getting comfy with the hour of 2 am during bouts of insomnia, I find myself dissatisfied with certain areas of my life; so Shannon’s story question became personal for me.
I asked myself the question. What do I want?
Insert Superficial Answer Here
When I ask myself that question and I’m at the Day Job, and it’s almost lunchtime, 99% of the time my answer will be the Beef Panang from Vic’s Thai. No, seriously. It’s THAT GOOD.
But when I stuffed myself with Beef Panang and asked myself the question again, I came up with a different answer. And it got deeper (the way it’s supposed to) when I applied Shannon’s method of divining character motivation.
What do I want? – A life free of day-to-day financial worry. (And Beef Panang from Vic’s Thai.)
What do I Really want? – The ability to travel to foreign countries with my husband.
What do I Really, Really want? – To hit all the bestseller lists with my novels.
What do I Really, Really, REALLY want? – A successful career in writing that enables me and my family to live without the day-to-day financial worry, whether that career be in novels, playwriting, writing for the movies, or TV.
Of course, there’s a second part to this. Who am I willing to kill What am I willing to do to get what I want? But that’s a post for a different day.
~oOo~
What about you? What do YOU want? Sound off!
by Christine | Observations
I have lots of summer memories – great ones that I’d like to share.
Frolicking dogs on the beach.
And this one…
Saturday’s Tomato harvest – the small yellow ones are the lemon pear tomatoes, the small red ones are the cherry tomatoes, the two green and yellow striped ones toward the back are the Green Zebra, and the orangish one at the front right is the Mr. Stripey (but without stripes).
Plus this…one of these days, Brenda Chin, we ARE going kayaking. This is a promise! My coast or yours, doesn’t matter.
Kayaks, and the garden. Two of my favorite things…
And I can’t forget this! The little dog would curl around the man, then trot out to the end of the kayak, then back to the man – but he was a real good little sea doggie.
Just taking the dog for a paddle…lol!
I really hate to say goodbye to summer, so I’m not going to. Especially since I believe we’ll get hot temps into October.
Fight! Fight!
And one of my most favorite memories from this summer. The seal.
Isn’t he gorgeous?
As August winds down and September looms, may the memories you cherish implant themselves into your heart.
From me to you, with love.
~oOo~
Until next time, be good to one another!
