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dh Administrator Chairman of the Board member is offline
Joined: Mar 2010 Gender: Male Posts: 232 Location: Sylacauga Alabama
Re: New Board: Inspiration of the Day « Reply #1 on Jun 17, 2010, 6:12am »
inspiration comes in many forms. So this shouldnt be to hard. Here is one for today. Find a elderly friend and ask them for a story about there life that has ment the most to them. It will not only inspire you to visit your friends but also inspire them to talk.
Re: New Board: Inspiration of the Day « Reply #2 on Jun 18, 2010, 8:57am »
And it makes them feel good to be asked also. So many common things have gone by the wayside and what the Elderly know best is visiting ! I have worked years in the nursing homes and if You pay attention You can see in their eyes that they just brighten' up by being asked to share.
grumpy Moderator Executive Board Member member is offline
Member Missouri Trappers Association
Joined: Oct 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 2,090 Location: plattsburg, MO
Re: New Board: Inspiration of the Day « Reply #5 on Jun 18, 2010, 6:04pm »
gotta tell a story relating to tony's post about asking the "older" folks about a story.
now,,, i'm an older person that would like to tell a story that happened many years ago. it is one that i will always remember.
the time was about 1955 or 1956. i was staying with my grandfather over in parkville, missouri. at the time, he was the chief of police.
he got a "call" late one evening about a disturbance over in the "colored" part of town. i went with him. he knew the folks involved and wasn't concerned other than he needed to go over and "smooth" things out.
when we arrived, grandpa told me to "go visit with the lady setting in the rocking chair on the porch next door." i did what i was told.
"Hi-dee young man!!" was her reply. her head was covered with an old floppy straw hat. she held a corncob pipe in one hand that she would occasionally puff on through lips that had no teeth behind them, except one. her skin looked as though it had been tanned to a leathery texture, as dark as the night she sat in. the dim light coming through the screen door to the front room was our only light.
she would rock back and forth asking me questions about my day and how i was gittin' along. i answered her respectfully. her presence would except nothing less. we visited for the better part of a half-hour before my grandpa came to get me.
"good evening, granny ida" was my grandpa's reply to the elderly lady.
"evenin' shurruff." was her reply. "Midee nice young feller ya got wid ya. he kin of yurrin?
"yes ma'am, he's my grandson. night granny ida." grandpa said.
when we got in the car, grandpa told me the history of that old black woman. she was 103 years old. she came up the missouri river on a paddle wheel boat, a young slave. she was sold at auction near what is now "English Landing" in parkville and was kept until the emancipation by one of the tobacco farmers just to the north of parkville. she decided to stay around parkville because she had married another freed slave from a nearby farm. both lived out their lives, as free-people in the two room house with the front porch that i sat on. grandpa was a good friend to the both of them.
grandpa always tried to "teach" me something new each day, or let me "experience" something different. that night, was his "history" lesson for me.
Grumpy Were You ever interested in writing ? You could write a book.
And that's the kinda stories I like hearin'. Makes You want to crawl in her lap and make a big sigh and just forget Your worries !
country gal,
funny you should ask. at the present time i've got a complete manuscript with two editors checking it over. "Box of Dreams" is the title, 74,500 words is the content. below is the "query" i've finally reworked. let me know what you think.
Dear: XXXX…For your consideration I offer my novel, BOX OF DREAMS, a 74,500 word family saga.
Henry Tanner exists in opposing worlds. The first, he walks with his wife Missy. The second, he dreams of his first love, Ellen.
In the fall and early winter of 1955, Henry learns about life and love while working at the Kansas City Stockyards. Barely eighteen he meets his first love, Ellen. The older woman teaches him what every woman wants and needs from a man. Henry is an excellent student. But the tryst ends abruptly when Ellen disappears. she leaves behind a letter of good-bye that Henry, angry and hurting from his loss, never finishes.
After a house fire claims the life of his abusive mother, Henry decides to leave Kansas City and return to his home place in the country. Just an hour north of the city, Henry finds the peacefulness he has been seeking. Over the ashes of horror he lived as a child Henry rebuilds his new home and his new life. There he meets his bride Missy and he soon learns the true meaning of love and devotion. Following the death of their newborn son, Henry fills the childless decades that follow, hunting with his hounds in the deep forest. Death visits him there one night taking his last beloved hound, Boomer.
With the unexpected gift of a hound named Belle, Henry’s past unknowingly becomes his present. Missy accidentally discovers the connection when she reads the long forgotten, half-century old letter in Henry’s cedar box of keepsakes (BOX OF DREAMS). For the love of her husband and knowing he must meet his grandson Missy brings the past and the present together.
condensing 74,500 words into a "less than" 300 word blurb has taken well over 27.2 hours of refinement and revision. i've pulled just about every hair in my head,,,,OUT!!!! but, i'm satisfied, somewhat with the end result.
the first four chapters of the novel (originally titled, The Last Hunt) appeared on this site as i wrote it back in december of 2008. i pulled the story and at the urgings of others, i pushed it into a completed novel. DH has read the novel (rough drafts) as i finished them. he liked it a great deal. he was my sounding board so to speak.
i'll let him comment on his personal opinion of it.
Re: New Board: Inspiration of the Day « Reply #8 on Jun 19, 2010, 7:23pm »
For lack of a better word - that is AWESOME ! When do I get to read it ? Nevermind - I'll wait till it hits Wal-mart shelves ! lol
Your writing reminds me of one of my favorite Authors, Billie Letts. She writes about common folk. Down to earth, that could happen in real life stories. I also like Janet Evanovich and Patricia Cornwell. All three are very different from the other as far as their writings go. I absolutely hate romance. And I have never read a book by a male writer that I just had to have his next book. Maybe You'll be the first ! If You need another critic, I'm all ears !
For lack of a better word - that is AWESOME ! When do I get to read it ? Nevermind - I'll wait till it hits Wal-mart shelves ! lol
Your writing reminds me of one of my favorite Authors, Billie Letts. She writes about common folk. Down to earth, that could happen in real life stories. I also like Janet Evanovich and Patricia Cornwell. All three are very different from the other as far as their writings go. I absolutely hate romance. And I have never read a book by a male writer that I just had to have his next book. Maybe You'll be the first ! If You need another critic, I'm all ears !
Chell
thanks!! i may take you up on the offer. although there is some romance in the story (sex-sells LOL), it's actually the reflections of an old man nearing the end of his life as he looks back (through his dreams) on the circumstances that have brought him to the place that he is.
you'll run through the gamut of your emotions while you are reading this. i guarantee it.
the ending of the book allows it to be continued easily into a sequel. tony's already been on my fanny to start.
heard last night from one of the two editors. they "love" the story stating that all of the characters were very strong. but, a lot of the "mechanics" need to be corrected. i go "comma-crazy" every once in a while and forget to Proofread. that's an easy fix. it'll just take several hours to correct.
i'm still trying to find an agent for representation. but, with the "query" letter more refined and polished, it is just a matter of getting the manuscript into the hands of the right person at the right time.
i made a BIG mistake in my previous post. i "missed" putting in a decimal point where it should have gone. it's not over "200" hours of revision. it's 27.2 hours. sorry for the error.
maybe i "will" be the first male author that you'll read twice. lol.
Joined: Mar 2010 Gender: Male Posts: 80 Location: Penns Woods: Adams County, PA.
Re: New Board: Inspiration of the Day « Reply #11 on Jun 23, 2010, 8:10pm »
My INSPIRATION is hearing my little ones voice every morning saying "DADAHH, time fer work". Without the little one around it sure would be easy to not be my best. I live for them to be at theirs!
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