a what of writers?

A dazzle of zebras. Photo from morguefile.com.

We all know cattle come in herds.
Geese come in gaggles.
A group of crows is a murder.
But have you heard of an exaltation of larks?
Or a shiver of sharks?
What about an implausibility of gnus?
A seething of eels.
A rhumba of rattlesnakes.
A busyness of ferrets.
A pulchritude of peacock.
A boogle of weasels, a scurry of squirrels.
I could go on and on with these wonderful words. But you can go look for yourself at this site I found.

This all comes of my friend Bonnie Doran asking what a group of writers is called. She got some good suggestions: an anthology, a rabble, a prattle.
What do you suggest?

grandma's house

My grandparent's house on my dad's side smelled like:
wet sand
hot shale
warm cotton
creosote
wood
Kool aid
and grass outside
bacon
maple syrup
pipe smoke
Pledge
Downy
and Caress inside.

My grandma's house on my mom's side smelled like:
sidewalk
train tracks
and elm trees outside
peppers
cantaloupe
chicken broth
tomatoes
apple pie
un-salted bread
and peaches inside.

Any time I smell any of these it takes me right back.

Your turn...
It doesn't have to be a grandparent's house. Just anything.

writing stuff

In case you've wondered, I am still writing. 

Some things have changed a bit, though. 

My intention in the beginning was to not write at all as some of you may remember. But when it became obvious that I was supposed to, I decided to write beautiful moving fiction for women. I started two different novels and had ideas and bits of a couple more.

Writing was difficult and painful.

In November I did the National Novel Writing Month (NaNo) challenge and wrote 50,000 words in a month. They were words that came out of my head without much interference from my actual mind. They were, in essence, mindless. But I ended up with a pretty interesting story, or mess of several stories. And there was nothing beautiful or moving about it. 

But it was FUN!

So, I decided to work on that mess and make it into a book. I took it with me to the Glen Eyrie Writers' Summit in June to see what could be done with it.

My instructor, Kathy Mackel, mentioned that perhaps I could turn it into a Middle Reader--for 10-14 year-olds. I rebelled. I don't want to write kids' books. I want to write beautiful moving fiction for women. I'm willing to write kookie funny fiction for adults. I don't want to write for kids.

Guess what I'm doing.

Yep. I'm writing a middle reader. And Guess what else. 

It's FUN!

P.S. My story is about a boy named Match.