10 Signs you Might be Suffering from CAD

This is a fun post, compliments of my friend and fellow Helping Hands Press author, PATTI J. SMITH, used here with permission.

Thanks, Patti

ATTENTION ALL WRITERS!

10 signs ou might be suffering from C.A.D. - Character Attachment Disorder.

Check the following list to see if you have the symptoms.

1.): You cry uncontrollably while writing about the death of your character, then light a candle in memorium.

2.): You go into a deep depression after the death of a character — stay in bed all day, neglect family, call in sick to work (characters do not qualify for bereavement leave).

3,): You rewrite your manuscript to avoid killing off your character.

4.): You dream about your character killing you off.

5.): You call out your character's name in your sleep. (Makes for interesting breakfast talk with your spouse).

6.): When the phone rings, for a split second you think it's your character calling.

7.): You wonder what your character is doing right now!

8.): You gossip with your friends about what your character did.

9.): You chuckle all day about the funny thing your character did or said.

10.): You name your child or pet after your character.

So, how did you do? Did you find yourself nodding your head, perhaps even smiling as you read this list? 

If so, then it's my duty to tell you that you do, indeed, suffer from CAD. Though there is no cure, there's no need to panic. There are multiple hundreds of CAD sufferers out there, and you've just joined our world!

Now, I'd love to hear from you. Comments welcome.

♦ ♦ ♦

Many thanks to Patti J. Smith for this list and for allowing me to share it here.

Patti J. Smith
Author and Inspirational Speaker
San Diego Silent No More Regional Coordinator
Leader, Rachel's Hope - Escondido

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Let’s Celebrate!

by Peggy Blann Phifer @pegphifer

Today is:

• 
  
  Air Force Reserves Birthday


• 
  
  Look up at the Sky Day


• 
  
  National Support Teen Literature Day


• 
  
  National Dolphin Day


• 
  
  National Reach as High as You Can Day


• 
  
  National Pecan Day


• 
  
  National Ex-Spouse Day


• 
  
  International Moment of Laughter Day

So . . . what will you celebrate?

Personally, I like “Look up at the Sky Day, because today it is a gorgeous, sunny day here in NW Wisconsin

Then there’s National Support Teen Literature Day. No need to explain why, right?

And of course, “International Moment of Laughter Day . . . everyone knows laughter is good for the soul, AND your health.

Please share your thoughts with me.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION!

 [bctt tweet="What will you celebrate today? #WhispersinPurple " username="pegphifer"]

A Baptist and a Methodist in Las Vegas

After writing two blog posts for other sites and sending out two interview questionnaires for future guests, I was at a loss for what to write here. So I let it slide for a while and did a few other things.

I ended up on YouTube, and I found THIS for your entertainment today.

This is  6’ 2” Jeanne Robertson, one of my favorite stand-up comedians. So just adjust the sound on your computer, sit back, and watch this eleven-minute laugh fest. Trust me.

Just click HERE   and enjoy!

See you tomorrow with an interview with author Jean Williams, introducing her debut novel, Just Claire.

To Do. . . or To Don’t

Have you ever found yourself with such a huge ‘to do’ list you don’t know which thing to do first…so you do nothing? You just sit there and stare at that list and sigh, or cringe, growl and gnash your teeth, want to scream, start pulling at your hair, try to ignore it, or all of the above?

The thing is, they’re all important, and they all need to be done. now, if not yesterday.  That list can not, and will not, be ignored.

This time of year has a particularly demanding ‘to do’ list, but I find myself with this type of issue quite often through the year, not just at holiday time.

So, what to do about it? No, I’m not offering some wise, sage advice. If I had any, I wouldn’t be writing this . . . I’d be whacking away at that list. Either that or I wouldn't”t have such a halacious list to begin with.

I’ve always had a problem with time management, as well as knowing how to separate the urgent from the important.

Knowing this, my creative mind has come up with the perfect solution.

• I get a giant spinning wheel like the one on The Price is Right, or Wheel of Fortune.
• I put one of my to do items in each of the slots around the wheel. If I still have room left, I duplicate those items until the wheel is filled.
• Then I spin the wheel, and wherever it stops, I do that chore/item. Simple, huh? But wait…what if I don’t want to do that one? I just spin it again, right? Wrong.
• This wheel is special. Wherever it stops, it locks up…no second spin allowed until that task is completed. Okay, I still don’t want to do that one, so I just walk away, right? Wrong again.
• This magical wheel has the power to force me to complete the task it landed on. If I try to walk away, decide to do anything else, or deviate in any way, it ZAPS me. Hard!
• It also knows exactly when I’m done, and will unlock the wheel for the next spin.
• Oh, it also know if I have more time in the day to do another task, and makes me spin again, repeating the whole process.

Some gadget, huh?

On second thought, I think I’ll just figure out a way to manage those tasks on my own. The above sounds a bit drastic. So much for a fertile imagination.

Thoughts?

Subtle Changes

Those of you who have been following my Whispers in Purple blog for a while have witnessed numerous changes in themes and colors, among other things.

Such is the case today. WordPress (.org) has updated the theme I’ve been using, but it’s a subtle change. So I thought it would be fun to see if any of you can detect those changes. Unfortunately, because of the update, the old version is no longer visible.

But give it a try, anyway, and leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

For some more fun in detecting subtle changes, below is a picture of the Little Debbie logo since 1960.

 



This is just for fun. You won’t win anything

List the changes you see in each of the three logo changes fro  1960 to 2013, and share them in the comments section below.

If you wish, you can post one comment for whatever changes you can come up with in the blog theme change, and another comment for the Little Debbie changes.

I thought I’d put this up for something different, and maybe provide a bright spot in your “Oh, rats . . . it’s Monday” kind of day.

Have fun with it

Tomorrow is Writing Talk Tuesday, with Jeanne Marie Leach and Part 2 of her ‘Sensory Science’ series.

If you missed Part 1, just click HERE

Blessings,

A Short, short, short, short . . .

Two years ago, my daughter and I went to the Green Lake Christian Writers Conference in Green Lake, Wisconsin. I took an ongoing session with Cynthia Ruchti on “Fun With Fiction.” There were about eight of us in this class. I won’t go into all the details of the class, but it was fun with exercises to do.  We we were given an assignment to write a short story of no more than 500 words, with a time limit of three minutes. The title we all voted on was: FOUR DOWN, THREE TO GO. Our stories could be anything we wanted to write, but they all had to have the same title, a complete story with a clear beginning, middle, and end.

As we worked our way through this prompt, we read them aloud, critiqued each other, and finally it was the last full day of the conference,and we were to read our assignments aloud at the Writer’s Showcase on Thursday evening, along with similar assignments from the other classes.

So, all that being said, I thought it would be fun to share mine here. Ready or not, here we go

~♦~♦~          ~♦~♦~

FOUR DOWN, THREE TO GO

by Peggy Blann Phifer

© August 22, 2013

How did I let this happen? I’d volunteered for this project a week ago. Plenty of time to get it done. But here it was, crunch time, and I wasn’t even close to ready.

I’d had everything all planned out. I should have been done by now.

I checked my list. Only four of the seven items had been crossed off.

Who are you kidding, Marcy Kinkaid? You know exactly how this happened. Your penchant for procrastination has pitched you into this pickle.

Panic hit the back of my jaws as if I’d just bitten into an unripe plum.

“Mom, where are my white shorts?”

I swallowed a groan. Another interruption.

“Try checking the stack of clean clothes on the stairs you’re supposed to have already put away.”

My sarcasm was wasted on my twelve-year-old daughter with her head in the clouds, or nose buried in the pages of a book. It thrilled me she loved to read, but…while walking? I often pictured her at the top of the stairs with a book in front of her face  . . .

I shook off the image. Back to the panic at hand. I looked again…no change. Still only four.

Better get with it, Marcy. You’re wasting time.

The phone rang.

Oh, please, God. Not now!

I tried to ignore it, but couldn’t. What if it was important? I checked the clock. What if Jeff had been in an accident on the way home from work? What if—?

I snatched the phone. “What?!”

“Marcy, dear, how—?”

“Mother?” I cringed, realizing I’d all but barked at her, but her timing, as usual, was lousy.

“Mom, I can’t talk now. I’m up to my earlobes in this project and I’m late. Can I call you back?”

“I’m sorry, Marcy, but you know—”

I ground my teeth. “Don’t go there, Mother. Not today. Please.”

She emitted her typical resigned sigh, but dropped the subject. “Can I help? How far behind are you? Why isn’t Shellie helping you?”

I ignored the remark about my daughter and instantly regretted letting my mother know my predicament. But still . . .

“I’ve got four done, Mom. Three more to go, and,” I gulped, “I’d love your help.”

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” The audible pleasure in her voice made me…smile. I’d done the right thing and I did need the help.

I stared at the bowls of taco fixings I’d promised to provide for the church picnic this afternoon…just a few hours away.

Seven giant bowls.

Four down, three to go.

I grabbed the knife and…picked up another onion.

~♦~♦~          ~♦~♦~

And there you have it.  A fun exercise in fast, tight writing. Are you itching to critique it? Have at it

Fun Friday Challenge…for Writers…and a Giveaway

Courtesy of Edgar Allan Poe. Seriously!



I’ve spent the better part of this week brainstorming my new writing project. You know, lining up my characters—this is the third volume of a series—making sure I’ll tie up things in the previous two volumes, and taking everyone and everything through a What If journey.

At the same time I worried over what to write for my blog post today.

Around midnight, I shut the computer down and crawled into bed. Of course, though I turned off the computer, I could not turn off my brain. My mind was still awhirl with thoughts of my story, images of my characters and setting, and on and on. I tossed and turned trying to get comfortable enough to fall asleep.

I’m obstinate enough to refuse to get back up and boot up the computer, convincing myself I’d fall asleep soon. Eventually I did, but somewhere in that ‘not-quite-asleep’ haze came the thought for today’s blog. How, from where it came, I have no idea. I can’t explain it. Usually, in the morning, those random thoughts are gone.

Usually. Not this morning. The idea was still there, pulling at me.

So, I followed through, and this post is the result. Probably a product of my restless night.

Whatever . . . here we go.

Edgar Allan Poe was the master of the macabre, frequently dipping into horror. Some considered him mad. Others thought him genius. Whichever way the opinion pendulum swings, his work has endured the test of time. And I’m not here to challenge that.

I’m here to challenge YOU.

Below is a link to Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher, one of his stories, written in 1839, one I’ve never quite been able to forget.Some of his phrases/descriptions intrigued me, such as: A deep dank tarn. or, a barely perceptible fissure. They fascinate me.

Anyway, here’s my challenge: Click on the link which will take you the the story online. Unless you want to, you don’t actually have to read it, though it is short. What I’m asking you to do is skim through the writing and see if you–as writers–can spot how many of today’s writing rules we’ve been taught he has broken.

Then leave a comment below listing the things you caught and you’ll be entered into a drawing for a $5 Amazon Gift Card.

I require a minimum of FIVE entries to hold the drawing. Ends one week from today, Friday, Aug 7. 

Are you game? Here’s the link:

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/POE/fall.html

And, have fun with this!

Monday Giggle

For those of you in the workplace:

 

 

Enjoy the day!