7 Weird Things to Start Your New Year

After looking through my several hundred ideas for blog postings and not finding anything to strike my fancy, I thought, "Why not post something really fun and weird as a way of introducing a new year?"

So here it is.

Seven photos I recently came across and found so endearing, gross or just plain weird I had to share them. 

Enjoy!

No explanation necessary! lol

"I love you, cuz."

"But will you in a year from now, when you'll make a luscious appetizer?"

Short-beaked echidna puggles born at Perth Zoo in August, marking a breeding milestone for the Australian zoo.

Environment Minister Bill Marmion said, "Only 24 echidnas have been bred in captivity in Australia." Eight of these were reportedly born at Perth Zoo.

The San Diego Zoo describes echidnas (also known as spiny anteaters) as an "almost illogical mammal" that has remained "unchanged since prehistoric times."

Other than their adorably bizarre appearance, echidnas are special for another reason. Like the duck-billed platypus, echidnas -- native to Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea -- are monotremes. The platypus, along with the four species of echidna, are thought to be the only extant mammals that lay eggs.

According to a press release, the two new additions to Perth Zoo's echidna family have been named Nyingarn and Babbin. The names, in the Noongar language of an indigenous Australian group, mean "echidna" and "friend" respectively.

The sexes of the baby echidnas have yet to be determined.

Jyoti Amge, 19, from Mumbaie, India, is the world's smallest woman. She looks like a porcelain doll.

Mexican Vampire Woman, Maria Jose Cristerna blames a stand against domestic violence for her physical transformation. No way I'd tangle with her.

Swiss Shepherd dog Talli adopted and nursed three orphaned tiger cubs who were abandoned by their birth mother in southern Russia.

Kazuhiro Watanabe holds the record for the tallest mohawk, standing at 3 foot 8.6 inches. It took three cans of hairspray and one large bottle of gel after 15 years of growing to accomplish this feat.

So, I don't know about you, but I feel inspired after seeing all of this. There are some great stories hidden within each picture, written in invisible ink. All they need is a talented interpreter. 

Rebecca Ryals Russell
MG/YA Fantasy Raconteur
Fantastical Worlds Revealed

Finding Character Names

At CONvergence 2012, one of the panels I was able to attend was "Naming Characters". The enticing description was "The secret art of coming up with good names for your characters". Panelists included Tamora Pierce, SN. Arly, Scott Jamison, Sean M. Murphy and Veronica Cummer.

Several of the panelists agreed with the standard "what the character's name meant was important", even if no one else in the story knew the meaning of the name or even what their own name meant.

To put that much work into choosing a name is understandable for the major characters. But what about for the walkon characters? The ones that may only have one or two lines? The thing is, though, sometimes you never know how important a character may become. I've lost count of how many times I've heard about a minor character suddenly taking over the story. Sometimes that might mean renaming the character. Sometimes the name already in place works. But why take chances?

So where do you find character names? I still have six or seven baby name books and books about surnames from the days before the internet. Several of the panelists mentioned baby name books as well. There are websites for baby names and character names. Some of the websites, however, don't list as many names or meanings as my paper books. Some useful websites (unfortunately with ads) are Baby names and Baby Name Wizard. There are many others out on the web.

Several of the panelists listed how many foreign language dictionaries they have. I have Welsh, Anglo-Saxon, Latin, Russian, Spanish, German, and Swahili and used the Hungarian and Slavic dictionaries at the university library. Now, true, many of the words in a dictionary are not often used as names. When you're creating a new world (whether fantasy or science fiction), however, you can use the dictionaries as a starting point. Then, as several panelists also suggested, you change the spelling slightly.

One of my characters in Talking to Trees has such a name. But I decided to have a bit of fun with it after hearing complaints from nonfantasy readers about the long names in fantasy stories.

Jody looked around at the trees as she nibbled on the strip. "You know what I think, ah..." She still couldn't remember that girl's name. Till..will.. "Willow. I think we should--"

The girl's eyes snapped open. "My name is Twylgalit. Not Willow. Not Gally. Twyl-gaaa-lit."

Jody was surprised. Why was she making such a big fuss? It was only a name. "Hey, sorry. It's only a name."

"But it is my name. My name is important to me. In the language of my people it defines me."

"It does?"

"'Twylgalit' means 'twilight wood.' It means I am the last of my people."

"The very last?" Jody shook her head. "Creepy."

Twylgalit studied her. "Doesn't your name mean anything? What is a jody?"

Jody shrugged. "I don't know. It was one of my grandmothers. Peter was named for one of our uncles. Thank goodness, otherwise we might have been stuck with some cute twin names."

"Twin names?"

"Names starting with the same first letter. Like...oh, Brittany and Brian. Actually, I think I'd rather be called Brittany. Or maybe Caitlyn. Then Peter would have been stuck with a 'C' name like Cedric or...Clarence." She snickered. "He would have hated that."

"Even if it was his name?" Twylgalit shook her head. "I do not understand."

"Whatever," Jody said. "Anyhow, your name is too long."

Twylgalit eyed her. "Brittany is just as long."

Jody rolled her eyes. Why doesn't she understand? "Okay, your name is too hard to remember. Can't I call you something else?" Jody tried to remember the name her twin had used. It was a type of fabric or a pattern-- "Peter called you Twyl. Would that be okay?"

The girl raised her head and slowly turned to look behind her.

Jody scowled. All this fuss about her name and now she wasn't even listening to her! "I said--"

"I heard." Twylgalit turned back. "It...it is acceptable." She lifted one foot. Clods of dirt fell away from it.

Jody continues to have name problems as they meet other characters.

She noticed the two green-skinned girls exchanging glances again. Jody had the impression they weren't saying something as well. "Hey, where's the other girl? Um, the tall one? With the leafy dress? What are your names, anyway?"

"You won't like them," said one.

"You don't like long names," said the other.

"Well, I've got to call you something," Jody insisted. "I'm Jody and she's Twyl."

"She is called Twylgalit," said the girl with the yellow-orange belt. "We heard you talking."

"You can call me Brittany," said the other girl. "I like the sound of that name."

"And I like Clarence," said the girl wearing the belt.

"I can't call you Clarence," Jody protested. "That's a boy's name."

"But I like it," the girl insisted. She looked over at the other girl. "Brittany."

"Clarence," said the girl now called Brittany. Both girls started laughing and pointing at each other.

I don't see what's so funny, Jody thought. She heard a muffled sound from Twyl, but when she glanced up at the girl, Twyl was studying the lights in the branches above them.

If you have a family in your story, sometimes names are passed down to honor family members. One of the panelists pointed out that, after his days of working for a credit agency, he recommends against naming a child for a living relative (as in the first and last name are the same) because nowadays that causes so many credit problems. But for a historical story, that would be entirely appropriate. I've been doing genealogical research on my own family and had never realized how often names were repeated. For example, I've got six Charleses and six Josephs. I finally linked the appearance of the Frank and Francis back to a great great grandmother, Franciska (or Francisca, depending on which census), and I'm sure if I ever find her parents' generation, I might find the relative that she was named after. Considering that she named her daughter Maria Franziska, there has to be a story behind that name. Throughout my family tree there were several generations in a row (grandfather, father, son, or grandmother, mother, daughter, etc.) with the same first name. Or, as with Maria, the name was moved to be the middle name. This is one of the times I would ignore the 'rule' of not having characters with the same name (or first initial) in a story.

Phone books used to be a useful resource to skim through, but perhaps that only applies to big city phone books. In small town Winona that means an overabundance of Polish, Norwegian and Swedish names. I used to be able to look through phone books for other cities at the public library, but that's no longer the case.

Because I worked at a university, I kept the commencement lists from graduations over the years. I have a good collection of first, middle and last names there to help me figure out what names work well together (and several examples of 'why would any parent would name a child that!').

Where do you find your character names? What is the most interesting name you've found?

Music to Write By

I've always written with music playing in the background. When I was a teen writing at my desk in the basement, the music helped drown out the other members of the household. The same applied when I was trying to write while in college in my dorm room and later my room in the boarding house.

But the music was never just a form of 'white noise'. I usually choose music that would set the mood of the scene or the overall book. Soundtracks, instrumentals, New Age and electronic music are usually among my choices. For one important chase scene in an early book I remember playing "Classical Gas" over and over again.

That lead me to create the first of two rules I have for music listening/writing. Number one: Wear headphones - especially when in an area with other people who may not appreciate hearing your choice of music over and over and over again.

Rule number two: except for very rare scenes, no music with vocals is allowed. That's because if there is singing, I usually end up singing along and not writing. Which defeats the purpose of having music playing in the background.

The exceptions for that rule include Celtic music or the Lord of the Rings soundtracks or groups such as Clannad or Enya if I'm writing about elves or my wizards.

For science fiction writing I tend to use soundtracks from science fiction films and television shows or electronic music. I used to be able to find good electronic music in stores, but now I rely on visiting the Horizon Music booth at local science fiction conventions.

For fantasy writing I will use soundtracks from fantasy films such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Waterhorse, How to Train Your Dragon, or Celtic or New Age music. The Soundscapes channel on my cable TV network often has interesting pieces that I can then track down via Amazon.

It's not that I can't find classical pieces that make me visualize magical forests and fantastic creatures or inspire me to write about spaceships sailing starry vistas. I can and have. But these are what have worked for me. Right now the CDs for the current writing projects include Transformers Prime Season One music, Sherlock: Music from Series Two, the Real Steel soundtrack and several assorted electronic music CDs.

What are your favorite choices of music to write or read by?

Buying light bulbs

I have a friend, and once in awhile he posts on his Facebook or Twitter that he's 'off to buy some light bulbs'.

I know he's not heading to Home Depot.

It means that he's out of inspiration and he needs to find something to kick his muse in her pretty little rear end. How often does this happen to me? All the time. Sometimes I'll be on a roll and I can just feel the words itching to break free, I'll see the scene and know what has to happen and I can just write. Which usually happens at the worst possible moments, when I have no time to write. Like now, of course, when school is back in and I have to concentrate on my research project proposal and no real writing gets done at all. Sigh.

But then there are those times when I know I need to work on a project or at least come up with a plan or a plot, and...nothing. Mind goes completely blank. It's insanely frustrating. And that's when I head out to buy light bulbs.

What do I do to get those creative juices flowing? Sometimes I can read, especially if I can find a particularly interesting book that makes me want to write. I look for books like the kind I'm writing, but not always. Right now I'm reading Maureen Johnson's THE NAME OF THE STAR, and it's got me wanting to work on the last Library of Athena book - thank goodness, because that thing is giving me fits and I haven't even started writing it. But sometimes I'll watch a movie, or some Netflix TV (Firefly is good for the creativity, as is Doctor Who), or just take a walk, away from the Facebook and computer and work. Sometimes I just take the computer and go somewhere else-- a change of venue is all a mind needs to see something in a different way.

Your mileage with these tricks may vary, of course, but once you find your light bulb store, hang on to it, because unfortunately you can't store the darn things up for a rainy day.

And now, back to special project proposal writing... *trudge*

Crush & Inspiration

British actor Michael Praed has no idea, but his portrayal of Robin Hood back in the '80's served as the basic inspiration for the title character in my novel, Saving Jake.

Back in the day, I would have been labeled as "boy-crazy." I admit it. Always was, always will be. Even as a very young girl, I never thought boys had cooties, ever. I thought they were fascinating. As I grew up, I gladly suffered through a series of fairly serious crushes -serious meaning that my celebrity crushes lasted years and my boys-in-my-class crushes lasted weeks: George Harrison, Jim Yester, Pistol Pete Maravich, Robin Zander, and then as I grew into adulthood, obvious ones like Sting (Dune, anyone??), Matthew McConaughey, Eric Bana, Damian Lewis, and of course, Mr. Praed. (Years, I tell you.)

What this has to do with writing is simple. I never know when someone's face is going to kick off a story somewhere inside of me. I can't predict when this will happen, who will trigger it, or even why. I think that's actually part of the fun! But it happens, and pretty regularly. Michael Praed somehow gave me Jake Holdridge, a talented, sensitive, artistic rich kid who is being railroaded into the family business and becoming more despondent and suicidal as things progress in that direction. Luckily, he has a best friend who has a very odd psychic talent. Ah, but to learn more about that you need to read the book!

Seriously, though, plugging my novel notwithstanding, I find that some of the joy I have in writing is watching what my little adult crushes kick off in terms of story lines and character development. By the time all is said and done, people who know the basis for any of my stories look at the original inspiration compared to what I've written and say things like, "This is based on who?" I guess that's a good thing in terms of legal niceties.

Oh, and not to slight those guys who I actually know and love, the first love of my life inspired the main character in my now out-of-print first novel, Dead of Summer. And the tall, funny, green-eyed cutie who I eventually talked into marrying me was the basis of one of the young heroes in the only sci-fi fantasy tale I've ever written. So yes, sometimes lightning does strike closer to home.

But it's fun to go to a movie and watch a story with a domino effect. Great movie. Wow, the lead actor's face makes me think of someone who lives in a private world of his own music and is about to get a wake-up call from a seemingly stern old woman who is actually a magical being... but that's for another novel.

Hey, I included a pic of Mr. Praed as Robin Hood. Maybe you'll get inspired, too!

Conventions, Authors, and You!

We all hold certain images of what authors are and what it's like to be one (rightly or wrongly - I know I had some major doozies!), and one of the big things a lot of people assume is that there's no way to ever get to meet their favorite authors.

I'd like to set the story straight on that one. :P

Authors are out there! They're accessible! And so are other fans. People with the same interests and looking for others to share the excitement of the things they enjoy. And where can they all get together? Conventions! And there are a lot of them, going on just about everywhere. With panels, free goodies, signings, artists, and books books and books!

Today, I'll be spending the weekend over at ConDFW in Dallas, TX a Science Fiction and Fantasy convention. This will be their tenth year and they're still going strong. And it is but the first of more than a handful of other writing/book related conventions happening in Texas (and a more out there) for those who love science fiction and fantasy.

Whatever genre is your favorite, there's most likely a convention out there celebrating it. And even better than getting to see and listen to and even meet your favorite authors is the fact that while you're there, you're likely to learn about a whole lot of new ones to try out. (Inherent danger of these conventions is leaving with a bigger 'To Be Read' pile than you had when you came in.) :P

When I started attending conventions as a fan and later as a dealer and guest, I stumbled over all sorts of new authors for me to read. If not for conventions I probably would have never read the awesome writings of people like Rachel Caine, Martha Wells, Carole Nelson Douglas , A Lee Martinez, and many more.



At the conventions you can learn about the writing business, editing, have discussions on all sorts of topics, see artists actually creating, getting tips. There are normally also dances, parties, costume contests. Some of the conventions show movies and/or anime, have gaming, Live action role playing, game shows. It's just a great place to meet other like minded people. Make connections, friendships, have whole new worlds opened before your very eyes.



But best and most -- they're a total blast!

So if you're game, do a search to find your favorite author's website and see if they have an appearances page (I do!) to find out what conventions they'll be going to this year. One could very well be close to YOU!

Hope to see you there!


Gloria Oliver
Unveiling the Fantastic
http://www.gloriaoliver.com/

Inspired by...

I don’t take pictures often, but when I do, I always have a few that puzzle people. Mainly because the pictures are usually of rocks and/or trees. I get story ideas from the strangest things, I know. There’s just something about an interesting tree or odd rock shape.


Gloria Oliver took a picture for me of a tree in a park in Portland, OR. That particular tree seemed to have an opening that resembled a maw in its base – and where would that maw lead to (unless it really is a mouth on a particularly hungry and evil tree?

So a recent trip to New Zealand and Australia for two science fiction conventions (Au Contraire and Aussiecon/Worldcon) recently resulted in the usual – more pictures of trees. And some rocks.

But really, who could resist taking a picture of the path (in a nature reserve called Zealandia) winding between two trees? Not I. One of my friends pointed out that it’s similar to a scene in The Crystal Throne – the hidden entrance to an elf village. But I was getting several other story ideas when I saw it. Time will tell which ones will win out.

And then there’s this interesting tree with numerous branches along one side. I'm definitely going to have to describe this tree in a story at some point.

The whole length of pebbled beach and the nearby cliff face is all gray but yet just a bit off shore is a collection of red rocks. There’s a story idea there that will probably be moved to an alien planet.

 

The lichen on the rocks in this rock garden reminded me of Jeanne's solution in Talking to Trees.

The fallen tree supported by the big branches of the second tree suggested one idea. However, the green of the orchids growing along the fallen tree resembled a garden that some arboral or avian species could use.

So, when I'm asked 'Where do you get your ideas?', there are times when I can point to a picture. And then I'll get stranger looks than usual.

Hey, Could You Talk a Little Louder?

Here's my biggest dirty secret as a writer: I eavesdrop.

Eavesdropping is something I have done my entire life, and I'll bet a signed copy of my novel (see cover photo in side margin!!!), as well as an almost heart-felt apology, that all writers do the same thing. How else can we learn people's mannerisms and quirks when they speak? I know that the reason I listen in is the better to enrich my own characters. My husband tells me I am rationalizing, but don't listen to him. He eavesdrops as much as I do - and he's an engineer.

I like the waiting rooms in doctors' or dentists' offices. To be fair to those who have no clue they are being, well, spied on, I will consciously tune out any conversation that is far too painful and personal for a complete stranger to absorb. But anything having to do with neighbor complaints, kid behaviors, husband behaviors, or the ongoing argument with a public utility company? Hey, I'm there.

A family in my dentist's waiting room gave me all kinds of ideas for a novel I was writing at the time. My main character came from a family of nine kids, and listening to these siblings pick on, tease, ridicule, and laugh at each other was a joy. I wonder if any of them noticed I never once turned a page of the magazine I was supposed to be reading.

Airports, trains, buses, and elevators are also good places for catching a conversation or two. Except with elevators, sometimes you never get to hear the outcome of the story. I guess I can't really run after someone and say, "Excuse me, Miss, but did your co-worker's sister-in-law turn out to be pregnant after all?" On the other hand, that leaves me free to write my own ending!

I also practice this skill in restaurants. When I'm really in the zone, I can keep track of three to four conversations at once. The fire at the neighbor's house across the street was started by visiting cousin Jerome? Do tell! Mrs. Crumphorn's husband moved out in the middle of the night? Please, elaborate! The PTA president's daughter was nabbed for shoplifting? I love it!

So all you other writers out there tell me: am I really the only novelist delighting in other people's conversations? Or is it possible that you just happened to overhear something really tasty the last time you were stuck in the line at the grocery store?