Dress for Historical Success Workshop presented at RWA 2010 Orlando, FL

Moderator Peg Herring with authors Coralie Jensen, Jade Lee, Jeannie Lin,
Julia Justiss, Judy Ridgley, Pam Nowak, Linda Joyce, Isobel Carr, and
Elisabeth Burke

I attended this workshop primarily to support three authors from two chapters that I belong to. Elisabeth Burke, Linda Joyce, and Judy Ridgley, but came away with a wardrobe of photographs and a new respect for those that dressed before us.

I managed to sneak in late and grabbed a chair along the wall so I could sneak & take photographs. I should have planned better and hung out at the back of the room with others that were taking photographs, but I still managed to get some good shots. I took quite a few shots of each costume presented but some came out better than others. If you are represented here and you only see one frame it is because I failed in my other attempts. My apologies, I would have represented everyone here equally if I could.

I have to preface this by admitting the descriptions that appear below were written by each of the ladies who appear in the photographs. I wrote up my own descriptions but my memory was so bad that I finally contacted Peg and got the segments provided by each of the authors. Thanks so much to Peg Herring who got the descriptions to me in time to post them. And more thanks to Linda and Elisabeth who got me in contact with her in time to post this blog. My comments are in italics and the photographs and descriptions appear in the order that I remember them. Not necessarily the order in which they actually appeared. Such is my memory. I got the corrected order later, but deemed it too much work to move everything around.

Note: Comments are moderated so don’t be surprised if they don’t appear right away. You don’t need to repost. I’ll publish the first comments entered. thx gj

The fashion show began with the moderator dressed in a beautiful gown and headpiece.

Peg Herring chose to appear as Catherine Parr, sixth wife of Henry VIII and a character in Peg’s mystery, HER HIGHNESS’ FIRST MURDER. Catherine was Elizabeth Tudor’s last stepmother, and she was a good one. Of course, Henry had already disposed of two wives named Catherine, one by divorce, one by beheading.

Peg’s costume is suitable for a formal occasion, such as a day at Court, and is similar to one Catherine wore to have her portrait done in the 1550s. She would begin with a shift, a light under-dress with fitted sleeves and a low neck. Over it, she would fasten a hoop skirt known as a farthingale, tied on at the waist. A bum roll, a tube of fabric stuffed and also tied around the waist, emphasizes the curve of the derriere. Next she would add a corset, tightly laced to narrow her waist and flatten her bosom.

An under-skirt, plain at the back and sides but fancy in front, comes next. Over that is the dress itself, split in front to show the underskirt’s elegant front section. The overdress has very elaborate sleeves with cuffs of one fabric and inserts of another draped back and under to make a puffy look. The waist is tightly fitted, with a “V” shape in front to help create the triangular look that ladies favored at the time.

To cover her hair, Catherine might add a cap with a veil, although more elaborate hats were also popular. Hair decorations often accompanied the hat, such as feathers or jeweled hairpins. Peg has also chosen a lovely beaded necklace that shows well in the dress’s squared neckline.

Coralie Hughes Jensen’s costume is an outfit worn by a landed gentleman similar to one of the Yorkshire characters in her historical novel HAWKSWOLD ABBEY, set in the time of Henry VIII. In the early 1500s, wealthy English landowners who were not part of the court or nobility lived well from the rents paid by tenants who farmed their estates. Members of the landed gentry were upper class, a highly desirable status. Particular prestige was attached to those who had inherited landed estates for generations, the “old” families. Sumptuary laws prohibited the lower and middle classes from using gold or silver thread, silk, velvet, gems, or anything signifying wealth. Doing so would land the common man or woman in jail. It was important for those with land, money, and social standing to display their rank.

The gentleman farmer’s attire was multi-layered. In full garb, he would have worn a wide-sleeved linen or cotton shirt under a waistcoat, which would be covered by a doublet, a vest or jacket of quilted material or wool embellished for formal occasions. Below, he wore upper stocks, fitted knee-breeches or fuller slops, sometimes slashed and lined with colorful fabric pulled through the slashes and puffed out to emphasize the color contrasts. Over the lower stocks, or hose, he wore shoes or knee-high boots. The flat cap, worn both indoors and outdoors, had a narrow brim, often turned up. It sat horizontally on the head and might be embellished with buttons, pins, or feathers.

Coralie’s interest in history is not limited to the Tudors. Her just-released romantic suspense, WINTER HARVEST, is set in a western Massachusetts religious commune and takes place in the early 1800s, during the heyday of the group known as the Shakers.

Judy Ridgley appears as the “Domina’ Julia Galeria Casca, a character in her Vulcan’s City-Herculaneum. This Roman lady of the upper class is attired in the traditional gown or ‘stola’, as it was called in Ancient Pompeii. Her iridescent green stola is bordered on the hem, which is typical of the gowns of married dominas just before Vesuvius erupted on A.D. 79. Fortunately, for Julia, she survived this catastrophe to be with us today.

The lady covers her head with a maroon shawl or ‘palla’. In the early Republic period, a domina seen with head uncovered gave her husband, the dominus, grounds for divorce. Times have changed. Now, during the First Century, a woman accents all her stolas with this garment as she shops the streets of Herculaneum.

The silk stola and palla would have traveled the Silk Road through Jerusalem and on a galley to Rome. The lady’s jewelry (will have to give the details when I have them) displays the wealth of her own family and of her husband, and reveals his position as an equestrian and owner of many merchant galleys.

Julia’s hair is parted in the center and swept up, which for first century dominas revealed their married status. Her sandals are open due to the warm climate around the Tyrannian Sea where this wealthy city was situated.

Elisabeth Burke, also known as Leigh Stites, appears as Mattie Parker, a Cherokee healer living in the foothills of the Ozarks in the mid 1860s. Mattie is the mother of John and Jay Parker, two sexy sons of Missouri whose stories are told in companion novels: 2009 award-winner Broken Road and this year’s Golden Heart finalist, The Healer.

Throughout their struggles, Mattie is the glue that holds the family together, which is not surprising. The Cherokee are a matriarchal society, so ‘Ma’ wears the pants—even if it’s a dress.

The extra fullness and slightly shorter length provide freedom of movement to do daily chores. A decorative sash and bandolier bag for carrying her healing supplies add a cultural flare. When she’s working around the farm, Mattie wears a wide-brimmed bonnet to shield her face from the sun. What’s underneath? Leggings in the winter, cotton shift on cooler days, but on warmer days–nothing.

You won’t find Mattie in buckskins. The Cherokee, especially intermarried families, adapted quickly to the lifestyle of early white settlers and gave up wearing leather in favor of more easily made cloth fabrics. They did not, however, give up the comfort of their moccasins or the decorative touch of beads made from glass, shells or local seeds.

Like many Cherokee women, Mattie is an expert weaver. She also sews all the clothes for her family. This dress combines the practicality of traditional Indian ponchos with pioneer wrappers, featuring a split bodice closed with whatever is handy (in this case, it would have been a locust thorn except that it was confiscated by airport security). Though Mattie’s sons are grown, she’s still considered in her childbearing years, and this dress allows for easy nursing.

Linda Joyce is wearing the classic uniform of a 19^th century schoolmarm and is here to educate her class about how proper young ladies need to dress.

Around 1907, women’s clothing became more man-tailored. The two-piece outfit with a “shirtwaist” or as we would say today, a blouse, opens in the front with buttons and has a collar. Notice the detailed pleats and gathering in the back.

The seven-gore skirt, made of seven pieces including an inverted pleat, is considered a most figure-flattering garment. It has one button and several snaps.

While clothing for a schoolmarm is made from simple fabrics like cotton, this outfit might be made of silk, taffeta or linen as well. If the fabric of the skirt and blouse are the same, the outfit is called a “shirtwaist suit.”

Notice the difference in the bonnets between the one Linda is wearing and the one Elisabeth wears above.

She gave us lessons in propriety and I was frightened that she might be hiding a ruler. No worries though this was a kind, proper and wise school marm.

Jade Lee is wearing touristy crap circa 1950. Doesn’t she look stylish? Jade is here to show the clothing her distant relatives wore to the CHIN dynasty court. Since Jade would have to cut her body in half to wear either outfit, she’s put them on a couple of dolls. The blue outfit (not shown) is typical of everyday wear in the 1800s. A silk jacket with braiding is worn over a pleated silk skirt. The pink outfit is more typical of court attire. It has the same general style, but the top and bottom match, and both are extensively embroidered.

Jade is wearing—appropriately—some jade jewelry. She claims there are a zillion superstitions surrounding this beautiful semi-precious stone, most common being that it can stabilize or preserve the body’s CHEE, or spirit. Some believe that jade will change to a richer green color if it “likes you”. And many, probably jewelers, claim that if you wear a jade bracelet and it breaks, the jade will take the harm instead of you. Our Jade recommends that you wear a lot of jade so you will never get hurt!

The colors were fabulous and the embroidery amazing.

Yes, we’re pretending to ignore those bare legs in the background that looked like they’d just done a Sharon Stone.

Our next model had more clothing than anyone so there are quite a few photographs here. It’s always difficult to show detail in black but I did my best.

Pam Nowak’s costume is patterned on an 1873 wedding dress. Black wedding gowns were common among middle class women, since the brides could reuse the dresses later. The dress is similar to what Miriam, Pam’s heroine in CHOICES, might have worn. More formal than practical calico and clearly indicating the wearer was aware of the fashions of Harper’s Bazaar, it would announce her status as an officer’s daughter. Though suffragist Sarah Donovan, heroine of Pam’s HOLT Medallion winner CHANCES, would have wrinkled her nose at the dress in favor of a simple brown work skirt, Miriam would have found it the perfect compromise between style and functionality. The dress is comprised of separates (a bodice and a skirt). Box pleats on the underskirt and the DAMask inset in the skirt front add style to the otherwise unadorned gown. The uncharacteristic diagonal pleat was copied from the original dress and may have been the result of an alteration or repair. A crinoline or petticoat and a detachable bustle would have been worn under the skirt.

The boned DAMask bodice features twenty fabric-covered buttons and accents the waistline, drawing attention to the wearer’s curves. A rear fan pleat does the same. Sleeves are set at the top of the shoulder and, except for the slight puff at the top, are tight. Original lace accents the collar and cuffs.

Accessories such as a broach, hat, gloves, parasol, and reticule complement the dress and add color.

The third frame is where the proper lady began to be a bit improper. But we encouraged it, so I believe we are at fault for ruining her too. She did keep her hat on though.

I am to be flogged for not taking notes as I was taking photographs but this gown was just spectacular as is the lady who wears it. The color and texture of the fabric and the rich colors are not accurately represented here, but I did my best with it. It is more orange than pink. Some of the photographs were dark so I enhanced them to provide better visibility. My apologies to the authors if their terrific gowns are misrepresented because of it).

Isobel Carr shows us what a woman of the Georgian era might look like. Her favorite era is late 18^th century, the time of such films as The Duchess, The Affair of the Necklace and Amazing Grace. There was an air of decadence, revolution, and exuberance with the Enlightenment, as well as the thrill of war. So much going on. So many changes.

In just a few years, fashion will undergo swift and momentous change, but for the moment we are still in an era of layers, of strict corsetry, and of male elegance. Clothing is, for the most part, very structured. Hoops are on their way out, replaced in everyday dress by hip pads, though formal and court gowns are still worn over the magnificent hooped petticoats so familiar from depictions of the doomed Marie Antoinette. Into this world suddenly springs the very first “round gown”, meaning that it goes all the way around the body, pulling on over the head, without the need for a stomacher or any other parts. It is called Chemise a la Reine, Robe a la Reine or simply, the Chemise dress. Some sources claim it is of English origin, but it is Vigee le Brun’s portrait of Marie Antoinette in what critics called her “underwear” that popularized the fashion and gave it the name by which it is known today.

While the chemise would still have been worn over the ridged stays of the day, the lack of hoops and the light fabric’s ability to mould to the body, especially the legs, was a revolution in terms of female fashion. It is from this gown that the light and diaphanous gowns of Regency will be born. What Isobel is wearing today is the chemise’s successor: a true round gown with a “robe” over it similar to those worn in Emma Thompson’s version of Sense and Sensibility.

Julia Justiss appears in evening dress as Lady Honoria Carlow, heroine of her August release, THE SMUGGLER AND THE SOCIETY BRIDE. The Regency period saw a simplification in aristocratic women’s dress. Gone are bum rolls, separate sleeves, stomachers and elaborate layers of underskirts. Often a lady’s dress, even for the most formal occasions, would be just a variation of a simple “round gown,” a one-piece garment that tied, pinned, or fastened in the back. Though England was at war with France for almost the entire period of the Regency, French fashion still had a strong influence on English dress. The high-waisted, puffed-sleeved, slender-silhouette gown introduced by the Empress Josephine at Napoleon’s court replaced the more elaborate Georgian gowns and remained in fashion for several decades.

The line of the dress might be simple, but the decoration was often elaborate, with French terms sprinkled throughout. One popular trim was the “rouleau” (roo-loh,) or “roll”, literally a roll of fabric often decorated, as it is on Julia’s gown, with flower or ribbon trim. Lace was a favorite trim material for skirts, sleeves and bodices, as were jewels such as pearls, crystal (called “brilliants”) or even precious stones, which are NOT shown on Julia’s gown.

Although cropped haircuts were appearing, most women still wore their hair long, done up for evening in elaborate arrangements of curls. As the period progressed, caps and turbans were worn, but in 1814, at the time of Honoria’s story, a simple style of curls threaded through with ribbons or pearls, perhaps capped by an Ostrich feather, would finish the ensemble.

Gloves were always worn, often dyed to match the color of the gown. My lady would carry a reticule, forerunner of the modern purse, and no toilette would be complete without a fan. These were often as elaborate as the gown, displaying painted scenes, intricate lace or ivory carving. On her feet, my lady usually wore flat slippers of soft kid, similar to the Mary Jane or ballet slipper of today.

Jeannie Lin is showing off the elegant Hanfu robes featured in her 2009 Golden Heart award winning debut novel, Butterfly Swords. The story is set in the 8^th century, during the Golden Age of Tang Dynasty China.

The traditional garment consists of a form-fitting bodice draped with a floor-length robe. The style was then modified according to the fashion of the times. During the Tang Dynasty, trade along the Silk Road was at its height. The magnificent clothing and accessories reflected the wealth and artistry of the period. Robes became more elaborate, with long, flowing sleeves and vibrant colors. Layers of silk and gauze gave the illusion of rippling water as ladies swept across the courtyard.

In Butterfly Swords, the heroine, Ai Li, wears this beautiful robe as she sneaks out of the palace to say farewell to the hero. She hopes that he will remember her as a woman, rather than the sword-wielding tomboy he rescued.

Explore the elegance and drama of the Tang Dynasty in Butterfly Swords, available in October from Harlequin Historical. The linked short story, The Taming of Mei Lin, will release in September from Harlequin Historical Undone.

I can’t say enough about the effort these ladies went to to provide us with accurate, well researched and generally stunning gowns. I know I appreciated the effort they went to and really enjoyed the workshop.

Here is the last photo, a group shot showing all the participants dressed for historical success!

Check out the participating authors’ newest/upcoming releases
Isobel Carr - Ripe for Seduction
Peg Herring –Her Highness’ First Murder
Coralie Jensen - Winter Harvest
Julia Justiss - The Smuggler and the Society Bride
Jade Lee –Wicked Surrender
Jeannie Lin - Butterfly Swords and The Taming of Mei Lin
Pamela Nowak - Choices
Judy Ridgley - Vulcan City—Herculaneum

Someone posted the question on one of my loops “what do you listen to when you write?”

Normally I write in silence because I’m pretty easily distracted, and when I’m in the zone I tune everything out anyway, but here’s how I responded.

I love acoustic music. For mostly instrumental guitar Tommy Emmanuel(finger style a la Chet Atkins) Tony McManus (Celtic like you’ve never heard before). “Only” is my favorite by Tommy, all of Tony’s CD’s are brilliant with upbeat bagpipe tunes played on the guitar. More brilliant guitar work, but more vocals-Chet Atkins. Two of the best musical storytellers ever are John Prine and John Hartford (Areoplane is a particular favorite).

If you prefer women’s voices Allison Krause (bluegrass and some classic gospel - she sings like an angel and plays fiddle) and for folk I love Flyer by Nanci Griffith, wonderful original ballads and songs of love. Nanci’s lyrics are riveting “he was a flyer for the Airforce on a flight from San Antonio” “we sang songs we knew in Spanish ’cause we both loved songs with language” “he shouted out his name to me as I ran to make my flight.” “I would do anything to see that flyer flying tonight.” I have several of her CD’s and I always go back to them when I need a lift.

Most of these folks have been around for years so they should be easy to find (Tommy and Tony are a bit harder than the others) all lean more toward a folk sound than anything.

The hunks I threatened in my last post are still coming. Have a good week.

Gretchen

It’s been over a month since I’ve had anything to say. Well, perhaps that’s not precisely true. I’ve had a few things to say, but nothing could drag me back to the blog.

It’s been a month of busy busy busy for me. I’m in the fifteenth week of Holly Lisle’s HTRYN which has been a terrific course btw. I’m editing on page 209, much of this version (2nd) is hand written which is a first for me. I expect to make it to week sixteen by the middle of May. (HTRYN weeks are like dog years - non-linear or something).

The MARA Retreat, which was awesome if trimmed up with pinking shears (to keep from fraying).

Yes, I got the camper out for the first camping trip of the season and am thinking hard about where to go next. No major surprises except that one of the propane tanks was empty.

Didn’t remember using it that much but I guess we did. It was cool in October now that I think about it.

My niece had her bridal shower, and Steve actually suggested he needed to go buy a suit for the wedding. I didn’t expect that.

I made videos and am learning to do crazy things with photographs and Gimp.

Have been focused on getting the next thing done (and sometimes do)  Next month?  Who knows.  I do have a bit of humor for you though.  I read something on twitter that took me to a blog that talked about why your erotica may not sell.  Curious to see what words of wisdom I might see there (though, I don’t write erotica - don’t get me wrong some of my best friends do…) it said in part

“I know a lot of strong, independent women who have trouble reconciling themselves to their liking for bodice rippers.”

So I wondered what would come up when I googled the term “bodice rippers” and found that while there were references to romance novels there was also this:

And then when I followed the link  (because by now I was Really curious)

it would be my guess, since most of these products are in what appear to be three to five gallon cans, that the bodice to be ripped could be quite large.  I’m just saying.

Mater tam antiquior ut linguam latine loquatur - Your mother is so old she speaks Latin

My latin is only as good as Google’s.

Sometime back around the year 2000 I picked up the banjo. I have since put it down again (save your applause for the end please) to devote my idle hours to writing. Bela Fleck is one of the banjo players (gross understatement he’s a hella banjo player and more) I admire most. He has such a playful way of interacting with his audience I just enjoy the hell out of his music.

So, I have the first two of his “Tales from the Acoustic Planet” CD’s. When I saw that there was a new volume out I didn’t pass GO, didn’t collect two hundred dollars, but drove my cursor right over to the iTunes store and bought me some banjo music.

Well, as sometimes happens when you don’t pay attention, I got something way different than what I set out to purchase. Turns out that Bela had taken a trip to Africa and examined the roots of the banjo (which are varied and largely vegetable based but goat parts do sometimes factor in).

I listened to this music that was rhythmic, lyrical and whose language was completely incomprehensible to me. Exactly what were the songs on that CD about? As usual I didn’t bother to stop and research, but began to consider how traditional songs and the printed word mirror each other.

I know that in bluegrass music, especially old time music where the banjo is frequently featured, it is not uncommon for any random song picked from the playlist to be a tune about a woman who came to a bad end. There’s pretty Polly - bad end, Jezebel - bad end, Rose Connelly - bad end, Lola Lee - bad end. Some poor lovely woman (sometimes barely more than a girl) is always being killed for love in those songs. Frequently they get left in some body of cold water afterward, which I really think is piling on. Sometimes the fella comes to a bad end but it’s usually painted more as a heroic adventure. (See Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, The Night that the Lights Went Out in Georgia).

I wondered if the African songs on Bella’s vol. 3 reflect those same themes? Sorrow and love are the foundation emotions, the slabs upon which the most common structures are built. Our musical roots whether hill music from appalachia, celtic tales from the Emerald Isle or the stormy shores of Scotland, ballads of heroes, tragedies, wild epic adventures, or biblical tributes, each note plays a tentative vibrato on the common threads that run through all our lives. Sometimes our instruments are a little out of tune, sometimes a lot. So is it any wonder that themes of love and violence thrive in popular fiction? They always have in european culture but African? I just don’t know enough to say.

Guinevere - bad end, Juliette - bad end, Joan of Arc…see, not a recent phenomenon. Of course lately the girls have been getting theirs too. Janie got a gun after all…

With the arrival of my W2 from my day job this week, taxes have been on my mind.  I’m fairly determined that this year I begin representing myself as a writer to the IRS.  I believe with the completion of a first draft manuscript, serious revision underway, I have submitted my work (in some form, mostly queries) to an agent and an editor (with negative results…sigh) that I have earned the right to call myself writer and receive credit for the things I’m doing to reach the goal of publication.  So with a bit of trepidation I step out onto the icy surface of IRS requirements and begin my adventure.

One of my local RWA chapters will have speakers from a tax preparation service presenting material next week but in the mean time I’m looking around for information to educate myself on what is permissible and what is not in terms of deductions.  I’ve found the following sites that reference author taxes and thought I’d share them here.

Note:  I do not have any qualification to determine that these sources are reliable, correct or otherwise represent the reality that is the IRS tax code.  But they were interesting and helpful to me.  Your tax return is your problem as mine belongs to me.

The Eclectics website provided a list of IRC (Internal Revenue Code?) sections that particularly refer to writers and authors.  It includes case studies sited in the code itself I think.  Including a reference to RWA Dues specifically and the “deductibility” of same.  I found this site particularly interesting.  Although it appears the sections were snipped and assembled from various documents, each does reference the code section that it applies to and I thought the cases were interesting.

As long as I was putting that site out there I thought it why not take it further, so I have asked uncle Google for his assistance and received the following links in return.

On ForWriters.com a history of the current tax code as it applies to authors is provided.

Publishlawyer.com provides a more summary account of what authors can expect in terms of categorizing themselves for tax purposes.

On a LSU faculty website I found this page that goes into some detail of hobby vs for profit pursuits.

On Gentlemanranters.com I found this “tax guide for journalists and authors.”

And don’t forget you can always ask the IRS or your local tax professional - Yeah, that guy standing on the corner in the green bedsheet and the statue of liberty foam crown - There’s an expert for you (Just being snarky, I’m sure the company he represents is exceedingly capable).  But seriously, I bet his boxers are sticking out of his pants that are way down around his dangly bits if you look beneath the verdigris (shudder).

I digress.  I’m sure the IRS has lots of publications that are certain to provide you with something to think about.

So that’s what I found on the internet.  Any other resources you care to add I’m happy to see.  Comments for first time posters are moderated so don’t be surprised if your comments don’t appear immediately.

Once again I managed to stumble across a really nice set of lectures on the internet.  This time the subject is writing romantic suspense.  I couldn’t even tell you how I got there, but I bookmarked it and have been back to read and re-read the helpful information within.  Lisa Gardner has a series of lectures, two of them actually.  The first is on the business end and the second is on the practical craft of constructing a romantic suspense novel.  These were well organized, thoughtful lectures that addressed market, synopsis, characters, plots, and the whole spectrum of writing in the rom-suspense sub-genre.

I’ve been working on my current wip for a full year now.  I finished the first draft in November and am workshopping it with Holly Lisle’s How To Revise Your Novel.  The thing I didn’t know I was missing (between all the brilliant techniques delivered in Holly’s lessons) is the genre specific reminders of my target.  There were many things in Lisa Gardner’s lectures that I had forgotten or never really thought about. It came at exactly the right time to toss my thoughts in fresh directions for my revisions.

So if you’re working on a romantic suspense I highly recommend that you take a look at her Lisa Gardner’s website and the tricks of the trade section.

The last week has been a foggy mess here in the Midwest.  As if it weren’t bad enough that we had a foot or more of snow, the melt appears to be going straight into the air.  Traveling highways in thick fog is dicey at least, so it was pure stubbornness that a group of us to converged on Topeka, Kansas Saturday night to see the Euphoria String Band play at the Classic Bean coffee house.

Until we pulled back into the driveway we weren’t sure we would be going home.  The fog was so thick we couldn’t see further than about five yards ahead of us on the interstate.  That made for slow going.

Sometimes I feel that way when writing, like the clouds are low and thick and so much is unknown in front of me that I may never make it to my goal.  Fortunately there are lighthouses located across the landscape shining through the mist with help for the fogbound writer.

This week I received a link to one of the more subtle aspects of craft, verb tense. Romance University always offers excellent advice, instruction and examples and this week an excellent post with clear explanation and pointed examples.  The comments provided additional insight.  Overall a useful time spent on the internet.  Really, how often can you say that?

Here’s the link to the post.  http://romanceuniversity.org/2010/01/15/ask-an-editor-problem-with-tense/

I played around with Word this morning and in my Mac Word version 2008 (it may have been there forever, but I never paid any attention before) I found support for regular expressions, which is more precise than the regular S&R. I’m including what I found here for anyone who’s interested.   Search for the Word help topic:

Wildcard characters you can use when searching (displayed at right below)

Note that wildcard search and replace can be very tricky so be careful.

I did a wild card search for sas and it returned every PARAGRAPH that ended with sas. Even <*sas which should (in my mind) have returned each word ending in sas instead returned SENTENCES that ended in sas.  I should have used <(*sas) I think or even better (sas)> for words that end in sas. (looking for the word Kansas if you’re curious).

So a search using wildcards for the word condo would be formatted <(condo)> I think. (Starts and ends with condo).  That should return condo but not condolences.  Helpful when doing a search and replace.  Play with it in a COPY of your manuscript or some other document.

You can get really complicated with this if you want to. You have to check the “use wildcards” box below the search and replace box.

Be very careful and make a copy of your work before doing a search and replace using wildcards or any big risky search and replace.

Incidentally I’ve been using MS Word for more years than I can remember and this is the first time I’ve ever gotten wildcards to work.  I’ve got a degree in computers so it’s not particularly intuitive.  (or I might be a moron – you never can tell)

I attended a meeting at the HERA chapter here in Kansas City last Saturday.  It was a fun time to visit with other writers from the Kansas City area.  One of the other guests bemoaned some of the writing programs she had some interaction with and she mentioned a haiku she remembered.  I thought I’d dust off a pair of pieces I wrote sometime in the last two years on my favorite topic.  One is a Haiku and the other a short essay I took great pleasure in writing at the time.  They have a theme in common.  

The  humble trebuchet.

Today I hung a sign in my front yard that read “Trebuchet Rides Fifty-Cents”.  This was not some pre-halloween fund raiser or practical joke. 

I was dead serious.  You see I had already mailed five dollars worth of tickets to my boss the ninja-turtle (Portabello, Mortadello, bowl of jello I can’t exactly remember his name) in hopes that he would be the first in line. I realize five-dollars would be “overkill” because I had faith that first fifty-cents would take care of the problem, but you never know with trebuchets. In my experience it’s always the hardware that is the weakest link.

I double checked the counter-weight to make certain the ride would be long and satisfying.  Because, you know that a too short amusement ride spoils all the fun. 

At the other end of the trajectory alternating concentric rings painted stark white and a delicate pastel rosy shade, like some kind of stretched-out-untwisted-fifties-throwback-barber pole, could be found on a wall.  A brick wall.  A wall with reinforced steel rebar, I - beams and and a very pleasant border of pansies arranged in yellows and blues. 

In the center of the bull’s eye carefully printed in 8 point “happy-birthday-come-to-my-party-font” were the words “I quit – thank you and have a nice day.” I hoped he would wear his glasses.

Haiku - The trebuchet

The trebuchet waits

Kinetic energy leashed

Is your seat comfy

Every now and then I’ll write some sentence that I know is telling when I should be showing.

Sure enough, after I submit it to critique I’ll get some comment on that sentence.

So I fix that chapter, but for some reason I can’t bring myself to fix the sentence that I know needs revision.

I’ll edit the chapter, maybe rewrite the whole darn thing and when I’m done, I’ve still got this damned sentence staring back at me.

“No,  not a thing.” I remembered my disappointment.

What is it that keeps me from splitting the viscera of that line open and letting the bloody guts of the matter spill out onto the page?

Are those fragmented telling sentences coming out when I don’t like where the scene is going?  Where the book is going?

Or there is some uncomfortable truth about my writing staring me in the face that I still can’t see?   That’s really the one that worries me.

Still, I charge forward with this manuscript, damning the torpedoes of my own making knowing that it’s not there yet.   I struggle to come to terms with the reality I have put on the page, and that even when it’s done it will still be unfinished.

Anybody got whiteout you could lend me?

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Happy Birthday Sunny.