Why I'm a Star Wars Nerd

No one is happier to see all the Star Wars love happening right now than I. I've been a fangirl of a galaxy far far away since 1977 when A NEW HOPE 

(back in the day, we just called it STAR WARS) 

burst into the collective consciousness. I saw the film 21 times in the theater, every time flying my theater seat with red squadron to attack the Death Star.

Here are the top ten reasons this story entered my blood stream:

10. Vehicles: Who doesn’t want a land speeder or an X-Wing?

9. Hyperspace Travel: After commuting in L.A. traffic my whole life…

8. Countless worlds to explore: Itinerary – Hoth…Forest Moon of Endor – I’ll skip Tatooine, not a desert person.

7. Terrifying Villains: Vader (daddy issues-check), Emperor, Wampa Ice Monster, giant worm that digests you for 1,000 years...

6. Merchandise: I’m not going to lie, I’ve spent significant funds since 1977 on memorabilia. Come on! Everyone needs a pewter Star Wars chess set.

5. Complicated love story: Han and Leia

4. C3P0 and R2D2: I’ll take one of each please.

3. Lightsabers: Mine is blue.

2. Enigmatic mentors extraordinaire: Love Yoda, do I. Obi Wan is always good in a pinch. 

1. Luke Skywalker – Luke Skywalker - Luke Skywalker:

When the first movie of the saga released, I was leaving home to go to college. Identifying with Luke’s foray into the real world resonated with me. We came of age together, fighting the dark side and emerging with a renewed sense of self.

From this humble Jedi to all my brethren -

May the Force Be With You.

A Veteran's Lost Story

This year on Veteran's Day, I'm particularly reflective about my father. He passed away a few years ago and one of my greatest regrets was that I never pressed him for stories about his experiences during World War II.

He was only eighteen when my grandparents encouraged him to enlist in the army to discourage him from entering the priesthood. He spent the majority of his time during the war in the Philippines. The only story he shared was about hiding in a palm tree for days while the enemy marched below. 

I missed a golden opportunity for the untold stories he must have had tucked away. 

If you have a veteran or any tribe elder still in your life, don't make the mistake I did. 

Ask them for their stories. 

Getting in the Mood

Before I start a new project or dive into a revision, I need tangible inspiration to wrap or rewrap my head around the characters and the world I'm painting. 

Playlists are a HUGE inroad for me to connect with the emotional landscape of a story. Since I'm a visual girl, I also need some talismans and touchstones to sink into the tale.  

Here are some of the pieces charging my battery for my current WIP, a Rapunzel retell from the prince's POV.

A floor plan of her tower.

A Rapunzel ornament from the Disney version.

A ring my Rapunzel might wear.

I'm currently obsessed with making character diaries with both visuals and character write ups. Here's a collage for one of my supporting characters. Thank you Santino Fontana (The Prince in the recent Broadway production of Cinderella and the voice of Hans in Frozen) for inspiring this particular character with your talent and roguish good looks.

What are some of the things y'all do to get into the "zone" of your projects?

View From the First Grade Trenches

So what happened to August?

I swear it was just the first day of school mid-month 

and now it's September.

Green Day's "Wake Me Up When September Ends" is playing in my noggin.

This year I switched from over a decade of teaching fifth grade to braving an army of six-year-old first graders.

Best decision I've ever made. Talk about a fabulous audience for my funny voices when I read books!

I could go on and on about how adorable they are, but I've always been one for visuals. Here is a sample of our beginning of the year "David project" (as in David Shannon's 

David Goes to School picture book).

Enjoy.

Yes, Chef!

I am not a foodie, unless a custom order at In and Out burger qualifies. Food networks aren't usual fare on the Rose airwaves, but I do admit if a cooking show happens to be on, I'm inexplicably drawn to the artistry of the process.

Recent events have allowed me a glimpse into the foodie world and now I TOTALLY get it. 

I have entered the realm of:

Last night my world was forever changed when I ate at Gordon Ramsay's Steak House at the Paris in Las Vegas. 

Want a bite?

Start with the Ferris Wheel of meat and choose your cut. 

Yes, it's real meat. 

Fun fact: Our waiter said they keep the cuts on display for about two days until they start to go brown. The wheel hangs out in the fridge between showings for all of you freaking out about potential weird meat odor during the presentation.

Segue way to the salad. Bacon wheels and green goddess dressing - sigh.

See the breads up there? Every one of them is a different gourmet treat like bacon roll, mushroom roll, cheese bread, lemon focaccia. Even the butter was otherworldly delish. 

And now for Gordon Ramsay's signature dish - Beef Wellington. I'm not a rare steak person, but this was so melt-in-your-mouth crazy good, I went for it.

They really went overboard with the veggies - NOT - so sides were called for. Citrus glazed asparagus and life-changing, ginger-garlic glazed shiitake mushrooms and leeks. 

The mushrooms are MANDATORY - it's a quality of life issue. 

Food coma - YES. Ecstasy - YES.

I would sell my soul for a return trip into the land of 

Hell's Kitchen.

Any life-changing dining experiences out there? 

Gordon Ramsay fans?

Comic Con Afterglow

Another fabulous Comic Con in the rear view mirror. 

Security was tight.

Merchandise tempting. 

(Yeah, I bought it.)

Cosplay did not disappoint.

New t-shirt: 

Biggest geek out moment:

Sighting of Clark Gregg, Agent Phil Coulson of SHIELD.

Fantastic Panels. 

My favorite was the 50th anniversary of LOST IN SPACE. 

Yes, that's Judy Robinson, Pilot Don, Penny Robinson, and Will Robinson.

My daughter hit the jackpot. She waited for a zillion hours in line to see the STAR WARS, FORCE AWAKENS panel. Not only did Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford show up, but director J.J. Abrams treated the audience to donuts AND walked them to a second venue where everyone got a lightsaber and free concert of Star Wars music played by the San Diego Symphony. 

Yes, I'm jealous.

Fun fact: There are super cool venues and activities around Comic Con beside the convention itself. 

Like:

Nerd HQ, the brain child of Zachary Levi. A venue with gaming, food, community, merchandise and panels featuring

the likes of William Shatner, Nathan Fillion, and Joss Whedon. You do purchase tickets to the panels, but the proceeds go to the charity OPERATION SMILE.

W00tstock, an annual variety show created by and featuring Wil Wheaton, Adam Savage (Mythbusters), and Paul and

Storm (Comedy Music Team). It was four hours of music, riffs on TED talks, comedy and all around hilarity held in an amazing classic theatre, The Balboa. 

Paul and Storm sang a gut busting parody of Game of Thrones to the tune of American Pie. 

Here's the chorus - try it out.

Over at Petco Park - Home of the San Diego Padres baseball team - was CONIVAL sponsored by Nerdist. Free panels - gaming - food - fun.

Everyone can catch Comic Con fever 

even without an official badge.

Next week I'll share tidbits from this year's lit. panels.

Let's get down to it - if you were going to cosplay, who would you be? There's only one choice for me.

Con Man is Coming

I'm off to Comic Con 2015. I'll have lots to share when I return, but there's something I'm busting to tell you about before I leave.

This is a web series starting in September brought to you by Firefly peeps, Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion.

It's loosely (or not so loosely) based on actors who starred in a science fiction show that was cancelled after a single season but has gone on to become a cult classic.

Hmm? Can you say Firefly?

The story is about the aftermath of cancellation and the  adventures in appearing at conventions like let's say, 

Comic Con.

It was successfully funded by an Indie Go Go campaign and I'm telling you, if you want to belly laugh and roll on the floor - go to the CON MAN Indie Go Go page and watch ALL the videos. 

If I don't come back from Comic Con with a Con Man t-shirt, then I have not done my job.

Is there a web series out there that you are dying to share?

Two Thumbs Up for a Mini Writing Retreat

I just returned from an informal, three day writing mini-retreat that energized me and set the water in my creative well 

a-bubblin'.

What made it so successful?

WRITING BUDDIES AND DAILY GOALS

Grab members of your writing tribe that you click with and trust. Layout a timetable for discussion, critique, craft, and most of all WRITING. We began our retreat by sharing where we were with current works in progress and what we hoped to achieve before heading back to real life.

LACK OF DISTRACTION

We gave ourselves permission to banish the everyday "have to" list that intrudes on writing time. We also picked a locale that didn't crook a finger to lure us out of the writing cave.

PREPARE CRAFT TIDBITS

Yes, I'll share...

We each brought a favorite tool or inspiration. My contribution was the video: 

 RICHARD PECK MASTER CLASS 

His brilliant insights and generosity of spirit were gold.

AUTHOR JULIE MUSIL shared a wonderful CHARACTER WORKSHEET that Author Jody Hedlund makes available on her blog.

AUTHOR LISA GAIL GREEN introduced us to a rousing brainstorming exercise to find a shiny new title for a work in progress. We poured a river of words and phrases associated with the manuscript onto a piece of dry erase paper (yes it comes in poster sized paper) and then traced links between ideas to discover a title that reflected the spirit of the story. I learned this technique in a poetry workshop years ago and never thought to apply it to a title search. It really works!

 WARNING: Many word associations may lead to uncontrolled fits of laughter. 

MAKE IT EASY ON THE BANK ACCOUNT

Book a "suite" instead of separate rooms so you have space to write and share the cost. Choose an area that isn't in high demand, like the desert in summer, to take advantage of seasonal discounts. Use booking services for more possible discounts. Snag a venue with a kitchenette and bring food or do a grocery store run to save on eating out.

It never hurts to pick a place with some nice views.

Any plans for a writing getaway this summer?

Get Thee to a Theatre

It's summer and that means outdoor theater season. There's something magical about experiencing a play or musical beneath the stars.

I have to thank my son, Cameron, for finally dragging my carcass to a local treasure, the

 Theatricum Botanicum, 

a repertory theatre company founded by Will Geer, Grandpa on the Waltons, in the 1950's as a creative home for Blacklisted actors of the time. The company is still going strong performing a myriad of classics as well as reaching out to schools using the richness of Shakespeare and other excellent plays to create a lifelong love of theatre in today's students. 

Here are some pix of Cameron as Dill in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD to give you a glimpse of this truly enchanted theatre space nestled into a hillside in Topanga Canyon, California. 

Wearing my writer hat, I always learn so much from the concise storytelling required for the stage, and experiencing theatre outdoors adds yet another dimension of wonder. 

Other fantastic outdoor theatre experiences I've enjoyed here in California:

Solvang Theatre Festival - Central Coast of CA

Moonlight Theatre - Vista CA, north of San Diego

California Shakespeare Theatre - San Francisco Bay Area

Find a company of players in your area waiting to tell their tales on a stage and get thee to a theatre.

Any favorite outdoor summer theatre suggestions in your neck of the woods?

Tidbits from Comic Con

I am shamefully late with these golden nuggets from the Comic Con 2014 panels. Here are a few inspirations and tidbits that have stuck with me since last summer. 

Tidbits from – FAIRY TALE REMIX Panel  

Shannon Hale, Cornelia Funke, Marissa Meyer, Danielle Paige, Tony DiTerlizzi, Ben Tripp

Shannon Hale

• Everything is a metaphor.
• If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want your children to be very intelligent, read them more fairy tales. – Albert Einstein
• Writers are the reporters of magic.
• Interesting questions to ask when adapting a fairy tale:

Why are the characters there?

Why do the characters do what they do in the story?

What do the characters do when they are not "live" in the story?

Here's a blog post from Tor with more details on the

 FAIRY TALE REMIX PANEL

Tidbits from Marc Guggenheim Panel 

(Writer of the ARROW TV Series and a billion other things)

• Setbacks precede a big step forward.
• Learn to write wherever and whenever you find snippets of time.
• Switching genres builds writing muscles.
• Develop a voice – not a specialty – writers are hired for their voice. 

Tidbits from the WHAT’S HOT IN YA Panel

Nathan Bransford, Scott Westerfield, Tahereh Mafi, Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl, Kresley Cole, Tessa Grafton, Natalie Parker, C.J. Redwine, Brendan Reichs

• A first draft is idea oriented.
• The story you want to tell will be the story people want to read.
• No one sees the next big thing coming.
• Trilogy? That means four books?
• The YA market is a giant canvas.
• If you wrote a book and it is out there, you are a writer.
• Writers are a tribe.
• Voice is what readers consistently expect from you as a writer.
• Critique relationships are important. 

Tidbits from COMIC CREATOR CONNECTION Panel

This is a program that sets up a “speed dating” scenario between writers and illustrators. Super concept. It’s not just to connect comic/graphic artists to writers. Indie authors have also used this organization to find cover artists. For more information check out their website.

Comic Con 2015 or Bust!!!!