Ten Totally Snoggable Literary Characters

By Tamra Norton

I love to play games, and Julie Wright invited me to play! It's been a few decades, however, since I've indulged in any kissing games (well, except with a certain very kissable guy who also snores and actually likes sweet potatoes). Anyhoo...

So here's the original challenge: “Ten Literary Characters I Would Totally Make Out With If I Were Single and They Were Real But I’m Not, Single I Mean, I Am Real, But I’m Also Happily Married and Want to Stay That Way So Maybe We Should Forget This.”

Let's play...

#1: Edward. Okay, so he's a vampire and stone cold, and seventeen years old. Or is he 100? Anyway, he's definitely tied at the top of my list.

The other #1: Jake/Jacob. Okay, so he's a warewolf and hot when he's a warewolf...and when he's human too. I loved the scene in Stephenie Meyer's Eclipse when he approaches Bella in the meadow and licks her face!

#3: Neil from I capture the Castle. I love the scene when they're swimming in the castle moat by moonlight!

#4: Joshua Steed, from The Work and The Glory series. I never went for the "bad boys" in high school. I actually married a really good guy in real life. So what's the attraction to Joshua Steed? I dunno--but he's my #4 and I'm stickin' to it.

#5: Mark--Agent Iverson--in Betsy Brannon Green's Hearts in Hiding. Is there anyone more kissable than an FBI agent? :)

#6: Mr. Darcy--need I say more?

#7: Captain Wentworth from Austen's Persuasion. Who can resist a man in uniform? (See photo above)

Okay, I'm going to cheat a little. These are characters in my books, but if I was still a teenager or in my college days, I'd totally fall for these guys...

#8: Gordon "The Goofball" Nelson from Molly Married? and Molly Mommy? He's a ballroom dancer. I rest my case.

#9: Jarrett from Comfortable in my Own Genes. What a sweetheart! I wish I'd dated him in high school.

10#: Least I upset every one of my teenage readers, I absolutely must have Brandon Mace on this list. I can't tell you how many e-mails I've received from teenage girls telling me that Brandon is their "dream boy." He's definitely a teenage incarnation of my "dream guy"--almost as good as the real thing! :)

Now it's your turn to play. I tag my fellow "Ink Ladies"...and anyone else who wants to play!

What's your story?

I often wonder about the stories behind different locations. Take the one at the right ... As you can see, it is indeed a streetlight in the middle of the desert. In the middle of the photo, way in the back is a group of trees, amid those trees is an incredibly old home, not much of a fixer-upper even.

There are old buckets scattered all over the ground, split in two with holes in the bottom in the shape of an X. There are electrical outlets poking up from the ground. How far is it from civilization? It took us nearly an hour, most of it on dirt roads to get to this spot. So, quite a way from any street, much less a paved one.

There are many inhabitants here, however, as my five year old explained as she looked at a pile of rabbit droppings. Yes, it's infested with jackrabbits, probably other rodents and predatory animals, but no people.

The story? Oh, there are so many stories I could come up with for such a place. A haunting, perhaps, a drought that devastated the plans for the owner? Okay, after investigating the location for an entire three minutes, we all came to the conclusion that it was an RV park, why in the middle of the desert? That, we haven't answered. The buckets held trees, that are now planted and either dead or dying, with rabbit wire around them. There is absolutely no water anywhere around, so the drought is a definite possibility, but aren't there other stories that may be more interesting?

Who Inspired Me

By Marcia Mickelson

Elodia's post got me thinking about what inspired me to be a writer. I have always loved to read. As a youngster, I loved to curl up with Ramona Quimby books and Nancy Drew mysteries. I loved the library & books. That's probably the case for most of us. In my mid teens, I also found I liked to write. I still have some old notebook sheets with my first stories. When I was sixteen and had been a member of the Church for only two years, I came up with an idea that I thought was uniquely my own. Why not write a story with Mormon characters? I had never heard of Jack Weyland. I honestly thought it was my idea. I lived in New Jersey and had no LDS books around. No Internet back then, either.

I'd just purchased my very first computer-- a Mac Plus. So, I went to work on my Mormon novel. I remember those days with much joy. I loved my computer and I loved writing. My novel went unfinished as I went to BYU the following year. I was too busy there to write or even read for fun. I had still to read an LDS novel. Several years and 2 children later, we went back to Utah for a visit and I browsed the shelves at BYU. I loved browsing the LDS fiction and it was hard to just pick one. I finally picked up my first Jack Weyland novel- Cheyenne in New York. I read a few other LDS novels that summer- Mormonville by Jeff Call and Until Proven Guilty by Betsy Brannon Green. I was hooked! I had to get my hands on every one of Betsy's books. I e-mailed her and told her how much I loved her books. She e-mailed me back and told me how she got started. That summer I read a lot of LDS novels. Jennie Hansen became a quick favorite.

I decided I wanted to finish my novel I'd started 10 years before. I pulled out my old disks & obsolete Macintosh. I spent many hours at Kinkos trying to update my document. So, I finished my novel and submitted it. It was rejected and I realized it wasn't good. However, I did learn a lot about how not to write a novel. After several other rejected novels, Star Shining Brightly was finally published. In the end, I have to say that I was very inspired by Betsy Brannon Green and Jennie Hansen. I love their novels and have spent many hours devouring their books.

I returned to the BYU bookstore last year to browse the LDS fiction shelves. How exciting to see my book on the shelf. What a memorable day that was. (Look, Katie. Your book's there too!)

Rocks in your backpack? It could be worse

In recent years, we’ve had Church leaders liken sins to rocks in a backpack. On a hike, you only want to carry the essentials in your backpack. You certainly do not want to be weighed down by useless items such as rocks. These would make your journey unnecessarily difficult.

And so it is with sin. Sin creates unnecessary burdens upon us. If we will only cast aside our sins, our backpacks will be so much lighter and our journeys will be so much easier.

Well, that’s how the parable goes. Let’s talk about real life now.

In real life, my son carries a backpack to school and back home every day that is unnecessarily (he says) weighed down with homework assignments and textbooks. Over time, this can cause strain on the backpack: zippers popping, seams ripping, and all that stuff. My son's suggestion for easing the burden on the backpack was to cast away some of the textbooks, sort of like sins. But Mom didn’t go for that idea.

Eventually the zipper broke on the poor backpack, and I had to bundle it up and send it back to the manufacturer for repair or replacement. I’d done this before with other backpacks, under their respective lifetime warranties. Once the company had sewn up a hole in a backpack for me, under the warranty. Another couple of times, they’d simply replaced the whole thing with new backpacks.

So when a box arrived this time from the backpack company, I wasn’t too worried that they’d included a note that said they were no longer producing the kind of backpack we'd sent them. Instead, they'd sent us a brand-new backpack of another (but comparable) design.

Then we opened it. It was pink.

Now being the teenager that he is, my son was not impressed with this new backpack. And being the perceptive and sensitive mother that I am, I of course recognized this right away. I am proud to say that I did not ever, not once, consider trying to convince him it was red and he was just color blind.

But my sensitivity unfortunately created some more work on my part. I found the number to the backpack company, called them up, and explained my dilemma to the person that answered the phone:

Me (sounding somber; after all, this is a very serious problem): We sent in a backpack for warranty repair or replacement a couple of weeks ago. You guys sent us a new one. The problem is, it’s for my teenage son and the one you sent us is pink.

Telephone Person: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHOHOHOHO…

She transferred me to the correct department. Once again I told our sad tale.

Me: We sent in a backpack for warranty repair or replacement a couple of weeks ago. You guys sent us a new one. The problem is, it’s for my teenage son and the one you sent us is pink.

Warranty Department Lady: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHOHOHOHO…

Once everyone had enjoyed a good laugh, they did put in orders to send us a more appropriate BLACK backpack. They are also sending us a mailing label so we can ship back the pink backpack free of charge. So all’s well that ends well.

The moral to the story is, sometimes it isn’t enough to take the rocks out of your backpack. Sometimes you just have to send back the whole dang thing.

How The Baby-sitters Club Changed My Life

Not too long ago I received an email from the totally awesome gal who edited my book, The Icing on the Cake. The email said that an author recently submitted a manuscript and explained that it was reading my book that made her decide to submit her own.

This got me to thinking about the circle of creation: An author/artist/musician creates a work. That work inspires another author/artist/musician who then creates another work. And the circle continues.

Many authors have been in my circle, and I thought it would be cool to list a few of them.

Gilbert Delahaye and Marcel Marlier. This team authored Debbie’s Visit to the Countryside, my very favorite book when I was young. I still have my copy, and it still makes me feel giddy just to open it.

Ann M. Martin of Baby-sitters Club fame. Although some of the later books in the series were ghostwritten, Ms. Martin wrote the first 35 books. I was a gawky youngster whose best friend moved away after fourth grade, and I found a place with Kristy, Mary Ann, Claudia, Stacy, Dawn, and Mallory. The Baby-sitters Club books were among the first to teach me that books and their characters can be some of a girl’s best friends.

Norman Cousins. A journalist, author, professor and advocate, Mr. Cousins penned some remarkable works on the power of humor. He received the Albert Schweitzer prize in 1990 and died in November of that same year.

Sophie Kinsella. This supremely successful chick lit author, whose real name is Madeleine Wickham, has an amazing knack for writing comedy. I’m not usually much of a re-reader, but I can re-read her books over and over.

Fellow Ink Lady Tamra Norton. Tamra’s genuine, funny, kind personality comes out in her books. It’s easy to love her books because Tamra is the kind of person you would love to have as a friend. I think this is one of the highest goals to aim for as a writer, and Tamra does it so well.

So, tell me, who's in your circle?

Hangin' with Janette Rallison OR The Flip-Flop Fall

In February 2001, I read two LDS YA novels back to back that literally changed the course of my life. (Wow, that sounds so...hokey. But it's true.) The books were Deep Blue Eyes and Other Lies, and Dakota's Revenge by Janette Rallison. I loved these book! They combined every element I looked for in a good read--humor, romance, and good writing. When I finished the last of the two, I was determined that I, too, would write a romantic comedy for the LDS market. I literally started writing that day, and a year and a month later, my first LDS YA novel, Molly Mormon? was published.

I eventually met Janette Rallison through a support network of LDS authors--first via an e-mail listserve, and then at an LDStorymakers Writing Conference. By then Janette had moved on to writing Young Adult novels for the national market. I tried not to act like a gushing fan when we first met, and I doubt she had a clue of the impact her writing had on my life.

A month or so ago I asked Janette when she'd be doing a school visit in Houston. She e-mailed me back stating that, as a matter of fact, she had a school visit scheduled here in a few weeks. I offered to be her host while in Houston and we fast forward to the past few days...

My momentous meeting with one of my favorite authors almost started out in disaster. It was a stormy day in Houston (ugh--it already sounds like the start of a bad novel), and I barely made it to the airport in time. After parking, I rode the elevator down to the lower-level corridor to get to the main terminal she was arriving at. There weren't a ton of people in this long curving hallway-like section that connects the parking garage to the terminal--and thank goodness for that. My watch told me she'd already landed so I decided to jog the length of the empty corridor to make up for lost time.

Bad idea!

I was wearing flip-flops (which hold no traction on a wet surface). Before I knew what was happening, my butt--and entire back side, for that matter--hit the ground faster than you can say "khaki's-when-they-are-wet-turn-dark." Yeah--you get the picture. I stand up only to notice that now, I look like that poor kid in Kindergartner who, on the first day of school was afraid to use the "facilities."

I'll admit it--I swore. I swore a lot.

By the time the swearing had subsided, a few people had gathered to make sure I was okay since I was standing there, still looking stunned, with my backside now facing the wall. After assuring them I was fine, I waited until they were on their way, I then placed my purse behind me and waddled back to the elevators and back to my mini-van. There was NO WAY I was going to walk through the Houston airport looking like I'd wet my pants!

I quickly called Janette's cell phone, but only got her machine so left a message saying I was there--somewhere--and for her to call me. I could only hope her plane had been delayed.

For the next 20 minutes, I sat in back seat of my mini-van, in the darkness of the enclosed parking garage of Houston Intercontinental Airport waving around my britches like a mad woman. I alternated between this and the "fanning-dry-with-a magazine" method. I even tried blowing on them, but that just made me want to pass out. Maybe that would have been the best option after all. Miraculously, all the waving and fanning and blowing worked! The pant material was lightweight and dried quickly. And now I'd like to take this moment to personally thank the brilliant person who invented tinted windows. I LOVE YOU!!!

Even though my pants were now dry, I still hadn't heard from Janette, but I figured she hadn't gone far. Again, but this time with much trepidation, I ventured down the elevators and through the curving--and in one spot, still WET--corridor, and made it to the terminal.

No Janette. Anywhere! And no mention of her flight on the little TV monitor thingies. So I approached the US Airways counter and they proceed to tell me the flight was delayed 45 minutes and should be arriving shortly. I didn't know whether to rejoice or cry.

Eventually Janette made it here, and for two-and-a-half days we had a blast together. On Monday she spoke to my homeschooling group, then at Bluewillow Books. She spent the day Tuesday at Cook Middle School and it was really cool to see another author's school presentation--something I've done quite a bit of myself. And Tuesday night we met with a group of local children's authors for dinner.

Thanks for coming to Houston, Janette. You are funny and fun, and I'm so glad I can call you my friend. I will definitely take your advice and put the "flip-flop fall" into a book at some point...after I've recovered emotionally. But next time you come to Houston, maybe I'll just pull my car up to passenger pick-up, 'kay?

What is it about Libraries?

by Marsha Ward

One of my challenges as a writer is staying focused. This is probably due to my having ADD, but it could also be that I'm very good at procrastinating. I also tend to check my voluminous email, surf my favorite blogs, and look up fascinating things to buy, such as vintage movies. I'm constantly struggling with this issue at my desktop computer.

I found out last week, however, that I work very well--without becoming distracted--in my little local library.

The only catch is that I have to make a 45 mile round trip to do it. I'm not sure I can justify the gas cost. Or maybe I should consider it?

What do you think? Would you make such a daily commute to the library if it helped you focus on your writing?