Holiday Ideas-why not!

 

    Greetings! Let's see who bugs you the most during the season and write about it, shall we?

Let’s look for new ideas by observing your relatives during the holiday season. What has always bugged you? Here is a list of irritants and annoyances. 

 

Here is a list:

1.    The mole on the persons cheek has hair growing and it’s either hilarious or horrible to look at and you’re sitting next to the person.

2.    You always get stuck next to your elderly great aunt who keeps patting your hand and telling you that you’re a good girl or boy.

3.    Who is always asking if so and so has a boyfriend/girlfriend or what are the marriage plans?

4.    You love your grandma, but she can’t hear worth a darn so you have to speak up all the time.  Then, there’s the time you asked if she’d like a refill of coffee and she didn’t hear you and it took about five times of raising your voice, before she did. While fetching the coffee, someone politely and softly asked if she’d like a cookie and Grandma heard the person. 

5.    Or, you wanted to sit by your favored niece or nephew, but they didn’t attend.

The list of course is endless and can easily be written into scenes in your writing whether it’s fiction or not. 

 

I had an aunt

who always called me Bev.

I did really love her

in spite of it.

A cousin in-law used to call me

the Jolly Green Giant

because I was tall and the bridesmaid dress,

was green with a pillbox hat.

I personally thought 

a string bean 

was better. 

Barbara Schlichting 

What I just wrote, is true.  My husband’s aunt who is now deceased could never get it through her head that my name was Barb. I corrected her many times, however, it never stuck. I had been a bridesmaid for my cousin when I was sixteen, tall and very thin. That’s what a cousin’s husband called me, the Jolly Green Giant. Don’t you think a string bean is better?

Go ahead and write in those annoyances and irritants, it’s well deserved!

Please leave a comment so that we can get to know each other better and share this to all of your writer friends and family. 

Barb

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Where to find ideas?

 Where do you find ideas?

      

       Not so very long ago, my family and I went to an Italian restaurant. We looked at the menu ahead of time and got lost trying to figure out what everything was! Neither of us had a clue. Our son suggested to research every word that has us stymied. We spent one hour trying to figure out what it was that we each wanted to have for dinner.

      We had so much fun and when the meal came, it was just as much fun to eat it as well as enjoy each other's company. The foreign meal got us to talk about vacations and where to go next. It's worth it to try different venues, you never know what's ahead.

      The meal was great, too!

       Barb Schlichting

        Barb's Books

First Friends, who was yours?

 

 

                               First Friends

         Here I am with a friend from grade school. I won't tell you her name simply because I don't have permission, but she was my first friend. I believe that we  walked to school together, too.  My older brother walked me when I was in kindergarten and I remember our mother standing or should I say, hiding, inside of an old phone booth to watch us cross a busy street. She must've peeked out because I waved to her. At the end of the day, I asked why she was in the booth but I don't remember the answer. It most likely had something to do with 'mind your own business'. My mother always got straight to the point but my dad was little gentler when it came to that sort of thing.

        My friend also recalled, as we grew older,  my baby brother stood near the fence and called out my name when we returned home. 

        Our fifty-five high school reunion just happened three weeks ago. Time has flown by faster than a speeding bullet, and I'm not sure that I like it or am prepared for it. Are you prepared for the future? 

         I might've went to the library with my friend, but don't remember. I read an awful lot as a kid and still do. I have a long list of favorite books and wouldn't know where to begin to name my favorite. Since I began to write about the first ladies with a dash of history and a dash of a little fun, I've since learned that when Thomas Jefferson sold his books to Congress, they became beginning of the Library of Congress. Did you know that?

        Did you know that Jefferson realized that for our country to survive, the populace must be educated and not just the wealthy? He began by building small schools and hired teachers, paying out of his pocket, also. That's how our educational system began. Read his biography. Thomas Jefferson. Visit Monticello. It's fascinating.

        Who was your first friend?

    Barb Schlichting

Barb's Books

New ending to an old classic. Little Women

 

          New extended ending to a favorite novel, Little Women.

                                                                               Little Women extended version

     Did you ever wonder what would've happened if Jo March hadn't been able to catch up to her beloved Professor Baer? I always have so I went ahead and rewrote the ending.

      I reread the beloved book since it's right on the bookshelf. It's an older copy from when I was young, but we won't get into how young I was at the time of the first read. Now, I'm seventy-two and still absolutely in love with the book.

       About ten years ago, my husband and I traveled out to Boston and one of the first places we visited was The Orchard House. It's just as grand as suspected. Louisa Mae Alcott's writing desk was right where it was left. The dolls were lined up on the beds. The furniture was the same and I pictured the girls piling on them for the evening and curling up with a blanket. A few of Amy's pictures are displayed. 

     We walked the grounds and left for a nearby site to tour. I pictured the walkway where Jo hurried to her Professor. At that moment, it occurred to me that Jo had many more adventures to explore and journey's to conquer. It was a wonderful experience. 

     Finally, a time to rewrite the ending. My imagination brought me to the moment when Jo was told that someone left the manuscript at her sister Meg's house. She flew over there as if on angel's wings, only to rush to meet up with her beloved, but he'd already escaped from her clasp. Her heart was broken but did it stop her from publication or promoting her book? You'll have to read the new ending and don't forget to leave a review!

      Thank you!  Barb Schlichting

Little Women extended version.      website

BIRDS

Where do your ideas come from?

Have you ever owned a bird?  When I was growing up, we had a green parakeet.  My brother and I were supposed to keep the cage clean but, of course, we did a lousy job of it.  My mother wasn’t too happy with us and the bird would make noise all day which drove her crazy. The bird had to go.  She found another home for it and one day after school, Jim and I had a job to do. We had to place the bird in a box and walk it to it’s new home.  They had a cage so that wasn’t a worry.  Here I am thinking about the bird and I don’t remember it’s name.  Shame on me.
      The bird is one of the many parakeets in this book.     

Please leave a comment below and check out my website.

                                    The Forger                 Barb's Books

Ideas and where do they come from?

    When I first taught special education in McIntosh, MN, I carpooled with two other people. In the morning, driving northwest on highway 2, we never saw the peacocks. As we drove home at the end of the school day, peacocks strut their stuff at the edge of the long driveway. The landowners were farmers. I always thought it a bit odd to see peacocks in basically the middle of nowhere, but didn't think much of it.

    As a child, we had a green parakeet for a short time. It didn't take my mom long before it drove her nuts and my brother and I had to find another home for it. Someone gave my mom a bird just like it many years later but she didn't keep it long.

    Growing up, my parents took us fishing. We lived in Minneapolis so it was a treat to go north to Red Lake to fish. We also had relatives who lived on lakes. Dad loved fishing and so did Mom. I always did and so have my brothers and now my children and grandchildren.

    One day it hit me--why not write a book that will include fishing, writing and birds? Seriously, why not?

     My first book in the series, THE FORGER.  An Experienced Goods Detective Squad Mystery.  I'm sure that you'll love it and if you do, please leave a review.  

                                     Barb's Books.                         THE FORGER

Secondary Characters

The secondary characters need also to feel emotions and are a vital part of your story or novel.  I had trouble with that.  I had trouble following my seconds and writing back stories about them.  I had few integral scenes in my books.  One of my editors made me add ‘fun’ times for my characters.  I had them staying at home and watching I Love Lucy reruns, which is ridiculous for young folks.  She challenged me to be more and do more so I added ice hockey tournaments since it was winter.  In another White House Dollhouse book, I began with National Park Exposition in St. Paul. CLUED to DEATH has many secondary characters.  Do your books?  Each character has a personality. Do you like or dislike them? Here’s a challenge for you—write about your most important secondary character or else try this example:  1) Choose a city—New York City for an example. 2) a taxi driver or transit worker and a teacher or a salesman. 3) a disagreement between two. 
        Set your timer for fifteen minutes and write.  Let’s see what happens and who comes out on top!  After, take a count of your five senses and emotions. Angry? Mad? Happy?

       Let me know with a comment and I’ll get back to you.  Take care and happy writing!

    Barb

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