Random Thoughts: Marvel Movies and My Life

When Boy 1 was two years old we watched Iron Man on DVD. He was totally entranced with the movie. At the scene where Tony comes out of the cave with the flame throwers, he shouted at the men on the tv to run. The next time we went to the store he wanted an Iron Man action figure. He even slept with it for quite a while.

Boy 1 and the beloved Iron Man.

Boy 1 as Tony Stark. Not sure what the cape was for, other than capes are cool.

Starting at that moment in 2007, Marvel became the background of my family's life. I watched my boys grow up as we watched Marvel movies together. Some of the fondest memories are the discussions we had in the car going to or leaving the movie theatre. I can count Christmases based on what Marvel toys they got. Thor and Loki's love/hate relationship is similar to my boys' relationship. They're kind of at a Thor 3 relationship, currently. It's nice to see them supporting each other more.

 

Boy 2 in his Thor regalia. My mom made him the cape for his birthday!

He wore the cape and helmet all the time for a while.

Boy 1 is now 13 years old, Boy 2 is twelve and Iron Man is no more. Endgame ended Marvel's first phase right when my kids' childhood ended. They are no longer shorter than me, chubby cheeked, bright eyed and wanting to play with Iron Man and Thor toys. They're struggling to find their balance between being children and being adults, finding out what kind of people they're going to be.

Perhaps that's why I didn't like Endgame very much. There's a parallel between the end of the Avengers as we know it and the end of my role as the parent of young children. I'm entering undiscovered parenting country.

I was grateful to have Spiderman: Far From Home to help demonstrate how to live in a world without Tony Stark. Because, as is noted in the movie, life does continue on after loss. My kids are going to continue to grow up (God willing) and become men and move away to have their adult lives. Hopefully they will be good and kind people. I'm hoping they will have internalized some of those self-sacrifice, humility, strength, standing up for good against evil lessons found in the Marvel movies.

Thank you , Marvel, for the good times and the good memories.

I love you 3000.

Writing Ruminations: How Do I Cozy?

Many years ago--about 10, to be precise--I decided to try my hand at writing fiction. I cut my teeth on short stories while I learned about the three act structure, hook lines, characterization, sub-plots and sub-text. I read craft books, attended writing conferences, perused writing magazines and even took some online courses. I put my writing in front of anyone who might read and offer critique. 

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Finally, Voila! I had written a novel. And then I even wrote a second one. Granted that one took a whole lot longer to finish, but that's another post.

I started thinking about my next novel and realized that I wanted to try something a little different. It was time to try...a cozy mystery.

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I turn to all the experience and education I'd gathered over the last ten years. I try to organize myself. I try to characterize. I try to plot. I try to figure out exactly what the heck I'm supposed to put into a cozy mystery. I check blogs. I check books. I create spreadsheets. And still...

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It feels like I'm starting over at the beginning all over again. Same sense of not having a clue and not really knowing where to go to get the answers I need. My spreadsheet has helped, but even though I've been able to meet my goals for the basics (character development, setting development, etc...), when I get ready to start plotting, I feel a little lost.

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Luckily, I follow several people on twitter, including Elizabeth Spann Craig and Kellye Garrett.

Elizabeth Spann Craig has a great blog series about the basics of writing cozy mysteries. It's helped me to see the general process and she has a ton of links to other resources on the internet.

Just last week on Twitter Kellye Garrett shared a book she used to write her award winning Detective by Day mysteries. It's called Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel by Hallie Ephron. I'd actually seen it a couple of weeks ago at the Barnes and Noble in Lincoln, but didn't purchase it at that time because I wasn't sure it would be helpful. After Kellye Garrett's recommendation, I made sure to stop by the Barnes and Noble this past weekend when we were in Lincoln picking out a cello for Boy 1 and grab the only copy.

So far it has been enjoyable to read and the exercises at the end of the chapters are practical, definitely doable and helpful for clarifying what I need to be doing to plan the novel before actually writing it. Since I'm a plantser, this very much appeals to me.

I plan to keep to my spreadsheet goals, but use the book to help me fill out the plotting part, most especially. I may switch to completing chapters by a deadline, but haven't really gotten deep into it to decide.

What do you do when you need guidance? Do you have a trusted person who is your go-to? Or do you prefer to utilize books and blog posts?

**Quick note: I STILL can't access my comments. I don't know what to do, but I wanted to say thanks to Joe and Cindy for the nice comments!!

Things You Might See While Playing Pokemon Go - July Edition

Was your July satisfying and awesome?

I have to admit my July was rather normal. I took three days off work for vacation and then Boys 1 and 2 started de-tasseling corn, so we couldn't go on any significant trips! They had one day off while I was off work as well, so we went to Eugene T. Mahoney State Park for the day and enjoyed the treetop ropes course and the paddle boats. I think we all imagined being Jedi as we were hopping from platform to platform and then zip lining to the ground.

That's me in the photo, with Boy 2 behind me. Please forgive my hair, but it kept raining off and on. We did play a little Pokemon Go at the park, too. 

Found a Pikachu on the Fourth of July!

Proof I've been working on Growing Old is Murder! This was taken at the library, which has a Pokestop right outside the window on the left. That's my husband reading across from me, and gathering as many pokeballs as he can!

The next two pictures were taken at the airport. It is a tiny airport, but there's a long drive that has a Pokestop by the airplane. I take Revan, our Labrahound, on walks there in the morning and harvest Pokeballs and Pokemon.

I just really like this tree. There are several in town, and get big white flowers on them. Does anyone know what they are? I haven't a clue!

Below is but one section of a mural that spans several buildings near our downtown area. I'll share more each month. I chose this section for this month because it's interactive with the building. I love how the people are painting the building and the man is holding the window like a picture frame.

The next two pictures are taken in one of the many parks in town. The amount of trees and vegetation here (as opposed to Wyoming) is soothing to my soul. I'm starting to think I was either a bird or a tree in a past life. If I'm feeling upset or stressed, just get me outside and I can breathe again.

Yes, I even played Pokemon Go while donating blood. (There was a Pokestop at the church where the blood drive was held.) I included the picture as a reminder that blood donation doesn't take much time and  truly saves lives. Consider getting in touch with the American Red Cross in your area to find out where you can donate. If you happen to be overseas, I have no idea how that works for you, but I still encourage you to donate today!

Last but not least is Revan. Part of why I got so into Pokemon Go is due to needing to walk him, and he often is in the back seat while we drive to the college or a park to make the rounds to the different Pokestops.

When I saw the picture of him on the shelter website I knew he was our dog. It's amazing how well he has fit into our family and how much richer our lives have been since he's become a Schiffbauer. If you're thinking about getting a new pet, I encourage you to peruse your local animal shelter. Speaking from experience, there are some fine animals there, just waiting for you.

All righty! May you all have a great week and I'll see you in August!