My Recent Comments

Thanks, everyone for welcoming me here! I think it's official about the Alzheimer's though. Yes, Amy, I do remember your book. It's even in my TBR pile, I admit with a red face! However, it just moved up to next in line. I'll have to look for the other medical-themed books too. Thanks for the tips, everyone.

Of course, I remember you, Rae. How are you doing? I'm glad you're here too. Hi to you too, Holly. Congrats on the recent sales!

Kay, our hurricane plan came from reading the disaster pamplets the kids would bring home from school, but what really made us focus on it and actually do something was a fiasco hurricane evacuation that happened some years ago when we still lived in South Carolina. It was an absolute disaster. The governor at the time didn't put contraflow into effect because it was new then. If anyone's not familiar with that, it's when both lanes of the freeway are used to go in one direction. Because it wasn't used in SC that time, people were stalled in traffic for 10-12 hours. If the hurricane hadn't veered off to North Carolina, people would have been killed. It cost that governor the election the next year. We were lucky that we lived inland then, so we weren't involved. Nowadays, contraflow is the norm. It really speeds up the evacuation process.

LInda, I'm jealous of your 21 ft. We are at 9 ft. Fortunately, our house is at the high point of our subdivision. We were in an island of dryness when Rita made the nearby river flood through the riverfront houses and condos. What a mess! Made us kind of glad we were too poor to live on the water.

Well, I definitely had better get something done.

Shannon

Hi Everyone,

I don't think anyone here knows me except Holly from the old EL thread. I had to take a moment and answer Kay's questions about when to evacuate for a hurricane. As a Hurricane Katrina survivor, my family and have been through the drill of whether to evacuate or not several times before Katrina actually hit.

The best thing to do long before the weatherman draws his storm line in your direction is to make a plan. Choose two target evacuation cities, one an hour or two inland for a smaller storm or a sideswipe and another further inland for the direct hit or a Category 3-4 storm. Go online and check out the available hotels in the cities especially the ones that you might have hotel points for. Pick two or three possibilities in both cities, and keep their information in your storm folder, the folder you'll grab and take with you. If the storm comes your way, don't hesitate too long to make reservations. Most hotels are fine with a 24-hour cancellation if the storm heads somewhere else You DON'T want to have to sleep in your car--not fun, not safe!

The next two REALLY important things are to ALWAYS have several hundred dollars in cash available and to keep your gas tank full. We saw some sad people stuck on the side of the road out of gas and not yet out of harm's way. We couldn't stop. We had two adults, three children and all our suitcases, laptop computers, school backpacks and important papers box with us in a small SUV. Be forewarned. Most hotels don't allow pets. That was a real problem for some people.

As for the cash, you will need it. We live in a plastic world, but some gas stations on the way out stopped accepting credit cards. No cash-no gas! Not good.

Finally, be prepared for surprises. The good surprise is when the storm suddenly heads back into the Gulf or the Atlantic. The bad surprise is when you discover that not only will it hit your home but that it's path will go over your evacuation city before its strength is gone. We had to abandon Jackson, MS and go to Memphis the first night. Even there, we didn't feel safe and decided to go the next day to Little Rock because the Katrina remnant was still a strong storm heading for Memphis.

I don't want to sound too gloom and doom, but I can't stress preparedness enough. The outcome is out of your hands, but you can get through anything if you've planned ahead and stay calm. We were very fortunate to have fairly minor wind damage to our shingles with just one leak in our living room. Yet, so many of our friends and neighbors had their homes and treasured mementos destroyed. We helped out whenever we could, but it's still hard not to have survivor guilt.

Before anyone asks, yes, I've started a hurricane book. I'd changed things around, but when I hit the emotional part after the storm, I wasn't ready yet. I don't have quite enough distance yet. It got really hard after Chapt. 3. So, I decided to write another book for Super, hope for a calm season and try it again around October. I'm still trying to figure out how to fix the EL that Paula rejected and suggested I rewrite just before the lines merged. It's hard when so much of the book is backstory brought to life. My now story is about the size of a novella!

Okay, finally, before I close and actually do something like write today, I have a question. I've read a fair amount of Supers over the years, but I don't remember any offhand that had medical personnel as main characters. Do I have early Alzheimers? I've started my "book for the hurricane season," and the main characters are both doctors. I promise it's not a Medical, though I like them and read them when I have time. It's set in the inner city of Chicago, and the story is a lot bigger than just doctors seeing patients and discussing medical procedures. There's a suspense plot, more supporting characters etc. I would have asked Wanda about it, but I was a day late to the Super discussion. It was very helpful anyway.

Well, I hope that I addressed some of your concerns, Kay. I'd be happy to give you any other tips I can think of.

Happy Writing,

Shannon

Terri,

My comment about genealogy was definitely tongue-in-cheek. For me, it's right up there with writing in the category of Life's Passions/Borderline Obsessions. I think it's wonderful that you want to write a book about your family. I see this novel I'm working on now as a tribute to my husband's "cousins" because they allowed me a view into their world. Of course, the only things similar in the book are the basic attitudes, settings and historical background.

Dee, I'm glad you didn't mind me getting up on my soapbox. I'm embarrassed to say I remembered after I had posted that most people call the northern part of South Carolina, the Upstate, rather than the Up Country. It's a small difference, but research is important. It should be right even if one's memory sputters more often than one might wish!

Shannon, who definitely remembers that she needs to get to work!

Dee,

I can answer your question if you don't mind another lecture that uses South Carolina as an example. The state is divided into three distinct parts physically and culturally: The Low Country, The Midlands and the Up Country. The funny things is that the three accents follow the same course. The Low Country accent is quite varied, but it mostly comes from down in the throat. The Midland accent can be quite diverse because this is the most cosmopolitan area, but it's neither low-pitched nor nasal. However, the Up Country accent is quite nasal. If anyone from the States remembers the country singer, Aaron Tippin, he sings with quite a nasal twang despite his deep voice. He's from Traveler's Rest, SC in the Up Country.

There is a difference in the manner of speaking throughout the state too, but that's because of the differences in origin. The Low Country people are mostly of English stock. The Midlands is mixed because of migration there for jobs, etc. However, the Up Country has quite a bit of people of Scots-Irish descent. John C. Calhoun, one of the early firebrands for the Southern cause, was from the Up Country.

It's the Scots-Irish accent and vocabulary that is found among the mountain people all through the Appalachians. I remember reading once that their grammar and vocabulary matched 17-18th century English quite closely. That's why it's sad that they've been called hillbillies and portrayed with so many negative stereotypes. They've merely been continuing their cultural traditions. I'm equally proud of my Scots-Irish and English ancestors, although both families immigrated later on and joined wagon trains to settle in the West instead of the South.

Okay, Lecture #2 is over. I hope I've answered your question, Dee. Now, I need to rescue my plot out of the corner I've discovered that I had painted it into yesterday.

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Shannon

Words fascinate me, so this thread was impossible to resist.  I've read the entire thing this morning instead of the "quick peek" I promised myself I would do before getting to work.  In reference to a Chesterfield, I had two college roommates from Canada, one from Alberta and the other from Toronto.  Both of them said Chesterfield.  I thought it a great term because Chesterfield somehow made our worn, saggy couch seem more genteel when we had guests over.

 Also, my husband has an uncommon English surname.  There aren't many of us, even in the US.  The village in Derby with the same name has no one with our name living there now.  Some years ago, we moved to South Carolina.  We soon discovered people could actually spell our name, for once, because one of the old families from Charleston bore our surname.  We met some of them who lived near Columbia, the state capital.

They were very kind to us despite the fact we were poor relations and Yankees to boot!  The amazing thing was to listen to them speak.  The gentleman we knew best was about fifty at the time.  He  had a perfect Charleston accent, very well bred with just a slight drawl, definitely not like Foghorn Leghorn, the cartoon rooster.

I've spent time in  Britain, and I was amazed at how British his word choices and sentence structure were.  Yet, he'd never been to England.  Later, we visited their old family plantation in the middle of the state.  It's now a thriving commercial nursery.

There, we met the uncle of our friend.  He was almost eighty at the time.  His accent was so Queen's English that my husband asked him if he had spent time or gone to school in Britain.  He said no.  The farthest he had gone in his entire life was to Columbia, the state capital, to go to the University of South Carolina.  Other than that, he had lived his entire life on the plantation.

Since genealogy is one of my hobbies (AKA a good excuse not to write), I looked up their family tree.  Their English ancestor arrived in South Carolina in 1707.  After that, they intermarried with the descendants of other English landowners and a French Huguenot or two.

I was so amazed at how their ancestral English vocabulary and accent had been preserved basically intact for three hundred years in a "foreign" country.

Anyway, that's my story, and, yes, I've written several chapters of a book that might use some of my "research" in it. 

Shannon 

Thank you, Donna, Jennie, Ila and MIchelle for your advice!  I did take time off yesterday, so I hope I will have a fresh perspectrive today as I examine all the different possibilities.  As for a critique partner, I have a pubbed author friend who's always willing to read my submissions.  She's one busy woman though, so I try to have things as perfect as possible before I send something to her.  I'm going to reread the last few chapters again today and hope my muse is more awake on a Monday morning than I am!

 Thanks again to all of you!

Shannon 

Hello Everyone,

 I just found the UK M&B Editors Thread!  It's under the Write Stuff heading then the Q&A's.  I'm so glad it's back!  I asked the first question because I'm frustrated.  Something's wrong with the buildup to my dark moment, and I can't figure out what it is.  If anyone has some tips, please let us all know!

Isn't it wonderful how responsive everyone at eharlequin is?  Thank you, Rae, and anyone else who helped bring back one of our favorite threads!  It's now on my Favorites list, or should I say Favourites?

 Shannon

I'm so glad that this thread is here!  I can't tell you how many times in the last couple of years that I have logged onto it and found the answer to a question that I had myself. The editors and the pubbed authors who dropped by to respond were always helpful!

Here's an abstract question to start things out.  I have a gut feeling that something in the build-up to the dark moment of my Romance is not working.  I've looked at all the usual suspects:  plot, characterization, etc., but I can't pinpoint it so far.  Editors or pubbed authors, what do you do when you feel something is wrong with a manuscript but can't quite decide what it is?  How do you figure it out?  I've reread it several times already.  Should I take a walk?  Clean my house?  Reread the seventh Harry Potter?

Any advice would be welcome!

Shannon 

I've come out of major lurkdom because I wanted to see if I had managed to get everything right. It's taken an afternoon and a morning to upload and write everything. Finding a decent photo was the biggest challenge!

Most of you won't remember me because I haven't posted in a couple of years. Here's a quick bio. I've been writing for a while and have won some RWA chapter contests. My last book, an Everlasting Love, was rejected back in Sept. by the senior editor. She also broke the news that the line was merging, and maybe, I could change my book to a regular format without the flashbacks and rewrite it for another line.

I thought long and hard about it and decided now was the time to go back to writing what I love to read every month. That would be you ladies and your books! I have a partial in Richmond that has been there about eight weeks. I'm not too impatient because my last few chapters need more help. Chapters 8 & 9 are always so hard to get right.

I'm hoping this book will be the one. Who knows? I do have a funny story about mailing the partial though. I was at the post office, and the nice clerk told me that the regular air mail rate was half the price of Global Priority and would arrive at the same time. I took off the Priority outer envelope, but my bubble wrap envelope inside had been folded down to make the package snug. The adhesive wasn't very sticky any more.

The clerk said he had an padded envelope I could have because a lady had left it behind a week earlier. When I saw it, I knew why. It was entirely covered in daisies of brilliant fuschia and yellow. I stared at it horrified and pictured the M&B editors wondering about the "flowery prose" inside. I mumbled something about needing a more professional envelope.

Still anxious to please, the clerk said not to worry. My original envelope would do, though it didn't stick well. The clerk found some gray packing tape in the exact shade of duct tape. I was absolutely speechless as he wound it around both sides and ends. The largest uncovered spots were the address and postage labels. He was so proud of his work that all I could do was thank him faintly and leave. My only hope is that the UK editors aren't aware of all the jokes common in the US about nerds and their overuse of duct tape. At least, my manuscript should stand out in the stacks!

Happy Writing, (I need to do some. I read Liz's sheikh book yesterday instead. Loved it!)

By the way, has the Ask the M&B Editors thread gone away? I know people didn't post much, but it was very helpful.

Shannon