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Wednesday Word: Josephina's Guide To Magic For Kids (Part Three)

10/31/2018

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Read Part One Here and Part Two Here!

Picture
      As Raven and Bonnie’s log broke the surface of the water, it reformed into a boat. Raven gratefully drank in the air. She was sure that without Bonnie by her side, she would have drowned.
      The neighborhood they were approaching was quiet. No shadows or human life in sight. Bonnie and Raven left the water, and quietly crept down the streets. They didn’t speak. They tried to even keep their footsteps soft. Silence felt like safety. Maybe the shadows hadn’t discovered this odd, ghost-town neighborhood just yet…
      Loud music blasted from Raven’s pocket, shattering the silence. She quickly pulled out a phone, and on the screen, the only option was to answer. She hit the button just to silence it. “Hello?” she said.
      “Eight. One. Two,” said an unfamiliar voice.
      “What? Who is this?”
      “Eight. One. Two.”
      “I don’t understand.”
      “Run.”
    “Raven,” Bonnie said, tapping her shoulder. Shadows were emerging from the water behind them. Their eyes were glowing red.
      “Run!” Raven said, and they took off down the street, deeper into the quiet neighborhood. “Does eight one two mean anything to you?” Raven asked Bonnie.
      “No!” she said. “Unless…” she looked around at the houses. Eight zero nine. Eight one zero. Eight one one. “It’s a house number, I think! Quick, that should be the one!”
      A poorly laid stepping stone path led up to a little blue house, and painted on the door were the numbers 812.
      “Can we trust some phone voice!”
      “Do we have a choice?” Bonnie was already at the door, but it was locked. Raven was a step ahead, and hoisted up one of the stones from the path. She thrust it with all her might through the window, and the two clambered inside.
      Raven held a finger to her lips as the whoosing of shadows came nearer. “We can’t stay here!” Bonnie mouthed. She was right. They could stay down, but with the window smashed, they were exposed. “Follow me,” Raven mouthed back, and started crawling deeper into the house. Down a hallway, past an empty kitchen, and finally, to the back door.
      The yard was empty of shadows, and in it was a small, abandoned shack.


      Josephina didn’t dare look outside. Someone was shaking the knob of the shack, and she thought she heard whispers, but it could have been her imagination.
      “Josephina?”
      “Sshh! Stay put, Benny!”
      “I think we should open the door.”
      “What?”
      “I just have a feeling. I think it’s okay. Plus, if this is all a dream, we’re not in any real danger, right?”
      Voices sounded outside the door. Whoever was outside knew there were people within.
      “No use hiding anymore,” Josephina muttered. Despite how odd everything was around her, she often forgot it all might be just a dream. It felt like dreaming vividly of strange enough things to slip in and out of lucidity multiple times throughout the night. “It’s just a dream,” she whispered to herself, and opened the door.
      Two desperate, human faces stared back at her. Girls—young women, in their late teens or early twenties. One of them dressed in dark enough colors to blend in with the shadows, and the other colorful and bright. Josephina saw the same look of relief she felt reflected on both their faces.
      “In!” she whispered. “Quick! Close the door!” Once the girls were inside, Josephina did the same ritual again over the door, covering it while muttering spells of security to herself. When she was finished, she turned and faced the two new arrivals. Benny hurried to greet them too.
      “Well! I’m certainly happy to see another pair of humans, although I’m sorry you’re stuck in the same… wherever we are. My name is Josephina, and this young man is Benny.”
      “I’m Raven,” said the dark-haired girl.
      “I’m Bonnie,” said the other.
      “Well. Please come in and make yourselves as comfortable as you can. I’ll make us all some tea, and we can see what we can sort out among the four of us.”
      Josephina set about to manifesting and making tea for the four of them. Behind one closed door, she also pictured a blank book, and a pen. She and Benny had several strange experiences in common, and she wondered if Raven or Bonnie were the same as well. If she could compile everything they knew, maybe they’d have a better chance of figuring a way out.
      Bonnie told her story first. She started having strange experiences as a teen. “No one really worried about it, though, because I never got in trouble. They’d just explain things away. Like, I was really impatient one summer for my mom’s garden to grow, and suddenly things were producing long before they were supposed to. They just thought it was a good season, but I’d sit outside willing things to happen faster, and sometimes I could actually see things growing.”
      Next, Josephina and Benny each told another chapter from their lives. Josephina told how sometimes when she made dinner in a hurry, things in the kitchen seemed to move about of their own accord. Benny told another story about getting in trouble at school.
      “One time a dog found me at recess, this little black pug named Bagel. She told me that was her name, and that she was lost. I promised her I’d get her home. Then when this mean kid tried to bully me, she jumped up and bit him. I mean, I shouldn’t have laughed, but it was really funny. Then I got in trouble for telling my dog to attack him, even though I didn’t tell her to do anything, and she wasn’t even mine. But they didn’t believe me, and I’m not even supposed to have a dog at school. I did get her home afterward. She hid out and waited for me. No one believed she could talk to me, though. I’ve never talked to any other animals. I thought she was the special one, not me…”
      Josephina began writing in her blank book as the others told their stories. She wrote down their similar backstories, and the few but notable differences between them. There had to be a reason that the four of them were here, and not some other set of people. How strange, that Raven and Bonnie were so close in age, yet Josephina was so much older, and Benny so young. Why such drastic age differences? Why were there three women and only one boy?
      When it came to be Raven’s turn to tell her story, she didn’t go into as much detail. She mentioned her parents suspected she was a witch, and that she occasionally had strange things happen to her too, but then asked more questions to the others.
      “When did you start noticing weird things, Bonnie?”
      “High school. I was sixteen, I think.”
      Josephina took note. “I was around the same age, I think. Perhaps a little older. What about you, Raven?”
      “A little younger for me, but definitely not before puberty. I was maybe thirteen when I really started to notice. That’s weird. Benny, you must be really special.”
      “That is weird,” he whispered.
      “What are you writing, Josephina?” Raven asked.
      “I’m trying to gather everything we know, so we can figure out what’s tying us all together. Why the four of us are here. What do you all remember about how you arrived?”
      They took turns telling how they all woke up in this strange dimension. How they didn’t remember how or when they arrived, how they ran from shadows and sought safety. And strangest of all, how they all discovered the rules of reality seemed bent here. Things seemed to operate as though they were dreaming.
      Josephina wrote down all the rules they’d discovered. The sources of help they seemed to receive from the outside. Bonnie and Raven’s “dream rules” of flying and breathing underwater, and how she and Benny could manifest anything they desired.
      “If we learn enough about how to alter this world, maybe it wouldn’t be a nightmare anymore. We could even make it beautiful,” Raven said.
      “It’s all like magic,” Benny said. “Maybe if Mo—I mean, if Josephina writes enough stuff, it’ll be like a how-to guide for doing magic!”
      “Benny,” Josephina smiled. “That’s exactly what it’ll be.” She closed the book to look at the cover. Sure enough, the words “Josephina’s Guide to Magic” had appeared on the front. “Hm… That’s not quite right though, is it? This guide is for all of us, especially you younger folks. Benny, if your magical abilities are the strongest, it ought to be yours before anyone else’s.”
      “I don’t think I’m the strongest,” Benny blushed. “Just the earliest.”
      “Well, that has to count for something.” Josephina opened the book again, closed her eyes and took a deep breath in and out. She opened her eyes, and closed the book again to the front cover. And there, under the words “Josephina’s Guide to Magic,” was written in parenthesis, “for kids!”

To Be Continued...
Read Part Four Here

Mansion's Twins
Mansion's Family
Dawn's Acapella
Acapella Angels
Stories of the Early Days
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Tuesday Tips: How Many Rounds of Editing Does Your Book Need?

10/30/2018

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People often ask how many rounds of editing a book should go through. I’ve honestly lost count of how many times I’ve read over my story, but twelve has always been a magic number in my books. So, here’s a starting guide for your rounds of editing, though I’d honestly recommend you lose count too.
 
  1. Does the story make sense? Did you take care of any plot holes? Is everyone acting according to what’s supposed to be driving them?
  2. Remove unnecessary scenes.
  3. Repeat step one, because now that you’ve cut some stuff, you might have plot holes again.
  4. Does it flow well? Tidy up your transitions, improve those blocks of writing you wrote just to get them down, tune up your writing style.
  5. Technical editing: spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure/flow, etc.
  6. Read it out loud from your computer.
  7. Read it silently from your computer.
  8. Get yourself a printed proof copy and read that out loud.
  9. Now read that one silently.
  10. Also check that printed proof for formatting issues, and make sure all your chapter headings line up with where the table of contents say they do.
  11. Put it away for a while, then do another round with fresh eyes.
  12. Now you’re probably ready to let someone else read it, giving you a new perspective that will probably draw attention to issues you had no idea existed, and potentially sending you back to step one.
Mansion's Twins
Mansion's Family
Acapella Angels
Dawn's Acapella
Stories of the Early Days
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Monday Music: Bill Wurtz - and the day goes on

10/29/2018

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If you want to know what artistic genius is, watch some Bill Wurtz videos. I thought this one would be the perfect way to start your day, and your week. Happy Monday!
Mansion's Twins
Mansion's Family
Dawn's Acapella
Acapella Angels
Stories of the Early Days
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Josephina's Guide to Magic for Kids: Part Two

10/24/2018

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Read part one here!

Picture
       After sharing their tips for blending in, Raven and Bonnie left their safe hiding spot, and walked out into the dark street. They kept a slow, steady pace, and tried their best to move in unison.
       “How will we even know where to start looking for them?” Raven whispered. “How big is this place, anyway?”
    “Doesn’t matter, there are always signs,” Bonnie whispered back. “Just focus your intention on finding the mom and the kid, and we will. This place is super weird. It’ll work, you’ll see.”
       “Bonnie? I think people are starting to look at us.”
       “Just looking is fine. Ignore it. If we run, they’ll chase.”
       “Can we ask them why? What do they want?”
       “I better not say. Let’s take the next left, there’s a bunch of good hiding spots, alleyways and stuff. Once we’re out of sight, we’ll run.”
       Raven followed her lead, aware all the while of the eyes on them, and a few shadowy figures following at a distance, as though they weren’t sure yet if they wanted a chase. Once they’d turned enough corners, Bonnie whispered, “Run!” And they took off as quietly as they could.
       Quiet didn’t matter. They’d been seen, and now all they could do was run. They raced down a dark narrow street, nearly colliding into a frightening figure, reaching out for them. Bonnie pulled her down another alley, but there were more shadowy figures waiting for them at the end of it.
       “There’s always a sign!” Bonnie whisper-shouted to herself. “Show us, please!”
       But Raven could see no sign guiding them to safety, no escape from the dark nightmare labyrinth. It had to be a nightmare. Maybe if they died, they would just wake up. But Raven’s heart was pounding too hard inside her chest for her to believe any of this wasn’t real.
       Maybe it’s reality with the rules of dreams, she thought. “Bonnie. Wrap your arms around me and hold on tight. I’ve got a crazy idea.” She was happily surprised when Bonnie obeyed without question. But crazy ideas are always better than no idea at all.
       “If this is a dream, I can fly. I can fly us both away. I can fly!” She bent her knees, and sprang into the air.
       The ground fell away beneath her, and the shadowy figures stared upward at the two girls, one soaring, the other clinging on tightly. Their necks extended far back beyond what was natural, but they were stuck on the ground. Raven let out a whoop of delight, and Bonnie was laughing.
       “Yes!” Raven shouted. “We’re flying! Woooohooo!!”
       Then Bonnie’s laughter stopped.  “Um, Raven? I don’t think we’re out of the woods just yet.”
       Helicopters. Several loud, black helicopters were chasing them. Not once had Raven seen or heard one in this strange place. Yet now here they were.
       “Head for the lake!” Bonnie shouted. “If dream rules work here, maybe we can breathe underwater!”
       “Maybe? Can you fly?”
       “No…”
       “What do they want from us? We didn’t do anything wrong, did we? Now’s the time to tell me if you know, Bonnie, I couldn’t possibly get any more freaked out.”
       “They want our color! They want our light! Creepy lady told me! They want to take our energy and turn us soulless!”
       Well, I was wrong. “Water it is!” Raven shouted, and flew as fast as she could toward the dark water.
       “Believe in dream rules!” Bonnie reminded her. “Now drop!”
       Raven took a deep breath, held tightly to Bonnie, and let herself fall from the sky. Even if Bonnie’s “dream rules” failed, drowning couldn’t be worse than loosing all her light and joy, and turning into a soulless shadow. Funny what her parents would say about that…
       The water hit them, and they went down, down, down into the depths. “Dream rules!” Bonnie somehow said, but Raven still held her breath, and wouldn’t open her eyes. “Raven, it’s okay. Look at me!”
       Cautiously, Raven opened one eye, and then the other. A protective bubble encased them both. She let out her breath, and tried to take in another. Easy. “How are you doing this?”
       “Same way you can fly, I guess. Let’s get to shore. Maybe something will give us a sign?” She looked around. “Hm… Ah-hah! There’s a fish pulling a log!”
       “Wait, what? How is that… anything?”
      “Dream rules, remember?” Bonnie said cheerfully, and pulled Raven toward the log. They sat down on it. “Take us to a safer shore, fishy!” Bonnie said, and they were away.
       “Okay, but how do we trust the fish?”
       “I’m not sure it is the fish. Maybe it’s me? Maybe this is how we’re supposed to survive here! We’ve got abilities! If we can shape our surroundings…”
       “We could turn a nightmare into a paradise!” Raven said.
       “Too bad there’s still no way home, though.” Bonnie said.
      “Yeah… Too bad.” But if they really could transform this world, Raven wondered if she would even want to return home after all.


      Josephina let Benny lead her to a shack in the backyard of one of the houses. “I’ve been hiding here,” he said. “Those things don’t notice it as much, ‘cause it’s not one of the regular houses, I think.”
      “Well, that’s all we can hope for. Thank you, Benny.”
      Inside was some old furniture, and thin blankets hung over the windows. Josephina pulled them down to completely cover any openings, muttering to herself all the while. She didn’t know why, but her words felt like a spell to conceal them. “This will hide us from view,” she whispered. “They won’t notice us, won’t hear a thing, either… Benny? Do you have anything else we can cover the windows with? More blankets?”
      “I don’t know, I’m afraid to open any closets,” he said.
      “I’ll help you look,” Josephina said. “It’s probably not the most reassuring thing, but I’d suspect if anything dangerous was hiding here, we’d already know it. Look at this closet door. There could be anything we need behind it…” Again, her voice lowered as she spoke, picturing what she needed. She didn’t exactly know why it felt like the right thing to do. “If we cover the windows well enough, it’ll be dark in here, so hopefully we can find lights of some kind, too…”
      She opened the door. And there in the closet was a stack of folded up blankets, as well as candles and flashlights. “Well!” she said, “I didn’t expect that to work!”
      “What did you do?” Benny asked.
      “I was thinking about what we needed. I’ve done that at home a few times, too. I know they say to visualize what you want and you’ll receive it, but I don’t think they mean it quite so directly. But it was hard not to imagine it, you know, just for fun. And then suddenly things started happening around me. At home, I mean, where they shouldn’t. I don’t know what this world is, but it’s so strange, the idea of magic doesn’t feel too far fetched here. But at home? Once I started making things like that happen, it was really scary. I tried to use the same techniques to make it stop, visualizing the next day before I went to sleep at night, and thinking about how normal it would be. I couldn’t make the strange things stop. And now we’re here, and they’re more real than ever… I’m sorry Benny, I don’t mean to worry you.”
      “No, it’s just… What kind of weird stuff happened to you? I… I kinda made weird stuff happen too.”
      “Let’s sit down, honey. I’ll get these curtains hung up real quick and we’ll talk this over.” Josephina hurried to cover the windows. She lit a few candles, and checked behind another door, wondering if the shack had any food stored. She wasn’t sure if she was hungry, or if she even needed to eat in this strange, dreamlike world. But it certainly couldn’t hurt, and she wanted to test out her magic again. “Maybe there’s a little mini fridge back here, and I can make some, I dunno, sandwiches? Something a little boy would like? Hm… Benny? What kind of food do you miss most?”
      “Mom’s beef stew!” he said. “I know we can’t get there here, it’s okay. I don’t know if I’m even hungry.”
      “I’m just going to try something. Actually, no, come here. I’d like you to try it.”
      Benny returned to her side.
      “I think there’s a mini fridge behind that door, but what’s in it is up to you. I want you to picture a little pot full of your mom’s beef stew, okay? I want you to really remember how it looks, smells, and tastes, and how it makes you feel when you eat it. Can you do that?”
      Benny had his eyes closed. “Mm-hm,” he said.
      “Ready?”
      “Yeah.”
      Josephina opened the door. “Yes!” A mini fridge and a microwave. “Do you want to do the honors?”
      She stepped out of the way and Benny opened the fridge. Inside was a small pot, and when Benny opened the lid, he gasped. “Look! I think I did it!”
      “You certainly did! Great job, Benny, I think we’re on to something here.”
      “Do you want some?”
      “No, thank you, you go ahead. I think I’ll summon up some of my daughter’s famous berry pie later. If this is all a dream, I’d say the calories don’t matter.”
      Benny heated up his stew, and he and Josephina took a seat on the old, dingy couch. “I’ve never done anything this good before with my… weird whatever this is,” Benny said. “It’s only ever got me in trouble. Like, this mean kid was picking on one of the special kids at recess. Making fun of how he talked. I told him he better stop. He was all ‘or what?’ He went to grab him, so I went to push him away. I know I’m not supposed to hit and I didn’t, I just touched him, but my hands got all hot. I burned him. I don’t even know how. Burned right threw his shirt. That’s how I got expelled from my last school. They said I must have brought a lighter and attacked this kid, even though they couldn’t find a lighter anywhere. They just didn’t have another explanation.”
      “Believe it or not, I’ve set fires like that too, Benny.”
      “Really? You believe me?”
    “Even I didn’t have weird experience myself, look where we are! I’d say anything is possible.”
      “So, what’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done?” Benny asked.
      “Well, that’s too hard to pick, but I remember a time… I’ve got two boys and one girl in the middle, you know. It’s not easy being the only girl in the family. One day her older brother cut her hair. It was a prank, he said, but she was really upset. I was tucking her into bed, trying to tell her it’d be okay. She didn’t know how she’d go to school the next day looking the way she did, so I was playing with her hair a little, telling her it looked alright, and we’d get up a little earlier the next morning to style it and figure something out. Her brother was in big trouble, I said, and I promised her we’d get her to the salon first thing on Saturday to fix it… And I kept playing with her hair and telling her that stuff until she went to sleep. Then I thought I was just imagining things, because it was getting late, but I swear to you Benny, her hair was growing. I kept touching it, and I was making it grow. She woke up the next morning looking like no silly big brother had ever touched her hair. We all just laughed the next morning, trying to explain by saying she’s growing fast, all of her, but I knew it was because of what I did, and I still don’t understand—” She fell silent, glancing around the shack.
      ​Benny opened his mouth to ask another question, but Josephina held up her hand to quiet him. “Something’s not right,” she whispered. “Stay right there, and don’t make a sound.” She stood up, and crept toward the door.

To Be Continued...

Mansion's Twins
Mansion's Family
Dawn's Acapella
Acapella Angels
Stories of the Early Days
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Tuesday Tips: Save Everything... EVERYTHING.

10/23/2018

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I remember when I was in elementary school, and the teacher told us not to erase our mistakes on our papers, but to put a nice, clean line through them, so they were crossed out but still readable. Because they might be good ideas for later. I thought… That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. My mistakes are embarrassing, and I’m getting rid of them, because you, Mr. teacher, just want to look at them and laugh.
 
Now, maybe there was some validity to what he said, but I could never bring myself to do it when other eyes were going to be reading my work. But in your own private space, this is insanely valuable. I recently re-discovered my old Crossworlds notebook, the very first one I ever kept. There’s plenty of stuff in there I didn’t use. 99.9% of that thrown out material shouldn't have ever existed, and I don’t know why I even thought about it in the first place. But some of it is actually pure gold, or at least, pure gold little seeds. I had an idea for a ghost town called “Shadowvill” that I decided had no business being in the story. Why? It had no purpose or explanation. But now that I know more about my world, well, suddenly this ghost town had a really creepy history. I’m glad I didn’t erase this idea or tear it up.
 
Even if you don’t find little gems when you look back, I’d highly recommend keeping your early drafts for nostalgic purposes. It’s so fun to look back on how far you’ve come, and remember early, super weird ideas that otherwise would have floated away into the void. And if you’re ever feeling stuck, it’s the perfect base to return to for new ideas.

Mansion's Twins
Mansion's Family
Dawn's Acapella
Acapella Angels
Stories of the Early Days
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Monday Music: Straight No Chaser--I've Been Everywhere

10/22/2018

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This was probably my favorite song from when I saw them in concert last summer. That bass is amazing!!
Mansion's Twins
Mansion's Family
Dawn's Acapella
Acapella Angels
Stories of the Early Days
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Wednesday Word: Fiction has to Make Sense

10/17/2018

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Okay, you will get more Josephina’s Guide next Wednesday. I just have thoughts in my head and have to get them out now.

I know I’ve written about this before, but it’s in my brain for some reason, and I wanted to go deeper. You know how we think (fictional) villains have to have some logical explanation for what they do?
 
Okay, imagine you’re watching (let’s say season 1 or 2) Once Upon a Time with your kids. You talk about how all those villains have these sad backstories that explain everything, like how Regina became the Evil Queen. Lots of fairytale remakes these days focus on the bad guy perspective, because it’s interesting to think how the villain from one view is the protagonist from another. So, you’re talking about that as the episode comes to a close, and you agree that of course Regina would turn bad after what she’s been through, it makes perfect sense.
 
Then when the credits roll, you flip over to the news. Now your kid’s asking you why those people did that terrible thing, and it makes no sense at all. You don’t get an answer. All you can do is shrug and say you don’t know. There are just bad people in the world. Things don’t work like they do in fiction. Because in real life we don’t get any explanation ever. And yet we expect one.
 
I learned about the “just world” hypothesis in school, forgot about it 100% after graduation, and refigured it out in writing terms after I graduated. Thought I’d had some brilliant revelation for a second, then realized… this idea already exists. But I don’t think it’s talked about enough, because even though on one hand, it’s optimistic to the point of being beautiful, it’s also insanely dangerous.
 
The just world hypothesis is basically everyone’s idea of karma. Good people will receive good things, and bad people will be punished. But this is where victim blaming comes from, because of course the world doesn’t work this way. Yet that idea—that you can be a kind-hearted, hard-working, smart and carful person, and still have horrible things happen to you by chance—is far too terrifying for a lot of people to comprehend. So, when we hear that something bad happened to a good person, we automatically think they were doing something wrong. Because if we follow a certain set of rules, nothing bad is supposed to happen to us. They must have broken one or more rule, and somehow deserved it, right?
 
Just think about it. It can be a wonderful perspective, because in a way, it answers the “are people generally good or evil?” question. We want to believe people are good. This is why we explain away villainous traits in our fictional characters, and a character who’s just bad for no reason is considered “unrealistic” most of the time. It’s a nice thought.
 
But also think about how tightly you hold this belief, and how you feel when it’s untrue. We’re told over and over as kids that “life’s not fair,” yet all of us have the same reaction: eye rolls at our annoying parents who throw this generic phrase at us every time we don’t get something we want. Which is 100% understandable, but it does make the thought too easy to shrug off.
 
No matter how careful we are, no matter how good we are, bad things can still happen to us. That doesn’t mean the world is descending into chaos. It just means things are a little less black and white, and a little more complicated than we hoped.
 
So next time you think “well, he/she should have been doing this that or the other, and this wouldn’t have happened,” consider if your fear of a chaotic, unjust world is moving your finger to point blame in the wrong direction.
​

Mansion's Twins
Mansion's Family
Dawn's Acapella
Acapella Angels
Stories of the Early Days
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Tuesday Tips: Quick Tips Review

10/16/2018

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Keep Your World Open: You probably don’t know everything about your world, and that’s a good thing. New ideas could be better than old ones, as long as this series in in progress. Once it ends, everything can take it’s final form, and set. Until then, nothing’s really tied down. That means new problems can arise, and that means I need new solutions. If you had all the answers, you’d already be finished.
 
Handling the Everyday Extremes: Some things in fiction walk the line of being too fun in the real world, or too unpleasant in the real world to enjoy reading about. Think about how these things make you feel as a reader, and write accordingly.
For pleasant things: If your characters have been through enough to deserve one of these too-perfect moments, the means they achieve it make sense, and the readers have been waiting for it long enough, go for it. Otherwise, it’s just not satisfying.
For unpleasant things: Make sure they don’t shadow the story. You don’t want too much reality interfering with your fiction, but it’s no good to delete everyday worries from character's lives altogether.
 
Training your inner critic: Critics are made, not born. Start training your inner critic by being more observant of traditionally published books and popular movies. Review them in your head after watching/reading them. Assess these things as though they were made by a first time, independent creator, because the standards we hold self-published vs traditionally published authors are wildly different.
 
Assuming the Intelligence of the Reader: Assuming the intelligence of the reader is like telling a joke into a void. It's very tempting to yell "did you get it?" minutes later. Remember that the reader is adding in a good deal of story themselves, and the golden rule here is always leave them wanting more.
 
No One is Looking at You: If you’re in a group situation where you all have to come up with an interesting fact/idea and share them, you’re probably too self conscious to even listen to what others are saying. “My idea is so dumb, everyone will judge it.” Right? But what if else is thinking the same thing, and no one heard a word anyone just said, because they were all too focused on themselves? How often does this happen? Maybe we should all be a little nicer to each other, and ourselves.
 
And always remember our Three Golden Rules: Keep on reading, keep on writing, and keep on keeping on!
Mansion's Twins
Mansion's Family
Dawn's Acapella
Acapella Angels
Stories of the Early Days
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Monday Music: Owl City - Fireflies - ASL Song

10/15/2018

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I'm still learning ASL, and watching legendary people do song covers is so much fun! Here's another one! Happy Monday!
Mansion's Twins
Mansion's Family
Dawn's Acapella
Acapella Angels
Stories of the Early Days
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Wednesday Word:  Josephina’s Guide to Magic for Kids (Part One)

10/10/2018

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Picture
    Running. Dark ruined streets. Black, grey, dingy and smoky everywhere she looked. Even the people, dark, shadowy, hooded. Some turned to stare at her as she ran by. She didn’t know if her pursuers were still behind her, or if she’s lost them.
     She hurried down a quieter street. A residential neighborhood, at least, what remained of one. Now… Were these houses abandoned? They looked so old. Smashed windows, peeling paint… Even the paint was dark and grey. Who would decide to do that?

        There seemed to be no one around, so she let herself slow to a walk. There were piles of trash and rubble in one of the yards ahead, and she decided to hide among a stack of ruined furniture. She nestled down into a broken armchair, uncomfortable, but safely hidden. Maybe she should stay here for a while, but how long? How long had she been here? She couldn’t tell what time it was. The sky was so dark, even in the middle of the day. Looking up, she tried to locate the sun, but there was nothing above her but smoke. How is that possible?
         A sound snapped her out of her questions. Someone was crying. Her instincts brought her out of hiding, and forced her legs to move toward the sound. Only when she began to think did she slow down. This could be another trap. She didn’t know who those shadowy things were, or what they wanted with her, but they’d chased after her every time they saw her, and it was terrifying. But she didn’t remember hearing them speak in an ordinary human way, or even make ordinary human sounds. And this sound was normal and human. It was so human and so familiar, it could have been one of her own sons. Where they here, lost in this nightmare with her?
         She saw him. A boy, no more than ten, hiding behind a trash can a few houses away from her own hiding spot. He wore an orange T-shirt and blue jeans, far more colorful than anyone else she’d seen. She checked her own clothes, realizing she had no idea what she was wearing. Odd, considering how much thought she put into her outfits every morning. Hm. Long black hair. A little too dark for this strange realm, but normal in her everyday life. A pink shirt to make up for it, check. But was this a shirt she actually owned? It seemed like a combination of several of them. Still, normal enough. Practical shoes for running errands, and ill-fitting mom-jeans. Perfect. So, why was everything else so bonkers?
         “Are you okay, young man?”
         He jumped. “Who’s there?”
         “It’s okay,” she said. His eyes were ordinary, and when they met hers, she saw the same relief on his face. Neither of them had seem anything but shadows for as long as they’d been there. Hm. How long exactly was that?
         “I’m not going to hurt you,” she said. “My name’s Josephina. What’s yours?”
         “Benny,” he said.
         “Very good to meet you, Benny,” Josephina said. “Are you alright?”
         “Fine,” he said, blushing a little as he wiped away the rest of his tears. “I just think I’m lost or something. Do you know where we are?”
         “I’m afraid not. I don’t remember how I got here, or how long I’ve been here, and you’re the only other human I’ve come across. I keep thinking this is some kind of dream, but if you’re sharing it, that is particularly odd.”
      A ringing sound made them both jump. “It’s my phone!” Benny cried. He quickly answered it. “Hello? Hello? Mom? Mom! You have to come find me, I’m… I don’t know where, I… I’m sorry, Mom! Please come find me! Mom?” He was quiet for several moments, lowering the phone from his ear. The phone disintegrated, and the dust blew away.
         “Benny…”
         “I don’t even have a phone! This has to be a dream! Why can’t I wake up! I wanna wake up!”
         ​“Me too, honey. I’m afraid I don’t know what’s happening either, but look, Benny. Look at me. We’re in this together now. We can look after each other. I could use a strong young man beside me, and I’m sure you’ll find some use for a silly old woman. You’re not alone.”


         Keep rhythm with the other strange figures. Keep your face still, void of emotion. Eyes down. Move with slow, fluid motions… Raven tried to keep all those thoughts in her mind as she walked down the street, blending in with the other strange figures. Now she was thankful for her gothic look, which many people had told her was a phase that never should have followed her beyond high school. Ever since arriving wherever she was, she’d been either hiding, or blending in. She’d had to run for her a life a few times, but seemed to be getting the hang of this. Yet she still had no idea where she was, how she got here, or when she got here.
         There were shops down this street, and some of the strange figures would go inside. She followed a shadowy man into a dusty book store. Here, folks sat or stood reading books like perfect statues. The books might have some answers. She picked one up, and made her way slowly to a chair nearest the door. A quick getaway was always a safer bet.
         She opened the book, and tried to keep still while staring at the pages. None of the words were clear, and the more she tried to make them out, the blurrier they became. They swirled into black and white images, herself as a younger person, reading a book on some silly but fun new age ritual. She was lighting a candle. Her mother stormed into the room, blew it out, and threw the book across the room. Both her parents now, staring at her through the pages, “wherever you are, don’t come back,” her father said. Then her mother, “You’ve got yourself in real trouble, Raven. We tried to tell you! Witchcraft can only lead to trouble! We tried to tell you! Wherever you are, don’t come back! Wherever you are, don’t come back!”
         The voices may have started inside her head, but they grew louder and louder. By the time Raven looked up, everyone in the bookstore was staring at her. Their eyes were all glowing viciously. Their mouths opened in long, stretchy ovals, and they cried out in a horrifying chorus. Raven sprang to her feet and bolted for the door, the nightmare figures chasing after her, still making that awful sound. Others on the street caught on, and chased after her as well.
         Someone emerged from an alley a few blocks away, glancing around as though she didn’t know what was happening. Raven thought she’d imagined it. She hadn’t seen another human face here. But as she crossed the next block, someone grabbed her arm and pulled her hard.
         “Who—?”
         “No time,” she said, “Just follow me.”
         There was a tiny door at the end of the street, just hidden behind a dumpster. The other girl crouched down to pull the door open, and crawled inside. “Hurry!” she said, and Raven didn’t hesitate. Such bright eyes on this girl! She hadn’t seen such light since… Hm. She couldn’t even remember.
         The narrow hallways ahead of them had a low ceiling, so at first, they had to crawl. Slowly the ceiling lifted, and the girls could stand up. Inside was a comfortable living room, a kitchen, and what looked like a few bedrooms down another hall. Raven gasped at the sight of the kitchen. There was a shadowy woman standing by the stove, slowly stirring a pot of something.
         “It’s okay,” the other girl said. “She never moves. Sometimes she’ll talk, but she’s not dangerous.”
         Raven was still apprehensive. Beyond the creepy woman was a wide window, covering almost the entire wall. Beyond that window, all was dark, but a few shadowy faces floated in the distance.
         “She’ll tell us if they can see us,” the girl said.
         “Well, that’s reassuring,” Raven said.
         “Trust me, you’re safer here than anywhere else. I’m Bonnie, what’s your name?”
        “Raven,” she said, turning away from the window. Bonnie was a much nicer sight than those terrible faces. Her eyes were large and brown, and her thick hair a cloud of soft curls. She was dressed colorfully, and even had some sparkles of jewelry. “I don’t remember the last time I saw something actually pretty. I mean… Crap, I don’t mean to…”
         “It’s okay,” Bonnie blushed. She looked even sweeter with the extra color in her cheeks. “You’re the prettiest thing I’ve seen lately too. It’s really good to meet you, Raven, though I’m sorry your stuck here like me. Do you have any idea how this happened?”
         Raven was about to answer when the shadowy woman in the kitchen suddenly snapped alert. Her head turned too sharply toward them, her mouth fell open but didn’t move, and words came pouring out:
         “Two more await your discovery. A child missing his parents, and a parent missing her children. Your best chance to survive is together.”
         “Where are we?” Raven asked. “How did we get here? What do you best chance to survive? What kind of sick game is this?” She was shouting at that stupid, eerily still woman, who didn’t seem to have any idea she was there. Raven wanted to shake her, but was still too afraid to make contact. Before she could give the idea any more thought, Bonnie pulled her away.
         “It’s no use,” she said. “She only talks when she wants too, never answers any of my questions. I guess it’s better than nothing, though, right? I mean, there are two more people out there.”
         “‘A child missing his parents, and a parent missing her children,’” Raven muttered. “Ugh. Does this mean we have to go rescue them?”
         “Look on the bright side,” Bonnie said. “Once we do, our chances will be even better.”
       “So says the creepy lady,” Raven said to herself. But she knew they had no other choice. 

Read Part Two Here!

Mansion's Twins
Mansion's Family
Dawn's Acapella
Acapella Angels
Stories of the Early Days
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