10.07.2010

OUR FIRST BLOGFEST IS HERE!

so tonight we take our favorite character on a date...all of us. separately (except for erica, who's sitting this one out - really, she's taken over the week, let's have christy have a chance, shall we?).

we can't wait to find out what you're up to!  post about your rendezvous in our comments or paste your blog link so we can be a fly on the wall wherever it is you treat your fave fictional friend!  (500 words or less if you can.  but who's counting?)

be sure to stick your nose in everyone else's business and click on all the links.  don't miss out on any gossip as we glimpse the secret longings of our blogging friends.

wow. we're like the E! tv of blogland.  (whoa!  who's her new bff?  she's dating who?  did you see what her date was eating?  ewww...!)


this is you...in a comfortable spot on the wall
 don't worry, you can start right now.  right here. bzzzz.  shhh. here comes christy now....

LIGHTS. CAMERA. ACTION.
Nervous didn’t begin to explain my sweaty palms and quivering knees.

I stood, hoping my pounding heart wouldn’t be heard by Dawn, my MC, who was just down the hall. How would I explain who I was, a stranger in her bedroom? Ridiculous, since I’m the writer who created her. If I didn’t want her to enter, she wouldn’t. (But, do you know how sometimes when you’re writing your characters kind of take over? Anyway, I’m determined to stay in control of my own story here. Just this once.)

 
So, I stood there staring up at the ceiling, waiting for Phinnighen, my date for the evening, to materialize. He was somewhere in Themura, the alternate dimension I’d dreamed up as one of the settings in my novel, Solstice. I waited here in Earth, in Wisconsin, wondering why I hadn’t chosen his dimension to meet in. (Too late now. )

Dawn’s room was dimly lit, with only her bedside table lamp on. I didn’t have to wait long until a handsome guy of 5’10”ish or so appeared. Wow, he looked a lot taller than he did on paper. ( I guess I’ll need to add to his description in the novel.) I was kind of in awe of my creation. His shimmery bronze aura really did cling to him. Just like I’d written. I wondered how he and I could eat out without attracting all sorts of attention. I mean, he kind of glowed. Hmmm…well, I guess we’d just have to go to a dark, candle-lit restaurant for our chat. Now my whole body quivered. His eyes alone made me swoon a little. Again, I reminded myself to get a grip. This was, after all, just a “business” meeting, for research.

I grabbed his hand and he kind of gloated as the frigid tingling sensation travelled through my limbs to my core. However he did it, (hence the meeting to discuss details) he transported us to Pasta Vino where we sat at a corner table. There was no one around. I took an easy breath and sat back, arms folded, and smiled at my date. I couldn’t figure out how Dawn wasn’t attracted to him in the least. Huh.

 
“So…Mrs. West, you wanted to, uh, talk?”

 
“You can call me Lynnea…well, actually, it’s Christy.” (Pen names. I never know quite who I want to go by. A little bit of an identity crisis.)

It had crossed my mind that it might look kind of odd, me out with him, since besides the fact that he has this shimmering aura thing, well, I’m double his age. And, well, the candle lit restaurant was my only option, right? I wasn’t just trying to relive my youth. (No, that’s not why I write YA!)

 
“Okay.” He looked uncomfortable.

 
“Yes, well. I wanted to ask you a few things, but what would you like to eat, before we get started?” A waiter appeared out of nowhere. He kind of resembled the short balding penguin-like guy on the Munsters. Phin just looked at me, bewildered. “What’s the problem?”

 
“Well, I don’t know what I eat. You’ve never actually fed me anything…in 116,000 words. You never fed me a bite.” He sounded kind of hostile.

 
“You’re not in all of those words, really.” I tried to redeem myself. “Only a few chapters. There wasn’t really time. I just figured you ate when you weren’t, uh, involved.”

 
“Involved? I played a major role in the resolution of your plot! You couldn’t let me even taste any Themuran food?” He sat back and folded his arms, challenging me. “I’ll bet you don’t even know what Themurans eat. Do you?”

 
I narrowed my eyes. “You were a lot nicer in the pages I wrote. Besides, that’s why I’m taking you out. To learn more about Themura. I was hoping you could help me.”

 
“Yeah, right. I can see the words up above. You think I’m hot. That’s gross, Mrs. West. Or whoever you feel like being right now.”

 
This was not going as expected. I felt crushed, horrified, mortified. Clearly, a writer is not meant to join the pages of her own book. I really liked this kid. If I ever get to the point where I can revise the end of my novel, if I ever find a version of the beginning that’s good enough, I hope I can like him again after his rudeness to me this evening.

 
I tipped the waiter and walked home. Well, actually, I called my husband because I wasn’t sure I could make it several hours on foot. Even if I am a marathon runner.

Don’t forget to sign up for our competition of words! Starts next Thursday! I may have cheated and gone over in this post, but I promise not to cheat when I "write in". When I win the medal and t-shirt and whatever else we offer up…it’ll be fair and square!!!

Thanks for your participation in our FIRST EVER BLOGFEST! We’re grateful to have some wonderfully creative followers. erica and christy

seacrest out.  we mean erica and christy out.  we got a little carried away. there's a first time for everything.

15 comments:

  1. Hi,

    Neat and great fly-on-wall aspect!

    best
    F

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  2. Haha! I loved how this dinner went. Kinda makes me wish I participated now.

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  3. Christy, I cracked when you never fed you character... my ms is loaded with food, to the point I had to cut half of it out! Too cute! I really enjoyed reading it.

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  4. I don't have a blog, so here's mine...


    After the long awaited answer from my invitation, Jo March accepts and asks me to meet her at Union Station on Wednesday morning. It surprises me that she is arriving by train. I guess plane travel is just too much for a nineteenth century young woman.
    I rack my brains, thinking of where to take her for our intimate lunch. I have many questions to ask this aspiring author, since I am one myself. She intrigues me, for she is a modern woman and her views and opinions would not be old fashioned or dated, even in the twenty-first century. She is, after all, timeless.
    I get up early Wednesday morning and dress in a suit and tie. I want my guest to feel comfortable; I am sure she is experiencing enough informality on the train.
    I take the bus downtown to the station and wait for her at the gate. A moment later she arrives. I spot her instantly, not just from her attire, but from the excitement in her face.
    “Miss March! Over here!” I rush toward her. “Welcome to Chicago. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”
    “Mr. Di Gesu, thank you for inviting me. The pleasure is all mine,” she said, shaking my hand.
    I pick up her small suitcase and escort her onto the street. “Miss March, please call me by my first name? Now that we have met, it is what we do in this century.”
    A hint of a blush raises in her cheeks, then she smiles. “Yes, Michael, then you must call me Jo.”
    “Agreed.”
    I look at Jo and her eyes brighten.
    “Buildings made of glass? Astonishing! There is so much activity, and so many people.”
    “Relax, Jo. Enjoy the sights. I would like to take you over to the lake, first, then we can hail a taxi uptown.”
    “You are my guide ... lead the way!” She took two steps ahead of me.
    I laughed and followed.

    An hour later, we arrive at Wilde’s.
    “You’ll love dining in the library.”
    Jo’s eyes dart everywhere. The host leads us to a charming table for two, next to the fireplace. Jo warms her hands by the fire.
    “Now, don’t sit too close. You don’t want to burn your dress.”
    She bursts out laughing and sits in the chair I had already pulled out for her.
    “I adore this place! Who would have thought to put a library inside a public restaurant?
    “I thought you might like a literary experience while we had lunch.”
    “I do!”
    We look at the menus. “May I suggest a ‘Wilde’ burger.”
    “What kind of animal is a wild burger?”
    I burst out laughing, and then explain it to her.
    “I’ll try anything once.”
    “Great!” I call the waiter over and place the order for two Wilde burgers, and hot tea.
    We talk for hours about writing, subject matter, plot, my latest projects, and her opinions on how publishing should really be run, and finally about the author Oscar Wilde, himself.
    Jo asks for the facility. A few minutes later she returns.
    “I would never have imagined how advanced a water closet could be.”
    We both laugh and leave for an afternoon of sightseeing.

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  5. Wow, Michael - awesome! Jo was my favorite March sister, too. And trust me, when I come to Chicago, you're going to be leading me around while I'm saying "Wow!" and maybe even "Astonishing!" I really am a small-town girl!
    erica

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  6. Thanks Erica,
    It really pleases me that you like blog ... you know how wordy I can be. I'll be posting a very interesting one next from a friend who asked me to do it for him. I hope you like this one as well ... it's very interesting.



    If for no other reason but curiosity about the most mysterious of our spiritual beliefs, and more to the point for those of us who practice some kind of religion, me in particular a Catholic by birth, I would consider my meeting with Jesus Christ the ultimate encounter.

    Enough has been said and written about the charismatic man of men. I wonder if he would share a long afternoon with me? And, if so, to meet me at Golgotha where his death had taken place over two thousand years ago. To feast upon red wine, bread, fruit, and a cured salmon will console both of our souls.

    I have several questions I would like to ask him. Some say that when you died you spent some time in hell and others say, you were in limbo. Why could you not go to heaven if it was mankind who prosecuted you and not God? I can just imagine a thousand different answers to such a poignant question.

    I knew where to get in touch with him. Heck everybody knows where, but how? Oh, I’ve got it. I stepped out into this glorious spring day and walked the three blocks to my favorite church. The sun illuminated through the colorful stain-glass windows as I sat in the first pew, facing the crucifix. I spoke out loud, “Jesus, how is that you came to bring peace to the world, but you couldn’t achieve it?” From somewhere in the empty church I heard.

    “I did not come to bring peace to the world. The world is at peace. I came to bring peace to human kind.”
    I jerked my neck, as I looked around and saw no one. “Are you really answering me?” I whispered.
    “Are you happy with yourself?” There is a pause. “Aren’t you at peace with yourself.”
    “Yes,” I answered.
    “Then I achieved my mission.”
    It is quiet for a moment or two.
    “As you must already know, I wanted to have a visit with you in Golgotha.”
    “Yes, I am well aware of your intentions. Thank you for the rapaz (Hebrew meal). I know the reason why you wish to meet me in Golgotha. Although my human body died there, the exact place where I died was in human hearts, not on the cross. Go in peace my son.”

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  7. This is cute! And I didn't even know about your blogfest until right this minute! If I'd known sooner I would have participated. But now I'm following so I'll be ready for the next one!

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  8. Michael, thanks for sharing both stories. I enjoyed reading them. I'd like to visit the library in the restaurant! Mara and Quinn...even if you don't have time to write an entire story, feel free to leave a comment about who you'd like to take out if you had the chance! Hmm...another blogfest. I'll get on it! Thanks, Francine! Glad you visited again!

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  9. Hey Erica and Christy, great blog fest!!! I've posted my story, check it out at: http://rachaelharrie.blogspot.com/2010/10/take-your-main-character-on-date-blog.html

    Had so much fun writing this - I almost wish it was part of my manuscript now!

    Rach

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  10. Yay! Thanks, Rach. I just checked it out and might want to date Luke myself!

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  11. Hi,

    I did enter this blogfest (posted at my blog - link directly below First Sight blogfest), but I'm getting the feeling I've dropped on a private "friend" blog. So sorry if that is so. Apologies.

    best
    F

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  12. No, Francine, not at all! We're part of the Crusade and the Bloghop and have gotten to virtually "know" a few people that way. Thanks for entering - hope you had fun with it!

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  13. Loved this! Didn't get around to posting my own story anymore, was busy with some damage control @ work, but loved reading entries! :)

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  14. That happens, Marieke, trust us, we know! Thanks for visiting again and we'll see you for the challenge!

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