Author: Marcia Meara

Character Archetypes: The Trickster

/ Marcia Meara / 1 Comment

If you’ve been following my reblogs of C. S. Boyack’s series on archetypes, you’ll really enjoy his Story Empire post today on Tricksters. What are they and how can writers use them to add surprising elements to their stories? Just head on over and check it out. You’ll be glad you did! Oh, and please don’t forget to share so others can learn more about archetypes, too. Thanks, and thanks to Craig for such an interesting and helpful post. 🙂 ❤

coldhandboyack's avatarStory Empire

Hi gang, Craig with you today. This is post number five in the character archetypes series. In the Hero’s Journey, there are some common characters that are likely to show up in all stories. This doesn’t mean each archetype shows up in every story, and aside from the hero, the rest are kind of optional. Almost every story will have an assortment of them.

This series is to introduce you to them. Once you’re aware of them, you can decide if they can benefit the story you’re writing.

I have to say, this is the most maddening one to write about so far. Almost seems poetic when you consider it’s about The Trickster. There are as many different opinions about this archetype as there are websites, so I’m going to reject their reality and substitute my own. This is all in an attempt to offer some help, which is what…

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I’m at #StoryEmpire Today and I Hope You’ll Stop By!

/ Marcia Meara / 7 Comments

As many of you know, I was invited to join the team over at Story Empire, and will now be posting there regularly (about twice a month). Happily, I scheduled several posts ahead, which is helpful while I’m still moving at a snail’s pace around here. And today, I’m beginning my Why Write Wrong? series over there, as a quick and easy way to understand frequently misused words and phrases. Hope you’ll stop by to say hi, and check out it out. I’ll be running this series on Story Empire every two or three posts, and hope it will be a helpful and fun way for folks to learn how to avoid some of these writing errors. I’ve posted a couple of these here over the years, but there are also a lot of new ones coming up. I see these things way too often lately, and I’ve been taking notes. 😀 

Hope to see you there, thanks! 

whywritewrong2

STORY EMPIRE “WHY WRITE WRONG?” POST

 

Touching Base and #Update

/ Marcia Meara / 50 Comments

Some of you already know this from various posts around social media, but I am officially under “house arrest” for the next few weeks. Because I’m in a high risk group for Covid-19, due to my age, and have three additional strikes against me due to some health issues, I have been advised to stay at home. Period. I’m taking the advice very seriously. I have grandkids I’d like to see grow up, books to write, and friends to enjoy, so I’ve cancelled my local presentations until further notice, and am NOT leaving the house or yard any time soon.

Now, I’ve become more and more of a hermit over the years, even though I’m not particularly introverted. (Some would say not at all introverted.) I stay at home for days and days at a time, never going past the mailbox, and am fine with it, but it’s my own choice. Knowing I have to stay here is a whole ‘nuther kettle o’ fish. However, I’ve made up my mind that this can have benefits in addition to decreasing my risk of getting sick. If you checked out Don Massenzio’s post I shared earlier, you’ll understand what I mean.

I’m actually looking forward to some uninterrupted writing and blogging time again, as soon as I shake this cold I’ve been fighting. (I’m getting better every day, honest.) I also want to catch up with a whole bunch of things around the house and yard that have fallen by the wayside in recent months. So, I’m going to focus on my at home time as a chance to do all of the above. Naturally, I would have preferred to find a way to make that chance come about without the current wretched crisis we are all trying to cope with, but that’s out of our hands, and we just have to make the best of it.

I’m going to miss getting out to talk about Florida wildlife with audiences that have become friends to me, but many of these wonderful folks are seniors, too, and do not need to be attending events where there are mixed audiences around them. No one wants to expose another person to illness, nor be exposed themselves, so cancelling these events is the right thing to do. If you were planning to attend any of the next few, just know that we will be reassessing in a few weeks, and as soon as it’s safe, we will resume our usual schedule. 

I will also be resuming my regular blog features here in another week or so, as soon as my energy level picks up a bit more.

In the meantime, please folks–take this threat seriously and do everything you can to stay safe yourself and to avoid exposing others to this dangerous illness. When we’ve reached the other side of all this, I don’t want to discover there are any faces missing from my my circle of online friends or the audience at my next event!! (Not even MINE!! 😉 )

Stay safe, stay informed, stay WELL! And I promise to try my best to do the same. 

The Silver Lining from the COVID-19 Cloud

/ Marcia Meara / Leave a comment

Please do yourself a favor, folks, and stop by Don Massenzio’s blog to read his post today. Hands down, this is the best post I’ve seen so far about the situation we are all struggling with right now. The poem Don shared is wonderful, and his thoughts on what we can learn from this experience are perfection. After having read this, I feel better than I’ve felt for a week! I hope it will uplift and inspire you as much as it did me, and that you’ll pass it along to everyone you know! I’m even thinking of making a copy to pin on my cork board so I’ll be reminded of these things when my spirits sink. Please share, thanks, and my heartfelt thanks to Don, too, for pointing out the silver lining! 🙂 ❤

Unknown's avatarBestselling Author

As I write this, I’m sitting in my office beginning the fourth day of the isolation brought about by the COVID-19 (CoronaVirus) pandemic.

I work for a company where travel every week is the norm. Last week, as I sat in a corporate office in Chicago, we listened to our travel scenario gradually degrade from ‘travel as normal’ to ‘no meetings with over 25 people’ to ‘no travel to client offices’ to stay at home and work remotely.

As Monday came along, our highly technological company struggled with overworked meeting servers and the inability to dial in. The whole working world had moved to this model and the infrastructure was not ready.

Now, four days in, my perspective on the ‘inconvenience’ of the restrictions on travel and gathering are helping me form a different perspective on what’s happening in the world.

I know many are suffering from this virus, but…

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Book Review Tuesday: Grinders by C. S. Boyack

/ Marcia Meara / 1 Comment

Though I’m still not feeling up to putting together my own posts yet, I figured today would be a good day to share a review from another site. Check out Mae Clair’s thoughts on Grinders, Craig Boyack’s latest release. Such an imaginative and entertaining tale! As soon as I gather up a bit more energy, I’ll be reviewing this one, myself. In the meantime, stop by to see what Mae has to say, and then head over to Amazon to grab your copy! You’ll be glad you did! Don’t forget to share, thanks, and thanks to Mae for a super post! 🙂 ❤

Mae Clair's avatarFrom the Pen of Mae Clair

Warm and cozy window seat with cushions and a opened book, light through vintage shutters, rustic style home decor. Small cat on window seat, along with coffee cup by pillow, Words Book Review Tuesday superimposed over imageHappy St. Patricks Day, everyone! Whether you’re Irish or not, ’tis a day for the wearing’ o’ the green, and a tip o’ the hat to the wee folk. Right now, we could all use a little luck given the state of the world in view of Covid-19. Whatever your corner of the planet, I hope you stay safe and well. If you’re stuck inside, it’s the perfect time to catch up on your reading.

With that in mind, let’s jump into this week’s book review!

Book cover for Grinders, a speculative fiction novel features neon lights and holographic images by C. S. BoyackJimi Cabot, and her partner Lou, are two cops assigned to the “Grinder Squad” in a futuristic San Francisco. Grinders are people who have their bodies altered through illegal surgeries which use computer chips to provide enhanced senses. Despite their department assignment, Jimi and Lou usually find their days eaten up by the drudgery of routine patrol and domestic disturbance calls—until they happen upon…

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#GuestBlogger #New Release #MaeClair #InSearchOfMcDoogal

/ Marcia Meara / 70 Comments

Good Morning, Folks! Today, I’d like to welcome Mae Clair to The Write Stuff. Mae has a brand new book out called In Search of McDoogal, and she’d like to tell you more about it. So, without further ado, take it away, Mae! 

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Hi, Marcia. I’m excited to be here today! Many thanks for hosting me with the release of my Amazon 90-minute short read, In Search of McDoogal. This is a light-hearted story, themed around the hunt for a missing painting. My two main characters—Brady Conrad and Declan Fitzgerald—take a day trip to a neighboring town to track down the buyer of a painting Brady mistakenly sold. They’re on the clock because the artist is Brady’s girlfriend, and she’s returning to her gallery that evening after several days away.

As with most of my stories, my setting is fictional. When it came time to develop the small town where I set Brady and Declan loose, I wanted something that carried a coastal connotation. I chose the name Breaker’s Bay, and from there a trend was born. I decided to play with alliteration for most place names in the town. I don’t draw attention to the fact, but readers will encounter Puddlehopper’s Park, Courtney’s Corner, and the Bountiful Baker to name a few—just an extra bit of silliness to add to the predicaments Brady and Declan stumble over while trying to retrieve Vanessa’s painting.

If you enjoy a comedy of errors, set in a quirky town with oddball characters, In Search of McDoogal is right up your reading alley!

BLURB:
In search of something ugly…

All Brady Conrad wants to do is earn a few merit points with his artist girlfriend, so he volunteers to cover her gallery when she leaves town. What should be an easy day of sales goes belly up when he mistakenly sells a cherished painting.

With the clock ticking toward Vanessa’s return, Brady has less than a day to track McDoogal down. He coerces his friend Declan to tag along for moral support. How difficult can it be for an investigator and the director of a renowned institute to find a single painting in a town the size of a postage stamp?

Neither Brady nor Declan counted on a suspicious sheriff, rival baseball teams with a longstanding grudge, or a clueless kid trying to win his girlfriend with all the wrong gifts.

McDoogal is smack in the middle. But Brady’s biggest dilemma isn’t the disastrous hunt. It’s confessing to Vanessa her painting is the ugliest thing he’s ever seen.

I hope you’ll join in the fun of this road-trip-buddy-fic-comedy-of-errors. In Search of McDoogal falls into Amazon’s 90-minute short read category—perfect for an extended lunch break or quick read any time of the day or evening.

Thanks for helping me celebrate the release!

PURCHASE FROM AMAZON

Connect with Mae Clair at BOOKBUB and the following haunts:

Amazon| BookBub| Newsletter Sign-Up
Website | Blog| Twitter| Goodreads| All Social Media

#Update – Hangin’ in There but Movin’ Slow

/ Marcia Meara / 30 Comments

Thanks so much to everyone who has sent me wishes for a speedy recovery. Unfortunately, while I’m not seriously ill, this cold is taking its own sweet time about moving on. 

Because I’m in a double-high risk group for you-know-what, I’m paying very close attention to the things I need to watch out for. I do not have a single one of the more worrisome symptoms, and I’m 99% sure I caught this bug from Mark. The good news is, he has pretty much completely recovered. The bad news is, it took about 9 days for him to feel he was totally back to normal. I seem to be following the same pattern, only about 3 days after him, which makes sense, given that he caught it first and gave it to me. (He’s so thoughtful that way. 😀 ) 

I have a regular appointment coming up soon with my family physician, but I will call to talk to her sooner if there is any worsening of my condition. So far, I’ve only seen improvement, slow though it might be. For instance, the low-grade, off and on fever seems to be gone now, knock wood, and I have had no chest congestion at all. Mine has all been sinus related, which probably indicates that my allergies kicked in, right alongside this cold. 

 

I am self-quarantined for now, because a) nobody wants to catch a cold or mild flu from me, either, and b) my resistance is likely low, and I do not want to expose myself to any other problems. Again, there’s no indication that I have anything more serious than a common cold/allergy combo, but I am moving at a snail’s pace, for sure.

Please take care of yourselves! Stay informed on what you need to do to remain well, but don’t give into the mass hysteria. This, too, shall pass! In the meantime, I’m going to remain on R&R a bit longer, until my energy level picks up again, but I will continue to update you every couple of days until I’m back.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled program!

 

 

 

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Weekly Round Up – March 8th – 14th 2020 – Elephant Ears, Crispy Chicken, Funny Girl, Music, Guests, Books and Humour

/ Marcia Meara / Leave a comment

Another wonderful Weekly RoundUp post on Sally Cronin’s Smorgasbord blog. Do check it out, and don’t forget to watch a couple of the lovely videos, too. They will give you some lovely smiles to start your day. Hope you’ll pass this along to all your social media friends, too. Thanks, and thanks, Sally. You ROCK, as always! 🙂 ❤

Temporary Change In Posting Schedule

/ Marcia Meara / 38 Comments

Just a quick heads up so you won’t wonder where I’ve disappeared to. Mark and I have both been under the weather with a bit of a cold (nothing serious, I promise!) and though he is much improved, I’m still dragging.  I’ve fallen even farther behind with things  that aren’t optional, so I’ve decided to give myself a bit of a break for a week or so with the things that are.  My regularly (mostly 🙂 ) #ShareAReviewDay, #ThorsDaySmiles, and #FirstLineFriday posts are on hold as of now and through all of next week. I do have a guest poster next week, but it’s already been scheduled, as have my upcoming posts on Story Empire, so those will run as planned. Hope you’ll tune in for each.

I’ll try to resume my normal schedule here on TWS  during the week of March 23, assuming I’m feeling much better. Will give you a heads up when it’s time to submit any reviews you’d like to share after that date. 

I may pop in with a short post here or there during this interim, if I feel well (and energetic) enough for it. And if you need to contact me, please feel free to do so. I’ll still be sitting here at my desk most of the time, trying to attend to some of the things that have fallen through the cracks as I’ve been plodding my way through this “bug.” Progress is slow and often interrupted by naps, but I’ll be able to respond either here or via email. I just don’t feel quite up to assembling any larger posts yet. Thanks so much for understanding.  

Here’s to your health! (And mine!)

Nothing like a cup of “Earl Grey, hot” to soothe what ails ye. 🙂