Remembering Ladybugs

I just finished a book titled Cherished: 21 Writers On Animals They Have Loved and Lost and it got me thinking about my first dog, Lady.

     My childhood was anything but normal, but before my eighth birthday, Lady came into my life to make everything seem worthwhile.  I was born with what is called Mid-Facial Dysplasia, and from the age of four years old, started a series of reconstructive surgeries that would help build a bridge for my nose, and more pronounced features.
     Lady arrived just as I was beginning to understand why I had to have these surgeries.  I began to understand that my childhood wasn't like that of other kids and sometimes I suffered the consequences of being "different" (even though you could never tell I had surgery).  And funnily enough, I was tricked into taking Lady from a friend of my aunt's, who lived on this duck hunting ranch.  He told me that they were going to put Lady to sleep, and of course I jumped at the chance to save her.  Or rather, as I would soon learn, she saved me.
     My surgeries were never a scary experience.  Nothing bad ever happened to make me apprehensive about having another one.  My parents have always been my rock, but Lady was the one I could tell my secrets to.  Like all dogs, she had that calm, quiet way about her that made everything feel like it was going to be okay.  It was like she always knew when I came home from the hospital to not jump on me or be rambunctious around me.  She would sit quietly by my bed or the couch and would reluctantly allow my parents near me.
     I spent my entire childhood with Lady who eventually came to be known as Ladybugs.  In 1998, she was 10 years old, and little did I know that I wouldn't have her too much longer.  In that same year, I had a major surgery called a cranialplasty and my grandfather was in the hospital, dying of kidney cancer.  I consider myself lucky to have had her during my recovery from that surgery and to help me through the grief of losing my grandfather.
     On Christmas morning of that year, Lady passed away just as I woke up at the six thirty in the morning.  Let me tell ya, that was not a very Merry Christmas morning opening gifts.  Later that day, we took her out to our property (where we would soon build a house) and laid her body in a box to buried the next day.  God, that was the worst Christmas I've ever had.  We couldn't bury her that day because we had like 20 people coming for Christmas dinner.  So, the next morning, dad dug a hole over by the creek and we had a little ceremony for her.  Now almost 14 years later, I still miss her very much, even though I have had dogs in between then.  She will always be number 1.

     As some of you may know, I cancelled my contract with my publisher for my self-published book Jack's Dreams Come To Life.  I've just finished another picture book manuscript, that's making the rounds in my critique group.  Once I get the comments back, I will rewrite it and send it out to publishers.
     It's been awhile since I've written a short story, or anything creative for that matter.  But I'm happy to say that I finished a brand new short story titled, "Promises Kept" about my grandfather who passed away 13 years ago this May.  I'd like to send some of my stories out to literary magazines to see if I can get them published.
     Since last February I've been in contact with Mark Vadik, a horror movie writer and director, and he's been helping rewrite and polish a horror script that I wrote titled, "The Driftwood Massacres."  I received an email from him a month ago suggesting I now seek an agent for representation in order to try and sell my script.  I know how to find a literary agent, but where the heck do I find a screenwriting agent?
     Then there's the ever present, so-called monkey on my back - my YA novel.  I've been in a bit of a rut since February of this year about not finishing the manuscript in time to take it to the San Francisco's Writer's Conference that same month.  I've left it alone for a few weeks and have now gone back to it, and am in the process of writing chapter 5.  I would like to have a rough draft finished by late summer.  Good luck with that I suppose.
     And, of course, to supplement my income, I still have my freelance writing.  So far this year I've been asked to write for three new magazines! Rue Morgue, Tropical Fish Hobbyist and Writer's Journal.  Needless to say my plate is full and I'm exhausted, confused and in a panic.  My New Year's resolution was to finish something, whether that be my YA novel, find an agent and get something published.  I know it's only March, but I'm starting to panic a little.  As much as I appreciate my dad giving me a job at his dental office, I really wish my income was coming from my writing.  But I guess all writers wish that.

Oh well, off to write!

I recently finished 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill (Stephen King's son).  If you're a fan of King, you'll love Joe Hill's collection of short stories.

The Writing Life

  The Writing Life: Writers On How They Think And Work
   by Marie Arana
   ISBN: 978-1-58648-149-0
   Copyright 2003
   404 pages
   $16.95


     Essays gathered from the Washington Post column of the same name, Marie Arana has compiled a list of our most distinguished and beloved authors, who give us a glimpse into their personal life and more importantly into their life as a writer.  Included among the 55 authors are Joyce Carol Oates, Ray Bradbury, Patricia Cornwell and Jimmy Carter, just to name a few.
     If you are a writer or know a writer, then this will become a very cherished book.  Not only do you get insight from famous authors, but politicians, journalists, poets and playwrights.  These men and women not only have changed the literary world when they've put pen to paper, but they have opened doors and paved the way for future writers.  They've written stories, articles and plays that are a part of history.  Their opinions and creative minds were and still are an influence on not only their generation, but future generations.

Jamie Lee Curtis: Scream Queen

Jamie Lee Curtis: Scream Queen by David Grove
Copyright: 2010
Publisher: BearManor Media
ISBN: 1-59393-608-7
490 pages

      I wasn't even born yet when Halloween came out in 1978 and too young to appreciate Curtis' career as a scream queen up until 1981, but that doesn't mean I'm not a rabid fan of hers and her subsequent horror films after Halloween.
     That's why I could barely contain my excitement when I found out that there would be a biography coming out, chronicling her career in horror.
     I have to admit that, when I found out that Grove's book was unauthorized, I was a little skeptic as to how accurate the information was going to be.  It turns out that my skepticism was a little premature, because I found the information in the book to be very informative, not only about Jamie, but about all of her films.
     The book starts off with Jamie's adolescence and her struggles with growing up with two of Hollywood's royalty (Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis) and perhaps what was most surprising to me, was Jamie's insecurity as a teenager and young adult.  Each chapter focuses on the horror films that she has starred in, how she got the part, the making of the film and the post-production of it.
                                                               The readers gets a real inside look at Jamie's experiences on each of these films and her relationships with her fellow actors and filmmakers.  If there is any fault to the book it is the constant repeating of who Jamie Lee Curtis' parents are and how tough it was for her to grow up with such famous parents.  The book has a tendency to, at times compare Jamie to her mother, the reigning scream queen, Janet Leigh.  Which I think Jamie has dealt with all her life and would probably rather not have a book focus too much on that part of her life.

                                                               If you are a Jamie Lee Curtis fan or a fan of John Carpenter or any and all horror films of the late 70s and early 80s, this book is great for fans of the genre.