Yes, I realize this is a day early, but... meh... I'm not going to worry about that. Why, hello, folks! Yes, it has been a while, but I assure you that 2011 will be a year of writing exercises galore!! In fact, I have included it in my list of New Year's Resolutions. They are as follows: Publish at least 4 blog posts per week, with at least 3 of those 4 being writing exercises. Edit the crap out of my WIP - I've let it sit for too long, and I need to jump back into it if I ever hope to actually finish it and shop it around. Develop some of the other ideas I have rolling around in my head. Trust me, there are more than I know what to do with. I'll most definitely be running some thoughts and ideas by you guys over the next year. Get excited . Regardless of blog posting, write for at least 30 minutes per day, whether it's a writing exercise or WIP work. Adopt a healthier lifestyle (i.e. diet, exercise, & basic life stuff like cleaning and whatnot). Yea

So here's where I give excuse after excuse about why I've not posted. But honestly, it leads up to one big thing: LIFE. There's just no rest involved, you see? Specifically when it comes to education... But!!! I do have proof that I've not just been gallivanting around Nashville all willy-nilly. Presenting......... Trumpet fanfare! Drumroll!! Duhn dah DAHHHHHHH!!! My performance for Belmont University's Classical Singers Recital! Watch and enjoy. The songs you just heard were In alto mare by Ottorino Respighi (one of my favorites - love him) and Sea Air from Andre Previn's Streetcar Named Desire . Yes, my friends, they made an opera out of that, and the character I played in this song was Blanche Dubois, right before her sister sends her to the mental hospital. I didn't quite pull of the crazy as much as I would have liked, but meh... Next time around I'll nail it. :) Peace. Stef.

You know, after today I will have done 182 of these writing exercises, but I still have trouble spelling exercise. I always want to put a 'c' after the x. I have no idea why, and I'm normally an exemplary speller, but it makes me feel kind of dumb. Do you guys have any words like that? You know, the ones that you know how to spell, but your brain tells you that you're wrong as you're writing/typing it... On with the exercise... One minute each. Make lists of noises that: (1) remind you of summer (2) remind you on being in church (or temple or mosque or whatever suits) (3) beautiful noises (4) kitchen noises (5) shopping mall noises

This weekend's fiasco needs to be surgically removed from my brain. Seriously. BUT! Since that's not yet possible in today's world of technology, I need to occupy myself with something else, meaning... BLOGGING!!! So here I am, delivering a lovely dose of writing exercise fun! Exercise #181 : Brenda & Arnold This is a little Pschology 101 / Plot exercise. Without thinking about it--- just put your pen on the paper and jot down what comes to mind. Answer the following: What did Brenda do to Arnold? Why did he let her? Why did Brenda do it? Will this happen again? 1,2,3, GO!

That last post (it has since been removed, so if you didn't read it, please disregard this) was never meant to see the light of day. I wrote it in a moment of high emotion and regretted it the second I typed the final word for the problems it could cause... and did end up causing. I planned on deleting it, but apparently pushed a wrong button or something instead, because it ended up getting published. At any rate, it was a grievous error on my part, and, because of the post, people were hurt. For that, I am so sorry. You know who you are. For those of you that read the original post, you will not be getting an update. It was wrong of me to post it in the first place regardless of my actual intentions to delete it, and I feel awful. Once again, I wholeheartedly apologize and pray that the wounds caused are ones that can be healed. Peace. Stef.

I am so sorry for going MIA for a little while there... Life hit me pretty hard, and I had a difficult time getting on top of it, and, as should happen in such cases, something had to give. So 52 Weeks of Wordage had to go on hiatus for a bit. But I'm quasi-back! Yay!!! Here's the plan: Make It Up Monday will still happen, but it will be every other week, starting this coming Monday. I'm going to make an attempt at posting every other day depending on my work load at both school and work, but it may not be quite every other day. We shall see. Weekends will be my main posting time. Saturdays and Sundays galore of posting! Once school is out for Winter Break, normal posting will resume, and I'll maintain that until life gets too hectic in the Spring semester. After that, I'll be FREE from the confines of school and will be able to post with wild abandon!! Glory, glory hallelujah! At any rate, it's 3am, and I have school in the morning. Must sleep.

This is exercise in generating specific detail (think "show don't tell"). Without using the word flood, show that there has been a flood.  Tip: try to come up with detail that appeals to all the senses, including smell, taste, touch, and sound. LP Field in Nashville, TN when the flooding came through earlier this year.  1,2,3, GO! Attempt #1: Scrapped after 2.5 minutes... hehe The damage was unbelievable. My neighborhood, once a thriving suburban area, had been reduced to empty homes, rotting walls, and ruined lawns. The waters had completely engulfed my street which was at the bottom of the hill and lay there stagnantly for the next two days, and it wasn't until the next week that anyone was able to get back to their homes to survey the total loss. My house was one of the better-looking ones. Most of it was simply mold growing on the walls and insulation and ruined flooring, but it was all fixable. Others weren't so lucky with their ceilings caving in a

Thanks for all the well-wishes, guys! I'm not back up to 100% just yet, but I'm getting there. If only I could just stop coughing........ But anyways, it's MONDAY! And you all know what that means... The name of the game is "Make It Up Monday," and the rules are as follows:

So sorry that I have been remiss in my posting duties. Not only did my life go absolutely crazy with business this past week, but I also got sick and have been trying to quell the person who has decided to open the faucet attached to my nose on at full strength. Post nasal drip is a bitch, guys. At any rate, my fever has now broken, and I'm feelind well enough to post the winners for this past week's Make It Up Monday! Belle wrote... Mr. Lee's wife started menopause six months ago. He now sits beside his apartment building watching the traffic and people go by. He enjoys it so much he wishes she had acted crazy years ago.   M.A.S. wrote...      “You think he’s as old as he looks?” I asked her. “It’s a hard life out here. He’s probably thirty.”      “I think he’s a thousand years old,” she replied. “He’s as old as the earth.” There was something disturbingly cosmic in her tone.      “Sixty?” I tried not to let the concern squeak out in my voice. But it did.     

The name of the game is "Make It Up Monday," and the rules are as follows:

My grocery store has a bulletin board for customer thoughts, and I love seeing the emotion and the quirkiness in so many of the comments. Here are a few I jotted down in my ever-handy notebook: I adore the chicken pesto sausage. Please keep them until I die. Please put a Whole Foods Market in Tampa, FL. Why are your bathrooms always disgusting??? The decision to discontinue the sale of live lobster and crabs is RIDICULOUS etc...... So the 5 minute writing exercise is this: in one to two sentences, what might the following characters write on a customer comment card in your supermarket? a harried young mother with twin toddlers who suffer from an allergy a retired diabetic on a strict budget an avid amateur chef an avid and extremely adventurous and accomplished chef someone who just found out that the favorite TV show has been canceled someone who just found this morning that they have won a law suit, and the settlement will add to their already substantial fortune a strict

June 27 "Only the Top Ten Nouns" According to Oxford University Press researchers (view the article HERE ) the top 10 nouns in the English language are: Time Person Year Way Day Thing Man World Life Hand The exercise is this: write something --- anything -- that incorporates these and only these 10 nouns. 1,2,3, GO!!! Ok, folks... I'm going to need a little bit of time on this one. So I'm going to post this early in the morning and then work through this throughout the day, posting my response as an update at the bottom of this post sometime in the evening. If you'd like to do the same, go for it! The great thing is that, even though we're all using the same prompt, we're all going to come up with starkly different things. Exciting, eh?? So, go! Write! You're pulling out your pen and paper now, aren't you? ... Aren't you?? Good luck, and have fun! Peace. Stef.

Here are my lovely winners for this week's installment of "Make It Up Monday!" Our Life in a Caravan wrote... Margo and Tilly couldn't watch as Lucy made herself into the shape of a bike rack and awaited her first paying customer. The things that girl will do for money! King of New York Hacks wrote... FLATULENCE...Always has its ups and downs. (SIDE NOTE: I'm a sucker for a good fart joke.) e.gajd wrote... Let me just say that, well, I'm not sure how to say this. I love my sisters. But... Do you have sisters? No? Well, then you probably won't understand how I can write that 'I love my sisters, but... ' Let me start by saying, you can't tell by looking at them, but they're twins. Being twins means that they always seem to have a secret connection. Well, that is annoying enough, but even worse, they love to laugh. They laugh at just about everything. And always they laugh, together, usually just after they look at me and then at

This is an exercise in making up similes, that is, figures of speech comparing unlike things. For example, you might say, a cup of coffee is like a slap in the face. Or, a cup of coffee is like a cup of sludge. Or, a cup of coffee is like a hello from the donut. And so on. Come up with as many similes as you can for "a drink of cool water is like..." 1,2,3, GO! A drink of cool water is like ... a slap in the face after a long, hot day a refreshing foot massage... for your tongue? CPR an oasis in the middle of an arid desert a swift breeze right before a thunderstorm ... ... ... And I'm completely out of imagery. Does anyone else have any ideas? Peace. Stef. P.S. Sorry for the uber short post. Homework beckons, and I've procrastinated long enough.

The name of the game is "Make It Up Monday," and the rules are as follows:

This post is to honor those that were lost, those that saved the people in danger of being lost, and those that united this country in a time of panic and fear. I salute you. To my American readers, where were you when you found out about the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon as well as the crash of Flight 93?  If you're not from the US, when did you hear about it? What was your response? I was in 9th grade, and I was sitting in Study Hall when my Math teacher from 8th grade came in, her face grave, and turned on the overhead tv, explaining that the Two Towers in New York City had just been hit by two planes in attack against The United States. The country was in a state of panic and crisis, and I was, I admit this shamefacedly, calm. I wasn't in New York. I wasn't in Washington, DC. This didn't affect me. It wasn't until, in front of our very eyes, the south tower collapsed. The reporter that had been talking in the background of the program cr

An American who was resident in Paris for many years gives a tour of the local art museum to some friends who are mighty impressed. Write the scene with dialogue. Impression: soleil levant by Claude Monet Ah, le français...Je l'aime. Vraiment... :) I'm actually taking French right now, and it's been nice to get back into it. I haven't taken it in several years and have, as a result, forgotten some of the grammatical rules, etc. But anyways... Let's get on with it, shall we?

Once again, there were some really great responses, and I had a really hard time picking out the winners. BUT! I came across a few that I honestly couldn't not list as the winners, and there they are!

If you remember from my previous post, " Mr. Perfect Is Out There..., " I mentioned that I might write a little ditty about the fabled "Mr. Perfect." Well, the time has come, folks, for me to unmask Mr. Perfect (or Mrs. Perfect, depending on who you are). Who is he? What does he do? Why the hell is he so hard to find? Ahem. drumroll, please... Notice the little key coming out of his back. Ah, the perfect man... He doesn't exist. I know, I know. Gasps all around, right? I'm sure most of you are probably going to think, "Man, this chick is totally jaded." But I'm not, really and truly. I am simply a realist. We are taught from day one by the media and so on that our perfect mate is out there somewhere in this land of beauty and opportunity, but the truth is that there is no such thing as a "perfect partner" or a "soul mate." In the words of Snow White, "Someday my prince will come..." except, he

In  Dreaming By the Book , a path-breaking analysis of how novelists instruct us to form images in our minds as we read, Elaine Scarry devotes an entire chapter to stretching, folding and tilting. The exercise is this: In a dentist's office, what might stretch, fold, or tilt? Simply make a list of as many items as you can, and very briefly describe the way in which these stretch, fold or tilt. 1,2,3, GO! There is nothing good about the dentist's office. Absolutely nothing. You sit in the little waiting room while your ears are tortured with the sound of drills and crying children. They try to cover up the horror with cheesy muzak, but it can't possibly mask the sounds of pure evil going on behind the examining room doors. But that's not what this exercise is about. It's about stretching, folding and tilting... the scary chair, of course, folds and tilts the overhead light does all 3, and quite menacingly, I might add the mirror thingy that they stick in your

The name of the game is "Make It Up Monday," and the rules are as follows:

You see an odd-looking man in a bar in a strange town. He has a cat on his lap, and he orders a cup of coffee, slowly spooning sugar into it. He strokes the cat's black fur and says, "This contact is illusory. The cat and I are separated as though by a pane of glass, because man lives in time, in successiveness, while the magical animal lives in the present, in the eternity of the instant." What do you say back to him? And he to you? What does the cat do? What happened to this man before he came into the bar?  1,2,3, GO!

On Friday morning, everything was super normal and fun. I woke up at 7:45, took a shower, and ate breakfast: a Kellogg's breakfast bar. As I gathered my things for my class at 9am that day, I couldn't help but notice a slight tingling going on in my mouth. For some reason, my tongue was itchy. Odd... But it wasn't just itchy. Less than 20 minutes later, my tongue began to swell at an alarming rate. At first, I was just mildly disconcerted, but when I began to have a difficult time breathing I started to panic. So I hopped into my car and made my way to the Vanderbilt hospital emergency room.

In lieu of a writing exercise today, I have decided to tell you all a little anecdote about my odd morning. Actually, it all started a couple of days ago. I came home Sunday evening to a... different smell in my house. It wasn't overwhelming or completely offensive; it was simply strange, and I had a hard time placing it. Figuring that one of my roommates had cooked something that, to them, might have smelled wonderful earlier that evening, I shrugged it off. It would wear off once I woke up in the morning. No harm done. Yesterday, I woke up and honestly didn't notice any smell. Of course, I don't spend much time anywhere in my house other than my bedroom and bathroom, so it's natural that I wouldn't smell something that was, say, originating from the kitchen. Last night, however, I came home after work through the back door leading to the kitchen, and the smell was still hanging stagnantly in the air, only intensified. Okay , I thought. Leftovers... I hope that

The name of the game is "Make It Up Monday," and the rules are as follows:

Finally, the internet is back up, and I am able to post the winners for the first issue of Make It Up Monday! There were a total of 56 entries, guys!!!! I was so excited to read through them all, but I must admit I found myself stressing a bit over who to pick, why to pick them, and whether or not I would step on any toes by not picking their entry. And then I realized, I am not an expert. There was some really excellent writing that filled my comments section, but I can't pick all of it as I would so like to do. It's a contest, and every contest deserves a winner. So without further ado, I have narrowed down the 56 entries to 5 winners all of which I loved for different reasons varying from the cadence of the speech to something as simple as giving me a good chuckle. Without further ado, here are the winner's for last week's Make It Up Monday contest!!! Nicole said...      John Burns had seen things during his life that he wouldn't have wished on any man,

I promise I have the winners!!! I'm not procrastinating! My internet is being a little bitch right now, so I'm posting this from my phone. BOOOO! At any rate, I have to go to work, so I will attempt to fix this web access problem once I get home this evening. Please forgive the inconvenience! Peace. Stef.

Friendly reminder: the Make It Up Monday contest is up at 5pm today! Enter your submissions HERE ! Also, if you have any questions for me to be answered in an upcoming post, go HERE ! And now for the exercise... Describe your living room from the point of view of your neighbor. What does he/she notice? Feel? Think? 1,2,3, GO! This couch is nicer-looking than mine. Poor thing, it's been through the ringer... Mary walked into the living room and was slightly startled by the stacks of boxes against the right wall. "Oh, sorry about that," Stefanie said casually. "My roommate's moving out at the end of the week, and she needed a place to put all of her boxes." Sitting down on the tattered, beige couch, Mary made herself comfortable. The couch sat surprisingly low on the couch, but upon sitting she felt completely engulfed in comfort.

A short story begins with these two lines: Sometimes, out on the boat, she wanted to tell Louise.  This was before Louise got the tattoo on her shoulder. Write the last paragraph of the story. For my purposes, this "she" is going to go by the name of Eleanor. 1,2,3, GO! It had been a trying year, with money gained, friends lost, and then money lost. The question that lingered on both of their minds was if, in the end, it had been worth it. For Eleanor, her growth was obviously visible. She was coming into her own, forming into the person she had always wanted to be, and life seemed to be heading down the right track. Finally, things were looking up. And all Louise had to show for it was that damned tattoo. END I finished this one on well under 5 minutes, but I feel like I got my point across. Plus, the exercise only asked for a single paragraph, right? As far as I'm concerned, I'm good to go here. Moving on...

We have a few ongoing things going on here at 52 Weeks of Wordage , and before I continue with the exercise, I'm just going to alert anyone who might not have seen the posts.   Introduce yourself and shamelessly plug your blog while visiting other 52 Weeks followers' blogs! Weekly contest, "Make It Up Monday!" Submit by Thursday at 5pm to be featured on my blog on Friday! Ask me anything you want to know about my writing, my life, my creative process, etc... The sky's the limit! Now for the exercise...   How does your character answer the telephone? What does her voice sound like? How does she hold the telephone? (Or does she use an ear-clip, or does she prefer the speaker phone?) What does she typically say? When she goes out of town, what is the message she leaves on her answering machine? How does she feel about the telephone? What does her ring tone sound like? Where is her telephone? How many telephones does she have? Who does she call? How much does

Stefers the Great - aka Stef Ack! No makeup! Don't judge... Over the last few days, I have been joyously overwhelmed by the wonderful responses I've been getting through the comments on my posts and my Formspring and e-mail accounts (contact info found in the Contact Me tab at the top of the page, just under the name and blog description), and I just want to thank you once again for your support and participation. As I've been reading the responses I've gotten, I feel like I'm getting to know each one of you, but I've realized that, except for the About Me section, you don't know all that much about me!

First, let me thank you all so much for your comments on my last post. I haven't gone through them all yet (Over 95 comments in a single day ?? WOW!) but plan to give each of your blogs a visit and hello. :) I've really loved the ones I've visited already and can't wait to see where your blogging journey takes each of you! If you haven't done so yet, go HERE to introduce yourself and tell me about your blog! Welcome to [insert trumpet fanfare]... The name of the game is "Make It Up Monday," and the rules are as follows:

You'll quickly notice that I love lolcats. Don't judge... They're hilarious. Today's post is going to be pretty short, but it's purpose isn't for me to write, but for YOU to write! Tell me a little bit about yourself! Who are you, from where do you hail, what is your favorite thing about blogging or reading other people's blogs? Tell me anything you'd like! If you have a blog, don't fear the shameless plug! haha Leave a link in your comment and go visit some of the blogs linked by your fellow commenters. Speaking of your blogs, I've been going through my list of followers and looking at your blogs. There is some really great content out there! :) Let me just say that I am so humbled that you would be interested in following me and my project. You're all so wonderful, and I can't thank you enough. So get on with it already! Leave a comment about yourself!

If you haven't read the post that spawned this one, go HERE . In going through your comments on the "Mr. Perfect Is Out There..." post, I figured it would be easier to write a response via a blog post instead of writing an epically long comment in the comment form. Plus, I know that a lot of people don't want to go wading through all of that business. Because there were so many wonderful responses there's no way that I can get to them all, but I will respond to as many as I can. SIDE NOTE : Click on the names of the people to visit their blogs!! Let's chat...

What do you know about Belgium? Write down what you can in five minutes. Be as specific as possible (and don't forget the chocolate). I have a confession to make. I know almost nothing about Belgium. No, not almost. I know absolutely nothing about it. In fact, the chocolate didn't even come into mind until it was mentioned in the exercise itself... Sigh... I'm not dumb, I promise. This is Belgium, located between France & Germany. Does anyone know anything about it? I'm honestly at kind of a loss... Must go off to think for a little bit... perhaps pick up a copy of the encyclopedia... ------------------------------- UPDATE! Consider me Successful Suzie , because I have found something on which to write! Drumroll, please...

... but he's just hiding from you at the moment. I don't trust his cheesy little grin... Someone said this very sentence to me today, and I couldn't help but stare blankly at him in disbelief. Seriously, do people think that the trials of life and love can be appeased by such platitudinous drivel? And we won't even touch the "Mr. Perfect" part of the comment. Maybe in a later post... I've expressed my distaste of marriage at my age in a few previous posts (the one that's coming to mind at the moment is THIS ONE ), but I'm feeling the need to express myself further. Bear with me. And don't worry, the writing exercises will resume tomorrow. I am 23 years old (due to turn 24 in November), and I have been in 1 serious relationship that lasted 1 and 1/2 years and a few non-serious flings. This does not make me an expert on relationships. In fact, it makes me a novice... or perhaps an expert on being single. I'm ok with this. Wha

I logged into Blogger.com today to work on an upcoming post, and this is what greeted me: Blog of Note. Blog of Note? BLOG OF NOTE!!!!! That was my thought progression when I logged into Blogger today and read all of the lovely comments left on my posts. Thank you all so much! You sure do know how to make a lady feel good about herself. Honestly, I can't even comprehend it quite yet. In one day, my itty bitty little blog has grown exponentially in followers, and my hits have gone through the roof. It's absolutely amazing, really. Who do I thank? The Powers That Be at Blogger.com? My loyal followers who keep me going with their support and love? My parents with their top-rate upbringing skills? Gah, I have no idea. Consider the aforementioned thanked copiously... and then thanked once more for posterity. But here's the thing... I am now just a wee bit terrified. Now that I have so many more followers, I feel the need to post absolutely brilliant fiction, to write

Energize your writing with action verbs! This is an easy exercise to help train your brain to think in terms of action verbs. Focusing on actions the human body can perform, provide one (or 2 or 3) verbs per letter of the alphabet. For example: arch bounce, burp, belch cartwheel, call out dither, dunk exit, enter, expand fling, fart, fall gallop, galumph, grit (teeth) Keep going! Get to Z if you can... 1,2,3, GO! I'm going to try and write at least 2 for every letter. We'll see how that works. :) Good luck to all partaking in this exercise! Post what you come up with in the comments section!

Another prompt. Use this as your opening line: They were eating dinner when a butterly floated in and landed on the meatloaf. Here's a question: Why does everyone bag on meatloaf? My Mom, an excellent cook (that is, if she's home long enough to make something), makes absolutely delectable meatloaf. I mean, sure, the name of the dish leaves much to be desired, but what is it about meatloaf that makes people's faces immediately warp into something that looks somewhat like Worf from Star Trek (you know... furrowed brow and whatnot...)? I've always had good experiences with meatloaf, and I'm kind of sad that it has such a bad rep. Sigh... Poor meatloaf. 1,2,3, GO!

I'm taking the weekend off from 52 Weeks here, but I thought I'd leave you all with a cute little video taken by yours truly. I came home after work today and cleaned underneath the couch (side note: it's amazing how much stuff can accumulate under there!), and I found a few cat toys that had been chased/batted into the abyss who knows how long before. I threw one of the toys out of the way so I could sweep (like I said, amazing what I found there), and Lily, always the huntress, went off to attack it. Moments later, I was bent over with my broom and dustpan, and I heard this high-pitched little meow. Turning around, I spied Lily sitting  at my feet, her big doe eyes looking up at me, and the toy was laying directly in front of her. Odd, I thought. I picked it up and threw it again for good measure, and once again, she returned shortly after with the toy in her mouth. I thought it was so adorable that I took out my phone and filmed it. Enjoy. :) Holy crap,

Today's exercise is courtesy of Leslie Pietrzyk, a novelist who lives in Alexandria, Virginia. Without turning around to look, write a list of everything that is behind you right now. Be specific and thorough; be literal and metaphorical. 1,2,3, GO! It depends on how you look at it, really... Technically, everything in the world is behind me, but that's the kind of answer you'd expect from some pompous philosopher. In my most immediate proximity, there are two grey-topped desks behind me, complete with computers, chairs, and various office supplies. Yes, I am at work... But being as there is not currently any data entry for me to enter into the computer it would seem that I have a free moment to myself. It's rare in this office; there's always something to do. But today was slow, and I get a chance to take a breath. The office printer whirrs gently behind me as one of my co-workers gets up from his rolling chair to retrieve his printout. His chair slides grac

This is an exercise in vivid description and gestalt. For each room in your house, list three (and only three) objects that best describe it, and list one (and only one) adjective that gives its overall "feel." If you have time, do the closets. This is a point in my life at which I feel relieved to live in a small house. Three cheers for being poor!!! My house! Cute, right? Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray! Ah, crap... 1,2,3, GO!  Before I even begin this exercise, I'm going to look up "gestalt." I've used it before, and I have a general understanding of what it means, but I'm thinking it's about time I find a precise definition so that I don't continue using this great word all willy nilly. gestalt : n.; from German, literally translated as 'shape,' or 'form': 1) a structure configuration, or pattern of physical, biological, or psychological phenomena so integrated as to constitute a functional unit with properties not

What if Bob appeared on the front page of his local newspaper-- but he didn't know about it until the following day? "Holy crap!" Estelle bellowed from the kitchen, her raspy voice breaking loudly through lips that were dangling a lit cigarette out of the left side. "Bob! Come here!" "What?" Bob hollered. He was sitting in his chair holding a cold beer and watching the football game, and nothing short of the Lord Jesus Christ's return could make him move.

Ovid wrote: "Jupiter from on high smiles at the perjuries of lovers." Use this as the first line for what could be the opening paragraph of a novel about love. 1,2,3, GO! Jupiter on high smiles at the perjuries of lovers. It has been said that if one is lucky enough to be the focus of her watchful yet favorable gaze will forever be lucky in love, despite these perjuries. However, if one should so unfortunate as to gain attention from her malignant eye... That person is doomed forever to roam the Earth alone, celibate not by choice but by divine orientation.  We join one such unlucky individual as he has just come home from one of the most disastrous dates in his life. END Oh, good gracious. Remind me never to anger Lady Jupiter! Oddly enough, however, I actually have a question for you, my lovely readers:

In two sentences or less describe Fran. In two sentences or less describe her living room. In two sentences or less, very specifically put Fran in the livingroom (for example, she might be sitting in the wicker chair by the window reading the newspaper, or, she might be sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the fireplace doing her meditation, etc). Then, Tina comes in and tries to help. In what way? What exactly does Tina do? And/ or say? How does Fran react? 1,2,3, GO!

Using all the senses - sight, sound, smell, taste, touch - and specific detail, describe a haunted house. 1,2,3, GO! This exercise is actually right up my alley at this point in my life. I've been watching a lot of supernatural television such as Ghost Whisperer (starring Jennifer Love Hewitt), Angel (starring David Boreanaz), and various other creep-tastic shows, so I'm figuring that I've learned to write fiction like this through osmosis... Or maybe that's just wishful thinking? I don't know what it is, though, but there is just something fascinating about ghosts and demons and so on. Maybe it's the fear of  the unknown . You know, whatever is just beyond that realm of human comprehension. Where do we end up when we die? Is it possible to get stuck in between life and afterlife, doomed to roam unnoticed until your "unfinished business" is, in fact, completed? It's a really interesting concept, and it's one that has haunted - pun totally i

He got horribly sunburned. How did this happen? Write the scene from the point of view of someone who expected this would happen, and had warned him.   1,2,3, GO!!! "I told you," I said, extending my index finger to poke my husband's reddened skin. When I made contact, he groaned and jerked away. "Mel, stop that! It hurts." "But I told you." "Yeah, I know," he said. "I heard you. No reason to poke me." He had been mowing the lawn earlier, shirtless, and I had stepped out to tell him to put on sunscreen. Of course, he declined, like always. And like always, he had ended up with pretty serious sunburn all over his shoulders and back. "Aloe?" I said, smiling. He was miserable enough; it was time to make him feel better. Maybe he'll pay attention next time. END Well, that was............ brief. haha But it was all I could come up with, I swear! In other news, I'm dying my hair with henna again next wee