New Blog Chain Post: Dinner with an Idol

It's blog chain time again!

This round was started by the magnificent Michelle Hickman. She asks:

If you could dine with any author, and I do mean any whether alive or dead (yes,
we're going into the realms of time travel - but hey, we have science fiction
writers on this chain so we can always ask for them to write up the time machine
specs), who would you want to dine with? And if you can ask them for advice on
one writing element you feel you might be struggling at, what would it be?

Interesting question. Luckily, I'm near the end of the chain and had plenty of time to think about my answer. This may be cheating because he's technically not an author, but he's close enough and one of my biggest idols. My answer would be the Generalissimo himself, leader to all Brigadiers and True Believers:

Stan Lee.

As writers of fiction novels, there may be some of you who think that, since Stan Lee wrote comics, he may not have contributed anything to fiction. But that's where you'd be wrong. Think about some of your favorite book characters. Aren't they the ones you relate the most with? Don't they have problems just like you? Not enough money? Trouble getting a date? Ect. and so on? In the comic world, Stan Lee understood that before all others.

Before Stan Lee you had perfect hero after perfect hero. Think superman. In the early comics the man didn't even lose his temper. But Stan Lee came along and changed that. All of a sudden you had adults and teenagers losing their tempers, facing moral dilemmas with sometimes negative consequences. Believe it or not, before Stan Lee, comic book heroes never even got SICK. Stan Lee also went on to challenge the board of comic book ethics. Before, you weren't allowed to mention drugs in comic books. That may sound like a good thing but Stan Lee realized that his readers where kids and that kids have to deal with drugs. So, why not show someone using drugs and show the negative consequences? Comics could be used to speak out against, drugs, racism, and hate.

If I could spend a dinner with him I'd love to pick his brain on character depth and morality issues in writing. But if I were lucky enough to meet Stan Lee my meeting would probably go something like this:




Please check out Abby's blog for her dinner date and check back with Shannon tomorrow for her answer.

As Stan Lee would say: EXCELSIOR!

Creativity

Recently, I suffered a small setback in my writing. Nothing major, but I was letting some negative feedback eat me alive. Of course, it didn't matter how many writers and other professionals told me otherwise, the person who gave me the harsh feedback was the one I believed. Why? Because my inner editor is strong with the force. Being the artsy emotional type that I am, I let the negative feedback feed that inner editor until they were strong enouch and big enough to take me over completely; telling me what a hack I am, and how I should just go back to selling carbon steel pipe. And pink hair is not in the corporate dress code. *shudder*

I wanted to quit. It was hell.

So I ask myself, Cole, why the hell do you put yourself through all this? And, the reason is, I'm compelled to create. For the same reason painters paint, singers sing, and sculptors sculpt I have a never ending urge to weave story fibers into a novel. And setbacks, while they do give me pause (I'm only human) they can't stop me completely.

I'll stop writing when my heart stops beating.

Check out the video below. It's amazing and proves my point: creativity cannot be stopped.

A Tuesday Laugh Comic Style

Just because it's too good not to share. :)

More Hub's Words of Wisdom

Yesterday the Hubs and I went on a night bike ride. I was in the lead with Hubs following with Bubs in the the bike trailer. Deciding the weather was starting to look bad, I darted around a corner and into an alley hoping to beat the rain home.

Behind me, Hubs yells:

"Nice move taking the alley. This is only, like, how every single horror movie on the planet begins."

This has been another edition of Hub's Words of Wisdom.

In my defense, the alley was lit (sorta) and we beat the rain home. :)

The Hub's Words of Wisdom to Bubs

Both of these life lessons were given by my husband to my three-year-old just this morning.

THWACK! (followed by maniacal toddler laughing)

Hubs: And that's how we defeat the enemy. We smash their fists with our face.


Then, about an hour later, this came from the bathroom:


CRASH! (followed by more maniacal toddler laughing)

Hubs: And that's why we don't breakdance in the shower.


This is, indeed, my life.

New Blog Chain Post: The Silver Lining Behind the Shame

Today's blog chain topic is brought to you by the lovely Laura Diamond (side note: I'm jealous of anyone who has a name that sounds like they could be a super hero) who asks:



Regarding your writing career, what’s the best mistake you’ve ever made and why?

I think my answer is that I flipped over my cards and luckily it paid off.

When I started this blog back in '08 my goal was to keep it strictly about writing. I'd read too many warnings about posting about your personal life and how it can turn readers off. And growing up the way I did, well, some things are just best kept to yourself.

But then, for whatever reason, I took a chance and wrote a post that gave people the first real glimpse into my life: Life Lessons I Learned from my Stripper Roommate While the post didn't get a lot of comments, I got a lot of emails. Despite the humorous content people could relate to my struggle growing up.

Iiiiiiiiinteresting.

So I opened up a little more, told people about the step-dad and having all of my stuff burned on the lawn. As I waited for my followers to drop, interestingly enough I gained more. What I discovered is, I didn't have to be embarrassed of my past - I could embrace it and inspire at the same time.

And now, it's time for a true confession. It turns out my roommate wasn't the only stripper. I stripped once, just once, and the pic is posted below. WARNING: May be too sexy for some.

*snort* What did you think I meant?

(side note: Taking another look at this pic I think I kinda look like Cobra Commander which is pretty badass.)

Please check out the always amazing Abby's blog to see her answer and check back tomorrow for stellar Shannon's. (I know, stellar is lame I just couldn't come up with anything on the fly. But Shannon's not lame. Read her post!)

Friday Funnies Comic Style

New Blog Chain Post: Writing my Obituary

Today I'm wrapping up a blog chain started by the lovely Shannon Morgan. She asks:

Imagine this: when you're gone, readers will remember your writing most for just one of these things: your characters, your plots, your settings, or your style. Which one (only one!) would you prefer over the rest? Why?

Fantasic question. One, that I feel, can only be answered in the form of my FICTIONAL (don't freak, Mom) obituary.

Cole Gibsen (1980 - 2010)

Cole Gibsen, of the greater St. Louis area, passed away Sunday, October 3rd, 2010. Her young life was cut short due to the harrowing combination of a runaway ice cream truck, an oil spill, and two dozen dachshunds.

Cole passed away before the 2012 release of her book, KATANA (because, if you knew Cole, you would know that that is just her luck) which she had hoped would bring smiles to all who read it. Because comedy was always a passion of Cole's. In her youth, Cole had dreams about becoming a stand up comedian. Cole quickly abandoned those dreams when she realized she could always come up with the perfect hilarious comeback...twelve hours after the insult had been given.

The memorial service will be held at Journeys Shoes inside the local mall who may go out of business due to the loss of Cole's patronage.


So, what about you? What do you want to be remembered for? Don't forget to check out Abby's post to see how she answered.

My Absence Explained

Some of you have noticed that I haven't been blogging as much lately and my presence on Twitter and Facebook has been next to nil. And my emails? I apologize to everyone awaiting a response from me, I swear they're coming!

The reason?

Oh, do let me share. The answer is simple:

I have a dental file lodged inside my jaw.

Let me repeat in case you didn't hear.

I HAVE A DENTAL FILE LODGED INSIDE MY JAW.

My love of dentists continues to grow.

Anyway, let me just say that the pleasant humorous Cole you all know and love has vacated and the Cole with razor nails and murderous intentions has filled her place. Hopefully, this situation will be resolved shortly.

If not, I would appreciate the number of a good lawyer. (Even I am not sure if I'm joking on that one.)