Three Dollar Squirrel, vol 1 issue 1 by Dragonfly Press Publishing

T H R E E DOLLAR SQUIRREL

For writers, by writers, on the act of writing.

From the Editor: Growing up, I was a voracious reader. My mother could not keep me in books. I was always exploring the library and bringing them home by the arm fulls. Reading 300 words a minute, I would devour books in one day, one evening, and always with another waiting in the wings to be gobbled up. Mysteries. Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s books. Dramas. Books on different cultures and their histories. No matter what I read though, one thing remained a constant. Since I was a child, I dreamt of creating my own stories. I enjoyed those blissful days of sitting in my room reading and nights with a flashlight under homemade safari tents made of sheets. I would drift off to search for treasure, the blue water of the ocean all but enveloping my ship, fly into the clouds above with winged horses or hunt with Greek Goddesses after having tea and honey with the elves and fairies of the Fey court. Now, years later as a mother, I share those dreams and stories with my own little girl. I write because it brings me joy and she shares in that as she now puts pictures to the words in her mind and we both watch them unfold. If I could pass on that joy to even one more person, I know the spark would carry and the flame would spread. Three Dollar Squirrel is a spark, a work in progress, a collaborative effort, and a collective wisdom. It is whimsy and joy, answers and shared frustrations, a pushing off point and, to some, a solution to witâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s end. If this zine helps you in even the slightest way to encourage your path as a writer, then it has done its job. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed compiling it! Namaste, Ria :) aka Renmeleon

What kind of walls do I hit when writing? Really I’m lucky I don’t get stuck often. But when the occasion arises I have a couple of tricks I use. One is to have a character open something and look around in it. For example if she’s waiting for someone to come down stairs she opens a desk drawer and pokes around. If they are in a car they open the glove box and see what’s there. If it’s not their home or car even better. My second trick is to pick a character, any one, it doesn’t have to be a main character it could be the waiter that pours them coffee. Then I open a new document and start writing something short with that character. You’d be surprised how much more you learn about them or find something that may have happened to bring them into the person they are. It may even end up being something you can use part or all of in your main story. Elise VanCise www.freewebs.com/elisevancise http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=1183871 http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Author-EliseVanCise/58547854418?ref=share

Walls I see as both adversary and friend. I often seem to encounter apathy as the main “wall” I smack into. To counter this, I remind myself that though my work may never be seen by the world, it is a duty to myself to expel the said craft from my mind, and thus, release my obligation to my own heart; therein I am without shackles. I also find that life creeps in to bog down my craft. We will ALWAYS find an excuse not to write if the subject is too close to our souls. To combat this, I seek structure and schedule my life to accomodate both life and my passion. As the aspect of friend, I deem a wall a challenge placed to better my work and my strategies to accomplish my tasks. Jason C. Ketcham http://www.wordwhimsy.com

Quill in one hand, chin in the other, the journalist pondered... With fingers poised on the keyboard, the writer stared at the platen of the typewriter... Arms folded upon his chest, leaning back in his chair, and staring at the computer screen, the author seemed frozen in time...

Well, the problem of writer’s block apparently has become more complex over time. This determination is pointed out by the length of sentences 1, 2, and 3, each of which represents the progress in submitting words to paper over time. A case might be made that the quicker and easier it becomes to transfer thoughts to paper, the greater the danger of writer’s block. Is there a solution to the quandary? Is there a magical system to be planted in the brain which will prevent this bane of journalistic endeavor? Or is this simply an endemic challenge to be encountered and overcome by those who ply this trade, and is there a formula that will be of assistance when the difficulty rears its ugly head. In the humble opinion of the challenger in this corner, each must find his own recipe for not just overcoming, but rather for using what has been termed a difficulty into an asset, and a welcomed opportunity. For me, writer’s block is handled by the electrical term...AC. In the electrical field the letters stand for alternating current. In handling writer’s block, to me the letters stand for alternatives and changes. Permit me to give two illustrations. The first outlines alternatives, and the second, changes. Three men enter a hotel and ask for a common room. The clerk indicates the cost will be $30.00 for the night. Each man pays $10.00 and with key in hand, up they go up to their room. Shortly the clerk calls a bellhop over to the desk. He tells the bellhop that he has mistakenly overcharged the men for the room. He gives the young man five dollars and tells him to return

the overcharge to the three men. On the way up to the room, the bellhop is trying to figure out how he is going to divide five dollars between three men. He decides he will give each man a dollar back, and put two dollars in this pocket. Now, having set up the scene, for whatever reason, we find it necessary to account for the money. You will recall that the men each paid $10.00 in the beginning, and that each received a dollar back. So, therefore, the room has cost each man $9.00. Okay, three times nine dollars is twenty seven dollars, plus the two dollars in the bellhop’s pocket makes a total of twenty nine dollars. Whoops!! We started with thirty dollars…what happened to the other dollar? The answer is that we must look at the problem from all the angles, examine it from every point around the circle. We can’t keep hassling over the missing dollar, but move to an alternative approach to the matter! Well, we started with thirty dollars. The clerk has twenty five of them, the bellhop has two of them, and three of them were returned to the occupants of the room, for a total of thirty dollars. An alternative approach and the matter reaches an acceptable conclusion. Alright, that is the alternative approach, now for the application of our other letter “C” for change. We are involved in a western novel and over the first ten thousand words, have established our two heroes. At the moment the two are being chased by six bad men, and not knowing the territory, they inadvertently reach an unseen cliff and over they go with the bad guys close behind. Well, the cliff is two hundred feet straight down with nothing but rocks below! It looks like there is no way out but for our heroes to expire far too early in our story. What to do? Solution No. 1 Here is the first instance of Superman arriving in the nick of time to save the two heroes to live and fight the forces of evil another day. You don’t like that one? Okay, here’s another.

Solution No. 2 On the way down, our heroes are spotted by two large eagles, who being on the lookout for a good meal swoop down and grasp each of our heroes by the belt and fly off. Discovering that what they thought were large wounded birds, are something they think indigestible, the eagles abandon our heroes far from the bad guys who are back there at the top of the cliff. In appreciation for their new lease on life, our heroes establish a new fraternity which is still known today as “The Fraternal Order of Eagles”. Ah! You don’t like that one either! Okay, try this one on for size. Solution No. 3 Back up your quill, turn back the platen in your typewriter, or backspace the computer. Put a fork in the road, and have our heroes take the proper one which leads to a wide valley over the brow of a hill. Topping the hill, our heroes see a regiment of U. S. Cavalry on the move through the landscape. They are saved as the bad guys top the hill and see the cavalry down below. Now, we make the bad guys, Indians. We make the troopers the Sixth Cavalry under George Armstrong Custer. Our heroes after an exchange with Custer go on their merry way. The Indians return to their village and report what they have seen, and that the soldiers are headed their direction. Custer and his men continue on their way to the Little Big Horn. There you have it! Either alternatives, or changes...AC! In my mind, one starts either with premise, with a character, or with the climax and ending. The rest is easy, just follow the story and let it take you along as the words appear on the paper. Should the story suddenly stop appearing on the paper because it has chased itself into an unexplainable situation, or up a blind alley, then it is time for the author to step in and apply one of the two letters, either “A” or “C”. Ophir Vellenoweth http://www.buddyodance.com

The walls I hit most often in writing tend to be caused by lack of inspiration. Suspense and mystery stories live and die by the quality of the surprises they throw at their readers, and sometimes the good ideas just don’t come. The answer to this, for me at least, is time--time and distance. All too often, the creative well goes dry because it’s been pumped too hard, and inspiration shrivels up because it’s been examined so closely that all perspective and focus have been lost. Taking a break, be it a few minutes or a few days, usually starts the fountain flowing again, and allows me to come to the written material with a fresh eye and an improved attitude. Karen Dillon http://www.wordwhimsy.com

It’s the dreaded, “I have nothing to say” barrier that stumps me. I find that when I sit down and do a bit of brainstorming I can usually come up with something … anything! Even if what I come up with is crap, I have started the process that leads to other topics and ideas … and that, as it goes, is all she wrote. For example, I will start a brainstorming session by thinking of a random topic, something simple like weather. When I think of weather here in Florida I think of rain, umbrellas, and ruining my brand new leather pumps because I didn’t watch the weather report that morning. Now about those pumps! Loving shoes the way I do, I could easily go off on a tangent about the great strappy sandals I just bought for summer outings or perhaps the sassy pair of clogs that go so well with my favorite jeans. But speaking of the rain … Eve Bell http://www.wordwhimsy.com

Walls, to me, directly correlate with having control. You are trying to exert your control over the story, trying to steer it where you want it to go, but stories are spiteful and characters seldom want the same things you do. I used to get frustrated when I would hit a wall until I stopped trying to control my writing and allowed it to flow on its own. My stories started surprising me, taking me down paths I didn’t know were possible, finding hidden Easter eggs and buried treasures. I enjoy my writing a lot more now by allowing it to become what it wants and just going along for the ride. Of course, once I am done writing, I have to let the monkey loose on it; edit and reign it in to make sure the story as a whole flows well. I used to think that, “No, don’t edit, keep things moving and get it down on paper” but I have found that sometimes you miss out if you don’t make small adjustments along the way. If you are writing and something is haunting you long after you have written past it, it is better to go ahead and fix it because it will pull you back to it and away from furthering your story; you will get hung up on it and lose your momentum. But how do you fix it, and remain mindful of where you were heading before it distracted you? Quick. Make a notation in the margin next to where you felt least comfortable, the section that didn’t feel right. Now grab a clean piece of paper and make the same notation on top so you know where to look. I use the date and a letter, like “052409-A”, then move forward from that point on that piece of paper till you have exhausted the idea. Once you have exhausted that line of thinking, head back on over to the one you stepped away from and keep going. Something else that helps me is to make a note of what music I was listening to or what movie was playing in the background while I was writing. This way, if I have to stop to make dinner or run an errand, I can put myself back in that spot just by recreating my writing environment. I really helps me restart my train of thought. Ana Maria Seaton http://www.renmeleon.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/renmeleon/sets/ http://www.twitter.com/renmeleon

They Say I’m Whimsical in the Brain-Pan Writers should be able to write about anything. At least, that’s the attitude you should have. Take assignments about things you might not care about, up to and including something on toe fungus, and decide to be enthusiastic. Because it is a decision. Once you decide that, it’s easy to write about the kingdome of the toenaile and the fungus princess. You’re probably going to be writing about such a topic as non-fiction, but it can help to be a little whimsical in your thought process. It keeps you from getting bored and thinking about a topic in a non-conventional way can give you a fresh, if strange, perspective. Erin Thursby http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/310986/erin_thursby.html http://www.eujacksonville.com/ http://jaxeatdrinkandbemerry.blogspot.com/

Forgive me for not exactly answering the question. Writer’s block? I have no idea what that is, because I write in the theta brain wave state. And in theta, writing is an effortless partnership with The Writer or the creative force or whatever you want to call that big, wise, brilliant Self that rests inside everyone until it makes itself known as “that still small voice,” or the nudge of intuition, or gut feeling, or a “knowing.” I experience that Voice on the page almost every time I pick up a pen. So when I received the contract from Conari Press for Writing Down Your Soul, I decided to use deep soul writing not only as my spiritual practice, but also as my professional writing “method.” I figured writing down my soul transformed my thinking and my life, why not use it to produce a book that will transform the lives of others. So every morning, I worked on the book with “DG” (my Voice) on the page, writing by hand. I asked where the book needed to go. I asked what I needed to learn. I asked what research I needed to do, and within days the people to interview and books to read would magically appear. One morning, for example, I said, “DG, you know there’s something important about listening that I don’t know. Something I need to learn for the book. Show me and I will learn.” Well, the next morning, as my sister in Minneapolis

was ending a twenty-minute phone chat, she said, “Hey, Janet, if you’re interested in listening, you might be interested in the Compassionate Listening Project.” A week later, I was in the first of three interviews with Brian and Lisa Berman who taught me about deep listening with your “spiritual ear,” and my book was changed forever. As you expand the amount of time you write in theta, you discover that you can also use those first awakening moments, when you are still drenched in theta to capture what your mind gathered and explored during sleep. In those precious half-awake/ half-asleep moments, you have access to brand new ideas, true creativity, real break through “aha” thoughts. Now, there’s a problem with hanging out in theta with a pen in your hand. The Voice is constantly giving me new ideas, new blog posts, new articles to write, new workshops to develop, new book proposals, new chapters, new titles.... And sometimes, I find myself wanting to say, “So shut up a sec, will ya!” But I don’t. Janet Conner http://janetconner.wordpress.com/ http://www.twitter.com/janetconner http://www.writingdownyoursoul.com I often have multiple projects with characters going on at any time. The biggest issue for me is formulating plot to drive a story forward. The other problem I run into is finding quirks to make characters’ personalities unique. Especially characteristics that are not part of my norm. Usually I will ask myself questions pertaining to how a given character would handle a certain situation or how they would reply to another’s dialogue. Do their reactions and thoughts match a person with the character’s traits and worldview? These are question that help me to create characters with a past or a dark secret, or even a driving devotion. Asking myself questions that expand a character’s history help me to feel like I am remembering the events of a friend’s life, or an enemy’s deeds. Val M. Selvaggio http://romandeadguys.wordwhimsy.com http://www.wordwhimsy.com

The biggest obstacle I face in my writing is my own insecurity as a writer. I confessed this to a non-writer friend today. In disbelief, she said; “I never would’ve guessed. You always seem so confident about what you do.” That’s because non-writers think everything about the writing life is easy. Ideas are a dime a dozen. We hash out scenes in the carpool lane. Our heroines always behave the way we want them to, and our heros are a dream come true. Writers know nothing could be farther from the truth. Whenever I am plotting a new novel or talking with multi-published, better-known-writers than myself about the art of creating a magical world with words, I wonder if I’m not in over my head. There are so many writers out there better than me, more talented than me, certainly smarter than me, doing what I’m doing and doing a better job at it. With thousands of fiction books published every year, what makes me think I have anything to say that hasn’t been said by someone much better equipped to say it? Near the beginning of nearly every project--and sometimes in the middle and the end--I stare at the blinking cursor and think; “Stop kidding yourself. You’re no writer. You need to get a real job.” Sometimes it takes a comment from a friend or a lovely email from a reader or even a nudge from the Holy Spirit to remind me I am a complex individual. No one shares my personality, life experiences, fears, or passions. No one sees a situation the same way I do. No one else will approach the same plot line the way I choose to. Overcoming my fears and insecurities is a struggle I face nearly every time I sit down at the computer. But I believe each story is given to a particular author for a reason, whether screenplay, novel, song, or sonnet. It is not my concern how a different author would handle the material. For this point and time, this is my story and it is my duty to write it. Teresa Slack Stories to entertain, edify, and inspire http://www.teresaslack.com http://www.teresaslack.blogspot.com http://www.shoutlife.com/teresaslack

Um...I have to confess I never get writer’s block (at least thus far). I think the main issue in writing is checking facts. It’s important to find three unrelated sources to compare otherwise you can end up with revisionist history (and even with using those three sources, that can still happen). About the only other wall can be editing. There are times when you’re asked to cut a whole chapter (or equivalent) to make the page count. Or, there’s an edit that really isn’t your voice/vision. That can be very hard to negotiate. Initially i try the diplomatic route and explain my reasoning for wanting to keep/delete something, or why i feel the edit is wrong. If that doesn’t work, it’s ok to kick it up the food chain to a supervisor. You, after all, have to live with the results of that work for many years -- the publisher won’t take the heat for pissing off your readers.. You will! Most often a good solution happens. Sometimes, however, you have to make tough choices. I’ve actually pulled one project in my career and placed it elsewhere over editorial issues. It was very scary to try, but i’m glad i did. If you don’t believe in what you write - why write? Patricia Telesco Internationally Well-Known Author http://www.loresinger.com http://www.myspace.com/patricia_telesco http://disc.yourwebapps.com/Indices/242494.html

When I feel as if my story is at an impasse, I usually step away and do something unrelated. Then perhaps work on another story, or try and head in different directions with my story. Sometimes a rewrite of the previous pages will find you traveling a path you never thought would work. J. Logan Seaton http://www.scoundrelshaven.com http://www.wordwhimsy.com

When I write, I find that I am stuck at how to make the words flow smoothly. So I start out with a quick draft of what I am trying to express first, and then think about the story line second. When I do this I have an image in my head, and my imagination tends to run wild when I am thinking of what to write. Sights, sounds and even smells are imagined and then strung together to express the feeling and the moment. Amy Ng www.pikaland.com www.pikaland.etsy.com www.pikaland.com/goodtoknow

Brick walls. I generally just paint them like the road like Wile E. Coyote. Chad Taylor Playwright and Director http://www.insomniactheatre.com http://www.myspace.com/insomniactheatreflorida

A special thank you to phenomenally talented Amy Ng of Pikaland for her inspiration and encouragement. Amy’s “Good to Know” zine covers the artful side of creativity and is a wonderful resource for both artists and writers alike. I am blessed to be in Issue No. 2! Thank you Amy! xoxo

WRITERS, GET INVOLVED! As a participant, you get up to three links in the zine and exposure from Three Dollar Squirrel website as well as on both the Renmeleon and Word Whimsy sites. If you are a writer and would like to get involved in future issues, please drop me an email at renmeleon (at) gmail.com and for more information visit: http://www.wordwhimsy.com/projects.html

HELP NAME THE SQUIRREL! http://www.renmeleon.com/wordpress/?p=460 http://www.flickr.com/photos/renmeleon/3548075596/

TIPS ON ORDERING SQUIRRELS THROUGH THE MAIL: For additional copies of Three Dollar Squirrel, stop by the shop at http://renmeleon.etsy.com SUBSCRIPTIONS 3, 6, and 12 month subscriptions are also available on Etsy! ========= THE WRITER’S GROUP For more information on the Word Whimsy writer’s group, come visit us online at: http://www.wordwhimsy.com ========= WHOLESALE Want a few Squirrels wholesale? Drop an email to me at renmeleon@gmail.com with the words “Wholesale Squirrel” in your subject line.

One of our favorite things to do in Word Whimsy is our monthly Collaborative Word List. Each member contributes five (5) words and I compile them into one list. The challenge then is to use all of the words in the list, in their provided tense, in a story between that monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s meeting and the next. It is a great way to increase your vocabulary and shove you out of your comfort zone. We have had some great successes with the Collaborative Word List. In most cases, people who find themselves blocked sit down, inspired, and write several pages. It is a time to relax, loosen your pen in your hand and motivate. Below are five new words for you. See if you can write a page using all of the words. If you do, drop me an email and I will publish your story* in the next issue!

WORDY CHALLENGE NO. 1 pernicious: deadly; destructive; exceedingly harmful. taciturn: not inclined to talk. venerate: to regard or treat with reverence; revere. florid: flushed with red; also, excessively ornate. pedestrian: walker; also, unimaginative. If you would like to play with our Collaborative Word List join us at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wordwhimsy/ then come register on our forums at: http://www.wordwhimsy.com/forums Try your hand at one of our past word lists and read some of the stories that have been posted! Email me at renmeleon@gmail.com if you have any questions. *All stories subject to proofread and approval. Please keep it PG. Words and their definitions from http://www.dictionary.com

WRITING PROMPT NO. 1 Everyone has the need to collect things. Choose an item from the things you have collected over the years and let it tell the story of how it came to be where it lives right now.

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Dragonfly Press Publishing www.dragonflypresspublishing.com illustrations copyright 2009 ana maria seaton the renaissance chameleon | www.renmeleon.com all content copyright protected by the individual creatives the opinions expressed in this zine belong to the individual authors and are not the opinions of Word Whimsy or its founders (unless our name is on them). so remember kids: diversity makes you think and censorship is just imposing your opinion over someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. be tolerant and look through someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eyes. just my opinion. :) reproduction and/or distribution of this zine in part or in full is prohibited without the written permission of ana maria seaton and will result in bad karma and unexplained instances of rabid squirrel visitation.