moved!

Just a quick update to let everyone know I've officially moved over to my main site. I'm still working a little on the layout, but this would be the reason I've been a little quiet here lately. Thanks to everyone who's been reading...the blog will remain up for now, and I hope to see you at its new address!

So...from now on you can find me at patriciaheatherington.com. And of course also on Twitter. 

cold weather

Growing up in Texas, I was one of those people who always said I loved cold weather. I wanted to go to school in Boston, not only because it was one of the coolest cities I've ever been to, but also because it was in the north and it would be cold. 

Oh, so naive...I didn't know the meaning of the word cold.

I have since learned. Here in DC, we've had calls for snow flurries several times over the last few days, and I've also already enjoyed the transforming experience of knowing how the ice cubes in my freezer feel on my walks to and from work. To my friends and family in the south who say they enjoy cold weather, I have to remind them that Texas cold does not equal real cold. It might...for a day. But then it will warm up again.

Who can forget last winter's spectacular snow fall?

Now, for all of my complaining about winter and the bitter cold...there are exceptions. The holidays. I am all for cold weather for the holidays. It seems wrong to have warm weather at Christmas. And then "White Christmas" almost takes on a mocking tone. And I do kind of look forward to the hot chocolate and the blankets in order to stay warm, but only up through the New Year. After that...well then it's just overstayed its welcome.

I looked at the weather today and the high is supposed to be in the 30s. I haven't yet left my apartment, but I'm already looking forward to being back home tonight where it's warm, knowing I'm in for the day and I can settle in with a book and about five blankets on top of my down comforter (okay, that may be an exaggeration), and thaw out. 

thanksgiving

I was quiet on here in the lead up to, and during, the Thanksgiving holiday. But was definitely kept busy. I cooked some, tried to finish up several books and then went to spend Thanksgiving itself with family.

I love the holidays. I love the lights, the music...and it's really the only time I'm okay with a prolonged period of cold weather (in fact, I prefer it!). But of course, come January I'm wishing for 60s and 70s. 

Anyway...total holiday person. It was great to just be home and relax. Including lots of cooking and baking. Of course there was the whole Thanksgiving feast, where I contributed my green beans with garlic and almonds (extra buttery with the green beans adding a light crispness) and then experimenting with recipes with my sister. I also realize that I love the jalapeno salt from Dean & Deluca I brought home with me.

But then I guess it is good to be back in your own bed after traveling. And feeling refreshed after about a week's vacation. I sat down tonight after work, ready to blog and get back to work on the novel, and it's a great feeling. 

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! And I'm so looking forward to the Christmas season. Think I may even get a tree for my place now (I haven't yet since in years past I've traveled over Christmas, but it's looking like I'll stay put this year). Totally planning on Christmas decor shopping this weekend. Can't wait! Oh, and to buy milk for plenty of hot chocolate for these cold nights. Did you know snow had made it into the forecast? Of course...I think it's made its way out of the forecast now, but still...it was there. 

rainy evenings

It was actually a beautiful evening today. I walked home and the drizzling had stopped while I was in a cafe, so that everything gleamed. The headlights from passing cars and the stoplights all reflected in the shallow pools on the streets and it wasn't cold, but just cool enough where my jacket was a comfort and not yet a necessity.

It's also perfect writing weather. Or reading weather. That's another nice thing about fall, other than the beautiful colors. The grey skies and cooling temps urge me to stay indoors, or perhaps at a cafe, and curl up with a good book and a coffee. Or perhaps sit down at my computer and create worlds that hopefully others will want to curl up with. 

And today I had another glimmer of inspiration. And unlike my note from the weekend, I was able to grab a piece of scratch paper and write down the story line that came to me. Hmmm...now to just find some time to flesh it out and then get down to writing Act I (it came to me as a screenplay rather than a novel). I love it when that happens.

the importance of a notebook

There are three things I always try to carry with me no matter where I go: a book, a notebook/scratch paper and a pen. The first is because you never know when you will have to wait and it's a good way to get through a few more pages. The other two is because you never know when an idea will hit. It could be an idea for a plot problem, or maybe a few lines of dialogue or a new scene, or maybe a new story ideal all together.

Yesterday and this morning I was reminded why having paper and a pen are so important. On the metro, I had this great idea and since I didn't have any paper, I thought about it and then thought some more, thinking I'd remember enough of it now to write it down when I got home. 

Well...I got home and got distracted by other things and never wrote it down. And now this morning I'm left trying to remember what it was. Let's hope it comes back, and I'm tossing in extra paper into my bag as I type in case it does.

a reminder on personal tastes

One reason for rejections that I've seen discussed (and maybe received one or two) is a matter of personal taste. This doesn't always mean the writing was necessarily bad, but that it just didn't appeal to the reader. I thought about this the other morning after I finished up a kind of futuristic...thriller (if thriller was the right word). I had two friends who loved it and another who didn't really care for it. So where did I fall?

I didn't really care for it. But here's the thing, I don't think there was anything the author could have done to change that. The characters had real motivations, the writing was smooth and the plot was fully developed. But it just didn't appeal to me. I can't pinpoint anything wrong with it that I didn't like, just that I didn't really like it. Is it something that I can recommend to a friend? Mmm...maybe. If I really knew their tastes and knew it was in line with that. But can I go around with a blanket recommendation that I would do with a book that I absolutely loved?

When a rejection comes along and it's not suited to that agent's particular taste, or s/he couldn't get behind it passionately to sell it, just remember. It's not personal. It's personal taste. What appeals to my friend doesn't always appeal to me. And after all, isn't that what makes all of us a little more interesting?

Of course, I will say that having said all that, it's still important to try things outside the comfort zone. Who knows? I might have loved this book. There have been other books I've been skeptical about and then once I read them, wanted to go around and recommend them to everyone I knew. And then I want to read other, similar books. And then not to sound cliche (ok, maybe a little), but I've broadened my horizons. 

It was a nice little reminder to have.

writing contest - Writer's Digest "Dear Lucky Agent"

I had another post mostly drafted late yesterday/early this morning that I planned to finish writing about tonight. But then there was a slight change of plans as I learned about the blog Guide to Literary Agent's "Dear Lucky Agent" contest. Well, I guess I shouldn't quite say learned about...since I read this blog fairly regularly, I've come across it before, but it hasn't yet been in a genre in which I write.

This time around though, it's in Young Adult. Tomorrow though is the deadline.

Ordinarily I've heard about these with slightly more time, but last week was more than a little busy for me, and I wasn't quite up to date with the twitter feeds I follow. But if you're catching up like I am and come across this contest to enter, best of luck to you!

I'm reading over my first 150-200 now, so please wish me luck as well.

halloween

I have always been a fan of Halloween. I've talked lately about my love of mythology and also the supernatural (excluding as I noted, zombies), so maybe that's a large part of it. Halloween's a day to embrace all of that, when as the myths say, the veil between the physical world and the supernatural world is thinnest. 

But more than that too, it's a chance to be someone else and no one would think twice about it. Of course there are the stereotypical costumes, like vampires, witches, nurses and soldiers, but what about the not so typical? Or maybe even the ones that the costumes aren't sold down to the last button in stores, but you have to create it yourself?

Wanted to know what it might be like to act like an 80s rocker? Or maybe a tough biker in leather? How about a jet-setting socialite, even if the stones on that necklace aren't designed by Bulgari. Could be fun, right?

So. What are you going to be? Or rather...who are you going to be?

review: pride and prejudice and zombies

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Of course, I really enjoyed the original, Austen version, so it might have been expected. But I'm not a zombie fan. I'll take my witches and vampires please, but so far in life have tended to stay away from zombies. They're creepy. 

But I picked up Pride and Prejudice and Zombies after my book club decided upon a Halloween-esque read for October (kind of apt, no?). And I was a little surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did. I waited to be turned off by the zombies, but it added a nice bit of humor and a lightness to the text, if in fact zombies can actually do that.

And the zombie scenes weren't quite so graphic as I worried they may be. There were a few scenes, that while a part of you might giggle, another part thought a simple "ew." My ultimate verdict is that it was fun. It was a good way to spend a few afternoons reading through it, and kind of relive the romance from the original. Once I started reading it, I had to spend one evening watching the film again. And now I'm thinking about rereading the original. 

As with many things, my advice would be to not have any expectations. Don't think you're going to love it, because you might not. Don't think it's word for word like the original, with a much more formal approach to English and long, descriptive paragraphs, because yes, those are in there, but then there will be a scene thrown it that might make you laugh a little. 

friday!

I forgot for a little bit that it was Thursday night last night. Not quite sure how that could have happened. It was a busy week, but I am looking forward to the weekend. Mostly I'm looking forward to editing the first couple of chapters I've been working on and saving the remaining chapters for National Novel Writing Month.

Yup, that's just a little over a week away. I know you're supposed to write a novel from start to finish during the one month period, but I've always found that little progress bar to be so motivating! Since I have a new idea I'm not very far into, what I think I may try to do is write 50,000 words more of it. So clean up to early chapters that I've mostly finished and then start from chapter 4 and on. We'll see if I still find those 50,000 words motivating or just stressful.

I have to remind myself that next weekend there's a lecture at the National Gallery of Art that I want to attend. It's on Michelangelo, and it's been awhile since I've attended one of their lectures. A few years ago, there was one month or two where I went nearly every weekend in the fall. And then on my way home I'd stop and pick up a vanilla skim latte. Perfect way to spend a chill fall afternoon.

This weekend I don't yet have any set plans. I want to go try to find another pair of boots, but the last few years I've gone on long searches specifically to find a certain pair, and of course I never find the perfect pair until I've given up and stopped looking. Hmmm...I guess that's what's on my mind this morning in a nutshell!  Now let's see if I can get just a couple of more sentences in the novel  before heading off to work.

books vs. film portrayals

Given that Halloween is fast approaching, it seemed only appropriate that I read something with a "monster" in it, and so I read Frankenstein. I've never read it, and to be honest, while I'm familiar with the great, green hulking monster of film adaptations, I've not yet seen an actual Frankenstein film from start to finish. The green, inarticulate monster kind of put me off sitting through 90+ minutes.

So it was interesting to read the book and come across this well-written passages of speech that came from the creation (because he's never actually named, and Frankenstein is the name of his creator). The monster had feelings, he felt lonely, he felt wonderment at the birds singing and at the warmth of fire, and he felt an attachment to a family he encountered and watched, and learned language from without their knowing of course. And he felt resentment at what he was, at being this lonely creature forced to live away from civilization because of what he was. There are elements in the creature which, to an extent, make him sympathetic.

And yes, even after tormenting Frankenstein, he claims to have felt some remorse at times. Granted, there is a different at feeling remorse and then going forward with a plan to destroy everything Frankenstein holds dear, but while he may have sallow skin, he's not the green, slow monster with screws in his neck. And I was reminded then too about The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

When Jekyll turns into Hyde, Hyde doesn't become this larger than life creation. He is Jekyll kind of shrinking into himself, he's smaller, thinner and I think physically appears craftier and meaner version of Jekyll. It was a surprise reading Jekyll and Hyde because of those expectations. I had to reread the first paragraph of the transformation just to be sure it was in fact the change into Hyde.

Just another reason the movie can't be substituted for the book I guess. 

myths and stories

I'm reading The Power of Myth right now, which is fantastic by the way, and there was a question that made me think this was something I wanted to write about.

In the first chapter, Bill Moyers asks Joseph Campbell about when the first time these stories became alive for him. And that got me thinking about my interest. For as long as I can remember, I've loved mythology. Long before we studied them in school, I was checking out every book at the library about them that I could find and finding out that some stood out more than others (Athena was one of my favorites, as was Poseidon). But what sparked this interest?

*Artemis with a Doe at the Louvre

For me it happened so long ago it's almost out of a conscious memory. It was during one of Texas' famous thunderstorms, where the lightning provided a brilliant light show and the thunder was so loud and so powerful that the walls shook. And my dog was not a fan. She shook and cowered between the room where my grandmother and I sat and a table or a bed that she could crawl under.

And my grandmother chided her, telling her something along the lines that she shouldn't let Thor scare her (as if a dog would even listen, but still). Having no idea who, or what, Thor was, I had to ask. And I was told that he was a Norse god who ruled the skies and thunder and lightning. And from there I was hooked. That night she told me more stories in the grand Irish tradition, though covering mostly the Greek gods.

Since then the myths still come to my mind often, and I've written stories incorporating them from time to time. And I still continue to study them, whether it be brushing up on my first love of the Greeks and Egyptians or delving deeper into my culture and studying the Celtic myths. I've also kept my eye open for books detailing Native American myths or Asian myths that may not come across my reading very often. They're just all so fascinating and incredible story-telling.

And if you're ever trapped inside by a thunderstorm or maybe sitting around a fire, then it's definitely a great time to continue that great bardic tradition and tell those stories. Anyone else hooked by myths?

day off

Happy Holidays! Sort of.

For some us, today was a holiday. It's one of those holidays that I realize not everyone gets off, and it seems even less so the further away from DC one gets. I remember in school, in Texas, we got the day off but it wasn't for Columbus day. I can't remember what name they gave it, but we got tickets from the school to go to the State Fair. Granted, since we only got one and couldn't drive, I guess the idea was that we would go with friends and family and in a big group. Not sure if they still do that.

Anyway...I spent an enjoyable day just...hanging out.

I woke up, worked on a novel for a little bit and also on some generic website stuff. And then left for the afternoon and enjoyed the strange warm weather (it's odd to have it in the 80s after so much cooler weather lately). I also stopped off at Borders to pick up a birthday card. Although I wound up with a book for myself and a Halloween card for a friend (birthday card FAIL). But I'm really excited to read this book: Washington: A Life. I've been on a big American history kick these last few years, and for all I've read, I've felt there hasn't been too much in the forefront about Washington. Granted, he's featured in a lot of books I've read (obviously), I haven't come across many bios. There was one a few years ago that I meant to pick up and didn't. I've also heard some good things about it.

Then I also stopped off at Godiva to pick up a couple of their Halloween truffles. If I remember correctly, the blood orange bat was delicious! And finally, grabbed some ice cream and spent a little more time enjoying the afternoon. I know...rough day, right?

Sometimes it's nice to just take a day for yourself. My sister is taking a day off near the end of the month, and it's something I think I may have to make a practice of. The last couple of three day weekends I've either been traveling or recovering from traveling. It's quite different to just relax, knowing that you don't have to be anywhere or you don't have to do anything. And now I'm feeling much more refreshed to start another week. For now, anyway. Haha...

I'll let you know what I think of Washington: A Life, and the many other books currently on my to-read list.

annabel lee

It's really great when you come across something you love, and it's something that you haven't come across, or maybe even thought about, in a really long time. For me, this experience happened again with the poem Annabel Lee by Edgar Allen Poe.

I was cleaning and organizing, restacking books that no longer fit on my bookshelves in order to make room for new books, and the poem was in this book. It was a thick collection of poems, Best Loved Poems of the American People. My family has had this book ever since I could remember, and there is a humorous poem about Texas in it that I remember memorizing for class one year (and still remember about eighty percent of it).

While moving this book, I thought I'd look up this poem. But then I saw that I had a folded letter in it, and I thought that I had marked this poem. To tell you how long its been since the last time I really looked through this book, the letter was an acceptance letter to one of the universities I'd applied to (but didn't go) oh so many years ago. But it wasn't marking the poem I thought it would be. It marked Annabel Lee.

This is such a beautiful poem. And sitting on my couch, window open on a beautiful fall afternoon and revisiting this poem...well, it was an incredible few minutes. Literature, poetry...there's this complete feeling that comes revisiting a poem or perhaps even reading something incredible for the first time. When for a few minutes, all is okay with the world around me.

turkish festival

Every year I look forward to the Turkish festival. I know it's in October, sometime (not sure if it's ever been end of September), but in the summer I start googling it periodically to first find out the date, and then to remember the date. I look forward to the Turkish coffee mostly, and then the food and of course the atmosphere. It's been fun to get my coffee or some food and then sit there at Freedom Plaza and listen to the music.

Turkey is definitely high up there on my list of countries to visit. There's just something magical there in how we think about it, and then also so much history! The Ottoman Empire lasted something like 600 years, and I think what makes it seem even more incredible is the fact that lasted until around WWI. I think of Empires, and I usually think of something that collapsed centuries ago (Rome being the most obvious), and the Holy Roman Empire until a little after the French Revolution.

Every year I think I'll finally get my fortune told after my coffee. But...then I see the line and I would usually rather just get a small paper cup (complete with a handle) of Turkish coffee and find somewhere to sit and take everything in. This year was no different. I wandered through the set up, found the Turkish coffee tent, which of course had a long line. Hmmm...one year!

So now I just have to wait for another year until next October. One of the great things about DC is that there are so many festivals and things happening, and I hear about them. I can see them advertised all around. I've once said that a lot of the larger cities must have things going on, it's just a matter of finding out what that is. For instance, the last time I visited Texas, I found out that Fort Worth has rodeos every Friday and Saturday night. Now even after growing up in Texas, I've never been. So like having my fortune told, one of these years I'll go on a visit and go to a rodeo. Just another new experience in a city I thought I knew well.

What's the next festival in DC?

And then of course, thinking of visiting Istanbul...I also end up thinking of Istanbul (Not Constantinople). And getting that song stuck in my head.

upcoming posts

Lately I've been thinking of this blog and how I've been posting more than my past history of posting, which is a good thing. Posting more is definitely something I've had on my agenda. Of course, the question is just usually what to post about. Thankfully a city like DC does give me enough things to do, like this weekend's upcoming Turkish Festival (yay!).

I look forward to this every year, if only for the Turkish coffee.

But over my cup of coffee this morning, and doing a little bit of organizing of my bookshelves, I got to thinking more about books. Big surprise. But I got to thinking about specific things that I have liked about certain books, whether it's plotting, a particular character (either hero or villain), or delicious characters I'd like to know, or those I'd like to be, and settings....all those little key points.

And there you go.

I thought of a short (maybe) series I plan to embark on with posts. I'll post about certain aspects of novels I've loved in the past. And it would also be a good excuse to finally go back and reread some of those books I loved to revisit exactly what it was I liked about it. Not that you need an excuse, but still. For instance, I remember loving Anna Karenina, but I couldn't tell you exactly why now since it's been so long since I've read it.

And of course there will still be a short recap about the Turkish festival, among other things. Have a great Friday and weekend!

travel itch

I am itching to go somewhere. I want to pack my bags, hang out at the airport for an hour and get on a plane for several more. I always want to travel, but right now, it's worse. This time last year I was preparing to go to Paris for Thanksgiving (which was one of the best Thanksgivings ever), and this summer I've probably done more travel in a four month period than I ever have in that same period.

I had the opportunity to visit two countries for work. Well, one technically for work and the second, Denmark, when my flight was canceled and I had to overnight there. Horrible, right? And then I spent a week in Montana, and time in Dallas and Pittsburgh.

Maybe it's because this time last year I was getting ready for Paris, a trip at least about 10 years in the making. And now, as I think about fall and moving slowly (though it will happen all too quickly) into the holiday season, I find myself thinking of the holiday market on the Champs Élysées, with the hot wine and the Arc de Triomphe at the end there. And the lights too...all those beautiful, twinkling lights.


But at the same time, I also want to visit somewhere new. I'm thinking of traveling to Italy sometime next year, and already have one guidebook on my wishlist. Maybe it's also just to get into the act of planning again, to have that trip to look forward to in the near future. I know that last year, I could not wait to buy tickets to Paris, just so that it would be real. I could plan all I wanted, but until I had those tickets, anything could have happened.

leaving summer...or not

Right after I post about summer winding down, we have a week of 90+ weather. Which when you factor in the humidity, is kind of miserable. If you need proof, well, the Weather Channel ranked DC as number 1 of its worst summers this year. Hmmm...

Number one's number one, right?

And today was definitely a reminder that summer isn't quite over yet. Sure, it may technically be over according to this year's almanac, but no one told summer that. Today I was outside for about 5 hours, and definitely worn out after that. I wasn't doing too much either, mostly standing. In line. But totally worth it. I stood in line for two author signings: Isabel Allende and Orhan Pamuk. I wanted to stand in line for Elizabeth Kostova too, but that would have been another hour and it overlapped with Pamuk's talk. I'd already missed seeing Kostova speak by being in line for Allende, and I wanted to have the chance to hear some author's I really wanted to hear.

Every year I look forward to the book festival. It's inspiring to get a chance to listen to some of my favorite writers, or maybe even those I'd heard of but hadn't read. This year was also the first year I waited to get some books signed. In the past I spent all my time at the tents, which has always been incredible. But...I love my books and there really is something nice to having a book signed by a favorite writer. Preferably at a reading/signing when its just them, but for a heavy-hitter like Allende or Pamuk...I'll wait in the sun.

And as always, when I'm down there...I do get inspired. I look forward to coming home again and sitting in front of my laptop to get back to work on that novel that's giving me trouble or, like I may do tonight, the short story I'm working to polish. And I'll take the heat. Last year I skipped it because of the rain...so I'd rather it be hot and sunny!

leaving summer

Last weekend I spent one day out on the water, and it made me think about how much I'm going to miss summer. Not the high humid days when the air is so thick one can hardly breathe (because how much fun are those days?). I'm going to miss the warm summer evenings, the sun high and bright in the sky, walking home from dinner in the evening with the sun still on the horizon, and that lazy summer feeling when it feels more okay to lounge around outside. And the planning for summer trips (and the taking of summer trips).

Even though I've been out of school for many years, there's still a sense of summer vacation where everything just kind of slows. Okay, so maybe not at work of course, but in the evenings and on the weekends. And this summer was still busy. I made it back to Montana, traveled to a new country for work, made it back to Texas and even up to Pittsburgh. Probably more travel I've done in one summer than ever.

With this last winter that DC suffered through, summer was definitely a long-awaited blessing. And I am looking forward into fall and the leaves changing color. Now that this Texas girl can actually watch the leaves changing! And I'm also looking forward to more writing. With summer, I just want to be outside soaking up that missed-for sun during those cold months. But when I think of fall, I think of sweaters and hot tea, and preparing to settle in for the winter. And that right there is perfect writing weather.

But summer, you will be missed. And I will look forward to seeing you again next year.

tornado in dallas

What?

So I called my sister, one to find out how wet Dallas was and then also just for a general update. I was not quite expecting to hear that she was concerned for a tornado heading up towards North Dallas. From a brief search, there were a few "weak" tornadoes that touched down and it does seem the damage was minimal. But again...WTF?

I always knew that Dallas was kind of on the outskirts of Tornado Alley. Sure, I'd seen the sky turn that hideous shade of yellowish/green that makes your heart drop into your stomach, but it usually faded to a black storm cloud or back into a bright blue sky fairly quickly. And of course there is the monthly siren testing, so those need to be in working order for something, right? And on two occasions, I'd heard the sirens not on testing days (again, talk about a stomach flip). But that was pretty much the extent of it.

Maybe Dallas just wasn't flat enough. I think I'd heard of one time in my twenty years of a tornado touching down, but only briefly. Otherwise...well, we'd just have to worry about Texas sized hail and the sheets of rain that fell from the sky. A good rule: remember to pull over if you can't see outside your window.

Not going to lie...I'm a little amazed at this story. And at the footage and tracing the path of one of them. Streets I know very well (Mockingbird Lane, the tollway). Usually when you do hear of a touch down, it's far outside Dallas, not there in the middle of everything. The CNN guy said it was surreal. Yeah, I'm going to second that, and I wasn't even there.