Fear Pt 3: How Knowing Fear Better Informs Your Writing

(Quick note: This article is longish and well very Fearful - so I decided to break it up and make it a bit happier with some Star Trek memes from the icanhascheezburger conglomerations site. The Enterprise pic has notes on it! Cheers!)

We’ve discussed (over a couple of blogs now) a bit about fear in puppies, but how about in people? Can people go to a place where logic and reason don’t hold sway for them either?  They always talk about animals (and people are animals) having a fight or flight response.
I’m going to give you a list of F-in’ fear options.You will find that many of these “F” words overlap in each other’s territory.Fear is like that, insidious.It can cause reactions and repercussions in your characters and their worlds and stories throughout all time.Sometimes it is in little ways (a tick, a memory, a simple reaction) or sometimes in big ways (life/death altering choices). Think about Indiana Jones’ reaction to snakes, or someone like Castle’s Kate Beckett who’s a cop because her mom was an unsolved murder.Regardless, a character’s fears and history with fear will inform the audience A LOT about your character and it should inform you a lot about their story. 

Fear Part 2 : Puppy Mill Pups, the Storms of Life, and Being Under Fire

Part 2 of 3 on the contemplation of fear.

Despite her great progress, Pepper has one seemingly unconquerable fear- fireworks.  Ok, two deep set fears: fireworks and storms (not just thunderstorms).

Even though it's completely illegal, to do fireworks here for more than the night before and the night of holidays... The first year I got Pepper (I got her on March 24, 2012) we had fireworks going off nightly from April through July. She was miserable. All she wanted to do was hide. I've never met anyone who can hide as well as her. She crawls, digs, squishes, burrows, and oozes into the smallest, darkest spots she can find. She does her very best to become invisible, and hopes to completely disappear.  It took months after the fireworks last year for her to come out of hiding or go outside in the evening to go potty or go for a walk.  This year they waited until mid-June to start, but it has been every single evening and night since then.

Lady Death Rides Again!

 

Lady Death here has been my riding companion for more than a decade. We've been cross-country many times. And today we rode to work together. At lunch  we are going to head to Malones for some lunch and to see the last half of the USA and Portugal games! 

I hope your day will go as well and may all of your riding companions be as faithful!

Fear Part 1 - Puppy Mill Pups

 I've been contemplating fear this week (ok, for more than a week, but.... I thought of writing something down about it this week).

 I've got two puppy mill rescue toy schnauzers that I've had for two years now. I got Miss Pepper (she is the dark Parti-colored gal with the unusual and exotic eyes) two months to the day before I lost Misty. And I got Daisy (she is the white one with the awesome bunny-like ears) a month later when I transported some rescues that were coming to fosters her in Michigan. All of the lined-up fosters bailed and I ended up fostering three girls for a couple of months. Daisy stayed with us.

When we went to meet Pepper, she stood like a little statue and shook. I'd not seen anything like it. Her fears and nervousness were so deep that her foster mom thought she would never find a home for her, because no one would want her or want to try to take care of such a scared little being.   Pepper had been rescued from a puppy mill situation and her foster mom had been told she was pregnant, but Pepper lost her puppies pretty quick because of all of all the stress.

Writing or Riding?

                         

I took my dad out for a ride yesterday, and lunch, and extra stuff, as a special pre-dad's day event. Of course it was a perfect day.  We had a chance to thoroughly clear out the old gas from last year (it was a very long, very cold winter for us here in Detroit this last year.... And spring has been one of the soggiest ever.). And don't even get me started on the world-eating, trans-dimensional pot-holes. (Why yes, I have cracked a windshield all the way across, sheared a front wheel off, sheared a break assembly off, and blown some new tires, which doesn't include the front axel, bearings, alignment, and sanity that have also been damaged, lost, or replaced over the last couple of years- windshield still pending. Thank-you for asking.)

Anyway, back to the ride. It got me thinking about my sadly neglected blog. It has been sitting here in a sorrowful state as life unfolded in awful and wildly unpredicted ways over the last couple of years, but I do think about it. How sad and lonesome it must be. 

Motorcycle or Not? You Decide.

See, even riding is evolving - droopy pearls & a scarf- those could get caught on something & get you killed.

Electric seems to be the creative edge for unusual design... and the easiest place to excel at "creative" (can also be read as "strange" or "unique") seems to be mostly for single person type vehicles - like motorcycles.

A couple of years ago, on the anniversary of the motorcycle, we discussed a bit about classifying things as motorcycles and a lot of it had to do with the "spirit" of motorcycling I think.  Things continue to evolve with innovators like Lit Motors, Ecolve, Brammo, and Killacycle.  Granted it looks like a possible evolving edge to motorcycles.  However, what it more probably is, is the wave of the electronic vehicle future. It is probably the only kind of "E"-vehicle I would try.  So check out some of these pictures and visit some of their sites and see what you think... Motorcycle or not?

Life Really Is A Highway

Wolf Creek Pass - Colorado

Life really is a highway...
Sometimes you just get to go for a ride
Sometimes you get to enjoy the view
Sometimes you get caught in the rain
Sometimes the winds of change try to blow you off course
Sometimes the main highway is the best route and keeps you from getting lost
Sometimes a detour is an unexpected scenic byway and you are refreshed
Sometimes you travel alone, but if you're really lucky, you'll have company for the trip
Sometimes it takes you home
Sometimes it takes you far away
Sometimes your map is old and you just have to throw it away and wing it (or get a new map)
Sometimes you find your true way as you make your best way
Sometimes the view was worth the trip
Sometimes the trip was the whole point
Sometimes there is smooth pavement, but oft times there are potholes, a-holes, dirt, and rocks
Sometimes people use turn signals, sometimes you have to just watch, make your best guess, & hope for success
Sometimes the sun shines, your motorcycle engines whines, and your butt still hurts
Sometimes Indiana Jones is right - "It ain't the years honey, it's the mileage."
Sometimes smile and tan lines are mistaken for premature maturity, when they're really just life-well-spent markers
Sometimes it is simply, quite honestly, absolutely PERFECT!

To Have or Have Not

Well, motorcycle news over the last few weeks has been both interesting and thought provoking and definitely worth a chat.  Let's start with the light and work our way down to the more serious:  Lost and Found, A Real Hard On, and Hard Headed.

Spring 2012 has Sprung - Mostly

The neighbor's tulip tree.

I can't believe it!  I just checked the last post date and realized I haven't posted anything yet for this year.... Arggh, what a slacker.

We've had a really weird mix of weather so far this year; sub-freezing one day and 70 degrees (F) the next.  Some of the mornings have been ice cold (literally) and then magically become 60-70 degrees by the end of the work day.  I have been out on a couple of rides in between hail, frost, high winds, extreme thundershowers, tornadoes, snow, and well - life.

Happy Holidays Edition 2011

So, once again time has flown.  Honestly, this entire year has been on speed. It seems like just a couple of weeks ago that I was out in Utah and that was actually a year and two months ago!  Some of the days have seemed eternally long, but the months flew past this year like one of those old cartoons where the wind blows the pages of the calendar away in quick succession and you can see the seasons rapidly changing out the window next to it.  So, what can you do?  My best answer is to hang on tight and try to enjoy the ride- even with the rain, snow, winds, pot-holed gravel roads, and crazy drivers that don’t even notice you’re on the road with them.

A Cold Winter’s Ride

Choose your todays carefully.

Now, I’m sure that I wouldn’t be considered very “hardcore” by anyone’s standards.  I don’t like to ride in the rain or the snow if I can help it.  Super heat, high winds, and sore bottoms are also never the funnest part of a ride….but sometimes the need to go for a ride outweighs the negatives.  Sometimes you just need to say- today is a good day, because I get to go for a ride.

The fall, Michigan ride my dad and I took, really was a freak of nature this year and the last good weekend of the year.  It was a golden citadel of perfectness laid before us and I’m glad we couldn’t resist its siren call.  Nice riding opportunities have been scarce since that perfect weekend- we’ve had rain, bits of snow, and seriously depressed temperatures (though not as cold as many of you must face yearly), basically an almost complete lack of nice riding opportunities.  I have sneaked a few chilly rides into work and a brazen, cold, wet, late run to fill my tank up for winter.  Winter is so depressing when you have to wait around to ride.

Locking Lips for Life

The Kiss of Life.

I came home from class last night and my lips were swollen and they hurt a bit.  Checking the mirror I noticed that indeed my lips were swollen and I had the added bonus of bruising.  Great, that’s going to look good for the next few days.  More bruising had shown up this morning and I contemplated the reality that this was the best lip action I’d had in a very long time.  Feeling a bit pathetic and distraught I thought-- Bummer.  That’s a real shame.  Then my reality chip kicked in and I remembered why my lips were actually worked out in the first place.