Christmas Links!

What good is Christmas if you can’t have a little themed fun online? You know, once you get over the spirit of giving, seeing family, drinking eggnog, and all that other good stuff.

So, without further ado…

Elf Yourself (courtesy of Office Max)

This is a total blast–be sure you don’t take a sip of that eggnog before you preview this singing and dancing video featuring YOU as an elf. All you need is your internet connection and a picture of yourself (if you have a webcam, you can snap a shot using that and voila!)

Track Santa (courtesy of NORAD)

Can’t get the kids to go to bed on Christmas Eve? Wondering where Santa is? Pop online and find Santa as he makes his way across the world.

Bailey The Unknown Reindeer (courtesy of YouTube and Bailey’s Family and Harry Connick Jr. too)

I won’t spoil the video for you, but wow! That’s a lot of snow!

Santa’s Got a Message for you! (courtesy of PNP)

Fill in a few fields and add a picture if you are so inclined and watch your inbox for a personalized video message from Santa Claus! Kids will be amazed! (There is an adult version too if you want a message from Santa as well.)

I hope you’ve been good little boys and girls! Merry Christmas everyone! Enjoy the season.

Because You Never Know…

So, the other day I was rooting about in my handy junk drawer in the kitchen and what do I come across by a golden gem! Yes! And no, they weren’t batteries for a flashlight–those have their own special bin in the linen closet. A little back story: Right now I am working on a story where I need to do up a few bylaw infractions committed by my main character. Naturally, it is important to get the wording right. And surprisingly, there aren’t that many examples of bylaw tickets online to use as an example. Well, maybe they are but I am an impatient Googler. Anyway, did I happen to find a ticket for breaking a fire bylaw in my junk drawer?

No.

But I did find that pesky parking ticket I got in Vancouver last July for parking under the sign with the big black ‘P’ circled in green. (Don’t worry, I paid the ticket–after trying to argue my way out of it, unsuccessfully I might add.) So, I find this little gem and hold it up to the Heavens. Yes! Intimidating, impersonal, and official bureaucracy speak! Bare bones, but exactly what I need to give my own made-up bylaw infractions that final polish and touch.

Where I got that little gem.

So, the next time you get a ticket (unfairly) and it pisses you off (to no end) just remember this post and realize that everything happens for a reason in a writer’s life and maybe one day you’ll find that ticket in your junk drawer and use it to play a practical joke on someone, or hopefully flesh out a little something in a story you are working on.

Life is one big bowl of opportunities! So go park wherever you want! (Okay, maybe not.)

Writing Your Story in Letters, Emails, etc.

So, in one of my works in progress, the whole thing is written in letters, notes, emails, blogs, etc.

I figured, yeah, no sweat.

But it is. It is a sweaty, sweaty endeavor. You have to think about what you are writing in a whole new way. It’s like writing dialogue in terms of adding personality, quirks, etc. Except way more. This piece has to BE that character. It must reflect their voice, tone, brevity (or lack of it), expressions, reactions to what has come before, and still move the story forward and be entertaining. Every tidbit must have a purpose.

I’ve found it surprisingly difficult to make the story and its pieces feel organic. I tend to go in to write the immediate reply, but the problem is that written communication doesn’t always work that way. And written communications tend to stray off topic and introduce new topics, etc. But at the same time, you have to balance all these story balls in the air without losing your reader. If you don’t have all these different communications going on, the story could end up taking place over three years instead of three months and could lose its realistic feel and, quite literally, drag on. Goodbye focus and pacing!

And here I thought it would be so easy after reading Meg Cabot’s Every Boy’s Got One and Mary Ann Shaffer’s The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I loved reading both of these books and figured that this format would be well-suited for my story. And I think it does, but wow, it stretches the writing brain and maxes out some of those tricks I know. I hope it works!

Do you have any favourite reads that are done in letters, or other forms of written communication?

Dip, Dip, Sha-na-na-na-na-na…

I’m really not much of a recipe swapper or foodie or fancy food maker. I know, you figured me for someone who makes elaborate meals, didn’t you? Well, nope. Not so much. But ’tis the season for warm comfort foods as well as dips and other goodies that must be presented at parties, etc. And that is a bummer when you have other things to do… like write!

So, without further ado, I present two yummy, healthy, and filling warm dips that I discovered this week and will please your palate and make you look like a super-star!

Black Bean Dip

Ingredients: 1 can of refried black beans (or whole black beans), 1 cup of salsa, 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a 9×9 inch pan layer in the beans, then the salsa, and then the cheese.

Pop that baby in the oven for about 15 minutes (until middle is warm and cheese is melted). Voila! You have dip.

* You can change the amount of each ingredients you use. For example, use more cheese for a cheesier dip, or try other cheeses, use more beans, more salsa, etc.

Hot and Scrumptious Spinach Dip

Ingredients: Spinach (either one package of frozen or a big bundle of fresh), 1/2 cup to 1 cup cream cheese (you can use light cream cheese if that is your preference), garlic (about two cloves worth–for convenience, look for crushed garlic in a jar–so easy and just as good!), salt.

Cook the spinach in a bit of water along with your garlic on the stove. Drain really well. Cut it up if you are using fresh spinach. Place spinach back in the pot along with cream cheese. If you are using a package of frozen spinach, use 1 cup (8oz?) of cream cheese. If you are using fresh, add cream cheese until it looks like you have about half cream cheese and half spinach. Over low heat, mix and stir the cream cheese and spinach. Add salt to taste. (Just a sprinkle works well.) When warmed all the way through, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

Dippers

What to dip into these yummy dips?

Crackers, nacho chips, pitas (either fresh or baked. To bake, cut or tear into small pieces and lay on a cookie sheet. Place in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes, until hard and just starting to brown. You can do this with wraps as well. Handy for when they’ve been sitting in the fridge for too long and have gone a bit stiff!)

Yum, yum, yum. And what I love about these dips, other than they are so simple and quick (and yummy) is that all the ingredients are ‘real.’ Enjoy!