Five Things That Make Me Happy

The always delightful Jo Wake of Jo On Food, My Travels and a Scent of Chocolate tagged me in this post. I'm just not fast enough to outrun folks anymore. It seems every child over two years old could render me frozen or it at will. But this is not a tag from which I'd choose to run.

This is a happy tag, literally. I'm to list Five Things That Make Me Happy.

I've chosen to bypass the obvious, most important things that I've mentioned many times before: wife, children, grandchildren, a good job, a good life, all that wonderful stuff that makes me perpetually happy.

Instead, I've decided to choose very specific things that make or made me happy. And I'll start by choosing...

1) Jo! She really made my day/week/month/year when she posted this after reading my manuscript. Happy begins to cover it.

2) My taskmaster, Al Diaz. Father Dragon, who can chide me, prod me, encourage me, and critique my writing all at the same time and still have me laughing. That, people, is a gift. Having Father Dragon as a partner in blogging, writing and friendship makes me very happy.

3) Finding a component free of charge that should work beautifully in my Magic Music writing app made me quite happy. Of course, development time is at a minimum until at least June 12. I somehow kinda sorta made this commitment and noble knights value their word as much as noble dragons do. Let's just say Night Writer has been very very busy this week and will continue to be for the next few to follow.

4) This special editor I have the pleasure of knowing has expressed an interest in my latest short story. That made me very happy. Hopefully, I'll be fortunate enough to make an announcement regarding it sometime soon. I'm also happy to have amazing critique partners with their own unique approaches to criticism offering brilliant feedback.

5) I was invited to submit a short story (still unwritten) to a competition. (Fortunately, the deadline is after June 12.) The fact that I was among those selected to vie for a very nice grand prize made me very happy. I don't have to win. Just being selected made me happy.

To those folks I referenced above, I'd like to say, thank you for making Jeff a very happy boy.

Now, I had to chase down five folks who are slower than I am--not an easy achievment. I shan't freeze them, but I shall tag them as it and humbly ask that they continue this wonderfully happy tradition.

And they are:
Elsie Park at Elsie Park
Linda Jackson at Writers Do Laundry Too
Kellie at Delightfully Ludicrous
Julie Kemp Pick at Empty Nest Insider
Gary Pennick (or Penny the Jack Russell) at Klahanie

Friday Funnies

Just a few, light thoughts to begin a fun Friday.
(I'm tired, but I tried.)

Q: How can you identify a cowardly book?
A: Yellow runs down its spine.

Q: Why do heroes always win?
A: Because they're protagonists.

Q: How is plot like pudding?
A: It's better when it thickens.

eBooks redefined light reading.

I know I've been writing too much when I begin dreaming in third person limited.

Turning the kindle upside down does not reveal the other side of the page.

I do not want your eyes glued to my book.  That makes turning the pages problematic.

Please don't make your characters jump off the page at me.  I'm old and it startles me when they do that.

Happy Friday everyone!

Please feel free to add your own Friday Funny in the comments!  I could use a good laugh.

A Happy Little Moment

A happy moment?  In the MIDDLE of the book?  How ghastly!  Happy is for the end, or maybe the beginning, but the middle?  Really?

Am I a wuss?  A sap?  Does this writer's heart bleed too profusely for his characters?  Do their constant dilemmas and turmoil tug too tautly upon the strings of my heart?  Have I burdened their souls to the point that I feel obliged to make reparations?  Am I seeking redemption for the woes I've cast upon them? 

And it's genuine nonetheless!  Not contrived.  Not obligatory.  It's not feel-good for feel-good's sake.  We're talking sincere, not counterfeit here.  And a little thing it was too, but crucial. 

Wait a minute.  Did I say crucial?  Why would such a brief, happy moment experienced by such a minor character in the middle of the book be crucial, I wonder.  My sweet muse breaks into a sly, little grin.  She knows.  And she's watching me piece it together. 

"Ah yes, I think I see now," mutters the newly enlightened writer in me.  This isn't about the now elated Terrin at all!  It's not about pleasing him.  It's not about him being pleased.  It's about revealing character--Daaron's character.

'Attaboy, Daaron, my little protagonist.  Show these characters who you really are.  You keep on growing, evolving, maturing.  You're doing this writer--and his muse--proud.