Month: May 2020

The five best moms of fiction

Let’s hear it for the moms. Mother’s Day is Sunday, so I wanted to share my top five favorite fictional mothers. 

Marge Simpson

Ah, Marge. She’s exactly what we all think of when we think of a mom. She’s kind,Marge supportive, loving. She bakes cookies and makes her family warm breakfasts every day. She believes in Bart even at his worst. She supports Lisa even in her most depressed. 

My favorite moment from Marge is when Lisa is depressed. Marge thinks back to her mother, and her insistence that Marge always has a smile on her face.

Marge tells Lisa that if she’s going to be sad that she should go ahead and be sad. She, Marge, would ride it out with her. 

Lynn Sear

I know it’s really popular to shit on M. Night Shyamalan right now, and with good reason. I’ll never forgive him for what he did to Avitar the Last Airbender. But that doesn’t mean that all of his movies are bad. Sixth Sense was, in fact, really freaking good. And Lynn Sear was pretty freaking cool.

Look at Sixth Sense from her perspective. Her kid is weird, he’s depressed. He spends more time than a normal kid talking to people she can’t see. And then, at the end of the damned movie, he starts babbling on about her dead father and how proud of her he is. And she just loves him and does her best to help with a situation she can’t begin to understand. 

Sarah Connor

Sarah Connor is a badass, scary as hell character who takes no shit from anyone. She raises her son the best way she knows how given what she knows. She makes sure that he has the training to survive the coming apocalypse. She hangs out with guys who will teach her son. She doesn’t give a damn about her own life, just so long as she can make him the man he needs to be.

Joyce Byers

Played by the fantastic Winona Ryder, Joyce is exactly the sort of adult we always want to see in horror movies. She sees the crazy shit going on, she listens to the concerns of the kids, and she listens to them! She doesn’t dismiss the kids because they’re children. Weird shit starts going down, and she’s paying enough attention to see it. And when her kid goes missing, she never gives up on him.

Morticia Addams

This is the hill I will die on! Morticia Addams is the best mom in fiction and no one can Morticiatell me any different! 

Morticia’s whole life is about her kids. She loves them fiercely, but she doesn’t hover. She allows them to grow, explore, make mistakes and learn from them. But she’s always there when they need her.

Morticia doesn’t miss PTA meetings. She goes to every open house. And when her kids start making some decisions she doesn’t agree with, like wanting to go to shudder Summer Camp, she supports them. 

So that’s my list of the top five best moms in fiction. Now I want to hear from you. Who’s your favorite fictional mom? Let us know in the comments below. 

Preorder Falling From Grace and be entered to win a free signed copy of Broken Patterns. Click here for details.

4

Weekends at play

Cover art from MabelAmber.

Creators all over the internet are taking advantage of this quarantine to create more than normal. There are more podcasts, more blog posts, more art. Every other post online seems to be about how everyone’s stuck at home, so we might as well have good things to read, watch and listen to.

Every time I see one of those posts, I kind of want to smack the person who wrote it. Yeah, lots of people have more free time than normal. Some of the rest of us are working harder than ever because we work in essential jobs. 

Now, I work from home. Please don’t think for one second that I don’t understand what an awesome privilege that is. I am safe, my family is safe. I’m not one of the many trying to get unemployment right now. I’m thankful for that. 

I’m also stupid busy again. I’m working extra hours, trying to get a book out, writing more for some of my freelance clients and PBW. Now seems like the dumbest time to add something else to my plate.

So, I’m not. What I’m doing instead is taking every other weekend off to write short stories. I don’t work on the novel, I don’t work on promotional stuff. I just write flash and micro fiction for a whole weekend. If I were a painter, I would liken this to stepping away from my work in progress to wash the paint off my hands and sketch. 

If you’re a creator, here are five reasons why you might consider doing the same thing.

Lets stories out that are talking to me.

Any writer will tell you that getting ideas is not the problem. It’s never been the problem. The problem is what to do with all the damn ideas! I have this great novel I’m writing and I’m super excited about it. But I also have this idea for an eerie little piece. And I want to write about some dark moments from my childhood. And some bright moments. And maybe I’d like to talk about some things going on in the world right now. 

There was a time when I thought serious writers worked on one project at a time. I thought that chasing all of these different stories was childish. It went right against the Lion meditation I love so much. 

But here’s the thing. When I ignore those stories, they start digging away. They become the distraction that I can’t ignore. They make me resent the story I’m working on. I can’t have all these other stories because I’m working on this one! That’s not a good way to work.

Gives me new material to get up faster than novels.

Novels take time. Anyone who has a favorite author knows this. I have a list of authors I check on monthly to see if their new book is coming out soon. This month. This year? Please?

I hope that somewhere a reader is waiting for my new book the same way I wait for Tamora Pierce’s new book. And if that person is out there, I want to be able to put out other things that might give them something entertaining to consume while they wait.

I also like to get my name out there every so often, to make sure people don’t forget me.

Lets me play with ideas.

I am an artist. I know I don’t put it that way often, but there it is. Writing is art. And I want to explore that. I want to try new things, new points of view. I want to write about weird little shit that might never make a full novel. Who’s that old man I saw on the bus, where’s he going? Can I write a story in a weird pov? Can I write a story about the lifetime of a shoe, or a bird, or a gift card? Can I write a story about this creepy picture I just found?

I need the freedom to explore. To write things that might not work. To write things just for me. 

Gives me a break.

Frankly, I need a break sometimes. I need to take my eyes off the project at hand and do something else. 

I’m writing dark science fiction. I might want to put that down and make a ghost story. Or maybe a little smut. Maybe a nonfiction essay. A change is as good as a rest, is what I’m saying.

Sends me back to my WIP with fresh eyes.

Of course, the weekend will end and I’ll get back to my novel. Of course, the work I did when not working on my novel is still writing. So maybe I learned something I can bring to my novel. Or I learned something new. Maybe it’s even something I can write into the novel. It all feeds into the work at large.

And even if I don’t learn anything new, my writing will be better for the fresh eyes I bring to it. 

PreorderFalling From Grace and be entered to win a free autographed copy of Broken Falling From Grace eBookPatterns.Click here for details.

0

My updated podcast list, May 2020

Now and then I like to go through my list of podcasts I listen to and share it with all of you. I’m a very fickle soul and I get tired of things quickly. I also find new and exciting things to listen to. I’m kind of like a crow with a shiny new thing. So this list is changing all the time.

Right now a lot of us are at home more than we’ve ever. Many of us need some entertainment. Preferably something that doesn’t cost anything. So here’s a recent roundup of my podcasts. Some are purely for entertainment, some talk about writing. Some talk about things we should all learn about. Enjoy.

Lore

Aaron Mahnke

I’ve been listening to Lore for quite some time now. I’m pretty sure this was in my last collection. But I still love it.

The episodes talk about different dark and creepy tales from history. And they’re all told by Aaron, who has the smoothest, sexiest voice. 

Cabinet of Curiosities

Aaron Mahnke

So smooth that I started listening to the second podcast of his. This is also a history podcast, though much shorter. The stories aren’t necessarily scary, some are funny. I can honestly say I’ve never listened to a boring episode.

Writing Excuses

Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Howard Taylor and Mary Robinette Kowal

This podcast has been included in almost every podcast update I’ve ever written. Given my aforementioned fickle nature, that should tell you all you need to know about this podcast.

But I’ll tell you a little more. I have learned so much about writing from this podcast, I can’t start to tell you. If you’re a writer just starting, listen to this podcast every week. If you think you’re an established author, listen to this podcast every week.

Ditch Diggers

Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace

If you catch me laughing in public, I’m probably listening to this. Ditch Diggers is the most brutally honest, funny podcast about the business side of writing I’ve ever heard. I love every episode, and I’m always getting new ideas from it. 

Diy mfa

Gabriela Pereira

This is so much more than a podcast. DIY MFA is a whole online community with classes and posts all dedicated to bringing creative education within the grasp of everyone. And I am here for it! 

On the podcast, Gabriela interviews authors on a range of topics that never fail to fascinate and interest me. I learn something every time I listen.

Science Rules

Bill Nye (the science guy)

Bill, Bill, Bill! Alright, got that out of my system. 

Bill Nye has been teaching me science since I was in first grade. And he’s still doing it today with his podcast, Science Rules. It is for adults, thank you. And that’s part of the cool thing about it. Science Rules feels like I’m talking with my favorite uncle. He still remembers me as a little kid, but he recognizes that I’m an adult now, too. So, bad dad jokes but a willingness to discuss difficult topics.

One topic he’s talking a lot about right now is, of course, the Covid-19 pandemic. And if you’re looking for clear, honest information about a scary situation, this is the podcast you want to be listening to.

Bad With Money

Gaby Dunn

I think this one was also on my last list of podcasts. I hope so because it’s a great place to be if you’re, you know, bad with money. It’s simple, no-nonsense talk about money from people you don’t usually hear talking about money. Gaby doesn’t judge you about your money choices. She just lays out the facts. And some of the facts are useful. Some are inspirational. Some are just a pat on the back and the realization that you’re not alone. And maybe it’s not that you’re bad with money. Maybe it’s that our economy sucks and we’re all just doing the best we can.

So that’s my updated list of what I’m listening to. But I want to know what you think. Leave a comment below to share your favorite podcast. 

Preorder Falling From Grace now, and be entered to win a free autographed copy of Falling From Grace eBookBroken Patterns. And, get the first four chapters of Falling from Grace right away! Just send a screenshot of your preorder recipt to nicolecluttrell86@gmail.com.

0

A WordPress.com Website.

Up ↑