Sorry AAA fans...maybe

Kristin from eonline apparently spilled her best guess for the big death next week in the "Watch Lost With Me" chat.

If you read the thread now, her guess has been removed, but there are a few hints that remain:

Side note: I think they changed the 'Other' death in light of who is (I'm 99 percent sure) dying next week if it is name deleted, I'm gonna be ******. Cause name deleted is the second best actor on the show, and the only reason they'd get rid of him is to appease the first. Or at least, that's my educated guess!

Also, in her most recent blog on Lost, she says:
Also spoiler alert you may have heard by now there's a big death next week and some general consensus on who it's gonna be. And let me just say, they better leggo my…beloved favorite.

Oh dear. Sorry about that.

Accessories...

Also an apple pie (I recommend the new Mrs. Smith Cinnabon) and some corn muffins complete this nicely along with a cabernet.

Ick Day Recipes

It's icky here. Like rain and cold wind ick. In other words the perfect day to come home at the end of the week and have dinner READY to jump on. Thus, pot roast.

Over the years people have been asking for my "secret " pot roast recipe. My friends, here it is.

First, pick a roast that actually fits in the crockpot.
Second, toss in the bottom your "hard" veggies, potatoes and raw carrots come to mind. I like red potatoes since I can just toss and there's no peeling but if you have red potato or skin issues feel free to peel and chop into large chuncks the potato of your choice. I also like to prick the potatoes a few times with a knife to let in some juicy goodness.
Third, toss in roast, prick that a time or two on top.
Fourth, surround pot roast with any other veggie you desire. I usually peruse the pantry and freezer and find long lost ingredients. Lentils are good, frozen green beans, that sort of thing. A lot of people put in okra or a veggie mix. I say that's beef soup stuff but whatever. Also, I usually toss in a few garlic cloves if they're hanging out with no dish in sight to use them in.
Fourth, the important part, cut up onion in fairly large slices. Toss some on veggies and put some on top of roast.
AND HERE IS THE SECRET YOU'VE ALL BEEN WANTING, add one packet of beef stew mix (McCormicks or Kroger generic) AND a package of au jus mix (again with the McCormick's or generic). Make sure you get some on tope of roast and then sprinkle around the sides.
Now grab a cup of water and fill just enough to cover veggies. Your roast is going to release a lot of water and you don't want soup. The mix on the top of roast will foram a nice crust too.
Turn crock pot on low.
Leave alone.

There it is. The NovelChick Roast Perfecto. You just can't screw this up. Trust me. I've made a million of them, served them at parties and brought them over to the sick, funerals and after birth food taking occasions. It never fails that people say it is the most tender and succulent roast of their lives.

Enjoy.

Love/Hate

Novelchick and company saw Marie Antoinette on Monday eve. And our opinion? If a bunch of idiots would get up off of this movie for five minutes and freakin' read a little history they wouldn't pan it.

Look, I went in with my husband's handkerchief prepared to slog through beheadings, the drawn out death of two children and a whole lot of sad. Check it, didn't happen. Sofia Coppola very brilliantly stuck to presenting Marie's life at Versailles through the eyes of a young girl. The movie starts when she gets there and ends when they leave.

A lot of people aren't getting it. And that's cool because a lot of people are uneducated, not particularly smart or just plain believe everything that they heard in their ninth grade history class. But I'm not sure why they're going to the movie. From the user reviews it appears a lot of them were looking for some sort of political/historical piece. That's not what we have here. We have an honest look at what it was like to be Marie, how she spent her time and how innacurately she has been portrayed through history. Yes, there are a few things that got washed out of the mix but they were things that would have taken a whole two hours of nothing but political intrigue to set up. The Affair of the Necklace. The sex of the mob that marched on Versailles. How Madame Du Barry spent her time at court making Marie's life into one living hell. But this movie is lovely. To be shot at Versailles, in Marie's bedroom, in the Petite Trianon, in her little village, on the balcony, in reproduced costumes. You really see it through a child's eyes. Okay, so just so we're clear.

Not about French Revolution
Not about Socio-economic impact of monarchy
Not about the Affair of the Necklace
Not about Beheading
No death scenes of small children (actually the death of her daughter was handled SO well)
It is a Love Story
It is about a fourtenn year old girl sold into marriage unexpectedly after her two older sisters die
It is about the bizarre life at court compared to her ultra conservative mother's court
It is about the innocence of Marie and Louis and how it cost them everything
It has a righteous soundtrack

Now, at least, if nothing else, read this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Antoinette and this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affair_of_the_necklace

Shut up

kay, Rush, we know you are truly desperate for any ratings that will keep you one the air. Actually, I didn't know any radio network had so much time to kill that they had put you back on. Anyway, why don't you go down a Xanex with a Scotch and sit quietly in the corner fantasizing about your mother or whatever has led you to this mental state?


Okay, I'm editing this. It's not a particularly kind or Christian thing to say regardless of whether you called a man deep in the grip of a terminal diease a faker for expressing his political opinion. So how about this instead?

Rush, do up your pants, hit an AA meeting and find a very good therapist.

Sorry Addictive Personalities...

I'm slightly addicted. Here's a Friday Fun that can last way past Friday. You can do the initial download and play your hour. Than you can play in five minute intervals forever. I know that sounds weird but five minutes is exactly the amount of time you need for a little quick break and since it cuts you off and autosaves you, you don't spend all day.

It's sort of like Sims but without all the annoying waiting around. Male and female characters and you can enable same-sex relationships.

Kudos Tip: Buy a dog, a Soduko book and a take a martial arts class pretty quickly.

And the winner is...

If you didn't watch BSG last Friday then you missed, in Novelchick's not particularly humble opinion, one of the finest episodes of television EVER along with possibly the most awesome visual moment.

For those of you who saw the Galactica descending through the ATMOSPHERE of New Caprica like a hammer wielded by God's Own Hand, spewing out fighters and then jumping before I could even utter Holy Frack? We should just get our DSL lines humming on a write-in campaign to the Emmy Nominating Committee which we know are old whiney grandmothers and will ignore the show AGAIN.

BSG has been stirring up some thought provoking plotlines since the beginning: religion, faith, cyborgs, suicide bombings, politics, etc. So for those of you who might be interested in really feeling some of those things out, add this puppy to your Christmas List.

So Say We All...

An article written by TWOP's own recapper is included and it's edited by Richard Hatch (no not the one in jail).

The End Is Upon Us...

The Novelchick Staff and the Gilmore Girls? Done.

The Evil

And here we go...

Oh my poor, poor darlings! I have abandoned you way too long! So I'm making up for it NOW.

Teabag: The Bag, The Myth, The Image

Offices of Lipton Tea Company
Friday, August 19, 2006
4:38 P.M.

Transcript from meeting between Research and Development, Marketing and Teabag (traditional)

Marketing Guru: Hi, TB, we're glad you could join us. Have a seat. Can we get you anything? Hot water? Lemon? Honey?

Teabag: Um, no thanks.

Marketing Guru: I want to get straight to the point, TB. You've been doing an excellent job for us. We're thrilled with your work.

Teabag: Okay....

R&D Guy: But the thing is...well....

Marketing Guru: We're phasing you out.

Teabag: Huh? What?

Marketing Guru: The Lipton Company wants to make tea a staple. A classic. The name known in every home. We want tea to be the new...

Teabag: Tea?

Marketing: Yes! We want it to be hip, fresh, young. We want everyone who's anyone to know about tea. We want tea houses springing up, we want tea rooms abounding, we want people sitting down for a cup of tea on a regular basis.

Teabag: Heh? In England don't they-.

Marketing Guru: Our research shows that you're...passe. When people think of tea they think teabag.

Teabag: Really. How odd.

Marketing Guru: No, it's true. Your image is...old fashion. We've decided we need to shake it up. So...we've done some focus groups.

Teabag: Oh God! Can I steep in here?

Marketing Guru: And what we found is that the young and hip no longer want tea in a two sided bag.

Teabag: Excuse me?

R&D Guy: It's true. They want something more exciting.

Teabag: And you got this from focus groups?

R&D Guy: Well....no. They didn't care. But the thing is we've decided you're passe. We've decided to rework you. We've decided to make the new tea bag. We've decided on...get ready...a triangle. A pyramid if you will.

Teabag: So this pyramid bag? It's more efficent?

R&D Guy: Well, no. I mean you stick it in and pour hot water over it and it steeps.

Teabag: So it looks better when they take it out?

R&D Guy: Er, no. It still looks like a lump.

Teabag: Look, I know I'll never have the glamour that my English cousin does all loose leaf and fancy free but still....

Marketing Guru: American men don't like tea. They think it's wimpy.

Teabag: And the new pyramid teabag will change that?

R&D Guy: Absolutely. Pyramids remind men of ancient Egypt. They remind them of virility and strength and....

Teabag: Sand? Slavery? Unchecked disease?

Marketing Guru: Well, sure that too. Look, we know you've been around since the eighties.

Teabag: 1904.

Marketing: Whatever. But the new teabags are speaking to a new generation.

Teabag: And what are they saying?

Marketing Guru: According to our new commericals, that tea is the new flirtation. Men drinking tea is a turn on. That sitting in a quaint outdoor cafe with a paper and a cup of steaming hot Oolong is going to bring the women to your feet. Tea is ...hot!

Teabag: Oooookay. So....

Marketing Guru: So, it's been a great ride but...we're going in a new direction. Thank you for your service to the company. We'll send you a watch.


Seriously, pyramid shaped tea bags? What the hell?

Story Magic

From Dwight Swain, author of Techniques of the Selling Writer, "The thing that hooks your reader in the opening is curiosity. The thing that holds him the rest of the way, straight through to the final paragraph, is suspense."


Some of you out there are writers. I know you are, you email me. So this post I hope will help you.

Traditionally I have always been known as a Pantster. People who do not plot out a book prior to writing it and just basically going where it takes me. This is good in that you're as surprised as anyone else at the twists and turns. Basically, your characters are running the show for you. You just write down what your muse tells you. Sometimes it works, sometimes your muse is an idiot. But it all seems to work out in the end.

Then there are those who are outliners. My friend Marge is like this. She needs to know EVERYTHING before the words Chapter One can be committed to paper. She frequently has to know the name of the neighbor's dog. Many a great author uses this style. Many do not. It's a very personal choice mostly based on your personality. Do you need a roadmap or can you go where your spirit takes you?

Well, even us Pantsters need to stop and ask for directions occasionally.

Every writer, EVERY WRITER, knows about The Hero's Journey by Vogler (here's a down and dirty freebie version I found Vogler OVerview Freebie). It's like standard issue if you ever write anything. And for the most part, it works. It's a lot of prep time but for some people that's the best part. I have always scorned Vogler as taking the joy out of writing. But recently my WIP was getting all muddled up with scenes that had no order. So I enrolled myself in the awesome Discovering Story Magic workshop Discovering Story Magicwhich was taught on-line this time. It was offered by Writers Online Classes. They are also offering some really great workshops through the end of the year and I encourage you to stop by and check it out.

Incidentally, here is a nearly PERFECT Vogler worksheet if you want to see how awesomely some people are able to plan.

Painfully Thought Out Character Worksheet (and yes it is 60 pages).

Discovering Story Magic has somehow managed to condense all of this down into a usable, even portable, dare I say easy, version. It is NOT the same thing as Vogler but it feels familiar but more accessible. And it involves a lot of Post-Its and posterboard (you'll just have to take the class). But I do want to leave you with a quote or two from the workshop that I thought was amazing and I don't believe they will mind me passing along to you.

That magic --- is THEME! Because if you can discover the theme of your story, you will find the heart of your book.

HOW MUCH YOUR CHARACTER CARES ABOUT THEIR GOAL IS IN DIRECT PROPORTION TO HOW MUCH THE READER WILL CARE!

Witch does rhyme with ignorant bitch

Memorize this face.

If you see it, take your children by the hand and back away from her slowly. She is armed with mass amounts of stupidity, bigotry, illiteracy and she's not afraid to use them to embarrass herself or her children. BACK AWAY SLOWLY!!!!

Headline: Laura Mallory, of Loganville, Ga., holds up a brochure for a summer camp for learning the art of witchcraft. Mallory was trying to convince a Gwinnett County board of education officer during an Oct. 3 hearing that Harry Potter should be banned from classrooms and school libraries.

You never hear about these things in Seattle or Portland or Asheville. There's always one pathetic, ignorant parent out there on a crusade that makes no sense and just glots up the mess that is public education even more. And today, it's this one.

Personally, Laura Mallory of Loganville, GA, I say you have a right to your opinion. You may completely stand firm on your moral highground and condemn us all to hell for reading a book about an orphan boy and his magical adventures. I've attended all the midnight madness parties to if that buys me a place in a deeper circle of hell by the way. But let's examine a thing or two.

First, did you read it? Please do not waste time saying that something is evil if you haven't bothered to do the research. If you didn't read the book ( and I'll guess you haven't) than you really have nothing to say about it. I mean do you know that really Harry Potter is about bigotry and prejudice and how fear of things you don't understand can corrupt even the best of intentions? NO? Thought not. Not only would one have to read the book, one would have to be able to grasp higher learning concepts.

Second, were you sending your kids to that camp? Like was it a Fundamental Religious Knitting Camp last year or something and changed curriculums and you couldn't get your deposit back or what? Leave the camp alone. They're probably not holding up pictures of you and saying how evil you are for your poor choice in jackets.

Third, I'm missing the connection. What is your objection? To Harry Potter? He's been a round a bit and kids have been reading him awhile and I have yet to see the first school shooting led by anyone in Quidditch robes. A much better track record of violence? Children of ignorant, redneck religious fanatics.... Or is it what you think the evils of having Harry Potter on a bookshelf is doing to today's youth. Honestly, the only kids checking HP out of the school library are the ones who are fact checking because every house has multiple copies. Except yours. You know just when you think the last alcoholic mother who loses her kids to DFACS on a regular basis and shuffles between two states to avoid her legal problems and has dragged the kids from unstable boyfriend's apartment to unstable boyfriend's trailer and then blames rock and roll music when her sixteen year old depressed drop out son, who has been smoking pot and drinking for three days in a row decides to off himself he's so depressed has thankfully disappeared, we get this. Non-Medicated Mom: The Burb Version. You know why I don't worry about these things? I do a good job of arming my daughter. She knows about God, we talk freely about religion and what our beliefs are in front of her, we encourage her to have a personal relationship with God. I read Harry Potter to my daughter the first two months of her life.

Lastly, here is a partial list of books that also feature witches/witchcraft that you will also need banned to protect your children's ignorance and continue to make them the laughingstock of people like myself.

The Odyssey

Dracula

The Wizard of Oz

The Jungle Book

Almost everything written by Shakespeare (including but not limited to, Anthony and Cleopatra, King Richard III, Macbeth, The Tragedy of Coriolanous. There are more that mention witchcraft but those are the ones I remember)

The Tempest

Robin Hood

House of Seven Gables

Moby Dick

Ivanhoe

Don Quixote

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (yes, use the French or English title and it still has magic in it)

The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe

Essays (The second series??) of Ralph Waldo Emerson

Le Morte D'Arthur

The Hobbit/LOTR Series

The Narnia Chronicles

Pretty much the collective works of Robert Louis Stevenson

The Scarlett Letter

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Tess of the d'Urbervilles

The Republic

Andersen's Fairy Tale

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

The Last of Mohicans

Anna Karenina

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Thank you, Laura Mallory, for attempting to plnge our children into a nadir of ignorance so black that it's like has not been seen since the educational philosophies of the Industrial Age were upon us.

Oh, and for reminding me why I suck it up and pay tuition for my child to go to private school.

I'm Back

Sorry this post has taken so long. I've been gone. We cruised for my birthday and just got back on Sunday. Had a great time and I recommend the Carnival Miracle to anyone.

First, I've written about sixty NEW new pages to rebuild my manuscript with. I'm going to start the slice and dice process here soon and we'll see if I can build a better mousetrap with it.

Secondly, Howard K. Stearn is not the father of that baby.

Third, last night's Gilmore Girls was of no value. We all knew Lane was pregnant (and by the way were they in Mexico for a month or what). We all get that they're broken up and it's awful and everyone's lives are in ruins. Let's bring on the Gil.

Fourth, LOST premiere. Tonight. Need I say more?

Fifth, BSG premiere on Friday. I"m sure I'll say more but my attentions are needed elsewhere.