Casting the First...Vote?

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Today was one of those days where I had no idea what to write about. I get them every so often, but usually stumble upon a topic early in the day.

Today was not that day.

In the midst of running errands late this afternoon -- long after this blog should have been posted -- I got my idea. Stole it, actually, from a radio ad on NPR. It seems that later this week, they'll be interviewing an author (I want to say Richard Russo, but I can't be sure) and one topic of conversation will be who his characters would vote for.

Bingo.

To really make this true to character and avoid further polarizing one of my characters, I'm going to have to flash back a bit, to earlier this week when there were a few more candidates still pursuing the nomination.

With John Kasich, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump as Republican contenders and Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton as Democratic contenders, here's who I think my characters would vote for:

• Marita would vote for....Hillary. Definitely. 
• Angel would vote for....John Kasich. She'd definitely vote Republican, but she doesn't trust Ted Cruz. And she thinks Donald Trump is a bully. 
• Jim would vote for....Trump. In fact, there's a part of Jim that wants to be Trump.
• Bets would vote for...Hillary. She thinks Bernie Sanders is cute, but she likes Hillary's chutzpah.
• Lukas would vote for...Bernie Sanders. And not just because his youth group kids talked him into it.
• Gina would vote for...Hillary. Or, she'd mean to, but she'd probably have to work late and forget to vote. 
• Charli, if she were old enough, would vote for....Bernie Sanders. She's not so sure about Hillary and the e-mails and she thinks Bernie's kinda cute.

What do you think? Whom do you think my characters would vote for?

You Get What you Pay For

When my husband picks up a drink for me, it sometimes
comes with little notes from the baristas who made it.

Last week, I was sitting at my favorite Starbucks -- the one where I know all the baristas except the newest hire -- and an off-duty barista sat down at the table beside mine. She was working on an assignment for school -- an interview -- and asked if I'd mind being one of her interviewees. Since the topic was Starbucks' Frappucino Happy Hour, I figured I could speak reasonably intelligently, so I agreed.

Somehow -- I don't remember whether it was through a direct question she asked, or the conversation we had as a result -- we came back to the value for the price question. This is the one that stumps me whenever I'm asked about it in a customer satisfaction survey and whenever I consider the splurge that is my daily Starbucks habit. No matter how frugal I am in other aspects of my life, I still plunk down more than $4 a day at my local Starbucks. I refuse to do the math in any serious fashion because even without crunching the numbers, I realize there are so many things I could buy if I simply quit my Starbucks habit.

And yet I don't. I love my Starbucks (the drink), my Starbucks (the place) and my Starbucks baristas. It's one of my few indulgences.

But it was only when I went off-topic and told this young woman (as I tell everyone) how much I like Starbucks' customer service model that it began to dawn on me. Something I should have figured out a long time ago.

It's all tied to the price of the drink.

Enthusiasm and encouragement are
never in short supply :-)

Sure, it costs nothing to be nice, and my Starbucks baristas have that in spades. But Starbucks takes care of its employees (or "partners," as the company calls them). They get health insurance, company stock and educational opportunities, along with the typical food service product freebies that help to offset the disadvantages of a job where you work as hard as a barista does. And they earn more than minimum wage.

That's why my daily drink costs more than $4.

When I plunk down that chunk of change -- or, more accurately, use the bar code on my phone -- I'm helping to improve the life of the person behind the counter. I'm contributing to the fact that she has health insurance for her family, that he can go to college, that she can advance in the company that hired her and invests in her training.

And I like that idea. After all, considering how well they treat me, it seems only fair to return the favor. And it seems really sad that all companies don't want to invest in the very people who are creating their success.

So, the next time I fill out one of those surveys, I'll have to think a bit more about my value for the price rating. Sure, I'd like it if my daily drink cost less.

But would I really like it if my barista friends suffered because of it?

Friday Feature: Color Me Inspired

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Yesterday, I hosted my friend and fellow writer Rachel J. Good, who talked about how coloring book inspire her when she's stuck in her writing.

But coloring books aren't just for writers -- or kids. This article from USA Today on the benefits of coloring came out right around the time I was coloring with my college students, enjoying some of the benefits discussed in the article.

In my neck of the woods, they're calling for cloudy, rainy weather this weekend. Not-so-perfect weather for outdoor enthusiasts, but just about right for those of us who like to curl up with a good book.

Or perhaps a coloring book and crayons.

Thoughtful Thursday with Rachel J. Good

Last fall, I bought crayons and colored pencils and printed out coloring pages for my students (college freshmen) to color. It was perhaps the quietest five minutes we had all semester, and a few of the young ladies in my class ended up putting coloring books on their Christmas lists.

I never actually gave much thought to what went into creating them, until my friend and fellow author, Rachel J. Good created a coloring book of her own. Read on to find out how Rachel added coloring books to her resume. 

In the mood to color? Click here to download one of Rachel's coloring pages. 

Are You a Coloring Book Fan?

By Rachel J. Good

Have you been following the coloring book craze? I hadn�t. Although family and friends had been praising them as stress relievers and libraries in the area were attracting large groups of dedicated coloring book fans, I was busy meeting book deadlines.

Then an illustrator friend handed me her latest project � an adult coloring book. She thought it might reduce my deadline anxiety. I hesitated about taking time out of my busy schedule to try it, but I didn�t want to hurt her feelings. So I pulled out my markers and colored pencils, sat down, and colored.

And colored�and colored...

OK, so it was addictive.

Maybe it�s the throwback to childhood or the intense concentration it takes to shade in small sections, but coloring not only relaxes me, it puts me in the zone � the creative zone. Coloring unlocks the subconscious and frees the mind to solve problems, including those thorny plot problems I�d been wrestling with in my Amish novel.

Photo: Pixabay

Many famous inventors claim their Eureka! moments came to them spontaneously while they were resting or engaged in a simple, repetitive activity. If I�m stuck on a creative project, I find showering, walking, or washing dishes releases my writer�s block. Now I have a new technique that works equally as well, or perhaps even better, because coloring uses the artistic side of my brain.

For me that coloring book not only unleashed a flurry of creative ideas, it connected two unrelated projects � my Amish novel and coloring books � stimulating me to create my own coloring book, the Amish Quilts Coloring Book. Although it meant carving time out of my life to research and recreate original patterns, I enjoyed the challenge. It also gave me a chance to use my illustration background in a new way.  I had fun choosing each quilt and selecting an Amish proverb for the facing pages. And it makes a nice companion for the first novel in my Sisters & Friends Amish series, Change of Heart, which debuts May 3.

If you�re experiencing writer�s block, or just want to relax, why not try coloring? I�ve attached a sample coloring page with a quilt pattern and a proverb on the same page.  I hope it encourages you to create something new.

Join Rachel for a Facebook party to celebrate the
release of the first book in her Sisters & Friends
series. Details at www.racheljgood.com.

Rachel J. Good writes life-changing, heartfelt novels of faith, hope, and forgiveness and is the author of Amish romances in the Sisters & Friends series. Rachel grew up near Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the setting for her novels. A former teacher and librarian, she completed her MA from Vermont College while raising five children. She is presently an MFA student at Hollins University. In addition to having more than 2200 articles and 30 books in print or forthcoming under several pseudonyms, she also juggles freelance editing and illustration careers. Sign up for her newsletter and/or visit Rachel at www.racheljgood.com.

So, What do You Write?

Photo: Luis Llerena via Unsplash.com

When I first started writing, I wrote nonfiction. Exclusively. I worked on one article at a time and never had to worry about getting characters or story lines confused.

When I began trying my hand at fiction, it was as part of a writing class. I worked on one piece at a time, and the stories were short. I had a job and a small child, and I wrote in small snippets of time during which it was easy to keep one story straight, whether it was fiction, non-fiction or an essay.

Novels came later, and since I still had the job and the child, I continued to work in snippets of time. Though I spent most of my writing time working on my novel-in-progress, I found time to work on articles over the summer, and even occasionally during the school year. Somewhere along the way, I picked up blogging, and started working that in, too.

When I retired, one of my goals was to blog on a regular basis. Four years later, I have a weekly schedule I stick to, writing five to six blogs each week and posting Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in three different locations.

That's when it got complicated.

Some days, I blog ahead of time so that my posts are all ready to go on their assigned days. Other days, I'm still figuring out what I want to write about early -- or even later -- in the day, and the blogs hang over my head until I write and post them. Once they're finished, I have time for discretionary writing.

When that time rolls around, I sometimes have trouble figuring out what I want to write. Right now, for example, I'm working on new story for one novel, revisions on a second and the occasional non-fiction article for one of the online or print publications that regularly accepts my work. Some days, one project is foremost in my mind, so that's where I put my energies. Other days, they jockey for position or, worse yet, refuse to be prodded into submission like so many unruly teenagers.

I told the barista -- a fellow writer --
that I was going to work
on revisions. 

Eventually, as most parents/supervisors do, I manage to coerce one of them into cooperation and actually make
progress. Sometimes, I need to leave home to do this.

Most writers I know work on multiple projects -- some simultaneously, others sequentially. Tomorrow, you'll meet my friend Rachel, who's primarily a novelist, but has also just put together an adult coloring book that fits with the theme of her soon-to-be-released novel. A talented illustrator, Rachel divides her time among a number of writing and illustrating projects -- and several pseudonyms as well. I don't know how she does it all. (Maybe she'll tell us tomorrow).

So, when you ask a writer what she writes, don't be surprised if the answer is "a little bit of everything." Unless she's famous, chances are good that she divvies her available time up among a number of projects, perhaps feeling as though she never really has enough time for any of them. Who knows? Maybe famous writers do this, too.

Perhaps some day I'll find out.

Life is a Banquet

Last weekend, I went to a college lacrosse game -- the first one I've ever been to. I know nothing about lacrosse, but last semester, I had five lacrosse players in my freshman seminar, and I wanted to get a glimpse of the sport that was such a driving force in their lives and, perhaps, even see them play.

It was a beautiful day, and the team won. None of "my kids" played, but I did see a couple of them, and I was glad I decided to step out of my comfort zone and spend a couple hours getting sunburned and doing something different.

After the game, as I headed back to my comfort zone (Starbucks), it occurred to me how many opportunities I missed when I was in college. Unless something was already in my sphere of interest, I didn't check it out. I could count on one hand the number of sporting events I attended, and I wonder now why I didn't take advantage of all my campus had to offer.

I can't go back and re-do college, and, if I'm honest, I have few regrets, and none that would warrant a do-over. But, I have a college-bound senior daughter, and it's not too late for her to benefit from my less-than-timely realizations. So, here's what I'll tell her.

Geralt via Pixabay

Do stuff. All those things you loved doing in high school? Seek out opportunities to continue doing them in college. Pack your flute and take it with you -- maybe even try out for the band. Don't assume you're not good enough. If it interests you, give it a shot.

Try stuff. All that stuff you wanted to do in high school but didn't? It's not too late. Don't assume that everyone else in that club or activity already has experience. If it interests you, check it out. See if newbies are welcome. Once you leave college, you'll pay per activity for all that fun stuff that's included in your tuition.

Go to stuff. It wasn't until I worked on a college campus that I realized how much is going on all the time. Speakers, concerts, sporting events, seminars, workshops, lectures...and from people who know what they're doing. Don't just go to class and to the library and hang out with friends. Check out all the other stuff that's going on and take advantage of it. Go to a lecture on a topic that interests you. Go watch a team play a sport you've never tried. Go listen to classical music firsthand, played by your peers. (Or better yet, grab your flute and become part of the process).

Fortunately, my daughter is already ahead of me, attending lectures and a concert and even taking a class on the same campus where I watched lacrosse. Watching the ease with which she now does these things, I realize how ready she is to take the next step in her life. While I'm sure it will be filled with more than just classes and homework and guest lectures by scholars (as it should), I hope she'll realize early on that there are myriad ways to learn outside the classroom and will make it a point to take advantage of them as she settles into the next chapter of her life.

Friday Freebie: Gilmore Girls Fun Facts

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As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I'm a huge, if belated, fan of the Gilmore Girls. So, as I sit here watching (and live tweeting) The Blacklist, clad in my "See you at Luke's Diner" sweatshirt, a pop culture reference for this blog seems only appropriate.

So I Googled my girls -- Gilmore Girls, that is -- and once I stopped being distracted by all the Instagram pictures of Scott Patterson, Milo Ventimiglia and Sean Gunn, I found a great little Gilmore Girls trivia article. Best of all, as promised, I didn't know most of the fun facts.

The only thing better would be reading the article at Luke's.