Imagine the conversation The Creator might have had with St. Francis
on the subject of lawns.

GOD: FRANCIS, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the
world is going on down there in the USA? What happened to the
dandelions, violets, thistle, and stuff I started eons ago? I had a
perfect,no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of
soil, withstand drought, and multiply with abandon. The nectar from
the long-lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees, and
flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now.
But all I see are these green rectangles.

ST. FRANCIS: It’s the tribes that settled there, God. The Suburbanites.
They started calling your flowers “weeds” and went to great lengths to
kill them and replace them with grass.

GOD: Grass? But it’s so boring. It’s not colorful. It doesn’t attract
butterflies, birds, and bees, only grubs and sod worms. It’s
temperamental with temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want
all that grass growing there?

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently so. They go to great pains to grow it and
keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and
poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.

GOD: The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really
fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently not, Supreme Being. As soon as it grows a
little, they cut it, sometimes twice a week.

GOD: They cut it? Do they then bail it like hay?

ST. FRANCIS: Not exactly. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

GOD: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

ST. FRANCIS: No, God, just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.

GOD: Now let me get this straight: they fertilize grass so it will
grow; and when it does grow, they cut it off, and then they pay to
throw it away?

ST. FRANCIS: Yes, Creator.

GOD: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut
back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth
and saves them a lot of work.

ST. FRANCIS: You aren’t going to believe this. When the grass stops
growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it
so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.

GOD: What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a
sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves
in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. They use
carbon monoxide and release oxygen. In the Autumn, their leaves fall
to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil
and protect the trees and bushes. Plus, as they rot, the leaves form
compost to enhance the soil. It’s a natural circle of life.

ST. FRANCIS: You’d better sit down, God. The Suburbanites have drawn a
new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great
piles and pay to have them hauled away.

GOD: No. What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the
winter and to keep the soil moist and loose?

ST. FRANCIS: After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy
something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it
around in place of the leaves.

GOD: And where do they get this mulch?

ST. FRANCIS: They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.

GOD: Enough. I don’t want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine,
you’re in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us
tonight?

ST. CATHERINE: “Dumb and Dumber,” God. It’s a real dumb movie about…

GOD: Never mind. I think I just heard the whole story from St.Francis

***
Great writing progress today — 15 pages! Makes up for not writing yesterday. I think I’ll finish the partial of this new YA manuscript this week, then let it sit while I work on other things before going back and doing any necessary revising.

Not always making my 10,000 steps a day, but at least by wearing the pedometer I’m conscious of the need to get up and move every once in awhile.

My husband and I have been married 13 1/2 years, and one of our first purchases with our wedding money was a vacuum cleaner. I remember how we went to the nearest town with a Super Wal-mart (our college town now has one but didn’t then) . Every time we went to this town, we’d eat dinner at El Chico Mexican Restaurant, then do the shopping. I don’t remember what else we bought other than the vacuum and a cheap set of shelves for our towels and washclothes since the bathrooms in the married housing on campus didn’t have storage space. The shelves are in my office now, holding up part of my…uh…extensive book collection. The vacuum, bless her little dirt-sucking soul, is now in the large garbage can outside. After cleaning the carpets in four apartments and one house, she finally bit it a couple of weeks ago. May I have a moment of silence for the dearly departed…

Funny how more than 13 years later, I was back at a Super Wal-mart, this time in a different state, looking for a vacuum. And the passage of time was illustrated by how much vacuums had changed. Back when I was still a college senior living in an apartment you could roughly fit in my current den, we came home with the traditional model with a bag inside. This time, I came home with a bagless model guaranteed to never lose suction. Awesome! Fear me, carpet dirt!

This may be of interest to all you Battlestar Galactica fans. Sounds like a great new show.

***
Yesterday’s progress:

8 new pages
11,050 steps

We’re currently experiencing what’s known as either dogwood winter or blackberry winter, can’t ever remember which is which. Anyway, after having already been up around 90 already, 50s seem quite chilly. I’m back to wearing pants and my fleece jacket. But it doesn’t look like it’ll last long. Supposed to be back into the 70s today.

We’re getting quotes for a new roof. Ouch. I had two appointments for estimates set up yesterday. The first guy didn’t show up and didn’t call. Even if he does show up at some point, I doubt I’d work with him. I have this thing about keeping your word and being on time and plain old courtesy. The second guy was very thorough and spent about an hour and a half climbing around on our roof and then explaining all the various parts of the estimate, every ginormous dollar of it. I think it’s just one of those bite-the-bullet things, so hopefully before the end of May we’ll have a new roof and no more leaks. I’m waiting for another couple of estimates for comparison.

Okay, question of the day for you LOST fans — May sweeps start next week, and that means some good episodes leading up to the end of the season. Who is your pick for who is going to get killed off? Will the trend of one of the more minor characters continue, or will the shock value be upped and someone like Jack or Sawyer bite it? I’m leaning toward Michael (because how ironic would it be that he escaped The Others to get help to rescue Walt only to be killed when he went back?) or maybe Charlie (this would make me really sad, but think of the guilt Claire would then have). So, who’s your pick?

****
Yesterday’s progress:
6 new pages on the YA manuscript and 10,009 steps.

When the topic of self-promotion comes up among writers, there seem to be two different camps of thought. There are those who say you should just write a good book and that you really can’t do much to impact your sales numbers with self-promotion, particularly if you write for Harlequin/Silhouette and your books are only on the shelf for about a month. Others are big fans and proponents of self-promotion, of doing whatever we can to make ourselves stand out in a crowded marketplace and to build our name recognition. The argument is that book buyers will buy a book by an author with a familiar name rather than one by an unknown author.

I have to admit I fall more into the camp of self-promotion opponents. I know there are plenty of authors out there who do just fine without doing more than having a Web site. Still, I figure what can it hurt? And if it makes me feel like I’m being proactive in my career, yay for me. Of course, I have to actually sell a book first.

I’m always having ideas of fun ways to promote my books. Once I sell one and know which title it’s going to be, I’m sure I’ll immediately start brainstorming some ways to get my book and name noticed when it hits shelves.

One newer way authors are self promoting is by having trailers for their books made, much like movie trailers. For an example, check out the one for buddy Stephanie Rowe’s newest release, Date Me Baby, One More Time, which is getting fabulous reviews.

*******

10,000 Steps progress from yesterday = 12,087 steps. I think I’ll only post the progress for about a week, just to see how it’s going and hopefully to inspire a few others to tackle the same challenge.

There’s an auction on eBay going on right now that’s for a good cause, to raise funds for a writer who is battling breast cancer. This auction is being sponsored by published author (not the author for whom the auction is being held) Jennifer Crusie’s online group, The Cherries. If you’re a writer, there are a number of critiques by published authors being offered. For others, there are autographed books and items such as homemade scarves. So, check it out.

In my efforts to lose weight and get into better shape, I’ve decided to tackle the 10,000 Steps Challenge in which you wear a pedometer and shoot for taking 10,000 steps a day (about 5 miles). You might want to try this and see how many (or few) steps you take in a day. You can read more about this program here. I’m going to keep a chart next to my bed and write down my steps each night before I go to bed and report here each day the previous day’s tally. What’s exciting is that I’ve already passed the 10,000 steps for today. I did walk on the treadmill for about 45 minutes this morning, but the rest has been just normal walking around doing stuff.

Very excited that I got started writing the new young adult partial today. Wrote 6 pages. That’s going to be my goal for each day. If I do more, that’s icing on the cake.

If you’re a writer, you know how exciting it is to get what you feel is a great story idea and stand on the precipice of starting to write that new story. I’ve done several days worth of plotting and character brainstorming on a new young adult story idea, and I’m ready to start putting some scenes down on paper (well, the computer screen, but you know what I mean). I think I’ll shoot for 5 pages tomorrow, then go back and read them — see if they hold up to what I have in my head, see if they knock loose some more brainstorming ideas to add to my list of things that need to happen in this book.

My hope is this book can be a follow-up to the young adult manuscript that is making the rounds now and that is a finalist in the Golden Heart. I had to think a good long while to come up with what I thought was a strong idea that had the same type of tone as the completed book. Sometimes getting it all straight in your head before you start writing is half the battle.

Well, the dear hubby is likely going to roll his eyes when he sees this–hee hee–but I’m going to post the occasional picture of good-looking guys because, frankly, blog readers seem to like them. First up is David Wenham, an Australian actor who played Faramir in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. For those of you who’ve read Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander books, doesn’t he look like he’d make a good Jamie Frasier if they ever made a movie?

Here he is with Sean Bean (not bad himself) as brothers Faramir and Boromir in the LOTR: The Two Towers.

You don’t have to chain yourself to a giant tree in front of bulldozers to consider yourself a good steward of the environment. I consider myself an environmentalist, but I also credit myself with some common sense and understand the world isn’t black and white. There are an infinite number of shades of gray — and green.

I think everyone can do things to help out the air we breathe, the water we drink and the natural resources we consume. For instance, here are simple things I do without a terrible amount of effort:

1. I drive a small car that gets good gas mileage. It has to go through emissions testing every year since I live in a city, and thankfully it does very well despite her age and mileage.

2. We use compact fluorescent lightbulbs. Yes, they cost more, but they last for years! For instance, it seemed like we were always changing a blown lightbulb in the kitchen. Since we changed to compact fluorescent bulbs, I haven’t had to change it once. And it’s been a long time since that last incandescent was used.

3. I turn out the lights in rooms when I leave them. Simple, yes, but it’s amazing how often this doesn’t get done.

4. My grocery recycles its plastic bags, so I take mine back to the recycle bin each time I go to buy more groceries.

5. Instead of tossing items I don’t want anymore into the trash, I donate to Goodwill.

6. I wait until I have a full load before I do laundry. I know you can choose the water level based on how large the load is, but two small loads still uses twice as much electricity as one large load.

I don’t want this to seem like a greenie lecture, but I just think if every single person did something to help the environment, it’d be amazing what changes we could bring about. So, Happy Earth Day, everyone. Tomorrow, I’ll get back to blogging about writing.

Yesterday, I posted about the men of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Today, it’s the women’s turn. There are far more named male characters in the LOTR than female, but there are three women of particular note.

My favorite female character is Eowyn, the Shieldmaiden of Rohan. She, like Arwen (below), is interesting because she showcases beauty and love but also a fierceness and willingness to fight for what she believes in.

Here she is as her more feminine self, as the White Lady of Rohan.

But then there’s the other side of Eowyn, the shieldmaiden who goes to war alongside the men of Rohan.

Because of a prophecy that says no man can kill the Witch King, she’s able to do what no one else on the field can do because she’s a woman.

Next up is Arwen, whose ethereal beauty made her perfect to play and elf and Aragorn’s true love.

But when necessary, Arwen can take care of business too — as when she has to make a run for it with an injured Frodo. When the Ring Wraiths demand Frodo, she pulls her sword and says that if they want him, they’re going to have to get past her to claim him. Instead, she sends the river rushing toward them, washing them downstream.

Last of the women is Galadriel, the Lady of the Golden Wood of Lothlorien and the most powerful elf in Middle-earth. We don’t see her fight like the other ladies, but she is powerful enough to resist the pull of the One Ring’s corrupting power and to give the Hobbits magical gifts that will help them on their long journey.

To treat myself for finishing and turning in another manuscript to my agent, I spent a couple of days watching the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy on DVD. These are the extended versions with extra scenes. And unlike some DVDs with deleted scenes included, these weren’t stuck at the end. These were placed in the movies where they’d been originally. Some of them clarified things and made me go, “Oh, that makes sense.” Others just extended scenes that were already there. I really enjoyed them. The only thing I wished there’d been more of was the development of the relationship between Faramir and Eowyn. In the theater release, there is only a momentary shot of the two of them at Aragorn’s coronation. In the extended version, there were a couple of extra brief scenes, but it still felt like there needed to be one more to explain how that relationship came about after she’d had feelings for Aragorn.

Anyway, today I’m posted some photos of my favorite male characters from the movies. Tomorrow, I’ll post about the female characters.

First off is Frodo, who has the toughest task in the movies, to be the bearer of the One Ring. Poor Frodo is almost offed so many times, but he sticks with it. And Elijah Wood is a cutie.

Next up is Aragorn, one of the Fellowship and the king referred to in Return of the King. He’s a reluctant king at first, but he comes into his own at the end. And he gets the beautiful girl (Arwen) to boot.

And who can forget Legolas — that elf with the long, blond hair? These movies were the first time I’d seen Orlando Bloom, and the first time I saw him sans the Legolas hair, I was taken aback by his dark, curly hair. Several of the actors who played the other blond elves also have dark hair. I want to live with the elves for awhile.

Some other characters I really like but who don’t get as much attention are:

Eomer, nephew of King Theodan of Rohan and brother to Eowyn. He’s one heck of a horse soldier.

Faramir, who I actually liked better than his ill-fated brother Boromir. I liked that there was a gentleness and kindness to Faramir even though life pushed him to be a soldier like his brother.

And then there is Haldir, one of the elves many movie watchers might not even be able to name. But he was fun in his arrogance, and he heads up the elvish army that shows up to help defend Helm’s Deep in The Two Towers. The arrival of the elvish army is one of my favorite scenes. I want me some elvish armor.