Dolphins are like junior high school girls?
A super quick post today. At the beginning of August the LA Times ran this story ,which asserts dolphins are like junior high school girls because they hang out in cliques based on certain social behaviors.
I thought the article was really cool, especially since I used pods in Dolphin Girl as a metaphor for cliques, but I think the LA Times got one thing wrong. Cliques don’t just exist for junior high school girls. They exist in high school and adulthood, boys and girls, men and women. I consider political parties, religions, special interests or any way that someone might label themselves as the definition of an elite social group.
It seems we don’t outgrow it when we turn fourteen. Or fifteen. Or even sixteen.
My cliques are: wife, mom, mom of teenager (because this is a special badge of honor), sports mom (this badge requires an even greater commitment), Catholic, writer, reader, storyteller, indie-pubbed, daughter, aunt, sister, dog lover, dolphin lover, music lover, cookie baker, dieter, art appreciator, …etc.
What cliques are you a member of?
Swan Part 2 — The Big Reveal
So, here’s The Big Reveal. You already knew it wasn’t a swan, right?
The paperback will be on sale November 1, 2011 at Amazon for $9.99.
The e-book is available at Amazon, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, and Amazon FR, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords for $2.99 or a comparable amount in euros/pounds.
Through November 3, 2011 I am giving away 150 copies of the e-book for Free at LibraryThing. Yes, free.
So, I hope you’ll stop by and pick up a free book or sample at one of the on-line retailers and if you like what you read, purchase a copy for yourself. Or a teen girl in your life. Or your next door neighbor. Or a cousin or something. *grins*
How to use YouTube as inspiration
A little while back–right here to be precise–in a post about writing tools, I mentioned that YouTube can be invaluable. I even promised to show you how I used YouTube as research for one of my novels. So, here’s the post to keep that promise.
In Dolphin Girl, there is an important scene where the main character, Jane, swims with the dolphins. So, because I live in Florida, I drove down to the Keys to do a dolphin swim in a more natural environment. It was amazing and I was able to use a lot of it in writing the scene. But even with the luxury of personal experience, the scene still wasn’t right.
The problem? During my “real life” swim, my head stayed above water for the entire time and with Jane’s swim it was taking part mostly beneath the surface. I wrote the scene and wrote it and wrote it, but it kept coming out one dimensional. Enter YouTube. Check out this video:
In Dolphin Girl, the two dolphins end up playing the bubble scene with Jane. Here’s another video I used. This one gave me the underwater sound experience. Plus it was great to see this real life dolphin girl.
Cool, huh? The clicks and creaks and bubbles and silence. These videos changed the way I wrote the scene and it became less about the action, more dream-like. I think. At least that’s what I was aiming for.
Anyway, I’m sure this won’t be the only book where I’ll tap into YouTube for help. It seems like it would be great for figuring out setting. Or even to help picture a not-quite-fully-fleshed-out character. In the meantime, I’m really curious, have you ever used YouTube for your writing? If so, please leave a comment and let me know how. If not, you can leave a comment anyway. 🙂
Are you a horse or unicorn or dolphin girl?
Recently, I read an NPR article that explained girl power is the reason why so many girls love horses and dolphins and unicorns. In the article there was a quote by Laurel Braitman, an MIT graduate student in the history of science who writes about animals and what we think about them. She says girls’ fascination with these animals is more than power — the animals fuel girls’ imaginations.
“Horses and dolphins and unicorns — these are all borderland creatures; gateway animals to other worlds,” she says. “They help us imagine wonderful other ways of being in the world. They let us be cowgirls and oceanographers and mermaids and princesses.”
Apparently, each animal symbolizes how we view relationships and using our power.
Horses: Horses are all about control, about harnessing and taming our masculine energy. About charging forward in the world at a sure-footed pace. Also, horses are loyal, steadfast, and true, qualities that appeal to our relational nature.
Dolphins: Dolphins are sleek and sensitive, about following your instincts and following them quickly. They are constantly pushing or pulling, in tune with the tide. And they live in water, which typically represents emotion.
Unicorns: It’s not all about the horn. Unicorns also represent mystery, spirituality, beauty, hope, uniqueness, and purity. The unicorn is all about what you can become. What has not yet been revealed to you, but what is waiting just around the corner if you believe.
So which one are you? Or did you give that up when you grew up?
In Celebration of Shark Week
I count myself among the people who are fascinated by sharks, but why am I? Why is anyone for that matter?
My theory is it’s in the same vein as people who slow down to check out an accident. (I don’t do this BTW!) It’s facing a fear that ultimately makes us feel grateful.
So when we see this guy…
We think: Thank God, I’m not anywhere close to that monster!
Yes, that’s right. Sharks scare me! Don’t get me wrong—though—it’s not that I have an obsessive fear or anything. I don’t dream about them and have no problem swimming in the ocean. I even used to SCUBA. But, I imagine, coming face to face with a Great White would be terrifying.
TV programming this week will let us confront the shark.
And survive.
So cheers for all us who shiver when thinking of these beasts and then plunk ourselves down to watch a few episodes of some nature show during Shark Week.
And once I’m through with that, I’d like to focus on something that really makes me smile.
Aaaah! That’s more like it. Now, when are we gonna’ have Dolphin Week?
s h e l d e l i s l e 