Bacon Sandwiches and Salvation

(Photo: Adrian Plass sharing wisdom and wisecracks!)

"Do you love what you are doing?" I asked Adrian Plass last Friday night after his presentation at the The Waterloo Mennonite Brethern Church. I was curious. This gentle giant of a man seemed a natural with his delightfully lovely (and oh, so familiar) British accent. I could tell he really did love his Anglican roots, although he did not mince words when it came to 'wound tight' Christians. Mr. Plass was very forthright and almost gushed at how much he loved his writing and speaking. He also told me a little bit about how he had been struggling with depression and how this ministry was the healing tonic that God poured into his vessel!

(Photo: Glen Soderholm - right and David White filling the night with a joyful sound!)

The music for the night provided by the sweet voiced Glen Soderholm and his multi-talented musical sidekick, David White, was delightfully uplifting, honouring and wonderfully entertaining. These gifted boys were a lovely complement to Adrian's cheeky one liners.

The intimate venue at the church on Lexington Road was perfect for creating an intimate setting for the World Vision Story and Song evening. I had a great time.

It's not often I venture out on my own to such an event. At one point, after those who were initially going to attend with me couldn't make it last minute, I thought I might not go. But since I had a ticket and my happy hubby was out of town, I hopped in my car and headed out. And I am not one bit sorry that I did.

Mr. Plass, with his unique humorous perspective on the Christian life, was responsible for many a stitch in the side. People were guffawing right, left and centre as Adrian Plass spoke about everything from bacon sandwiches and salvation to büstenhalters. (If you are even the slightest bit curious about the büstenhalter, then check out this video!)

I am extremely thankful to the Word Guild and Eric Spath for offering tickets to TWG members. I encourage anyone who still might have the opportunity to see this great presentation. It's a wonderful evening out. Now I am off to have a read of my signed copy of Bacon Sandwiches and Salvation.

ICWF September Word Challenge Results

Go Inscribers! Here are the results of the September Word Challenge. Actually there was a tie for first place so a hearty congratulations go out to both Violet Nesdoly for her cleverly 'boring' poem and also to Diane Stephenson for her creatively 'boring' story. Ya'll will know I am not being rude when you read the criteria for submission. Here it is:

'Describe in 200 words or less someone who looks bored. Do not use any form of the words 'yawned,' 'stared' or 'sighed.'

The artist takes calculus

by Violet Nesdoly

His feet were up, his eyes were down

he doodled through the lecture

and then slipped out his berry black

to go online and twitter.Of course he never raised his hand

when prof asked for the answer,

was sandwich-groping through his bag

when buzzer said to quit’er.

MONOTONY HAS GOT TO ME by Diane Stephenson

The young girl slouched in the overstuffed chair with her feet plopped on the hassock. A book sprawled open on her lap. Her eyes focussed somewhere–or nowhere–beyond the pages of the book. Elbow propped on the worn arm of the old chair, she absentmindedly leaned her chin in her open hand. Fingers drummed softly on her tanned cheek. A lazy fly buzzed aimlessly in the window. Without turning her head, her languid eyes glanced in that direction. She breathed in deeply and slowly let out a whisper of air through pursed lips. She closed the book and stretched her arms over her head. Slowly one foot dropped to the floor; the other followed. She stood. Leisurely, as if searching for something, she scanned the den. Not finding what she was looking for, she sauntered into the kitchen. One after another she opened the cupboard doors and shut them again with no obvious purpose. She shrugged her shoulders. Bare feet padded down the hall to the bedroom. Sue flopped on the bed. As her head sunk into the down pillow she threw an arm across her forehead. Consciousness faded as sleep prevailed over the monotony of the day.

Part One - Writing for the Stage

Stage fright does not only happen to actors. A writer, especially someone writing their first play, can be as equally terrified about what will, won’t or might happen on stage. Should the lead character shift upstage, downstage, left or right? And how will this movement affect the other characters? What is the job of the writer regarding stage directions and other interactive information? What constitutes too much information [TMI?] and how does the director, the actors, a potential publisher view TMI?

As you sit and contemplate [what you thought was] your completed script, let’s discuss how much is too much, regarding stage directions.

How Much Wood Would [Should] a Woodchuck Chuck…?

Probably the best piece of advice regarding writing stage directions into your script is to follow the KISS method – Keep It Simple Shakespeare!

First, if you want a character to move to a specific spot and you indicate this in your script, make sure there is a reason for him to move. Never have a character reach a spot and do nothing. Make it purposeful, otherwise it is distracting and the audience will be focusing on this actor [what is he going to do now?] rather than the one delivering the dialogue. Be careful that you do not offer realms of suggestions for movement. Be specific. For instance, Rosemarie crosses to pick up the telephone. That’s specific. Rosemarie crosses stage right, picks up telephone, dials and makes a surprised face when someone other than the person she was calling answers. TMI. This is too much information. The surprised face and body language is up to the director and the actor. The ensuing dialogue that you create should make this situation real to the audience – remember the old show, don’t tell, wisdom? You don’t need to offer particulars about location in your script. These details are evident in the set layout, which you have hopefully already established from the beginning.

Be aware of offering all kinds of upstage and downstage pointers. If it is essential for the director to know the actor must move stage left, then indicate so; otherwise leave movement and blocking alone. Let the director decide. Your concern as the writer is to show and tell the actor where he should be at a particular time only as it pertains to the relevancy and the flow of the story. A writer’s attempts at blocking are frequently viewed with annoyance by a director. As far as the director is concerned, the only time a writer need offer specific stage movement cues, is when they are necessary to advance the story. Too much information can be more than aggravating and may irritate the director or a potential publisher previewing a script sufficiently, to toss yours and pick up the next one in the pile.

Four Letter Words

There are so many four letter words in our English language. Here are some that can change the world: love, hope, care, heal, work, feel, duty, home, good, kind, pity, rest, seek, live, pray...

Can you think of any more?

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The most important attributes a writer must have are faith, hope and clarity!

(Will Conway)

Isaac Assimov

"Thinking is the activity that I love best. and writing is simply thinking through my fingers!"

I like this guy!

Thinking

By reading, I can exchange a dull hour for a happy hour!

By writing, I can turn mere thoughts into an inspirational journey!

And the Winner Is...!

(Photo: Me sporting my own HAC shirt. You get a new one Joanna, don't worry!)

JOANNA MALLORY!

Congratulations! Joanna is the lucky winner of the Hot Apple Cider tee-shirt. Joanna's name, drawn from a pool of excited HAC readers, was selected by a highly esteemed 'judger of all things great' - namely my grandson!

If the truth be known, I have to confess that I had to make the tee-shirt draw twice. The first time around I was a tad eager and made the draw only to discover that an hour later, still under the wire, another eager HAC reader joined in on the fun.

Joanna's name was pulled the first time around (my happy hubby did the honors then!) I decided to wait until midnight after that.

The next day, when Trenton stuck his chubby little hand into the dish, Joanna's name surfaced once more!

It was meant to be. My conclusion. I was almost tempted to try again to see if it would happen three times, then I realized I was losing focus! Anyway...'nuff said. Thanks to everyone for their lovely comments about Hot Apple Cider (HAC). Here are Joanna's