Tag: storytelling

‘My momma always said, “Life was like a box of chocolates….’ (part 2)

Navy, clipper ships, punishment, Naval tradition, blogs, blogging,words, language                                     As I was saying in part one……..We all remember this famous quote from Forest Gump……my box of chocolates is filled with words.. …….NEW words which I have never heard before.  They roll around on my tongue like a chocolate cherry cream out of my box of sweets.  Here are some of my favorite words that I especially like because of their history  …..

‘to be Masted‘: Traditionally, on a naval vessel, (when all vessels were wind-driven) the captain would stand at the main mast of that vessel when holding mast. The crew, who by custom did not speak with the captain, could speak to him directly at these times.

It also refers to the naval punishment of tying a sailor to a mast and lashing him with a whip. In today’s Navy, this treatment has been modified to a tongue ‘lashing’. In today’s naval tradition, ‘to be masted’ is a non-judicial punishment, wherein a disciplinary hearing is held and a commanding officer studies and disposes of cases involving those in his command.

Fortalice:  A small fortress.  A small castle-like fort. Many castles were built with defense as a first priority when choosing the location and the architecture of the structure.

Posit:  to place, put or set.  that which is posted. to lay down or assume as a fact.  (The mother of ‘posting’ in today’s cyber-world?)

Machinate/Machinations:  to contrive or devise artfully or with evil purpose.  Crafty schemes, plots, intrigues.

I’ll be ‘positing’ more to this series of favorite words.  Feel free to send me some of yours!!

‘My momma always said, “Life was like a box of chocolates….’

       We all remember this famous quote from Forest Gump……my box of chocolates are words…NEW words which I have never heard before.  Words that roll around on my tongue like a chocolate cherry cream out of my box of sweets.  For example here are some words I discovered …..

                            Tantalus: a Phrygian king who, for his crimes, was forced to stand hungry and thirsty surrounded by sweet water and fruit laden branches. I’ve seen it used loosely as an adjective: being tantalized without fulfillment.

Muniment:  a document, a title deed or charter

Muniment room: a storage or display room in a castle, church or university where pertinent historical documents or records are kept.

Entresol: a lower floor between two higher floors, between floors, mezzanine.

Cuckoo:  a common enough European bird but noted for its habit of laying its eggs in another bird’s nest which then hatched and raised the young cuckoos. The mother cuckoo never returns.  Which leads to the off-shoot of this word and description:
Cuckold:  Usually referring to the husband of an unfaithful wife.  To make a cuckold of (a husband) and it could follow that the unfaithful wife is impregnated by the lover and (like the birds) the cuckold’d husband and wife raise the child of another man.  Hence the use of the word.

When you write, never dumb it down for your readers. Remember you are writing prose. It’s okay to challenge your readers….it’s even preferred. 

As a writer, I hope that You love the flavor of words as much as I do…..
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Writers, do you research enough? (4of4 Fairy Tales)

fairies, fairy tales, Tinker Bell, short plays, small casts, Disneyland, writing        While writing another short play, “Daughterland“,  I wanted a whole new spin on Disney’s Tinker Bell.  So more research.  This is what I found:   James Barrie’s first draft of his famous story  (1924) of the magical boy who never grew up originally christened the world’s most famous female fairy as “Tippy-Toe.”  By the time the play was first performed, the little pixie had been renamed “Tinker Bell” and has remained so ever since.

Probably most readers know that a tinker was an itinerant tradesman who mended pots and pans. He rang his distinctively high pitched “tinker’s bell” to announce he was in the neighborhood

Barrie pictured the fairy with fiery red hair because she was so small she could only have one emotion at a time, and the red hair seemed to reflect her most common emotions. From Barrie’s unpublished screenplay, here is the description of the first appearance of Tinker Bell:

“The fairy, Tinker Bell. Swallows perched on the outside of the window. The fairy music comes up. The fairy, Tink, flies on and alights on the window sill.  She should be about five inches in height and, if the effect can be got, this should be one of the quaintest pictures of the film, the appearance of a real fairy. She is a vain little thing, and arranges her clothes to her satisfaction. She also keeps shoving the birds about so as to get the best place for herself. Finally, she shoves all the swallows off the sill.”

When the animated feature was first released, the Disney publicity department insisted that this would be the first time that Tinker Bell would be visible as more than just the little spot of light flitting around the scenery. In actuality, a silent movie version of Peter Pan released by Paramount in 1924 had a live actress appear briefly in some close-ups as Tinker Bell.   Courtesy of Wade Sampson                                                                                                                                                               My research changed the way I thought of Tinker Bell, the Disney version. In doing so, my ‘Tippy’ (yes, I went with her orginal name) is quite different.  But the play is really about a father and daughter trying to find new ground in their relationship after divorce.

 

A foggy night, at a ferry landing, inspired me…(part 4)

ferry landing, poetry, foggy night, blogs, writing, I was sitting, late one night, at a ferry landing, waiting and watching the boats ferry back and forth until it was my turn to board.  Fog horns, misty fog, reflections on the black water, the screech of the gulls, and the silent hunting of the pelicans.

The wet air, the silence, the sound of a lone fog horn warning vessels of danger.  The fog smearing everything I looked at… I was inspired  to write poetry.  But the scene could have inspired a murder mystery writer to write about a body, weighted down, being slipped into the water;  or it could have inspired a romance writer to write about two lovers parting as the boat docked.  Never to be together again.  For me, it was poetry.  Here is an excerpt of what came out of that black night……..

FOGGY NIGHT  © 

The white orb, saturated with tidal flows 

peers through the veil, 

a ghost ship slips up the fog laden channel

 Night gulls’ sing with strident cries 

fog seeps in, the tide rolls out, 

day is gone, the night creeps on 

Trees, dressed in ebony, drift by 

water glistens, injectable methandienone online in uk gold and wet 

Night is soft and tender, edges blurred 

damp seeps into cloth, hair, bone 

Fog casts tents of light over the landing 

Hunters of the sea know not day nor night 

Fishers all, white feathers stark 

against the night shadows 

Palm trees, silhouetted against the ochre gauze, 

brushes hardened with black paint……

I raced home as I had nothing to write with in the car.  Opening my front door, I dropped my keys and purse onto a chair, tore off my coat as I sped down the hall to my studio.  Waking up my computer, my fingers flew across the key board, lest I forget the words that were born in the night. 

To read more click here for the book, "Butterflies and Bullets"

 

 

 

 

Who, What Inspires your Writing? (part 2)

chilren's theatre, children's plays, fairy tales, inspiration, actors    You find inspiration in the strangest places.   I was dedicated to writing scripts for the stage.   A few years back, I attended this production of my children’s play, Emma and the Lost Unicorn, outside of Boston .

After the actors had their curtain calls, the Director told them that if they changed out of their costumes and did their assigned tasks back stage, they could ‘have some time with  Trisha’.

So I found myself holding impromptu stage craft classes with these adorable young actors (age 5–18).  I was struck how serious they were about their craft.  Their questions were very sophisticated.  And then it happened……the inspiration to dare to write something completely out of my comfort zone…..a book.

The  youngest ones begged me to write the stories from my scripts in storybook form.  They wanted to have Emma, Stare, Cheets, and Stanley in their personal libraries.  Three children’s books and one novel later I have found a new outlet for my story telling.  These children, who knew no fear, gave me enough courage to try chapter books, poetry, and a novel. Experimental at times, risky at times, scary, but so rewarding.   So step out of your comfort zone and try writing in a different format… it’s very liberating and you might surprise yourself.  I did!children's theatre, plays for kids, writing, stage plays,

Does anyone out there love “Stanley, the dragon….”?

Two great kids are ‘professional reviewers’ with their Mom. They loved Stanley so I thought I would reprint it here for you to enjoy.  Or click below and read it in its original location:

http://www.readerviewskids.com/ReviewSugarekStanleyStalwartDragon.html

READER VIEWS, Reviews by kids, for kids  Stanley, the Stalwart Dragon: The Fabled Forest Series (Volume 1)  Reviewed by Sophia (age 6.75) and Madeline (age 8.5) McElroy for Reader Views (12/09)

Sophia: I liked this funny story about a dragon named Stanley. He ran away from home, because he couldn’t breathe fire. He found himself in a forest full of creatures – fairies, elves and animals. He made a lot of new friends, until one day when a bad raven came along named Slick; he talked Stanley into going to join the circus. After his friends found out he had run away again the Queen sends them on a mission to rescue poor Stanley.

My favorite part is when Cheets the elf yells “dragon breath!” and starts running around and keeps yelling. My favorite picture is when Stare is on top of Stanley’s head with big saucer eyes!

My favorite characters are Stare and Stanley. Even though Stare only knows the word “Who?, or Who!, or Who! Who! Who!,” I really like him because he is cute and funny. I like Stanley, because he was a kind dragon who didn’t like to burn things up. I think this would be a really good movie!

Madeline: This is an amusing story about Stanley the dragon. This story will take you on many adventures, including some with a nutty little elf named Cheets, a Queen named Cleo who rules over the faeries in the forest, and Stanley who will be the cause of all these exciting tales. Stanley is not your ordinary dragon; he is quite interesting and friendly. Stanley decided to run away from home, because he wouldn’t breathe fire and this was a big disappointment to his parents, especially his Father. Stanley finds himself in a magical woods filled with farires.

The happiest moment in the story was when the Queen ordered the rescue of Stanley. I enjoyed this part of the story, because of the plan his friends had to save him from his trouble again.  My favorite character is Cheets the elf, because he is crazy and funny. He always talks about himself in the third person! When he gets too carried-away the Queen “snaps” him into a time-out, of which he had many. This is a very enjoyable fairytale.

Parent: What a delightful story! I loved reading this with the kids. At times I was tempted to copy the pages so we could read it as a play. The characters are really sweet and it has a running dialogue of positive messages. I would highly recommend “Stanley, the Stalwart Dragon” by Trisha Sugarek to all parents.

 

 

 

Do you like free stuff? Read “Stanley, the Dragon” FREE

fairy tales, dragons, books for children, children's new fiction,fables          Offering a promotion to read “Stanley, the Stalwart Dragon” for FREE August 10, –August 14, 2012.  Go to Amazon.com’s Kindle KDP Select  Don’t miss this opportunity. Go to Kindle’s “Lending Library” at the link above.

Synopsis:  Stanley, a very young dragon, has run away from home. He feels that he is a failure. As dragons go, he probably is. He’s kind, soft spoken, a good friend and can’t for the life of him, breathe FIRE! The story is full of wonderful characters. A lady bug, named Persnickety is Stanley’s best friend and side kick. Emma, an earthling girl who lives on a farm and plays in the forest, with her magical friends. The loveable villain is a raven named City Slick, the Third. Thomas, the pedantic, sea turtle, and Cheets, the elf, are just a few of Stanley’s new friends.

One dark night Slick lures Stanley away from the forest and sells him to the circus. He is left chained, alone in a tent, until he breathes fire. The Queen of the Faeries gives Donald and Emma a quest; to go and find Stanley and rescue him.

While this is an adventure story full of laughter, it teaches children that no matter what, it is never a good idea to run away from home and is frequently very dangerous. The fable addresses bigotry, greed, loyalty and kindness to others. Ages: 2–12