Using real life to change fiction

It never ceases to amaze me how a messed up situation in real life can change the pace of a fiction story one is composing.


Currently I am in the middle of the lives of Jack and Anastasia and they have now found that they have evil neighbors in their desert. Hrmm. Wonder where that came from? Well, I certainly love my neighbors. Even the evil ones that have no idea how being nice really works.  As a writer, it amazes me how things can take a turn in a story that you are writing and you don't even intend for it to go down that path.


What happens is this:


You are walking along, minding your own business. Listening to your footsteps as you travel down this storybook road ( your footsteps are sounding like your fingers hacking away a the keys-keep your pinkies up while typing!) and you see this little less travelled path along the side of the road. Oh, you note it alright but you keep walking. Only, your stride slows down as you think about that path. You think. You stew. You think and you stew. You think until you come to a stop and look around you. There is nothing but untouched field and warm sunshine all around you and you stand there.


Brooding.


That paths presence simply will not leave the back of your mind. At some point, as if hypnotized, you do an about face and you find yourself standing at the top of the path...wondering. Should you take it? Should you keep going? You know if you keep going in the direction you were, you will always wonder. You wonder this as you stand before said path and turn your face to the setting sun. This is the same direction you were heading in the first place. Hmm. The setting sun. Interesting. Maybe something is trying to give you a message. That path leads to an ending that your mind knows so well. The plan you had laid out for this story to travel. The path that you know how it is going to be. However.


However, you are at this new, unexpected thing. This crossroads and you have to take it. You ask for opinions of others and they all say...go for it! What makes it even more interesting is that you once wrote a small blurb when you were experiencing a writing prompt and you had requests to finish it. While you had no full story to go with that blurb, that one situation that led to this interruption of the field you are waking by and the path that so raptly has your attention now has a place in your story. That blurb and where this path leads go hand in hand and make perfect sense for the direction you know the story could go.


Do you take it? Life is about taking chances. While us writers are not ones to go out and do parkour or ride a skateboard off a ramp some 500 feet in the air, these are the chances we take. Is this the making of a great story? In my mind it may be.


It makes me wonder how many paths are along the stories that I read.  I now understand where "the Wind Through the Keyhole" by Stephen King came from. When I first discovered that story I was in pure bliss to find another book to the whole Gunslinger collection. When I read the intro, I thought it strange for the author to label it as Gunslinger 4.5.  However, it fit right in between books 4 and 5 of that story. Funny how paths are created and how they come into existence.


Have you ever come across a less beaten path? Did you take it? Where did it lead you?


What do YOU think?






DISCLAIMER:  This post is used by its author on several social media sites and cannot be reproduced otherwise.

What ever happened to human interaction?

My name is Michele, and I am addicted to the Interwebs.


Yes, there, step one of the program. Well, I have been told that the first step is denial. Yup, I can tell you I have said the fabled verse "I can quit at anytime!" Pssshhhhh. I would be lost without my interwebs. No, wait, so long as there are books around, I can certainly rehabilitate. (Isn't that leaving one vice for another? Oh yes, as I STILL chew all my pen lids as I did when I quit smoking over a decade ago.)


I have noticed that most people these days interact with one another via some sort of technological device instead of getting up off their lazy rumpus and go into the other room to tell them something. How horrid is that? Albeit I have been known to text my child to get her to get up off HER rumpus to come here (to no avail) or to ask her a silly question, it is something that seems to be rampant.


When I go out with my family, I try in vain to convince them to leave their electronic devices at home. They should see the world some and become disconnected from the technology they rely so heavily upon. What they fail to see is that the rest of the world does not do that. Everywhere you look, there are phones or some music device attached to people like they are self aware robots or something.


I also notice that when people are constantly interrupted from their devices, they become quite angry. I have become bothered severely when I am constantly interrupted to. However, I am like that as well when I am into a good book. Go figure.  I wonder how much more peaceful this country would be were it for the fact that we did not have any cell phones, tablets, ipads, laptops, or music devices to occupy our time. We would be forced to do what the world intended for us to be in the first place.


We would get to know each other and we may even be more kind. That and the makers of things like Monopoly and Jenga would not be a struggling unit. :)


Brought to you by board games. What ever happened to family interaction?


What do YOU think?

Calling "home" from work

Sometimes I work on Saturdays. Most Saturdays, our teenager has some sort of thing she has to rush off to and blesses us with the lack of her teenagery presence. Well, maybe not a blessing because she is our gurl and we miss her when she is not here. Just don't miss that 'tude so much.


At any rate. Working from home, WAH Professionals know it is not as easy as going into the other room and waking said teenager then coming back to your office and return to work.  This is where I have to "call home" and make sure the teenager is up and getting ready so she wont be late to her activity. Anyone with teens knows for sure that if they miss something, no matter how trivial it is to YOU, tears will ensue.


So, here I sit tethered to my machine (work has a strict rule that thou shalt be ball and chained to your computer as wireless anything is a big NO NO) trying to get her attention.  She is only 2 rooms away and I know she has to be out the door by half the hour to arrive on time. Texting, texting, texting....no reply. Hrmmmm. It is slow. Maybe I can sneak in an actual call to her without a call coming in from work. Calling........no answer. Figures, the teen keeps her phone on silent and unless she is looking at the physical phone itself, she is not going to see the thing blinking like a fire truck blaring down the street. Ugh! Time to call the house. Never mind I get lots of flashy lights and notifications in my office when the house phone rings and it annoys me greatly but here we go.....RING (as I hear it through the walls) RING.... RING.....


Sleepily, a voice answers. Ah, yes. Just the voice I am painfully searching for. "Are you up m'dear? Get up Daddy so you can go, go, go!!!"  She replies with an "OK Mom. Love ya." Of course the teenager only says that because she is still SLEEPY!  But hey, it works. I accomplished getting them up and running from the comfort of my floppy bunny slippers.


What do YOU think?


Disclaimer: Author has several blog outlets and pages. This entry is reprinted on those for high level access.

I did it! I am now published! Check it out!

I wrote a book and finally had it published! I am soooo excited!


Check it out.


facebook.com/MicaaMilesAuthor (Please like my page if you have a Facebook.)   :)


You can also find "WAH Professionals" by Micaa Miles on Amazon, Kindle, and create space stores.
It is also available on Amazon UK!


Here is a link:


http://www.amazon.com/WAH-Professionals-Micaa-M-Miles/dp/1494828685/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396800654&sr=8-1&keywords=wah+professionals

Never stop smooching your children's faces.

Small children love to give their parents kisses and hugs.  As they get older, that enthusiasm tends to wane and, for parents like me, makes us sad.  Therefore, I still like to catch them when they first open their eyes.  They are still full of love for mommy or daddy and that first morning hug makes anyones' day.  I still even sneak into the teenagers room and kiss her forehead whilst she is sleeping.

I never miss an opportunity to tell them that I love them. Just one more time. There will come a day when you will not be able to as they will have their own lives and will not remember the joy of a hug from mommy or know the thrill mommy gets from that unconditional love of her child. 


Some children are great and that love for their parents never falters. Those are the rare diamond in the rough. However, know that each child loves their parents in their own way. Maybe just not like the parent wants them to.


Children, remember that your parents are your biggest fan and when it comes to you being successful, they will move mountains for you to get that one opportunity of a lifetime.  I think this is where the disconnect comes with teenagers.   Teens want so much to do their own thing but still need guidance of their doting parent. They just don't know that yet.


This one is short and sweet.  What do YOU think?

Reclusivity is now possible.

I know there are people that are agoraphobic, homophobic, and all other phobias associated with having to leave the house.  I have come to learn over the past few years that it is quite possible to live recluse, shut off from the rest of the world, and NEVER have to leave the comfort of your own home. It is quite scary to think that there are truly people who accomplish this, never getting fresh air or leaving the confines of the home they have secluded their self into thus, alienating the rest of the world. For what end is that a means? Being a WAH professional myself, I get great excitement at the thought of leaving the house if even for just a few moments. Stepping out to feel the sun warm my face for a few moments is something I look forward to on occasion as I do not leave the house much as it is. I cannot imagine how the ones who NEVER go out their doors must feel.

People all over this country are earning their degrees and even going to public school from home. They are working from home and paying all of their bills either online or via the phone.  They pay their bills, read the paper, order pizza, etc. through the electronic devices that most of us have found to be an extension of their person.  You even have places that will deliver your groceries to you should you want to place them online or you can have Schwans deliver your meals or simply order out every single day.  Even weight loss groups will send you your meals for the month and those that are on disability are afforded the opportunity to have their meals delivered to them by a company two to three times a month. There are personal assistance and home health organizations that will come to your home and help you maintian your health.  Maids can even come and clean your house for you. Why would anyone ever want to leave?  I will tell you. Personal interaction is what humans need and you need to be careful if you are traveling along the line of a recluse.



What a life that is.  Too bad that Spongebob didnt realize that when he decided the safest place was indoors.



I find it disturbing that the possibility exists that we can live that way.  There are grocery stores that deliver.  You can also have pizza, sandwiches, and chinese food delivered.  There is mail service, UPS, DHL, and Fed Ex.  You can certainly shop and pay your bills online and talk to everyone via the phone, cell or internet.  Why would a technology geek ever want to leave the house!  I once seen a movie where people would just get up and plug themselves into a machine and mentally will a different version of themselves through the world.  What I found interesting is that, the real people were in horrible condition.  They were stiff, pale, and wholly unaware when they unplugged themselves.  While I love my work from home and the ability to pay bills online, I try to get out of the house at least once a day so I don't hate myself.  If I ever go for an extended period without at least sun on my face, I feel like a moldy mozarella ball. Ick!

I do know people that are like that and only leave the house to check their PO boxes. 


Ok, so, I found this in my drafts and decided to publish it only because something undone truly drives my OCD to a terrible itch.  The thought process for this one is simply not there but it was a good start.


What do YOU think?