Kelly A. Harmon

I overslept this morning.

(Well, in truth, it’s hard to oversleep on your day off. )

This was a planned day off – having worked 45 hours last week and 35 this week in order to get a “free” day.

But, in this case, a “free” day only means that I don’t have to report to my day job. I’ve packed it with other stuff that absolutely needs to get done, like:

 
•  Drive to the college in the next county over to fill out paperwork so that I can teach a class beginning next week;
 
•  Get to the library and pick up the CDs I have on hold before they put them back in the general collection;
 
•  Get my hair cut, since I’m beginning to look like Cousin Itt.
 
•  And 27 other items on my to-do list, most of them writing related.

See? There’s nothing “off” about it.

But I digress.

I got up early, made a pot of coffee, drank the entire pot of coffee, made some breakfast, checked my email…

…and before I knew it, I was later than I wanted to be. Now, I’ll be racing through the day like a mad-woman trying to get all these things done. (Who wants to be burdened with a ‘to-do’ list over the weekend… I plan to have fun!)

Here’s Your Prompt: Look at your current work in progress (or start a new one) and put your main character in a situation which makes him or her late. (If your story’s been plodding along, this should add some tension. Bonus!) How does the lateness affect the story? What goes wrong? How does your character deal with it? Is she cool under pressure? Pragmatic? Does he turn into a basket case? How is the situation resolved?

If you journal, think of a time when you were really late for something. What did you do to try to alleviate the problem…drive 90 miles an hour on the interstate? Call ahead and try to gain more time? What happened? How did you feel? How many folks did you tick off? How was the problem resolved?

Last night I left the house to get some writing done.

That’s not my usual M.O.

I have a nice roomy office with a ceiling fan, a comfortable chair and wi-fi. Not only that, I’m only a trip down the staircase to the refrigerator, coffee pot or microwave. On really good days, the Husband of Awesome™ will skim silently up the steps into my room and deposit a martini by my right elbow.

What’s not to love?

I can think of three things right away:

1. Physical Distractions – It doesn’t matter how often I straighten up the desk, there’s always a hundred things on it to take me away from the task at hand: my prized paper clip collection, photos, desk toys, a new pen, etc. I’ll take a moment to think about something in the manuscript and all of a sudden I’m carried away by something shiny in the vicinity. (Or by a new pen.)
    
2. Baggage – I’m at home, right? It won’t take but a moment to put in a load of laundry, inventory the refrigerator for my next grocery trip, sew a button on a shirt, empty the dishwasher. Being at home means being bombarded with the message of a hundred things that “need doing right now.” It’s tough to produce against that kind of pressure. (And hard to ignore it.)
    
3. People/Pets – This only counts if you have someone living with you, of course. Even if they’re not invading your space while you’re writing, it may be difficult to block them from your mind. If your house is small enough, you may not be able to dismiss their physical presence. For me, it’s usually the mental clutter that gets to me. I start that inner dialogue with myself: Have I ignored my spouse for too long? Have I fed the dog?

So yesterday’s trip out to do some writing was ideal.

I found a coffee shop I’d never patronized before and set to work. My space was limited, as were the desk toys, and after a few moments, the homogenous decor of the establishment proved easily ignorable. I got a lot of work done. So much so, that I think I’ll be getting out a couple times a month for writing.

Here’s your prompt: This week’s prompt is two-fold. Pick and choose, or do both. Either way, begin by visiting a place you’ve never been to. If you can, go somewhere you’ve heard very little (or nothing!) about. (The reason for this will become clear in a moment.) One more thing: although I chose a coffee shop, you could you choose any kind of location which offers an opportunity to write: a mountain vista, a park bench, a national monument, a graveyard.

1. Now that you’re here, write. Write about whatever you want. See if you can be more productive here than in your usual haunt. If you are, examine what’s working for you. Can you take that home with you? If you’re not, find out what’s not working. Could that — or something related — be affecting you at home, too? Create a list of changes you can incorporate at home to make the atmosphere more conducive to writing.
    
2. For those of you thinking, “that’s not a prompt,” this one’s for you: take in these new surroundings. You should have no preconceived notions of the area: after all, you’ve never been here before, and I hope you’ve not heard many specific details about it. Do you love it or hate it? What resonates with you? What rubs you wrong? Write a story using this location and incorporate the details of what you’ve examined.

 
 
 
^*Today’s photo comes from the Kemistry Gallery Web site, the Anthony Burrill “In a New Place” exhibit.

One evening, eating dinner outside on the deck, my family and I were buzzed by a hummingbird. Apparently, we were invading his territory: all the flowers he likes to frequent on the deck.

I enjoyed his visit so much, I hung up a feeder.

Within days, I had more than one bird calling. And I’ve seen as many as four at a time vying for space.

I’m certain they must have all been in the neighborhood, just not visiting me at the same time. The feeder is acting a bit like a water cooler: a place where all the hummingbirds can hang out together.

Or so I thought.

The birds are fighting.

I know this because I hung the feeder in a location where I can see it from nearly any window on the back of the house. And while I’m home, I’ve been watching.

One bird in particular, has been very territorial.

He chases off all the other birds when he’s around.

This morning, I watched them fight in the air, appearing to dance, or mate: swirling and turning, zooming high into the sky and then spiraling down, one bird always chasing the other.

Lately, the territorial bird has taken to sitting on the nail above the feeder, keeping watch for other birds. I’ve watched him watching.

His little head moves back and forth, almost as if he’s viewing a tennis match, but always alert for another hummer. He won’t allow them within even a few feet of the feeder. He attacks as soon as another hummingbird shows interest in drinking.

(Seems like craziness, if you ask me. There’s no way he’ll be able to consume everything in the feeder!)

Being able to watch these little guys has killed a lot of my preconceived notions about hummingbirds. I’m filled with awe. (And I know these creatures will soon play a role in one of my stories.)

Here’s your prompt: Step outside your door and admire nature. (Even if you live in the city, there’s got to be something you can observe: ants in the crack of the sidewalk, bees attracted to a flower box, squirrels in the park, etc.) Look for something that you’ve not paid attention to in the past. Observe until you notice something you didn’t know before. Now write about it. Write a vignette about what you’ve seen, including your observations. Use your new knowledge to flesh out the setting of a story you’re currently working on. Or, simply journal about it. If you journal, write how you feel about what you’ve learned.

I chose the Dean Koontz novel, Intensity, for my beach reading today. I’m a big fan of Koontz, having been introduced to him by my mom when I was eleven or twelve. She’d picked up Whispers and we both fought over it one summer…one of us grabbing it to read a chapter if the other layed it down for even a minute.

Intensity was published in 1995, but for whatever reason, I never got around to reading it. It’s more violent than I would have given Koontz credit for, but still written in his same brilliant voice.

I’m nearly a hundred pages in, and the villian Edgler Foreman Vess is thinking about all the “powerful” words he can make out of the letters of his name. He comes up with God, fear, demon, save, rage, anger, dragon and a slew of others. According to Vess, these, along with some mystical words (dream, vessel, lore, forever) seem to embody the type of man he is.

Of course, the character, Vess, and his name are a creation of Koontz. I’d guess Koontz chose the mystical, powerful words first and then re-arranged them to find Vess’s name.

But what about your name? What kind of mystical, powerful — or other — words are in your name?

In just a few moments, I came up with several in mine:

(There’s nothing more powerful than a lone melon, eh?).

Here’s your prompt: Find a clean sheet of paper and write your name across the top. Use your middle initial, or your complete middle name for this exercise. Your choice. Set a timer for ten minutes and see what kind of words are hidden in your own name. Don’t worry if you come up with proper nouns…this isn’t one of those games that disqualifies them. All real words count…even two-letter ones, though I doubt you could come up with any powerful two letter words. (Go ahead, I dare you to prove me wrong.)

If you want, classify the words when you’re done. Do you “own” some power words, or some mystical ones? Maybe yours are funny or soulful. Choose five words from your list and write about yourself using those words.

I received a lottery scratch-off card as a gift a while back. Several, actually…and I won!

Two bucks.

Not a big deal, but two bucks is enough for an icy Diet Coke and a York Peppermint Patty…my favorite snack combo in the world.

Winning got me thinking about actually winning the lottery. A big prize, say, $10 million. What would I do?

First things first: I’d pay off the mortgage and then invest some funds in a nice safe place for my retirement. I’d probably fix a few things on the house: roof, front walk, etc. After that, I’d share.

I’d offer to fund some college educations for the kiddos in the family, and split the rest with my siblings, parents and in-laws. Why not? I can’t spend it all, really…

Here’s Your Prompt: Write about someone who wins the lottery. Is it you? Is it a family member? How much did he, she or you, win? Did the amount affect how that person acts? Did he quit his job? Money does funny things to people…how do friends or family members of the lottery winner act? Do they beg for money? Ask for a loan? What kind of suggestions do they make for spending the cash? Are there arguments over the cash? Maybe the winner bought the ticket with borrowed funds…in that case, who do the winnings actually belong to? Maybe there’s joy over the winning…does the cash come at an opportune time?

Hurray! July 4th is nearly upon us.

I love Independence Day: the parades, the flags, picnics and cook-outs and barbecues. I love that its the birthday of my country. I love Old Glory and the Star Spangled Banner and everything that means to me for my freedoms. As far as I’m concerned, it’s one of the BEST holidays I celebrate.

But that’s too easy a topic…

Here’s Your Prompt: Choose your least favorite holiday and talk about what it means to experience it. Don’t cop out: don’t say, “I hate Christmas, so I stay home and avoid everyone.”

Write about a holiday you are forced to endure either through familial, religious, or some other pressure. Tell about a particularly horrible experience. What were your feelings? Describe through the senses everything that is WRONG about this holiday.

Do you hate Arbor Day because you were forced, as a boy scout, to plant 100 trees with your bare hands? Explain how much your hands were hurt and cramped at the end of the day. Describe the odor of the turned soil and the leaves and how it makes your stomach turn. Don’t leave out that to this day you can’t stand the sight of elms…

And, do as I say, not as I do: choose a really gut-wrenching holiday. Brownie points if you share in the comments below.