Natty Burns World

Musings--Happy Bealtaine Everyone

2011-05-02T11:07:00.000-07:00

Bealtaine was always a big deal in my household when I was growing up. We had new clothing, cleaned the house from top to bottom and burned the old in the backyard so we could make room for the new. Everything felt as though it sparkled, literally. Mother has been gone for forty years now and it's funny how things ingrained in the first thirteen years of your life never go away. The first week of each May is still a magical, special time for me. So I've been decluttering, letting old things go. Books will always be a part of my clutter but I am downsizing; it's been a good while, many months, since I have purchased a physical, bound book. My Kindle grows, however and I feel like that is a step in a positive direction. Especially if I replace physical books with electronic ones and pass them on to other book lovers.

Anyone else out there have a tablet? I recently purchased a Samsung Galaxy Tab from my phone service provider and I just adore that little bugger. In one fell swoop I have replaced my bulky daybook, journals, data sources and also a lot of books with my Sammy. Now I can travel much more streamlined, just stack my Sammy, my netbook, my kindle and my rudimentary cell phone and I am ready for whatever inspiration or duty comes my way. My next purchase may be a portable keyboard that my Sammy slots into so that I can write more easily on the tablet. I have become an Android junkie and have found the most wonderful tools there in the Android Market. If you use Android, download the free Juice Defender. All my batteries last days with this app installed. It's a miracle worker as far as I am concerned.

So what else is new? My new granddaughter, Sophia, is growing well in my youngest daughter's baby bump. My eleven year old granddaughter, Jazzy, is doing much better in school. My tortie calico cat, Caspurr, is finally well. I have resolved most of the mortgage insanity on my home. The plants in the yard are recovering nicely from February's freeze, with several new plants added for good measure. Also Carol's sons are healthy, for the moment.

New writing ventures include three being slated for 2013--Poison Flowers, a murder mystery with a twist; Family Issue, a PI story set in New Orleans LA, and Separate Vacations, a comedy of errors, starring Beanie Murphy, one of my favorite goofy characters.

I also have three coming out in 2012: The Quality of Blue (which I am trying to get out in 2011 if space permits) a love story and intrigue set in Key West, Florida; Identity, which is a story about a stalked, abused woman who thrives with the help of new love; and The Book of Eleanor, a loving ghost story set in Port Isabel TX, a quaint fishing village.

I am also in the process of shopping around a book of erotica. I will let you know how that goes.

Well, that's all for now. I hope the Elementals and Lares leave many blessings on your doorsteps during this lovely springtide.
'Til next time,
Natty Burns

New Books Spring Forth!!

2011-03-15T23:38:00.000-07:00

So here it is, Mid-March and I’m feeling pretty good. First of all, this is my birthday month and celebration has commenced. Second of all, I just completed my third book for Bella’s 2012 publishing schedule. It’s called The Book of Eleanor and is a ghost story set in Port Isabel, Texas. Cartoonist Grey Graham has recently lost her partner in a tragic work-related accident. Unable to bear continuing on in the home they shared, Grey sells everything and moves to Port Isabel. After moving in, she realizes she is being haunted by a malevolent ghost.

A new friend tells her about a local psychic named Angie June, a woman who Grey has already met since her move. Grey contacts her again and they are thrown together on a terrifying, but romantically irresistible, journey of paranormal discovery.

I really enjoyed this book. It was one of those that took on a life of its own and the characters seemed to write their own stories. Those are my favorite kind of books.

I also got to do a lot of interesting research on the Port Isabel area, which is also my new home.

The other two books that will be coming out in 2012 are The Quality of Blue—a re-release of a book published in 2004—and Identity, about a woman trying to rebuild her life after an abusive relationship.

December 5, 2010

2011-03-15T21:49:00.000-07:00

December 5, 2010
I guess I should apologize to all my friends and family who I've been ignoring. Unfortunately both of Carol's sons have had huge health issues that have kept us running. What little time that was left, I devoted to writing instead of to an online presence. Luckily, both men seem to be out of the woods now. One is having surgery Tuesday but we won't have to be in Northern TX for that one.

I've also been on the road a bit. Had a very busy GCLS conference time and also went to Saints and Sinners. Mary Griggs, you ROCK!!! I seriously love that woman. No, not in a stalkerish kind of way but she's just good people. We so enjoyed our time in NOLA and she contributed greatly to that. Ya’ll stay at the Prince Conti Hotel in the French Quarter if you go there. Very sweeeet!

All that travel, plus a busy journalism schedule has seriously kept me out of trouble. Be sure and check out the past few cover stories and features in Lesbian News. Yep, written by yours truly in addition to my regular column. I get to interview a lot of celebrities and, thus far, they are the nicest people. Chely Wright was awesome.

In other news, my oldest daughter, Jesse, who is, gasp!, 28 now, got married for the first time. I was back in Virginia for that monster wedding the last two weeks in September. It was fabulous and went off without a hitch. She married a sweet guy who brings my ten year old granddaughter, Jazzy, into the mix.

So what else? I've taken all that wedding worry energy and have used it to totally revamp my workspace. I have a much better plotting area, a stand up desk as well as a sit down one and I have decluttered an amazing amount. Feels very good. Books should just roll out of here now.

Yeah, right. 

I'm working on a couple short stories to submit as well as my newest novel The Book of Eleanor, the ghost story set in Port Isabel. My goal is to have it done by Yuletide. Having some trouble finding history on the Port/Point area but I’ll get there.

Ptown was fabulous. Signed books at Now Voyager and Womencrafts and they sold out, which was great. I met so many fans and sweet, sweet people. Can't wait until next year. After Ptown, we stayed with friends in Connecticut and that was a way fun time. Now I just have to make all that time away up to the pets.

Then it was off to Dallas to read at the Dallas Jewel Book Club. They treated me like royalty and I had one fantastic time. I even scooted over to Fort Worth to see my friend, Suede, perform with Julie Bonk (Norah Jones' piano teacher). A huge group of us ended up at Denny's at 3am munching on biscuits and gravy. LOL

Well, that’s it. Natty’s life in a nutshell. As of today that is. New adventures await around every corner. 

Sand castles

2009-10-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

Saturday 10.17.09
This weekend is sand castle weekend on the island. We talked about going today but both are so busy with our various endeavors – – Carol, school, me, Whispers – – that it’s not so pressing we go today. We have to go into Harlingen to take care of Critter this evening anyway so should get as much done as we can, early. Maybe tomorrow.
We’re both a little depressed about missing Women’s Week in Ptown. But there are just so many issues rearing their ugly heads right now.
And I write.
Because it’s what I do best. And what I love.
Today I am plotting out scenes. I divided Angie’s story into one half of a page and Grey’s on the other. Then I go back and forth and, detailing on my scene cards, I move from one voice to the other. This is usually an effective way to do scenes. Now that I am writing for Bella and must meet their stringent guidelines, I can no longer meander freely as I once did. I have to keep words like conflict and tension and flow in mind while trying to foster creativity at the same time. I’m not complaining, mind you, because these admonishments are making me a better, more focused writer. I am more of a director now as opposed to letting my actors (characters) have free reign to go where they will. Now the whole novel must be more orchestrated, even outlined, at least preliminarily.
Unfortunately I tend to be a bit of a rebel because some of the work I read is not just in the lesbian genre and some that is may be extremely experimental. Like Rat Bohemia by Sarah Schulman, for example. This gritty, thought – provoking book really spoke to me. I admire most avant-garde work while admitting that some of it is downright silly. But look at the lyricism and beauty of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle-Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg. It has almost a stream-of-consciousness aspect while still conveying a remarkable story.
I like where I am today, however. Bella Books emerged from Naiad Publishing, a company I drooled over way back when I first began my journey into LGBT fiction. They've been around long enough to know what works for this market and I am honored to be welcomed into their fold.
Later....

Data Loss and Data Found

2009-10-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

Friday 10.16.09
I've been reading about the non-recoverable loss of data on the TMobile Sidekick data phones. Very sad. I do have one thing to say as someone who has worked in the computer industry for more than ten years, data loss is the norm rather than the exception. Anyone with any IT savvy knows this. And they would have synced their smartphone with their computer and have a backup copy.

I love Blackberry data phones. Yet, I keep my data separate from my phone. Let me explain. I have a LG Lotus phone that is used as a mostly text vehicle since I never talk much on the phone. That's another story. But it is a phone and contact list only, chosen for textability because I text all day long. I also carry a Blackberry with me that has all my data, and I mean all my data, in it. I sync this to my Outlook software on my computer when I make any significant changes that I need to keep. It also had an SD card that I can load from my computer.

The Blackberry carries my to do list, grocery list, my detailed contact list--with all addresses, work/family info and phone numbers--my memos and my ebooks. Mine also displays PDFs and Word documents. So, you get the idea. I love this thing. The important thing to know here is, while the Lotus is on the Sprint data network, the Blackberry is not. There's no law anywhere that says when you buy a Blackberry or other data phone, you have to have it hooked to the network. Sure, if it's a phone and you want service/Internet you'll have to, but if you buy a cheaper phone-phone or pseudo smartphone (like my Lotus) and have that wirelessly capable, you can keep all your data safely ensconced in a non-wireless data carrier tool. What about data loss from battery failure? I'm in the habit of plugging in my Blackberry, and my phone, every night when I go to bed. If I'm in bed, they're plugged in.

I learned this trick the hard way. I used to use a Blackberry alone for phone and data. Big mistake. Friends kept mentioning texts they'd sent that I never got and then I noticed one day that, though my desktop software on my Blackberry said I had received 36 messages, there were none there. So I called my phone carrier and they told me that RIM had a memory issue when phone storage reached a certain point and would just start dumping new info. ACK! I immediately switched to the Lotus for text and bought a new Blackberry for data.

Writing has been a hoot the past two days. As you know, I'm working on my latest novel and, though I adore the story, I'm having a little trouble. I've been away from my computer more than I like, in places where it's not easy to plug in or use my tiny netbook so I have been focusing on the notebook method. Phyllis A. Whitney was one very smart author. I was fortunate enough to know her before she passed away and learned some very valuable tools from her. One is working within the confines of a specialized notebook. The headings include: Calendar, Titles, Outline. Theme, Names, Plotting, Characters, Chronology, Background, Check this, Research, Bibliography, and The Plus Factor. Details on this can be found in her book Guide to Fiction Writing by Phyllis A. Whitney. Using this is just a fantastic way to bring a novel back to life and also look at it from a whole new perspective. I've been having a lot of fun lugging the notebook with me and working in it. And even when I'm not creating volume on the computer, I feel I am progressing much more quickly than I would have imagined.
Well, back to it.

Musing over the past week

2009-09-09T20:52:00.000-07:00

Can you believe August has slipped away?
I've been incredibly busy.
I'm working on some rewrites on my novel Nether Regions.
I'm working on Skin, a horror story for the Dark Things anthology. Be sure and buy this one when it comes out because it helps support the ASPCA.
I'm working on an erotica story for the Schramm/Foster anthology
I'm tweaking my novel Slew Pond
I working on my latest novel Whispers
I don't sleep much, LOL.
I read a very interesting thing the other day. Several interesting things, actually. Did you know that Thomas Jefferson probably had a form of autism called Asperger's Syndrome? I've always been fascinated by him--living 25 years in Charlottesville VA, the city he created, how could I not be enthralled? Anyway, at http://www.tjed.org there is a wonderful website based on learning as he did.
The other fascinating thing was writing longhand versus creating on the computer.
I've recently backed away from electronic PDAs (I know! Me the IT puter nerd? The electronic kid? How could I?). Too much data has been spilled from my blackberry so I've started using a Sprint Lotus, which is just shy of being a dataphone,but is geeky enough for me.
I have gone back to the quirky PDA I love, which is the Hispter PDA, consisting of a stack of index cards etc. See it here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipster_PDA
You can get a ton of cool templates here: www.diyplanner.com/templates/official/hpda
For fun: booksbyrachel.blogspot.com/2009/05/hipster-pda.html
I use a combination of manuscript clips and manuscript rings (on the ones I flip a lot, like my TODO bundle). I have a PDa for daily journaling, one for info I snag from wherever, a financial bundle, the list goes on.
Yes, it started as a joke but the masses gave it life. In conjunction with computers and a data phone for storage, it can't be beat. It's a great way to capture creative energy which, as we all know, spills forth at any time.
So, returning to the topic that started this rant, I was checking some regular sites and stumbled across this:
www.diyplanner.com/node/6126
It was suitably awesome--about a NaNoWriMo participant who wrote her book in longhand. One of the people responding to her blog talked about how rewarding it was to write an entire novel by hand. I love to write by hand--finding it somehow more intuitive.
www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3002416
THEN I came across a stand used by Jane Austen as she wrote her novels in longhand (of course!). www.jasa.net.au/newsdc99.htm
It's just been one of those revelatory weeks.