Wagner Writer

Hi you!
Here’s my latest 4-pronged update:
Writing
I’ve started rewriting chapter 1 per my mentor’s instructions. I’m trying to incorporate every one of her notes and it’s really challenging. The good thing is, I’m starting to see mistakes, sometimes as I’m making them.
But I feel I’m ballooning up the chapter. A lot. She asks for clarification and I provide it in every instance. But now the chapter has gone from 15 pages to like 50!! I think I need to cut some scenes and clarify the ones I keep.
Stephen King said in his book, On Writing, to “Kill Your Darlings”. By that, he means sometimes there are great lines or scenes in your book that don’t quite fit. He said he’s fallen in love with such lines, and has even tried reworking chapters to jam them in. But it’s a great thing to learn to kill your darlings. Well, I think I see some heads on the chopping block. But they’re really cute and I think they were gonna buy me Thai food. Sad times. There’s one particular scene that I REALLY like. I think I like it more than wearing pants.
I don’t think I’ve mentioned the Writers Group in a while so I wanted to say we’re still going strong! When we started, there were a couple of people who said they didn’t write. One woman said she “listened to audiobooks and that’s it.” Well, at this point, I’m proud to announce that EVERY person has brought something to read. That’s such a huge step and I’m SOOO proud of everyone in the group. They’ve let go of their fear of looking bad and started bringing some really good stuff! The youngest member of our group, a high school student, even brought a cool story last week. Her 14-year old writing makes my 14-year old writing look like the dog poop littering our back yard.
Here are some favorite moments from the last several weeks:
1.    One woman has jumped in head first! Because of the group, she has started writing a book and brings a new chapter to read each week. She is super busy with two young children, but finds a way to hole up in the bathroom and write. We asked if she writes pants up or pants down. She answered, but it’s probably not appropriate to share.
2.    We’ve started a tradition of bringing homemade dishes to the meetings. A different person volunteers each week and, so far, we’ve had chicken enchilada soup, quiche, shredded chicken tacos with homemade salsa, beef and cheese casserole, enchiladas, and enchilada stacks. I must say that everything has been awesome! It’s nice getting a home-cooked meal while we read our stories. I have to thank Patrick Kiker for the food idea. Thanks!!
3.    Everyone in the group knows I love Velveeta. I can’t help it, I do. I actually want to start a restaurant called Velveetas where every dish contains… you guessed it! Velveeta! Seriously, you’d be surprised how much food can be made with Velveeta. And it makes everything better. Even baby food. Anyways, a woman wrote a poem about me and Velveeta. It was hilarious! And when she finished, her daughter handed me a block of Velveeta as a present. Pretty awesome! (NOTE: I think I said Velveeta a thousand times in this paragraph. Oh well, the mentor’s not reviewing my blog!)
Singing
OK so it finally happened. I made a really big mistake at Mass last Saturday. We sang a new song that had a really high note in it. And I missed the note. Big time. Oh man, I could hear the pitch ring out over the church and it was CRINGE-WORTHY. I don’t think I could make out any of the people in the congregation, what with all the face-palms.
The note was that bad. Oh man, it was a stinker.
But I will say it was a great lesson in breath support. I don’t think I’ll be losing support like that in a long time. Not for at least five days.
Enjoying the Area
I’m housesitting and babysitting and dog-sitting for my sister’s boss next weekend so she can take Windy to Las Vegas. I mentioned it in this section because I’ll be staying at her boss’s gorgeous house. So I’m definitely enjoying the area!
I went over to the boss’s house today for a run-through on everything. Here are the most interesting notes:
1.    I had to get a lesson on how to use the shower. Yep. Their shower has a full digital panel that you use to control the six heads (three in front, one lower, and two above), exact temperature, etc… You can even create user profiles to build a custom showering experience. There was a panel outside the shower so you can get everything started, and one inside in case you want to make any adjustments.
2.    They are having some work done on the house and, as a result, the turning staircase is missing its bannister. Normally, it wouldn’t be that big a deal. But I’m a klutz. And I almost fell off the side walking upstairs. She said one of their dogs fell off once, which made me feel a little better. A little.
3.    They have three dogs that I’m going to be taking care of. One of my duties as a dog-sitter is to change their diapers. Apparently, Yorkies are extremely hard to house train so, for the time being, they’re wearing diapers. The funny thing is, the dogs still go outside to pee, and often they DO pee. But they are wearing their diapers outside WHILE they pee. So I still have to change them when they come inside. The diapers themselves are basically just padded wraps. They don’t go between the dogs’ legs; you just wrap them around their waists. BUT you have to make sure their little doggie weenies are inside the wraps when you’re done. I have to LOL at that one.
Random Learnings or Stories
Hmmmm… I actually can’t think of anything relevant to share this week. I really want to get a post out, so I’ll make up for the lack of learnings in a later blog. Forgive me?

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