Addictive

I had forgotten how addictive genealogy is until I found my father in the 1940 US Census this evening, and ended up finding out more about his mother than the family knew. Wow.

Disney Digital Books

Dear Disney Digital Books,

You have been sending me ads for your ebooks for a while, and though I think they are cute, I do have a question/idea for you:

Would you ever consider making a series of ebooks with stories based on Disneyland attractions, past and present?

I would love to see an interactive ebook based on the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of The Caribbean, but I would also love to see one based off of Mission To The Moon and Adventure Into Inner Space.

Those I would pay money for, if they were well thought out and made.

Thank you.

ANWA Conference 2013

Today was the final day for the ANWA Conference for this year. If you don't know, ANWA is for the American Night Writers Association - for LDS (mostly women) writers. There is an annual conference and while finances prevented me from attending last year, I was able to afford a Saturday only admission. It didn't disappoint, at all.

For starters, their web site posted not only the schedule of classes, but also posted many of the handouts for the conference in advance. This allowed me to look at the information provided for the sessions I couldn't attend, and I'm glad I did.

One of the sessions talked about the archetypes used in fiction, and the patterns they use. This was from author Jennifer Griffith, which she referred her handout to Heroes and Heroines: The Complete Guide to Archetypes:

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Writers-Heroes-Heroines-ebook/dp/B003FCVEGY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1361677782&sr=8-2&keywords=complete+writers+guide+to+archetypes

I found this book as a Kindle, but found and purchased it through iBooks for my iPad. I've been reading it through part of the week prior to today, and it is a fantastic resource if you are looking to write fiction and need some character development.

Other great speakers were other authors, agents and publishers on a variety of topics, including some very helpful classes to get your readers hooked starting with the first chapter and information about what publishers are looking for. It gave me great insight!

Update: The link didn't work (I was trying to post this from my iPad), so here it is again: Heroes and Heroines This is definitely a must have book if you are writing fiction. It has been great reading!

Blast From The Past

Help Requested

A good friend of mine, whose Laurie blog is among my friends on the left side of this page, has had to undergo some major surgery to remove cancer. She is going to be down for two months, and is going to need some help with the finances in getting through the recovery period. Her friends and family in the Snowflake/Taylor, Arizona area are going to be selling Navajo Tacos for anyone who would like to purchase them, the proceeds going to help Laurie as she recovers. Here's the link to the information: Navajo Tacos

Child Actors

Everyone wants to be a star, right? At least that may be the dream of some kids. I was watching television today when I heard about a report where a Disney Executive is telling the interviewer that the network is not responsible for raising these actors, it is the parent's responsibility.

Here is the link to the article: Gary Marsh in The Hollywood Reporter

While I do agree on many levels with this, I just couldn't help but see the irony in this statement, given the history of The Walt Disney Company and how Walt himself handled child actors who were contractually under his wing.

This, of course, hails from the era of the Hollywood Studio System, where the motion picture studios looked at the actors as property of the studio, and governed both their personal and professional lives. While the actors (male and female) considered this to be too much, to the studios it protected the pictures they were making.

From Wikipedia


A little something about child stars now:



For the child stars who have had trouble assimilating to adulthood, there is help through an organization designed to help child stars called A Minor Consideration (AMC).

Their website: A Minor Consideration

Not everyone saw this as a hinderance, though, there are some stars, namely a few of the child stars under Walt Disney himself, who remember with fondness the attention he took to make sure they were okay, even as they got older.

 

Harry Potter's Family History

I know, I'm crazy about Harry Potter.  I love an underdog.

This is actually about Joanne Rowling (aka JK Rowling), and her Family History.  I love it when you can learn more of how world events shape the lives of families and affect their histories.