Dash Off A Memory/Rules of the House



by Let Ideas Compete

It's GUEST BLOG FRIDAY, and this will be Dorothy Ann Skarles's last post for a while.

Dorothy is taking some time off to adjust to her new life as a widow.  There are many things to sort out and sort through.

I hope that in the near future she will take up her son on his offer to help her set up her own blog.  She is such a talented writer, temporarily thrown off balance by the loss of the love of her life.

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Rules of the House

by Rob Watling

During our family get-togethers at breakfast or dinner, no discussion was off limits.

For Mom and Dad, it was the time for parental talks.  For the boys, it was time to question and ask “why?”

At the ages of 13, 15, and 18, the boys' talk usually turned to girls.

There were so many girls, that for me, it seemed as if they were coming out of the woodwork. They were coming to our house to eat, to help with schoolwork, to listen to music and play the piano.

It wasn’t long before the parental talks turned to sex dialogue.

For Mom and Dad, it was explaining the house rules about sex and how we felt about them becoming sexually active.


by crisispregnancyprogramme

I would aim a penetrating stare at my fifteen and eighteen-year-olds and say, “Remember, sex isn’t free.  There are consequences. Never be sorry.  Always practice safe sex. Always use a condom.”

I didn’t just shoot out one opinion on the subject; it was rolling one-liners whenever needed.

“Mom and Dad are going out. No monkey business. Remember, no girls in the house while we are gone!”

Ironically, the youngest son, despite always being with his brothers and hearing Mom lecture on girls and sex, must have had his ears packed with wax.

When Dad and Mom came home, we knew a girl had been in the house. She had left tell-tail signs in the bathroom.

At the breakfast table and over pancakes, I asked, “Okay, who had the girl over?

My oldest and middle sons both shook their heads and said, “It wasn’t me! It wasn’t me!”

I looked at my youngest, who had a sheepish look on his face. “Well?”

Edward pointed at his brothers. “You only told them, no girls in the house. You never told me!”

Which just goes to show, when you are trying to teach kids about important sexual issues, you’d better talk to each one separately.

So dash off your own memory on how you nailed your kid in a chair, pointed a finger in his face, and said, “I mean you buddy! These are the rules of the house.”

daskarles©2011

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 Thanks, Dorothy.  Hope to hear from you again soon.

Dash Off a Memory, Create a Memoir/Marriage Proposal


It's Guest Blog Friday, and here's Dorothy Ann Skarles with a marriage proposal.

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Photo credit:  Makena G

Out of nowhere, he proposed, “Will you marry me?”

In the grip of surprise, I blurted, “I have to think about it.”

My mind reeled at our whirlwind courtship—all of five dates and an interval of a three-month family vacation to Mississippi.

First date, a Saturday night college dance. The second date included a Sunday drive to the mountains in an antique ford car that could barely make it up hill, but would speed lickety-split back down. On top of a mountain where you could see forever, I learned how to shoot a rifle left-handed while target shooting.

The following week, on a third date, we went fishing.  He began to bait my hook, and I said as the boat moved up and down from a wave, “If you don’t mind, I’d like to bait my own hook and cast out.”

When we came home with an over-flow of a bucket of perch, Momma laughed and said, “Daddy asked if you really went fishin’, better call him up and tell him we’re having a fish fry.”


Photo credit:  Rickydavid

I left for vacation the following week, and when I came home, Momma drove into the driveway and shrieked, “Good Lord, there he is again waiting for you on the doorstep.”

Our forth date was a fraternity dance, followed by a fifth date for a dinner and show. At the end of a bewitching evening, we strolled along the city sidewalks and stopped at a jewelry store to look at rings.

On September 1st, magic happened, and I became engaged along with shocked my parents with the news that we were getting married by a minister in a church in three days.

Father flaked out on the couch. Mother said, “The least you can do is wait a week.”

A whirlwind of activity followed, and we were married on September 10th, with both sides of our families at the church.

I was even late for the wedding. Music played “Here Comes the Bride,” over and over and I still stood next to my father as if I was riveted to the oak floor. Daddy put his arm around my shoulder and gave me a hug. “Old Top, you don’t have to get married if you don’t want too. Don’t worry about anything, the gifts can be given back, and they can all eat mamma’s dinner and go home.”

This is the FAST "Dashing Off A Memory" version of a great day and marriage that lasted over forty years.

My husband always said I hooked him when I bated my own hook.

But you know what?

I never put another worm on my hook again.

Jim always did it for me.

What can you write about getting engaged or married for your memoir?

daskarles©2011

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P.S.  Dorothy's book, Scent of Diamonds, is on sale at Amazon for a limited time for 99 cents.

Thanks Dorothy.

Title Tips

It's Guest Blog Friday, and here's Dorothy Ann Skarles with some TITLE TIPS.

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Whether or not you write an article, a book, or a memoir, they will all need a title.

Some titles are so important they become famous.

The novel Gone With The Wind, by Margaret Mitchell is a name not only known in Europe but the United States—an American Classic.

A killer title is worth the time it takes to create.

I draw on a wide range of sources to compose a title. I try to use a blend of imagination together with inventiveness, because I know an appealing title will often determine if my article, book, or memoir is read. It is the first thing a person sees that says a story is worth reading or buying.

A jump start in helping this author find titles is searching through several books in my office.

Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, The Book of Proverbs, Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, and my favorite, Roget’s 21st Century Thesaurus.

There are many unique ways to find a title designed to capture a reader’s attention or curiosity.

A novel by Toni Morrison titled, Song of Solomon, achieved recognition from the Bible. Out of the nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty came All the Kings Men, by Robert Pen Warren. Not sure, if the authors were helped by their titles to win their Nobel Prize and Pulitzer, but even if it did not, a killer title out of the Bible or a nursery rhyme would put me in good company.

There are times I even twist a familiar phrase to get a title such as “Loser Takes All” instead of “Winner Takes All.” Then there is John Steinbeck’s novel, Winter of Discontent, with a little twist it becomes, A Marriage of Discontent.

Friends who do poetry and have rhythm in their writing words are also good sources to ask for ideas.


Photo credit: KW Reinsch


Once I think of a brief title, I put a search engine to work on the Internet to see how popular each single or combination of words come up for me to title the cover of a book.

Since titles are not copyrighted, I suppose I can use Gone with the Wind, but I would hope my common sense would say, “No way, Jose. I want my own American Classic.”

My question to both readers and writers is:

How would you go about finding ideas for a title?

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Thanks Dorothy!

Dash Off A Memory, Create a Memoir/Precious Keepsakes

It's Guest Blog Friday, and you know what that means.

Here's Dorothy Ann Skarles!

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Hobbies or collectibles from family members seem to become treasures that never leave the home where they were first displayed.

I have liquor bottles shaped like model trains (still full of liquor), antique bottles extricated from the earth, and unusual beer bottles in different colors (empty) that my boys say I cannot get rid of.

All this great stuff that has been accumulating dust throughout the years is suddenly in a different category.

They are now my responsibility.

dangerismycat

I even have a beer can with Billy Carter's signature.  It says on the label:

Brewed expressly for and with the personal approval of one of America's all-time great beer drinkers--Billy Carter.  

"I had the beer brewed just for me.  I think it's the best I've ever tasted.  And I've tasted a lot.  I think you'll like it, too." 

When asked where the other five cans went, my youngest said, "Mom, you’ve got some famous beer there. Billy Carter is ex-president Carter’s brother. That can will be famous one of these days."

I can’t say I’ve ever been won over to have my own hobby or collectible. 

Until now.

A growing collection of posts for Dash off A Memory/Create a Memoir.

Laughing Squid

Many years ago, while visiting a beautiful home, I saw a wall of shelves in the living room with white porcelain plates in delicate colors displaying coiled shapes of dog feces.

The excrement even came in little balls.

Believe it or not, I have actually seen this bizarre collectible twice in my lifetime.

Did you ever have a hobby?  If so, do you still have it?

What did you collect—stamps, baseball cards, maps, antique dolls, old cars?

Did you ever keep or see a strikingly out of the ordinary hobby or collectible?


daskarles©2011

Photo credit:  Collectibles: by something.from.nancy

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Thanks Dorothy.

Dash Off A Memory/Create A Memoir/Humor and Research

Dorothy Ann Skarles, my critique partner and a long-term-guest-blogger here at Enter the Between, is back with some questions to help generate ideas for your story/memoir.

With a little research, she says, this could also be a good article for a magazine or local newspaper.



Welcome Dorothy.

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Today, taking a side road from bereavement, my funny bone got tickled when I read the following quote.

"The reason why so few good books are written

is that so few people who can write know anything."

--Walter Baghot. 

This struck me as funny because I have written for three newspapers, had a cooking column, wrote a suspense/mystery, Scent Of Diamonds, a fantasy/suspense, Enchanted Hunt, and a nonfiction book, Learning To Write The Easy Way, published by Twilight Times Books.  And I didn’t know anything.

But I did learn.

When I say you can write a story from personal knowledge, it's true. And you can sell it, too.

I wrote my first short story about a poker game my father told me about, and it sold. I called it, “The Poker Game.”

So now it's your turn to begin---

Dash Off A Memory/Create A Memoir

By purolipan

Here are ten questions to help generate ideas to write your own story for all who play (or don't play) golf. 

With a little research, this could also be a good article for a magazine or a local newspaper. 

Keep an open mind and give it a try.

Rules At Local Golf Links

1. Does the golf course you play on have any strange local rules?  Louisiana golfers,for instance, are warned not to wade into a pound in search of their balls—because of alligators.  And on the Saturday golf channel it was announced that golfer Ryiyi Imada was assessed a 26-stroke penalty after he failed to read the local rules sheet at a tournament in China.
2. Do you ever take it out on your clubs while playing with someone or during a tournament?
3. Do you ever do something not approved of in official play?
4. Ever break your putter?
5. What kind of golf course was it? Was it difficult and why?
6. Ever use profane language?  What happened when you did?
7. Play on any famous golf courses and how much did it cost you?
8. Ever fined? How much and what did you do to get fined?
9. Did you play with a partner and why? Or do you like to play alone, and why?
10. Ever makeup a rule?

Remember, a good memoir is doing a little research about every day things by a person who has personal knowledge of their topic . Good luck writing.

daskarles© 2011

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Thanks Dorothy