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Wizards, Giants, and the Collector’s Curse

**I'M TRANSITIONING TO MY NEW LOCATION AT WWW.LLLEIBOW.COM/BLOG. FOR THE SHORT TERM I'LL BE CROSS-POSTING. SOON I'LL REDIRECT ALL FODDER FOR FICTION VISITORS TO THE NEW ADDRESS. CHECK IT OUT!

My Number One Son is an athlete and sports fan. This lucky kid owns spectacular sports memorabilia. Some came as gifts, and he even caught a ball or two at baseball games. His most prized collectibles include an autographed jersey of his favorite football player, a baseball autographed by his favorite baseball player, and a pair of basketball shoes autographed by his favorite basketball star. You might say, this kid has the best collection in town! Only, the series of unfortunate events that followed the display of each of these prized items in my home leads me to believe that there is some kind of dark magic afoot. Because of big trouble, this display at my house is transformed from a wall of fame to a wall of shame?
Who are these troubled fallen heroes?

1. Giants player Plaxico Burress, who is currently serving a prison sentence for carrying an unlicensed gun that went off and wounded him at a Manhattan nightclub.
2. Yankees player Alex Rodriguez, who is now infamous in the steroid scandal.
3. The Wizards player Gilbert Arenas, who was arrested, pled guilty and is now awaiting sentencing on felony gun charges.
Since this is ‘real life’, I’ll chalk it up to coincidence, or the skyrocketing odds of a professional athlete descending into trouble. However, as a writer, who loves to spin a tale, I can’t help but to imagine scenarios where the a Sports Collectible shop is located on some sort of ancient burial ground. The ghosts look to the inventory of the store for haunting assignments, causing any athlete they haunt to become reckless and paranoid enough to resort to firearms, even shooting themselves in some instances. Or, where a teenage boy with a fantastic autographed baseball card collection stumbles upon an old book of voodoo curses in his grandfather’s basement and begins to read. Unbeknownst to him, the ingredients for assigning the curse – the reading of the hex aloud in the presence of a personal item and an authenticated signature spell disaster for the original owners of those items.

I love it when my creative juices get going. Tell me what you think of those ideas. And, I’d love to hear about strange real-life coincidences you’ve encountered.

Best to you,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
Author of Smart Women’s Fiction
www.LLLeibow.com

P.S. Don’t forget! There’s still time to complete this month’s writing exercise “The Photograph.” Anyone who posts that they have completed the assignment is entered into a drawing to win a free e-book of Double Out and Back and an e-book Cookbook, Kissin’ Don’t Last Cookin’ Do
http://llleibow.com/blog/2010/01/07/fodder-for-fiction-first-friday-writing-exercise-january-2010/

LISA’S MONTHLY RANT: This Girl Passes On TV’s That Need Glasses

Recent media reports promise three-dimensional images will jump out of movie theaters and into living rooms sometime this year. (e.g. CNN) According the linked report, Sony and Panasonic say they will release home 3-D television systems in 2010; Mitsubishi and JVC are reported to be working on similar products. Is this really as a simple as the switch from black-and-white to color television and the shift from standard- to high-definition images?


I’m less than enthusiastic about this new technology. Don’t get me wrong. It would be cool to watch the tube and have football players appear to jump out of the screen during live 3-D broadcasts, or watch the Discovery Channel and feel like I’m standing next to an African Elephant in my living room (sure to freak out Bosco the family dog if we could fit him with glasses).

The above parenthetical brings me to the real topic of this rant: GLASSES.

You see, this 3-D gimmick requires a new television, broadcasting content, and 3-D glasses. I have spent the better part of my life trying to avoid wearing glasses. In elementary school I ‘lost’ them on a regular basis. As soon as I was old enough, I switched to contact lenses. With each new development in optometry, I advanced to wearing my glasses less and less often – soft contact lenses by day, and glasses only at night, extended wear contact lenses worn for a week at a time, with glasses worn only while cleaning them, and disposable extended wear lenses that allowed me to avoid having to wear glasses during disinfecting-time. Finally, ten years ago, I underwent LASIK surgery. I’M FREE!! But I have this 3-D TV technology promise looming large in the future.

Vanity and convenience aren’t the only reasons I’m against needing 3-D glasses to watch television. I also hate the fact that I’m inundated with umpteen remote controls, video game controllers, and other gadgets to add to the clutter, to misplace, and to confuse. Add a pair of glasses for every member of the family as well as a few extra pairs for guests, and that’s a dozen more pieces of stuff I didn’t want around my house in the first place!


Best to you,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
Author of Smart Womens’ Fiction
www.LLLeibow.com

The Story Behind Fiery Roses

Fiery Roses didn’t start as a sequel. I originally envisioned the book as a scary story based on the horrors of raging, out of control flames. Early in 2005, I started researching arsonists and developed a preliminary character sketch of a fire-setting villain.

Meanwhile, I was monitoring the Irish news online, vicariously living in Ireland, the country with which I’d fallen instantly in love during my first visit in 2004. I noted rumblings concerning plans to harvest the natural gas discovered offshore in 1996 in an area known as the Corrib Gas Field. The area lies off the northwest coast of County Mayo, and certain Mayo residents were objecting to the planned installation of pipelines that would cross unstable bogs.

The arsonist I'd created began to merge with the characters I’d created in A Band of Roses. With Princess Talty, my indomitable veteran of “otherworld” adventures, and the rest of her spirited royal clan still fresh in my mind, I couldn't help wondering how the gallant descendants of High King Brian Boru would deal with the political tangle the Corrib Gas Field had become.

My husband and I had already planned to visit Ireland in the summer of 2005. We decided to visit the Mayo bogs. As we weren’t brave enough to drive on the opposite side of the road back then, we hired a driver and headed north.

We passed through some exquisitely scenic country, the Atlantic Ocean to our left, the Nephin Mountains to our right. I didn’t realize we’d reached the bogs until the driver pointed them out. They might have been rolling meadows, but the blankets of green weren’t grass. They were scraw, the layer of tough fibrous sod that covered the peat, or turf, as it’s called in Ireland. Masses of white bog cotton and yellow buttercups painted the scraw. Cows and sheep roamed everywhere. Rows of shrubbery divided the bumpy land into square patches. New homes and crumbling old cottages dotted the landscape.

On we went until we saw a sign for the Corrib Gas Terminal. Down the road, men in hard hats were hard at work behind a chain link fence, large sections of blue pipe awaited installation, and protestors sat in parked cars. They had set out hand-painted signs that said things like, "We are Irish citizens, not Shell subjects."

The next morning, we learned that Royal Dutch Shell had sought and obtained a court order for the arrest of five Mayo men who refused the company access to their land. The men spent ninety-four days in prison.

As I worked on Fiery Roses, a story filled with fictitious villains and heroes, I followed the Irish news online, waiting for some resolution to the increasing hostility in the Rossport area. I finished writing the book a year ago, after spending more than three years tidying up all the imaginary plot twists with the help of make-believe characters. Sadly, the real situation in north Mayo remains unresolved.

__________________________________

Born and educated in Boston, Massachusetts, Pat grew up in a family full of music and myths that have found their way into her stories. She is a member of The New Hampshire Writers' Project, Seacoast Writers' Association, Romance Writers of America, and Celtic Hearts Romance Writers. A frequent visitor to Ireland, she lives in New Hampshire, where she is currently working on her next novel




Pat's Website: http://www.patmcdermott.net/
Pat's blog: Put the Kettle On

PACE YOURSELF

Ever heard the expression “pace yourself?” In my case, I truly needed to. Life was so busy. There wasn’t enough time for me to pursue my creative writing habit so I went for a weekend retreat with Nancy, a fellow writer.


We went for a few nights to The Pace House Inn, a bed and breakfast. The restful lodging was where history spoke volumes in the way of charming architecture and lovely antiques. I was inspired to the max. The result of the weekend was an ebook of romance and time travel. On first reaching my destination, I was immediately caught up in the stories of the family who built and owned the home a hundred years ago.

While staying at the B&B, I kept sensing the presence of someone named Ben. While I learned that none of the original inhabitants had that name, I came to realize that the Ben I was sensing was the character in the story I would ultimately write while there.

I found myself wondering what if… What if a guest at the bed and breakfast found herself in a relationship with someone from the property’s past who had come to visit contemporary times? Would he have a charm and sensitivity not possessed by guys of today?

The air and décor of the rooms where I stayed inspired me to write a story that showed that love can span generations or even a century. Inspiration can be intensified if a writer digs deeply enough or far enough in the past.

Cara Preston a.k.a. Phyllis Johnson (real name)

Cara Preston is the pen name for a writer whose work at Red Rose Publishing includes Pickup Lines from a Pickup Truck and Another Place and Time (scheduled for Jan. 14, 2010 release at Red Rose) Her alter ego writes a weekly newspaper column, does restaurant reviews and writes for national magazines. She has also published three poetry books.

I'M MOVING!!!

For the near future, I'll be double posting here, and on my new Wordpress blog - fully integrated with my new website, compliments of FarrDesign. But soon, http://www.llleibow.com/ will be one-stop shopping for my website and Fodder for Fiction. Hurry to check it out! When I'm finished double-posting, you'll see the above message with a link to the new home for Fodder for Fiction.

Please Go to http://www.LLLeibow.com/blog to find Fodder for Fiction from now on! It's so exciting!

COLLECTIBLES AS QUIRK AND CATALYST

Do you collect something unusual? Is it your choice to collect it or have others thrust the collection upon you. My mother once bought a creamer shaped that looked like a purple cow, and everyone decided, “Oh! You like cows!” Now, due the generosity of friends and family, her house is filled to the brim with everything cow: magnets, pictures, coffee mugs, bath towels, mooing ice cream scoops, you name it-she’s got it.

In fiction, this kind of detail adds some quirky personality to a character. But what a character collects could be more than just a telling detail or character trait. Consider the following recount of the life of my personal collection of salt and pepper shakers, started when I was a little girl, it gave me something to search for as souvenirs and something special for my parents and friends to give as gifts.

Over the years, my collection of salt and pepper shakers grew. It included a zoo of animals, including trout, horses, monkeys, pigs, and even a kangaroo salt shaker whose Joey pepper shaker sat in her pouch. Toast and a toaster lined up next to replicas of landmarks like the Washington Monument, gardens of tiny, porcelain shakers of ears of corn, apples, and carrots. My collection was a sight to behold. I carried it with me from my childhood home, to dorm rooms, an apartment, and two houses. Finally, I displayed it on a mantle shelf hung above the kitchen sink. I loved admiring the shakers each day.

One day, I arrived home from work to the sound of running water. I walked into the kitchen to find that the shelf had fallen and hit the faucet turning it on, and worse, had left my cherished collection of salt and pepper shakers in shards all over the floor and counter. Ugh… I felt as if part of my childhood had been shattered along with my collection. I salvaged a few shakers. And, my mother – a very artistic and wonderful woman – took some of the broken pieces and glued them as a mosaic on a bulletin board frame, so I have the memory of my collection. However, I cannot bring myself to start anew.

If this were fiction, the build up and loss of this collection might be symbolic of the loss of innocence. Or, it might end up a catalyst to set the protagonist into action, sending him on a quest to find replacements, to seek revenge against whoever might have caused the shelf to fall, or to invent better wall anchors. It might also be an event that foreshadows disaster on a larger scale.

Use your imagination!

I’d love to hear about what you collect – be it stamps, beanie babies, antiques, or art! Share it here. It’s fodder for fiction.

Best to you,
Lisa Lipkind Leibow
Author of Smart Women’s Fiction
www.LLLeibow.com