What’s Your Harry Potter Personality?

Ever wonder which Harry Potter character you are the most like? This awesome Harry Potter version of the Myers-Brigg’s test has been popping up on Facebook so I just had to try it out. As you probably already know, I’m fascinated by the Myers-Briggs personality test and have blogged about it before.

Turns out my personality corresponds most accurately with Ron Weasley. Who also turns out to be my favorite Harry Potter character (double awesome!). I even had red hair as a kid (like my son has now) and it’s both eerie and comforting to think how much my own childhood school years had a very Ron-like slant to them.

So which Harry Potter character corresponds the most to your personality type? Are you surprised by what you discovered or more intrigued or disturbed?  Makes you wonder, does art imitate life or life imitate art? 

Garden Harvest

Working the garden every year gives me renewed respect for farmers. It’s hard, dirty, sweaty work, but at the same time oh so fulfilling when you see your plants mature and thrive. Not everything lives of course, but the crops that do come in make it that much more worthwhile.

I’ve pulled over 20 pumpkins out of the yard this year, a couple bag’s worth of string beans, and the tomatoes are coming in really well right now (and tasty too). Of course gofers took way more of my lettuce that I would have wished this year and the crows find my corn just as tasty as I do apparently. But my grapevines and sunflowers did extra well to make up for it, so I consider it a pretty decent harvest.

So how do you reconnect with nature this time of year? It’s Indian Summer and turning into Fall for us (which is our best time of year), but what’s the weather like where you are? How are you enjoying the harvest season?   

The Next Big Thing!

Fellow Blogger/author David List mentioned me on his blogpost about “The Next Big Thing” questionnaire where a writer updates everyone on their latest writings and happenings. So here’s my blurb on the Next Big Thing. Thanks David!

1.       What’s the working title of your book?

Fort Defiance

2.       Where did you get the idea for your book?

Oddly enough it’s probably the first story I ever wanted to write, but I didn’t find the right words for it until now. I’ve always been interested in stories about family and how settlers survived on the colonial frontier.

3.       What’s the genre of your book?

Historical Thriller, with a leaning toward YA.

4.       What actors would you pick to portray your novel in film?

I really have no preferences, I’d be happy if people simply enjoyed the story as a book.  

5.       Provide a one sentence blurb of your book.

      Sixteen-year-old Joss Roebuck must defend his family and farm from the land-hungry Magistrate Pendleton and the nearing French and Indian war-parties that threaten to destroy his home on the Virginia frontier.

6.       Will you self-publish or have your book represented by an agency?

Time will tell, but either way I intend to make the book the best it can possibly be, via rewrites, feedback from CPs, and professional editors.

7.       How long did it take to write the first draft of your book?

It went fairly well. I wrote over 85,000 words in about 12 weeks.

8.       What other books in your genre would you compare it to?

It’s a twist between The Last of the Mohicans and Huckleberry Finn. More contemporary comparisons would be Thom’s Follow the River and Speare’s Sign of the Beaver.

9.       Who or what inspired you to write your book?

My wife. Definitely my wife. Without her I couldn’t have progressed a single day.

10.   What else about your book might pique a reader’s interest?

I genuinely wrote this book to be a fun and engaging read. I want readers to really enjoy themselves, and even though it’s a historical piece I think YA readers will like the story and pacing.  

Keep the Next Big Thing going…I nominate a few fellow writers/bloggers for this questionnaire, mainly because they’re super awesome and I’d be interested to see what they say to some of these questions.

And my nominees are: Rachna’s Sciptorium, Alex Cavanaugh’s blog, and Milo Fowler’s In Media Res. 

Gearing Up For America’s Cup

This weekend my dad, cousin, and I went sailing on San Francisco Bay just as the America’s Cup races started heating up. We had a blast out on the bay, and even though we certainly don’t sail as fast as the pros, we still got a good feel for the course as we cruised in neighboring waters. We’re looking forward to watching the cup races live and in person as the nice Indian Summer weather starts up.  

The youth races are already underway with New Zealand currently leading over the U.S., Swiss, and other teams. The races for the professional finals will begin this weekend and last throughout the month. Like the youth sailing bout, the professional finals look like they will be a close race between the two leading contenders, the American and New Zealand teams. But don’t count the Swedes or the Italians out just yet.  

Baby’s First Ballgame

We took my son to his first ballgame on Sunday! Eight months old and he loved it. He happily took in all the new sights, smells, and sounds, and for a while I think he was actually watching the game.

It didn’t hurt that the Giants won that day either. Seeing the world through my son’s eyes this weekend was fun, and everything from the train ride to seeing the sailboats circle the ballpark was all new and exciting to him. It’s something my wife and I would definitely do with our son again.

How was your weekend? What new experiences have you sought out recently or relived through another? How are the “dog days” of August treating you?  

Writing Short-Stories

How often do you write short-stories? How often do you read short-stories? What short-story contests do you follow?

I’ve been on a bit of a short-story writing binge, which is unusual for me, since I’m typically a strictly novelist type of writer (with some poetry once in a while). One thing I’ve really enjoyed about writing short-stories lately is that I can finish a 2,000 to 5,000 word story in a day, instead of taking three months to craft out an 85,000 word novel. So it’s pretty satisfying in that respect. Some of my favorite short-stories to read include Joyce, London, Irving, and Hawthorne.

What do you like to write? Novel? Non-fiction? Short-story? Poetry? Screenplay? Onstage drama? What types of contests have you found where you like to submit your work? 

Putting Your Dreams To Work

How do you utilize your sleeping hours? Do you ever use your dreams at night to get things done? Maybe you solve a problem or ruminate on something you’ve been thinking about?

I’ve noticed lately that I continue to dream about books I’m working on. Sometimes I’ll even come up with great plot elements in my sleep and later incorporate them into my writing when I’m awake. At first I thought this odd behavior until I looked online and learned that people all over the world from artists to mathematicians use their sleeping hours (their dreamtime) to help find solutions to whatever they’re working on in their waking hours.

So how can you better utilize your sleeping/dreaming hours? Do you ever get inspiration from a dream? How do you get in touch with your creative unconscious side?