Author Archive

November 13, 2006 | Family & Life

I’ve been rather busy the past month or so. Fixing the little fixes in my manuscript, finder bigger fixes that need to be fixed, and helping JGirl move out on her own. Yep, the college grad found a job in her major, in the city (out of state) she wanted to live in and she moved into her own apartment. All in two and half months following graduation. Now I can hear a lot of parents shouting ‘Congratulations! She’s got a job, she’s on her own!’ Yeah right. I realize how difficult the job market is right now and how lucky she was to land a position she truly likes.

I made the trip with her to move and it was the first and perhaps last time, she and I will ever ride in a car for over ten hours. Not enough Starbucks, because I was afraid I’d have to make pit stops every hour, prolonging our trip. Once I dropped her off, we found an apartment the day I was leaving, that is ten minutes tops from her job. I flew home and happily thought about how proud my parents would be of her. I also wiped my brow with relief, just a little more helpful assistance from her Papi and me and she’d be flying solo. So what happens the next morning when I turn on my computer? There she is, “Hi Mommi.” What the f**ck! Her company has Yahoo Instant Message. So now, every weekday I know when she arrives at work and when she leaves. It’s the inbetween hours that are interesting. We can converse briefly about how she’s doing, but this is also a way for her to ask about problems with her hair, her car, her stomach…. JGirl is grown alright. Let me give you an incident which proves when they grow up, move out, but they never really leave. JGirls’ mantra when she experienced a problem with, her bank not getting her information correct was, “My Daddy will be here this weekend and if you haven’t fixed this, he’ll be in to see you.” Yep, Papi was on his way down that weekend, but he had no idea he was going to have to do battle with a local bank. I bet they were scared.

Okay, that wasn’t the incident, but this is. Halloween, I’m trying to pass out candy to the multitudes that show up on our doorstep, when she calls. JGirl is at the gas station and the gas door won’t open. Of course, she’s on empty. ‘Hang on Chicka’, I almost said, ‘Mommi will be right down in nine hours, eleven if I stop and get a Starbucks Venti.’ I didn’t think she’d see the humor. So we discuss what she should do. I tell her to go to Sears, she tells me Sears isn’t open. It’s six o’clock here, so it’s only seven there, but she says it’s not the same, they close early in the south. Huh? So I answer the doorbell one more time, then I google Sears, and from Illinois call the Sears automotive in her area. Hey, they are open!! Then we discuss what happens if she runs out of gas on the way to Sears. Well I tell her, as I open my front door three more times, she has AAA, so if she runs out of gas, they’ll come and they’ll be forced to open the gas door. Now she’s upset because I’m choosing to answer the door and pass out candy instead of devoting one hundred percent of my time to her problem. We go through a few more scenarios each one spelling increasing doom, ending with her needing a new car. Finally, she makes it to Sears and they pry the door open, but she must take it to the dealership to be fixed. Long story short, she does and the repair work takes a day longer than she wanted. Meanwhile as she waited for her car to be repaired, being the mature, on her own woman she is, she IM’s me and ask me or Papi to call the dealership and see what the holdup is. Outcome: her car was fixed on time. Conclusion: A parents job is never done!

September 22, 2006 | Writing

I’ll admit it. I’ll be the first to admit it. I’m a Scifi addict. I’m also a tennis addict. A couple of years ago, I was asked to play on Friday nights in a tennis league. I declined. Not because I didn’t want to play, but it was on Friday nights. I watch the Scifi channel on Friday nights. My family knows, they may not understand, but they know not to bother me from 6pm until 10pm, CST.

I, like a lot of people, got hooked on the new Battlestar Galactica series two years ago. It’s great. Hot looking women, strong women and Cylons, human looking ones and the shiny metal ones. The writing is strong, the story lines creative and introspective. Even the original Starbuck, Richard Hatch, from the first Battlestar Galactica has a juicy character.

The new season begins October 6th, and I’ve got a contest going on my website in honor of this program. Details and entry requirements are posted at www.YasminePhoenix.com/contest.

Good Hunting!

September 10, 2006 | Writing

You’ve finish your first draft. You let it sit and season for a couple of weeks while you recuperate from writing. You edit it to the best of your abilities and when you’re finished, you give it to your critique partners for review and comment. You’re really excited, and think you’ve done a really great job, written a story that’s tight, has plenty of tension, sparkling dialogue, two dimensional characters and a proper ending. Your critique partners agree, you’ve got a great story and they loved reading it. However …. There are some ‘little fixes’ that have to be done.

Little fixes my a$*$! To me, a little fix is a couple of typos; making sure your headers are correct; having the correct address for the agent you plan on sending your almost perfect book to, or chipping the polish on your pinky and not being able to remember the nail color name.

Truthfully, little fixes are edits. Why can’t we just call them what they are? Little edits. Little edits that can and will make the difference between an agent thinking you really care about your work being polished enough for them to represent you and sell the blasted book, or an agent believing you wouldn’t take the time to correct the ‘little fixes’ and therefore, why should they offer to represent you. First impressions are very important in this writing business and it is your work that speaks for you. You could look like Shrek’s Princess Fiona, but if you write, edit, revise, and fix the ‘little fixes’, the agent won’t care. Well you may not be doing many speaking engagements, but in the Internet World you can promote your book, post a picture of Halle Berry with red hair, pass it off as you, and no one will care. Your book will sell, your readers will love you, your agent will love you, and it’ll all be because you fixed the ‘little fixes.’

August 31, 2006 | Tennis

Nora Roberts in an August 2006, Romance Writers Report, was asked if she believed in the writing muse. Her response was classic and words to live by. “If you need to believe in the muse, let’s say, fine and dandy. Whatever works for you. But don’t tell me you can’t work today because the muse has left you. Go track down that fickle slut, drag her back, chain her to your keyboard, and GET TO WORK.”

I believe her words, but my muse right now is having a difficult time concentrating and I’m making allowances for it. It’s time for the US Open, and it’s Andre Agassi’s last tournament. He’s retiring afterward, regardless of how deep he goes in the draw. Monday night was fantastic and I had to watch. Andre and his opponent, another Andre Pavel, split the first two sets and when I got home from my critique group meeting, Agassi was down four, love. In other words, his opponent had four games, Agassi had none. It looked like he was done, but he dug deep, the New York crowd cheered him on and he won the next five games, won the tie break and then won the fourth set. Awesome! It’s always been awesome when Agassi played. When he had the long ponytail and black painted nails, now he’s bald, a father of two, thirty five years old and still hot. I want him to teach JMan. I’m also watching Thursday evening. I want him to win, but I want him to lose with the dignity he possesses. Andre said you don’t win Grand Slams, you take Grand Slams. When Agassi was falling in the rankings, he played the unglamorous men’s Challengers. He worked his way back into playing shape, by running up and down a mountain near his Las Vegas home. He never gave up and that’s why JMan and I watch him together. Inspiration for both us.