voices in my head - the real Prince Charming(s)

I have never liked to sleep alone, probably because my sister and I shared the same bedroom forever - then there was the whole college/roommate thing. So when I was old enough to live by myself, I didn't much like the quiet in my bedroom.  I had fans to make white noise, a white noise machine, even a dachshund who snored, drooled, and took up most of a queen sized bed all by his lonesome.

The search for company while remaining commitment free began a long stream of (predominately) men talking me to sleep.  Think Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Garrison Keillor.  Once I learned the story (or the radio program), I could well sleep to it.  There is something about the old radio broadcasts that warms my heart and plays well to my imagination.

Fuzzy and I have worn through several tapes (yes, tapes,  I still own a tape player that works) and have gone to sleep with various stories throughout the years. It only took him two years to get used to it, but now these things go with us on trips out of town.

Sadly, his snoring got worse and he had a rotating sleep schedule and I can't beat him to dreamland.  Therefore, I started to sleep to things on the MP3 player.  The variety of books and old radio shows that are available from the library is AMAZING!  I could actually sleep with a different man talking into my ear every night.  Unfortunately, the ones that are repetitive are best because I don't stay awake to hear the rest of the story (remember Paul Harvey?  never mind).

What is my point?  Do I have one?

Sure.

I am in love with Christopher Healy's book:  The Hero's Guide Saving Your Kingdom.  It is a twist on the Princes Charming in all those fairy tales.  It turns out that there were four of them and not just one.  Also, the writing is smart, creative, enchanting, and freaking awesome.  (Bronson Pinchot does the narration for the audiobook and is himself outstanding ...)

Before you decide to be a naysayer and determine that a 'kids' book' just could never be for you, buy, rent, or borrow this, and read it aloud to your goldfish if that helps your guilt about laughing out loud.

my personal Prince Charming

I have it on very good authority he is wrong about that.  Prince Charming (see image of gorgeous canine) may not have had ballads written about him, but he had all of the heroic traits the others just wished for.  I don't think being canine should be a disqualification in the Price Charming contest, but that's just me.

Now, I'll wait for the milkman and the sandman (they are on the same route and rideshare to save on gas) to take me to dreamland.
  

adventures in distance learning ...

the would be horrified granny

Distance learning (remember correspondence courses) have never appealed to me.  I lack the discipline and motivation unless there is a reason to physically GO somewhere to LEARN something.  (Yes, I know the rest of the world does advanced degrees online ... webinars have replaced training programs at some companies ... Skype is replacing face to face contact and family meetings.)


I am OLD SCHOOL (and wouldn't my granny be horrified?).


If I am skipping school, I want to be doing something adventuresome - not the laundry.  I want to do something DIFFERENT.


So, instead of actually writing the novel I have drafted (and yes, Tinkerbell, it is drafted), I signed up for an online hypnotherapy class.


I wanted to see if I would actually have the discipline to do what the rest of the world does to advance their own minds.  I also wanted to see if what I have had done to me, I can do to others (yes, I have a thing for going deeper and deeper down, so to speak).  Besides, the price was right (free).


So, there are a lot of parenthesis.  So what? The syntax, grammar, spelling, punctuation fairies are taking the night off.

Who do we remember in the stories we read?

I've been pondering my lack of character development (in my written characters - I already know I'm woefully behind in my own development).

The real question is: Who do we remember most from a story and why?

I remember Cruella D'Ville from 101 Dalmations and have no idea who the human couple were.

The witch who gave Snow White the apple stands out far more than does Prince Charming at the end, right?

Rumpelstiltskin or the princess?

The bad guys with the warts are the ones we want to see either 1) get it in the end 2) become reformed before the story is over

What about 'regular' fiction and not just the fairy tales? I love books that are in a series because it gives me the reader a chance to see where the author's imagination will take a character. Is he/she exactly the same in book one as in book seven?

If the book is a single title, will the character change much over the course of the book or will I get to see more than just the surface?

I recently read a James Patterson book, Sam's Letters to Jennifer. It is a quiet book that made a lot of points about love, life, change, and the ability to be who you are and not who the rest of the world wants you to be.

I will always love a happily ever after ending. I was raised on Walt Disney's version of fairy tales and the impression stuck.

Change is good, right?