Tag: A. Catherine Noon

  • Walking In This World – Flora and Fauna or, Snow, Ice, and Yuck

    Walking In This World – Flora and Fauna or, Snow, Ice, and Yuck

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    Julia Cameron talks about a lovely idea in her book, The Artist\’s Way, about \”flora and fauna reports\” that she would get as letters from her grandmother.  They were remarkable for two reasons: first, they came so frequently and for such a long duration; second, because they were so in-the-moment as to be Zen koans.

    Today, I needed that idea.  The alarm went off at 0500 and I did not want to get out of bed.  For one thing, it was, well, 0500.  Duh.  For another, the weather has turned nasty, which in an of itself isn\’t a surprise because it\’s Winter.  In Chicago.  For another thing, I didn\’t get up early yesterday because I needed the sleep.  My body\’s probably fighting off the cold that my coworker brought to the office.  But really, it\’s because getting up takes escape velocity.

    I\’ve said it before:  big goals don\’t work.  We set them and then get stuck trying to be perfect, trip, fall, and stay down.  This only makes us feel worse about ourselves and our big goal – which, after all, was meant to make us feel better about ourselves, not worse.  This time of year, I see a lot of setting of resolutions, goals big and small, and I feel the competitive push to join in the dash toward personal betterment.

    But this I\’ve learned:  novels aren\’t written overnight.  Morning pages keep me sane.  And now, I\’m endeavoring to make \”going to the gym\” as regular as morning pages are – which means, daily.  Just go.  Show up at the page.  Show up at the gym.  Don\’t have expectations about outcome.  Focus on the journey.  Turn off the inflow if the inflow doesn\’t help you get onto the page, to the gym, or whatever your target is.  Be a friend of your future self.  Stephen Covey said, \”Exercise integrity in the moment of choice.\”  So, for today, I got up at 0500.  I went to the gym.  I will write my morning pages.

    For today\’s Walking In This World, I leave you with my favorite Zen Koan:

    Chao Chu fell down in the snow and yelled, \”Help me up!  Help me up!

    A Zen monk came and laid down beside him.

    Chao Chu got up and went away.

  • Tue Cent Twosday – Why Peacocks or, Jurassic Birds and How Not To Be Eaten at the Zoo

    Tue Cent Twosday – Why Peacocks or, Jurassic Birds and How Not To Be Eaten at the Zoo

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    When one sees a peafowl, or commonly \”peacock,\” one is struck by their beauty – particularly when they display their lovely tail feathers.  It turns out that they shed their tail feathers annually during a molt, and this is how peacock feathers are made available for purchase – the animals aren\’t killed for them.(1)

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    On a recent trip this month to the Brookfield Zoo, my husband\’s attention was caught by two peafowl wandering around right on the pedestrian road.  He crouched down, mesmerized, working to catch the closest one on camera.

    \”Uh, honey?  Your nine o\’clock,\” I warned.

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    He came right out from between the bushes, under the low hanging branch, right at my husband as he crouched there.  Michael even waited a moment or two, figuring he\’d stop or go around.

    Nope.

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    It\’s at this point we realized there were about ten peafowl converging on the spot where we\’d stopped to watch.

    My husband said, \”Clever girl,\” reminding us both of the movie Jurassic Park.  Remember, when the velociraptors attack from the side?

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    I couldn\’t quite catch all of them in the same shot, but they milled around us as though waiting to catch us with our guards down.

    Right.  We\’ve seen this movie, Mister Peafowl.  And thankfully, you\’re not as big as a terror bird; and they, thankfully, are extinct.

    Notes

    1. Lamplight Feather, Inc.; \”About Peacocks and Peacock Feathers,\” from URL located here.
    2. Chicago Zoological Society; Blog: Conservation Conversations with Jamie, \”Calling a Fowl,\” from URL located here.
  • Tuesday Tips – How To Avoid Smudges When Coloring

    Tuesday Tips – How To Avoid Smudges When Coloring

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    As much as I like the color of water color pens, they are still wet when you\’re using them.  They don\’t dry quickly and this can lead to smudges – from ink that gets on your hands while you\’re coloring, or from ink that gets on whatever surface you\’re coloring on.

    Here\’s what I\’ve learned works for me:  I use a clean sheet of paper when I\’m coloring.  If I leave the pattern in the coloring book, then I use two sheets, one on each side of the design.  If I remove the pattern piece from the book, then I use one sheet under my coloring, then I rest my hand on the other one so that I don\’t accidentally transfer color with the heel of my hand.

    The only thing you want to be careful of, is if you have a particularly wet pen, you don\’t want it to transfer from your blotter sheet to the design.

    What about you, Dear Reader?  What tips for coloring do you like to use?

  • Make Something Monday – Coloring

    Make Something Monday – Coloring

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    Okay, ever since I started knitting, I\’ve discovered that I\’m hip.  Not because I\’m, like, hip, or something; but because, apparently, what I\’m into is the new black.  My theory is, it\’s all us X-Geners putting our collective spending power together and making stuff popular because we want to buy it.  Take coloring books, for instance.  I\’ve adored coloring books for years.  My two favorites are the Dover line of Stained Glass Coloring Books and mandala coloring books.  The latter were hard to find up until this holiday season when, apparently, booksellers started listening to me and my X-Gener pals and poof – lots of options.

    Just in time for me to be on a budget, of course.  🙂

    But I figured I\’d share some of what I\’ve been up to, particularly because it dovetails nicely with the whole yoga-meditate-getinthemoment-beinthebody vibe that I\’ve got going lately.

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    This one is held up against my monitor so you can see it by the glow of the light.  That\’s why I like these, because they are translucent.  One project I\’d like to do at some point is make a Japanese-style paper lantern using these colored designs.

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    Here\’s the back of the book so you can read a little more about it.  (If you click on the image, it will jump you to the Amazon page if you\’re interested in shopping.)

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    I figured a discussion of pens is warranted, especially since there\’s such an interest in adult coloring books now.  I\’m a pen snob.  This will not surprise any of you who have been reading me a while, but I say it because I\’m extraordinarily picky about what pens I like to use.  Pentel pens are, by far, my favorite for luminosity and lasting power of the pens themselves.  I know there are more expensive and higher quality pens (I made the mistake of telling a graphic artist friend of my love affair with Pentel and got an ear-full).  But here\’s why I like these:  I\’ve owned this specific set for OVER 20 years.  No, that\’s not a typo.  The red\’s a little dry now, and so is one of the greys, but by and large it\’s still working for what I need it to do – color coloring books so I can relax.  I don\’t use them for serious Art with a capital A.  (Well, that\’s not true – I have used them for that; my point is, I\’m not saying these are the best pens out there, just that they\’re my favorite).

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    Here\’s the inside of the set; I like this wallet type.  I saw online that there\’s a version in a rectangular case, but this one allows me to put them in the order I want them in and they stay organized.  They do sell smaller sets, if you don\’t want to fork over the money for all 36; I used a smaller set for years too.  They really seem to last.  I\’ve put a hyperlink to Amazon in the image so if you click on it, it\’ll jump you to the shopping page.

    Tell me, Dear Reader, what are your favorite coloring books and tools?  Pens?  Pencils?  I\’d love to know.

    (I think I\’ve fixed the comment problems, but holler if not; email is a.catherine.noon AT gmail.)

     

  • When \”What He Said\” Isn\’t Enough – Free Workshop Coming February 2016 on Coffee Time Romance

    When \”What He Said\” Isn\’t Enough – Free Workshop Coming February 2016 on Coffee Time Romance

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    Free Workshop,Writing M/M Romance – When \”What He Said\” Isn\’t Enough

    Writing M/M romance, or \”male/male\” romance, came about in the late 1960\’s (probably much earlier, but that\’s when folks admit to it), written largely by and for women. It has its roots in the fan communities and stories were mimeographed, (anybody remember those?), to be passed around at conventions or mailed, (yes, snail mail), back and forth.  That\’s not to say it doesn\’t also appeal to men; I have a number of men friends, gay and straight, who like to read it too.

    And then came the internet.

    Now, with the explosion of ebooks and the ease of sharing stories via forums and archives, the genre has come into its own. There are now more and more original stories with two male characters who meet, have conflicts, and fall in love. And yes, there\’s the sex.

    We\’ll talk about how to write convincing male characters and how to handle pronoun confusion. We\’ll touch on some elements of erotic writing and how to make scenes as hot, or as sweet, as one wishes.

    Most of all, we\’ll have fun. Join me for some discussion and, most of all, some writing.

    Join me for a free writing workshop at the Coffee Time Romance forum, here, Sunday, February 7th through Saturday, February 27th.  You don\’t need any experience as a writer.  Just bring your curiosity, enthusiasm, and your internet connection.  We\’ll create the rest from there.

     

     

  • Sunday Box Talk – Scheduling Fun

    Sunday Box Talk – Scheduling Fun

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    Unless you plan ahead, you will fail to catch what you\’re hunting. This is one of the two baby snow leopards at the Brookfield Zoo, as she tries to catch one of the hanging toys in her habitat.

    I know there\’s a lot of ink spent on talking about new year\’s resolutions about now.  I don\’t actually go in for that all that much, other than to set an intention for the Roman New Year, since, being Wiccan, my new year is actually at the end of October.  But I do think that taking advantage of the collective energy around goal-setting is useful.  Here, then, are some suggestions.

    Five Tips For Fun

    1. Put it in your calendar.  Each month, set aside at least one weekend day for an outing.  It doesn\’t have to cost – hiking is free, and many public events are too.  Here in Chicago, for example, the Lincoln Park Zoo and the Chicago Cultural Center are both free, as are libraries.
    2. Don\’t scoff at libraries; they\’ve had to make it into the twenty-first-century and have embraced it with ebooks, new media, and the old favorite, books.  You can get DVDs and music for free, and some offer laptops and even e-readers to patrons.
    3. Talk about it!  Go on Facebook or Twitter and make your intentions public – there\’s nothing like knowing others are watching to make us follow through on commitments – even commitments to fun!
    4. Check out meetup.com.  There are thousands of free events, all over the globe, for every type of interest.  If you don\’t find what you\’re looking for, consider starting one.  (Hosting a meetup isn\’t free, but it\’s not exorbitant either; many enterprising hosts, like me, say, ask for donations and receive enough to cover the fees that Meetup charges.  Attending is free; hosting is what costs.)
    5. Take pictures!  Use your smartphone, cell phone camera, or even kick it old-school and use a standalone camera to record your daily round.  Social media like Facebook and Instagram, not to mention photography forums like Imgur and Picasa, let you share with others around the globe.  Make new friends and share ideas!

    What about you, Dear Reader?  What fun is in YOUR calendar?

  • Too Many???

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    People have said to me, upon occasion, \”Gee, you do too much!\” Aside from annoying me (I personally hate that comment), it makes me think. How much is too much? If you enjoy crafting, then when do you say when? After all, it\’s not as though there\’s an addiction, at least not in a usual situation (addictive behaviors aside); the joy of creating is just that: joyful.

    My answer continues to be, there is no such thing as too much. Crafts fulfill a deep-seated need for me to create. I make no apology for that fact. I enjoy multiple expressions of that creativity, and don\’t care if it appears scattershot to others – they\’re not paying my bills, or worrying about my time. I am, and that\’s what matters.

    However, it\’s worthwhile, I think, to discuss the underpinnings of how to go about \”doing so much.\” Here, then, are my thoughts:

    First, I made a rule for myself when I learned to knit: I don\’t care if I finish any project, ever. I am not knitting to complete things. I enjoy the process, and I love fiber. I really mean that. My hands tingle when I see a new yarn shop, a yarn shop I know, or even the craft section at a big-box store. When I found out Dollar Tree carried remaindered Lion Brand? HEAVEN. The process of knitting and of handling the fibers makes me happy and spurs my creativity. More importantly, it relaxes me.

    Second, despite what seems to be popular opinion from the \”you do too much\” crowd, I don\’t do every craft I am interested in every day. I rotate things. I make candles every February. I decorate eggs every March. I made soap once or twice a year. To do these things, I enlist others to help me. When I have a group showing up at 10:00 on a Saturday expecting me to have melted the wax, it spurs me to set up the candles and melt the wax.

    Third, I do what catches my fancy at any given moment. I\’ve learned basic design and I play with things. If I get stuck in a particular project, I fiddle with something else. I have many different types of yarns in my stash and rotate what I play with.

    Fourth, I keep good records. I know what\’s in my stash, where it\’s stored, and what I bought it to make. I keep organized using bins and boxes, and I keep my lists updated.

    Fifth, I share the love. Blogging about my crafts keeps me organized and motivated to finish things so I can blog about them. Again, this is using the many in support of the one.

    My crafts aren\’t about focus, they are a means to an end. They are about play and exploration, creativity and fun. They are not about a stepwise creative process, they are a celebration of the fact that I am a right-brained thinker. This is something that our society doesn\’t really understand, sadly. In fact, a friend of mine who is very left-brained told me with certainty, \”You\’re a left-brained thinker.\” I stared at her and she said, \”You do all these things in a highly organized way.\” It\’s very interesting to me that to her, \”right-brained\” meant disorganized. That\’s quite far from the truth. Some right-brained people are disorganized, but so are some left-brained people. That\’s not the point. What is the point is understanding how our own thought processes work and to work with them.

    And if that means playing with lots of different little crafts at different times, then I say, go for it! It\’s oodles better than wasting time watching television or drinking or spending lots of money. It\’s a relatively inexpensive habit, I can do it while I\’m talking to others, and it builds community. These are all excellent points in favor of crafts – any kinds of crafts – and the more the merrier.

    So the next time you\’re tempted to think, wow, too much; define for yourself the answer to the question: \”Just what is too much?\” You might be surprised by the answer.

  • Stash Sunday – Becoming

    Stash Sunday – Becoming

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    It\’s coming together.  Slowly.

    2015 has been a difficult year as regards output.  Most of the work has been internal; journaling and the like.  When Rachel was in town in October, we bought this yarn and I started farting around with some lace patterns, and realized I needed to drawn it out in a chart because the swatch was decidedly not cooperating.  As in, sticking out its tongue at me and going \”Nya-nya-nya.\”

    I finally finished the first of the two skeins yesterday.  If this were a scarf for myself, it would be way too short – one, I\’m five-eight; two, I like loooong scarves.

    But it\’s not for me; it\’s for Rachel.

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    She\’s a similar height to Leticia (my dressmaker\’s form).  This length comes right about to her hips, which is actually where Rachel prefers her scarves because she is using them more for an accessory, given that she lives in the desert; whereas I, living in Chicago, am looking for warmth and the ability to wrap it around my head and my neck several times.  So yay, it fits!

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    Here\’s a view around back, and there\’s plenty of room for the second skein to make it a full length scarf for her.  I\’d like it if it could be longer, but the third skein is a different color (and only one skein of that color, so it\’s probably going to be made into an Amazeball or a truffle; I haven\’t decided yet.)

    An Amazeball: I came up with this a couple days ago when my bud and I were sharing hard-won kudos with working out.  I thought, we need some kind of trophy or something that we can mail around in our group of friends, and whoever gets it gets to take a picture of themselves with it, and gets to decide to wins it next.  But we need something, and I figured a ball of yarn (not a ball of unmade yarn, but a knitted ball) would be a cool trophy.  A truffle, if you recall, is a creature from our Persis Chronicles that\’s a cross between an aardvark and a cocker spaniel.  I think I\’ll modify an elephant pattern and make a small one; only problem is, I think I need more yarn than I have for this project, which is why the Amazeball.

    Glad you asked?

    What about you, Dear Reader?  How long do you like your scarves?

     

     

  • The Gooses Are Here! The Gooses Are Here!

    The Gooses Are Here! The Gooses Are Here!

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    I\’m so excited!  The Noon and Wilder short story, Six Geese Laid – A Holiday Fable, is now available on the WROTE podcast, featuring the voice talents of none other than Vance Bastian.  It takes place after the end of Cat\’s Cradle, and before the next book, Ambush, which is forthcoming in 2016.  Ambush is TJ\’s story, a tale of loss, identity, and love.  Six Geese is a holiday fable that sets the stage for TJ, Dillon, and Craig.

    Join me tonight, Tuesday December 22nd, for a live Facebook event from 7:00 to 9:00 P.M. Central Standard Time (GMT -6). I\’ll have stories, anecdotes, and even an interview with Vance himself at 7:30.  Join me!

    \"Cat\'s-Cradle---XWhen you’re a former Marine, now tiger shifter, love comes with a high cost – is it too much to pay?

    Mitchell Brayden is a former Marine looking for love in all the wrong places. When he decides to rescue a young ocelot shifter from a rich, spoiled playboy, he embroils himself in a conflict that goes back generations.

    Guadalupe Salazar grew up as a pampered pet of a benevolent patron. After his patron’s untimely death, he stays on with the patron’s son – a self-centered, weak man who got ensnared by the drugs and fast living in the States. One night, it goes too far and Lupe is beaten nearly to death. He is taken to a secret shifter clinic where he meets an unlikely knight in tarnished armor.

    Together, Mitch and Lupe confront the playboy and his friends – but will their actions draw the rest of the jaguar familias, not to mention the ocelot clans, into a battle over Lupe’s future? Will the delicate balance of power destroy everything that Mitch’s small band of tiger shifters has built in Chicago?

  • Six Geese Laid – A Holiday Fable: Tuesday, December 22nd, on WROTE Podcast; performed by Vance Bastian

    Six Geese Laid – A Holiday Fable: Tuesday, December 22nd, on WROTE Podcast; performed by Vance Bastian

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    The Geese Are Coming!

    It all started with an innocent question by J. Scott Coatsworth on Queer Sci Fi:  would anyone like to help out with a podcast series inspired by the Twelve Days of Christmas.

    It was November 22nd.

    I figured, I didn\’t have much to do since I was only working full time, Chicago Regional Municipal Liaisons for the ChiWriMo region of National Novel Writing Month, we were leaving for Philadelphia for our family celebration of Thanksgiving (at which 33 people were in attendance), AND it was Black Friday that week and Rachel works retail.

    Sure, I\’d love to write a new story.  From scratch.

    When do you need it?

    The 27th.

    OF NOVEMBER???

    Rachel\’s gonna kill me.

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    So I wrote.  And Rachel and I plotted.  I wrote some more.  We plotted more.  We ate turkey.  Rachel battled the consumer hell that is Black Friday.  I turned in the story by the skin of my teeth on the 27th.

    And now you, Dear Reader, get to hear it on WROTE podcast, performed by none other than Vance Bastian!

    Join me on Facebook for a release day party this Tuesday, December 22nd, from 7:00 to 9:00 P.M. Central Standard Time (GMT -6).  We\’ll have links, pictures, and lots and lots of fun.

    About the Story

    Six Geese Laid – a Holiday Fable takes place after the end of Cat\’s Cradle, and before the forthcoming Ambush.  Our hero is the tortured TJ Butler, a former Marine suffering from PTSD from the use of electroshock therapy to \”cure\” him of being gay when he was a young man.  He ran away to join the Corps and that\’s where he met Neal Harrison and his squad of Marines.  TJ is unaware of the fact that he is pure catnip to Dillon Kendall and Craig Moretti, but Dillon decides that the time is right to make his move.  Only, there\’s a snag:

    The Geese.

    Join me on Tuesday and find out what happens!

     

  • Bloody Mary Mix – And Surviving Holiday Shopping!

    Bloody Mary Mix – And Surviving Holiday Shopping!

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    I know, I\’m a little behind, but I forgot to post this here.  I put it on my Facebook, but didn\’t put it on the blog.  Sigh.

    Chalk it up to the holiday nutsiness and my gym challenge.  It\’s eating my brain.

    What do vegetarian zombies say?

    GRRRAAAAAIIINS!

    ANYway, I\’m over at Chez Delilah again for a guest post.  If you haven\’t checked her out, Delilah Devlin is an awesome writer and does lovely jewelry; she even has an Etsy shop for the latter.  When you visit my post, check out her other offerings.

    Happy holidays!

  • TRS Christmas Party with $100 USD Amazon Giveaway and Other Prizes!

    TRS Christmas Party with $100 USD Amazon Giveaway and Other Prizes!

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    The TRS Christmas Party is in full swing.  Stop by for the grand prize of a $100 USD Amazon gift card, and enter to win a slew of prizes from participating authors – including yours truly!

    For the party, I\’ll be posting five posts each day that highlight our bestselling M/M Romance books:

    TRS Christmas Party

    Chicagoland Shifters:

    Day One – 12/17 – Burning Bright

    1. Date Ideas
    2. Bird Brain
    3. Safe Words
    4. Poly
    5. Wicca

    Day Two – 12/18 – Tiger Tiger

    1. Tiger Play – Zooscapades
    2. Jogging
    3. Intercultural Relationships
    4. Veterinary Adventures
    5. Smart-Assed Friends

    Day Three – 12/19 – Cat\’s Cradle

    1. Movie Night
    2. Horchata
    3. When You Don\’t Share
    4. Dinner In
    5. Novice Kink

    Persis Chronicles:

    Day Four – 12/20 – Emerald Fire

    1. Socks of Doom
    2. Tropes
    3. Music To My Ears
    4. The Animals of Persis
    5. Deserts

    Day Five – 12/21 – Emerald Keep

    1. Sandsails
    2. Cave Cities
    3. Truffles
    4. Group Marriages
    5. Tai Chi

    Emerald City Shifters:

    Day Six – 12/22 – Sealed by Fire

    1. Six Geese Laid (not really Emerald City Shifters, but it went live so I\’m sharing)
    2. The Charm of Novices
    3. Seattle
    4. Inventing Legends
    5. Domovoi

    Day Seven – 12/23 – Sealed by Magic

    1. Ancestral Wicca
    2. Row Your Boat
    3. Brewing – the Ancient Hobby
    4. Pets That Live Forever
    5. Thank You, Happy Holidays, and Gym Challenges

    I\’ll be sharing date ideas, talking about the animals that inspired our shifters, pictures, and lots of fun stuff.  I hope you\’ll join me!