Memories Outlast Physical Reminders

The smokestack at Thurber, Texas

Thurber, Texas once claimed to be the largest town between Fort Worth and El Paso. Now only the towering smokestack remains of a once prosperous business and a thriving community.  It took life in 1886 with a coal mine begun by the Johnson brothers, Harvey and William. Workers who were recruited came from Italy, Poland, Britain, and Ireland among the eighteen nations represented. Manufacture of brick began in 1897 and eventually the plant was making 80,000 bricks daily.

During the first quarter of the twentieth century, railroads changed from coal to oil as fuel, diminishing  the markets for coal. When the company’s investors switched to developing oil leases, production of bricks decreased. The company’s move to its corporate location in Fort Worth in the early 30's brought the demise of Thurber and it became little more than a ghost town. Only a handful of buildings still exist where once 10,000 residents claimed Thurber ‘home.”

A smokestack, visible alongside Interstate 20 about seventy-five miles west of Fort Worth, is all that remains of a once-bustling town... a few buildings, some historical markers and memories planted deep in those who remember.

And yet, former inhabitants continue to gather on regular occasions because memories are more permanent monuments than anything subject to the erosion of time.  

Social Media...Can One Keep Up?

Mentioned last week about having to replace my laptop. Here's an update on my progress in getting it up and running.

I'm a writer so I need a good Word program. My desktop is equipped with a Word 2010 and I was smart enough to make a note of the Product Code for the program I bought a few years back. No problem. I'll just go to Microsoft's website and download a copy. Nope! Seems that Microsoft no longer makes Word 2010 available; they now want you to use/buy Word 2013. After a bit of investigation, I settled for Apache Open Office...and it's free. I'll let you know how it works out later.

Although all my files were transferred from the old to the new computer, I had to rebuild my list of Favorites. There's Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, the site that hosts the serial of my novel Twist of Fate, and where I post a weekly blog about interesting cities in the US, VentureGalleries.com.

As a member of Authors Social Media Share Group (ASMSG), I'm active on Goodreads, Riffle, and Booklikes. Then I remembered I needed to find and add my personal and author websites. Once I found them, I took the time to post an update (don't do that near often enough.) So then it was on to Amazon where I located the address for my Amazon Author Page and Amazon Central so I could check on near-nonexistent book sales.

I'm sure there are other sites where I have a membership presence like Authors Den which I don't visit very much. But, by then my fingers were exhausted and most of the day had gone by. And I still had this blog to write for tomorrow.

When I'm Not Writing...

I'm pretty faithful to dedicating a portion of my day to writing projects of one sort or another. But, sometime there  a day comes along when I can't resist the call of the outdoors. Today was one of those days.

Here in Texas our winter this year has been one of gray, overcast skies and biting cold North winds that keep a person trapped indoors. When this day gave indication of something vastly different, I set aside the computer and research book and answered the call.

With temperatures in the high 60's and the soft, southerly wind a mild five to ten miles per hour, I couldn't pass up the chance to get some yard cleanup done. We've got a lot of trees  on our property resulting in a dead-leaves cover. I began with the flower bed alongside the drive, removing leaves and sticks with a rake and drawing them into a long piled row in the middle of the paved drive.

Used to be (when I was younger and more physically able) the raked-up leaves would be put through a shredding machine and returned as mulch on my garden beds. This will be the first year I'm not up to the chore and other demands don't allow the time to do so. A couple hours work and I had completed a major yearly task.

Since we live in the country outside of city limits and any restrictions about burning, I have no hesitation about disposing of the accumulated leaves in this manner. And that's just what I did.

Of course, reading this you will realize I didn't stay away from the writing very long. I should have taken a picture of my leaves burning but you'll have to be satisfied with one captured in Google Images.

American English and English English

 

Have you ever wondered why Americans and English people spell certain words differently? These are the kinds of questions that writers are always asking themselves.

I have a copy of this marvelously fascinating book titled "The Book of Totally Useless Information" by Don Voorrhees. He answers questions like: Why are diamonds measured in carats? Isn't that something you've always wondered about? Or, was there really ever a Mother Goose? And, why is a left-handed person known as a southpaw?

Anyway, I found the answer to satisfy my curiosity about the difference in language between American English and English English. Seems that we can trace it back to an Englishman living in the American Colonies, Noah Webster. Right, the same Noah Webster who gave us the "Blue-Backed American Speller" back in 1783. He hoped to establish a proper American spelling of the English language that would give America the true mark of culture.

We can credit Webster for the spelling of the following English words: center for centre, color for colour, fiber for fibre, defense for defence, tire for tyre, as well as numerous others.

Webster might drop his false teeth if he heard the broad differences in dialect today between say, the Deep South and New England. I think, however, he would be pleased at the way American English has spread and been adopted around the world.

Computer Woes

Ah-h-h, the trials and tribulations of being a computer user. Had to replace my laptop yesterday...it was an old Dell a friend gave me a couple years back. In spite of all my efforts to clean out the old stuff cluttering up the RAM, it was moving slower and slower So I bit the bullet, made a trip to my favorite computer shop, Computer Tech in Gilmer, TX, and purchased one of the re-furbished models they had on the floor.

Having invested in machines they refurbish in the past and being well-pleased with their customer service, I had confidence this new computer will work out. The purchase included a transfer of files and folders from the old to the new but not any programs I might have purchased and added myself. So...guess what I'll be doing today.

In the meantime, I've discovered the new laptop is telling me it's connected by wireless to the internet feed but the computer doesn't respond to that information. So far, no access to the internet. In order to get this written, I've had to resort to my husband's ancient desktop which he refuses to allow me to upgrade. He's still not comfortable around computers although I have to admit he's learned how to find himself around Google pretty well. At least, the "vital" information he shares with me would indicate that.

So, today will be devoted to getting the new machine up and running...except for the time-out to take Sammi, our cat, to the vet for her yearly shots. But that's another tale.

Inspiration's Strange Paths

Funny how one's imagination jumps from one idea to another. In an interview, someone once asked where the idea for my novel SECOND TIME AROUND came from.

My response? I was thinking about how, in my younger days, it used to be a requirement that a woman wore a hat for all occasions. From there, I began to wonder if anyone ever favored a particular hat that became associated with important events in her life. That might make an interesting story, I told myself. I even did internet research and collected a variety of hat images to inspire the plot.

But then the story morphed and instead of hats, my imagination conjured up a particular woman. One who is recently-widowed, a mature business woman suddenly confronted with a man she believes is her first love. Then my imagination did a now-familiar twists and added this element. Suppose this first love was supposedly killed on his way to propose to her twenty-eight years previously. That story became a romantic/suspense set in Dallas, Texas with the action taking part in the 50's & 70's. And yes, I did include a scene that featured a particular hat she favored.

Many times my novels begin with a character that takes up residence in my thoughts. My job is to just visit with him or her, listen to them talk about their lives, watch some of their activities, notice the surroundings. Only when the conflicts start to emerge can I begin to write their story.

It's really a fun ride--the writing, that is. But don't ask my opinion about the other side of the picture, getting the story published and convincing people to spend their money to buy your books.

The Way My Mind Works

A friend of my just published her first book. It's a collection of stories with a paranormal twist to the endings. She and her publisher came up with a terrific title:

It got me wondering about that phrase - A baker's dozen. So, never one to deny satisfying my curiosity, I pulled out a small book I keep handy in my desk drawer and found the following...I paraphrase:

"By the middle of the Twelfth Century London baker had formed an official brotherhood which later split into the Company of Brown Bakers and the Company of White Bakers. A law passed in 1266 stipulated that exactly eighty loaves of bread were to be baked from a standard sack of flour. If found selling underweight loaves (thereby getting more loaves from the sack) there were dire consequences.

So bakers added an extra loaf of bread for every twelve they sold to make up for any underweight loaves. Small price to pay since they could have their ear nailed to their shop's window if caught under-weighing their loaves of bread. 

That information came from an interesting book called The Book of totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees. And my friend's name is Vivra Bean. You can check out her blog & book here:

www.justvivra.com

Now...aren't you glad you stopped to read this?