Favorite Enemies
- A Little Sisterly Advice
- Cheeky Reads
- DRD aka Donna's Blog
- Gunner Marnee's Blog
- J.K. Coi: Living with Immortals
- Just Janga
- Killer Fiction
- Kimberly Killion
- Maggie Robinson
- Maureen O. Betita
- Megan Kelly
- Pam Clare
- Renee Lynn Scott
- Romance Bandits
- Romance Dish
- Scapegoat's Blogspot
- Smartass Romance
- Terri Osburn Writes Romance
- Tessa Dare
- Vauxhall Vixens
Blog Archive
Livin' the Dream
“Brace yourselves and give into the moment.
You've got nothing to lose.”
Daydreamer- 10 Years- Division (2008)
There are times when you have to grab life by both hands and hold on like God poured super glue on you five second before tossing you out the door. Impulsion leads to life experience, to moments you’ll never forget (good or bad) and stories to tell for years to come. I’d forgotten what that was like. There are times in life when you get caught up with the bigger picture and forget the small things that sustain you until you reach the ultimate goal.
The sun was barely peeking through the black clouds. They hovered low to the ground, bowing back from the gusts of wind behind them. Boys in blue t-shirts manned giant squeegees and pushed massive water puddles through the chain link fence. They laughed and pushed water and splashed each other and passerby’s played along, kicking water onto each other and giggling. T-shirts were tied in knots, hats in place, wristbands advertising bands pushed up on forearms. Everyone was in a good mood. Music tends to mellow out the most aggressive bunch. Until you step into the mosh pit, then all bets are off.
I rolled my jeans up past my shoes. I’d slopped mud and water all over my tennis shoes, my socks were soaked, water sloshed around in the bottom of my soles. I had my sunglasses slid low over my eyes while I assessed the crowd. I weaved through swarms of people, carefully not to bump anyone. Yet. I held my best friend’s hand as we got closer. I could feel the energy rolling off me as I got closer to the railing. The dark clouds were getting thicker. The tension from the impending storm loomed closer, charging the crowd a little higher than usual. You can feel the chanting before you can hear it. It vibrates down your spine, makes your fingers tingle. The electricity runs through your body until the only thing you can do is bounce up and down with your fist in the air like a generic version of Tigger.
The first crack of lightening and the crowd goes wild. I look to my best friend, who’s grinning like the Cheshire Cat. We’ve lived for this moment. This one moment we never thought we’d share together- the rain pit.
It is a once in a lifetime chance. A moment you have to cease with both hands and hold on- it’s one helluva ride. At first it sprinkles. The band is warming up with a few of their lesser known songs. The music was so loud that screaming at the top of your lungs won’t get you heard. Hundreds of fans are jumping in rhythm; the universal “rock on” hand symbol is out, pumping through the air as you tried to feed the band all your energy. The words to the song pour through your mind. You’ve listened to it a million times but there’s no moment before this one when the song meant more.
The rain comes harder and you expend more energy. The drops feel good against your heated skin as you gasp for air. You’re holding your breath. You can’t believe this is happening. Living the dream you’ve always had. Except the daydream can’t hold a candle to the real thing.
Thunder roared on, lightening cracked through the sky. The band took a small break to point out all the people who’ve ducked under shelters and the crowd raved at them, showing them just what they’re missing by living on the safe side. The music slowed and the energy whispers through the pit. It simmers just under the surface until it builds up again to a boiling point. You’re soaked to the bone. Your jeans are so water logged the weight is pulling them off and still you jump up and down. Your shirt is plastered to you like second skin. Your hair is dripping onto your face. Even sunglasses can’t protect your eyes anymore. The pit became more of a water hole and the crowd dug into the water and started sloshing it everywhere as the music picked back up. The energy is just so insane; adrenaline is the only thing you recognize. Your body is no longer your own as you give yourself to the moment. To life. Every cell of your being was made for this moment and life is worth living to the fullest for just that second of freedom.
Writing is a lot like being on that stage. You never know when that can be taken away from you. When the inspiration will fly the coup. When you can't find anything to believe in but you keep trying to put one foot in front of the other. The road to stardom is a lonely road you have to travel to make it to the top. You have to keep thinking the reward is worth the price you pay. To have your name on the banner, behind you as you embrace your fans with everything you have. But to have that, you have to give yourself over to experiencing life. To accomplish your ultimate goal you have to take the biggest sacrifices and give up everything for just a chance in time. You have to write something your reader can relate to. Lyrics to a song; emotions to a writer. It’s all relative. Being in a pit reminds you of what you miss out on if you only look at the big picture. It’s all the smaller ones that help you better experience the bigger one. If you work in harmony, the result is more cohesive, easier to understand, instead if you fight it and work against the bigger picture. It’s not always about what will happen in the end as much as it is what’s happening now. What’s going to get you to that point will happen along the way. Live for the moment. Live through your characters. Move out of that damned comfort zone for once and do the unexpected. The rewards are well worth the sacrifice.
What’s one thing you’ve had your character do that was daring and something you’d never do? Readers, you have any juicy stories to tell us about life? How about scenes you’ve read where characters have moved out of their comfort zones?
Books by the Crew
57 comments:
Sin, I like your writing and (more or less) agree with your point of view.
A good thunderstorm can be an awe inspiring reminder of the power wielded by nature.
I remember one incident when I was walking high up on the English lakeland fells with a friend. We were totally exposed to the elements with no hint of shelter anywhere near.
The sky blackened and the wind rose. Lightening flashed across the sky and from the West (America is that way!) a wall of water moved toward us. We had started out in bright sunshine with a good weather forecast and foolishly omitted to pack waterproofs (thinking of the larger picture and ignoring the details! *g* ).
Didn't know what to do but knew that it could be dangerous to get soaked with no protective clothing at that height. My friend then hit on the answer. "Get your clothes of Dave and stuff em in the rucksack".
When the storm struck the two of us were prancing around starkers as the cloudburst enveloped us. We hugged and laughed, feeling exhilarated and totally at the mercy of the rain Goddess as torrents of water gushed over us.
The storm passed as quickly as it had arrived and in warm sunshine again with a rainbow to mark the way we continued, allowing nature to dry us off after so rudely dumping us in the tub.
At that time I think that I understood the attraction of naturism....but never took it any further! :wink:
Ok, this was a wonderful blog, but I'm now sitting here thinking I'm a really lame human being. I can think of nothing right now.
I'll keep thinking though.
Q - what a great story!
I remember a night camping with five of my other girlfriends, all of us just turned nineteen. We walked down to the lake and went skinny dipping, laughing and screaming at each other as we played in the water. Until the park ranger guy came and told us we weren't allowed to go nude and had to get out. We all looked at him (he was probably only two or three years older than we were) and started laughing, there was no way we were getting out until he left.
I love this blog and reluctantly admit I've never had the guts to get in the pit. Seen a million of them...from afar. I'm a chickenshit pirate, what can I say?
I like to pretend that I'm the daredevil of my family, which technically I am, only I don't do anything all that daredevil like. I mean, moving more than a thousand miles on a whim is as daredevil as I get. No skinny-dipping (I doubt that ranger went far), no running naked in the rain (nice, Q! lol), no stories really.
Okay, back when I used to drink more, I did some silly things. But getting half undressed in your driveway or stopping a line-drive softball with your shin aren't really things to brag about. LOL!
Now let me think about my characters.....
I've only been in the outskirts of the pit. Nudges and bumps, nothing serious.
Marn- seriously. You're not lame. You have plenty of wild stories. You just won't let loose with them.
Q- You naughty man!
Manda (my concert going BFF) and I had waxed poetic about how we'd given anything to play in the rain. It was just one of those days. You can just feel it in the air. Of course, I didn't get buck naked. Maybe I'm losing my edge.
JK! We used to go skinny dipping at Finger Lakes (I swear, that's what the state park is called!) during the summer when we were in high school. One night while we were out in the water, a meteor shot across the sky. It lit the sky up like high noon. Of course, we've been caught by the Park Ranger too... It's always nice when they are young.
LOL
Ter- Oh, c'mon! You know you've got a good story to tell! Celi has to have at least one good "once upon a time, when I was younger" story. And I know you do too! I mean, you did go to a Catholic school, didn't you?
I love the pit. Of course, my legs did NOT love me the next day. LOL You never feel it until the music vibe isn't pulsing through your veins anymore. Don't be scared to get in there. The whole point is to feel the music.
Yep, I went to Catholic school and I was THAT girl. The rare one who never got into trouble. I snuck a guy in my bedroom window once but he was my BFF's boyfriend and I was sneaking him in for her. I might have done something on a webcam last year that was WAY out of my comfort zone...but I'm still clinging to the idea that that was a weird and dream and didn't actually happen. LOL!
To be fair, at the hairband shows I went to in the 80s, there was no pit. The only band with a pit back then was Metallica and I've never seen them. I know, I'm lame. LOL!
Lord, I need to get you out more often. You should embrace the webcam fandango. That takes guts. Not a lot of people can say they have the guts to do something like that.
Sin - I live in fear of YouTube if you know what I mean. LOL! Gah! I would die!
Embrace life. You can't live in fear of the Youtube forever.
What a great blog! I really had to think, like Marnee, I think I've led a lame life, the only daring things I've done has to do with having sex in a very public place-oh God, don't tell my mother-that was way before you-tube, thank God.
Like Terri, I think I might be a chickenshit, I mean I would love to go river rafting if given the chance, to skydive and hang glide, to climb Mt. Everest, to stand on the edge of a volcano. But I haven't had the opportunity, so I dream and maybe one day-one day.
In one of my wips, my heroine shoots the hero in butt. In another, my heroine robs a train. Those are things I'd never do, although, I've been tempted a time or two to shoot Mr. Scott in the arse.
Renee
Oh, back to my characters. Well, I don't have a lot of characters written, but in my Erotic Romance short, the heroine, Anna, lets her inner vixen come out in an amazing night of sex with a much younger man. Now, I could get on board with that. ;)
Celi is very like me, practical to the core. Nothing childish would come out of her. Which means Bryan is going to have to loosen her up. I have a scene in mind where he gets her to do something simple yet it's a major leap for her.
It's all about doing stuff out of your normal comfort zone. It can be the simpliest of things for someone that is a giant leap for another.
I think we've all been tempted to shoot the SO in the arse.
See! You're not lame! Not by a long shot. I don't know what you guys think I do in my shore leave from the ship, but wow it must be something if you think you're lame compared to what I do. LOL
My heroine intercepts large amounts of laundered money from criminals and then for a percentage sells the information back to a go between for the FBI before becoming FBI herself. My other heroine is possessed and wants to kill people.
Sin said:
It can be the simpliest of things for someone that is a giant leap for another.
That's me! And it's not a trait I admire about myself. I really do wish I could be more spontaneous.
Sin - we're all lame compared to you. You're our Ninja! How could we compete with that? LOL!
I remember one time in HS I broke all the rules while my parents were out of town...stayed out past curfew, had a couple friends come over (I think we sat around drinking pop and then left), and I "signed" a friend's yard (stuck 200 political signs in their yard). It was all pretty innocent but I never ever broke rules so it felt dangerous!
My characters are rule-breakers. That's what I love about 'em. I haven't figured out every rule they'll break, but they're going to do it! :)
Such a good description of the pit. I'm not one for that sort of thing but I felt like was *there*.
Nope.
I don’t have a single juicy story to tell… not-a-one… Eerrrrr at least I LOOK like I Don’t have a juicy story to tell! :)
*LOL* I love this blog, though I think my favorite line was about God pouring superglue on me and tossing me out the door. That's just funny.
Hmmm. The most daring things I've done typically have to do with making out with wild boys, and shouldn't be repeated here. Though there was this one time in Virginia...but we're all heard those stories.
Oh, I've got one: my best friend and I drank a wine cooler on school grounds, middle of the day, in front of shocked witnesses--right before Quiz Bowl practice. (I'm so unbelievably dorky.)
Yeah, what's sad: this was really a big deal.
And I've flashed my boobs so I can get beads. (I'm beginning to feel a little like Madonna's character in A League of Their Own: You think there are men in this country who ain't seen your bosoms?) And I've flashed my boobs to just be...obnoxious. *LOL*
Here we go. College. (I blame the sugar high I was on at the time.) Justin & Nick were always trying to coax me out of class; they bribed me with ice cream--and I went. We're in a park; and the guys are talking (I was good friends with these guys, we had a lot of history classes together)--and Nick's back was to me. Justin was very focused, so I flashed him. His jaw drops and his eyes bug--it was a very satisfying reaction, let me say--and Nick whips around, but I blink at him innocently, clothes all in place. Justin is trying to explain what happened, and Nick wants to "see". *LOL* It was amusing.
Goodness. It seems that everyone (except Terri and Julie) is undressing today!
Julie, You can't possibly leave it there!
I haven't forgotten that vagabond spanking, delivered with such grace and aplomb that I hardly noticed! Skill like that has to be carefully nurtured. *g*
I'll bet you have stories that would curdle the blood.
Go on, be tempted. Just to explore the literary potential. :lol:
Q, I'm always undressing. That's like my one talent in life is my speed-dressing. Terri even commented on it. I'd been in her house 30 seconds, had stripped and changed into pjs before the doors had even been properly closed.
My ex-boyfriend's 2nd favorite story to tell about me is the time my father showed up at the door--and we'd been in bed, asleep and naked. (I told you I have a problem with clothes.) And we both heard the knock on the door--and I jackknifed out of bed, going, "That's Dad." "No," my stupid ex says, "it couldn't be." "Oh, it could be." And my ex puts on boxers and a shirt--and I think boots again...and I'm dressing like the house is on fire. He answers the door as I fly down another hallway, in my attempt to look like I was sleeping in a separate location than the boyfriend, and I'm completely dressed. Completely. Nothing inside out. Nothing rumpled. The ex was all, "I don't know how you did that. It was like an episode of Bewitched."
Ter- I'm lame myself. I am a lame ninja. Someone take me out in the pasture and put me out of my misery.
Stephanie- I love rule breaking characters! They are so much fun to write about. They never stay in the lines.
Dangerous is all relative. We all have our different definitions of dangerous. What felt dangerous to you certain was exciting and new if you had never done something like that before. Good for you!
LMAO Hellion- I swear, that's what life feels like sometimes. Those moments when you have to make that split decision on what's going to happen next. He throws superglue on my practical side and pitches me out the door of fun.
I do love the tales of the Virginia. Those are good saloon stories for when we have shore leave. And the story about blink once and your undressed/dressed are always hilarious. I just don't care so I'm in no hurry. Ever. LOL
Q- *raising eyebrow* We're all getting undressed? Have I started a major orgy and I'm unaware?
Julie is completely innocent of naughty stories. I mean, we're ruining her innocence here by even letting her read the comments.
*snorting*
Have I missed anyone this morning. You'd think we weren't coming back until Tuesday next week by the way this office is hopping... Oh wait.. Yeah, that's right. We are.
Yell out if I haven't addressed you personally!
Hey, I did say I once dropped shorts in my driveway while drunk. I'm undressing!
Wait, what am I saying?
Never in a million years did I think today's blog would take this turn.
Okay, I know better than that. LOL
Steph - if we had been born in the same decade, I'd say we were separated at birth. LOL!
Hellion - I will never forget the way you walked into that hotel, POTC PJ's in place, head held high. Not a flinch. That's why you have those Captain stripes. LOL!
And she's not kidding. I don't think I had shut the front door. I'm not even sure how she got the PJs out of her suitcase that quick.
They were on top of all my crap in the luggage. I know my priorities.
Yeah, well, I had to look like I knew where I was going and what I was doing at the hotel. Being STOPPED by the staff whilst wearing the POTC pjs would've not made the rest of my evening. Or early, early morning as it were.
Early morning is right. I'm still not sure whether to call that Saturday or Sunday. I guess 5am qualifies as early Sunday.
To balance this out, there was the time I lost you in the bar and you finally came wondering back out of no where looking very innocent with your finger in your mouth. LOL! Poor Y-108 guy was *that* close.
Any closer and I would have had a 9-month souviner named: Y108 Baby....
Could you see explaining that one to your dad? LOL!
"Well, Dad, we were at a bar full of sailors..."
And that's probably all I'd need to say. He'd put it together. He's very smart.
Ahhh Q, ever the Observant Scientist! Indeed I had a Great Advantage in our first meeting. I knew how to handle an Englishman. My DH is half English. Living with him was… is… like having a tutor. Give him credit for the carefully nurtured nature that reminded me to be graceful when I administer a spanking. Verbal.
And… ahh…Otherwise.
And SIN, you know that I am an Innocent!
I ran, remember?
And Oooh, I nevah do anything that would curdle anyone’s blood. Although this one time I almost gave my mum a coronary.
An important safety precaution.
Do not. Repeat; do NOT take pictures of yourself with your cell phone to send to your husband. And then loan the phone to your Mother without deleting the evidence first.
Hellion, thats hilarious...but my mind is boggling wondering what your friend's 1st favourite story is like!
Terri, I always wear a belt....those elasticated shorts are so unreliable!
So Julie, I bet you looked sweet on camera. Did the DH send your mum a reply? *g*
Ummm, Sin is glaring at me....lowering the tone again I think.
Better sign off now before I say something awful. :oops:
Oh no, Q, I'm giving you the eye. I will let you interpret that accordingly.
I am a pirate afterall with no morals.
I go to lunch and we start talking about secret Y108 babies, half-English hubbies, and naughty pictures mum's get a hold of- honestly, my lunch was boring compared to this!
Q, the ex's favorite story is of me 'breaking wind'--I don't find it the least bit amusing, but he shares this story with EVERYONE whenever we're in the same room together. Bastard. (So, sorry to disappoint...it's not as good as the naked-to-dressed in 30 seconds, in my book.)
And I just read a reply that mentioned spanking. Julie, I can't help you unless you help yourself. Stop telling everyone about your inner closet spanker.
Julie's innocence astounds me.
A spanker and a phone porn star. Who'd a thunk?
Q - The elastic didn't matter. I pulled them down, they didn't fall. But I was wearing a really long t-shirt and it was dark. It didn't really matter.
And I would do the Hellion flash for beads thing, but then it would take me too long to get the girls back in the boulder-holder.
I like the way this blog is going today!
I agree with that!
This blog is crazy today.
Yeah, I have to say if my girls aren't that hard to corral back into the bra for a flashing. They're at about the limit though. So I can understand more endowed friends who opt not to flash for that reason.
This blog is less crazy than any other day. We're just talking about your boobs and you're getting all rowdy.
Yeah, I do get rowdy if my boobs are brought up. I forget.
You start swinging them around like wild monkeys and bumping them into people. It's like they have a mind of their own.
No, Sin, those are YOUR *boobies*...mine aren't so out there they're just running into random people. Though they do have a mind of their own.
My girls just act as a barrier...from me seeing my feet. LOL!
Okay, I must admit that I walk around still thinking I'm flat chested. Don't hate.
Post a Comment