Statements ( #AtoZChallenge )

Say what you want, but whatever you say is your statement.   Please make it mean something or make it funny...

A Statement About Statements

         Back before this past December I had several boxes of bank and credit card statements going back to the eighties.  After years of delay I finally culled through those boxes and reduced my statement collection into two relatively small boxes, labeled and stacked together on a shelf in my garage.  This was achieved by getting rid of envelopes, advertising inserts, and pages with no relevant information on them.

         You might wonder why I would continue to keep these statements from so far back.  These records of purchases long past and other money flow in bank accounts that no longer exist seems rather non-functional--at least from any standpoint of personal finances.   But for me these statements are a record of something different than my spending and saving habits in the past:  They represent a part of my past life.   Cumulatively taken, these statements are like a diary that reconnects me to who I was and what I was doing.

        If arranged in chronological order, I can read through the statements as though they were a journal that I had kept during that time period.   I can see times of frivolity as well as tough financial straits, I can see what was purchased and where and when.  By deduction and memory I can figure a lot about the times surrounding the statements.

          Now that I've rid myself of the junk portions (it all went into my recycle bin) I have a compact record of facts that I can relate to emotions and events of another time of my life.  This goes into my research library.  This is the memoirist in me--the writer.  Those statements can help set the scenes for stories and even tell stories themselves.

          I don't know if I've convinced anyone other than me that I have some good reason to keep these boxes of statements.   It probably doesn't matter much to anyone but me since these boxes represent my history and my research files for some later time.  That's why I think they are worth keeping for a while at least.  Besides, who is to say whether reading a great or even average novel is more satisfying than reading a stack of receipts.  It all comes down to the story being told and what that story means to the reader--a reader who might also be a writer.

Has a credit card or bank statement ever inspired you to imagine a story?   What kinds of things might  credit card charges tell you if you were looking at someone else's statement?   Have you ever gone back to look at the charges on an old statement?

Fantasy in Manhattan (#atozchallenge)

Lower Manhattan at late dusk. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

     Some might fantasize about going to Manhattan someday while many a writer fantasizes stories that take place in Manhattan.   You name the genre, there is likely a story out there that uses Manhattan as the story setting.

     In this post, Sydney Aaliyah Michelle fuels a bit of romance fantasy that came to her during her last trip to Manhattan.   You writers out there will likely relate to Syd's methodology of coming up with the stories and maybe even relate to some of  the stories themselves.  Let's go to the borough of Manhattan with Sydney:

Why Manhattan?

Last summer I spent two weeks in Manhattan. I’m no stranger to the city. I visited for the first time when I was twelve years old. My father took my mom, brother and me on a business trip and we fell in love, my brother more than the rest of us. He moved there after college and never left.

Since then, besides the five and 1/2 years, I spent in China; I’ve been to NYC at least once a year every year. In each of those visits, my primary goals were to get to know the city better, try something new and find out if I could live in such a place that sparks my sense of adventure.

Each section of Manhattan feels like another world. The people carry around verbal and physical pride in which every area they reside. 

As I wandered the city, one story idea after another popped into my head.

The tree lined streets with the eclectic combination of homes, bars, and restaurants in The Village give a unique backdrop for the diverse mix of people. I spent one afternoon sitting in a coffee shop and eavesdropping on conversation around me.

I'm a writer; I eavesdrop, get over it or don't sit next to me. :-)

Two guys sitting at a small round table, one black and one white, one in a tailored business suit and the other in baggy jeans and a hoodie (in the summer time). They aggressively discussed the economy of several Caribbean Islands.

I imagined a couple falling in love in the corner table but both of them holding on to a life-altering secret.

The sexy, muscular, tattooed covered guy who ordered an espresso was my new hero. Tired of his meaningless life, he was looking for someone to love and who would accept his love of hip-hop.

I took the train to Battery Park and in my mind, created a world where behind those massive cement and glass structures was a world of wanton adventures.

As I walked back to my hotel in Midtown, I found a busy street corner; the perfect setting for a romantic first kiss.

I spent the afternoon strolling through Central Park and sat on a bench and wrote the following passage:

He wore a black hooded sweatshirt and dark jeans. He ran his left hand through his shaggy brown hair before shoving it in his pocket. His other hand clutched a white postcard covered in messy handwriting. 

His forehead wrinkled as he deciphered the message. He read as he shuffled down the street, walking on the balls of his feet. As he passed in front of me, a breeze of his scent assaulted my nose, and I let out a sigh and inhaled deeper.

He stopped ... abruptly. 

I gasped.

We locked eyes for five seconds. I counted.

Recognition seeped into my brain; I knew him. He pulled his eyes away from mine and looked back down the street, but he didn't move.

I watched the pulse in his neck as his heart raced. Mine fought to catch up with the thump, thump, thump. My gaze panned down as I took in his tight muscular arms outlined under the sweatshirt that gathered at his waist and gave me an unobstructed view of his backside; his profile made me blush. I continued taking in his form but shuddered as he spoke.

"Excuse me."

"I'm sorry." We locked eyes again, and I didn't dare look away. "What was that?"

"Is this Manhattan?"

I narrowed my eyes and wondered why he asked. I stood up, dusted the seat of my pants, and walked toward him. He squared his shoulders and proceeded to stare down at me as I approached. I’d underestimated his height as I glimpsed up and bit my lip.

Not to say my adventures in Manhattan only happen in my head. Far from it, in fact, no place on earth, in my life, does my reality and fantasy collides like in Manhattan.  It will always be my place for inspiration and new beginnings each and every visit.

Sydney Aaliyah Michelle is a contemporary romance writer, world traveler, voracious reader, movie quoter, and tattoo lover who hails from Texas.

You can connect with Sydney online at:

Website - Sydney Aaliyah Michelle, Author

Blog -  Sydney Aaliyah

Facebook Page

Goodreads Page 

Amazon Author Central 

Twitter - @sydneyamichelle

Pinterest

            Instagram 

Sign up for Sydney’s News and received a free book!

http://bit.ly/1um7D5g

      Thank you Sydney for sharing your stories with us!

        What places tend to fuel you imagination?    Have you written any stories set in Manhattan?    Do you ever get story ideas from listening to or watching strangers?

NaNo -- Jumping Off the High Dive

             My kick off day for NaNo began, not as smoothly as I would have hoped, but it began nevertheless dragging me by my feet, bouncing my head on the ground, setting me on the high dive, and forcing me to jump off only to let me know their was no water in the pool as I was falling.  Okay, maybe not that bad, but enough snags to give me less of a word count than I had hoped for.  But I'm not upset.  I'm okay.  It's all cool.
 
            Here was my plan:  I was going to take the newspaper and find 5 interesting articles and weave them into a story.  I have frequently gotten story ideas from newspaper articles so I figured that this was a surefire plan.  What I didn't take into account, but really should have suspected, the Los Angeles Times doesn't have much interesting content anymore.  I've heard this complaint about other newspapers as well.  I recall when you could find some wonderfully bizarre stories in every edition of a newspaper.  Now in the L.A.Times you find strange tales every once in a while, but mostly they want to be really significant, but they fail miserably.
Okay I found 5 stories that were not as wonderful  as I had hoped, so I needed to come up with some supplementary back up material.

             Fortunately I had a somewhat interesting dream before I woke up on Sunday morning.  Before I even got my hands on the morning paper I already had a story brewing.  Also, before I could get to the newspaper, I went to church.  In the sermon, the pastor talked about the second chapter of Deuteronomy which was about the Israelites wandering in the desert and Hebrews 12:5-11 which talks about how God disciplines those that he loves-- 2nd story inspiration.

              After various other familial obligations I was able to get to the paper Sunday afternoon at which time I got my 5 articles to use as story tie-ins.  Then I started writing.  I was originally going to plot out a story with the articles but I decided to come back to that later and just start writing the opening of the novel with the story seeds planted from my first inspirations.  I don't have a plot yet, but I think I have a pretty strong opening.  I only made it to about 1500 words on the first day, but I think I got some real momentum going and things should pick up as the week progresses.

            Good news--- got two blog posts for the upcoming week finished yesterday.  And put some more ideas for some future posts down.   Also made several comments on other blogs and responded to some comments on my blog.  So believe me, I was staying pretty busy.

            And by the way--- here is the title of the novel into which I will be pouring myself into:

                                            A DESERT PLACE

So far the novel starts with the discovery of a dead body and a briefcase full of cash by a main character named Joe Bloom.   By next week I should have a synopsis which may appear on the NaNo site before next Monday.  First I need to work out the details about who the dead guy is and why the money is there.

Hope the rest of the NaNo'ers are having fun.