Author Archives: Deb Gorman

About Deb Gorman

Deb Gorman is an author, blogger, and speaker who escaped from a 9-5 job in the medical field to pursue what she really loves—words, words, and more words. A lifelong resident of the Pacific Northwest, she writes fiction and non-fiction in between long walks through orchard country with her husband, Alan, and playing with their German Shepherd, Hoka. You can catch up with Deb on her website, debggorman.com, and email her at debster145@gmail.com

Reader Friday-Boo!

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This is your Halloween post… 🙂 Sorrynotsorry-couldn’t resist.

Moving on–

Tell us about Halloween. Your Halloween.

Meaning, did you participate when growing up (if you have grown up, that is…)?

 

 

What was your favorite costume that you wore? Elvis? Casper, the Friendly Ghost?

And do you still celebrate Halloween?

 

 

Hmm… “Celebrate” seems like an odd word to use with “Halloween”, doesn’t it? Perhaps we should say “Observe” instead.

And how about saying, “Happy Halloween” to folks? Isn’t that kind of an oxymoron? Who can be happy when surrounded by ghouls, goblins, and ghosts?

Or am I making something out of nothing? (I’m kinda famous for that in my little circle…)

TKZers–please tell us your Halloweeny stories!

“Back in the day, when I was just a wee owlet…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reader Friday-Distracted Writing

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You’ve heard of distracted driving, right? Cell phones, road signs, ankle-biters bug-tussling in the back seat, other distracted drivers distracting your driving—we’ve all experienced it—but hopefully not on the wrong side of a citation or accident.

Today, keeping in mind all of the above, consider the distractions that keep you from deep-diving into your current WIP, that germ of a story that grabbed your attention awhile back, but now is drowning in . . . life, real life.

What are the top five distractions affecting your writing productivity? Those pesky things that require your attention, but in the process of “attending”, dilute your enthusiasm for the project and cut into your in-the-zone time?

For me, at this time, it’s caring for my elderly father. It’s an honor for me, and I wouldn’t have it any other way, but it usually takes me awhile to shift from the Dad gear to the story gear.

How about you? How do you handle the “life stuff” that’s part of your story, but not part of the story you’re writing?

Are you good at setting it aside? Compartmentalizing? (Both of which I am seriously not good at . . .)

TKZers, jump right in with your tips and tricks!

 

Reader Friday-School Daze

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What was your absolute favorite subject in school? Can be grade, middle, high school or college.

Mine was history.

When I was a junior and senior in high school, I had the same history teacher both years. He was a great teacher and made us work hard. We had to keep a “journal” of the things we learned that were most interesting to us.

I tried to make stories out of them. Go figure!

No…not that one! 🙂

 

 

Over to you, TKZ readers and writers. What was your favorite, how old were you, and are you still fascinated by the same subject?

 

 

 

 

 

Reader Friday-Curiouser and Curiouser

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Authors are a curious species. By that, I mean we’re curious about the world around us, not that we’re weird! Ahem!

This is a link to a really cool site that will make you curiouser and curiouser. https://www.rd.com/list/weird-facts/

Image by LeeoMax from Pixabay

 

 

 

Did you know that Donald Duck’s legal name is Donald Fauntleroy Duck? True story. (From Wikipedia)

 

 

 

 

And Walt Disney was the first voice of Mickey Mouse? And Mickey was the first non-human Oscar winner.

Or, how about this—Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz was originally a blonde, but the powers that were thought it made her look not so much like a Kansas farm girl.

All true.

But, here’s the one I really like, because I’m one of those height-challenged folks.

People are taller in the morning than they are at night. Really!

Courtesy of https://ar.inspiredpencil.com

“When you wake up in the morning, you’re about one centimeter taller. That’s because at night when you’re lying down, the spine stretches and decompresses. But throughout the day, the soft cartilage between your bones gets squashed and compressed…”

 

So, at least in the mornings I can claim to be tall . . . cool!

TKZers . . . what weird, random fact can you share with us this morning? And how will you write it into the story you’re working on?

 

 

Reader Friday-Final Words

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Authors and writing craft teachers often discuss first lines in books and movies. First lines are mighty important, no doubt about it.

But what about last lines? Not a narrated line, an actual character line that is the last one spoken. IMHO, the last spoken line has the potential of staying with the reader/viewer for a long time.

Aside:  We watched a movie the other night. It was good (not great, though) until the last scene. I don’t know what the screenwriters were thinking, but it took the Oscar for the stupidest last scene/lines in sixty-five+ years of my movie-watching career. I’m not even going to dignify it by belaboring the point.

But I will say this. If you’re tempted to watch Air Force One Is Down—don’t! (Not to be confused with Harrison Ford’s Air Force One…)

Enough of that.

Question for the day is what is your favorite-of-all-time last line of dialogue in a book or movie?

Here’s mine…

 

 

Your turn, TKZers!

 

 

Reader Friday-I Saw What You Did

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Tell us something cool about yourself that no one else knows…or, very few people know.

I’ll start.

My car wasn’t as cool as this one… 🙂

I once drove in a stock car race. It was fun! I got to go really, really fast around our local race track and I didn’t even crash. My three young kiddos watched from the bleachers with my parents. My drag-racing, desert truck-racing Dad was the instigator. In the blood, I guess.

 

Would I do it again? No sirree Bob! (Well, maybe…)

Your turn! Do tell, and have you written about it?

 

Reader Friday-Character for a Day

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Remember the old TV program called Queen For A Day? (I might have just dated myself…)

It ran from 1945-1964. From Wikipedia:  “Queen for a Day was an American radio and television game show that helped to usher in American listeners’ and viewers’ fascination with big-prize giveaway shows.” I remember watching it on the old B&W. Do you?

Let’s play that game, but with a writerly/readerly twist. Instead of Queen for a Day, let’s play…wait for it…Character for a Day. You game?

Here’s how it goes–but, alas, no big prize money in the offing–just some good, old-fashioned fun. And God knows we could use some fun.

Pick a character you would like to be, either from your own book, another author’s book, or from a movie. But not just any character, please! Pick one whose spirit speaks to yours.

Here’s my pick…Tauriel, Lord of the Rings…beautiful and lethal!

 

 

 

 

Okay, TKZers…your turn. Tell us what character you want to be for just 24 hours. And, tell us why…1, 2, 3, GO!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reader Friday-What’s Your Rallying Cry?

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Motto: Adage, aphorism, maxim, rallying cry.

Famous people are famous for their mottos. They spew them out when they’re in front of a microphone and their fans.

Here’s a few: (Photo credits to Pixabay)

Question for TKZers this morning.

What are the words you live by no matter the circumstance that might arise in your world?

Here’s mine: This is all temporary.

(Click to view on Amazon)

  • Let’s hear yours. That thing you think when all is sunshine and roses–or, when the bottom drops out of your life.
  • How does your motto show up in your writing? Do you choose to read stories that illustrate your motto?

 

 

Reader Friday-Caption This!

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Don’t you just love playing with words and ideas? I do! As authors, one skill we work hard to develop is using words that evoke pictures in the readers’ minds. This morning, let’s flip that around a bit, and use a picture to evoke words. Photographers and painters are masters at that, right?

There’s a game going around social media called Caption This! I thought it’d be fun for us to compete this morning, and come up with some original captions for this picture.

Caption This!

 

 

Go ahead. Stare at it for awhile and let your creative juices flow. What is this image saying to you?

 

 

 

 

Reader Friday-Those Characters Who Charm Us

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We talk a lot about characters here at TKZ.

  • Development of said.
  • Protagonists vs. antagonists.
  • Relationship-building.
  • What makes them tick.

 

But what about those characters in books and movies who are usually in a supporting role, waiting in the wings to charm us, perplex us, and teach us? I’m talking about those other species of characters–the non-human ones.

 

Here’s mine…

 

 

Real charmers, these two!

 

 

 

TKZers: What (or who) is your favorite non-human character in book or movie?