The Best Outcome - Knight of Cups

Best Outcome – Knight of Cups:  He moves forward slowly with peace and calm.  He is also a romantic and a born flirt.


What I like about this Knight is that he is moving forward at what appears to be a steady pace. (He wouldn't want to lose the contents of the Cup, now would he?)


The horse's legs show motion, but it's controlled and likely careful.  The longest journeys aren't made in a hurry, but rather by going at a judicious pace.


If the romantic is a born flirt, will he contain it to the heroine? Probably not. 


Is that a problem?  Could be.  I have known people who flirted with everyone and everything.  A little fun teasing isn't usually a bad thing, but it can be misunderstood or unappreciated.


We'll see how it goes.


The continuation of a journey, a flirt, a decent pace.


Not a bad outcome at all.

The Recent Past - Eight of Cups

The Recent Past – Eight of Cups

In a romance, there is almost no better place to start (or build) than the recent past and moving on. 

It is time to move on and away from difficult circumstances or situations.  It is a powerful wake-up call – one that cannot and will not be ignored. 

Looking closely at the card, the Sun (constancy - and our distant past) is there to safely guide the individual on the journey to new lands and new adventures.  The traveler is on a smooth patch of earth.  The sky is clear and there don't appear to be any storms in the offing.


The heroine is moving out of a relationship she didn't know wasn't working.  Spending too much time and effort on someone who could and did give nothing back all while losing money, self-respect, and her self-worth in the process.  

The journey to find out who she is on her own. Ultimately it is the same journey we all must go on.

 

The Distant Past - The Sun

The Sun the card representing steadfast reliability in the distant past.  (Depending on how old you are that is either six months ago or sixty years ago.  Just thinking.)

In Buddhism there is a saying, "Winter always turns to spring."  In English we say, "The sun also rises."

Both imply dependability, regularity,  and constancy.

Who or what would be steadfast in the distant past for the heroine?

• Family member or friend - a relationship that had been strong and could be strong again?
• Location - a home, an institution (school, church, club house) where there was an easy and regular acceptance?
• A hobby or sport that has been put aside like when a young child puts aside his or her toys?

I'd like to see this be the relationship she had with her father.  A Gary Cooper type character: few words, strong, dependable, strong moral comopass.


For him, I'd like to see it perhaps as a family business that has been unattended and is either about to fail or one that he thinks he is too good to run ... something small and Mom and Pop-ish.  Something that isn't techie or trendy. But he has failed at technology and he's been half a step behind the trends.


Is something that has been put away, avoided, or replaced always gone?  Is it possible to go back to that once safe time and place or recreate something to bring the feelings back?  To a degree, in reality I think so; in fiction the answer should be a yes.

I finally found the Plot Bunny ... really

Writing requires plots, even non-fiction writing needs a plot (or outline) of some kind.

Plots come from the Plot Bunny and he works hard the whole year around.  Actually the Plot Bunny usually takes of March and April to give the Easter Bunny a hand with the chocolate eggs.

Elmer's Home

My search for the PB (Plot Bunny, not peanut butter) has at times been fruitless.  I have friends who are visited by the PB at night and they share their visions with me and I share mine with them.

Yesterday on a small plot of desert, I finally found him and had a way to capture him.  It was kind of like becoming Elmer Fudd with a camera, "Hush.  Be very, very quiet.  We are hunting Plot Bunnies."

I found him and he didn't twitch so much as an ear.  In fact, he disappeared into the gravel for a moment.

Then I nabbed him, photgraphically speaking.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is my personal Plot Bunny.  I think I'll call him Elmer.

Speaking of Love - anthology to be released soon!

I always get excited when something of mine gets published!  I'm even more excited when it is something printed.  To me there is still a warm fuzzy to be had by an actual, honest to Pete book that you can hold in your hands and thumb through. 

Speaking of Love is an anthology by Bright Light Multimedia (Australia) accepted some of my work a year and change ago (yes, I know I've mentioned it before), but now they are getting ready to go into print.

For me it is exciting because I like them and I like what they do. As a press and as an organization, they look for the good and they seem to revel in positive messages/books/CDs. 

When I get the date the anthology goes to press, I'll let you know.  It is a small thing in the overall scheme of life, the world, and the human condition, but it is the small things where we find and take joy.

Temperance - the Immediate Challenge

Temperance is a huge card for Tarot ... especially as the Immediate Challenge Card.

The goal is to rebuild, to find balance.  To overcome a loss or a major change.

Looking at the card, the sun is coming up - promising that tomorrow will indeed come and is indeed moving over the horizon.  The water between the cups indicates balance and change.  I see the halo and wings as a good sign, but I'm entitled. The flowers that are blooming in the foreground indicate that life does come from mud, muck and mire.

In the current, almost, plotted story, the heroine has made some discoveries.

• the man she loved/loves does not feel the same and has made future plans without her.
• every decision she has made about her life and her future revolved around  him: where she lived, who she saw, how she spent her money, and the sacrifices she made on her behalf
• she has invested a large amount of time and money trying to build a future with a man who was only interested in her for what she could provide to him.
• his goals/dreams/aspirations is to find someone who will support him and not require/request of him that he hold up his end of any bargain
• she has to find inner strength to cancel him from her life, even if that means that she loses all of the 'friends' she thought she had in common with him.

Now with limited funds, she has to pull herself up by the bra strap and see what she is made of.  Her overall goal isn't to find romantic love, it is to find peace, balance, and restore her relationships with family.

Inner strength.  It isn't just for breakfast anymore.

the celtic cross layout to plot

I fell in love today.  Again.  My husband, Santa or Fuzzy if you will, has told me time and again that it happens far and away too frequently.  I can fall in love three or more times on a good day (the weather, food, someone kind on the street or on the phone, a great note from a friend).

Anyway, I am officially in love today with three things:

1. The Writer’s Tarot for giving me the inspiration to use a tool that has been in my toolbox for several years and I never really thought about. (Ok, the truth.  I give away as many decks as I have owned which means right now I am down to no decks, but I still have the books floating around here somewhere.) 
2.  Fortune cookies courtesy of a recent Chinese dinner.  The lucky numbers gave me the information I needed to do a virtual reading.  Hey, if you don’t have the cards, it makes it kind of tough so the numbers from fortune cookies replaced shuffling and dealing real cards. 
3. The Celtic Cross layout.  It is one of the most common/popular layouts for readers.  It encompasses everything from long ago and far away to a final outcome.  Isn’t that what romance is really all about when you think about it? 

I really loved my numbers.  Officially the major arcana are numbered.  The other cards are numbered within their suit.  I decided to go down the line; 22 is the Ace of Cups all the way to the King of Wands.  It may not be the most logical system, but it works for me and it goosed the muse, so I’m proceeding from here.

1. Present -  Wheel of Fortune:  Destiny and Fate will not be denied.  If you know where to look, you can see the effects of destiny before it strikes, but not always. 
2. Immediate Challenge – Temperance:  Rebuilding and Improving on what is left over after a major change (or loss).  It can also bring two people together to act as one. 
3. Distant Past – The Sun:  Steadfast reliability.  The sun always rises and there is nothing more powerful than the Sun. 
4. Recent Past – Eight of Cups:  It is time to move on and away from difficult circumstances or situations.  It is a powerful wakeup call – one that cannot be ignored. 
5. Best Outcome – Knight of Cups:  He moves forward slowly with peace and calm.  He is also a romantic and a born flirt. 
6. Immediate Future – King of Wands:  Someone with fire and energy enough to change the world to fit his vision of it.  He doesn’t always look for or ask for help when it is needed. 
7. Factors Affecting Situation – Three of Swords:  Pain and Suffering.  Things that can easily impact the human heart and psyche (a deaf ear, words, gestures, rejection, heartbreak, betrayal) 
8. External Influences – Justice:  Cause and Effect.  Punishment and Reward.  Also known as the law of Karma – you don’t necessarily get what you want, you get what you deserve 
9. Hopes and Fears – Death:  The most powerful of the cards in Tarot as it is the card of transformation.  It is not necessarily a card representing physical death.  Change happens whether or not we want it to, let go of that which no longer serves you. 
10. Final Outcome – 4 of Cups:  Having a variety of options.  Believing in limitless possibilities.

tarot card 10 - wheel of fortune

I have always had mixed success with tarot cards ... but I decided to see if I could use the cards to point me in a good direction for the story that has been a bit like a greased pig.  I think I've got a hold of it and it escapes.  Thus the lucky numbers and the tarot.


First Cards:  Wheel of Fortune - Card 10 of the Major Arcana

In terms of romance it is a great card.  You can't really escape your fate or your destiny, even if you think you can.  It is also considered to be the circle of life and you can't get off the circle (without dying).


In romance, there has to be a reason to bring two people together.  Just because they are crossing the same street isn't enough.  Has something put them together? Is something driving them apart?

Is there something inevitable that has (or will) happen to one or both of the characters?  Is one increasing his/her personal fortunes while the other is on the downward trajectory? Is there opportunity for one or the other to make lemonade (so to speak) out of the situation?  Can they both benefit?

lottery numbers ... mine never win

So, initially I thought I'd find 'winning' lottery numbers.  Surely someone has a composite of the numbers that win on a regular basis, right?

Maybe.

I found oodles of places that have software to help you pick winning number.  I found other sites that used statistics (one of the classes I barely survived in college) and statistical theory to explain how the numbers did and didn't work.

I even looked at last night's Powerball Numbers. Not the ones that actually won, but the ones I paid one dollar for the computer to generate.  Since the numbers didn't pay off, I'm not going to use them as a basis for a story.

Nope.  Not doing it.

I have settled on a much more significant and important method to chose my numbers.

Yep.  Lucky Numbers from my fortune cookie last night - or was it the night before?

Mine:
Fortune:  You shall seek out new adventures (not a bad title/theme)
Numbers:  10, 14, 19, 27, 33, 480 (yep - it is high so it will be the highest card in the deck)

His:
Fortune:  Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can
Numbers:  52, 13, 11, 28, 41, 25

now to find the book and start to look some things up.

writer's tarot

I don't think anything that inspires a writer is ever, really, off limits - short of plagiarism, that is. 

There are only so many variables in stories of any genre. It is the combination and the original use of the variables that makes stories unique.

There's a great tool out there called Tarot for Writers by Corrine Kenner.  Sure the Tarot has been available for divination forever.  Once upon a time, I used to (try to) read the cards.  I kept asking the same question over and over and finally the cards got quiet.

The point of the book is if you get stuck, you can either do a spread (reading) or pull a card to see about direction change, character challenge, etc. 

To say I've been stuck lately is an understatement. 


For my birthday, Fuzzy gave me the Tarot for Writers. 


Did you know it works better if you actually have a Tarot deck? 

Every time I try to buy a deck of cards, the car won't start, I'm out of gas, or something more important comes up.


Looks like I am just going to have to pull numbers out of a hat and hope they work as well as actual cards.

Right now I'd settle for 5 numbers between one and 78. 

Anyone?  Bueller?  Bueller?