A Non-Hiker Goes Hiking, Part 2

Before turning in for the night, my sister told me I may hear strange noises outside my tent: squirrels, birds, or some other woodland creature. I slept pretty well inside the tent in my sleeping bag and wool blanket and, kept fairly warm. After the three mile hike earlier in the day, I probably could have slept standing up. But I woke briefly at 3:00 AM and heard… nothing. Absolutely nothing. I live in the city so I am used to hearing distant cars, the occasional siren, a dog barking, something. But here there was nothing; no people, no vehicles, no birds, no wind, just silence. It was eerie.

I fell back to sleep and woke again just after 5:00 AM and heard a rustle in the leaves just outside my tent. In fact, it sounded as if it was just by my head. It breaks down like this: Something rustling; thin fabric of the tent; my head. So then my mind starts racing. What if whatever is outside the tent can smell my head through the tent, consider me an interloper, and attacks? Can I move fast enough to escape the slashing paw through the fabric and go for the door by my feet, undo BOTH the screen door zipper and front door zipper, and then escape before I’m eaten alive? Or would I emerge to find the rest of the coyotes waiting for me after having been driven from the tent per their plan? Or would I find the four members of the Manson family armed with their bloody machetes and no backpacks?

However, the rustling picked up becoming louder, and then I realized as the sun was coming up that the wind was growing stronger since the mountain was beginning to warm, and the cold and heat started to mingle. Nothing odd, just nature.

My brother-in-law had emerged, started a fire, and put a pot of coffee on a portable gas-powered heater. I had never had percolated coffee before, especially in the cool, crisp morning as the sun emerged and slowly poured onto the small town below. I also had no idea that it takes about an hour to prepare so standing atop a tall mountain while waiting for a hot cup o’ joe was a new experience for me. After being assured there was nothing like campfire coffee, we ate our breakfast of orange cranberry nut muffins, dehydrated eggs, and instant (as in just add water) pudding. It was very delicious. And there is nothing like campfire coffee first thing in the morning.

Shortly afterward we walked a little ways to what was the true summit, a slightly higher level maybe a hundred yards away where an old ranger outpost once stood. And near there was a little round disc on a stone (so many large stones that I felt like I was in “The Lord of the Rings”!). The disc was placed there by a geological survey confirming the elevation of Dugger Mountain. We were now, officially, on the second highest peak in Alabama. By the way, the first highest peak, Mount Cheaha, could be seen across the other side of the valley below.

We went back to the camp and packed up everything we had unpacked the evening before, and kicked dead leaves to cover our tent sites. Leave no footprint, they said. I should mention here briefly about the different types of plant life and insects there. The trip could have been a great nature expedition. Moss covered many of the rocks and fallen trees, much of it either faded or a different type of greenery. There were several purple violets, but the higher we went we saw violets with markings that could only be described as daisies; each petal had a yellow circle near the center with white stripes coming from it. In fact, when I first saw it I thought it was a tiny daisy on the violet. Nope, just the way it looked. There were also green plants that looked like a clover to me, but were purple on the back side. My brother-in-law made the observation of the assorted rocks—can I call them boulders?—that had emerged from the mountain, obvious signs of various stages of formation and development of this particular peak. We had to be careful where we walked; again, we were fortunate to have our hiking poles (which honestly, he didn’t need).

We begin our descent down the mountain, which was much quicker than the ascent the previous afternoon. As we hiked down, the weather became warmer, and there seemed to be more insects out. A few flies landed on me on the three miles down and I was surprised to see how big they were; about the size of my thumbnail. They landed and were not intimidated when I shooed them away. We also saw black butterflies with white stripes in the midst of several black moths with white dots; at first glance I thought they too were butterflies until I realized these tiny creatures, no bigger than my fifth fingernail, must have been born that small since butterflies come from caterpillars. There were also many other butterflies and moths, but the insect that amazed me the most was a dung beetle rolling dung (what else?). I’ve seen them on television shows, but did not expect to see any in the Alabama woods.

Finally, we reached the bottom and came to the side of the road where our car waited for us. A good sign. The Toyota Camry that had been in front of us was gone. Our car was fine. It had not been stolen or broken into, and we had not been mercilessly killed. Once again, a little more faith in humanity has been restored. And yes, I am embarrassed and ashamed for thinking the worst of those kind people. Maybe that’s why people go hiking. To get away from the hustle-and-bustle of the everyday world and get back to nature, to a simpler way of life. To realize that people are people, and that there’s a world that is cruel and harsh, but also very beautiful and wonderful. It gives us an opportunity to respect nature, respect others, and to test ourselves, to take us beyond our comfort zones and bring us to a place where we can step outside ourselves and be a part of something that existed before we were born and will remain long after we’re gone. To rejuvenate, to reclaim that part within us that lies dormant, thanks to the conveniences of our modern lives. To become one with nature and find what it means to be human.

A Non-Hiker Goes Hiking, Part 1

This past weekend I climbed Dugger Mountain, the second highest peak in Alabama. I was invited by my sister and her husband, both experienced hikers, to make the 3 mile hike to the summit. Not sure what to expect, other than a fun time and a sense of accomplishment, I went.

Dugger Mountain is in the Talladega National Forest, approximately three and a half hours from Montgomery. My sister said she and her husband hiked it before, and that they love it because nobody else goes there. Perhaps other overnight hikers prefer other places to climb. When we finally got to the bottom of the mountain to begin our ascent we saw two automobiles; one Jeep with two backpackers (and a medium/large sized dog), and a Toyota Camry. My sister told me with a surprised expression that nobody ever comes here, but apparently other people couldn’t resist the beautiful sunny day perfect for a hike.

When we got out of the car, two men and two women, emerged from the woods and went to the Camry. And unlike us, and the couple in the Jeep, they did not have any backpacks or hiking gear. One of the men looked like a wild-eyed Sam Elliott, and the other (I kid you not) looked like Charles Manson, minus the swastika on the forehead. And they began asking us questions like “Where are you hiking? The north trail or the south trail?” “Are you spending the night?” And we’re about to climb three miles straight up with our car parked behind this Camry. By the way, my Kindle was in the car since I’d read stories from it on the way up (which I’ll not bring on an overnight hiking trip again). My sister said it was not unusual for hikers to ask others questions, just that it was unusual for other people to be hiking this mountain when they go. So I, the novice, wondered why these four people came from the woods without any gear and began a barrage of questions. Of course, there were three possibilities: 1) They were going to break into the car, steal my Kindle, and everything else not tied down; 2) They were going to steal the car; or, 3) They were going to follow us up the mountain and kill us all. Let the hike begin!

About 30 minutes into the hike—with a 40-50 lb. pack on my back—my left hip started to hurt, but there was still a long way to go. We had hiking poles, which looked like ski poles, and they were invaluable. So we continued our trek with my brother-in-law in front on “snake and spider web patrol”. About halfway up, he stopped, looked behind at us and smiled. “What is it?” I asked. “Snake,” he said. This black and gray snake lay right in the middle of our trail and was not going anywhere. To my untrained eye, I’d say he was about four or five feet long. But the snake did not react. So my brother in law went around it. And then, moments later (several moments later) my sister and I did, too. But the snake did not move, dart, spin, or react in any way. “Just sunning,” my brother-in-law told us.

We stopped a few times to catch our breath, drink some water, and eat some GORP for energy. GORP stands for “Granola, Oatmeal, Raisins, and Peanuts,” although ours had banana chips, almonds, coconut, papaya, and raisins. Finally, we reached the top of Dugger Mountain in about two and a half hours where we looked down on a tiny town below and had an almost 360 degree panoramic view (I say almost because trees obscured much of the view. Did I mention this was the wilderness?). We rested a few minutes and then began setting up camp. Remember, you bring with you everything you need (water, food, tent, toilet paper), and leave no sign of it when you leave. We set up our tents (which were blowing away in the cold wind that blows on top of the 2nd highest peak in the state), rolled out our sleeping bags, and gathered wood for a fire. We grabbed only good wood that had fallen down, which means we did not chop down any living trees nor use wet, damp limbs. Therefore, we had to chop limbs from fallen trees using a sharp knife that would make Crocodile Dundee proud (Search “Crocodile Dundee knife” to see the clip if you haven’t seen the movie). This was very exhausting, especially considering I just hiked three miles up a mountain with a sore left hip and then some (yes, I am going to keep saying how far I hiked). We saw four hawks circling above us. Maybe they were vultures. I told them to keep flying because we would be coming back down the mountain! Ironically (or because of this), they flew away.

Finally, it was time to start the fire, which we could not do with a lighter because that just wouldn’t be cool. Instead, we pulled out some cotton balls coated with Vaseline. Why? Because Vaseline is petroleum jelly, and petroleum does what? Yes, it burns. So we laid some kindling in the fire pit my brother-in-law made on a previous excursion, then put a pulled-apart Vaseline-coated cotton ball on top, and whipped out the flint and steel. I’m not joking. They make this flint and steel in an orange plastic box designed for camping. My brother in law, the former fireman, showed me how to use the steel to strike against the flint to spark onto the ball. Once the spark lit the mound, I blew into it to get it going, then added more sticks and—voila!—a campfire.

My sister told me this was a luxury trip, which means they brought meat to grill, coucous to warm up, French bread and Alouette cheese, and a bag of wine (which was in a box, but bagged wine is easier to pack than boxed wine). Yep, this made “roughing it” not so rough. Soon, the sun had set and the stars came out on a clear night. Although the trees obscured a lot of the night sky (although many of them had yet to bloom), we could still see several constellations. And while we sat around the campfire, eating our meals and drinking our wine underneath the stars, we heard a howling in the distance. My sister and brother-in-law looked at each other with wide eyes and deep affection, and said, “Coyotes! Oh, we’ve never heard coyotes before!” This was turning into a trip of firsts, but my inexperienced mind wondered, “Where are they? If they’re below us, are they coming up? Or are they in the woods waiting for a snack?” After being assured they would not harm us, and after the meal was over, we turned in for the evening.

Did I come home?! To be continued...

The Guru of... Pluto?

Today I received an email from the website www.getglue.com informing me I had become the “guru” of Pluto. I don’t know how I became a guru, but several months ago I left a quote regarding the former planet where I said, “Dear Pluto, you’ll always be a planet to me.” Apparently, somebody else is pulling for the little guy because now I am the Pluto Guru (which basically means I get some stickers, so that’s cool). So I thought I’d give a little information about our friend, who for 76 years, was this solar system’s ninth planet.

Prior to 1930, astronomers theorized there was another planet just beyond the newly-discovered Neptune that also affected the orbit of Uranus. After much searching and comparisons of plates using a machine called a “blink comparator,” “Planet X” was discovered and officially announced on March 13, 1930. Three names were considered: Minerva, Cronos, and Pluto, the last proposed by an eleven-year-old girl named Venetia Burney. Each member of the Lowell Observatory, who made the discovery, voted on the name; Pluto was unanimously the winner. On May 1, 1930, the official announcement was made. Pluto became the ninth planet in our solar system. An unconfirmed rumor says Walt Disney introduced Mickey Mouse’s dog in honor of the new discovery. In 1941, Glenn T. Seaborg kept the tradition of naming elements after planets (uranium, neptunium) and introduced plutonium.

The cold, dark planet (aptly named for the Roman god of the underworld) has a thin atmosphere of nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide. In 1978, a small satellite was discovered near Pluto. Astronomers have noticed an interesting relationship between Pluto and the satellite called Charon. For example, they are tidally locked to each other (they always present the same face to each other). In 2005, two more satellites—Nix and Hydra—were also discovered.

On July 29, 2005, a new “Trans-Plutonian Object” was discovered. Eris was initially called the tenth planet, but there were many who objected to calling it a planet. This led to many in the astronomical community to reevaluate the definition of the term “planet.” In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) stated that a planet is a celestial body that:

1. is in orbit around the Sun,
2. has sufficient mass to assume hydrostatic equilibrium (a nearly round shape), and
3. has "cleared the neighbourhood" around its orbit.

According to the definition, Pluto did not meet the third qualification, and was renamed a “dwarf planet” (along with Eris, Ceres, Makemake, and Haumea). The astronomical community has been divided on the issue since the decision became official. Coincidentally, in the same year NASA launched “New Horizons,” a research expedition to learn more about the pla…the dwa… Pluto. It is expected to arrive in 2015.

The public has also been vocal in its objection to Pluto’s reclassification. New Mexico’s House of Representatives stated that Pluto will always be a planet while in New Mexican skies, and even designated March 13, 2007 as Pluto Planet Day. In 2009, Illinois passed a similar resolution since Pluto’s discoverer Clyde Tombaugh was born there. Several of us who were raised and taught that there were nine planets in the solar system will have a difficult time of letting go of the little guy.

Pluto, you’ll always be a planet to me.

(Consulted from Wikipedia.org)

"What Would Your Character Do?"

You've created a character you love, but how well do you know her? Do you know how she would act or react in a given situation? You want to make your character's behaviour realistic, but how do you know for sure the result is what she would do and not how you would respond? There is a wonderful book published by Writer's Digest Books called What Would Your Character Do? by Eric Maisel, Ph.D. that can help.

"Noted author Eric Maisel draws on his technical knowledge of the craft and his background in psychology to show you how to combine character traits, character psychology, and character development to create realistic, memorable, and mutable characters." (http://www.writersdigest.com/)

The book contains 30 interactive quizzes to help you know more about your characters. The following is just one of the quizzes:


Your character is attending an extended-family picnic. This may be the first time you meet any of your character’s relatives, so give yourself adequate time to populate the picnic. Think through what sort of mother and father “made” your character, whether or not your character has siblings, and what the sibling order might be. Are there children, grandparents, important aunts and uncles, and/or important cousins, nephews and nieces? Take your time and begin to understand your character’s extended family. With your book in mind, dream up the right family picnic for yourcharacter to attend, one that will help you learn what you need to know. If you discover that your character’s parents are deceased, will you place the picnic in the past or act as if they are still alive? Will you include the in-laws, if your character is married? Will you narrow the cast down to just your character’s immediate family or will you include distant cousins? Take your time and develop your cast of characters and setting for your picnic.

1.What is the first thing your character does upon receiving an invitation to this extended family picnic?
a)Think about how she can get out of it?
b) Hope that a certain family member won’t be there?
c) Look forward to seeing a certain family member?
d) Feel unaccountably depressed?
e) Call a family member to get the latest gossip?
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a) Wanting to get out of the picnic is consistent with a character who is part of an extended family with real tensions present and who has decided that avoidance is the better part of valor.

b) Hoping that a certain family member isn’t in attendance directs us to a specific dynamic between your character and another family member and sets the stage for an explosive or muted picnic conflict.
c) Looking forward to seeing a certain family member is consistent with a character who has the capacity to feel love and affection and who is likely in a successful long-term relationship.
d) Feeling unaccountably depressed alerts us to the possibility that your character sees herself as an outsider even in her own family.
e) Calling a family member to get the latest gossip brings to mind a chatty, enmeshed family where everybody knows—and is into—everybody else’s business.
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2. On the day of the picnic, does your character:
a) Dress carefully?
b) Dress eccentrically?
c) Wear comfortable clothes?
d) Dress sexily?
e) Dress shabbily?
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a) Dressing carefully is consistent with a character who expects to be scrutinized and is feeling anxious and under pressure to perform.
b) Dressing eccentrically is consistent with a character who has developed into a free spirit and feels free of her family and their dynamics—or at least would like to believe that about herself.
c)Wearing comfortable clothes is consistent with a character who may really be free of family dynamics and doesn’t perceive the picnic as a trial.
d) Dressing sexily is consistent with a character who is generally inappropriate, manifests addictive behaviors, and is likely on the grandiose, narcissistic—and depressed—side.
e) Dressing shabbily is consistent with a character who may be making a statement about her unworthiness or, alternatively, defiantly showing contempt and animosity for her family.

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3. How does your character greet her mother?

a) With false love and enthusiasm?

b) With genuine love and enthusiasm?

c) Coolly?

d) Carefully?

e) Perfunctorily?

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a) In many rule-bound families, it is the custom to put on a display of love and good cheer with the family matriarch, so such a display suggests a hidden nest of family rules and secrets.

b) Genuine love and enthusiasm are consistent with a strong, mentally healthy character who has received love in childhood.

c) Greeting her mother coolly suggests a significant level of hostility and unexpressed issues between mother and child.

d) Greeting her mother carefully is consistent with a defensive posture caused by receiving regular and repeated criticism and insults.

e) Greeting her mother perfunctorily is consistent with a distant relationship characterized by a lack of interest as much as a lack of love.

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4. How does your character greet her father?

a) Gruffly?

b) Coldly?

c) Hotly?

d) Defensively?

e) Indifferently?

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a) A gruff greeting, especially between son and father but also between daughter and father, is consistent with a family dynamic of machismo, conventional gender roles, and working-class ethos.

b) A cold greeting suggests significant hostility and long-held grudges between child and parent.

c) A hot greeting, especially between daughter and father, suggests sexual dynamics and sexual secrets.

d) A defensive greeting suggests a history of criticism, rejection, bullying, and perhaps the severest forms of abuse.

e) An indifferent greeting suggests emotional distancing and a relationship that rises only to the level of civility.

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5. How does your character spend her time at the picnic?

a) Watching?

b) Catching up?

c) Getting high?

d) Conversing with one other family member?

e) Fulfilling a role?

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a) If your character watches, that is consistent with a character who has an intense inner life and who may be a rebel, thinker, and/or artist.

b) If she spends time catching up with family members, that is consistent with a character who possesses social graces and who knows how to act in social situations—irrespective of what she is actually feeling or thinking.

c) If your character gets high, that is consistent with a character who is uncomfortable in social situations and may also point to a substance abuse problem.

d) If your character spends most of her time with one other family member, that suggests that these two characters are confidantes, intimates, or like-minded.

e) If your character fulfills a role—as hostess, peacekeeper, troublemaker, etc.—that suggests she has trouble with autonomy and independent action.

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6. How would you describe the picnic?

a) Cordial?

b) Intense?

c) Boring?

d) Loving?

e) Simmering?

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a)A cordial picnic suggests the family at least knows how to look like it gets along, whether or not family members really love or like each other.

b)An intense picnic suggests high drama between at least two family members, perhaps a visiting son and his father or a pregnant daughter and her mother.

c) A boring picnic suggests a certain kind of family history from which your character may be escaping, for example, a history of conventionality, superficiality, and low aspirations.

d) A loving picnic suggests a warm, tolerant, good-humored extended family whose ups and down, difficulties, and disagreements do not prevent them from remaining close-knit.

e) A simmering picnic suggests enduring and shifting family conflicts and high drama in the lives of the family members.

Interested? To purchase the book, click here: http://www.fwbookstore.com/product/149/writing

Minors allowed!

For some thoughts on minor characters I would like to begin by quoting James Scott Bell*: "Supporting players should serve one of two purposes in a story. They either help or hinder the main character. They are allies or irritants."
Mr. Bell hit the nail on the head particularly referring to them as "supporting players". Think of the Academy Awards, affectionately called "the Oscars." There's a category for Best Supporting Actor (or more precisely, Best Actor in a Supporting Role). Let's take a look at last year's winner Heath Ledger for his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight. What would the story be without the Joker? Pretty boring, right? The Joker was an "irritant" (and that is an understatement). But then again consider the character of Harvey Dent played by Aaron Eckhart. Dent is a minor character who begins as an ally who helps and then becomes an irritant that hinders. (According to http://www.imdb.com/, the film grossed $533,316,061 so I'm taking a chance that you've seen this movie). Minor characters do not have to stay one way or the other.
What about Sam Gerard, played by Tommy Lee Jones (another Academy Award winner for Best Actor in a Supporting Role), the relentless U.S. marshal who pursues Dr. Richard Kimble in The Fugitive. Is he an ally or irritant? To Dr. Kimble, he is an irritant. Remember that the minor character must help or hinder the main character. That he is a law enforcement officer chasing an escaped criminal does not matter. The story is about a wrongfully accused man trying to find his wife's killer and prove his innocence.
Minor characters who are an ally can add something special to a story, too. Take Sam, the hobbit from The Lord of the Rings who stays with Frodo from the lush green Shire to the rocky fires of Mount Doom. In The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo agrees to destroy the One Ring. By the end of The Return of the King, Sam is just as much as part of the journey as his master. Frodo would not have made it without Sam, who ends up literally carrying him.
And what would Casablanca be without Sam (Dooley Wilson)? Sam keeps Rick (Humphrey Bogart) in check. He was with Rick in Paris and he went with him to Casablanca. He remembers Ilsa, when the Nazis invaded Paris and when Rick stood in the rain reading the letter that Ilsa wrote telling him she would not be leaving with him. Sam is Rick's partner, confidant and friend. Without Sam, Rick's Cafe Americain would just be another saloon.
Have fun with your minor characters! To quote Mr. Bell one more time regarding allies and irritants: "If they aren't one or the other, what are they doing in the story except taking up space?"

*James Scott Bell, "Write Great Fiction: Revision & Self-Editing", Writer's Digest Books

We are live!

Well, after much time and deliberation the blog is up! I'll be writing about my novel Shadow Man, about writing in general, about movies, about pretty much anything. If you have comments, I'd be interested in reading them!

I'm working on finalizing my proposal for Shadow Man. And there's just FOUR more days until the Gulf Coast Writers Conference!