Another Munchkin Crosses The Shifting Sands Into Oz!

I had the honor of meeting Karl Slover last September at the Chesterton Wizard of Oz Festival during the wrap party Sunday evening. I had arrived early and sat with Rick Ewigleben, Joe Shipbaugh, Walter Krueger and a few others and listened for over 90 minutes as this fine wonderful man told story after story after story, like the Energizer Bunny. He kept going and going and going. Many were funny..., a few were tragic, and all were a priviledge to hear.

Here is Karl with his fellow Munchkin; Margarette Pelligrini and Munchkins-by-Marriage; Myrna Swensen (Karl's right) and Mary Ellen St. Aubin (Karl's left) in a final gathering that will never be repeated.

 

Farewell Karl and safe journey as you cross the Shifting Sands to join your colleagues and the Royal Historian.

The Writing Madness Of Nanowrimo and Yellow Brick Road!

It has been a few days since my last posting and I have been knee-deep in the madness of Nanowrimo. I've managed to exceed 19,000 words now and am just about back on-track to complete 50,000 words in November.

It's rare that I meet anyone who understands Nanowrimo and the utter madness of trying to understand why anyone would try to write 50,000 in 30 days. I've encountered only a few souls who get it. For those who do, they understand that with the daily grind of writing comes the satisfaction of getting it right... or at the very least, of getting it somewhere near right.

I've always leaned towards writing at such a furious pace, be it technical or fiction, so completing a challenge of 50,000 words in 30 days is not that much of a stretch for me. I've done it two years in a row now and I fully expect to do it again.

On another odder note, earlier today, my wife and I watched a rather strange movie called "Yellow Brick Road." The title would lead you to believe that it involves Oz in some sort of way. To be truthful, not really. There are references to Oz here and there. For example, the theater that this group of folks wander into has a projectionist who talks about when the theater was running back in 1939 and the original Wizard of Oz film is still in the can near the projector... and a forest trail these people follow is called the yellow brick road, and there does show up a gruesome scarecrow, but that's about it. There are occasional mentions of 'clicking their heels three times' or 'asking the wizard.' Eventually, everyone winds up dead in a most horrific way, so I wasn't particularly thrilled by that. I'm okay with horror flicks, but only when I know it going in, not when it comes out of the blue.

Would I recommend this film to anyone else? Probably not. The ending was unrewarding and disappointing. I expected answers that never came. Bummer!!!

So, tomorrow, I have at it again and go for another chapter and another two to three thousand words towards my final goal of 50,000.

Another Oz Auction Discovery!!!

So today, I took a break from writing to attend a weekly auction that occurs just about a mile down from where I work. Just about every week, I come across something Oz-related, though usually its something from the MGM 1939 Wizard of Oz movie.

To be honest, I'm not a collector of movie-related stuff. I lean more towards anything to do with L. Frank Baum's books of Oz. I also like stuff from any Oz animated films or television shows. It just so happens that tonight, I ran across an Oz item that reminded me of my own childhood.

A look at the artwork reveals some wonderful images that are based on the cartoon show of the late 50's that I used to watch back when I was but a youngling.

And to top it off, it even works!!!! I love the look of the Scarecrow, who seems to be almost as happy as I am at finding this rare gem from my childhood!

Now, this wonderful toy has a new home, right next to my other Oz finds from auctions, Goodwill and yard sales!



The Writing Madness Of Nanowrimo Continues On Unabated!

So, it's been 5 days since I began Nanowrimo and I now stand at over 6000 words total. Looks like I'll have to bring the word count up a bit if I intend to complete the challenge.

My youngest younglin had asked me to try my hand at sci-fi since I'm quite the sci-fi geek. Given that I finished my Oz/Wonderland project and have put my other Oz project to rest for a short time, I thought I might give it a try.

Mind you, I thought I might be quite adept at this sci-fi stuff but I'm finding it a bit of a challenge. Mostly because of my need to get the physics right rather than coming up with a convincing storyline, although I'm finding that a challenge too.

Essentially, my story involves a submersible spacecraft that explores the oceans of Europa (a moon of Jupiter) about a hundred years from now. What will they find???

Anyways, I march, or as the case may be, type on and hope for the best!!!

The Writing Madness of Nanowrimo!

Several days ago, Nanowrimo began in earnest.

For those of you who may not know, Nanowrimo is a month long competition to write 50,000 words during the month of November. I have participated twice before and successfully completed the challenge both times. Hopefully I can make it three times in a row. Fortunately for me, this kind of writing madness suits my style of writing madness perfectly.

I just completed one novel with my co-author and have just about completed my other writing project about Oz. Now, I've begun writing a third novel for Nanowrimo that has absolutely nothing to do with Oz! This was my son Turner's idea!!!

Wish me luck!!!