New Release!

Are you looking for a modern day fairy tale? One filled with heartache, redemption, love and magic?

You can now buy FADE INTO ME in print and for Kindle. 

Blurb: Caeden Frey doesn’t believe humans will evolve to see the magic, much less control it. Even so, he has two months to marry a human or face the wrath of the High Council. Bitter about a responsibility he thinks prevents him marrying for love, he figures any human girl will do. He’s ready to propose when his soul mate stumbles into—and right out of—his arms. Human, Ryanne Killian might be Caedan’s one shot at happiness while still fulfilling his duty. Unfortunately, she guards a dark secret. She’s determined to push Caedan away to protect him from her past. Caedan must convince her she’s worthy of his love before a rival family puts an end to his wedding plans. If she can see her own worth, she just might save herself and his people. Links: Buy it on Amazon Read the first 2 chapters Website Twitter Facebook Pinterest Idea Board for Fade Into Me Sign up to win a free signed copy on Goodreads!

It's Been a Year! New Nano and Novel

Today is November 1st!

That means National Novel Writing Month (Nano for short) has started. Some of you may know that my first published novel, THE MAGIC WAKES, started as a Nano project in 2008. This year I'm continuing to edit the second novel in the series AND get the third one drafted for Nano. Wish me luck!

As if that wasn't enough to keep me busy, I'm actively working to get another novel ready for publication. I'm joining the ranks of Indie Publishers with my Urban Fantasy titled FADE INTO ME. This book also started with Nano.

Nanowrimo 2011 was the only year I didn't explore Talia's world. Instead I met a troubled girl named Ryanne. She had secrets I didn't want to uncover, but her desperate need to be loved in spite of her scars kept drawing me back to her. I finally finished her story in 2013. Early this year I dug into revisions with a drive I hadn't felt since THE MAGIC WAKES (WiDo Publishing, 2013).

I was on fire.

FIM has been through multiple beta readers and grown into something I never could have planned. Some people will love it. Others won't get it. It's about a co-dependent girl who protects those who hurt her and runs from those who can make her whole.  Her reactions and inner struggles are based on similar ones of many women I've met in my life. All of us had to learn we are worthy of love and embrace those who knew too.

This month I'm running a kickstarter to pay for a professional editor and typesetter. With any luck, I'll make my goal and this book will be available early next year. Please take a moment to watch my video about the project. The book trailer is at the end. Then think of it this way, a $12 pledge is like pre-ordering a signed print copy of FADE INTO ME. I will be selling the print copy for $12 on Amazon and other places when it's available, but it won't be signed!

Thanks in advance for any support you can give. Even if that's just tweeting, facebooking and telling your neighbors and family about the project.

Blurb:

Aliens live among us. Their purpose: to protect and nurture their greatest mistake—mankind.

Caedan Frey’s family has fulfilled this duty for thousands of years, but it doesn’t free him from his obligation as prince of the Reparation. Although he doesn't believe humans will evolve to see the magic, much less control it, he has two months to marry one or face the wrath of the High Council. Bitter about a responsibility he thinks prevents him from marrying for love, he figures any human girl will do. He's ready to propose when his soul mate stumbles into—and right out—of his arms.

Human, Ryanne Killian might be his one shot at happiness while still fulfilling his duty. Unfortunately, she guards a dark secret within her co-dependent personality, and she thinks the only way to protect Caedan is to push him away.

Caedan must convince her she’s worthy of his love before the men who hurt her before steal more than her virtue. If she can see her own worth, she just might save herself and his people.

What do you think? Does it sound like something you'd read?

Click HERE to read the first 2 chapters.

Early Praise for FIM--

Fade Into Me was a remarkable read. I couldn't put it down! Bradford writes the story with so much conviction, I wondered if she was trying to tell us all something about the human race. The book is clean and well written. The character building hooked me from page one. The author's imagination helps make the book come to life. I give the book a 5 out of 5 rating! Great read for all audiences! I can't wait for others to be able to discover this new Urban Fantasy!

~Alicia Rivoli - Author of The Enchantment Series

I love the glimpse into two different worlds and can't wait to see how they collide! I have a clear picture in my mind as I read, I can't help but visualize Caeden's world-not something I can usually do in the first chapter of a book. I'm only disappointed I can't read the rest yet!

~Trish

Stellar Cloud: A Collection of Short Stories

Do you need a short story for when you're stuck in traffic? How about while sitting the doctor's office? Try out these six shorts on for size. Stellar Cloud is a science fiction collection available in print and for Kindle on Amazon.

Blurb:
A soldier struggles with the emptiness left behind by amnesia until he learns he is more than the world would have him remember. The earth is desolate, and only one ship of humans remains. An assassin plays god, dealing out justice and mercy as he sees fit.

Explore the outer reaches of the imagination through these and other short stories. From brainwashed clones to winged aliens of destruction, the stories in Stellar Cloud will pull in any lover of science fiction and fantasy.

As a bonus feature the prologue and first chapter of THE MAGIC WAKES is included at the end of the collection.

This Blog is No Longer Active

But I'm sure you've noticed that. I'll leave everything here for reference but there won't be anything new.
For the last year I've been putting all my blogging efforts into my writing blog and getting published. That's right!

My debut mash up of science fiction, fantasy and romance is now available on Amazon. You can pre-order the print copy that will be available on February 19th or you can buy and read the Kindle version today.

For more information, visit my official webpage at:

charitybradford.com

Scientist Talia Zaryn has always dreamt of an alien invasion and her own death. She’s kept it a secret, hoping it is nothing more than childish nightmares. But when the face in the mirror matches that of her dreams, she knows death is imminent  If she can prove that life exists beyond her planet, Sendek, perhaps people will prepare to fight.

Her work at the Space Exploration Foundation leaves no time for personal relationships, but Major Landry Sutton isn’t looking for a friend. He’s looking for a traitor. His ability to sense emotions convinces him Talia is that traitor until a touch sizzles between them. In an instant their minds are connected and they can communicate telepathically. Just as the two begin to trust each other, the invading force arrives.

Talia and Landry must uncover the secrets of Sendek’s past if they hope to defeat these terrifying creatures. Talia is the key–if she can learn to trust the magic coursing through her veins.

I'm getting published!

I've been AWOL from this blog for quite a while. But for good reason.

Sendek: The Magic Wakes is getting published!

So how did this happen? Well, it has been a torturous waiting period even after I knew something was going to happen. The first week of March I received the following email:

Charity,

You have done an excellent job revising this manuscript, and I am very glad you resubmitted it. I would like to offer you a contract for publication of Sendek in our 2013 line-up. If this is agreeable to you, please let me know and I will put together a contract for you to review.

I hope to hear from you soon.

This made me VERY happy. And then I realized I couldn't do anything about it until I was cut from ABNA. A weird month followed. I flipped from hoping to get cut to wanting to make it another round. Can you blame me now for having a hard time writing? I just couldn't decide what I wanted.

So I prayed and left it up to someone else.

The end of March I was cut from ABNA, but the feedback was so good I had twinges of indecision again. Maybe I should keep trying for an agent?

Whatever, I emailed the acquisitions editor the very day I was cut to let her know I was free from any obligations.

Then I waited another agonizingly long week for a reply. When it came it was to give me a date that the contract would show up for me to look over. That day was an entirely different roller coaster ride.

I was ecstatic for several hours. And then I crashed. Who was I to know what I was looking at with this contract? What if I was signing everything away and didn't even know it? Yes, I was getting editors to help me, but what was I REALLY signing up for?

The truth was two fold. Part of me was still holding on to that agent dream, and the other part of me is still an insecure teenager despite the growing number of candles on my birthday cakes.

I set the contract aside and left for spring break. I had waited years, and now I needed it to wait so I could calm down and think rationally.

When I looked at it again, my hubby and I wrote down any questions we had and I called WiDo. Bruce Gowan walked me through everything and was so nice about it all. In the end I just felt GOOD about the whole thing. It was finally my turn to stop fearing success and take things into my own hands.

What am I the most excited about? 

• Having a team of people help me make Sendek the best story it can be and then helping me spread the word about it. 
• People will finally get to read the whole story. I hope they like it as much as I do.
• I don't feel like I gave anything up by choosing a smaller publisher. In fact, I think this will end up being a much better choice for me and my family.  

In preparation, I created a Facebook Page for my novel. Please go "Like it". When I get an ISBN I'll create a Goodreads page as well. Also, if you want more information about this process as I go through it, check out my main blog Charity's Writing Journey.

What kind of things do you like to see on pages like that?

Things We Take for Granted--Smell

There are so many things in this beautiful world that we take for granted. The ability to smell for instance.

You may recall that I've wanted to create a smell thesaurus for a while but due to lack of interest I've not made much progress. Whether it's because I'm too lazy or just too busy with other things, I'll never know, but several months ago I received this email.

Charity,

I read your blog about smells in writing, it was really interesting. I've always had an excellent ability to smell and takes me back to places and people.

The reason I am writing to you is because my 4 year old son was born without olfactory bulbs and has complete anosmia. He has absolutely no idea what anyone is talking about when it comes to smell, it makes me very sad because he's missing out on a whole world of experiences. His memory is absolutely amazing and is photographic I believe. He remembers details to buildings he saw a year ago. who worked there. etc. Things that I wouldn't notice...

Do you know how in which way I can describe to him what smell is? I never realized until now how many times a day I mention a smell. He has amazing language skills but is lost in social skills and it looks like he's missing something...I wonder if this social issue has something to do with his complete inability to smell. Maybe if I can explain to him in an appropriate way he could understand what this is? But I have no idea how to go about explaining a simple smell since he has nothing to compare it to.

And are there other senses that can be heightened if there is no ability to smell?

Jade

So, what do you think?  

How would you describe smell, any smell, the ability to smell, to someone who never smelled anything?

Facial Expressions--Embarrassment

I've been thinking about this one a lot lately. As I've been switching one of my WIPs from 1st person POV to 3rd person POV, I've had to think about how to show things in a different way. Embarrassment being one of them.

For instance, I have two characters who have been denying their attraction to each other for almost 200 pages. Something happens to bring their mortality to mind and they find themselves lip locked. It's a surprise to both of them and they are a embarrassed and a bit annoyed with themselves for losing control. When I was in 1st person I used internal dialogue to show Talia's frustration, but that doesn't work now that I'm in 3rd person.

So, here are some visual and verbal clues to help us show embarrassment in our writing. The following is a combination of information I found at these sites:
The Bookshelf Muse
Wikipedia
Thesaurus.Com

Let's break it down.

Embarrass

Part of Speech: verb
Definition:     cause mental discomfort
Synonyms:     abash, agitate, annoy, bewilder, bother, bug, catch one short, chagrin, confuse, discombobulate, discomfit, discompose, disconcert, discountenance, distract, distress, disturb, dumbfound, faze, fluster, give a bad time, give a hard time, hang up, irk, let down*, make a monkey of, mortify, nonplus, perplex, perturb, plague, put in a hole, put in a spot, put on the spot, put out of countenance, puzzle, rattle, shame, show up, stun, tease, throw, throw into a tizzy, upset
Antonyms:     comfort, gladden, help, please

Embarrassment

• An emotional state of intense discomfort with oneself, experienced upon having a socially unacceptable act or condition witnessed by or revealed to others. 
• Usually some amount of loss of honor or dignity is involved.
• To become self-conscious.
• To place in doubt, perplexity, or difficulties

I also believe we experience embarrassment when we indulge in activity, comments, whatever that we personally feel is unacceptable--whether society accepts it or not. In my above example, kissing is quite acceptable between two people, but these particular characters have higher personal priorities that stand to be disrupted by becoming emotionally or physically attached to someone else. Thus their embarrassment at giving in and then enjoying it more than they think they should have. :)

Emotional Responses:

• cheeks/forehead getting warm, flushing, burning, reddening
• desire to run away (fight or flight)
• lightheadedness, tingling in chest/stomach
• wish to hide
• anger at oneself, or another (misplacing blame to feel better about self)

Visual Signs: (See Bookshelf Muse for the full list)

• feet shuffling
• covering oneself: crossing arms, closing jacket, etc.
• pulling at collar
• wincing, ducking head
• fidgeting, squirming
• stuttering, stammering
• looking down/inability to meet someone's eyes
• shoving hands in pockets
• rapid walking with head down to get away
• hiding behind long hair
• laughing 

Isn't it interesting how the visual signs make sense with what the person feels? Someone who feels like running away will have a hard time standing still. Those who just want to disappear will find ways to hide--covering part of face, letting hair drop down to hide them, shoving hands in pocket, etc.

Facial Expressions--Sadness

Sad expressions convey messages related to loss, bereavement, discomfort, pain, helplessness, etc.

Words to describe sadness:
bereaved, bitter, blue, cheerless, dejected, despairing, despondent, disconsolate, dismal, distressed, doleful, down, down in dumps, down in mouth, downcast, forlorn, gloomy, glum, grief-stricken, grieved, heartbroken, heartsick, heavyhearted, hurting, in doldrums, in grief, in the dumps, languishing, low, low-spirited, lugubrious, melancholy, morbid, morose, mournful, out of sorts, pensive, pessimistic, sick at heart, somber, sorrowful, sorry, troubled, weeping, wistful, woebegone 

This is what it looks like:

A quick vid:



The Bookshelf Muse--Entry on Sadness/Grief

The Importance of Facial Expressions--by Elaine AM Smith

This post is brought to you by the Letter F and the A to Z Challenge.
Thank you Elaine for sharing this great post with my followers as well as yours.

Facial expressions are outward manifestations of internal conflicts.

The fleeting alterations in visual, nonverbal communication, implies the stages from reaction and realization through to acceptance and finally to action.

In the facial expressions, the writer can show:

a)Character traits
b)Thought processes
c)Physical appearances – muscles, lines, moles
d)The character’s reactions to others’ changing perceptions

There have been many studies which show the near perfect universality in nonverbal communication: body language and facial signs.

Our command of language is highly evolved. The spoken and written word can convey the sense of place and time and the human condition. Neither medium is perfect, otherwise, in time of our greatest joy or sadness, we would not revert to being speechless.

Facial expressions are a window into the personality – the unguarded version, who would not be chosen as the PC spokesperson – they can be used to show the character’s temperament and attitudes.

In a photograph or painting an artist can capture an emotion. Specialists believed the face can reveal static characteristics (the study is sometimes called physiognomy.)

When I was eleven I found a book in a jumble sale: The Four Just Men by Edgar Wallace first published 1905. This paragraph, on page 6 (ie page2) came after an extensive description of Thery. I knew what he looked like but

“Signor Paolo Mantegazza, Director of the National Museum of Anthropology, Florence, has done Thery the honour of including him in his admirable work (see the chapter on ‘Intellectual Value of a Face’); hence I say that to all students of criminology and physiognomy, Thery must need no introduction.”

The word "physiognomy" drove me to distraction. I couldn’t sound it properly, my Dad had never heard of it and when I looked up “physiognomy” in the dictionary I couldn’t understand the definition.

The theory my English teacher helped me research threw my world out of orbit: it was the idea that you can judge a book by its cover.

I remain fascinated by all things psychological.

Facial expressions? Long before Tim Roth brought micro-expressions to the front of people’s consciousness ;) I made sure I judged people by what they did.

A FANTASIA OF FEELINGS:
fair, fallible, fanatical, fascinated, fawning, fearful, fearless, fed up, fervent, fickle, fiery, fixated, flirtatious, flustered, foolish, forlorn, free, fretful, friendly, frightened, frustrated, fulfilled, fuming, furious

Seen any fantastic facial expression lately?
I'm going with Charlie Sheen.

all photos from google images

Smells in Writing

We have plenty of words to describe other senses and sensations, but smell seems to defy words. The human sense of smell is not heavily developed compared to that of many animals. Still, it's a deep and rich sense, and it can enhance how you communicate, especially when you're crafting a story or describing a moment.

When we use smells in our writing, it can enhance the readers experience by tying them to the scene, giving them something to relate to that makes it feel real to them. Before you add smells to your WIP, there are a few things you need to do first so you can have the greatest impact. Well, you don't have to do all of these, pick and choose the ones that work for you.

The following is condensed from WikiHow. 

1. Identify your reason for describing the smell.

• Do you want to capture the nature of the smell or the overall quality?
• Do you want your reader or listener to recognize an unfamiliar smell based on your description?
• Do you want to evoke a certain meaning or feeling in your reader?

2. Observe the smell. If it's possible and safe to do so, smell what you wish to describe. Pay full attention to it:

• Remove distractions. Don't smoke or wear fragrances.
• Take breaks. The sense of smell acclimates or becomes accustomed to a smell. Remove the smell or remove yourself from the smell for awhile if you stop being able to smell it or smell it distinctly.

3. Notice any words, images, feelings, or memories that the smell brings to mind. If you have any sort of gut reaction, pay attention to it. Make notes if you can, even if they're disjointed.

Example: Words that come to mind when I smell mud: damp, earthy, spring, mudpies, childhood, coolness around my toes, squishy, scummy fingernails, moldy

4. Notice descriptions of smells when you see or hear them.

5. Use adjectives.

• Adjectives can describe the general, overall quality of the smell. Wispy, rancid, airy, musty, stale, fresh, putrid, faint, light, floral, and acrid are all adjectives that could pertain to smell.
• Smell origins may take the form of a noun (the smell of leather) or an adjective (a leathery smell). The adjective may describe the effect where the noun describes a specific source.

6. Use nouns.

• Be specific. Smoke smells different depending on where it came from. Can you tell the difference between smoke from a campfire and a wildfire? Between cigarette, cigar, and pipe smoke? Could you recognize by smell burning rubber or a vehicle that was burning oil?
• Be creative. What does spring smell like?

7. Use verbs.

• Use verbs for the smells themselves. Smells can waft, distract, hint, permeate, suggest, confuse, conjure images, command attention, or intrude upon the consciousness.
• Use verbs to describe the source of the smell. Here are some actions that you might associate with smells: baking, frying, digging, sweating, burning, rotting.
• Visualize what the smell does. Does it creep into your nose? Wrap around you? Follow you? Bombard your nostrils?

8. Borrow words associated with other senses. Smell doesn't have a lot of vocabulary of its own, but many other senses do, and they can suggest the quality or nature of a smell.

• Sight. Can a smell be bright or dark? Can a smell be pink or green? Can it be clear or hazy? Can it be fast? Slow? Sluggish? Smooth?
• Sound. Can a smell be dissonant? Harmonious? Loud or quiet?
• Touch. Can a smell be sharp or dull? Even or jagged? Smooth or rough? Heavy or light? Cool or hot? How would you physically react to the smell? Would you relax or stiffen, pucker, or make a face?

Example: Spring smells yellow/green to me. Makes sense, right? Spring, baby green leaves coming out all over, and sometimes in the south the air looks baby green because of all the pollen in the air. Those living in the south know about the thin (sometimes thick) coating of yellow powder that clings to our cars each spring.

We get this much daily!

9. Consider what feelings and emotions a smell evokes, especially if you are using it as a literary device. Smell can conjure associations with particular events or general thoughts or emotions.

• Is the smell startling or jarring? Soothing or comforting? Earthy or natural? Chemical or antiseptic?
• Smell is often strongly associated with memories, but this is only useful if you're describing the smell to yourself (such as in a journal) since you can't know what somebody smelled in their memories.

10. Use Metaphors: A smell can't really grab someone by the nose or stab someone, but this might be a powerful description.

Ok, do you know what comes next? I'm going to ask the question again. Yes, I am because the last two times I asked I didn't get any response.


Do you want to help me build a Smell Thesaurus? You will be credited for the smells you contribute and the post will link to your blog as well. Please, please, please?

All you have to do is:
1. tell me in the comment what smell(s) you want to write a thesaurus entry for,
2. write the entry
3. email it to charity.bradford@gmail.com

I'll post it and then send you the information so you can share the post with your blog readers.

Facial Expressions--Anger

Did you think I had died? Nope, just super busy. Sorry to leave you hanging after starting the Facial Expressions series. Here is the next installment.

Anger

Emotional Competency states it this way--Anger is a strong emotion designed to send the clear message “something has got to change”. It is an urgent plea for justice and action. (All of the following is summarized from that website.)

Words to describe the range of emotional anger: annoyance, irritation, aggravation, agitation, frustration, peeved, annoyed, miffed, sulking, offended, bitter, indignation, exasperation, incensed, pissed, outrage, hostile, spite, vengefulness, resentment, wrath, rage, fury, ferocity, and livid


What does it look like?
An angry expression sends the clear signal: back off, I am prepared to attack.

• Eyebrows pulled down together,
• Wide open, glaring eyes,
• Upper eyelids raised in a stare,
• Lips wide open to form a rectangle, or
• tightly closed with the red margins of the lips becoming more narrow, and the lips becoming thinner.

Physiological Responses

You actually feel anger, partially as a result of these involuntary changes in your body:

• Increased heart rate,
• increased blood pressure,
• reddened face,
• tensed muscles,
• a tendency to move forward, toward the target of the anger.

Expressions of Anger

• Shouting, raised voice, threatened or actual violence.
• Passive withdrawal, stonewalling, lack of cooperation, sabotage, revenge.
• Throwing a tantrum—a violent and objectionable demonstration of rage or frustration that is often considered quite childish.

Interesting links:

• 50 Facial expressions and how to draw them
• Take a test to see if you can tell a real smile from a fake smile HERE. I'm so good I got 17 out of 20 correct! Thank you Lie to Me.
• The Bookshelf Muse--Anger

Facial Expressions--Fear

The following is a combination of information I found on Emotional Competency and Physiology of Facial Expressions.

Fear and anxiety are closely related. Both are provoked by danger. And we all know how important danger is to a good story. Fear is the response to a specific and immediate danger. Anxiety results from a non-specific concern or threat. Translation--worry that danger is coming or will become immediate.

There are times when you will want to show your character's fear without stating it. I never thought about this before, but why do you think we make fearful expressions in the first place?

Fear expressions send a danger warning to those close by.

Synonyms for fear include: horror, fright, petrified, scared, shocked, hysterical, mortified, and terrified. The terms dread, alarm, and panic may refer to either anxiety or fear.

What does it look like?

Fear: The eyes widen and the upper lids rise, as in surprise, but the brows draw together. The lips stretch horizontally.

 

Body Language: See The Bookshelf Muse's page on Fear.

Facial Expressions--Happiness

Do your characters smile a lot? Mine do, and I've found that I need a new way of showing their happiness. There are different reasons and types of smiles, but this will cover general happiness.

The following is a combination of information I found on Emotional Competency and Physiology of Facial Expressions.

Synonyms: amusement, bliss, happiness, joyous, carefree, jubilant, exultant, cheerful, playful, amused, fun, glad, gay, gleeful, jolly, jovial, delighted, enjoyment, euphoric, ecstatic, thrilled, elated, enraptured, comfort, contentment, harmony, satisfaction, and triumphant.

What does it look like?

HAPPINESS: The corners (both) of the mouth lift in a smile. As the eyelids tighten, the cheeks rise and the outside corners of the brows pull down.

True joy is expressed by the Duchenne smile where the involuntary muscles around the eye orbit are fully involved. Friendliness, but not heartfelt joy, is expressed by the “Pan Am” smile, which does not reshape the eyes or lift the cheeks.

The Duchenne smile expresses true joy with these distinctive features:

*A smile, raising the lips at each corner of the mouth, and
*The muscle that circles the eye contracts. This:
*pulls down the eyebrows and the skin below the eyebrows,
*pulls up the skin below the eye, and
*raises the cheeks.




The Pan Am smile expresses friendliness but not joy with a smile lacking the contracted eye orbit muscle. It signals appeasement.





Example in writing:

Telling--She smiled at him.

Showing--The corners of her lips jumped upward at the sight of him, and her eyes sparkled in the light.

Facial Expressions--Contempt

I'm always finding great music, shows, or books after they've been around awhile. Although I'm late to the game, Lie to Me has completely won me over. From the first episode, all I could think was, "How can I use this in my writing?" The next few blog posts will cover the 7 main facial expressions.

Today we are going to talk about the facial expression that shows Contempt. Remember, in writing showing is preferred to telling.

First, let's make sure we understand what contempt is. (The following is a combination of information I found on Emotional Competency and Physiology of Facial Expressions.

Definitions
1. Feeling morally superior to someone else.
2. Disapproving of another’s action.

Synonyms: appalled, despise, disdain, indignation, and reproach. We snub someone when we dismiss them with contempt. Contempt is similar to disgust, but pertains to people and their behavior rather than to chemically toxic substances.

So what does it look like?

This is the only expression that appears on just one side of the face: One half of the upper lip tightens upward.

Sometimes it almost looks like a lopsided smile, but if you look closely you can see the tightness in the eyes. Also, once again, only one side of the lips are raised. In a real smile the whole face gets in on the action.

The facial expression of contempt has these distinctive features:

* Chin is raised, making it easier to look down your nose at the offender
* The lip corner is tightened and slightly raised on one side of the face
* A slight smile can show enjoyment
* This expression is often called a sneer.

Body language may include:

* exaggerated sigh
* folding arms across chest
* raising an eyebrow
* rolling the eyes
* waving a hand in dismissal

Example in writing:

Telling: She watched him load the groceries with contempt.

Showing: She crossed her arms and lifted her chin as he placed the groceries in the trunk. He noticed the tightness around her eyes as she shook her head and sighed.

Eh, something random off the top of my head, so don't be surprised it isn't that great. But you get the idea.

For more ideas on how you can work showing contempt into your novel, head over to the Bookshelf Muse and browse the suggestions for: haughty/smug/superior and indignation.

Let's Create a Smell Thesaurus!

Have you ever sat down to write and the words are flowing nicely, the story coming alive before your eyes, and then you get stuck searching for a way to describe a smell? I do this all the time. I think most people know what fall sounds like, the crunching of dried leaves under feet or blowing on the wind. We know what it smells like too, but how do you put it in words? That earthy smell of dried leaves?

I'm enlisting your help. Let's start by creating a list of smells we would like to find words for to describe this sense that often gets left out of our writing.Then I'll take volunteers (and drag in some of my other blogging friends) to tackle some of these things for us.

I'll get things started. First an example of what I'm thinking.

Mold or mildew--musty, pungent, wet-damp, musty, mushroomy, or dirty.

Ok, what are some other smells we should describe?

1. a winter morning 
2. an onion
3. Stinky feet
4. blood
5. a hospital room
6. the school cafeteria
7. a fall day
8. apple pie fresh out of the oven
9. a spring breeze
10. a house on fire
11. a body on fire
12. leather
13. wet dog
14. the inside of a new car
15. a house where 10 cats live
16. a man passed out drunk
17. the smell of cigarette's on someone's breath
a locker room
a party
a restaurant (depending on type of cuisine)
booze breath
the first day of school
rain
the beach
grass
fear
vomit

What do you want to add?
Also feel free to tell me which ones need no description because they are obvious. I'm thinking cigarette breath is obvious, but maybe not?

A little more fun with faces

Check out this fun site: Morph Thing

You can upload your own photos and morph them with celebrities. I plan on procrastinating here during Nanowrimo in November.

I'm playing around trying to find my MC's face. Here's what I have so far.

This is a combination of the following people:
Emily-Deschanel--Bar-Refaeli--Natalie-Portman--Liv-Tyler--NoName--Bar-Refaeli--Alessandra-Ambrosio--NoName

It's not her yet, but I'm getting closer.

Male Body Shape

Finding good (and clean) pictures to post were a little hard. 

Pictures from Ask Robin Walker:

General body shape.

Vertical Body Shape

And because I have a thing for shoulders:

broad tapered :)

broad squared front and center

Body shape and aging--from About.Com:
As men get older their metabolism slows down. Fat likes to gather around the belly of men and whilst it deposits easily it can be incredibly hard to shift--the middle age spread.

Female Body Shape

The following is from Google Images, Wikipedia and Artistry and Strategy:

 

Apple (triangle downward)

Apple shaped women have broad(er) shoulders compared to their (narrower) hips. Apple shaped women tend to have slim legs/thighs, while the abdomen and chest look out of proportion compared to the rest of the body. Fat is mainly distributed in the abdomen, chest, and face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Banana or straight (rectangular)

The waist measurement is less than 9 inches smaller than the hips or bust measurement. Body fat is distributed predominantly in the abdomen, buttocks, chest, and face. This overall fat distribution creates the typical ruler (straight) shape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pear or spoon or bell (triangle upward)

The hip measurement is greater than the bust measurement. The distribution of fat varies, with fat tending to deposit first in the buttocks, hips, and thighs. As body fat percentage increases, an increasing proportion of body fat is distributed around the waist and upper abdomen. The women of this body type tend to have a (relatively) larger rear, robust thighs, and a small(er) bosom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hourglass shape. (triangles opposing, facing in)

The hip and bust are almost of equal size with a narrow waist. Body fat distribution tends to be around both the upper body and lower body. This body type enlarges the arms, chest, hips, and rear before other parts, such as the waist and upper abdomen.

Now, to make all of us feel better for not looking like Beyonce: 

A study of over 6,000 women carried out by researchers at the North Carolina State University around 2005 found that 46% were banana (rectangular), just over 20% pear, just under 14% apple, and 8% hourglass.^[1] Another study has found "that the average woman's waistline had expanded by six inches since the 1950s" and that today women are taller and have bigger busts and hips than those of the 1950s.<sup>[1]

Ok, then!</sup>

Lips

Full lips: Angelina Jolie style.













Thin lips: Courteney Cox Arquette style Just as the name applies, these lips are thin on top and bottom.

Thin on top, full on bottom: Heidi Klum style. 

Wide lips: Julia Roberts












Narrow (also called "small") lips:

 

Bowed lips: Charlize Theron's (which naturally curve up at the ends and can make a person look like they're smiling — or just a little smug — even when they're not).