Travel As Research and Other Thoughts

Today is my last night in Germany. So I thought I’d log on for some thoughts on traveling and researching for writing. It would be hard to fit over two weeks of travel into a blog, but then that is what a journal is for. I love blogging, but my journal is my best friend when I travel. Good thing, since I’ve been to many country towns and visited 14 castles. My journal will help me remember where I’ve been later when I try to write some stories from my adventures.

Journals help capture the experience of what you learn from your travels. I really enjoy the end of the day when I can jot my thoughts down. I try to recount all that happened. From visits to medieval fortresses, to bratwurst and dumplings; it’s all written down for later use.

Then, there is the invention of digital cameras. I used to try to write down all the info in museums. But Germans are quite a kind folk, and allow non-flash photography in castles or museums. Sometimes it is posted not to take pictures, but I found there were lots of times I could snap a pic for research. The Untersberg placard took 3 photos to get all the legends photographed. Since I keep my journal in my hotel for a rundown of the day, my digital camera helps me record a lot of the research that would take hours to write down.

So, before I head out of Deutchland, I come home with a journal full of ideas, a stomach sedated with bratwurst and sauerkraut, and two 8 meg cards of digital pictures. Can’t beat that for research.

Thoughts From Germany

Having found a cyber-cafe, I can finally comment on my research adventures in Munich. I’ve finally adjusted to the time here, and have been traveling about the countryside. I’ve been to different castles and gardens, and even up an Alpine Ridge. It’s amazing the clarity of thought one can have at 6,000 ft.
I’ve been updating my adventures at my Facebook account. Sometimes that’s all I can manage when hooking up with my cell phone.

What I’ve found is amazing scenery, lots of friendly helpful faces, and maybe a story or two. The biggest thing I’ve found that helps is observation. Watching the people and the body language helps me understand beyond the German phrases, which I know little of.

Stories are everywhere. Observing a mouse scampering around the famous Augustine Beer Hall has given me an idea for a new short story. Visiting the famous Neuschwanstein Castle has given me an insight to a creative mind of a King. Braving my fear of heights and going to the top of the Untersburg made me feel on top of the world. Plus, I found some of the best research so far on the Fey, dwarves.

Wonders can be found when you travel, or at least, ideas for more stories. I’m going to keep my eyes peeled for more. You never know what you can find on vacation, besides the wonderful rejuvenation of the soul.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Where Do Authors Get Their Ideas?

How do authors get their ideas? This is a hot topic of debate by readers and authors on what is the best or easiest way to get an idea. Pictures, songs, taking a walk, or just living life is a place to start. Another area is memories. If you are a children’s author, your childhood memories are a starting point for many ideas. Least of all, your own backyard might be a good place to start if you’re having trouble writing.

What do you remember as a kid? What did you day dream? What was a dream? That usually is the yellow brick road, remembering. Take for example one of my childhood memories. It became a large part of my book “The Lost Secret of Fairies”. It seems to be a favorite of my readers as well. Maybe that is because I was a kid when I thought of it. It’s my crystal cave.

As a kid, I had trouble sleeping. So I would daydream to help me fall asleep. One of the day dreams, besides secret powers, was to explore the underground crystal cave I imagined under my bedroom. It connected underneath the house to the orchard behind. The orchard was the favorite playground of the neighborhood children.

Real childhood adventures included roaming in the orchard. I use these memories to write as well. Connected to one side of the orchard was a creek. Many a summer day passed by trying to catch tadpoles and guppies. Later, we’d take our catch to be used in a home built backyard pond. Of course, we found if we used the right trash bag lining, it wouldn’t leak, too much.

So, all these memories clamor to be in a story from time to time. Whether they are made-up daydreams or real adventures from childhood, many of these memories make it into my stories.

Today, the orchard is a hospital, and the house I grew up in, sold. But I was able to return home for a moment, to the hospital now upon my orchard of childhood. My niece was born there today, to my sister whom I shared many adventures with in the orchard. The walls of the hospital are decorated with cherry trees that still live in my memories. The adventures continue in my mind. Though the scenes might be a different from book to book, the main starting point, the orchard, lives on.

Where do authors get their ideas? Living. Being a kid. If you are a kid right now, or are a kid at heart, your adventure is living. Call it research. The ideas will come to you. Keep doing that research, and go find an adventure.

Making Your Dreams Come True

I’m an advocate for making your dreams come true. It started with the dream of going to school in Paris. I’d been taking French since I was 13. I found a way to live this dream in 1992. A local abroad program through my local Jr. College made it possible. It was amazing. I highly suggest living abroad and going to school. You’ll never regret it.

Next, I’ve been working on my dream to be a writer. This has been going on since the early 90s. I started by writing adult sci-fi/fantasy and later moved to children’s fantasy stories. I joined a writing organization called the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators(SCBWI). This led to fantastic opportunities for learning the craft of writing. It also introduced me into the field of writing through the business aspect. Years later, I now have a novel out, and am working on my second.

But what happens when your run out of dreams? Mid-way through life, people have what’s called a mid-life crisis. You take stock of your dreams. Have you done them all? Did you maybe forget some that you need to still try? Did you run out of dreams?

This week, I lived another dream. A dream I didn’t think was possible. I kept telling myself, no, you can’t. There’s no way it can happen. Then it did. And it was thanks to my husband.

I am the new owner of a Mini Cooper Clubman. I’d been wanting a Mini for over 3 years after riding with a friend on a weekend get-away. She convinced me it was the coolest, most fun car I’d ever been in. Not to mention the fact I love British things, music, and even married an Englishman. This seemed like a practical dream. A Mini is a statement, not to mention complete with it’s own subculture.

Now factor that I do Renaissance Faires and have started my own Ren. Acting Guild. I kept telling myself, no way, you can’t own a Mini. It’s too small.

Then, my husband took me on a shopping trip to meet a Clubman in my favorite color, burgundy. It’s a car that has more room, folding down seats, and all the style of the Mini. It was the answer to my dreams. I can fit my stuff as a teacher and for doing faires, as well as enjoy the fact it’s a Mini. I was signing the papers by the end of the day, trading in my Saturn for my new Mini.

So, when you think you’re out of dreams, or you keep telling yourself they are not possible, remember, it can happen. Never give up a way to make them come true. Every time I reach one dream, another appears. And someway, I make it happen. Don’t give them up. Keep those dreams coming. It is what makes life, interesting.

Thoughts on Michael Jackson Passing Today

I’ve been in shock for the last several hours. I think of the memories and music Michael Jackson has brought, it brings back feelings of when I heard on the news of a guy named Elvis Presley dying.

I’ve had trouble concentrating writing today. I just stopped when I heard the news today at 4pm. I’ve not been able to do work the rest of the day, it’s been such a shock. So, I thought I should get some of the feelings out in my blog. At least that way, I’m writing.

Michael is being dissed left and right on many message boards right now. There are a lot of positive things too and memories. I was wanted to add to the memories being shared. I think the whole world has them.

He was a true musical hero to many. I do hope he is remembered for his music and what he brought to the world. I hope most of the negativity and bad press died with him today, and he’s remembered for the music he brought to this world.

It’s possible that some of the things that happened in his childhood caused later problems. Maybe he should have got more help. Thinking that boys sleeping in the same bed was normal could have meant something had made him feel it was normal. Sleeping could have meant getting some z’s.

But I’m going to remember him for the memories. It’s what I’ve been doing since most of the scandals started in the mid-2000s. My favorite moment is probably at the peek of “Thriller” being released. It was the Summer of 1983. There was nothing cooler than roller skating to tracks off the album when going out as a 12 year old. Yeah, complete with disco ball and lights playing during the roller skating. Yes, my blonde hair was feathered. And if anything like “Beat It” or “Billie Jean” came on, it was a fast skate. He was truly the King of Pop.

I still have the vinyl of “Thriller” in storage along with my other records. I’m glad I held onto it.

New Book Trailer

Just available, a new book trailer for the first book in the Crystal Keeper series. The first book, “The Lost Secret of Fairies” is the start of Wanda’s adventures as a Crystal Keeper. Look for the second book, “The Lost Secret of the Green Man” to be released this summer.

Monarch Sightings-Spring is in the Air

There are a couple of ways to tell spring is coming. The children start to forget what you tell them. Flowers start to appear in the garden. Trees burst into bloom, and the monarch butterflies start to appear. If you are lucky, hundreds to thousands might start showing up to make the announcement; spring is here.

So today at the day job during PE, my students and I are assaulted by bombarding butterflies. They dip and dart in all directions, taking my thoughts away from work, the economy, and normal adult worries. My students comment if the frisbees they are practicing with might collide with a monarch or two. I notice how the butterflies glide up over each child, flitting on an errand that only they can accomplish in their short 2 weeks of life.

Could they take me with them? Away from school? Away from work? When is Spring Break again anyway? “Back to practice kids.” The cold wind still blows around the field, carrying one butterfly into another. Just stopping to watch another glide by, I notice some are morning cloaks and others are cabbage butterfly white.

Spring is here. The green hills call. 2 1/2 weeks until Spring Break remain. Testing is in 3 weeks. Get the kids back in the classroom. Continue with the list of standards, homework everyday, and building the new workers of tomorrow. But I think of the butterflies of today. Just a moment that I stopped to watch them soaring on their way to welcome spring.

St. Patty’s Day Magic-The Leprechaun

St. Patty’s is a special day of Irish Heritage in the US and Ireland. Though it is most often associated with the famous St. Patrick that brought Christianity to Ireland, it is also famous for wearing green, leprechauns and four-leaf clovers. The pot of gold signs with rainbows may decorate the office, but where did all the leprechauns come from? Why are they connected to the Irish?

Leprechauns are one of the most famous fairies or fey in Irish myths. The legends tell of Leprechauns being solitary shoemakers. According to Sir Walter Scott’s book “Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry”, they are also confused or combined with two other fairies, The Cluricaun and the Red Man. The Cluricaun tends to drink the ale away in the cellar while the Red Man enjoys doing practical jokes. Sometimes they are considered the happy brothers of the Leprechaun.

The Leprechaun legend continues with tales of becoming rich if one can find the Leprechauns gold from selling his shoe wares. Later in legends, the rainbow became a marker for the hiding spot of the Leprechauns acquired treasure.

Whether you find gold, Leprechauns, or at least a chance to spy a rainbow on St. Patty’s Day, wear green in the tradition of showing support for Irish Heritage. It’s a way to share your history or even join in the fun that the Irish Culture loves to do, sing, dance, and be merry. May there be luck for you this day!

Tiffany Turner is the author of a new fairy series called The Crystal Keeper Chronicles. Her first book entitled “The Lost Secret of Fairies” is available through Trafford Publishing and Amazon.com. The second book in the series “The Lost Secret of the Green Man” will be released this summer.

References:

1. “Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry” by Walter Scott. Original published date 1888.
2. “Encyclopedia Mythologica: Fairies and Magical Creatures” by Matthew Reinhart and Robert Sabuda.