Subplot: Another Rescue

It's my pleasure to introduce multi-published author LK Hunsaker to my readers. Ms. Hunsaker writes what she likes to call "reality fiction." In reading her books, you get to know her main characters inside-out and feel like you could run into them on the streets of your own town. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? But she doesn't write fluff. Her novels explore social/cultural aspects, psychological facets, and deep characterization, plus strong romantic elements.

Welcome, LK. Thank you for being with us today. Tell us a little about yourself and your book OFF THE MOON.


Hi Sandra! It’s nice to be here today to chat with you and your readers!

I see you have a “yappy” Pomeranian. We’re animal lovers, also, and have a couple of dogs that like to make plenty of noise. They’re wonderful, aren’t they? Maybe the noise isn’t wonderful, but animals are. It’s nice during times of stress to be able to sit with or play with your pets and let them soothe your nerves. The unconditional love they give is soul-soothing.

Today, I’d like to talk a bit about Subplot and Rescue. The main plot of Off The Moon involves a rather self-centered young man who helps rescue a young woman desperately in need of unconditional love. But there’s another story in the background that involves a rescued dog. Ryan’s brother is an animal lover. Throughout his life, he’s taken in stray animals that need help, sometimes to Ryan’s consternation. His most recent is a large and intimidating dog that’s unfriendly in general. Will expects she’d been abused and does what he can to soothe her and prepare her for adoption. He has some luck, but it’s not until Kaitlyn comes to visit that the dog shows potential of rescue.

Why do writers use subplot in a story? I tend to use it to add depth. Nothing happens in a vacuum. Whatever we’re doing throughout life, there are a myriad of things going on around us, sometimes in the background, other times in the midst of things. What we do affects more than the most obvious situation or people. It also makes waves far beyond that. One of the biggest themes that runs through all of my stories is that ripple effect. We often don’t realize how much impact we have on others, but it’s there. Always. Subplots are a way to bring out this notion of “yes, but there’s more to the story” and I often use more than one.

The major subplot in Off The Moon is Kaitlyn and Chewy, the girl Ryan rescues and the dog Will rescued. A lot of parallels are drawn between them and it not only adds depth, but it also adds possibility for character growth. Ryan isn’t much of a dog lover. Part of that comes from Will’s rescues when they were kids but also because pets take attention. Ryan doesn’t want to be bothered. Of course, what generally happens when someone extends a hand to another who needs it is that the helper ends up with a true gift. A question arises from the two rescues: do we avoid things because we honestly don’t want them or because our longing for them is too intense?

Kaitlyn understands Chewy’s aggression, although her own abusive situation had the opposite result. She withdraws. Like a magnet, Ryan is attracted to Kaitlyn but repelled by Chewy, even though he sees the “why” behind each of their personalities, and their situations are much the same. As he understands Kaitlyn more, though, and as she stands up for Chewy, Ryan has a hard time not buying into her feelings about the animal.

One of my dogs was a rescue. I had this book fully in process before we rescued him, but I have been interested in the comparison, how it happened to work as it did. We didn’t set out to find a dog that needed to be rescued. It simply happened that way, and what a gift he’s become. He isn’t like Chewy. He’s more like Kaitlyn. And our dog who had recently lost her older friend was so very glad to take him under her wing, just as Ryan was. She’s in charge, but not always. As it turns out, the rescuee has less natural fear than the rescuer in many ways. Human and animal nature are really very similar.

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Buy Link for Off the Moon preorders:
http://www.elucidatepublishing.net/books.html

Also, be sure to check my blog this month for Off The Moon related interviews. http://lkhunsaker.blogspot.com

Find my website for more info, plus a free download of the beginnings of each of my novels:
http://www.lkhunsaker.com


Off The Moon
LK Hunsaker

"Riveting" Ryan Reynauld is immersed in a world of music, parties, and temporary companionship. Having risen to the top of the pop charts, his biggest concern is objecting to the way his music is produced. That is, until he finds a young woman standing on a window ledge. Against the advice of family and friends, and through media attacks and fan protests, Ryan determines to care for her himself, making a promise that threatens to destroy his career.

Convincing the skittish girl she can learn to trust again comes with a steep price. Sometimes the path to recovery begins by allowing your world to implode.

Elucidate Publishing
November 2009
Print ISBN 978-0-9825299-0-4
Ebook ISBN 978-0-9825299-1-1

Thanks for having me today, Sandra!


Don't forget to leave your comments! One person from each blog will be drawn to receive a signed, mailed copy of the short story LK has written as a bit of a prequel to Off The Moon, called Toward The Sky, plus there will be a signed print book drawing for anyone who comments on at least 8 blogs!


Next up: Behind the Scenes – An Army Brat, hosted by Liana Laverentz, Nov. 11
http://lianalaverentz.blogspot.com/


The full itinerary for the CRR Blog Tour is available at http://www.classicromancerevival.com

CRABBY OLD MAN (A Poem)

I can't verify whether this is a true story or not, but the sentiment is certainly true. Enjoy, and remember to look beyond a wrinkled face to the youth inside.

When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home in North Platte, Nebraska, it was believed that he had nothing left of any value.

Later, when the nurses were going through his meager possessions, They found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital.

One nurse took her copy to Missouri . The old man's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas edition of the News Magazine of the St. Louis Association for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on his simple, but eloquent, poem.

And this little old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this 'anonymous' poem winging across the Internet.


Crabby Old Man

What do you see nurses? . . . . . What do you see?
What are you thinking . . . . when you're looking at me?
A crabby old man . . . . . . . not very wise,
Uncertain of habit . . . . . . with faraway eyes?

Who dribbles his food . . . . . . and makes no reply .
When you say in a loud voice . . . . . 'I do wish you'd try!'
Who seems not to notice . . . the things that you do
And forever is losing . . . . . . . . A sock or shoe?

Who, resisting or not . . . . . . . lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding. . . . . the long day to fill?
Is that what you're thinking? . . . Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse . . .. . you're not looking at me .

I'll tell you who I am . .. . . . . As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding . . . . . as I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of Ten . . . . . with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters . . . . .. . . . who love one another.

A young boy of Sixteen . . . . with wings on his feet
Dreaming that soon now . . . . . . . a lover he'll meet..
A groom soon at Twenty . . . my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows . . . . . . that I promised to keep.

At Twenty-Five, now . . . . . . . . I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide . . . . And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty . . . . . . . . My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other . . . . . .. . With ties that should last.

At Forty, my young sons . . . have grown and are gone,
But my woman's beside me . . . . . to see I don't mourn.
At Fifty, once more . . . babies play 'round my knee,
Again, we know children . . . . . My loved one and me.

Dark days are upon me . . . . my wife is now dead.
I look at the future . . . . . . . . . shudder with dread..
For my young are all rearing . . . . . . young of their own.
And I think of the years . . .. and the love that I've known.

I'm now an old man . . . . . . and nature is cruel.
Tis jest to make old age . . . look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles . . . . . . grace and vigor, depart.
There is now a stone . . . . . . . where I once had a heart.

But inside this old carcass . a young guy still dwells,
And now and again . . . . . . . my battered heart swells.
I remember the joys . . .. . . . . . . I remember the pain.
And I'm loving and living . . . . . . . . . . life over again.

I think of the years, all too few . . . . . gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact .. . . . that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people . . . . . . open and see.
Not a crabby old man. Look closer . . . see ME!!

Remember this poem when you next meet an older person who you might brush aside without looking at the young soul within . . . . we will all, one day, be there, too!

PLEASE SHARE THIS POEM
The best and most beautiful things of this world can't be seen or touched. They must be felt by the heart.

Isn't the English Language Wonderful?

This is another tidbit I found that didn't show an author's name. I thought it was clever and wanted to share it with my follow writers and readers. Enjoy!

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce.

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time
to present the present.

8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10) I did not object to the object.

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

13) They were too close to the door to close it.

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail

18) After a number of injections my jaw got number.

19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France (Surprise!). Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.

Quicksand works slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?

If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth?

One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese?

Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.

If you have a bunch of odds and ends, and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? Is it an odd, or an end?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?

If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?

Ship by truck and send cargo by ship?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all.

That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

P.S. - Why doesn't "Buick" rhyme with "quick"?

Why Did God Make Lightning Bugs?

In writing my new Work-in-Progress, I wanted something special to show the season and add ambiance to the scene. My mind went back to a time of innocence. A time when, as a kid, I didn't have a care in the world except to laugh with high-pitched glee at whatever caught my fancy.

Lightning Bugs! Or Fireflies, as they are sometimes called. My sisters and I chased them around the yard with our empty mason jars, our shrieks of joy filling the evening air.

I don't know the author of the following, but it says exactly what I'm feeling....

What is the deal with Lightning bugs?

I mean, here is this rather ordinary looking flying insect,
but wait ... it has a glow-in-the-dark rear end!

What was God thinking?

I'm sure science has all kinds of explanations
about how this fluorescent fanny is useful for mating and other stuff,
but why did God choose to make the lightning bug glow?
I wonder if when God was creating all the animals and everything around us,
he came up with the idea of the Lightning bug and said,

"The kids are gonna love this."

We know that God loves us enough
to create all the things we need to survive,
but does God love us so much
He created some things just to make us smile?

Just seeing Lightning bugs takes me back
to those warm summer nights of my youth.
I'd be running around the back yard with my empty Mason jar,
racing toward the flashing lights all around me.
I can still feel the joy and hear the laughter echoing through my memories.
Lightning bugs were as much a part of summer as fireworks,
fresh tomatoes, and big ice-cold slabs of juicy watermelon.

God created so much diversity in this world,
much more than is needed for mere survival.
He made all of this for us, and He wants us to enjoy it.
We can get so busy surrounding ourselves with man-made goods

that we don't notice the living tapestry God has laid out all around us.

I guess Lightning bugs do have a purpose after all.
They are a reminder of a creative God who loves us so much,
He'd even paint the rear end of a bug ...

Just to see

us smile....

Our Congressmen and Health Care

I don't usually post my political views, and I'm certainly not trying to sway anyone in one direction or another politically. But this subject is something that I hope all Americans, no matter which party, will come together on.

If we insist that our congressmen be under the same health care plan that they want to force on the rest of us, I'm sure they'll take the time to read it, digest it, and understand it before signing it into law. That's the very least we can expect from them. As you might note from my tone here, I'm a little disgusted with all of them regardless of which party they belong to. :-)



Vote and pass it on, please.

On Tuesday, the Senate health committee voted 12-11 in favor of a two-page amendment, courtesy of Republican Tom Coburn, that would require all Members and their staffs to enroll in any new government-run health plan. Yet all Democrats with the exceptions of acting chairman Chris Dodd, Barbara Mikulski and Ted Kennedy via proxy voted nay.

It took me less than a minute to sign up to require our congressmen and senators to drink at the same trough! Three cheers for Congressman John Fleming of Louisiana! A Louisiana physician, Congressman John Fleming has proposed an amendment that would require congressmen and senators to take the same healthcare plan they force on us (under proposed legislation they are curiously exempt).

Congressman Fleming is encouraging people FROM ANY STATE to go on his Website and sign his petition (very simple - just first, last, and email). I have immediately done just that at:
(http://fleming.house.gov/index.html)

Please urge as many people as you can to do the same! If Congress forces this on the American people, the Congressmen should have to accept the same level of health care for themselves and their families. This is very much like what has happened with social security. For years, U.S. Congressmen have impacted rules for the social security system, yet they have never been forced to contribute as the rest of us are required to do. It makes their buy-in to the system not at all the same as yours and mine.

THEY JUST DON'T GET IT!

I've read several blogs recently about ebook sharing. I recommend that you visit these sites for some informative views on the subject.

Dayana Knight's August 18 Blog - Sharing and Copying ebooks is WRONG!

Hywela Lyn's August 16th article titled - "No, you may not copy, sell, or loan our work..."

Sharon Maria Bidwell's July 10 article - "To the person who left me a comment…"

Sharon expressed the issue with such clarity that I was compelled to leave a comment on her blog. Like Dayana, I think the average person doesn't understand the meaning of ebook Piracy. And as Lyn stated in her post, the author spends hours "plotting, typing, revising, editing," and is compensated very little for his/her time.

I'm positive the people who share our books with others, whether as a friendly gesture or as a means of earning money for themselves, do so without a thought of the consequences for the author. But there is a difference between the two groups.

A family member or friend may like your book so well, they just want to share it with others. Not being in the writing industry, they don't even think, I'm sure, about what this act costs the author. "After all," they may justify, "it's only this once." Apparently they've never seen that shampoo commercial that goes, "...and so on, and so on, and so on," as word of mouth goes around the world.

The exact same thing can happen with our books. If it's forwarded to one person free of charge, why wouldn't the next person assume it's okay to just send on to his/her email buddies?

I'm convinced these acts by family and friends are innocent mistakes. In fact, they may think they are helping us spread the word about our careers.

The people, who want to make money off of our hard work are another matter entirely. I'm sure they know what they are doing, and that they don't really care. It's the same thing as stealing someone's car and then selling it for profit.

I don't know what the answer is, but we certainly cannot ignore this growing problem.

Spell Checker (Just for Fun)

We all need a little fun in our busy lives, so I'm posting a "just for fun" blog. Enjoy!

Spelling Chequer!!!!!! Using homonyms!

Eye halve a spelling chequer

It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
and eye can put the error rite
It's rare lea ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
It's letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sow.

Now go back and recheck that manuscript that your spell checker said was "just fine!" lol