The Hangover

Um, I think I have a sugar hangover.

How many berry-glace-filled crepes does it take to create this disastrous situation?

Six? Eleven? More?

I stopped counting, so we don't know when the cutoff point would likely be.

Here are the fillings I sampled today at the Primary Brunch:

Strawberry glace (with whipped cream on top)
Raspberry-blackberry glace (more whipped cream)
Granulated sugar sprinkled amidst fresh-squeezed lemon (my favorite)
A cream filling made from cream cheese, sour cream, a smidge of milk, and powdered sugar
Various combinations of the above

Of course, I didn't skip the savory crepes filled with a cream of chicken soup/shredded chicken/sour cream sauce.

There was also a fruit tray, plus a selection of sausage, and a chocolate syrup I completely forgot about.

It was a delicious morning, and an afternoon spent wondering if someone could please bring me a Tylenol. Complete, delicious gluttony. It might be time to reexamine my self-control.

Meanwhile, I'm back on the NaNo attack. I've done another (almost) 20,000 words, and I'm thinking it's possible I'll get the whole first draft done this month (in spite of about a dozen other projects I probably shouldn't have taken on.) I love that when I'm done with the draft I'll actually be able to work on the rewrites so it has a hope of being readable.

Oh, back to crepes again. Every time I make crepes for other people, they act so shocked or impressed, like there's some big mystery to making crepes. Uh, not. I don't make things that are tricky or involved. Here's the recipe I used:

CREPES
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup flour
2 T oil
2 T sugar

Place all ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth. Heat a small frypan (spray with Pam). Pour in about 2 tablespoons of batter and lift the pan and swirl it until it reaches all around. Cook just on one side. Flip out onto a plate. Place a strip of waxed paper (a thin strip will do) between crepes to make them easy to separate. Serve with any filling. (If you're doing savory, switch the sugar for 1/3 tsp salt.)

Not tricky. Sorry. Now I realize I'll be less impressive now that everyone knows that my ancient Chinese secret (Calgon) is so ridiculously simple. Go make some. But don't OD. I don't recommend it!

Cracking a Code -- and White Chocolate Popcorn (recipe!)

Sometimes I come across information that works almost like a Rosetta Stone. It opens things up to understanding the way things work in writing and helps me look at almost every piece of writing with new eyes. The book The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes and Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes is one of those things. *(ooh, baby. i just saw it's available on Kindle.)



At the writers retreat last week I was lucky to get asked to present one of the workshops. My friend Colleen had introduced me to this super useful book a couple of years ago, and I decided it was the thing to share with the women in the pines. She stumbled across it mis-shelved in Bookmans, as thought it were meant for her and only her to find. (Cue mysterious music here.)

The three authors of this book have analyzed and boiled down millennia of literary works. They categorized eight types of heroes and eight types of heroines based on classic and modern literature. Their contention is that all truly memorable heroes/heroines are classifiable into one (or two, if they are layered types) of these archetypes.

When I first picked up the book, I found myself resisting the idea. I thought, I'm not going to use this--I want to create *unique* characters, not stereotypes. HOWEVER, reading on, I realized stereotypes and archetypes are not the same thing. Archetypes have more to do with general personalities, backgrounds that shape their views, and what motivates the heroes in a similar category. Their example (one of them) was that both Captain James T. Kirk of Star Trek and Professor Henry Higgins of My Fair Lady were both the CHIEF archetype. They both made quick, decisive choices, were used to being right and being obeyed, etc. However, if Henry Higgins sat at the helm of the U.S.S. Enterprise, what a different show it would have been.

So archetype does not equal stereotype.

Another aspect of this is that a character can be a CORE archetype (same all the way through the story, like Superman is always the WARRIOR; he doesn't change), or he can be a LAYERED archetype (like Rhett Butler is both the CHIEF and the BAD BOY), or he can be EVOLVING, like my character Buck the sumo wrestler who goes from being the walked-on BEST FRIEND to the WARRIOR who fights for the girl and won't let evil go unpunished.

When I shared the sixteen archetypes with the women, at the end of each explanation, they were able to identify and shout out examples from film and literature (and a few from family and church members they knew, haha) with ease. They're all around. And I think these ladies who wrote it are onto something really useful. The book also includes how different archetypes interact, how the clash/mesh/change when thrown together.

Another friend up there, Donna Hatch, said she uses the Enneagram to help her nail down personality types for her writing, and I can see that being useful as well. But she said she liked this because it takes the hero at that particular moment in time, including his background and what got him to this point--not just the set of personality traits he was born with.

Here's one of the motivational posters my friend Melinda Sanchez came up with and placed around the cabin at the retreat. The theme was "Gone With the Pen," and the ANWA board presented a fun skit using Miss Scarlett (SEDUCTRESS)and Ashley Wilkes (LOST SOUL, I think?) and Miss Melanie (NURTURER) and all the good (archetypical) characters from Gone With the Wind.



And now, back to the snack table. My contribution was this thing my sister brought me when we went to D.C. together a year or two ago. Her neighbor made it. At first I couldn't tell what it was that made it so fantastic, but it's SUPER simple. Now my daughter's teachers request it on the day it's my turn to send the snack. I have to make an extra bag just for them.

WHITE CHOCOLATE POPCORN
4 bags microwave popcorn
4 cubes Almond Bark (or the white Candy-Quick)

Pop popcorn. Pour into large bowl. Melt white chocolate. Drizzle over popcorn and stir. Cool.
A-ma-zing.