Category: 84 Ribbons

Facts You May Not Know about Marta 1

84 Ribbons

Facts You May Not Know about Marta

Writing requires authors to create character profiles which include the basics (height, age, hair color, etc.) but also includes more personal details that reveal character idiosyncrasies. Here are a few facts you may not know about Marta Selbryth, main character in 84 Ribbons and When the Music Stops -Dance On, books 1 and 2 of my ballet trilogy. Marta’s middle name is Annette. Marta is mildly dyslexic. As an adult she’s self-conscious about her limited education. Marta’s favorite colors are blue and red. She likes to wear  soft, flowing fabrics. Even though Marta’s father died when she was seven, he...

When the Music Stops is Now Available 0

84 Ribbons / giveaway / When the Music Stops

When the Music Stops is Now Available

I’m excited to let you know When the Music Stops-Dance On, book two in the ballet trilogy, is now available online and directly through me or my publisher, Tendril Press. As soon as the book distributors (who service your favorite bookshops) agree to add the book to their catalogs and lists, When the Music Stops-Dance On will be available everywhere. Currently it is available from Amazon. Feel free to ask your favorite bookseller to order you a copy. If you order more than 8 copies of the book, contact me directly for a bulk discount. I’ll add a surprise and...

Researching Details for Books 0

84 Ribbons / Challenge / details in writing / Letters to Follow

Researching Details for Books

I have always loved research, but lately it’s become a challenge. Back in the dark ages (when I was in school), I’d go the the library, check out a handful of books and I’d be set to locate the needed details. Computer sites have simplified. intensified and complicated current-day research. These days, possible sites number into the thousands (stars for the wealth of sources) but they also create the problem of who to believe. Another problem for me, is getting lost in layers of research and finding little rabbit trails that lead me further and further away from my intended...

Summer Fun on TV is Coming! 1

84 Ribbons / Dancing

Summer Fun on TV is Coming!

If you love exuberant dancers, be certain to check out Fox’s SYTYCD, aka So YOU Think You Can Dance summer series. Thousands of young dancers around the US tryout to become one of the 20 finalists who strive to be named most popular dancers of the season. The choreography is all freshly created. Dancers have less than one week to learn and perform their randomly selected partnered dance genre as well as their personal solos and at least one group number (which usually opens the show). You will see modern, hip-hop, Bollywood, ballroom, Broadway and many other styles. I love...

2 Ballet Dancers: Misty Copeland and Marta 1

84 Ribbons / character development / musings / When the Music Stops

2 Ballet Dancers: Misty Copeland and Marta

Misty Copeland, a soloist with New York’s American Ballet Theatre was interviewed last Sunday, May 10th, on 60 Minutes. [See: 60 Minutes Season 47 – Episode 33]  As I watched, I wondered how Marta, my 84 Ribbons and When the Music Stops leading character compared to a real ballet dancer. Let’s find out. Both young women stand at five feet. Both were raised mostly by their mother. Both began their training in simple settings rather than ballet academies and worked far beyond their regular class hours to perfect their dancing. Both felt music rather than danced to music. Both sustained...

Letters from Friends 3

84 Ribbons

Letters from Friends

When the mail arrives and contains a letter or a thought-filled card, it makes my day! Yesterday was a banner day. My friend Gretchen sent me a funny card with a page torn from the weekend pictorial. She knows I write about  ballet and the article was called New York City Ballet : By the Numbers. Here are a few of the numbers that may surprise you. NYCB has performed The Nutcracker 2,342 times. In the production they use 50 pounds of fake snow during each performance. The lovely ascending-descending curtain at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater weighs 1...

13 Popular Ballet Movies with Synopsis 0

84 Ribbons

13 Popular Ballet Movies with Synopsis

Ballet movies run the gamut: dark and foreboding, melodramas, character studies, and reality-based. The following random listing of ballet-themed movies interest me**.  I’ve seen many of them and enjoyed the world of ballet they choose to share. Personally, I enjoy real dancers in real studios working on real choreography. Enjoy. Let me know which ones catch your interest and imagination. *                           *                           *                             *                         *                              *                              *                                   * La Danse – Le Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris….. 2009….. 159 minutes Synopsis: In La danse, Wiseman allows us to observe multiple corners of the Paris Opera Ballet, from rehearsal studios to...

Carol: A Sketchy Character 1

84 Ribbons / details in writing / musings

Carol: A Sketchy Character

Character sketches are fun and part of an author’s ‘research’. They may be based on people we know, or they may be total fabrications. Sometimes, we take the best or worst traits of people we know and use them to jump-start our thinking. Then there is CAROL: the character many of you love to hate. Where did she come from and why? CAROL is a natural antagonist, just like some people we know. Life gave her lemons and she decided to squeeze the sourness onto everything and everyone she knows or comes into contact with during Marta’s story in 84...

Fiction Books with Great Descriptions 2

84 Ribbons / details in writing / musings / quotes

Fiction Books with Great Descriptions

I’m a sucker for a great description. I love the visuals they create for me as well as the way they bring our other senses into play: sound, touch, smell and taste. Check out these novel excerpts. They inspire me when I write my stories. Let me know if you agree. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd It was the time of year when migrating crows wheeled across the sky, thunderous flocks that moved like a single veil. (kindle location:  1910 of 5663) The Secret River by Kate Grenville Morning and evening the Government chain gangs clanked and...

Catching Up 1

84 Ribbons

Catching Up

The past six weeks have been a flurry of both activity and inactivity. The active part included a trip to Austin, Texas for a visit with a writer-friend and a book event in Wimberly. Both were fun and gave me a chance to connect with other writers and with readers. I appreciate their support as I move forward with another active item: book two in my ballet trilogy: When the Music Stops: Dance On. It feels good to be able to say I’m turning the second book over the publisher for layout, which is the step just before printing. You...