One of the assignments I’m working on now is attempting to answer the following:
What is an American?
Actually, it trying to answer it in a round about way. As you know there are some assignments I can’t completely tell you about because I don’t want another taking it before it’s published. But this one trying to answer an aspect of this question.
What is the definition of being a citizen of what is the greatest nation on the planet? (Some of my British readers will disagree with that statement, I’m sure.) Is it military service, becoming educated, a constructive member of society, the pursuit of happiness?
It’s an interesting question to ponder in this age of NSA leaks and Edward Snowden. However, I want to focus more on the cultural aspect. What is the American culture? Who belongs in it and doesn’t?
Eva Piper will be the first person to tell you that she isn’t a writer.
She will say that she’s simply telling her story, one of overcoming challenges and holding fast to faith. The story has inspired people through their own dark times, a goal Eva says she’s always had for her book.
I had the pleasure of talking with Eva recently. She visited Louisiana as part of her book tour. I love talking to other writers because I learn so much from them. Eva wasn’t any different.
I’ve been playing with more non-fiction lately so it was interesting talking to someone in this category. I wanted to hear how she approached writing something like this years after the incident. How does one put part of their life into words?
Here are some things I learned from our conversation:
1. Having an outline helped her structure her book. Also having a pre-plan before writing was a must.
2. Writing is cathartic, this was especially true for Eva. “Everyone has something they need to get out,” she said. It may not be a published work but it’s something for you or your family members. Lesson: purpose, purpose, purpose.
3. A life changing experience impacts more than one person, therefore there is more than one story to tell. Everyone has a story to tell. They need to tell it.
Not bad for a 20 minute conversation. Listen to the audio below. What are some suggestions you have for other non-fiction writers?
As I went through some of my files from the old blog, I completely forgot about this video!
How to create awesome characters was a webinar I did when a couple of writer friends asked me how I approach creating characters. I taught part of this during one of my creative writing classes and my student’s characterization got better. They understood more about the importance of character after the lesson and it showed in their writing.
And plates and cups and cutting boards and even my Foreman grill is bright.
After spending some intense time in the kitchen over the weekend, I came away tonight with the realization that my kitchen has a lot of color in it. I smiled when I realized that and added it to my growing list of things, the things I didn’t know about myself until I paid attention.
But this is not about a rich blue coffee mug next to a red bowl. It’s about surprise and the continuation of a journey that started with pain, chaos, and tears.
If you can imagine a driven woman of 30 who did it all. She studied and excelled in academics. She graduated college. She started a career. She did everything she was supposed to do except she was miserable. So miserable she didn’t know she was miserable.
This was why: I didn’t know who I was.
And I couldn’t understand why I didn’t know. I had done everything I was told to ensure a successful career and life, but at 30 I was not in a city I wanted to live in. I was crying without really knowing why and the harder I tried to be better at my career, the worse the misery became. I didn’t know this wasn’t normal.
Everyone in their career feels this way sometimes, I thought. But I felt that way all the time.
I would see other people excel and when I did that, compared myself to them, I tore myself up. It wasn’t that they were more talented or smarter than me, what was I missing?
Then came the night of the 1 a.m. cry when I came home, exhausted from 14 hours at work. With only a couple of hours rest before having to wake up for an 8 a.m. assignment across town, I crumpled on the floor of my apartment and cried.
This wasn’t what I wanted for myself but I didn’t know what I wanted either. Who was I? God only knew but I was clueless.
I looked at myself in the mirror and I wasn’t sure who I was. Was I doing my hair a certain way because I liked it or because that was the way I was supposed to do it. Was I really a fan of certain books, television shows, and music because I liked it or because it was expected of me to enjoy them? What kind of foods did I like? What did I want for myself personally? Did I really want to be a mom and a wife or was it because it was expected of me and that’s what I was supposed to do?
At that point, I didn’t even know what my favorite color was. I liked pepperoni pizza only because that was the only thing we ordered at home. Never really tried other kinds.
That started a quest to find out who I was and trying to remember the last time I was genuinely happy. (I was in middle school.) From that memory, I went through all my likes and dislikes, writing them down. No matter how small and insignificant it was, each new discovery brought me closer to finding out the real me.
Here are some things on the list:
I like Supreme pizza best. Pepperoni is okay.
I don’t like snow but I like fall. Early fall is best and purple leaves are my favorite. Followed by red.
I like pink windshield wipers. They make me happy.
I expect greatness from myself and I am disappointed when everyone else doesn’t expect the same from themselves.
I fear success and I don’t know why. Conversely, I don’t fear failure because I don’t believe in it.
I like boy bands; I like to fangirl.
Purple is my favorite color.
I like being a nerd.
I love writing. I loathe words used as weapons against those who haven’t been fortunate enough to learn enough words to defend themselves.
I believe that art makes life go from black and white to color. I want to live in color.
Though some items on the list may seem trite, to me it’s a win. These are things I never knew about myself and had I continued on the path I was on, who would I be today? The alternative scares me because the misery was so deep.
So, yes I like colorful dishes. Not just one color but all colors it seems. I’ve learned this now in my mid-30s and I’m ecstatic. Years after starting this journey, there are still discoveries to be made and I’m still open to seeing them, no matter how small they are.
I wasn’t quiet sure if I knew what I was doing. When I pitched the sexy Ramen Noodle story, I thought this would be a fun assignment. But when I had to do some research and put together a recipe, well that was interesting. Putting together my own recipe wasn’t a requirement but how was I supposed to write about different ways to cook something, you have to come correct.
So, I decided on a stir fry because, well, who doesn’t want to cook something in a big pan.
What turned out was some awesome deliciousness!
Before it’s in the paper, here’s the recipe I worked on. There are two others I’ll be giving out in my article, which is scheduled to run mid-August. Those two you’ll have to read at Shreveporttimes.com
Teriyaki Chicken and Noodle Stir Fry
Ingredients
One pack of chicken tenderloins in strips
Two packets of Ramen Noodles (without the spice packet)
Handful of broccoli
One of side of a green bell pepper
One stalk of celery
Two green onions
Soy sauce
Teriyaki sauce
Handful of mushrooms
Handful of snow peas
Sesame seed oil
Cut the chicken into bite size slices and place in a bowl. Marinate with teriyaki sauce over night.
Cook Ramen Noodles (without packet) in a pot until al dente. Drain the water and toss with oil so it doesn’t stick. Place it to the side.
Pour some sesame seed oil (about once around the wok) and heat. When it begins to smoke, use tongs to place the chicken pieces into the oil. Cook the chicken through then set it aside in a separate bowl. Heat the broccoli until it’s soft. Set it aside in the same bowl as the chicken. Place the onions, green peppers, celery in the wok. Splash a bit of soy sauce and cook through until the onion is translucent. Place it in the bowl.
Now, pour the noodles in the wok and splash with soy sauce. Toss and brown the noodles until they are brown and delicious-looking. Next pour all the other ingredient from the bowl –chicken et al — into the wok and toss, warming all of it together. Just when it’s about done, toss in the handful of snow peas and cook through for about two minutes. Take off the heat and plate up. Enjoy.
One day Eva Piper was an elementary school teacher, the mother of three, the beloved wife of a strong, protective husband.The next day she stood at the bedside of a broken man who could do nothing but moan in agony and turn his head away from her.Later she would learn that he had died and actually experienced heaven before being prayed back to life–a true miracle. Don Piper’s testimony, told in the “New York Times” bestseller “90 Minutes in Heaven,” would one day bring hope to thousands. But all that was in the future. Despite family and friends who kept vigil with her, Eva Piper found herself essentially alone. Walking in the dark. And she had always hated the dark.
Though it parallels that of her husband, Eva Piper’s account is quite different from his. It takes readers not to heavenly places but through a very earthly maze of hospital corridors, insurance forms, tiring commutes from home to workplace and hospital, and lonely hours of waiting and worrying. This is the story of a woman learning, step by darkened step, to go places she never thought she could go and growing into a person she never thought she could be. Packed with hard-earned wisdom about what it means to be a caregiver, to open yourself to the care of others, and to rest in God’s provision, this book” “provides a dependable source of light to help you walk through the dark.
Interesting, no? I’m excited to talk to her about her writing journey, why she was compelled to write this book, and of course her experience with nearly losing someone she loved so dearly. I’m hoping that she’ll also do a video. I plan on checking out her reading.
I just purchased my domain name and I’m overwhelmed with nerves. NERVES! ME! Yes, I am nervous that my name is now my domain name and that this site is now, officially, my home on the interwebs. This is my new place in the world and what a trip it has been!
Going from WritingToInsanity.com to IcessFernandez.com took more soul searching that I anticipated. Yes, it’s just moving from Blogger to WordPress, from writing about writing to do it. But, my friends, it’s so much more!
I’ve been a person who never liked people telling me what to do. I don’t consider myself a rebel in that aspect, I just liked doing my own thing. The best way to get me to do something, usually, is by telling me that I couldn’t. I’ve heard “you can’t” all my life. There’s something about growing up in East Harris County in the 80s that makes you hate that word.
That’s even more evident when it comes to writing. When someone tells me that I can’t write something — whether it’s because of skill or topic — I want to write it all the more. I like proving people wrong.
There was this one time when I pitched this story that wasn’t exactly the ideal story for this publication. I was a newspaper writer and this story showed a different side of the town I lived in. No, it wasn’t a seedy underworld but a shift in demographic. I pitched it hard and I could tell even after it was approved it was on shaky ground. I wrote my heart into it. Months later, that story won third place in a statewide contest. It was as if I had won first place; I had proven the thoughts about the story wrong.
That’s what’s happening here. Five years is a lifetime in blog land and I have just thrown away all that work and investment to start over. I’m writing things that I’ve been wanting to for awhile. I’m editing videos as you can see from the one attached here (though I have NO idea what happened there in the middle).
What am I proving wrong? That I can create a site that includes all my interests and that people, other than my friends, will read it. If I blog it, will they come? We’ll see.
So, here we are, IcessFernandez.com. I guess that means I need new business cards.
I pitch a story to The Shreveport Times about Ramen Noodles. Well, it’s more than that. There’s an angle but you know how it goes with things that aren’t published yet — mum’s the world. Well, kinda.
This is the social media age and I am working hard to resolve being an old school journalist and a new school social media-ist. (If that’s even a real word, which it probably isn’t but that’s another post for another day.)
So, I got the idea from this blog post that I wrote on Writing To Insanity. After having a fantastic vacation, I had a bit of a cash flow problem — it flowed away from my pocket. Rightfully so, I needed to save money and escape from starvation. Enter project Ramen Noodles. The objective: find new and interesting ways to cook Ramen Noodles.
I did and now, I’m writing an article about it. I solicited some response from our readers using social media and I even did some research through some videos and television shows.
Now comes the “hard” part, putting a new twist to Ramen Noodles and writing it all down. Essentially, I will make Ramen Noodles sexy. Don’t think I can do it? How little faith you have in me!
Look for this story to hit news stands and the web some time in mid-August.
The only thing you should worry about on vacay is what to do first, not your bags.
When by best friend told me her bags didn’t arrive at her vacay destination at the same time she did, my first question was:
“How many bags did you check?”
I won’t embarrass her by saying how many since she’ll probably read this post BUT it was way too many with way too may clothes that won’t be worn on vacation.
I am a HUGE fan of the carry on only method. Yes, I too was my bestie. I would pack a bag and always check it, paying those ridiculous checked-bag fees and waiting for it to come off the carousel at my destination.
Annoying. Why do the airlines need more of my money?
But no more, my friends! I now live by this rule: If I can’t carry it, I can’t pack it. So, how do I keep everything down to what I need?
It all started with this woman.
I fuzzy heart her. Sonia Gil is a travel vlogger and founder of Fluenz. Obviously, she knows a thing or two about traveling. I have watched her videos religiously and have used her tips to get my over packing under control. Here are some of my tips and others I’ve adopted from folks like Sonia that have proven useful.
1.) Get a good bag.
Love this bag. We’ve seen lots of places this bag and I.
Not even a good bag but an insanely great bag that will be sturdy and is the standard carry on measurements. Taking a gander at your airline’s carry on requirements will fill you in on the dimensions. For the most part, a 22 inch bag will do. I prefer the soft tops rather than the hard tops, but that’s just me. Wheels on the bottom are a must.
Also, I’m as frugal as the next gal but this is NOT where you want to save money in your travel budget. Don’t go over board on the price but don’t go so cheap that the bag falls apart on the way home either. Sonia has some great tips on what to look for.
2.) Pre-plan by outfit.
This one is also Sonia’s and it works! I did this for a recent cruise. I planned my day and night outfits for my trip concentrating on two things: 1) pieces that could be interchangeable with other outfits 2.) dresses.
The most awesomest (yes, that’s a word) thing about packing dresses is how little space that take up. They take up next to nothing in space and some can be used as a long shirt. The dress and jeans combo is awesome and really, it’s your vacation. Shouldn’t you be as comfortable as you can be?
3.) Zip lock bags are your friends
The dollar store is my best friend during packing. I purchase several sizes of zip lock bags. It makes it easy to compartmentalize some of your things like, say, underwear. (I like to stick socks in my shoes) In addition, I use these plastic marvels for those dreaded TSA liquid checks. Yes, there are nice clear sleeves to purchase but I like my ziplocks because it’s the perfect size to fit in the front pocket of my carry on, which makes it easier to take out for a check.
Ladies, if you use hair oil, I find that wrapping it in a small ziplock and THEN putting it in with your other liquids helps. It doesn’t matter how tight you close that lid or what you put over the opening to get that oil to stay, there will be some leakage. The ziplock helps keep things contained.
Also, the gallon bags are GREAT to stick in some dirty underthings and socks. And I keep my chargers in them as well. At least until I can get my hands on something else I like better.
4.) Pack for different scenarios
This one I learned the hard way. If you have more than one destination on a trip, try to pack for how you think the bag will look for each destination. For example, if you’re going to wear jeans and tennis shoes on the plane but your destination to a cruise the day after you land, then that bulky pair of jeans and tennis shoes may not fit right in your carry on. Make sure that for each leg, you know how your carry will house everything you need.
By the way, don’t forget to anticipate what you’ll bring back (souvenirs, books, etc.) too.
5.) It’s a carry on AND a purse that’s allowed.
I am a fan of NOT putting your iPad in your carry on. That’s what purses are for. I personally don’t carry one of those small, girlie purses when I travel but a tote bag. That’s where I put some of the stuff that I’m really excited about like money, passport, cell phone, camera, reading material, etc.
Though I don’t like anticipating that I’ll need the space in my tote for anything more, I use it anyway. Remember those souvenirs I told you about? What if you had a mug or something that’s easily breakable? What if you didn’t have room for that awesome present you’re hauling back for <insert friend’s name here>. That’s where you carry it. It’s also where my water bottle goes and my laptop if I bring it. Just make sure that the tote bag fits under the seat in front of you.
So, what tips do you have? Let me know in the comments below. I’m always looking for new ones!
Need more tips? Here’s another video that I’m loving lately.
Icess Fernandez Rojas 