Monday’s Austria Scoop ~ @oddlynn3 #LynnCrain #AWriterInVienna #PCers

Harpist at Schottentor

Hi Everyone!

Okay…another late post…but yesterday was my birthday and I decided to lounge an extra day. That means I did absolutely nothing but walking around, trying new things, drinking beer at a pub and having a glorious couple of days. But enough about me…that’s not what you come to the Monday column to see…you want to know all about Austria. So, one with the show!

This week has been interesting in a variety of ways. We’ll start first with the weather as that seems the easiest to think about. LOL! Yeah, one of those weeks. Before we even get there, notice I’m not really late as noted in my explanation. If you’re wondering why, tune in tomorrow as it all has to do with my so-called writing live.

Now, back to the weather. We have gone from hot and humid to cold and humid. Matter-of-fact, last night I should have worn a coat. At least at the beginning of my walk but I only wore a sweater. It doesn’t matter that I peeled it off in the last 1000 steps, the fact is I had it on. That to me is so very, very weird. If your own personal experience tells you that something isn’t up with the weather, you haven’t been paying attention.

Closeup of Harpist

Everyone here in Austria says that the weather has changed since they were kids here. I know that I say the same about Nevada. My kids have been complaining about the humidity there. And with 110 degree temps, I don’t blame them. When I was a kid there, we always had blue, blue skies. In the years before I moved here, and the times I’ve visited in the summer these past few years, there are more and more clouds in the sky. Meaning it’s more humid. At 110, a person has a hard time tolerating 25% humidity as well as the heat. It’s just not good for you.

Still, even with weird weather, I did get out and about this week. I think I’ve mentioned my spa that I go to. If I didn’t, here’s my plug for them. They are called Aisawan and are in the heart of the city. They are on a street literally behind Stephansdom or the huge church at the city center. They are also in a building that was once part of the old city. Meaning, they dug out the basement and are located in the ruins from probably the 1200s. Lots of the shops and places take advantage of what’s under them in that area. For a spa, it makes it lovely as it’s cool and mostly quite below street level. Since other spots around them are being excavated too, you can sometimes hear that noise but it still makes no difference as the environment is so relaxing you just don’t care. And if you want to see what it looks like, I couldn’t take better pictures, so I’m sending you to their website here: http://www.aisawanspa.at/

One thing we did this week, and it was associated with my birthday, was to take a Strassenbahn line and ride it to the end. Now we already knew where a few started and stopped. Like the D that runs our street ends at Beethovengang and starts at the Hauptbahnhof right up the street from us. We noticed this week, theirs is going to be a new end place past the Hauptbahnhof soon. Anyway, we picked a line we knew a little about and definitely knew where it started. There are a bunch from a place called Schottentor or Scottish Gate, so we started there.

We decided to take the 43 and see where it ended. We’d been on part of this line before as our doctors are located about 4 stops in. This time, we went past that and got into the foothills. We past a lovely looking vineyard and finally stopped. Getting out, we found a wonderful little restaurant and continued walking up the small trail. It looked like a very nice place but we had to abandon the walk because it started to rain and we didn’t have rain gear. So back in the train we go.

We go all the way back to Schottentor and decide to take a 41. While it didn’t end up in a great place, the architecture that we saw on the way was fantastic. There were some art-deco buildings, some pre-WWI buildings and everything in between. We also saw a few buildings from the mid-1800s like ours is. Because these were far away from the city center, a few of them survived WWII. My husband and I hope to again go on these adventures to see where the line will lead us.

The pictures this week are simple and there are just three. Two are of a harpist I’ve seen quite a lot at the Schottentor Strassenbahn station. Quite frequently, you will have musicians setting up shop in a variety of places. Most of them are professionals and have applied as well as received a permit to play in public. While it all seems impromptu, many times it has been planned in advance so that there is no overlap of the pros. I don’t know how they do it but I do know that I find it fascinating they can work it out somehow.

Pup Harry and the DH in front of Karlskirche

The last picture is of my husband and Pup Harry on one of our many night walks. The church in the background is Karlskirche and is one of the most interesting churches in the area. We went to a concert once when my husband’s parents were here. The acoustics aren’t the greatest but the church itself is awesome with some great frescos throughout.

Hope you enjoyed this little look into Austria and beyond. See you all next week!

Lynn 

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes, it’s my birthday and I’m one day older. When I was a kid growing up, all I could think about was that my birthday was on the longest day of the year. I had extra hours of daylight to do my thing. In Ohio, my thing was running with my friends until my parents called me into the house. In Nevada, in high school, it was swimming or a host of other things to celebrate the day.

As I’ve gotten older, the day has been spent with a quite dinner, a trip here or there or like this year, a day of writing. Tonight I have my critique group and I wouldn’t miss it for the world. It’s one of those simple pleasures in life.

I can hear you all now...what? a critique group a simple pleasure...LOL! It is for me. I love being with fellow writers and I love learning new things about my writing. Critiques can be painful but productive. And everyone needs to make themselves and their writing better.

So what makes today so special? Besides being my birthday. LOL!

Today is Summer Solstice...the longest day of the year...and it has a lot of historical value. Here are just a few of the facts about this very special day:

A solstice is an astronomical event and happens twice a year, once in winter (December 21) and once in summer (June 21). It happens when the tilt of the earth is most inclined toward or away from the sun. Both solstices as well as the equinoxes are connected to the seasons.

Pagans called the Midsummer moon a ‘honey moon’ for the mead made from the fermented honey that was part of the many wedding ceremonies performed at the Summer Soltice.

Ancient Pagans celebrated Midsummer with different celebrations. One was a bonfire where couples would leap through the flames, believing their crops would grow as high as the couple could jump. (I guess Michael Jordon would have had stellar crops...LOL!)

Midsummer was considered to be a time of magic when all sorts of evil spirits would arise to the occasion. To ward off these spirits, the ancient Pagans wore protective garlands of herbs and flowers. One of them was a plant in use today, St. John’s Wort, and it was considered the most powerful of fall.

The word solstice is derived from the Latin words sol + stice, which mean sun and to stand still. As the day lengthens, the sun seems to stand still in the sky at its highest point.

Along with Summer Solstice having the longest day, it also has the shortest night. Remember this only happens in the Northern Hemisphere. The Southern Hemisphere has their longest day in December.

Wiccans call the Summer Solstice the sabbat of Litha.

Civilizations have been celebrating this day for millenia. The biggest gathering in current times is in held at Stonehenge and starts at sunrise for a day of celebration and learning.

The Celts and the Slavs celebrated this day with dancing and bonfires to help increase the sun’s energy. The Chinese marked the day by honoring Li, the Chinese Goddess of Light. The Druids had a celebration which they considered the wedding of Heaven and Earth and this resulted in today’s belief that June is a lucky wedding month.

Now tell me what you all know about Summer Solstice. Just being born on a great day doesn’t mean I know everything there is!

I look forward to hearing from you all!

Lynn

Drunk On Writing

As my birthday approaches, I started thinking about just why I love writing and the best answer is it is the only thing that has kept my attention for over forty years. I started writing when I was a little girl with little poems and the moment one was published, I knew I had found something, which excited me.

When I was twelve, I started the great American novel fashioned after my all time favorite at the time, Gone With The Wind. I just knew if I could get it all together, I would have the best Civil War romance ever. Thank goodness, that book and all its iterations have remained hidden for years. Not that I haven’t thought about it, I have but I’ve also matured enough to realize it will never seen the light of day.

In all honesty, it shouldn’t. A lot of my work shouldn’t see the light of day because it never goes past the idea stage. Some actually get a little further but the moment I lose interest, I need to move on elsewhere. Again, some I actually get back to and some never. But I know these foibles about myself and accept them to a point.

You may wonder why I don’t accept them and me totally. Well, if I did more than acknowledge them, there would be a chance they would overwhelm me and I would have more than a handful of uncompleted work. Right now, that handful is okay. Anymore and I would doubt my ability to write or ever complete a project.

Another thing that I discovered in my twenties was the importance of writer meetings. I discovered this with my very first RWA national convention in Dallas and I never looked back. Matter of fact, yes I’m using a cliché, I am preparing to go to one today. Today’s meeting is all about synopsis writing and one can never learn enough about this craft.

Writers meetings can keep one actively thinking about writing. It can recharge you when the well is drying up and ideas aren’t coming as easily as they used to come. These meetings are always motivating in some was as you will always learn something new and different while there. From a new writer being published to a multi-published one finding a new niche, there will be something for you.

When I found today’s comment, I also knew I had found today’s subject:

You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. ~Ray Bradbury

Is this a wonderful quote? Writers must stay drunk on writing, not just so reality won’t destroy you but so you can keep focused on the task at hand. A writer must always love writing even when they don’t like it. They must forge ahead even when it seems the book or work will never be done. They must continue to fulfill their destiny every day or we won’t have all those wonderful books to read.

See you tomorrow...have a great one!

Lynn

The Cat Herders

Okay, I’ve heard many times dealing with writers is like herding cats. Over the years, I’ve realized this is so, so true. Writers are truly the creative ilk of the universe. They live in their own little worlds then they do what they feel is pertinent for their life and their career regardless of the real impact. We all know cats are truly only out for themselves.

As I turn 52 on the 21st, yes I really am that old, I can see the big picture and can’t say that this is true of every writer. There are those out there with hearts of gold and a true desire to help their fellow writers. I should know as I’ve been helped by a few in my lifetime. For this I am forever grateful. But to get those fellow writers to agree on a subject, that’s a special art unto itself.

Writers can’t agree most of the time because they have been alone on this journey for so long, they don’t know how to be part of a group at the moment they are finished with a project or even in the middle of it. But by the same token, once said project is done and to the editor, they can’t wait to flock together to share their experience.

Every writer has more than one thing in common with another. Some more than others and those will be able to form close bonds which tie them to the other author for whatever reason. Those who are able to put all things aside will form critique groups and writer groups because of their need to learn more and if nothing else, to share the experience.

Here are two videos which I think you’ll see shows this subject quite well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk7yqlTMvp8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gppbrYIcR80

I hope those picked up your spirits...they did mine.

Now, the quote of the day is:

Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. ~William Wordsworth

Isn’t this the truth? As romance writers, we definitely need to fill our pages with our heart. Our heart is where it’s at and we can come up with those HEAs.

Happy writing and reading!

See you all tomorrow!

Lynn