First, we have one of the choppers. They were in it from the beginning, scooping water out of nearby bodies of water and dropping it on the fire.
This is the C130, our Great Hope during the fire. When they arrived from out of state, we thought our savior was here. While I'm sure they helped quite a bit, they didn't turn out to be the magic we'd hoped.
Pretty cool looking, isn't it? These planes managed to make it look like it was finally time to wage war on the Waldo Canyon Fire.
And this was the original plane before the C130's arrived. It's the one that reminded me of the movie "Always." These guys were working so hard, but didn't get all the glory the C130's did.
Now for the links:
Blog Hops-
Alex J. Cavanaugh introduced the theme of his September Blog Fest: Genre Favorites mixed with a little Guilty Pleasure. Sounds fun!
M. Pax, Laura Eno, Brinda Berry and Ciara Knight will be hosting the What's Your Chocolate Blog Fest September 10. Mmmm, chocolate.
Random Fun/Interesting Stuff-
BuzzFeed posted 30 Indispensable Writing Tips From Famous Authors. There's some good in stuff in there!
Cracked.com posted The 6 Most Certifiably Insane Acts of Writing. Think you're having a rough go of it? Check these out.
Intership-
Carly Watters shared an internship with P.S. Literary Agency.
Open for Submissions-
Pugnacious Press is taking submissions for their YA Steampunk anthology Real Girls Don't Rust. (It's true, we don't)
Musa Publishing will be closing to romance and speculative fiction submissions on September 1.
Anything to share? Like airplanes? What has been your most certifiably insane act of writing? What's your favorite writing tip from a famous author?
May you find your Muse.
21 comments:
Impressive plane shots!
Thanks for mentioning my Genre Favorites blogfest!
The planes are cool! I've always loved planes. The affair started when I was 4.
And the only thing I have to share is that I posted a couple free reads to download on your e-reader today.
Hugs,
Shelly
Those pictures conjure both sadness and hope at the same time. I'm so glad that fire's over, but I'm sure it will remain forever a part of your history!
Being in the middle of the burn area, how is their school?
C-130s can carry a whole lake, right? And they didn't manage to put out the fire? Lame... :P
I am joking there... just to be clear.
i love those plane shots!
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
Those planes are a sight for sure. My excitement is tempered by the fact that you are i the middle of those fires. Sending thoughts and prayers your way.
Those planes are life savers! Here in So. Calif. those planes and their crew have been invaluable in fire fighting.
Hope you all are safe for a while.
Best advice from a writer: "Mom, you should have a writer's blog. I will set it up for you..."
I'd like to think that every piece of writing I churn out qualifies somewhere in the realm of certifiably insane. If not, then what's the point?
Hopefully, though, I don't suffer a stroke and have to type my next novel with my eyelid.
Also, it was great seeing you last night at the Write Brain... even if I didn't get much of a chance to say hi, what with Mr. I Don't Get It coming in last minute and asking for the whole presentation regurgitated in 5 minutes. But thanks for coming! I hope our ramblings were even mildly valuable.
Alex, no problem! I also changed it to Genre Favorites in my post, because I'd put Guilty Pleasures only.
Shelly, sounds good to me! Do you go to air shows?
J.A., I'm quite certain it will stick with us for a long time to come, but good came out of it, too, in the form of community and education.
Andrew, of course you don't have to explain; I speak fluent smart aleck. The school sustained smoke damage, but they were able to get everything cleaned up and repaired in time for school to start (they briefly spoke of a possible delay in the start of the school year, but it was unnecessary). There are still some burnt spots in the field north of it, but they're greening up and it was hard to tell that's what it was.
Nutschell, thanks!
Melissa, happily, the fire is out, I think. Funny how I have no idea since they sort of stopped covering it. A friend claimed she saw a puff of smoke from what was the last area burning, but I didn't see it for myself.
Susan, haha, good advice! Our problem with the planes was that high winds grounded them fairly soon after they got here. So, here we had these miracle planes, but were unable to use them. It was one of those hurricane force winds that brought the fire into the residential area, in fact.
Bryan, probably you've got that certifiably insane thing down, so no worries. I'm not sure I'd have the fortitude to write with my eyelid. Instead, I'd keep my eye closed and give everyone the silent treatment. Great to see you, too! Yeah, there were some interesting folks there last night. Sorry I didn't get a chance to chat, but you were in deep conversation and all that jazz.
Such great pictures, especially the helicopter one.
Been seeing a lot of those planes around here lately. It's been a busy fire season so far.
Thanks for mentioning the chocolate fest. :)
The planes are cool, too bad for the reason they're needed. I know a number of local firefighters have been rotating out west to fight the fires.
Have joined Alex's and MPax & group's blogfests.
I like those movies with the old airplanes in them, but that doesn't mean I'd want to be in one of those old airplanes. . .
Looking forward to your travel photos.
How did you come out when the planes were done? Hope all is well with you Shannon. I have some friends who live in CO that fortunately survived it all intact.
I've seen those slurry planes and water choppers at work before. I'm glad you and your family are safe.
Great pics. I hadn't even thought about the role played by planes in fighting the fires.
I love airplanes and would love to learn how to fly them.
Never experienced such a huge fire, but we've had some big ones on the farm that used to be my home. And now I live in the Cape in South Africa, where the plant life acts like kindling to anything, even an almost stubbed cigarette bud. So I have a special place in my heart for people who fight fires like the Waldo canyon fire.
Insane writing? When I was in college I took a hallucinogenic drug with the intent of writing an epic poem. Actually through the handwriting was pretty bad I could still read it. However the quality of the writing content was pretty bad and at times downright stupid. I thought the drug was going to give me incredible insight and help me write something masterful--not.
Lee
Wrote By Rote
Cherie, thanks! The helicopters were pretty cool.
Mary, I'm glad I missed it out there! I could still see where it burned in the Columbia River Gorge years ago when we were driving through. That was freaky!
Susan, we had so many visiting fire fighters, and they were all appreciated! My cousin's boyfriend is one of those who travel to all the different fires, and he sends her some crazy photos.
D.G., indeed. Those old planes are so cool, but scary.
Chuck, I'm glad your friends came through okay! We're fine here. House is great.
Carol, even when you're in the midst of it, it is fascinating to watch those planes.
Nick, they were a constant factor during most days unless the wind was too great. It was amazing to watch, like bees around a hive.
Misha, scary! Stay safe there. My hubby got to learn how to fly in high school (our high school actually had a flight class). I guess there are some good things about going to high school on the Air Force Academy.
Lee, best story, so far! Were you inspired to try that by anything in particular?
My inspiration for the drug/writing experiment came from stuff I'd read about Aldous Huxley, Carlos Castaneda, and others. It kind of a thing of the times too I guess. If the drugs were helping their writing then they must have been taking something better than I took.
Lee
Wrote By Rote
Lee, I can see that. I remember reading about people like Edgar Allan Poe and Hemingway using drugs and/or alcohol. Makes you wonder if they're onto something or if they'd be talented writers either way (I'm sure they would, though I'm not actually a Hemingway fan - can't dispute his popularity, though).
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