Top Ten Signs You've Been Away from the Golf Course Too Long

With the freezing weather that has gripped most of our country for the past several weeks, many people who try to get on the golf course nearly every day have been separated from the fairway for way too long. Temperatures are finally returning to seasonal norms in many places, so perhaps it is finally time to get out the golf clubs and try to play a round. If you get through a hole or two and feel that something is not quite right, here are the top ten indicators that it has been a while since you've played:

10. You forget how to turn on the golf cart.

9. You've forgotten the meaning of “Fore,” and the grave consequences of what a ball zooming by your head means.

8. You start to experience withdrawal from the Lifetime Network movie marathon that your wife sucked you into when the weekends proved too cold to play.

7. You're missing one of the decorative club covers that proudly displays your alma mater.

6. Drinking beer at 8:30am suddenly seems to be an unappealing idea.

5. You decide to use only a couple of clubs in your bag to knock off the rust.

4. You forget the directions to the country club and instead end up on a course that contains a windmill and a giant clown face.

3. Your favorite golf shoes were still covered in mud and had clumps of grass in the cleats from the last round you played.

2. Your partner asks if you want a wedge, and you think he is threatening to do something that you haven't experienced since those awkward days in the middle school locker room.

1. When you finally get your golf ball into the hole, you throw your hands in the air and yell, "Touchdown!"

If any of these symptoms sound familiar, don't panic. Just make sure you are getting back to the golf course as often as possible to fix the problem.

All three of my published novels--Lifetime Loser, Finish Line, and Tuey's Course--take place on a golf course. And, even though they visit the club house every day, some of my characters still are guilty of the problems I listed above!

Watch for Opur's Blade later this spring!

The Alphabet Series Continues with the "Es" of Golf and Writing

It's time to take a break from focusing on the New Year's resolutions of my characters and return to the earlier series I was sharing about the similarities between playing golf and writing a novel. The more that I think about the two activities, the more I realize they have in common.

Today, I want to take a look at the "Es" of golf and writing. See if what I came up with holds true for you as well.

Editing -- When it comes to writing, this component is obvious. You should not even consider sending your manuscript to an editor unless you have had the entire work carefully reviewed by a professional editor. Even if you know your writing skills are strong, an editor will find errors that you may have overlooked. Likewise in golf, we must be willing to allow a golf pro or a peer whose skill level we trust to edit our stance, club selection, or other aspects of our game. Others can see details of our play that we simply are unable to observe in ourselves.

Excellence -- Demand this of yourself in anything that you pursue! If you are going to share your writing with the rest of the world, you should want it to be the best product possible. Once printed, your book will be associated with your name forever. If you are going to spend hours on the golf course, why would you not want to use that time to make your game great? I think it's more enjoyable to play eighteen holes when I know that I won't be hitting the ball into the rough every other swing!

Enthusiasm -- Publishing a novel and improving your golf game are both pursuits that require your passion. You quickly will grow tired of staring at a computer screen during a day of writer's block if you don't love the idea of eventually completing a meaningful book. Golfers who aren't excited by the idea of getting up at 5:30am to make tee time will find another hobby. Golfers and writers need to be emotionally invested in their efforts.

Do you agree with these examples? Do you have other "Es" to add to this list? Let me know!

Julie's Turn for New Year's Resolutions

I hope that all of you had a fun and safe start to the New Year. I've been checking out some of the blogs hosted by other writers and so many of you have shared some great resolutions for the New Year. Most of my professional goals are focused on the continued marketing of my three published novels as well as the final work needed to get my fourth book, Opur's Blade, ready for the market.

As part of multi-part character review, I am sharing what I think would be appropriate New Year's resolutions for some of my more popular characters. Today I want to reflect on the long-suffering Julie, the young woman who works in the clubhouse and deals with harassment from some of the regulars.

What are Julie's goals for 2010?

1. Find a way to get Captain Jer arrested for drunk driving. A quick phone call to the cops as he is leaving the golf course should do the trick.

2. Complete her education and come back to Prairie Winds as a wealthy and successful business woman to play her own round of golf.

3. Set up a running loop of audio tapes about sexual harassment to play in the men's bathroom.

4. Volunteer to teach basic accounting skills to women who live at the nearby homeless shelter.

5. Get into a stable relationship with an intelligent guy who knows how to treat a woman well.

I think Julie will be in great shape if she reaches these goals this year.

For those of you who have gotten to know Julie through the pages of my three books--Lifetime Loser, Finish Line, and Tuey's Course--what do you think? Are there other aspirations Julie should have that I'm forgetting? Let me know!

Even My Characters Make New Year’s Resolutions

Today marks the last day of 2009 and many of you will be celebrating the start of the New Year with friends and family tonight. I hope that everyone has a safe and fun holiday! In addition to champagne toasts and the singing of Auld Lang Syne, there will be millions of people across the country who will decide with determination that 2010 will be the year that they actually keep their resolutions. And, most of those promises will be broken by Valentine’s Day.

I thought it would be fun to imagine what the New Year’s resolutions might be for a few of the characters I feature in my three novels—Lifetime Loser, Finish Line, and Tuey’s Course. So, over the next couple of weeks, I will share those lists with you.

I’ll start with Justin Ventimiglia, one of the two teenage boys featured in Finish Line. Justin and his friend Keith are sent to work at the Prairie Winds Golf Course after vandalizing a neighbor’s house. During their summer maintaining the greens and golf carts, the two boys learn a lot about the importance of a good work ethic, perseverance, and appreciation for life.

I think Justin would have the following resolutions:

1. Volunteer at the local children’s hospital to spend time with children who have cancer, in honor of his mentor Curt.

2. Get better grades in school so that he is able to get an academic scholarship to college and relieve some financial stress from his mom.

3. Take some golf lessons so that he can join the guys on the course when he’s not working.

4. Find a cute girlfriend! (He is a teenage boy, after all!)

Do these look like good resolutions for Justin? Any others that you would like to add to the list? Also, let me know if there are other characters from my books that that you would like to see featured in the “New Year’s Resolution” series.

Who Should Bring My Characters to the Big Screen?

Most writers do not sit down at the keyboard to write a novel with visions of an Academy-award winning movie already running through their heads. If that was the case, I am sure their focus would be on writing screenplays instead of books. However, most authors may admit to the fact that they have allowed their minds to wander once in a while as they create the perfect Hollywood cast for their latest work.

There is now a website that allows these daydreams to be shared with others, and for fans of a book to offer their suggestions as well--StoryCasting.com. Through this site, visitors can select a novel and share their own ideas for who would make the perfect actors to bring the words to life on the big screen.

I have registered all three of my novels--Lifetime Loser, Finish Line, and Tuey's Course--with Story Casting and shared my thoughts on who should be cast in the lead roles, as well as my ideas for some of the supporting characters.

What do you think about Matthew McConaughey as JDub?

How about Sandra Bullock as Julie?

If you have read any or all of my books, I would love to know who you envision taking on some of the characters that I've created. It's interesting to discover how the same words in a book can create such different images for readers.

Who knows? You may find that your ideas may lead to a script for one of my books finding its way to the desk of Robert DeNiro, Julia Roberts, or one of those Twilight guys!

Government Gets Involved in Christmas

In my third novel, Tuey's Course, I introduce readers to the character of WeWildapheet Ulisees O'Tweety, a man who is better known as Tuey. When pitted against the power-hungry members of the local government, Tuey finds that his efforts to run his small business are thwarted at every turn. As the book reaches its conclusion, the readers will find that Tuey will go to great lengths to achieve the justice he believes he deserves from the officials at city hall.

How many of you have been frustrated with a local law that did not seem to serve any purpose other than to inconvenience those affected by it? I have written about some examples of such laws on this blog before. I decided to revisit the idea with a focus on our current holiday season. I did some research to find any ordinances that are associated with Christmas. Not surprisingly, elected officials from across our country have put restrictions on how we choose to celebrate.

Who remembers when the small town of Kensington, Maryland made national news for banning Santa from the annual tree-lighting ceremony? When the popular figure was deemed too religious by the city council, dozens of people dressed as St. Nick and showed up to make quite the visual statement.

Earlier this year, a federal Court of Appeals heard a case about a Philadelphia school district's decision to ban Christmas carols, even when the music was played without words.

Two years ago, a task force in Fort Collins, Colorado recommended that red and green lights be banned because the colors have too much of a religious undertone. Instead, only white lights placed on secular objects would be allowed.

Every year around this time, we read about the battles that are occurring in city halls across the country. Should there be a Christmas tree or a holiday tree? What about wreaths hanging off the front of cars? Can a nativity scene be displayed on public property?

Are any of these debates taking place in your town? What do you think about this level of government involvement? I hope you will share your thoughts on this controversial topic.

Is It More Difficult for Famous Athletes to Be Faithful?

One post about the Tiger Woods car accident and resulting admission of infidelity has been written here on this blog. The details that continue to be released surrounding his home life have prompted more thoughts about the connection between being a superstar athlete and a devoted husband and father. Can these roles all co-exist? All too often, we see these men who believe themselves to be superhuman to be consumed by the attention and the praise and decide that the expectations placed on "regular men" do not apply to them. Here are just a few examples:

Alex Rodriguez -- His wife filed for divorce in 2008 after years of rumors about affairs, including one with Madonna. Rodriguez's flirtations and interactions with other women were well-documented.

Michael Jordan -- He admitted to a series of extramarital affairs, before divorcing his wife of seventeen years in 2007. At the time, it was determined to be the most expensive divorce in entertainment history. (Mel Gibson has since topped that figure.)

Steve McNair -- In this tragic story, the former quarterback for the Tennessee Titans was shot by his mistress before she turned the gun on herself. McNair's wife insisted she knew nothing of the affair until after her husband's death.

In my three published books--Lifetime Loser, Finish Line, and Tuey's Course--I feature men who play golf at a variety of skill levels. While one man falls a single swing short of making the
PGA Tour, another sees golf as a hobby to accompany his drinking. Regardless of their athletic prowess, they have serious struggles in their personal relationships. Let's face it. Whether you are famous or a world-class athlete, maintaining a strong relationship with a partner is hard work.

What do you think? Are athletes and other personalities who are admired for their strength and power more likely to be unfaithful spouses? Is it the money? The fame? The opportunities? The media? Share your thoughts!