Friday Fun Facts: A New Zodiac?

Did you see the latest article about the zodiac signs changing? According to the change in the Earth's rotation, I would apparently no longer be a Sagittarius (what??!) but now an Ophiuchus:

According to astrological principles, the Sun travels from the constellation Scorpius and goes directly into the sign of Sagittarius, but due to the constant motion of the cosmos, the Sun enters, for a few days of the year, the star constellation 'Ophiuchus' before entering Sagittarius from Scorpius, thus creating astrologically the birth of a thirteenth sign of the Zodiac, which is named as Ophiuchus the Serpent Holder.

The constellation of Ophiuchus is the only sign of the Zodiac which is linked to a real man. This man lived in ancient Egypt around the 27th century BC, and his name was Imhotep. The attributes of Imhotep can also be found in the Biblical Hebrew man Joseph, son of Jacob.. Imhotep is credited with many accomplishments including the knowledge and use of medicine. It is said of Imhotep that he brought the art of healing to mankind.The symbol of a serpent, which is still widely used today to represent the medical profession, was used to represent Imhotep. Imhotep was also known as 'Aesclepius' to the ancient Greeks.

I'm not sure what to make of this news. You?

Writers' Wednesday: Staying Warm and Watching the Snow

Snow day! That means another day of writing for me (well, in addition to finally taking down the rest of the holiday decorations and doing a little cleaning as well).



Making progress on Entwined, which includes adding a brand new character. I kind of hate doing that, only because it requires going back to the start, but I realized I really think my heroine needs a friend/confidante, so she's getting one.



In other news, check out this website for motivation from fellow authors about staying healthy: The Healthy Writer.



And I wanted to give a shout out to fellow HVRWA member Wendy Marcus, whose debut novel When One Night Isn't Enough... (a medical romance to Harlequin Mills and Boon) is featured in the "First Sales" column of the Romance Writers' Report. Congrats Wendy!!

Monday Mentionables: Write for the One-Inch Picture Frame

Another really good piece of advice from Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, a great little writing book I'm reading now:

The moment you feel overwhelmed by writing a scene or a chapter or - good lord - an entire book, tell yourself that all you have to write at that moment is enough words to view through a one-inch picture frame. This is probably equivalent to the first moment we meet a character, opening a door and walking through it, or a few lines of dialogue between a man and a woman thinking about breaking up, or a lonely dog looking in the windows on a cold night. You get the idea. It's a snippet. A step. That's all you have to do, just enough to fill a one-inch frame.

Lamott writes, "You don't have to see where you're going, you don't have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way. You just have to see two or three feet ahead of you. This is right up there with the best advice about writing, or life, I have ever heard."

So soldier on, and keep this in mind when you're feeling overwhelmed at that keyboard. One inch at a time. That's all. Happy writing!