Tag: imported from old blog

Writing

Another Rejection Letter

Chrys Buckley

rejectionletterimagesAbout a month ago, I sent out a short story of mine called “Dark As Roses” to Realms of Fantasy. The story isn’t all that fantastical. It’s mainly about regular people and events, but the main character has the ability to see colors around people depending on their moods, and the core of the story is her struggle to either run from her ability and the complications that come with it, or to embrace it and find a way to live with it. I guess the term for that kind of story is “magical realism,” or at least, that’s what I’ve heard.

Well, today I had it returned with a form rejection slip paper-clipped to the manuscript. It’s frustrating, but it’s so common in a way, to myself and to all writers at some point, that I don’t even feel that disappointed. Or, at least not yet. Sometimes it’s like I have a time-delay reaction to things.

One thing that gives me reassurance is yesterday I read an interview with Janet Fitch, author of White Oleander, probably my favorite book EVER, and she wrote about getting rejected for years, and how when she got accepted somewhere, she had a party and papered the walls with her old rejection letters. So, it happens to all of us.

As they say the only thing to do is to keep trying, so I think I’ll go back to working on rewriting my book manuscript.

~Chrys

Currently listening:
“Angels of the Silences” – Counting Crows

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Metaphysics

Cards, Signs, and Numbers

Chrys Buckley

Ultraculture1_coverAlong with being a writer and a music freak, I am also a tarot card reader, astrologer and numerologist, so I thought I’d take a little time and write about these things.

It’s funny, I believe in these metaphysicals and my own intuition when using them. I feel I have a pretty keen psychic sensibility (really, I think everyone does, to varying degrees), and have used these vehicles to harness that potential. There are times I know things beyond the basics of what a card or birth chart might indicate. In fact, especially with tarot, which I feel is my strongest of the three modes, I’d say that pretty much always happens. I get a sense of something beyond just the card, or because of the cards, I feel something in my own emotional field that is more than just the picture on the six of wands, for example. Also with tarot, the cards can be interpreted differently in different situations, so I feel there is something else at work there, some gut instinct, along with knowing the cards really well.

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Metaphysics

Tarot

Chrys Buckley

thothimagesA card reading can focus on a specific question (like, what’s the forecast for my relationship with my dreamy lover? Or, what’s the best way to approach the situation with my evil boss? Or, I can’t decide whether to move or stay where I’m at, what might come up with either possibility?), or they can give a general outlook.

The great thing about tarot is there are soooo many different spreads, so I can tailor mine to each individual seeker’s needs. If they want a light reading, a three-card quickie spread can usually do it, and there are vast and varied readings for those looking for more in-depth insight. There are spreads that specifically look at health and disease, financial situations, should I or shouldn’t I options, relationships, luck.

There’s a “flying bird” spread that’s great for anyone taking a leap, whether it’s starting a new business or artistic project, or contemplating any bold move. There’s a High Priestess reading (with a hidden card) that indicates what path a person is on. There are couples’ readings at all levels (from a few cards to a lot of cards, depending on the level of information a person wants). There’s a short diamond spread and a longer Celtic Cross (and a few others) that give a general overview of what’s going on, why, and where it’s going. There’s a Golden Dawn reading that looks at more than one possible path, and in depth at what a person is contributing themselves, and what’s coming from the outside world. There are all kinds of readings to look at a person’s overall strengths and weaknesses, or their overall nature and core issues.

I often think of tarot as a way to organize and look at possibilities and trends in a person’s life. Usually the outcome isn’t that surprising to the person asking the question, but (at least I hope) it’s a lot more clear and focused.

~Chrys

Currently Listening:
“All Night Thing” – Temple of the Dog

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Metaphysics

Astrology

Chrys Buckley

2959402746_9dc1cb85fcIn chart readings, I look at the position of all the planets at the time of a person’s birth, which makes up a person’s birthchart. Some “planets” (in quotes because a few aren’t technically, scientifically planets, but are referred to that way in astrology) have more of an influence than others, like the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars. Once you get to the bigger aand more distant planets (which move more and more slowly through the signs), I tend to think their influence in a person’s chart is less.

Another interesting thing to look at is the ascendant, or rising sign, which I think of as the secondary Sun sign in a way. For those who aren’t familiar with astrology and its terms, whatever sign you look up in the newspaper to check a simple horoscope is your Sun sign. So, if some guy comes up to me and says, “hey baby, what’s your sign?” and I answer that it’s Aquarius, that’s a Sun sign.

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Metaphysics

Numerology

Chrys Buckley

numerologyIn numerology, I look at a person’s birthday, their birth name, and any changed names they might have. The numbers in these indicate again, tendencies in a person, what’s emphasized in their lives, what they’re working on and what would help with their personal growth. Sometimes a person can look at how different possible changed names would draw out some elements and downplay others.

I have a client who felt so overburdenened and overworked, and not surprisingly, all her numbers were about work and responsibility. She was considering whether to go by her full name, her first and last, or her middle and last, for her art career. After studying the numbers in each, I found that one of the possibilities had a lot more emphasis on creativity, art and fun. There is also a personal year, indicating what the theme of that person’s year will be. They go in a cycle of nine different personal years. Then there’s a pinnacle, which says what the overall focus of that nine-year cycle is.

One cool thing I like to do with numerology readings (which, I have to say, I really just love, because I love numbers), is that with the birthday numbers, there are corresponding tarot cards that indicate a person’s soul purpose, life purpose, and shadow/teacher element. I especially love that last one, and have found it to be tremendously insightful. I love combining the cards with the numbers, because it gives a visual, and a depth to the numerology reading.

~Chrys

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Music

"Lateralus" by TOOL (Song of the Week)

Chrys Buckley

(This is a re-post from my old MySpace blog)

lateralusimagesWhile visiting the east coast a week or so ago, and listening to music on the long journey there and back, I started thinking about the songs on my discman (yes I still have one of thsoe and no MP3 player or iPod yet) and all the different meanings they have for me, the memories, the thoughts on the lyrics, the favorite lines, and somehow out of that I had the idea to do a weekly blog about a song, any song. Music is already so woven into my writing, and it’s like I always want to isolate the most meaninful lyrics, somehow convey to other people what it means to me as if could just sort of import it somehow. That isn’t exactly possible, but I thought doing this might help expand it.

So, the song on my iTunes at this minute, and the first Song of the Week is:

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Writing

Sept. 15, 2007 – Target Date

Chrys Buckley

Writing-is-a-Struggle_2650-x-1600_1920x1200So, my friend Linda and I have set Sept. 15 as the target date to finish our manuscripts. She’s writing a really awesome novel with immensely compelling characters and gorgeous prose. I’ve read a few earlier versions and have seen her novel evolve and grow stronger, more immediate and more specific. I have supreme faith that hers will be polished and perfected by our due date.

I’m a little less sure about my own, and maybe it’s simply because it’s my own. I worry that it isn’t compelling enough, that characters aren’t distinct enough, that people won’t relate, and the like. I suppose everyone worries that about their own work, and maybe it’s a good thing to be concerned with these things, because I’ll be conscious of them in the back of my mind at least, during revisions.

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Writing

For the Uninitiated (On Publishing)

Chrys Buckley

Note: This post is a bit outdated, but still.

publishingimagesNot that I’m particularly initiated myself, but it did occur to me today as I told people about my awesome weekend, that a lot of people who aren’t writers and aren’t in the publishing business don’t really know how it works, just as there are plenty of lin es of business that I’m clueless about. People who knew I went to the conference this weekend asked me things like, “Do you have an agent?” and “Did you sell your book?”

Well, it doesn’t really work that way. So I thought I’d try to give a little idea of how I *think* it all works, from what I’ve read, learned in classes and workshops or otherwise gleamed from other writers. I am certainly not any sort of expert.

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Blindness and Disability, Music, Writing

A rough sketch of my book – Moonchild: A Memoir of Albinism

Chrys Buckley

moonchildimagesNote: This description can also be found on the Personal Essay and Memoir page.

I am albino. Albinism is a recessive genetic condition that means my skin and hair are white, and I’m legally blind. After a sheltered and chaotic childhood, during which I worried that my parents would murder me in my sleep, I felt more different on the inside than I am on the outside. I lost (and found) myself in alternative rock music and counted down the days until I could escape to college. I felt eclipsed.

Moonchild: A Memoir of Albinism details my freshman year at college. As I dealt with finding my way around college, I had intense social anxiety. I didn’t know how to talk about albinism with people, so I didn’t. I was at school on a creative writing scholarship, and I had writer’s block as big as the Great Pyramid of Giza. I wasn’t even sure if I felt anymore. The eclipse deepened.

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Writing

An Amazingly Awesome Weekend

Chrys Buckley

pnwaindexThis past weekend I went to the Pacific Northwest Writers Association (PNWA) conference. It was incredible.

Let’s get the one tiny bit of bad news out of the way first. When I got home and checked my email, the first one I had was a rejection email from an agent. Months ago I went to a public reading and read the first chapter of my book, and someone I met there passed my name along to an agent, and so I sent in that same first chapter to that agent, who decided to pass on asking to see more. She wrote me a nice, personal note on my submission though. From what I’ve heard, it’s definitely a good sign to get personalized rejections.

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