Our Holiday Traditions…

I Like This Time of Year…

Over the years here in Las Vegas, Kris and I have developed some really fun holiday traditions. We start off the holiday season with the Glittering Run 5K charity event, walking and running 5K through a billion holiday lights. That is always before Thanksgiving, but a great start. This year I walked it while enjoying all the families around me, but also an amazing cup of hot chocolate.

Then around the first of December we go to storage and dig out all the holiday decorations. We did that last night and we now have stunning holiday pillows and a holiday blanket from the HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR store decorating our living room. Kris got all those out today, plus two small trees for our two tables on the main floor. Place looks downright festive.

And in the next few days we will put up the big Christmas tree that can be seen in our window for a good half mile. That is the final touch of decorations in the condo.

At this same time, I am watching late at night, when I want my brain to shut down, fun Lifetime Holiday movies. Kris thinks they are too basic to watch. I like that element.

But the real capper on our ramping into the holiday season is coming this Saturday when four or five thousand crazy humans all dress in identical Santa suits and do a 5K charity run for a homeless shelter here in town. That is just so damn silly and fun.

And a perfect way to be fully into the holiday season.

On Sunday I will have pictures, of course, and Kris will have a bunch on her Facebook page. Stay tuned.

DIE HARD THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE…

Thank you to those of you who took a chance and signed up ahead of time. All the videos, the entire three hours or more, will be on Teachable on the 14th.

So this weekend, Kris and I will once again be watching Die Hard with our notebooks out and taking notes of what we want to talk about.  Got a hunch after the last twenty plus years of learning, what we talk about this time will be slightly different from what we did back in the day. We will have it broken up into eight minute segments. No assignments or anything like that. Just a ton of learning.

Trust me, it will be an eye-opener and jump your writing forward more than you can imagine.

Here is the basic description of the course for those who want to jump in…

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For over three hours, Kris and Dean will go scene-by-scene through Die Hard: The Christmas Movie.

Die Hard is a fantastic way to learn story. Detail by detail on how to build a story, from openings to try/fails to climax and validation.

Also the movie is great for learning pacing. And fantastic for information flow.

And for building great characters, both main characters and secondary characters.

Extreme depth, great foreshadowing, action sequences, cliffhangers, and so much more. Die Hard has it all.

Kris and Dean will go over the movie, stopping and starting it and talking about each area of the movie as they go and how and why you would do that in your writing.

Fantastic Amounts of Learning for Only $50 on WMG Teachable.

Price will go to $75 after the 14th. Questions, just write me directly or ask here in the comments.

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DECEMBER REGULAR WORKSHOPS HAVE STARTED

They are…

• Writing into the Dark
• Teams in Fiction
• Depth in Writing
• Advanced Depth
• Killing the Critical Voice

And for one month only

• Applied Depth

Applied Depth is a classic workshop that for one month you can get direct assignments from me as a regular workshop. They are all starting right now…

on WMG Teachable

THE GOLF RESULTS…

Professional writer Ron Collins and I walked the 1.5 miles today to a modern driving range called Atomic Golf. As best as I can figure, it has been over 12-14 years since I hit a golf ball.

One of the things that kept me going during the nine months of physical therapy for my new titanium shoulder was the idea of being able to once again hit a golf ball. Also, I had no idea what my new limited vision would allow, plus the 20 extra pounds I have packed onto my stomach area at the moment. Plus I am now 74. Huge difference between that and 60 when I last played a little golf.

So off we went. It was great fun. A beautiful day here in the desert.

Below is the result. Sort of looks like my old swing, sort of. Only really shortened and tight. That will loosen with time. But for first time out, I am surprised and happy with the result, although I must admit my shoulder is sore tonight.

Physical therapy challenge met. Yay!

https://youtube.com/shorts/3f14lvs-5tg