Emma Khoury

The Thanksgiving Survival Guide

Just the one post this week. Sorry about missing Fun Fact Friday last week, I had a monster of a cold that had me down for the count.

Thanksgiving is a time of reflection. Appreciating the world around you and the gifts you’ve been given. Despite the many hurdles I’ve had to jump in my life, I am a very fortunate person for many reasons, not the least of which being that I have been raised by people who love me for me.

Thanksgiving is also a bit of an obstacle course for me, and others like me similarly afflicted with social anxiety. I don’t do crowds. And yet, I also have no problem with them. Things like Theater Bizarre and the Renaissance Festival hold no stress for me because I am surrounded by strangers who have no expectations of me. Thanksgiving is a war zone of relatives and family friends who want to know how you’ve been, what you’re up to, are you dating anyone, how’s the job, and a myriad of other probing questions that have the ability to make me break out into a cold sweat.

For the first time years, I am actually looking forward to this year’s turkey massacre. Firstly, because I will get to see my sister Laura, who I haven’t seen for almost a year. This is particularly upsetting to me because I have a sister complex and plan on spending every waking moment that she’s home with her. Oh wait…work. Ok, every day after work and all weekend, thanksgiving, and black friday. The other reason is because my family and I are going to the Thanksgiving Day Parade in Detroit! I try to catch it every year on TV but I imagine it’s so much more fun when you’re actually there.

For people who are not blessed with as many reasons to look forward to Thanksgiving, here are a few method’s I’ve tried in the past.

Come up with a list of commonly asked questions and their corresponding answers that you can whip out at a moments notice
Offer to help out. Keeping busy will not just ingratiate you with your host, it will save you from sitting awkwardly on the couch in silence while everyone talks around you
Identify a safe zone. Scope out the place where you will be spending the day and figure out where you can sneak off to get some breathing room. Offering to make a trip to the store is another way to temporarily escape if there are no safe zones in the house.
Come up with a safe word. Tell someone close to you your safe word and then, if you need to use it, you have an ally who can help you come up with a credible excuse to step away for a moment.
Remember that, for all their faults, they are people in your life who are of at least some importance and oftentimes they ask those probing questions because they care about you.

It’s only one day. You can survive it and, if you are very careful, you might even enjoy it!

Bye for now!

My Gosh Durn Potty Mouth

Whether it be YA or Adult, I have set my sights on writing Fantasy and Science Fiction. And as long as the story is good and the characters are developed that should be all I need to worry about, right?

Wrong.

It turns out, YA books aren’t supposed to have the level of swearing that I am comfortable with. Given that I learned the F-Bomb in Fifth Grade, I am not really sure how to hold a PG rant, or throw a YA friendly insult. This is a problem, because while I would be happy throwing out words like a$$hat and fustercluck (you know what I mean) my agent assures me that, for YA this simply will not do.

I have tried thinking of appropriate alternatives, consulted insult generators, and even googled ‘PG swear words’ but it has been a frustrating and fruitless search.

So I come to you, the reader, on bended-knee with hands clasped. I implore you, please give me some swear words that are PG without being stupid. I tried, and I think I fried a circuit in my brain. My ears have been smoking all morning.

Bye for now!

A Finicky Guide to Picking out Books

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Many of you are aware of the library I have amassed over the years. Three years ago, when I moved, I actually cut it down significantly. That being said, I have built it back up to its former glory and dread the day when I will inevitably have to move and be forced to box it all up.

All. Five. Bookcases.

You may think, with a library of the size I have, that I will just buy any book that catches my eye. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. I actually go through a multi-step process each time I think I want to buy a book.

If the title is interesting I pick it up
If the cover is interesting I turn it over
If the blurb on the back cover/inner flap is interesting to me I read the first page
If the first page hooks me then I will find a corner somewhere and read the first chapter
If, and only if, I like the first chapter enough that I want to read the second, I buy the book

You’d think, with this rigorous filtering process, that I wouldn’t have so many books, but what can I say? They call to me.

Bye for now!

Fun Fact Friday: The Fun is Relative

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Today is the first big snow of Michigan! And when I say Michigan I mean mainland. The Upper Peninsula has has had snow for weeks.

But yay for snow! Here’s some snow themed facts for you:

NORTH DAKOTA HOLDS THE RECORD FOR MOST SNOW ANGELS MADE SIMULTANEOUSLY IN ONE PLACE.
Back in 2007 it was 8962 people in North Dakota who plopped down in the snow to waggle their arms and legs to make snow angels.

IGLOOS CAN BE MORE THAN 100 DEGREES WARMER INSIDE THAN OUTSIDE.

And they’re warmed entirely by body heat. Since fresh, compacted snow is approximately 90 to 95 percent trapped air (meaning it can’t move and transfer heat) it’s a great insulator. Many animals, such as bears, dig deep holes in the snow to hibernate through the winter.

THE MOST SNOW TO FALL IN A 24-HOUR PERIOD IN THE UNITED STATES IS 75.8 INCHES.

In 1921, over six feet of snow fell between April 14 at 2:30 p.m. and April 15 at 2:30 p.m. in Silver Lake, Colorado.

A More Middley Middle

I have gone back and forth on whether or not Seer will be a Duology or not. Almost to the point where I’m a lovestruck girl pulling leaves off a branch going, “He loves me, he loves me not…”. I really want it to be two books because I feel like there’s enough material for it, but with the way I originally split it up, I just can’t make Book 1 long enough without dragging everything out and boring my future readers to death.

That is why I have enlisted help. One of my beta readers, my wonderful co-worker Lo, is going to keep an eye out for a good stopping point farther in to the book. A ‘more middley middle’ is how we described it. So will Seer be a two-parter? Your guess is as good as mine. I would need the main character’s prophetic powers to ascertain that.

UPDATE: I have found my middley middle and am waiting for Lo to catch up to that point so she can tell me what she thinks of my stopping point.

In the meantime, I’m still waiting to hear from publishers. It has been 2 months and three weeks since I submitted my Book Proposal and my agent said it could take 3-6 months to hear back. I would not be surprised if I developed an ulcer due to the anxiety I feel almost every day waiting for someone to provide me with an answer to the question, “What publishing house will my book call home?”

Bye for now!

Y’All Better Be Voting

See this link here:

http://digital.zoompubs.com/publication/?m=43835&l=1#{%22issue_id%22:533428,%22page%22:0}

This is an important link. For everyone living in Michigan this is a critical link. It is a link for this election’s League of Women Voters voter’s guide.

What does that mean? Unbiased information on all the candidates you can vote for tomorrow. It means knowledge and knowledge is power. The power to evoke real change. Because if you don’t vote you aren’t just not voting, you are giving the power to effect that change to someone else. Someone who you might not necessarily agree with.

If you haven’t decided who you are voting for in some or all of the brackets, I urge you to take a look at this catalog. For all non-Michigan residents, please refer to the site https://www.lwv.org/ to find your specific state’s guide.

This is important.

This matters.

I hope you will make the choice to vote.

Bye for now!

Fun Fact Friday: The Fun Is Relative

Día de los Muertos originated in ancient Mesoamerica (Mexico and northern Central America) where indigenous groups, including Aztec, Maya and Toltec, had specific times when they commemorated their loved ones who had passed away. Certain months were dedicated to remembering the departed, based on whether the deceased was an adult or a child.

After the arrival of the Spanish, this ritual of commemorating the dead was intertwined with two Spanish holidays: All Saints Day (Nov. 1) and All Soul’s Day (Nov. 2). Día de los Muertos is often celebrated on Nov. 1 as a day to remember children who have passed away, and on Nov. 2 to honor adults.

Today, Día de los Muertos is celebrated mostly in Mexico and some parts of Central and South America. Recently it has become increasingly popular among Latino communities abroad, including in the United States.

Research is weird and No More Ads

So you may have noticed that ads are no longer on my site. Or not. Whatevs. But they’re gone. I had them in an effort to drum up some side income. But, seeing the above numbers, I’d have to have superstar popularity on a daily basis to even come close to making any real money. With that being said, Begone Advertisements!

If you asked to see the Internet History of any writer you would pause, process, then run screaming from the room. That is, if you didn’t know they were a writer. Knowing that a person is a writer, while browsing through that internet history would still make you pause, process, and then give a very concerned look in your friend’s direction.

That is because dragons, I’m sorry to say, aren’t real. But flying reptiles were. Faeries are not accepted as real by the greater population (much to their folly and inevitable doom). Because we are not taught about selkies and summoning charms, mermaids and curses, or any other supernatural things in the oftentimes depressing syllabus that encompasses public school education, writers have to do this research on their own.

How many people (outside of a Criminal Justice major/professional) know the minimum distance to keep oneself from an armed attacker while your gun is holstered? The answer is 20 feet because an assailant armed with any form of hand to hand combat weapon can close the space of 20 feet in the time it take to draw and aim your gun.

So we have to look up some pretty weird stuff in our pursuit of knowledge. The old adage, “Write what you know” has thankfully been adhered to by next to none of the scifi/fantasy community. Otherwise, most of my favorite books would not be in existence.

So next time you peer over your writer friend’s shoulder and see something grisly or disturbing, take comfort in knowing it is all in the name of research.

Bye for now!

Hometown Hotspot!

I asked and I received! Someone commented on my first Hometown Hotspot post with a request to dig up some info on the home of a friend of theirs.

Where is this lovely locale?

The highlands of Dingwall, Scotland.

Its name, derived from the Scandinavian Þingvöllr meaning field or meeting-place of the thing or local assembly. That’s right people, Vikings.

In the early Middle Ages Dingwall was reputed to have the largest castle north of Stirling courtesy of King Alexander II.

Around 1710, Sir George Mackenzie the first Earl of Cromartie erected a large obelisk on the top of the thing mound. After his death in 1714 he was buried beside it, an act which has ensured the survival of the mound today. By 1917 the monument had begun to lean so dangerously it had to be removed, and in 1923 was replaced by the smaller structure we see today. In 1947 much of the mound was levelled to make way for a car park. Only the central part containing the burial place of the Earl now remains.

Please comment below if you want to see your hometown featured!

Haunted Housing!

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It’s almost that magical time of year. My second favorite holiday. It’s almost Halloween!

Every year I go out with my friends/second parents, Susanne and Eric for some good old Halloween fun. We do Erebus every other year and this was another Erebus year! And man, I forgot how much of a workout is involved!

You climb up stairs, you go down ramps, you climb more stairs, you go down more ramps. The ceilings get low, the floors shift beneath your feet and the scares are actually frightening.

You may ask, “Emma, by what barometer do you judge whether a place is actually frightening?” Well I’m glad you asked. I am a bit of a paradox. I can’t tolerate horror movies at any level of scary, but when I go into a haunted house it’s like I’m dead inside. Nothing phases me. But this year elicited several jumps and a small shriek from me. Which may not sound like much but trust me, it’s a big deal.

Probably the most impressive scare was one where a dude descended on wires from the ceiling, landing on two bars directly overhead. That, my readers, was the shriek inducing scare. And though I say scare, what I really mean is surprise. Because at no point during haunted houses do I feel scared. It’s more like I’m in a suspense thriller.

Erebus is a four story haunted house that is touted as the largest haunted house in America. It is certainly an impressive sight to see. If you haven’t gone haunted housing yet I highly recommend it. You will have a spooktacular time!

Bye for now!