❓Did you do like a mythical creature as a child that you still enjoy reading about now?
~~~⏳~~~ Today's "Then" was the first mermaid book I wrote as a child. It’s mostly illustrations, which demonstrates why I didn’t pursue art. I put a reel video on Instagram of the whole book. Basically the story is about a mermaid knocking a human man into the water and turning him into a merman. They go to a dance, fall in love, and get married (LOL). Then her parents die, so the mermaid and her new merman husband become king and queen. She gets pregnant, craves gross food combos, and they have twins. I hadn’t read mermaid stories at that age, but I saw a real one at Sea World in San Diego. This was before Disney’s Ariel. I'm not sure where my crazy imagination came up with that goofy story because it is hilarious. The "Now" is the first YA book that I published. I waited to mature before trying a newer mermaid tale, but it had been brewing inside my imagination since I was 8 years old. You can go to my YA books section on my website to read the synopsis of those books.
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❓Have you ever used a rotary phone?
❓How many phones did your family have/has? ~~~⏳~~~ ☎️My family phone (only one) hung on the wall in the kitchen. My mom talked to my grandma daily on it while getting dinner ready so we had to walk under the cord. We didn’t get cordless phones until I went to college. I carried change for payphones in case of an emergency. You wonder how we survived? We managed. My mom and I got stranded at a mall in a snow storm but my dad happened rescued us. I thought we called him on a pay phone because he was home, but Mom said he drove by at the same time we got stuck and rescued us. Either way, we didn't have a mobile phone and still survived. We also had a party line that was shared with everyone in the neighborhood so the neighbors could listen to our conversations and vice versa. 📱My husband bought me my first mobile phone, but it didn’t connect to the internet. It was for emergencies, so I left it off. My first smart phone was an iPhone 5c that I got in 2014. I just replaced it last year with an iPhone SE. Yes, it’s possible to live without the latest technology, but I'm sure many don't try. ❓What was a popular slang word used in your teen years? ~~~⏳~~~ For me the Valley Girl lingo became popular: “like totally tubular” and “like gag me with a spoon”. The TV show Square Pegs starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Jamie Gertz gave insight into the more extreme 80s culture of preppies, squares, jocks, and Valley girls in true exaggerated form. I was a square peg. 🤓 Some words still are being used from the 80s, but now I find Instagram has its own set of vocabulary. THEN NOW
Wonder Woman has stood the test of time and not because the character is immortal. Her popularity in entertainment has lasted a long time. This blog will only cover the WW of my lifetime and knowledge.
Then 1. Lynda Carter starred on November 7, 1975, in the Wonder Woman television pilot. 2. I watched her on a small screen in-home weekly. 3. Wonder Woman's powers were mostly from her rope, tiara, and bracelets. She was supernaturally strong and fast, but she didn't do a lot of paranormal feats. 4. Her clothing was patriotic with colors of the American flag; similar to a fancy swimming suit. 5. She twirled to change into Wonder Woman from her alter-ego Diana Prince. She did have a weekly villain to fight in-between her day job. 6. Steve Trevor never knew Diana Prince and Wonder Woman were the same person. He crushed on WW but viewed Diana as a co-worker even though she loved him. Now 1. Gal Gadot starred as Wonder Woman in a movie on June 2, 2017. 2. I watched her on the big screen in a theater. 3. Wonder Woman is a badass physical fighter and her supernatural powers are more impressive than the 1970s WW. She also has more weapons than the prior WW. Her sword is brilliant in action and makes me want one. 4. Her clothing is darker-toned and more like a gladiator for sexy cosplay. 5. We never see her change from Diana Prince to Wonder Woman in a supernatural way, but there isn't a need for a quick change. The movies don't show her working a weekly job that gets constantly interrupted so she can fight bad guys in-between. Her fight is against one villain plus minions per movie. 6. Steve Trevor in the newer movie is much cuter than the TV show, and he knows Wonder Woman is Diana Prince. He knows all about her past and who she is. They share their feelings openly. Even though she's immortal and can't be with him forever, their love is worth the heartbreak. My interest through time: I wanted to take Lynda Carter's place after she retired from the TV show because at that age, I didn't understand that programs got canceled. I even asked God to make me beautiful like her. I still follow this fandom in the general sense. I'm totally ignorant in all aspects of the DC or Marvel comic world. I really like the new movies and the book written by Leigh Bardugo, but that's as far as my knowledge goes. I started following Wonder Woman during the Lynda Carter era. I began my pursuit of reaching for big things when I saw her on the screen. Though I didn't become famous for a role as Wonder Woman, I realized that my dreams could change to different ones. Each of us have to find our strengths and nurture them. As long as anybody breathes, "Then vs. Now" is a part of life. We sometimes find ourselves taking two steps forward and one step back, but change is as inevitable as the Earth rotating around the sun. Can we ever burn all the bridges to the past as long as our memories are able to pull things up from former years? I doubt it. In 2022, I plan on filling up a year worth of monthly blogs with past vs. present. My blog will be about random things that I relate to personally. I hope it will entertain you or maybe even teach you something new. Then: From my writing journey, I can go back as far 5-years-old. At that age, I didn't know how to write most words, so I asked my mom to put a story down on the pages I had already illustrated. I made it from construction paper and crayons. I stapled the pages together and it had to be read backwards--right to left, and then sometimes left to right. Oy vey! I plan on showing my masterpiece in full on an Instagram reel (video) since this photo does not display its true genius (LOL). I don’t know where the idea for the tale came from because my parents weren’t bibliophiles. My grandma was, so she started giving me a book for my birthday every year after I learned how to read. That was after I created this homemade tome. My 5-year-old story also inspired an idea I used in my first published book. Now: I wrote about a lollipop tree in Elle’s Magical Shoes, but it was a gum tree in my original story. I discovered the error in a childhood memory box after EMS was published. I now have eleven books published that are sold at major online retail shops - no more construction paper or crayon copies for me. Now I write daily and it wasn't until almost forty years after the Valentine Story that I attempted to share my imagination with the world. I had written several stories in elementary school for my entertainment. I even got my best friend involved to illustrate some of them since she drew better. I wrote about fairies, mermaids, and I also wrote a story about the Dukes of Hazzard, which came from my crush on the Duke boys in that old 1980s TV show. I still write about mermaids and fairies, but the pop culture references are not used as the whole premise for a plot. I even put my scary nightmares into a Viking mythology book, which is far off the path of anything I ever conjured up in my early days. Do you have any "Then vs. Now" stories like mine? Did you do something as a child that is still part of your life today? Please feel free to share in the comments or find my post on Instagram and comment there. I'd love to hear from you. Pictures:
"Then" bubble gum tree in Valentine Story / "Now" cover of Elle's Magical Shoes |
Ramblings on life, travels, & books
Carla Reighard Archives
December 2023
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