What If I Take a Break…

Posted on by Teagan Riordain Geneviene

Saturday October 27, 2018

My heartfelt thanks to everyone who got on the party bus for the launch of Atonement in Bloom.  I can’t describe how much I appreciate everyone who shared and contributed to the launch.

Deme and Honeybell are still in a party mood

I don’t seem to know how to really take a break.  I lightened my workload by rerunning Copper, the Alchemist, and the Woman in Trousers (latest episode here).  Yet somehow doing the posts still takes a good deal of time.  So today, I’m trying harder to take a break.  This post re-shares a bit of whimsy I wrote a few years ago — even then I was working on Atonement in Bloom.  

Here I explained what I call my “What if?” game.

 

What Would Happen If There Was a Character Like…

 

Flower Woman spencer-dahl-796539-unsplash

Come on out to play!  Are you ready for a little game? It doesn’t require a special arena, equipment, or athletic ability — and it doesn’t cost a cent.

How My Writing Process Begins a New Story

Have you ever played What If?  Probably not, since that’s my own little speculative free-thinking game. If I heard something quirky in the news, or if I heard about some “breakthrough” that left everyone scratching their heads as to its usefulness, I liked to use it to start a conversation with a friend.

Meadow_frameI’d take the headline a step further and ask, “So what if…” this or that.  The other person would throw out a potential next step, and we’d go on with the “what if” getting wilder and more imaginative as we went, although it would still trace back to the original headline or concept.  I even did a post about very early in my “blogging career.” It created some fun conversations — some bubbles of what-if.

Ultimately, “what if” is how all of my stories start, from short story to epic fantasy.  When I was ready to lay the groundwork to build book-2, Atonement in Bloom, I again read the Celtic/Welsh mythology that loosely inspired book-1.  As I read about something the mythological Gwydion fab Don did for another person in that myth, the image of a new character came into my mind. Stone Planter Flowers Face

What if there was someone like the character that came to mind?  The first what if bubbled into more questions.  What sort of person would she be? Would she be bad, good, or just a sort of device to drive the new plot?

The chain of what if had begun!  What if her presence effected the town? How?  If she did have some sort of magical influence, who would be effected and who might be immune? Why?  What would be the result of either?  As I progressively answered each of the questions that rose from my first “what if,” the character became real to me.  

Because of the what if, some existing characters from Atonement, Tennessee grew in depth — in good ways and in bad ways.
Cherry blossoms snow 2The initial “what if” added two other new supernaturals to the cast of characters.  The chain of what if also brought a character from the short story, An Atonement, Tennessee Valentine, and the short became tied securely to Atonement in Bloom.  I sure wasn’t expecting that to happen!

Most importantly, early on that first what if led me to see the most significant what if of all…

What if, in the midst of a December snow — Atonement, Tennessee came into bloom?

Halloween was always my favorite holiday.  I know it’s not quite here yet, but I’ll wish you a happy one anyway.

Thanks again for visiting Atonement, TN.  It was wonderful to see you. Come out to play What If by leaving a comment!

I’m so grateful to everyone who hosted the Bloomin’ Party Bus that I’m repeating the Atonement TN Book Fair, beginning with my own shameless self-promotion.

Long awaited sequel to Atonement, Tennessee

Where “atonement” begins

It’s best if you read the first book first.  So, for the launch of “Bloom,” Atonement, Tennessee is on sale for 99¢ (e-book). Click Atonement book covers for purchase links.

Includes the prequel

Atonement, TN Book Fair!

Click the author names for more info on the books.

D. Wallace Peach

Image result for legacy of souls d wallace peach

Chris Graham (for Agnes Mae Graham)

My Vibrating Vertabrae cover

Olga Núñez Miret    For info about this book click here. 

Angelic Business 1. Pink Matters Now available as an audio book too

D.L. Finn 

Image result for dl finn the button

Jan Sikes

Image result for jan sikes flowers in stone

Mary J McCoy-Dressel

Mary J McCoy-Dressel, western romance author, Book Three Canyon Junction: Hearts in Love Series, Blog Post Cover Reveal I think Marge and Ralda would vote for Mary’s cowboys to visit Atonement, TN… Just sayin’…

Sally Cronin

Jacquie Biggar has a sheriff too…

jacquiebiggar_thesheriffmeetshismatch_800px

Valentina Cirasola will help you tour Atonement, TN in style.

The Road To Top Of The World: Short Stories In The Land Of Puglia

Barb Taub will keep you laughing the entire way.

Staci Troilo

Tortured Soul

Mae Clair

Book cover for End of Day, mystery/suspense novel by Mae Clair shows old dilapidated church with bell tower and a cemetery in the background overgrown with weeds

John W. Howell

Annette Rochelle Aben

Image result for booku Annette Rochelle Aben Whimsical poetry from Annette.

Donna Parker will keep your smile alight and whimsy in flight at Yadadarcyyada, Vague Meanderings of the Broke & Obscure.  But there’s nothing obscure about delightful Donna.

Robbie Cheadle

Image result for robbie cheadle while the bombs fell

Chuck Jackson

Image result for chuck jackson what did i do

Vashti Quiroz-Vega

Teri Polen 

Image result for teri polen sarah

Patty L. Fletcher of Campbell’s World

Image result for bubba tales campbell

This is a work of fiction.  Characters, names, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2015 and 2018 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

All rights reserved.

No part of this work may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.  Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

All images are either the property of the author or provided by free sources, unless stated otherwise.

77 thoughts on “What If I Take a Break…”

  1. Thanks for mentioning Sarah, Teagan! Asking ‘what if’ is usually how seeds get planted for me – wondering what would happen if a person was put in a certain situation.

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  2. Congratulations Teagan. You’re such a productive woman–kind of a dynamo, I think, and I would think an exciting person to know–lots of energy, good cheer, optimism. Best wishes, David

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    1. Adele, with your wonderful imagination, that does not surprise me. I think it has the best result when the question is basic, or else really out of left field.
      So, my friend… what if… frogs had tiny motorcycles? LOL :mrgreen: Mega hugs.

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  5. What if bloggers and authors came to my blog party https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/10/26/the-more-the-scarier/ ???
    What if we all took a break and took a breath?
    What if pigs really could fly?
    What if we ran out of chocolate?
    I can’t go on…I get the taking a break thing, dear Teagan and whether you stay or go, please do what is best for you…although I warn you, I’ve tried taking a break and well, look where it got me lol another blog party. 😉
    Congrats on your book launch success and all your wonder-filled posts and books. We’ll be here for you if you stay or go, dear friend. 🙂
    Mega You’re the bee;s knees hugs xoxoxxo

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    1. Dear Donna, I do hope everyone will visit your blog-o-ween party! It’s such wonderful fun at your place.
      Silly me… I say break when what I really mean is work on a dozen other things. I hoped to achieve something (non book or blog) very important, but not yet…
      At least I finally have my Wednesday serial post ready to go.
      Thanks for visiting. Party on. Mega hugs right back!

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    1. Hi Cecily. You are so kind. Thank you! Of course I don’t mind. It sounds like a lot of people already use it anyway. Okay, here’s one for play. What if everything that is gray suddenly became pink? 🙂 Thanks for coming out to play. Hugs.

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      1. What if everything gray suddenly became pink? The rose-coloured specs would be working overtime, Teagan! Everyone smiling and loving life through their rose-coloured specs. The different hues of pinks washing the dark English sky. The vibrant pink work clothes, instead of dismal gray, brightening not only the bodies of the workers, but their cheery faces too :)! What a wonderful world. xx

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  9. What if you really did take a break? 🙂 I know. A writer’s work is never done! Congrats on the launch and I’m happy to see reviews starting to come in. I know how important those are. I am currently knee-deep in Atonement, Tn as I was determined to read it first. 🙂 So, a review will be coming for that one soon.
    So, I’ll play the “What If” game. What if, while walking through a historic graveyard, you came upon a small group of graves set way in the back by themselves that had modern-day toys all around them? Well, that actually happened at an old cemetery in Fort Worth. The scene has haunted me since I saw it. All of the grave markers were dated very early nineteen hundreds like 1901 – 1905 and the oldest child was only five. But, there were all these stuffed animals around them. Winnie The Pooh, Cookie Monster, Mickey Mouse and others were grouped around the grave markers. And there was gold tinsel. So, what if there is some legend surrounding the deaths of those children and people come to perform rituals to protect their own children?

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    1. Hi Jan. First, I’m tickled that you are reading Atonement. I hope with all my heart you enjoy it. Not a romance or a morality play or real literature… just fun.
      That is a very Halloweenish what if! I can tell that it creeped you out.
      My counter “what if” would be… What if a couple of children were told the story on a visit to a grave of a family member. They felt sad and wanted to bring their toys to them. Or… these children saw the ghosts and came back with their toys and they all played. But panicked parents yanked them away, leaving the toys behind.
      This was fun Jan. Thanks for coming out to play. Hugs!

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  10. What a nice game, Teagan. Love it, and its a good way to drive the imagination at highest point. What if i lost connection to you blog? I hurry up to come back with best wishes, and many thanks for a lot of great stories. Have a good weekend, and a relaxing break. Michael

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    1. Oh no, Michale, that would be a terrible what if for me, if you lost connection. 🙂 I so enjoy your visits! Okay, here’s one… What if… every time anyone or any thing had an x-ray (security or medical), the invisible x-rays created a small invisible being (or creature)? Hmmm…
      A very happy weekend to you and yours. Hugs!

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  18. I played the what if game when I began working on what will soon be my third book.

    As to taking a break, well, I have a hard time doing that.

    Between writing, which I love to do that doesn’t really feel like work, and my marketing work that although sometimes does feel like work but is very enjoyable there doesn’t seem to be a lot of time left for breaks.

    But.

    Reading is something I love doing almost as much as writing so when I’m not writing something or helping to market someone else’s work I’m stuck in a book.

    Even then I am working in some way though. Always stopping to write down new words or phrases, ideas that come from what I read or anything else interesting that pops into my head.

    Glad to be a part of this and reblogged onto campbellsworld.

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  20. I play the what if game all the time, Teagan. I imagine that it’s a part of a lot of writing, but it’s impossible to write speculative fiction without the question. And yes, take a break too! Writing in intense and I think it’s important to rest. FYi – My review post goes live in an hour – Yay. I’ll be hosting a Graveyard Dash race this morning for a couple hours so won’t be commenting until late morning, but feel free to get the party rolling! ❤ Hugs!

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    1. Ha!!! OMG a Graveyard Dash? That sounds like fabulous fun, Diana. Have a great time.
      Thank you so very much for hosting me at your place. I really am honored. I’ll reblog either Sunday or Monday… yes, I think Monday would be the best day.
      I am still glowing from your review. It makes me happy that you enjoyed the book.
      Mega almost Halloween hugs!

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  21. When my kids were little (before I wrote fiction), we played the what-if game all the time. And came up with some wonderfully inventive tales. I don’t usually do it when I’m writing, though. I tend to get an idea and flesh it out through outlining. Then again, maybe my outline is a written version of the game.

    Anyway…

    You definitely need and deserve a break. That was one heck of a tour. Wishing you all the best, Teagan.

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  22. I like the sound of your ‘what if’ game. Instead of being anchored in reality / facts like the ‘whys’ of brainstorming / problem solving, this sounds more whimsical and would let imaginations soar. Love it!!

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    1. Hi Joanne. Your latest photo post certainly had my imagination going! I’m delighted you enjoyed this little game. I really do think it’s fun to apply it outside story writing. Have a wonder-filled weekend. Hugs!

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  24. What if I started blogging and ended up meeting a big bunch of interesting people? What if some of them wrote wonderful stories, in every imaginable genre? What if I read those stories?

    Oh wait, that happened.

    What if those people keep writing?

    Enjoy a (hopefully) relaxing weekend, Teagan. You have earned it.

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    1. LOL, thank you for this Saturday smile, Dan. That works for me. 🙂 Maybe I need to write a “What if?” for my own life. Visualize, Teagan — visualize!
      It’s not really a break. Retouching this old post was just all the time I could manage. Now I need to get Hidebound Hump Day ready, else Cornelis will not give me a moment’s peace.
      I guess my favorite “what if” would be “What if I took a year off from work to finish some novels?” The trouble is, my answer to that question just doesn’t come from a sunny place… Sigh… But I actually am taking scattered days off during November for NaNoWriMo. So I’m looking forward to those days.
      I’ll make sure I make time to visit your Having a Beer post. Cheers and hugs.

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      1. Your visits are always welcome, Teagan, but you could treat yourself to a complete break. What if Teagan took a whole day off and didn’t visit the Internet and then deleted all notifications from that day?

        I’m not trying to drive you away, I’m just caught up in the what ifs. Of course, The Alchemist would find you.

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        1. To really, truly, take an entire day off? Dan, your imagination has exceeded mine! 😀
          (My “break” was meant to solve my desperate search to get somewhere else. I haven’t made much progress.) Thanks for the kind thoughts. Mega hugs.

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  26. Pingback: What If I Take a Break – by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene… | Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

    1. Thanks for sharing, dear Ape. So… what if there were four naughty chimps and they met Cornelis Drebbel — oh wait. We already did that. 😉 Thanks for always being in the game. I’m looking forward to taking a break with your pirate animated adventures. Hugs.

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  28. A great post and now that I reread it after having read Atonement in Bloom I understand where you are coming from indeed. What if is indeed how many stories start, definitely most of mine as well. Thanks for letting me take part on the party and do have a bit of rest. You deserve it, for sure, Teagan!

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    1. Hi Olga. Well, I’m not resting — just needed to allocate time differently. Your stories are so imaginative, I can see that you play “What if?” too. Thanks for following my convoluted thought process. 😀 I’m happy that you could see those things from reading Bloom.
      Huge thanks again for helping with the launch. Happy weekend hugs!

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    1. Hi Robbie. I’m glad you enjoyed it. The post was shared a lot, so I consider that success. 😀 People are already “borrowing” the party vehicle idea… I guess that could be “success” too… Thanks for being part of the launch.
      Wishing you continued success with your many books, and the short stories. You’re on fire! Hugs.

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