Welcome to author, Jo Sparks who joins us today with a guest post titled: "A Tale of Perspective – and the Loss Thereof". She is promoting her new book The Birr Elixir. Welcome!
Publisher: Sparkes Productions
Date of publication: June 2013
Marra had never heard of Birr
Elixir.
But when Drail of the Hand of
Victory saw the words in an old book, she found herself agreeing to make it.
Even lacking the right ingredient.
And after drinking it, the Hand
of Victory defeated a Skullan team, something no one had ever done before. Now
Drail walked the path his grandsire had walked, and Marra was offered a place
as Brista, his potions mistress. She doubted her ability, but took the chance
to escape her slave-like existence.
When she found a way to wake
the mysterious sleeper, Marra wondered if she deserved the title after all.
But with Tryst's waking, ill
luck and bad things suddenly dogged their tracks. Drail, being a man of action,
saw only the good in people. Marra lacked his faith, but was frozen by her own
timidity. When the time came to confront these enemies, would Tryst stand with
them or against them?
Would it make any difference?
A
Tale of Perspective – and the Loss Thereof
By
Jo Sparkes
Years
ago, heading off to college and terribly nervous about it all, I knew I needed
a few things to make me different. To stand out, so to speak. Tarot cards were
part of the plan, to give you an idea of how my mind works.
The
big one was cultivating a love of NFL Football.
Being
both a ‘Daddy’s girl’ and from the D.C. area, I’d grown up with the Washington
Redskins. I knew the game, the names of the players, and thought it would give
me a little edge in meeting all the other students.Particularly male students.
I
hadn’t counted on my own obstinacy.
I
threw myself into it, as with most things, with zeal. I watched all the
football games and news, and grew proficient at picking winners. Several girls
on our floor won the weekly pool, much to the astonishment of their boyfriends.
I
entered it myself only once. You see, there was a guy I was interested in, and
he loved football. He entered the pool that week as well.
At
lunch on Monday he announced to our table that the football pool was tied. The
game that night would come down to the tiebreaker – the selection of the final
total score.Looking at me with a gleam in his eye, he said one person had
picked 48, and the other 32.
I
shook my head. “Pittsburgh and Philly – both strong defenses. Whoever took 48
is dead.”
Of
course, he had picked the 48. And the 32 – the winning score as it turned out –
was mine.
He
never did ask me out.
The
moral of the story? Maybe it’s not to get so focused on the immediate goal that
we lose perspective on the larger task. Or perhaps that the male ego may indeed
be as large as women claim – but our own can be pretty big sometimes.
Or,
quite simply, that whatever you study in college, there’s truly money to be
made in sports.
About the author:
A well-known Century City
Producer once said Jo Sparkes “writes some of the best dialogue I’ve read.”
Jo graduated from Washington
College, a small liberal arts college famous for its creative writing program,
forgot about writing totally, until she had a chance to study with Robert
Powell, a student of renowned teachers Lew Hunter and Richard Walter, head of
UCLA’s Screenwriting Program.
She has written feature film
scripts, scripts for Children’s live-action and animated television programs, a
direct to video Children’s DVD, and commercial work for corporate clients. A
featured writer on several websites, she was a member of the Pro Football
Writers Association and (very unofficially) the first to interview Emmitt Smith
when he came to the Arizona Cardinals.
Jo served as an adjunct teacher
at the Film School at Scottsdale Community College, and even made a video of
her most beloved lecture.
Her book for writers and
artists, “Feedback How to Give It How to Get It” has received glowing reviews.
When not diligently perfecting
her craft, Jo can be found exploring her new home of Portland, Oregon, with her
husband Ian, and their dog Oscar.
You can visit her website at www.josparkes.com or connect with her at
twitter at www.twitter.com/sparkes777.
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