

Even beyond the research, I have to tell you that I admire the way you kept trying over and over and over again. I know I’m not the reason you shared your skating video, but you should know that you inadvertently helped me through Chapter 7.

So just in case the girl in the pink shirt stumbles across this blog entry…

I’ll use all that in my revision of this chapter, but last night, I needed to keep moving forward. When I take my research trip to Lake Placid, I’ll be able to ask questions, see things, hear things…even smell things about the rink that a video can’t provide. Obviously, watching a video - even a bunch of videos - isn’t the same as being there. (And the people who responded to the video clip with comments, letting her know what she was doing wrong were pretty darn helpful, too.) Not only did the girl in the pink shirt attempt a double toe loop and fall in slow motion, allowing me to see what went wrong, she did it over and over again. There were, in fact, numerous videos of people landing toe loops, bobbling toe loops, and completing messing up toe loops. Might there be video of someone doing a double toe loop on YouTube? Might there even be video of someone trying one and falling? I couldn’t bring myself to just skip that scene and keep writing, but I really wanted to move forward, so last night, I had an interesting thought. How do you do one successfully? And what might she be doing wrong? What I didn’t know - and can’t research properly until an appointment in Lake Placid comes through - is what it looks like when you try to land a double toe loop and miss. Sure, these party animals live the sweet life on the lush Piñata Island. Viva Piñata - introduces the wacky, zany, anything-can-happen world of Piñatas. Viva Piñata (52 x 30’ or 104 x 11’) available in total. I was fine with all that, and ready to write it. Magic, suspense and adventure abound in this exciting action series, filled with fantastic creatures and the multi-dimensional world of Chaotic. And then there’s an interaction with her coach and the other skaters that’s important to the plot. How come? It involves my main character, a figure skater, trying to do something she hasn’t mastered yet - a double toe loop. I’ve been putting off Chapter 7 for about a week. I’m working on a new middle grade novel that I absolutely love, but recently, I hit one of those rough spots.
