Posted in Blogging, Challenges, Creative Writing, Fiction, Inspiration, Life, Metaphors, Our Moments, Thoughts, Uncategorized, Writing, tagged Creative Writing, Creativity, Emotion, Fiction, Growth, Inspiration, Metaphor, Support, Thoughts, Writing on May 1, 2023| 2 Comments »
Time waits for no one. That’s what they say.
So we work really hard to keep up.
But time. In the meantime. Does what it wants. Has a mind of its own.
Its own drum to beat.
It runs.
It marches.
It walks.
But there’s a little thing you may not know.
If you find the right time. And listen very closely. You don’t need to chase it. Exhaust yourself trying to keep up.
Because the right time will stop. Match your pace. And whisper.
It’s okay. Hold my hand. I’ll walk a little slower.
Posted in Blogging, Creative Writing, Inspiration, Life, Non-Fiction, Relationships, Thoughts, Uncategorized, Writers, Writing, tagged Awesome people, Support, Thank you on June 7, 2013| 12 Comments »
You’ve stuck around. Cheered me on. Supported me. I’m torn between thanking you and asking what the heck are you thinking?
My pastime as of late has been to pick through previous posts, searching for the biggest and the best. Oh my! My jaw is tight and my cheeks are sore from the Oooh, that’s embarrassing face.
So yeah, I’ve been contemplating the question; “How have you managed to stick it out?” But, I’ve thought better of it. That question could insult you. It might make you look back on my work and think; “You know, she’s right!” You may change your mind. Heaven forbid, you might leave me.
Well, a tight jaw and sore cheeks trump red eyes and a runny nose every time, so I’m going with praise instead. Big props to you for reading, liking, commenting, following and most of all, for giving me a reason to believe there’s a teeny chance I just might be able to pull this off. It means the world to me.
And I thank you.
Posted in Blogging, Creative Writing, Inspiration, Non-Fiction, Relationships, Uncategorized, Writers, Writing, tagged Praise, Promotion, Support on April 10, 2013| 2 Comments »
So honoured to be promoted by a fellow author and blogger. Check it out and hurry, hurry…it’s set to self-destruct at midnight! ;0)
Posted in Blogging, Creative Writing, Inspiration, Non-Fiction, The Next Big Thing, Uncategorized, Writing, tagged Blog Hop, Creativity, Support, The Next Big Thing, Writing on February 6, 2013| 11 Comments »
An intriguing writer, new friend and born-to-be soul sister from, get this, Northern Ireland, approached me about taking part in a trending blog hop called The Next Big Thing. Flattered, proud and utterly gobsmacked, I accepted before she could change her mind. To peruse Lesley’s charismatic utterings on the subject simply click here.
Lesley Richardson is a writer from Bangor, Co. Down, who is currently writing her second novel, The Possibilities of Elizabeth. Her first novel, Biddy Weirdo, is yet to be published, but Lesley and her agent, Susan Feldstein, are hopeful that that will soon change.
Represented by the Feldstein Agency, Lesley has received a grant from The Arts Council of Northern Ireland and a writing bursary from North Down Borough Council. She launched her blog, Standing Naked at a Bus Stop last year.
Lesley’s Links:
Giddy with possibility, I rise to the challenge of fulfilling this blog hop quest:
I currently have two WIP’s; About Face and Hazy Shades of Me
I wrote About Face in 2009, coming up with it literally on a whim as I sat down to start my 50,000 words for a NaNoWriMo challenge. The words streamed onto the page, because you see, Lenore Nashun, my main character, looked a little less than friendly unless she was smiling. I simply had to come to her rescue and prove to readers her cool exterior was actually hiding her warm heart. The story took on a life of its own, as they most often do, and ended up being a mixture of mystery, romance, life lessons and love.
Hazy Shades of Me is a compilation of emotions and experiences morphed into short bites of metaphors. The title, obviously my blog name, could seem a short cut, but honestly, I thought long and hard and I feel it’s what fits best….for now.
About Face is definitely Chick Lit, although that classification is somewhat forbidden these days and Hazy Shades of Me, is well, shorts of all shades in abstract form.
Ryan Gosling. Really, he’s probably much too mature to play an aspiring young buck at this point, but I’m assuming it would mean I’d get to meet him, so I don’t care. Besides, as you’ll learn when you read my novel, make-up can work wonders.
Sorry, what’s that? The question refers primarily to the main character? Oh, okay. Well Jennifer Lawrence would be a pretty good pick.
A young woman’s journey in finding herself through expression and oddly, a fundamental freedom from its hold.
Oh, to have the luxury…I would dearly love for it to be rep’d by an agency. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
About Face: 30 days as per the NaNoWriMo guidelines, then add on the last four years for editing!
Hazy Shades of Me is very much a work in progress, still to be completed.
I’m not sure about specific titles, but I tend to think Jennifer Weiner and Sophie Kinsella style when I read About Face.
As for Hazy Shades of Me, I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever read a book of short story metaphors. I guess I have some research to do!
Writing is a long-time love, but NaNoWriMo is what brought it home for me in 2009. I bought ‘the kit’ as a sort of gag for both a friend and myself. We had been talking about ‘writing a novel’ for some time and I thought it would be something to give us a giggle. To my surprise, she took me seriously and the next thing I knew, we were scribbling 1,667 words a day. More if, heaven forbid, we had to resume reality and miss a day here or there.
My characters are tangible, likeable and sincere. Besides, who doesn’t enjoy a mystery slash romance involving mannequins?
The metaphors are, of course, open for interpretation and can mean what ever the reader needs them to, which makes them universally relatable.
Both ideas are fresh, interesting and original.
This is my time to sign off and pass the torch over to a few more stellar stars…again Lesley, thanks so much for the support.
Dex Raven:
Dex writes dark fantasy and horror, when his muse, Violet, cooperates. When she doesn’t, he still attempts to write with varying results. He has a thing for classic monster legends, Egyptian and Nordic mythology, coffee, sarcasm and words that end in “esque”. He is currently working on two books: a fiction/non-fiction mash-up and his first novel.
You will find his fiction as well as his thoughts on the writing process on his primary blog, Dex*Raven
Dex’s (other) links:
Gabriel Lucatero:
My name is Gabriel Lucatero, an aspiring writer. Although Spanish is my first language, everything I write is in English. I don’t really know why I chose to do it that way, but I did it. I’ve studied the language for over 8 years and have written short stories (and a novel in progress) for the last 4 years. I like to write horror with a little bit of mystery thrown in. It was just recently, last October 2012 to be exact, that I decided to show my work to the world. “How else will you ever get published, duh!” I said to myself when I realized that my work couldn’t ever be read if it was in a dusty old drawer.
Gabriel’s Links:
Gabriel’s Motivational facebook Page
Jennifer Findlay:
I’m just a mom on a mission to spread pearls of wisdom and random photos from her couch, with coffee in hand. I’m an artist at heart with a passion for photography and painting (which I don’t do nearly enough).
I detest doing laundry, especially ironing, and I loathe cleaning out my counter compost bins. I think there’s a mouse in our crawl space, and I’m hoarding a stack of old Weight Watcher’s books that I got every time I joined. Just keepin’ it real.
My favourite time of day is right after I drop off the kids at school, and I have an hour to myself just to sit with my dogs, coffee and computer, while I live vicariously through blogs, Facebook and Pinterest. People are just so damn fascinating.
Jennifer’s Links:
Posted in Blogging, Inspiration, Non-Fiction, Relationships, Uncategorized, Writing, tagged Blog, Stay with me, Summer, Support, Time on July 1, 2012| 4 Comments »
I could be convinced. It’s the end of June, the kids are out of school and the smell of grilled meat wafts through the air giving way only to the scent of fresh blooms and newly snipped blades of grass.
So I suppose it’s true, summer has arrived and rain or shine, wet or dry, hot or… lukewarm and at times, down right chilly the season has brought with it a flurry of excursions, adventures and undertakings.
There will be picnics, barbeques, weddings and water, airplanes, tent trailers, road trips and renos. We’ll see tourists and tan lines (let’s be optimistic) and it just wouldn’t be authentic if we didn’t encounter a few salt-stung heart aches, skinned knees, sunburns and slivers.
I’m building up to something. Can you tell? It’s called foreshadowing and if you’re feelin’ it, I’m on the right track.
My knickers are in a bit of a twist. What’s listed above isn’t a compilation of my imagination. These are things that will actually occur in some form or another and they will be all consuming. You guessed it; how’s a girl to blog?
Reduce, reuse, recycle, that’s how. When necessary, I plan to plagiarize myself; take things I’ve already toiled over, and let’s face it, I’ll toil over them some more before posting cuz that’s just how I roll, and publish them.
My hopes are that this will be a win-win. My past endeavors will undergo a bit of spit ‘n’ shine and there will still be something for you to critique, err, enjoy.
All jokes aside, I beg you to stay with me. Did I actually use the word beg? Why yes, yes I did. No question this blog has become a big deal in my life. I love writing it, but frankly, I could do that for just me, myself and I.
And I’ve come to realize that if you weren’t here, that’s exactly what I’d be doing.
Posted in Blogging, Inspiration, Lists, Non-Fiction, Relationships, Uncategorized, Writing, tagged Award, Bloggers, Kindness, Nominatiion, Nominees, Pay it Forward, Support on June 14, 2012| 16 Comments »
It’s a cozy little place, this blogosphere. At first, I was tentative, holding out. Afraid of scrutiny and criticism yes, but exposure…now that was the scary, no…terrifying, Walking Dead zombie, trapped in a sinking car, hanging off a ledge clinging to a loose rock kind of fear I had of this place…this place, that I now think of as home.
Inhibitions on the back burner, I feel excited to cast out my thoughts and words. My heart pounds as I click my stats and wait for views to appear. It skips a beat when that icon turns orange showing I have a new comment, like or follow. Yes, I admit it. I post. I wait. I hope.
But, like everyone else, I was once unsure. It’s a very bizarre conundrum; loving… longing to write but scared shitless someone might read it.
I’ve come a long way. When I was a child I scribbled stories and ripped them up, afraid, even to keep a journal. Not for fear of my thoughts being read, but that someone would know I’d been writing. The confusing feeling haunts me to this day.
A couple of years ago I did the NaNoWriMo challenge. I wrote and I wrote. It was a huge part of my life for thirty days. I could in fact say that it consumed me. But…I didn’t tell anyone. Obviously, I had to explain to my immediate family why I was less than present, but besides them and the one friend I was taking the challenge with, I told no one else. And, I did not, could not even tell those few who knew about my undertaking what I was writing about. I wrote sixty thousand words and each one of them, my spooky little secret.
I have a similar squeeze when I finish someone’s make-up. When they look in the mirror or stand in front of the camera for the first time, my body seizes and I feel despair that my art is about to be unveiled and subsequently, examined.
Now, I’m posting for the world (hardy, har, har, I wish) to see.
Yes, I’ve come a long way.
The fear has subsided. I still flush as I hit publish, much I’m sure, like a performer about to hit the stage for the…what number is this…twenty-fifth time, still slightly wet behind the ears, but bolstered. Bolstered, thanks to viewers, screaming fans, readers, commenters…pick your poison. They’re all reassuring.
One of the first people to throw my name and “writer” together was P.C. Zick and I am truly grateful to her for that. I am also very grateful (in no particular order) to the following bloggers for many different reasons; their friendship, their support, their writing, their endeavors and their honesty, just to name a few:
1. P.C. Zick http://pczick.wordpress.com/
2. Saige Wisdom http://saigewisdom.blogspot.ca/
3. Lesley Richardson http://www.standingnakedatabusstop.com/
4. Year of Austere http://yearofaustere.wordpress.com
5. Nicole Jane Home http://blog.nicolejane.com/
6. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot 4 http://whiskeytangofoxtrot4.wordpress.com/
7. Sylvia Behnish http://www.thecreativenesswithinme.blogspot.ca/
8. Lewis Thomson http://lth0ms0n.wordpress.com/
9. TK Butterfly http://teekay16.wordpress.com/
10. Rachel Carter http://rachelcarter.me/
11. Ashley Jillian http://ashleyjillian.com/
12. http://secretdiaryofadublincallgirl.wordpress.com/
13. Bethany Lovell http://froggology.blogspot.ca/
14. Adam Martin http://livelikeagrownup.wordpress.com/
15. Carole Bell http://ringmybell-cybell.blogspot.ca/
Write it – Walk it – Own it
Surprisingly, I’ve been nominated for the Inspiring Blog Award and the above fifteen bloggers are my nominees for the same. The named fifteen are now asked to pay it forward, so to speak. Write a post citing your nomination, a link to my post, fifteen nominees of your own and seven things about yourself. (although mine aren’t in bullet form, I believe I’ve woven at least seven in there somewhere, and if it’s less, don’t rat me out)
Thank you Patricia for the vote of confidence and for inspiring me to write today.
Thank you Bloggers, for overcoming whatever challenges you face in creating and relaying your craft to others. It’s an inspiration to us all.
Thank you readers, for perusing my murmurs and mutterings and making me feel like they’re worthy of a tiny piece of this sphere.
Kin With Your Skin
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Hazy Shades of Me 