tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19078850676027583372024-03-14T07:56:08.261-04:00Middle PassagesLiza Carens SalernoLizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.comBlogger910125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-50524303463400913382024-03-06T06:00:00.013-05:002024-03-06T06:00:00.346-05:00Writing in Kind - IWSG March 2024<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxuX1PN78d3XgdglEwCsrPC3JtdeS_SUNkKQQrVwFPYRP3bdkXmuOJ4qAN37ufq26e3mx7UAbNDVX34UHSNnNS2dQpbEGlw6abX0wZfoEfRY0vZ1UcS4aUkT5wGPk_WokloiGXv13kerJSblC02Z13tZapS4iCM4Fmi6thmp0E0IQMaameVAz1JpvbwhI/s320/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="320" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxuX1PN78d3XgdglEwCsrPC3JtdeS_SUNkKQQrVwFPYRP3bdkXmuOJ4qAN37ufq26e3mx7UAbNDVX34UHSNnNS2dQpbEGlw6abX0wZfoEfRY0vZ1UcS4aUkT5wGPk_WokloiGXv13kerJSblC02Z13tZapS4iCM4Fmi6thmp0E0IQMaameVAz1JpvbwhI/s1600/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div><p class="MsoNormal"><i>Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share
and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of
appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer
assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG
is the brainchild of our fearless ninja leader <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/"><span style="font-size: medium;">Alex Cavanaugh</span></a>. The Cohost for the March posting of
IWSG are:<b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> <span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=718acefcd9&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="color: #007c89; font-weight: normal;">Kristina Kelly,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=93fd318dc7&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="color: #007c89; font-weight: normal;">Miffie Seideman,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=78066134fd&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="color: #007c89; font-weight: normal;">Jean Davis,</span></a></span></span></b><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></b>and <span style="font-size: medium;">ME!</span> To read other contributors,
click <span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">here</a>.</span></i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i>This month’s question</i>:</b> Have you "played" with AI
to write those nasty synopses, or do you refuse to go that route? How do you
feel about AI's impact on creative writing?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://middlepassages-lcs.blogspot.com/2023/10/my-inner-debate-iwsg-october-2023.html">Since I wrote recently about AI in October</a> and
things haven’t changed much (though I <i>did </i>write a synopsis <i>without</i> AI), I’m going to pass on this month’s question. Instead
I’d like to talk about something else. Perhaps because I'm co-hosting this month's IWSG for the first time...ever, but <o:p></o:p>this week, I read an old Middle Passages IWSG post from so long ago I didn’t remember writing it. I was testing out my fiction writing chops and had used a scene storming technique to create a piece of flash fiction. Many years later, my take is while the story was good, the writing was not. There were so many things I hadn’t learned yet, I winced a fair bit while reading. Even so, every person who commented on the piece offered positive feedback or a constructive suggestion designed to teach. I guess that's a no brainer considering we're all members of the same “support group," but it bears noting that this type of regular encouragement spurred me to grow as a writer. Here at IWSG, no one bashed my inexperience. Dare I say everyone was nice?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Having grown up in the dark ages of print media, I’m still flabbergasted
when I’m on a site where I encounter negative online comments. Back in the
day, you couldn’t post a letter to the editor without leaving a name and
address, which as a general rule, promoted self-editing. Nowadays, it feels to
me as if anonymity breeds negativity. That’s why I am so impressed with IWSG. Over
the many years I’ve posted here, I’ve only encountered reassurance and support.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In my early writing days, I followed a [now dark] blog
called The Kindness Project. While the name may be different, IWSG is a
kindness project of sorts. I suppose blogging is pretty passe now. The bulk of the universe
has moved on to newer, faster, quicker things. But I'm so proud of this core of us who remain, encouraging, caring, and supporting. I’m pleased and grateful to find myself
in such good company when I show up here every month.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><br /><p></p><p></p>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-42088453989227095222024-02-07T06:00:00.039-05:002024-02-07T06:00:00.263-05:00Hearing the Difference - IWSG February 2024<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhRH9ABD9hB_MWf5X3_qGwAmWmp9t3p6cLBL2YBXv1veGkIwRQVyMqEOziIOop6r1opTK8aJNKXAD_ILk5RAu-w9Sar1P-PzjRV2iZO6wR14fNhH8-KLLci0zec6XUnJJx4DVng9_JzFkP5GsZz-n9MtxrGB9yW72SkK2gBJoPkuEIxSoHq1eko_aX0YcM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhRH9ABD9hB_MWf5X3_qGwAmWmp9t3p6cLBL2YBXv1veGkIwRQVyMqEOziIOop6r1opTK8aJNKXAD_ILk5RAu-w9Sar1P-PzjRV2iZO6wR14fNhH8-KLLci0zec6XUnJJx4DVng9_JzFkP5GsZz-n9MtxrGB9yW72SkK2gBJoPkuEIxSoHq1eko_aX0YcM" width="244" /></a></div><br />Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share
and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of
appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer
assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG
is the brainchild of <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/">Alex
Cavanaugh</a>. Thank you to this month’s co-hosts<b><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white;"> </span> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=6e45e7e580&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Janet Alcorn,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=46347f2521&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">SE White,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=e903958861&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Victoria Marie Lees,</span></a> </b>and <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=89113f5b78&e=84084ce122" target="_blank">Cathrina<b> </b>Constantine</a>.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Since I can’t say I’ve ever felt critical about an
author’s webpage, I’m passing on this month’s question in favor of an update.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I wrote last month about the “Read Aloud” feature in word,
and how it's helping me. It’s been such a success that after two
passes through my most current project, I dared to ask a friend to beta read
it. Before she left for a week sailing the Caribbean (insert envious sigh
here), she’d plowed through most of it, calling me frequently to offer feedback. Other than multiple
examples of missing end quotes and a couple of typos I didn't catch, her feedback
has been positive and encouraging. Upon her return I’ll get her final analysis
on the story.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">As I suggested I would in last month's post, I’m now using “read
aloud” to take a hard look at one of my earlier non-published books, which I
haven’t edited with any seriousness since 2018. I love the story. <i>Love it.</i>
But I crashed and burned querying and came to believe the book wasn’t ready,
yet.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Conventional wisdom says leaving a project to rest for a
while is a good thing. Perhaps leaving it to rest for a LONG while is
better. I’m on my second “read aloud” edit and still believe in the novel. By listening to Word read to me, I’ve found places where I can tweak things to make them clearer, and where I've needed to cut to make the writing more concise. I always thought I was a better reader than listener. “Read aloud” has proved me wrong. But, the good news is that while I've found plenty that can use fixing, I’ve had more times in which I’ve found myself tickled, in a
<i>Holy Moly, I wrote this</i>? kind of way. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">An author I love once said she didn't give up with her book
because she refused to let something on which she worked so hard disappear into a drawer.
I’ve got four somethings like that, two of which have yet to go through “read
aloud” rigor.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Here’s hoping I’m not setting myself up for more crash
and burn, but January was an optimistic month for me.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i>What has been your experience with the "read aloud" feature in word? What other editing tricks do you use?</i></b></p>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-36352363693137096552024-01-03T06:00:00.009-05:002024-01-03T06:00:00.329-05:00The Voice of (New) Experience - IWSG January 2024<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhruH_nFhix4-MwtweyO3Ure_Nsvbx7nvhUWcnRkIodnEMEBzs4JtBMCXxHos4wjhphQO2UaLFwzO3gtFeXcKFBfTD0gO2dDwGjwZPBRNzKMVZ_fAw0VuueJa8uHqWnr2G8CZdXpm_QZ6Ezp-a3DOGT_mSrMdqA6Y9JaMEk37o4njDMwIaGKnH8iBe6S08" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhruH_nFhix4-MwtweyO3Ure_Nsvbx7nvhUWcnRkIodnEMEBzs4JtBMCXxHos4wjhphQO2UaLFwzO3gtFeXcKFBfTD0gO2dDwGjwZPBRNzKMVZ_fAw0VuueJa8uHqWnr2G8CZdXpm_QZ6Ezp-a3DOGT_mSrMdqA6Y9JaMEk37o4njDMwIaGKnH8iBe6S08" width="244" /></a></div><br />Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share
and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of
appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer
assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG
is the brainchild of <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/">Alex Cavanaugh</a>.
Thank you to this month’s co-hosts, <b><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=b6d22cfec3&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Joylene Nowell Butler,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=5958f292dc&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Olga Godim,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=8060e5e66c&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Diedre Knight,</span></a></b> and <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=3e5cb0c857&e=84084ce122" target="_blank">Natalie Aguirre</a>. <span style="font-family: "Aptos",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">To
read posts from other contributors, click <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">here</a>.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Happy New Year all! <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Since I’ve had no experience with BookBub, I’m going to
ignore this month’s question. Instead, I'll tell you about how my year
ended with a good start.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Seems like I’ve been writing forever, never getting to where
I want to be, but still plugging. A lot of it is my own fault in that I don’t
push myself hard enough. But that aside, I’m aware I have a weakness with
accuracy. No matter how I struggle to proofread—reading aloud, letting a manuscript
rest, printing the piece out and using my red pen to mark it up, changing the
font so things look different, I miss mistakes that make my work look amateurish.
I overlook where “then” should be “than,” where “you are,” should become “you’re,”
and where I say the same things three different ways when one would do. When
proofing, my mind goes too fast. I know what I wanted to write and my brain
assumes I wrote it. Even worse, I make typos while correcting the
mistakes I discover.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I don’t know what took me so long. I’ve been aware of the “Read
Aloud” feature in Word for years, but midway through December and half-way
through an edit of my current manuscript, something made me start using it.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Holy Moly, what a difference a boring voice makes. With
monotone computer woman droning at me, I catch mistakes because with her lack
of inflection, she forces me to hear them. Whether it’s leaving out a comma (She
doesn’t pause, so I stop and look.), catching where I’d changed a tense but left
in “ing” instead of “ed,” hearing where a sentence is just plumb awkward, the
list goes on and on. I go back and forth between being horrified at just how many
mistakes there are, and grateful that finally, <i>finally,</i> I seem to have
discovered the means with which to fix (most of) them.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It’s been a hallelujah, praise the Lord kind of few weeks
for me—an early Christmas gift of confidence to think that maybe in this way, I
can continue to improve my work. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Once I get through my current manuscript, I’ll
decide where it goes from there. While that’s happening, I have three other
novels gathering dust in a proverbial drawer. I’m going to let computer voice have her way with them, too.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i>Do you use the "Read Aloud" feature in Word? What are your best tips for accurate proofreading?</i></b></p>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-50937321416757606642023-12-06T06:00:00.006-05:002023-12-06T06:00:00.147-05:00Inspiration from Whence it Comes. IWSG December 2023<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiJLRmGpOF3kuemRAsKKuA0LEwbT6HNhlDjfEDFP2lcZcnLLldaE73zvbUWqaRzQJY6XwVqcUp7innTIqQJYEaEkD2se6twaMQm4eZuZ-mRBVDvw8izYAZvvA2rG3r0qtGpdtCjT1VvgqyNKOqs90eH2dOVnpbW0nrcDgcapzmgwf-qGZiDqpDQMlcdO-c" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiJLRmGpOF3kuemRAsKKuA0LEwbT6HNhlDjfEDFP2lcZcnLLldaE73zvbUWqaRzQJY6XwVqcUp7innTIqQJYEaEkD2se6twaMQm4eZuZ-mRBVDvw8izYAZvvA2rG3r0qtGpdtCjT1VvgqyNKOqs90eH2dOVnpbW0nrcDgcapzmgwf-qGZiDqpDQMlcdO-c" width="244" /></a></div><br /><i>Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share
and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of
appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer
assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of<b> <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/">Alex Cavanaugh</a>. </b>Thank you to December co-hosts <b><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=cd5e54210e&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">C. Lee McKenzie,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=8895ee3cb0&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">JQ Rose,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=70d2aab2e5&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Jennifer Lane,</span></a> </b>and <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=fec367dc1d&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><b>Jacqui Murray</b></a> To read posts from other contributors, click <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">here</a>.</i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>December question</b>: Book reviews are for the readers. When
you leave a book reviews do you review for the Reader or the Author? Is it
about what you liked and enjoyed about your reading experience, or do you
critique the author?<i><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal">The fates have conspired against me in so many ways related to this
month's IWSG, not the least of which included blogger taking artistic liberties with my layout. Earlier, a domain change caused Gmail to deliver three draft posts I emailed myself to my junk folder. Before
I figured it out I thought I was going crazy. In the end, I decided this was the universe telling me my drafts didn’t add a lot of insight to the
topic. It’s been a long time, but
instead of answering this month’s question I’m posting a picture. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">I’m not a fan of the cold but it offers its own gifts. Late
afternoon at the reservoir is where I find them. Sometimes it’s a fiery show.
Sometimes it’s a watercolor painting. Almost always, the trip is worth it. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal">Wishing you the joy of light and the treasure of loved
ones during the holidays.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"></span></strong></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong></strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj1xLSE86ey58ymEvdny5jljsuIQvLuNkacZ2Vx_AMDkt1SQ80fagXRJDZ3SPubkU-OdVAEXZ9f8iqbtLwj26VkJvF4J2Or2zH16N2x6celPBqKlCsrkK8FJQv0Nwkxk3l4M_z2cFc8-epWHS9C5LKX5M8_cgluJfoXXaLczfqUwLINwD1yyaTul7uCyvA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj1xLSE86ey58ymEvdny5jljsuIQvLuNkacZ2Vx_AMDkt1SQ80fagXRJDZ3SPubkU-OdVAEXZ9f8iqbtLwj26VkJvF4J2Or2zH16N2x6celPBqKlCsrkK8FJQv0Nwkxk3l4M_z2cFc8-epWHS9C5LKX5M8_cgluJfoXXaLczfqUwLINwD1yyaTul7uCyvA=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><strong><div><strong><br /></strong></div></strong><strong><br /></strong><strong>Do you write online book reviews? How do you feel about them? Has blogger been naughty to you lately? Where do you see your best sunsets?<br /></strong><p></p>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-48971400701083245262023-11-01T06:00:00.006-04:002023-11-01T06:41:12.770-04:00No "NaNovember" - IWSG November 2023<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGWwidJjTYo61h4sP-YWkVxuPgzo4hji-_q8vHgISBcrs_li6mbnFr_XnDVjBNnPAZurf_QGTUzwgcHoArloA6b33rRXL85tKArT50Hd-UlOkBlsFcay8MpKb2umyVzwgqZzl2aL3zc6gzihEpNKVMixSAcbCa7OCjf9TqYyY7LXQ9sUx5ilHa2hP5sTw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGWwidJjTYo61h4sP-YWkVxuPgzo4hji-_q8vHgISBcrs_li6mbnFr_XnDVjBNnPAZurf_QGTUzwgcHoArloA6b33rRXL85tKArT50Hd-UlOkBlsFcay8MpKb2umyVzwgqZzl2aL3zc6gzihEpNKVMixSAcbCa7OCjf9TqYyY7LXQ9sUx5ilHa2hP5sTw" width="244" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share
and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of
appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer
assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG
is the brainchild of<b> <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/">Alex
Cavanaugh</a>. </b>Thank you to November co-hosts:</i><b> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=1ad417ac1c&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">PJ Colando,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=34513eee30&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Jean Davis,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=2e50100af8&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Lisa Buie Collard,</span></a></b> and <b><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=f6c3dd3e35&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Diedre Knight</span></a></b>. <i>To
read posts from other contributors, click </i><a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">here</a>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>November question:</b> <i>November is National Novel Writing Month.
Have you ever participated? If not, why not?</i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I love to scene storm. I get a kick out of writing a snippet
around a required sentence or word. When I'm stuck for an idea I can compose a
scene based on a photograph. Even when I stare at a blank page with no idea
what to write I can usually come up with something readable. But writing fifty-thousand
words toward a novel over the course of a (typically busy) month feels like an
overwhelming challenge. Perhaps I’ve given it a passing thought but I’ve never
seriously contemplated participating in NatNoWriMo.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For me, November isn’t about putting my head down and
getting all the words out. November means hauling away the blanket of rust-colored
pine needles coating the bottom of my driveway. It’s hickory nuts pinging off
the garage roof, skittering down the slope and the pop-pop as cars hit the nuts
that make it to the street. It’s about the turkeys who camp out at the edge
of my yard, pecking at the smashed results. November means rare days when the afternoons
air can still be warm. I return to a cold house after work and open up the windows
to let the outside in before the sun sets early and the furnace kicks on.
November means mornings when I gaze left as I drive down the street, hoping to
see the reflection of burnished foliage on Lily Pond. When I’m lucky, I catch
the rising sun burning off whisps of fog from around huge rock in the middle of
the water. So many mornings I yearn to stop and take a picture. So many times
in the past I have, but more often I don’t because I cut my five-minute commute
too close. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">November means pumpkins and candles and on weekends, the
distant chatter of the announcers from the high school football field a mile
away. It means ignoring the oak leaves drifting down because they won’t drop in
earnest until after the first frost, and these days I have to school myself in patience. Back in the day, I
dragged full tarps into the woods while my husband raked. Cleaning up our
leaves was a grueling four-week, two-person operation. These days, I pay for a
lawn crew to clean them up but they won't arrive until after all the leaves have dropped sometime well past Thanksgiving. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ah yes, Thanksgiving. November used to mean methodically
prepping for 20-30 people at our house for the holiday (another excuse not to
do NaNo). We wrote chore lists for three weeks before, two weeks before and then
daily “to-do’s” during turkey week. On T-Day those lists were timed to the
hour. Now it means a simple food assignment to prepare ahead before driving to
my brother’s and sister-in-law’s home, which happens to be the house
where my brother and I grew up. Last year I went the night before and we all sat around their kitchen
island prepping and talking. Other
than the fact that being away from my home for a holiday Tim and I hosted for more
than 30 years felt like an out-of-body experience, it was a lovely, joy-filled day. This year there will be newlyweds and also a new baby, and like last year, I expect after eating we’ll take a long walk around the town where we grew up. I’m looking forward to it.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So no, November has never meant NaNo for me and my guess is it
never will. November means (ignoring leaves while) paying attention to the things I like about the
season. This year, it brought an (early) bonus – which was this opportunity
to write about them. </p><p class="MsoNormal">See what I did there? I scene-stormed using the word “November.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-5936308588493478202023-10-30T07:14:00.000-04:002023-10-30T07:14:12.235-04:00Of Wrong and WriteThe sandstone courthouse stood high above the street, its doorway a yawning mouth framed by towering columns. Inside, steam heat blasted, radiators clanked and high heels clattered over worn black linoleum. As prospective jurors, we were herded into the courtroom where we gazed at the brown-tinged windows filtering light high overhead. Looking out we could only see sky. Bailiffs hollered names and numbers. We sat as directed on wooden benches while two opposing attorneys selected the jury.<br /><br />It was a murder trial, I was elected a juror and without going into grisly details, it was the time I first learned the meaning of the word nuance.<br /><br />For five days we listened to testimony while the suspect sat across from us, his face an expressionless profile, arms folded across his chest, legs shackled in silver chains. I couldn’t help thinking that a long time ago, this man was a baby who likely cooed and laughed. Now he stood accused of murder. Later, the prosecuting attorney provoked a similar sentiment when he circulated the high school picture of the seventeen-year-old victim. That photo replaced the horror pictures we had already seen with the vision of a lovely high school student, turning her into the girl next door, you know, the one your brother had a crush on. <br /><br />After the closing statements, the jury sat around a dark stained table. A stocky white haired man slammed his hand down, convinced of guilt at the offset while the rest of us were determined to use all manner of fairness before reaching any conclusion. If we were to convict, there were three statutes under which the suspect could be found guilty. Two were obvious, one, more obscure and as we analyzed evidence we needed clarification on the third statute. Tearing a sheet of paper from a yellow legal pad, our foreman jotted, “Can we get a copy of the statute for Felony Murder?” and handed it to the bailiff to deliver to the judge. Shortly, the bailiff knocked on our door and instructed us to return to the courtroom.<br /><br />Winding our way single file down a dimly lit hallway, we entered the courtroom, slid into squeaking wooden seats and gazed toward the bench. <div><br />The judge spoke. “The jury has requested a copy of the statute of Felony Murder. This building has no copy machine therefore I cannot fulfill the request. The jury may return to the deliberation room.”<br /><br />Nuance. Twelve members of the jury sat back at the rectangular table, flabbergasted that the antiquated courtroom didn’t house a copy machine, and due to the meticulous requirement of our legal system, that meant the judge could do nothing more than respond to our request the way it was written. As a group, we were irritated. We'd used the wrong word and we couldn’t move forward. <br /><br />That experience, which occurred many years ago, reminds me of writing. The law leaves no room for leeway, and yes, perhaps writing offers more. But in the end, it’s in the details, the fine distinction, the exactness in which you form a sentence that leads the reader on, convinces them, and tantalizes. The wrong words shut a reader down just as one wrong word stopped the jury cold. “He walked down the hallway” provokes a yawn of boredom, whereas a sentence like, “Scuffing his feet, he ran his ruler across the beadboard paneling. We could hear him getting closer with each click,” makes the reader ask who “he” is and where is he going.<br /><br />As a jury, we spent several more careful hours discussing the case. When that word <em>copy</em> derailed us, we moved to another part piece of testimony. We knew that the one word was an issue, but rather than waste time on it, we worked together to draw a clearer picture of other details related to the case, the same way when stuck, a writer moves on to a different part of the story. <br /><br />When we were close to a verdict we returned to the word <em>copy</em>, sending a second note back to the judge: “Could you please <em>read us </em>the statute on Felony Murder?" Once again the bailiff knocked on the door and escorted us down the hallway. Again we took our assigned seats and waited expectantly for the judge. After reading our question out loud, the judge opened a thick, leather bound book and read the statute. The jury returned to the deliberation room. Within an hour, we had a verdict.<br /><br /><strong><em>The right words will bring you home. When has a single word or scene stumped you?</em></strong></div>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-23491351711619260332023-10-04T06:50:00.001-04:002023-10-04T06:50:00.160-04:00My Inner Debate - IWSG October 2023<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKdAdIJQH-A-uViAWwXvU5sZvbtLrG0jgXhrbU9cew3h3o45vY-nDHNfFQ5txnox5BU4K9I-wKoTIY1pwq6PDqpe9uFD7BrzX41-Slx_VJbSYqnxQSTWJKMG8U5iBj4BhwU-NjkeVNv1O5wrx8by8YzdCltLW4fuuqCRagJY2iZdkfVG8OdJOTECIAFXw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKdAdIJQH-A-uViAWwXvU5sZvbtLrG0jgXhrbU9cew3h3o45vY-nDHNfFQ5txnox5BU4K9I-wKoTIY1pwq6PDqpe9uFD7BrzX41-Slx_VJbSYqnxQSTWJKMG8U5iBj4BhwU-NjkeVNv1O5wrx8by8YzdCltLW4fuuqCRagJY2iZdkfVG8OdJOTECIAFXw" width="244" /></a></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Welcome
to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can
express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those
who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a haven
for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/">Alex Cavanaugh</a>. Thank you to the October co-hosts, </span></i><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=490a939087&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Natalie Aguirre,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=43a21ac320&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Kim Lajevardi,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=6170c8cb95&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Debs Carey,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=9ef2ff048f&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Gwen Gardner,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=7e48a9e26a&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Patricia Josephine,</span></a></span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"> and <b><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=9b7d55af80&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Rebecca Douglass</span></a>. </b></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">To read
posts from other contributors, click</span><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </i><a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">here</a><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">.</span><b style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><i><b>October question:</b> The topic of AI writing has been heavily debated across the
world. According to various sources, generative AI will assist writers, not
replace them. What are your thoughts?</i><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This month’s question reminds me of a conversation I
had with a college professor last spring. He expressed profound disappointment that students use AI thinking they can bluff their way to good grades on their
papers. He said he could usually tell when he read the final
product. We talked about how, as AI takes a stronger hold in education
and business, it will become harder and harder to discern the truth. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Honestly, since then I haven’t delved deep enough into the topic but here is my naive and uneducated take. Imagine
a piece of highway hotel room art. It fills a blank wall and brings color to a
room. Maybe it hides a stain. It’s utilitarian. That said, it’s more than
likely mass produced, whether by a machine or by someone creating the same
piece over and over. The piece may be technically proficient. Some people may
even like it. But it lacks depth and passion. It lacks emotion. It’s
missing finesse.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Recently an author I follow used AI to create a sample story
before critiquing it. The story was like the wall art. It had a beginning, a
middle and an end. It even had an arc. But it was plodding and definitely
without nuance. In my mind, a computer <i>can't </i>take the place of the intangibles inspired by our humanity (so far). Still, the exercise begs the question. Could a writer take a story
originally created via AI and flesh it out, tweak it, give it
subtlety and turn it into something that touches a reader? Could they use it as
a jumping off point to create a masterful novel?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I don’t know enough to know, and it feels like cheating to me. That said, I'm talking about fiction here, which is all about entertainment. Maybe we're simply encountering the newest way to do a thing. It doesn't feel right to me, but I have to ask myself. If the end product triggers emotions and the reader feels fulfilled by the experience of reading, does it matter how the story is produced?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><b>I confess. Writing this month's essay kind of felt like bluffing my way through a college paper without having done the reading (no AI involved). I am aware there are deeper issues related to the recently resolved writer's strike, labor questions, and the threat of AI eliminating jobs. I'm simply not well-read enough on the topic to address them. Keep that in mind and don't be too hard on me in your comments. </b></i> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-55102904222789884112023-09-06T06:00:00.052-04:002023-09-07T06:42:36.347-04:00Happy Anniversary - IWSG September 2023<p class="MsoNormal"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgiMxV3hr1-AJctgoJnd690YjqiHaP9DRsqr-FOWaKdEZZv2s1lj5ME_245xozzrmTzUN8RetokurxxIfo3fsK-p96NNqX3n9u_HCMRCJcYp0LRJ6pfunbY8KK4fGGeiNwVliKb4B6PIiYSFmwuR5pTE4PxxSgEAkuMo7W9-xOMUzMBfrFPS3Lzbiix4Lg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgiMxV3hr1-AJctgoJnd690YjqiHaP9DRsqr-FOWaKdEZZv2s1lj5ME_245xozzrmTzUN8RetokurxxIfo3fsK-p96NNqX3n9u_HCMRCJcYp0LRJ6pfunbY8KK4fGGeiNwVliKb4B6PIiYSFmwuR5pTE4PxxSgEAkuMo7W9-xOMUzMBfrFPS3Lzbiix4Lg" width="244" /></a></i></div><i><br />Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to
share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of
appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer
assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG
is the brainchild of <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/">Alex
Cavanaugh</a>. </i><o:p></o:p>Thank you to September’s co-hosts: <a href="https://jlennidorner.blogspot.com/">J Lenni Dorner,</a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><a href="https://soniadogra.com/">Sonia Dogra</a><span face="Arial, sans-serif">, </span><a href="http://www.patgarciaandeverythingmustchange.com/">Pat Garcia , </a><a href="http://thefauxfountainpen.blogspot.com/">Sarah - The Faux Fountain Pen. </a><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">and </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://authormekajames.wordpress.com/">Meka James.</a> </span>To find posts from other contributors, click<i> </i><a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">here</a>.<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p></p><p><i><b>This month's topic: </b>The IWSG celebrates 12 years today! When did you discover
the IWSG, how do you connect, and how has it helped you? Feel free to elaborate
on your connection with the IWSG as we celebrate another milestone.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">After reading today’s optional question, I scrolled back
over the years to the first IWSG post I wrote twelve years ago for that inaugural IWSG. That summer
we’d been preparing for our only child to go to college and I felt like life
was running away from me. Other than blogging and some freelance work, I’d
given myself a break from writing for a couple of months. But now our girl was
gone and I struggled to get back to my writing routine. My topic was one most of us could
write about today, the push-pull about how to prioritize writing time when the rest
of our lives drive us in other directions—pretty much a universal theme.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’m fairly incredulous when I think of how my life has
changed since that first essay, but one thing that has remained consistent over
the years has been a monthly reminder to write an IWSG post. No matter how I’m
feeling about writing or life in general, I make myself sit down and pound out
a piece. To my knowledge, I’ve never missed one. Twelve times twelve. A hundred
and forty-four essays. I may not have achieved other writing goals, but at
least I know have staying power.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But IWSG means more to me than sticking it out over the long haul. When I’ve been
anxious, frustrated or uninspired, individuals in this group have provided
thoughtful suggestions and challenges to get me moving again. At the lowest
time of my life I wrote a post and the sincere comments I received helped me inch forward through my worst days ever. There is a kindness in this community for which I am always grateful.
And while I’ve only participated in
one anthology (<i>The Insecure Writers Support Group Guide to Publishing and Beyond</i>), I was tickled to see my name in print there. Even now I'm proud
that my essay demonstrates a clear voice. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">IWSG is all about community. I’d be remiss if I didn’t take
this time to extend my thanks to Alex Cavanaugh for founding and
growing IWSG to the online writing resource that it is today. And to the
administrators and all those who have co-hosted over the years, please know how much I appreciate your efforts.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As we all know, writing can be a lonely practice. For me,
IWSG means once a month, I see beyond my keyboard, beyond my quiet house to all
those folks putting their unique thoughts out to the IWSG world and find comfort
in knowing I am one of many.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>What has IWSG meant to you?</b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-60500756008423494602023-08-02T06:00:00.004-04:002023-08-03T06:41:17.493-04:00Whimsy in the Woods - IWSG August 2023<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjud7ikm6CEirB6Oax5pPNO3_DxNDkRRRrKt7KdHFi4CH0cCcdz1QvG2r-_exXtXJVi_LemsTVgWJJR-XY8j9B5cRFknkXEjbn171IdsnrnBseedN8q5j7t8_EO6rVANEooWm8atFpuWPTjPirxCxaZMFDs37f_RDm811qYPnfJek4vfs5dVqdtkb3WB9o" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjud7ikm6CEirB6Oax5pPNO3_DxNDkRRRrKt7KdHFi4CH0cCcdz1QvG2r-_exXtXJVi_LemsTVgWJJR-XY8j9B5cRFknkXEjbn171IdsnrnBseedN8q5j7t8_EO6rVANEooWm8atFpuWPTjPirxCxaZMFDs37f_RDm811qYPnfJek4vfs5dVqdtkb3WB9o" width="244" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">Welcome
to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can
express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who
have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for
insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/">Alex Cavanaugh</a>. To find posts from other
contributors, click <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">here</a>.
Thank you to the August co-hosts: </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><b><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=d252a051cd&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Kate Larkinsdale,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=a704e39023&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Diane Burton,</span></a></b> <b><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=4796947ede&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Janet Alcorn,</span></a></b> and <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=b77d553c13&e=84084ce122" target="_blank">Shannon Lawrence!</a></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Since I have nothing writing related to share this month, I've decided to write about something whimsical instead.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Back during Covid lockdown FB announced a new business in
our town. Deep in the woods on her property, a former local restauranter/chef/baker
built a little shed she calls The Sugar Shack, where she stocks supply of
delicious foods. Surrounded by trees, the building sits unmanned. All are welcome to visit. For the longest time I hesitated to, feeling funny about driving up someone’s private driveway. Finally,
after being ordered to by my sister-in-law who knew what we were missing, my
daughter and I made it there, creeping up an unpaved road a quarter of a mile
into the forest.</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5UnwsGnJ9FzZYY747FZ4WBQ4LCdSJHnpH2fY12aR_XbogqwTHhFDDo8YVeQ0TiqsJb200mZlAjOH19XtvPtLQzoZKmLYl37Xc0HrtD2ZoUt0IHTWfvBSJt3m7wGIMsxCwxFdD7khNfD3jVELbVYw-tDJnfAwH6AUWpA3E_7RK1b92nFoMdmWoxDGYgFE/s3241/IMG-9143.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3241" data-original-width="3024" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5UnwsGnJ9FzZYY747FZ4WBQ4LCdSJHnpH2fY12aR_XbogqwTHhFDDo8YVeQ0TiqsJb200mZlAjOH19XtvPtLQzoZKmLYl37Xc0HrtD2ZoUt0IHTWfvBSJt3m7wGIMsxCwxFdD7khNfD3jVELbVYw-tDJnfAwH6AUWpA3E_7RK1b92nFoMdmWoxDGYgFE/w332-h355/IMG-9143.jpg" width="332" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijC4kGaKLlCBTdAZn0nv8XH-1FvSncyHLdqtE7OyUoyORutmlFKozjq_j4JGRcY-li11V-bMqwm2NHJIqQb37a1WIgGdht8gnh5q_xculAcKXASuSOq2ouhGCM1U-MYX8-r1hJgaZGSPbmuzad3g_u2Z-JidmHVWErSzd1TJ2i806qG78yqad_WF4NrG8/s3116/IMG-9142.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3116" data-original-width="3024" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijC4kGaKLlCBTdAZn0nv8XH-1FvSncyHLdqtE7OyUoyORutmlFKozjq_j4JGRcY-li11V-bMqwm2NHJIqQb37a1WIgGdht8gnh5q_xculAcKXASuSOq2ouhGCM1U-MYX8-r1hJgaZGSPbmuzad3g_u2Z-JidmHVWErSzd1TJ2i806qG78yqad_WF4NrG8/w351-h361/IMG-9142.jpg" width="351" /></a></div><br /></div><br /><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Trespassing worries disappeared as we encountered the flags welcoming us
to travel on. “Chocolate ahead!” “Can you smell it?” and “You are almost there
now." By the time we arrived at the shed, we were giggling like kids. We opened the door to find shelved lined with freshly baked muffins, breads, pies, flavored iced tea kits and jars of handmade chocolates. We were the only humans there. Payment is via the honor system, cash, check or Venmo.</p><p class="MsoNormal">The two of us were in awe.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Last week we had visitors and during a scenic ride, without telling them where we were going, we drove them to the Sugar Shack. After looking at us askance as we trundled into the
woods, they got it too. Tiny as it is, The Sugar Shack is one huge, quirky
delight.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwQBX6KOYNhT24emKVkQR8cx3wrd_r3Ac2paEYFd2GsIywIgxloiQ0Zi0vkNdepM0azN_Pq5BWxuOHTSvOQxKhPHDtxqPK15OvVKfRuySGSXV1iDu7rC2Xuiojlq6LUaDPvqRmWjW_xfNU80kTq3jFzJd5x_g3YD8NutYfFrxM6-UYVGqbmtj8_6BzfI/s4032/IMG-9044.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwQBX6KOYNhT24emKVkQR8cx3wrd_r3Ac2paEYFd2GsIywIgxloiQ0Zi0vkNdepM0azN_Pq5BWxuOHTSvOQxKhPHDtxqPK15OvVKfRuySGSXV1iDu7rC2Xuiojlq6LUaDPvqRmWjW_xfNU80kTq3jFzJd5x_g3YD8NutYfFrxM6-UYVGqbmtj8_6BzfI/w274-h365/IMG-9044.jpg" width="274" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal">As writers, we appreciate imagination. I am inspired by the
creativity it took build a darling
shed (by hand, by herself), deep in the woods, stock it with handmade and
curated sweets and then disappear, as if to say, no human had a hand in
this. Beyond the shack, she has a successful online business selling most
of the same yummy products as well as a food truck she takes to local fairs. But to my way of thinking there’s nothing like her magical
“If you build it they will come” idea that brings joy to all who visit.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i>Outside of your writing, where have you encountered creativity recenty?</i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-49856704264611759502023-07-05T06:00:00.001-04:002023-07-05T06:00:00.140-04:00From Whence it Comes, Part 2, IWSG July 2023<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjXA4aVdrxJMA5Lxql8eKjqEnJqgN3I6m87fQ4YAP3MUHMdNTkKyCWxNf__1846IGgrbkYkmHTTllfVWL4afO9imFs87GL99b5n-oFDJqnL7F1GEBP9LEL9wZZ4zPCI0KQRdK24knZHItJy_dr1ufDSNaYBmuHnr-9aeAnpb2yu-RXgbpuHhJtkFusEZNI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjXA4aVdrxJMA5Lxql8eKjqEnJqgN3I6m87fQ4YAP3MUHMdNTkKyCWxNf__1846IGgrbkYkmHTTllfVWL4afO9imFs87GL99b5n-oFDJqnL7F1GEBP9LEL9wZZ4zPCI0KQRdK24knZHItJy_dr1ufDSNaYBmuHnr-9aeAnpb2yu-RXgbpuHhJtkFusEZNI" width="244" /></a></div><br />Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share
and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of
appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer
assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG
is the brainchild of <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/">Alex
Cavanaugh</a>. To find posts from other contributors, click<i> </i><a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">here</a>.
Thank you to the July co-hosts: <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=8b990d82fc&e=84084ce122" target="_blank">PJ Colando,</a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=ecb203f7ed&e=84084ce122" target="_blank">Kim Lajevardi,</a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=f1e8fda26c&e=84084ce122" target="_blank">Gwen Gardner,</a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=3c9ab7316d&e=84084ce122" target="_blank">Pat Garcia,</a> and <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=04da5022b9&e=84084ce122" target="_blank">Natalie Aguirre!</a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>July’s question:</b> 99% of my story ideas come from dreams
Where do your story ideas come from?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://middlepassages-lcs.blogspot.com/2023/05/from-whence-it-comes-iwsg-may-2023.html.">I must have anticipated this back in May when I segued off the question of the month to write about my various inspirations here.</a> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That said, I can pretty much say ideas come from anywhere. Last
week I sat in a meeting about an upcoming kitchen renovation and the designer shared
some intriguing information. As soon as I left her showroom I thought, “That
would make a good story.” Who knew that would happen while waffling over cabinet colors?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One night many years ago, I floated half asleep in the wee
hours when a fully formed voice inside my head announced, “The queen of the
1977 Tarrant County Honeydew Festival abdicated her crown twenty-four hours after
receiving her scepter.” <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Huh? Rolling over, I grabbed a pencil from the bedside table
and scratched the words down so they didn’t disappear. I held on to the sheet I'd scribbled them on until I could figure out who'd been talking in my brain. Eventually, a daughter, a mother and a grandmother came to me and their shared story
became one of my “practice” novels.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Most writers know that stories are everywhere. All
we have to do is keep our eyes and minds open. Oh, and definitely put something within reach to record those snippets the midnight subconscious
delivers.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i>What was the most surprising way a story came to you?</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-73384050952962979712023-06-07T06:00:00.004-04:002023-06-07T06:00:00.148-04:00Thinking the Unthinkable - IWSG June, 2023<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjB3tMfWuW_S4Q1as9pTidkE8ZXoiJ78oRMqfD2TOKeNINanz4XH7-Sm-wE2sIdmOYX7O63Ca22N5pYG7s97wBINNr0wxQ3xvpLEYIUYVnwrCcEoepfd7OJg928oW_cO35NFjsw-EW2FWmUPpFFku21YpFrOXReefkZn331MnQwipWpth2HATNcAqCK" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjB3tMfWuW_S4Q1as9pTidkE8ZXoiJ78oRMqfD2TOKeNINanz4XH7-Sm-wE2sIdmOYX7O63Ca22N5pYG7s97wBINNr0wxQ3xvpLEYIUYVnwrCcEoepfd7OJg928oW_cO35NFjsw-EW2FWmUPpFFku21YpFrOXReefkZn331MnQwipWpth2HATNcAqCK" width="244" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share
and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of
appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer
assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG
is the brainchild of <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/">Alex Cavanaugh</a>. To find posts from other contributors, click<i> </i><a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">here</a>.
Thank you to this month’s co-hosts: <b><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=ee60afdf8f&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Patricia Josephine,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=8f1c3058ba&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Diedre Knight,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=48613a9711&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Olga Godim,</span></a> </b><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=cd083c8c62&e=84084ce122" target="_blank">J. Lenni Dorner,</a> and <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=dabc9196e4&e=84084ce122" target="_blank">Cathrina Constantine<b>.</b></a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>This month’s optional question:</b> If you ever did stop
writing, what would you replace it with?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Those who know <i>The Princess Bride</i> should hear Vizzini's voice in their heads. Stop writing? "<i>Inconceivable.”</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I joined my first (short lived) writing group in 2010-ish. Our town
library had received a grant to offer a free writing course taught by a Grub
Street instructor. When the class was finished, a few of us continued to meet
regularly. Our members included a yoga instructor who liked to write, a woman
who had never written before, a young mother working on lengthy piece of
historical fiction and me, recently unemployed and trying to find her writing
way. The fifth member of the group was a bit of an enigma. Petite and delicate-looking,
she wore her iron-grey hair short and presented a funky vibe in her faded blue
jeans and red canvas high-tops. She didn’t share much about herself, but we suspected she was older than she appeared when she skipped meetings if it
meant driving in the dark or the rain. I remember a story she wrote in which she dropped us into a tension-filled hospital emergency room during the
sixties drug culture. She was the best writer among us.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Not long after the group disbanded, I began my current role
at our town's Department of Elder Affairs and shortly into my tenure, this woman became a client for a service I am in charge of providing. Our
business is always conducted via phone, and over what has now become many years, the only time I’ve had occasion to see her was pre-Covid, when she attended a writing class our
center offered. Yet even now I talk to her often, and occasionally we talk about our
writing. Last week there was one such day and the end of our conversation she said, “I
hope the center will offer another writing class soon.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I told her I’d pass on the request to the individual in
charge of arranging programs. After we hung up, I kept thinking about her in
context of this month’s IWSG question, and I confess. I looked up her age.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Honestly, I can't fathom choosing not to write, anymore than I can picture what could replace it. Here’s to achieving 91 years of age, and still looking
forward to writing.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-57578006186115842482023-05-03T06:00:00.020-04:002023-05-04T06:45:24.626-04:00From Whence it Comes - IWSG May 2023 <p><i><span style="background: white;"></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi1CnCtaViWCNgKQHixXQn4djiY_0_rYtt994c4uzT6PWXgx1FpNCdLIRiOS60OZ2MUC6lv6XSBvca-gyug5O8M0yJNQ1d5orVWzim93mHlils6ZPa3BwWX_XEJ1vNhNOAvoHrh67UDqZ0dMjxn_xSC2PAdYs5OKd5y2j7Br7qp1_S9mxljzx3W6QNp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi1CnCtaViWCNgKQHixXQn4djiY_0_rYtt994c4uzT6PWXgx1FpNCdLIRiOS60OZ2MUC6lv6XSBvca-gyug5O8M0yJNQ1d5orVWzim93mHlils6ZPa3BwWX_XEJ1vNhNOAvoHrh67UDqZ0dMjxn_xSC2PAdYs5OKd5y2j7Br7qp1_S9mxljzx3W6QNp" width="244" /></a></i></div><i><br />Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this
blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns
without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire
can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all
kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html">Alex
Cavanaugh</a>. To find other contributors, click <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">here.</a> Thank
you to this month’s co-hosts:<span face="Arial, sans-serif"><b> </b></span></i><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=0946ae0a3c&e=84084ce122" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;" target="_blank">Joylene Nowell Butler,</a><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=842bbd7b6f&e=84084ce122" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;" target="_blank">Ronel Janse van Vuuren,</a><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=ee3f73de05&e=84084ce122" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;" target="_blank">Meka James,</a><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=f68a4053e0&e=84084ce122" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;" target="_blank">Diane Burton,</a><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=232a1fc664&e=84084ce122" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;" target="_blank">Victoria Marie Lees,</a><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> and </span><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=0093200fee&e=84084ce122" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;" target="_blank">M Louise Barbour.</a><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background: white; font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></p><p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background: white; font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">This month's optional question: When you are
working on a story, what inspires you? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The former
owners of our home used to dump trash on the property. When we cleaned up the
yard, my husband discovered a couple of antique glass bottles, pre-twist top. I cleaned
them out, put them on my windowsill and used them as a bud vases. One day when trying to jog my creative juices, </span><a href="https://middlepassages-lcs.blogspot.com/2009/12/message-in-one.html" style="font-size: 12pt;">I wrote a scene I posted in Middle Passages</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> about a woman with three similar bottles. Then came the
questions. Who was the woman? What was the significance of the
bottles? The story changed radically, but that scene triggered my first attempt at a novel.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Anything can
inspire. Back in the late 1800’s in my hometown,<a href="http://archive.boston.com/news/local/articles/2010/04/08/little_remains_of_19th_century_eccentrics_wondrous_estate_in_needham/"> an eccentric man built a kind of amusement park on his 800-acre estate</a>. His “folly” featured a hotel, a
“pirate’s grotto,” a bear pit, a crystal palace, a monkey house, and a camera
obscura. There was a water tower with a mammoth statue of Poseidon. He dammed
up a stream and made his own lake. The property featured mechanical jokes as
well as progressive ideas. At one exhibit guests were invited to drink
“Laughing Water” and after they did, the floor would tilt to make them feel
drunk. He maintained a fastidious “piggery” with the innovative thought that
taking care of the animals used for food would make for healthier eating.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Years later,
the property was sold, parceled off and developed. Growing up, kids I knew who
lived in the area talked about fishing in the lake and playing in the woods
around the ruins of the old grotto, but I never experienced any of it. From my side of town,
unless you lived in or visited one of those houses, the land and pond were physically
inaccessible. But they weren’t inaccessible to my imagination. I used a
fictionalized version of the ruins of that old estate in one of my books. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">More
inspiration? A family at our church arranged for a memorial service honoring
the passengers of an <a href="https://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/history/shipwreck_st_john.htm">Irish immigrant ship who perished in wreck off the coast of our town in 1849</a>. Once the service became an annual event, I did some
research. Newspaper articles written about the tragedy listed ninety-nine
official passengers on the ship manifest (the maximum allowed) but according to
witnesses, as many as twenty off-the-record and nameless passengers traveled also. Twelve passengers survived the
wreck. <a href="https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/cohasset-mariner/2014/10/03/st-john-shipwreck-remembered/36258117007/">Forty-four people are buried in an unmarked grave in our Central Cemetery</a>. (A marker was raised in their memory later.) Other victims were buried up and down the coast. I was haunted by the
idea of the unregistered victims whose names were never reported. Would their
families have ever known what happened to them? I wove the angst of unknowing
into an unreliable character, threw in a missing child with correlations
related to 150+ year old Irish shipwreck and it all came together in one of my novels.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Inspiration comes from anything. Trash, history, church, or simply walking down the
street. All it takes is imagination.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><b><i>What inspires your best writing?</i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-30408974005425173642023-04-05T06:00:00.003-04:002023-04-05T06:00:00.217-04:00Number Four, Saved from the Drawer - IWSG April 2023<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjl0smL4z8Bi1K-PBIkWDgYh6lMjfJjXNq1WSPHtddQrxppB4o5haOU52UKHpvoTsQfLq-5F7NsnFyG_5hYzuxnWiurh_qfm0pu0Ue2CZdRdkveCa8R55sCSlapThuaw0h1pRUCxF35rOAZdvjC8IT-ngh7vec1lutz6LR-A6Waz7_wkch7ioYNmgke" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjl0smL4z8Bi1K-PBIkWDgYh6lMjfJjXNq1WSPHtddQrxppB4o5haOU52UKHpvoTsQfLq-5F7NsnFyG_5hYzuxnWiurh_qfm0pu0Ue2CZdRdkveCa8R55sCSlapThuaw0h1pRUCxF35rOAZdvjC8IT-ngh7vec1lutz6LR-A6Waz7_wkch7ioYNmgke" width="244" /></a></i></div><i><br />Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to
share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of
appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer
assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG
is the brainchild of <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html">Alex
Cavanaugh</a>. To find other contributors, click <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">here.</a> <o:p></o:p></i><i>Thank you to this month’s co-hosts: <b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px;"><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=7e72f2fbf4&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Jemima Pett,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=2007df80fd&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Nancy Gideon,</span></a></span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px;"> and <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=8c44d30a9f&e=84084ce122" target="_blank">Natalie Aguirre</a>.</span></i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><b>April’s optional question:</b> Do you remember writing your
first book? What were your thoughts about a career path on writing? Where are
you now and how is it working out for you? If you're at the start of the
journey, what are your goals?</i></p><p class="MsoNormal">An author with whom I am acquainted once wrote that she kept
working on her first novel because after all her effort, she “didn’t want it to
end up in the drawer.” Persistence paid off. <a href="https://maryanneohara.com/books/cascade/cascade-praise-and-reviews/">Her
first novel was published to much acclaim.</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As I’ve written here previously, my first attempt at a novel occurred
ages ago, after I completed the lessons in <i>The Artist’s Way, A Spiritual Path
to Higher Creativity</i>, by Julia Cameron. While I was proud to finish a draft,
I had zero clue how to edit my initial mess. That dilemma led me to take a Grub
Street writing class, which inspired me to join a writing group. I took more
classes, started another novel, joined a different writing group and completed
two more novels. Somewhere along the line I came to believe that my first unfortunate
attempt had been lost due to a corrupt thumb drive.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That brings us to two summers ago when I was struggling. I’d
managed to get myself writing again after losing my sweet Tim, but for the most
part all I’d been doing was completing these blog posts and editing (again!) my two most recent novels. That
lasted until I queried them a bit more and ran out of gas. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I had (and still have) no desire to begin writing another novel
from scratch, but that summer I was pawing through some files looking for
something and I found a printout of that awful first draft from years ago in my desk drawer. It had been beside me all along.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thankfully, the thing was as much as mess as I remembered because it offered a challenge when I needed one most. Almost
two years and several drafts in, I no longer shudder to read it.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, do I remember my first novel? Well, yes. Technically, my
first novel is now my fourth. I worked on it this just morning, ever so grateful
to have pulled it out of the drawer. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>What was your first book like? Was it published?</b></p>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-67382021258567748812023-03-01T06:00:00.001-05:002023-03-01T06:00:00.223-05:00Enduring Lessons - IWSG March 2023<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg3TA-Ju81e7W5iVw0FTTdNhfw8DwEXxPKdVkZ4cSj9Izmat8vR9a4TGjnVTd-CwzKDfuUVbCsnDWWHm31jmEm_-CnuWJ-YVN8DNx65q3M-hONEglTa8eiBGGfo14T72D-V7RZzhx0Nm2hOjtEOtC3CzDYQAW0EZcFn_nZCoZ_Q6PQxugmU3SwKx-At" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg3TA-Ju81e7W5iVw0FTTdNhfw8DwEXxPKdVkZ4cSj9Izmat8vR9a4TGjnVTd-CwzKDfuUVbCsnDWWHm31jmEm_-CnuWJ-YVN8DNx65q3M-hONEglTa8eiBGGfo14T72D-V7RZzhx0Nm2hOjtEOtC3CzDYQAW0EZcFn_nZCoZ_Q6PQxugmU3SwKx-At" width="244" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to
share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of
appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer
assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG
is the brainchild of <u> <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html">Alex
Cavanaugh</a>.</u> To find other contributors, click <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">here.</a> Thank
you to the co-hosts </i>f<i>or the March posting of the IWSG: <b><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=e1c7a99ba2&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Diedre Knight,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=5f97abe5bb&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Tonya Drecker,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=7221d87fe8&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Bish Denham,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=d85cc92785&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Olga Godim,</span></a> </b>and <b><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=b8e7334122&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">JQ Rose.</span></a></b></i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>This month’s optional question:</b> Have you ever read a line in
novel or a clever plot twist that caused you to have author envy? </p><p class="MsoNormal">My quick answer? Yes. I’ve devoted quite
a few posts here to works that have made me say, “Boy, I wish I wrote that!” but
rather than going back and rehashing them, I thought I’d spend this one talking
about an author who has awed me for a different reason.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In high school, I took a class called “History through
Literature” during which we read historical fiction set in formulative eras. During class, we discussed the real life events that provided the framework for the novels. Even
now, books from that course stand out in my mind.<i> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-Quiet-Western-Front-Novel/dp/0449213943">All Quiet on the Western Front</a></i>, by Erich Maria Remarque, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Night-Elie-Wiesel/dp/0374500010/ref=sr_1_1?crid=39A6IIYNK8WKB&keywords=night+by+elie+wiesel&qid=1677241415&s=books&sprefix=Night+be+eli%2Cstripbooks%2C87&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><i>Night</i>,</a> by Elie Wiesel, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Desiree-Bestselling-Story-Napoleons-First/dp/B0093AZZTO/ref=sr_1_9?crid=2HY1Q9Q95D4QC&keywords=desiree&qid=1677241483&s=books&sprefix=desiree%2Cstripbooks%2C83&sr=1-9"><i>Désirée</i></a> by Annemarie
Selinko, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Hunger-audiobook/dp/B00479A5EQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2S42CY4Q7HR5B&keywords=The+great+hunger&qid=1677241545&s=audible&sprefix=the+great+hunger%2Caudible%2C85&sr=1-1"><i>The Great Hunger</i></a>, by Cecil Woodham-Smith and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tai-Pan-James-Clavell-audiobook/dp/B00UWXEBQ4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=22SMG82R0J9Q8&keywords=Tai+Pan&qid=1677241630&s=audible&sprefix=tai+pan%2Caudible%2C87&sr=1-1"><i>Tai Pan</i></a>, by James Clavell.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The taped-up copy of the last one, an “epic” novel written in 1966 about the
founding of Hong Kong , has been sitting on my bookshelf since
high school. (No, I wasn't in high school in 1966!) Last week when the novel I’d wanted to download from my library wasn’t
available, I pulled Tai Pan off the shelf again. At over 700 pages, reading it is
a commitment. Frankly, it’s been so long since I’ve touched it I’ve forgotten
more than I remember, and what impresses me this time is the way Clavell wrote with
such authority about the English and Asian cultures of the mid-nineteenth century.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I can understand why Mr. Burgess, our history teacher, made
this required reading. Apparently it took the author two years to research and
write what ultimately became <i>Tai Pan</i>. In my mind, I am thinking two years would be a blink to create the complexity and nuance that flows through the story. He was either
a genius or for those two years, writing must have been a one hundred
percent full-time occupation. Probably both. He
wrote with such clarity and depth about the financial and political impact of the English sea trade, (opium for tea and silks,) and
about two distinctly different cultures, both of whom believed the other to be barbarians. The storyline involves pirates, romance, intrigue and betrayal, but beyond
the entertainment value, reading it reminds me of something. What a person believes based on how they were raised may be diametrically opposed to the beliefs of those from a different culture, but that’s not to say they can’t
learn from each other. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Reading the book now, I have to make some exceptions for behaviors in
the novel appropriate to nineteenth century standards and offered
via a 1960’s slant. But even through a 2023 lens, <i>Tai Pan</i> imparts
lessons that matter, even after 50+ years in print. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Way to go, Mr. Burgess!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>What book(s) from high school made a lasting impact on you?</b></p>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-34800650684033303432023-02-01T06:00:00.001-05:002023-02-01T06:00:00.218-05:00In Like Again - IWSG February 2023<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiha1tzhfSxjf5LLfIoJyKD7SjFv1mQvGHAfUnIzE4Vc7l-mQBx8O2Fax_I9CxAYAFOdithvrGQ9J5WfzjJuZy2oeCbX9wjVo-ZezuVEr1pOoODUQz9_nSHKlj1dc6xnvaWPyqWjuvm8k24dJiDIsg7meZpoGAKWyYPpt_LOaKGfyaf_sNR2CrOP0q0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiha1tzhfSxjf5LLfIoJyKD7SjFv1mQvGHAfUnIzE4Vc7l-mQBx8O2Fax_I9CxAYAFOdithvrGQ9J5WfzjJuZy2oeCbX9wjVo-ZezuVEr1pOoODUQz9_nSHKlj1dc6xnvaWPyqWjuvm8k24dJiDIsg7meZpoGAKWyYPpt_LOaKGfyaf_sNR2CrOP0q0" width="244" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Welcome
to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can
express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those
who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a haven
for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of <u> <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html">Alex
Cavanaugh</a>.</u> To find other contributors, click <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">here.</a> T</span>hank you to the co-hosts for February: <b><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=7bd4940721&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Jacqui Murray,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=b50720dcf9&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Ronel Janse van Vuuren,</span></a> </b><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=d179e01f28&e=84084ce122" target="_blank">Pat Garcia,</a> and <b><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=a1008861cb&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Gwen Gardner</span></a>.</b></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><b><br /></b></i></p><p class="MsoNormal">For years, five days a week I’ve made it my practice to get
up an hour early and eat breakfast, then set a timer and write before work. While
I’m proud to have maintained this schedule, complacency crept in. Five hours a week. That's enough, right?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Back in the day, I'd do whatever I could to find writing time
beyond those scheduled mornings, but over the last two years my eagerness faded.
I was going through the motions, snail-crawling along on my
current project, feeling less than enthused.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Late this past autumn, I told a writer friend about my lack of
inspiration. She suggested things might improve if I add a little more writing
time to my schedule. “It will help you keep in touch with your story,” she
said. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Time for a palm-slap to the forehead. How long had it been since I'd even tried to write more?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With my friend's advice at the forefront, I pushed myself to sit down at the computer after work the following
afternoon, and the good news is I only had to push myself once.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That first time I wrote outside of my schedule, my
story drew me right in. Three hours later I looked up blinking. It felt so
good, I found myself writing on the weekend again and sometimes after work. I
can’t say I wrote extra every day, but enough so I found myself awake in the
middle of the night, playing “what if” with my characters, figuring out their motivations, backfilling gaps. As is often the case, the more effort one puts in the more successful one becomes. Now due to this extra focus, I’ve got a
completed draft. It still needs an enormous amount of work, but finally it’s
got some flow.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Lesson learned. I recite this mantra in my head now: <i>If you do what you
like, you’ll like what you do</i>.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It feels good to be back on that page.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i>What do you do when you lose your motivation to write?</i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-16671997247886622232023-01-04T06:00:00.004-05:002023-01-04T06:00:00.238-05:00What's in a Word? IWSG January 2023<p class="MsoNormal"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEifoPB3W19gIixiu02cZeu6yv2p0ZJ_FSkqlpa-qqflpdsxmXuY7bin1e1JIqx39jAnbNfdk_uI3nL8uszVF9f6P4lSU4tu3q6-5f1dK8QnXA_xwffX6nTrdZGWExdq_I3LqAHQg96KmjEYpAPEQwd1iK3t7nVrMRhuKdTqEKqUji95iw8ue4mO-ZHb" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEifoPB3W19gIixiu02cZeu6yv2p0ZJ_FSkqlpa-qqflpdsxmXuY7bin1e1JIqx39jAnbNfdk_uI3nL8uszVF9f6P4lSU4tu3q6-5f1dK8QnXA_xwffX6nTrdZGWExdq_I3LqAHQg96KmjEYpAPEQwd1iK3t7nVrMRhuKdTqEKqUji95iw8ue4mO-ZHb" width="244" /></a></i></div><i><br />Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to
share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of
appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer
assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG
is the brainchild of <u> <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html">Alex
Cavanaugh</a>.</u> To find other contributors, click <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">here.</a> Thank
you to this month’s co-hosts:</i> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=3647b5434b&e=84084ce122" target="_blank">Jemima Pett,</a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=53bf59cb80&e=84084ce122" target="_blank">Debs Carey,</a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=809d238701&e=84084ce122" target="_blank">Kim Lajevardi,</a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=a2f0eb5a2a&e=84084ce122" target="_blank">Sarah Foster,</a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=51b7a5aed0&e=84084ce122" target="_blank">Natalie Aguirre,</a> and <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=7906fa0380&e=84084ce122" target="_blank">T. Powell Coltrin</a>.<o:p></o:p><p></p><p><i><b>January 4 question - Do you have a word of the year? Is there one word that sums up what you need to work on or change in the coming year</b></i>?</p><p>The fear of over-promising and under-delivering means I’m not keen on resolutions. The first word to hit me was “complete” because I want to get done already with my current project. As a goal, it’s achievable. I finally figured out the backstory and motivation for one of my primary characters, the lack of which was making the story one dimensional. I’m pretty sure I can plug that in and get myself to the finish line of a decent draft soon, so maybe “complete” as a word for the year isn’t challenging enough.</p><p>Perhaps the word could be “decide.”</p><p>While still working at the job I’ve had for 11 years, I’ve qualified to retire a bit early with my little pension and lifetime medical insurance intact. While it’s nice to know I can go when I want, I worry I’ll fall into a slump if I don’t have a reason to get up five days a week. When you’ve been a part of a couple for thirty-five years and then you’re not, it takes time figure out how to navigate alone. Throw in two years of Covid isolation and you can understand why I may be behind the curve. I’m still trying to discover who I am without my wingman. Work offers a steadying influence. </p><p>That said, I envy my retired friends who can do things on their own schedules. One is taking a trip to Australia. Another takes a pottery class. A third loves her poetry group and travels when she wants. Yet another friend has begun a photography business. She shoots and sells the most stunning pictures. I’d like to accompany her a time or two. </p><p>While scary, when I decide to retire, I think I’ll find the time to explore things that bring me closer to the next iteration of me. </p><p>Huh. It's official. </p><p>My word of the year will be “onward.”</p><p>Happy New Year to all.</p><div><br /></div>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-46889898982783486422022-12-07T06:00:00.003-05:002022-12-07T06:39:36.382-05:00Back to the Essence - IWSG December 2022<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiA1W4w1r9pQBBlYT91ZwUyyURtcVKjHBWyit_Wbv994yH4LraA5Y0f7Mrz7CEId5k1ENMRXkhOt_dfVNVx4sNJDs3sEu8JA0wLYIQLdLRum3kCbMOllQnG3jHVQpEE5C1djlVJ9Vq0ppdY1X1c9wxqEddOw7Zmu9--o2jtW6IA0-jcO-Kj6TO0PiJY" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiA1W4w1r9pQBBlYT91ZwUyyURtcVKjHBWyit_Wbv994yH4LraA5Y0f7Mrz7CEId5k1ENMRXkhOt_dfVNVx4sNJDs3sEu8JA0wLYIQLdLRum3kCbMOllQnG3jHVQpEE5C1djlVJ9Vq0ppdY1X1c9wxqEddOw7Zmu9--o2jtW6IA0-jcO-Kj6TO0PiJY" width="244" /></a></div><br /><i>Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share
and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of
appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer
assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG
is the brainchild of <u> <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html">Alex
Cavanaugh</a>.</u> To find other contributors, click <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">here.</a>
Thank you to this month’s co-hosts:<b> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=41fd3c5036&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Joylene Nowell Butler,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=5ff6a08887&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Chemist Ken,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=2c15f57322&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Natalie Aguirre,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=d575438b2c&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Nancy Gideon,</span></a> and <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=bdd56d203c&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Cathrina Constantine!</span></a></b></i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>No optional question for me this month, instead, you get a story.</i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’ve mentioned earlier that my current writing project is
not going fast, or easily, or well.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now, pack that thought into a cupboard for a bit as I share
the following.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As a teen, I spent two summers working and living in a
country inn in New Hampshire where I made friendships I still treasure. That first
summer, I met “K.” a writer who’d already published a memoir by the time I
arrived on the scene. My autographed copy retains pride of place on my bookshelf.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As time went by in those pre-internet, pre-email,
pre-just-about-anything-technological years, Christmas communications included
long letters. Cards from K. and his wife contained essays he’d written about
their young son and how as a dad, he learned life lessons while fielding his inquisitive
boy’s direct questions. The stories were always sweet, sometimes whimsical,
mostly funny, and if he compiled them into a collection, a suitable title might
be, <i>Parenting is Not for Sissies</i>. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Fast forward to few years ago. Our major daily publishes a
Sunday magazine section featuring a personal essay on the last page. Ages ago one of
my own essays was featured, so each week I read it with interest to gauge the
quality of the writing. One Sunday, I was drawn into a lovely piece and before
long found the voice so familiar, I stopped mid-read to search for the
byline. Sure enough, it was written by K.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Last week, K. emailed me that he would have another essay
published in the upcoming Sunday supplement. When the day arrived, I made myself read
the news methodically, savoring the anticipation of what I would find at the
end. It didn’t disappoint. His essay about overcoming nerves while taking
flight beside his son, a newly licensed pilot, made me wince, chuckle, and
ponder a universal truth. It never feels like our adult children are grown up
until they prove us wrong. I read it again and again.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So where am I going with this? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Well, the thing of it is, I’m not feeling great about my
fourth attempt at a publishable novel. For months, I’ve been trudging up a
mountain of slog, trying to develop one of my characters which is changing everything
I’ve spent the last year-and-a-half writing. For the first time ever, I'm allowing myself to procrastinate (writing blog posts helps with that), and worse, can picture not finishing. But shortly after reading the piece by my old NH friend, I
was inspired to sit in front of my computer and bang out my own story, about not hosting Thanksgiving for the first time in thirty years. How the holiday I’d expected to
feel strange and altered turned into a memory I will savor. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Like K. I used real life examples and wrote from the heart. For
the first time in a while, my fingers flew to catch up with my thoughts and
when I was done, I felt that dopamine buzz that let me know I’d done something
good.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I walked away from the computer with a six-hundred-word
piece and a big fat reminder that what I love about writing is just that. The
writing. No matter how unforgiving the slog, they can’t take that away from me.<o:p></o:p></p>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-63543807874151075902022-11-02T06:00:00.011-04:002022-11-02T06:00:00.223-04:00How it is Now - IWSG November 2022.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgEOxOjUYwaMb1qKVaB56t_Bx1O_pH_IlvQwDSX1rC3oOYpxwjcaNbLutbug0ngPw2PHuhlUwuuFfw5BYx4rkUaCTnHnVwwar8D83rSesHeTa31ZqBgkhHuE9xczFXgOiIMBMXLcNcrKyN_w-CD20iJtFmsqh3pf3Q0voYHcajhFCRJmm9XVB_TMnGY" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgEOxOjUYwaMb1qKVaB56t_Bx1O_pH_IlvQwDSX1rC3oOYpxwjcaNbLutbug0ngPw2PHuhlUwuuFfw5BYx4rkUaCTnHnVwwar8D83rSesHeTa31ZqBgkhHuE9xczFXgOiIMBMXLcNcrKyN_w-CD20iJtFmsqh3pf3Q0voYHcajhFCRJmm9XVB_TMnGY" width="244" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to
share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of
appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer
assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG
is the brainchild of the amazing and generous <u> <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html">Alex
Cavanaugh</a>.</u> </i><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">To
find links to other monthly contributors, click <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">here<span style="text-decoration-line: none;">.</span></a> </span></i><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Thank
you to November co-hosts: <b><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1907885067602758337/6354380787415107590"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Diedre Knight,</span></a> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1907885067602758337/6354380787415107590"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Douglas Thomas Greening,</span></a> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1907885067602758337/6354380787415107590"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Nick Wilford</span></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1907885067602758337/6354380787415107590"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,</span></a> and <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1907885067602758337/6354380787415107590"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Diane Burton!</span></a></b></span></i></p><p><br /></p><p>The writing hasn’t been kind to me lately. Back in the day when I felt stuck, I took an artist’s date which I learned to do while completing the lessons in <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Artists-Way-Spiritual-Higher-Creativity/dp/1585421472">The Artist's Wa</a></i>y, by Julia Cameron. The writer suggests taking regular time-outs from your "art" to pursue an activity that might spur creativity. For me, that usually involved going on a walk with a camera. I’d click images of scenes around the area I love so much, then go home and write about something I'd photographed. Once I wrote a vignette about a house blurred by fog and it ended up inspiring my third novel.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But because of life (<i>and </i>cell phones), I haven’t taken a walk
with my actual camera in a long time. When I took it out of the
cupboard recently, the last photo on the memory card
was from 2019.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A few days later, I took a ride down to the harbor with the
camera in the passenger seat, just to see how it felt. In truth, it felt weird. Who uses an actual camera now, anyway? But really the issue was something bigger<span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">. </span>I didn’t grow up near the ocean. After almost 40
years of living by the sea, I’m still in awe of my surroundings but as in every other realm of my life these days, there's something missing. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Before two years ago, my walking habit
was to keep my eyes open and frame picture after picture trying to capture the
essence of what made me feel so joyful. These days though, w<span style="font-size: 11pt;">hat used to feel fun is hard work. Nevertheless, as
flat as I felt that afternoon at the harbor, I was there. The egrets were, too. My heart wasn't in it</span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">much</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">, but it gave me a little peace when I got home and downloaded the pictures to find </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">my eyes still work.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6wjDyifwkB5B2RTJMBKE6YidKLHF9WUhwuDxJ9mDS4mhFv1mi3WOIN5X2tQUGteGxhrre0MHSlaK3Bcl0BjmvohaYpEWhhMcKUUtqDhzmfQNhVvT41w2HqfE1g7EapA7dbVIhaPWTXU7xnRJfcxNYEDslZJ2Uhl3_PO75OLjqfwTwttPBOymfJgTY/s3541/P1030303.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="3541" height="624" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6wjDyifwkB5B2RTJMBKE6YidKLHF9WUhwuDxJ9mDS4mhFv1mi3WOIN5X2tQUGteGxhrre0MHSlaK3Bcl0BjmvohaYpEWhhMcKUUtqDhzmfQNhVvT41w2HqfE1g7EapA7dbVIhaPWTXU7xnRJfcxNYEDslZJ2Uhl3_PO75OLjqfwTwttPBOymfJgTY/w640-h624/P1030303.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-32593230511900104472022-10-05T06:00:00.001-04:002022-10-05T06:00:00.239-04:00Ye Old Red Pen - IWSG October 2022<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOSbC8_QMsTIbfXNJ1pPD6UDX_-TkbLI621OeawZJSGlrDL21-itxmWr6mf5VPicjaysa7ZqyopeOyc1roulKjsPL1JF7ESqyHKBFowItFFGGBuLManF4L5JbCk8PmDCWVYRGiHCxc_FTFz0U8d8zCzeOVJasPjCnOCp7dMRnmj-RIC26yN3bUjYQC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOSbC8_QMsTIbfXNJ1pPD6UDX_-TkbLI621OeawZJSGlrDL21-itxmWr6mf5VPicjaysa7ZqyopeOyc1roulKjsPL1JF7ESqyHKBFowItFFGGBuLManF4L5JbCk8PmDCWVYRGiHCxc_FTFz0U8d8zCzeOVJasPjCnOCp7dMRnmj-RIC26yN3bUjYQC" width="244" /></a></div><strong style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p></strong><p></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share
and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of
appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer
assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG
is the brainchild of the amazing and generous
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html">Alex
Cavanaugh</a>. </span>To find links to other monthly contributors, click <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">here.</a> </i><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Thank you to October co-hosts : <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=30bbd8a86c&e=84084ce122" target="_blank">Tonja Drecker,</a><b> </b><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=c9c2a1d15a&e=84084ce122" target="_blank">Victoria Marie Lees,</a><b> </b><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=c8ba6b19ef&e=84084ce122" target="_blank">Mary Aalgaard,</a><b> </b>and<b> </b><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=06397cab9d&e=84084ce122" target="_blank">Sandra Cox</a>.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></i></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">I am always impressed when someone tells me they write their
first drafts longhand. Imagine a 19<sup>th</sup> century author composing a manuscript
with a quill pen, tying up the draft with string to deliver to a publisher (my
imagination at work here). It’s more than I can fathom. Even ball-point pen on
a lined legal pad feels daunting to me. Without the arrival of the personal
computer, I’m confident I would not be a writer. My practice goes something like
this. Stare into space for a while. Write a sentence. Write a paragraph. Decide
the paragraph doesn’t say what I want it to. Delete most of it. Start again. In
longhand, my drafts would be page after page of scratch outs. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That said, there’s nothing like printing out a draft and editing by hand. For the past year-and-a-half,
I’ve been revising the first novel I ever tried to write. All those years
ago I stopped working on it because the thing was such a complete mess, it was beyond my skills to fix it. I’m a better writer now. I pulled it out a few
months after my husband died because the gosh-awful draft required focus. Focus
provides distraction. Distraction helped me cope.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now, I’ve gone through two revisions based on a fair bit of critiquing, which has helped improve the story to a point where I kind-of-sort-of thought<i>
maybe</i> it was getting somewhere. With that in mind, I printed it out to read
it from a different perspective. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ugh.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Can you spell o-v-e-r-w-h-e-l-m-e-d? I'm only eighty pages in, and the majority of them look like this. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ598oPNLfhHDf1NMX1pzz3-ONcxw9McOC8L4U4_TbWXmI8B7MCG48QiQwzgHrCbwSxcSeHCZ8jdVOiyuxBp-PBiMUgsXeI1NVqwyzcegLEiv264xJRh578EcaC6TByV3UMSCzTfutjQD89nfFZK65y9iuzSpx2yszGtGZ7WkQU9U9OCJt0EzUen15/s4032/IMG-7696.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ598oPNLfhHDf1NMX1pzz3-ONcxw9McOC8L4U4_TbWXmI8B7MCG48QiQwzgHrCbwSxcSeHCZ8jdVOiyuxBp-PBiMUgsXeI1NVqwyzcegLEiv264xJRh578EcaC6TByV3UMSCzTfutjQD89nfFZK65y9iuzSpx2yszGtGZ7WkQU9U9OCJt0EzUen15/w240-h320/IMG-7696.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzF4Er7HsNyK36Ywo_SIQem26lYDzVAb7d74ObspFgZmzfUv3-3kROtR_MPBfySRzetRVlq0UCaLEhtSeIcDgk9hQcuEV5n4nASfzG_SF_23CJOBLHUhcpSG1cSVh6OwSgIr9dXy0JOiVH5yIwNuRnZoqLOe6C9gvSxkY0lwO4K_t3rIdEVWpBHdkR/s4032/IMG-7697.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzF4Er7HsNyK36Ywo_SIQem26lYDzVAb7d74ObspFgZmzfUv3-3kROtR_MPBfySRzetRVlq0UCaLEhtSeIcDgk9hQcuEV5n4nASfzG_SF_23CJOBLHUhcpSG1cSVh6OwSgIr9dXy0JOiVH5yIwNuRnZoqLOe6C9gvSxkY0lwO4K_t3rIdEVWpBHdkR/w240-h320/IMG-7697.jpg" width="240" /></a><o:p> </o:p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ4NYJxd5OGy44zvSh3ZB6Dpy9hsKo97hq-QcWp4_KrLsKS2PHPZBRZ1p06l8bV3mPd5oKlOs55SoUE2big44sJ6k-wV7LkoqGPSnErJ3OCwK77NF_QxJJJDwoPmrrIehYqkn9r_2_d5tC1XNGwCIujXEOmYGhRDhZCNjH9XIOSbOudFti6TbT4eSd/s4032/IMG-7695.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ4NYJxd5OGy44zvSh3ZB6Dpy9hsKo97hq-QcWp4_KrLsKS2PHPZBRZ1p06l8bV3mPd5oKlOs55SoUE2big44sJ6k-wV7LkoqGPSnErJ3OCwK77NF_QxJJJDwoPmrrIehYqkn9r_2_d5tC1XNGwCIujXEOmYGhRDhZCNjH9XIOSbOudFti6TbT4eSd/w240-h320/IMG-7695.jpg" width="240" /></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Have you ever drafted out a story longhand? <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Do you print your stories out to edit them?</b><o:p></o:p></p>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-7376897507754906392022-09-07T07:00:00.001-04:002022-09-07T07:00:00.201-04:00Nope, Nope, Nope, and I Wish<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-Rz-5QaS04XFhGiU4JkLNv9bpQFpl9O3WwwLRNfGUXSv1-uVQRtpEfNgf3KjaeIrbJdKRcsK1Nakugz8D-c3nz-o-F4hVNR6l9BF1mskeZWHkeiDE1jw8A3n4yJUX3fd1LU-kT_-t4-sgHpLrEf2PLhPalilnScdMsviJ9cEectnyLu2b3Vffn8h8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-Rz-5QaS04XFhGiU4JkLNv9bpQFpl9O3WwwLRNfGUXSv1-uVQRtpEfNgf3KjaeIrbJdKRcsK1Nakugz8D-c3nz-o-F4hVNR6l9BF1mskeZWHkeiDE1jw8A3n4yJUX3fd1LU-kT_-t4-sgHpLrEf2PLhPalilnScdMsviJ9cEectnyLu2b3Vffn8h8" width="244" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share
and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of
appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer
assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG
is the brainchild of the amazing and generous<i> <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html">Alex
Cavanaugh</a>. </i>Thank you to September co-hosts:<b> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=ad5c493a8b&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Kim Lajevardi,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=7cc2f7becf&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Cathrina Constantine,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=d51f3ddefb&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Natalie Aguirre,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=786f803353&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Olga Godim,</span></a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=ae6fd61e04&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Michelle Wallace,</span></a> </b>and <b><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=2f229f1037&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Louise - Fundy Blue!</span></a> </b>To find links to other monthly contributors, click <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">here.</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>This month’s optional question:</b> What genre would be the
worst one for you to tackle and why?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In real life as well as fiction, I stay away from anything
that might lead to a sleepless night, which means no horror for me. I write because I love getting lost in other worlds (and words), not to increase my heart
rate. Somewhere on this blog I wrote about a summer roommate who wouldn’t leave
me alone until I agreed to read Stephen King’s <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Salems-Lot-Stephen-King/dp/0307743675">Salem’s Lot.</a></i> About a third of
the way through, I tossed the book across the room. It sat in the corner until
we weren’t roommates anymore. As with my reading, so goes my writing.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As for other genres, well, erotica is out, I don’t feel like
I have the voice in my head for YA and, being the ultimate panster, it’s unlikely I
could write a mystery because that would require making a plan. (In high school I wrote my papers before the required outline
since it was the only way I could figure out <i>what</i> to write.) Other than moon-to-earth
big picture, I don’t have much of a clue as to where my stories are going until
they get there. Once they do, I spend eons editing the the heck out of them, paring them to final form. Not the most efficient way to write, but here we are…<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In that regard, I have the utmost admiration for authors of
historical fiction. Most recently, I read The <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Rose-Code-Novel-Kate-Quinn/dp/006305941X"><i>Rose Code,</i></a> by Kate Quinn, whose
story portrays British civilians trained to break German military
codes during the war. If I dove into something that complex, I doubt I’d
resurface from the research, never mind demonstrate the skill to write about it. It takes a lot of organization and confidence to embark on a story with such depth. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sometimes, I wish my wiring worked that way.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i>What would be the most difficult kind of story for you to write?</i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-21951193894322879952022-08-03T06:00:00.005-04:002022-08-03T06:55:25.170-04:00Giving What They Want/Getting What I Want - IWSG August 2022<p><br /> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiRzxuI0K421vQIpnoaCU89CquTCC4XPE7MeIBSW7Koiq7ACfjVopLk5sCWTMGV2CO8VWCI5OwC1qWpjGH_3GLqEbnvQoTp07-vnaIJfm6B82jY7kehr-qbgLm8niu09pr1GHyhD9Wb8Dg8N91tRSUuniKubbol8-K7ykOfZZ_uGQo9-FbQUNaJCZgZ" style="background-color: #073763; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><img alt="" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiRzxuI0K421vQIpnoaCU89CquTCC4XPE7MeIBSW7Koiq7ACfjVopLk5sCWTMGV2CO8VWCI5OwC1qWpjGH_3GLqEbnvQoTp07-vnaIJfm6B82jY7kehr-qbgLm8niu09pr1GHyhD9Wb8Dg8N91tRSUuniKubbol8-K7ykOfZZ_uGQo9-FbQUNaJCZgZ" width="244" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: #073763;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><o:p style="background-color: #073763;"></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: inherit;"><i style="background-color: #0c343d;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span>Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share
and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of
appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer
assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG
is the brainchild of the amazing and generous <span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 14.2667px;"> </span><a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 14.2667px;"><span>Alex Cavanaugh</span></span></a>. Thank you to the August co-hosts: </span></span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Db058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854%26id%3Dc378b48a7e%26e%3D84084ce122&source=gmail&ust=1659444455016000&usg=AOvVaw36hN56NVkL0RGhShlOxYyk" href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=c378b48a7e&e=84084ce122" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Tara Tyler,</a><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Db058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854%26id%3Df010bf4b49%26e%3D84084ce122&source=gmail&ust=1659444455016000&usg=AOvVaw1DVv5TqQaHnqGuLGR2C2pA" href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=f010bf4b49&e=84084ce122" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Lisa Buie Collard,</a><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Db058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854%26id%3D1defaa3484%26e%3D84084ce122&source=gmail&ust=1659444455016000&usg=AOvVaw0ME3ktYDZujwzjSUGdgMrM" href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=1defaa3484&e=84084ce122" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Loni Townsend,</a><span style="text-align: center;"> and </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Db058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854%26id%3D631204d565%26e%3D84084ce122&source=gmail&ust=1659444455016000&usg=AOvVaw2wcZEVXrXIb3DtpF8L5GGw" href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=631204d565&e=84084ce122" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Lee Lowery!</a> </i></span><i><span style="background-color: #073763; color: #eeeeee; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;">To read other contributors to IWSG</span><a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html" style="background-color: #073763; color: #ccddff; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"> click here</a><span style="background-color: #073763; color: #eeeeee; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;">.</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: #0c343d; color: #eeeeee;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>August optional question: When you set out to </i>write a story, do you try to
</span>be more original, or do you try give readers what they want?</b></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #0c343d; color: #eeeeee; font-size: 12pt;">Confession? I set out to write a story, all I
want to do is get something readable onto the page!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: #0c343d; color: #eeeeee;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">That said, it seems to me anyone who writes in a
specific genre is trying to give a reader what they want. I write women’s
fiction so in each of my stories the main character is a woman who has
encountered some significant life-challenge she needs to overcome. That’s what
my readers </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">should</span></i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"> want to read. To keep them immersed, though,
the details need to be unique and compelling.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: #0c343d; color: #eeeeee;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">Recently, I was reading </span><strong><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal;">The Last Thing He Told Me</span></i></strong><strong><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal;">, by Laura Dave, </span></strong><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">and something completely unexpected happened in the action. “Oh. My. God." I said. Apparently my exclamation was on
the energetic side because my daughter poked her head in from the other room.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #0c343d; color: #eeeeee; font-size: 12pt;">“What’s wrong?”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #0c343d; color: #eeeeee; font-size: 12pt;">“Sorry. It's all good. I’m reading and the story surprised me.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: #0c343d; color: #eeeeee;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">My daughter may have rolled her eyes, but I thought, Holy Moly, that's some writing!</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: #0c343d; color: #eeeeee;"><br /><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: #0c343d; color: #eeeeee;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On a non-IWSG-related topic, my neighbors
took down a bunch of dead hemlocks on their side of the property line and I'm tickled beyond belief. Now, rather than scraggily bushes, there's a clear view of summer sunsets. I haven’t included many of pictures here lately, but the other day I took about fifty shots as a storm started to muscle in. Unbeknownst to me, my daughter took a picture of her own.</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: #0c343d; color: #eeeeee;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEinX8ATzWDFj5oan06MwJzRaiG_e7ru6uHK6-5zB7VuxhaRNdYx0373xTsBB4Fu2yMEDrPIF9AeDJPtTNt52RZ-NFbbg0Ppnz4kcSti0rTStsH5OHghTr0TUyrmR3lXEgz9yUGLhEGSaLxPnjB8D-mdEe1lyN9ij4smU2NwSdytyEBYJ8iu_3syaBGQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #0c343d; color: #eeeeee;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEinX8ATzWDFj5oan06MwJzRaiG_e7ru6uHK6-5zB7VuxhaRNdYx0373xTsBB4Fu2yMEDrPIF9AeDJPtTNt52RZ-NFbbg0Ppnz4kcSti0rTStsH5OHghTr0TUyrmR3lXEgz9yUGLhEGSaLxPnjB8D-mdEe1lyN9ij4smU2NwSdytyEBYJ8iu_3syaBGQ=w480-h640" width="480" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #0c343d; color: #eeeeee;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #0c343d; color: #eeeeee;">Here's what I got.</span></div><span style="background-color: #0c343d; color: #eeeeee;"><br style="text-align: left;" /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqwJ8tnB6KCQr9QoMDNjJswH23KAoF4FnkBYqJnwPdbB3pQTA8aTJrzFvY9ZBS6jQ5gBxAwenfQ0Sd1p-EGrQ7StZXd3FwtDLcH78UsZ7FxksiscvxgjnumKQXcF2mwtCPVxAZDspZmfSOoJ9iVkYKyvaNWG99ApWX3nAjuGuDC9Tw8f1lPpCTpnz8/s4032/IMG-7404.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="598" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqwJ8tnB6KCQr9QoMDNjJswH23KAoF4FnkBYqJnwPdbB3pQTA8aTJrzFvY9ZBS6jQ5gBxAwenfQ0Sd1p-EGrQ7StZXd3FwtDLcH78UsZ7FxksiscvxgjnumKQXcF2mwtCPVxAZDspZmfSOoJ9iVkYKyvaNWG99ApWX3nAjuGuDC9Tw8f1lPpCTpnz8/w449-h598/IMG-7404.jpg" width="449" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #0c343d; color: #eeeeee;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #0c343d; color: #eeeeee;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #0c343d; color: #eeeeee;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #0c343d; color: #eeeeee;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgyRviTaGu0j0wnOqWfnm116YXlTbY5Rnj14609qyAutouEJ7KP2CxMOI09u52l4qL_-xEA-qNKD4K5UPMVR0OSXSPTRhWdhG8wC78LcVES_bJbHd6b4P0ObTQxM6pK-otSAMuYsNLGVO5A49RP8RvBNeFeSx1Mbql3rsHelB1bS9l2W0wT5RklM4b/s4032/IMG-7417.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #0c343d; color: #eeeeee;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgyRviTaGu0j0wnOqWfnm116YXlTbY5Rnj14609qyAutouEJ7KP2CxMOI09u52l4qL_-xEA-qNKD4K5UPMVR0OSXSPTRhWdhG8wC78LcVES_bJbHd6b4P0ObTQxM6pK-otSAMuYsNLGVO5A49RP8RvBNeFeSx1Mbql3rsHelB1bS9l2W0wT5RklM4b/w480-h640/IMG-7417.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: #0c343d; color: #eeeeee;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #0c343d; color: #eeeeee;"><br /></span></div><b>Do you have a view of summer sunsets? What do you consider when you begin to write a story?</b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></p><p></p>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-53564056715173847982022-07-06T06:00:00.006-04:002022-07-06T08:22:15.495-04:00Tap, Tap, Tap - IWSG July 2022<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5UuhBpTIXHcLjt1wghMuP-ksVnS1dXNj4wXLvJlPN3Apk-V34Tx5XvTsTBdeB6jggFT1xZzsv2JVz9M_yN1g4vplWBneJ4m9MpqOqo8srr1OLOipvQ3Q4VqBCY6GOP8-Zd8ZO7MMlrOD1n8yCWRTs30krhhp8ywHzHawHltX_re5NTtMx4p9fIs3h" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5UuhBpTIXHcLjt1wghMuP-ksVnS1dXNj4wXLvJlPN3Apk-V34Tx5XvTsTBdeB6jggFT1xZzsv2JVz9M_yN1g4vplWBneJ4m9MpqOqo8srr1OLOipvQ3Q4VqBCY6GOP8-Zd8ZO7MMlrOD1n8yCWRTs30krhhp8ywHzHawHltX_re5NTtMx4p9fIs3h" width="244" /></a></div><br />Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share
and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of
appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer
assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG
is the brainchild of the amazing and generous <span style="background-color: #073763;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #ddeeff; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #77aaff; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">Alex Cavanaugh</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #ddeeff; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">.</span></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(0, 47, 68); color: #ddeeff; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="background-color: #073763;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="color: white;">T</span><span style="color: #eeeeee;">hank you to co-hosts for July</span></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">:</span></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black;"> </span><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=40dce6070a&e=84084ce122" style="color: #01ffff;" target="_blank"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">J</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"> Lenni Dorner,</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #01ffff;"> </span><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=ace8a82573&e=84084ce122" style="color: #01ffff;" target="_blank"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Janet Alcorn,</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #01ffff;"> </span><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=4abd3f3bcd&e=84084ce122" style="color: #01ffff;" target="_blank"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">PJ Colando,</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #01ffff;"> </span><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=1d4b88844e&e=84084ce122" style="color: #01ffff;" target="_blank"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Jenni Enzor,</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #01ffff;"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">a</span></span></span><span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: rgb(7, 55, 99);"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">nd </span></span><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=58e9b5471d&e=84084ce122" style="background-color: #073763; color: #01ffff;" target="_blank"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Diane Burton!</span></a><span style="background-color: #073763;"> <span style="color: #eeeeee;">To read other contributors to IWSG<a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html"> click here</a>.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><b><i>July optional
question</i></b>: <i><b>If you could live in any book world, which one would you choose?</b></i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">In high
school, I read a book called <i>Celia Garth</i> by Gwen Bristow, the fictional story of a young woman in Charleston during the American Revolution. It left
me with a yearning to visit the South Carolina low country. Over the years
since, I’ve read so many southern authors, Pat Conroy, Cormac McCarthy, Anne
Rivers Siddons, Dorothea Benton Frank. If a book had the potential to mention a low country sunset, I was all in. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://middlepassages-lcs.blogspot.com/2016/06/fun-with-fact-and-fiction.html">By the time my daughter moved to Charleston</a> for a period and the chance came to visit, I could
name the places I wanted to see –Trad Street, Rainbow Row, the Battery, Fort
Sumpter, Sullivan’s Island, Folly Beach. She ended moving back there for a few years and through subsequent visits, I became familiar with the area. How I loved driving Route 17 from Charleston to
Savannah and seeing kids casting shrimp nets by the side of the road, or slow trawlers
waddling out to sea. I witnessed sunsets over winding creeks that were so beautiful they
made me want to cry— it was all there</span><span style="font-size: 16px;">—</span><span style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">everything I read about in those books I so enjoyed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">But would I
want to live there? Well, no, but not because the location doesn’t speak to me. It’s
just that I lean equally toward books that feature New England. Perhaps it’s
the familiarity that draws me in. I feel blessed to live less than an hour from a
metropolitan city, but also close to lobster boats, farmers, apple orchards and tumbled stone walls, plus so
much history almost everywhere we walk we mark famous footsteps. Case in
point, two participants of the Boston Tea Party are buried in my town cemetery.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The other morning,
I sat at my computer drafting this piece and looked out the window to see a truck
from the local dairy farm delivering fresh milk in glass bottles to my
neighbors. Where else does this happen anymore? When I read books that take
place in this world, it’s like my oldest best friend, coming to visit. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">So, to
answer this month’s question, I can only say this. I'll always welcome an opportunity
to visit the low country, but as Dorothy said </span><span style="font-size: 16px;">so famously </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">as she tapped her ruby slippers, “There’s no place like home.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhQhItFKWKTAk7ZwRXeMtZLWDFbRqW6JGuOuNNm0t_F1wwseg5Mf0WkbW9yNL_zfKR6Z54JY_sSo7j8CAj-nBiqrgi21q6-01T0mwQhL-kkoFEmyVV77ZcplJBR27RNL3aJC83c4xGsm2iejSINovpyvvdBrjoDcV-1cS9_7OrbQotBd1fEA2NkMzUi" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2902" data-original-width="3448" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhQhItFKWKTAk7ZwRXeMtZLWDFbRqW6JGuOuNNm0t_F1wwseg5Mf0WkbW9yNL_zfKR6Z54JY_sSo7j8CAj-nBiqrgi21q6-01T0mwQhL-kkoFEmyVV77ZcplJBR27RNL3aJC83c4xGsm2iejSINovpyvvdBrjoDcV-1cS9_7OrbQotBd1fEA2NkMzUi=w400-h337" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><i>If you could live in any book world, where would you live?</i></b></div><br /><br /><p></p>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-9492508356619112582022-06-01T06:00:00.006-04:002022-06-01T06:00:00.225-04:00Faith as a Writer<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhkqtDiEf3fr8btp0J8Eji6o6nYSpuioeFwzEpufq2DbTipp4UAhHVhh898psNJvjdn2z6GeEZn4Ihi4lqZWmPv3kWu07kxnwsLMgqmSnDadrDjNynfTnKIZn_PmluGvU07zoCvfKAHx_kPY8baEzIBCDdhNNKK19NjDm1Ei1hYehF-Om9UpF0jsiiI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhkqtDiEf3fr8btp0J8Eji6o6nYSpuioeFwzEpufq2DbTipp4UAhHVhh898psNJvjdn2z6GeEZn4Ihi4lqZWmPv3kWu07kxnwsLMgqmSnDadrDjNynfTnKIZn_PmluGvU07zoCvfKAHx_kPY8baEzIBCDdhNNKK19NjDm1Ei1hYehF-Om9UpF0jsiiI" width="244" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of the amazing and generous <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html">Alex Cavanaugh</a>. Thank you to the June co-hosts: <span><i style="background-color: #073763;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=074eb01df8&e=84084ce122" target="_blank"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #007c89;">SE White,</span></a></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Db058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854%26id%3D1e93edf5a9%26e%3D84084ce122&source=gmail&ust=1653733958996000&usg=AOvVaw3TuWun5IR94tlCkbq82DT8" href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=1e93edf5a9&e=84084ce122" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #007c89;">Cathrina
Constantine,</span></a></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Db058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854%26id%3D4b2117b8c3%26e%3D84084ce122&source=gmail&ust=1653733958996000&usg=AOvVaw08E1LytRPKRXmqQj07OcPK" href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=4b2117b8c3&e=84084ce122" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #007c89;">Natalie
Aguire,</span></a></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Db058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854%26id%3D37637240b6%26e%3D84084ce122&source=gmail&ust=1653733958996000&usg=AOvVaw31xAPSxNIuPCVhlbwD2dZZ" href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=37637240b6&e=84084ce122" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #007c89;">Joylene
Nowell Butler,</span></a></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> <span style="color: #f3f3f3;">and </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Db058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854%26id%3D0d19ae4a56%26e%3D84084ce122&source=gmail&ust=1653733958996000&usg=AOvVaw3OPBL8rPKPR6SBp0L3n3gj" href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=0d19ae4a56&e=84084ce122" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #007c89;">Jacqui
Murray!</span></a></span></i></span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<br /><b>June’s optional question: When the going gets tough writing the story, how do you keep yourself writing to the end? If you have not started the writing yet, why do you think that is and what do you think could help you find your groove and start? <br /></b><br />The title of my very first blog post was “I Can Do This.” All these years later that theme continues to resonate through my writing life. Joyce Carol Oates wrote a book called <i>Faith of a Writer</i>. In truth, it’s not my favorite book on craft, but the title has always resonated with me. Faith in my writing allows me to slog through many a story-struggle because once I get something down, I know the result can be edited. So many initial and fairly awful attempts end up deleted or changed beyond recognition, but as long as there is something to work with, I know forward progress is possible. Case in point, my current novel was inspired by a small glass bottle we dug up from our backyard. That bottle has long disappeared from the story, but a draft novel resulted from that initial passage. <br /><br />Sometimes, when the effort feels notably painful, rather than decide I can’t write, I give myself permission to think. Recently my writing group suggested one of my characters wasn’t giving my story complexity. I agreed but didn’t know how to give it to her. I spent many middle-of-the-night-I-can’t-sleep-hours pondering her—letting her drift around my mind until she obliged me by fleshing herself out. Once I make the changes those think-sessions suggested, she’ll be less wallpaper paste and become more of the pattern itself. <br /><br />And finally, on pieces like this blog post when often I have no idea what I want to say, I start by writing stream of conscious. Most of that ends up as a pile of discarded word glop—which happened to the entire paragraph with which I initially started today’s post. But once I get something down, a nugget appears that informs me of the direction in which I need to go, and I follow its lead. The fun part is more often than not, I end up in a totally different place than where I thought I would land. <br /><br />It’s a little like sculpting. I chisel away, cutting, pasting and editing, knowing the right words will emerge as long as I trust they are there.<br /><br /><br /><b><i>How do you keep writing when the going gets tough?</i></b>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-62713437505612081592022-05-04T06:00:00.018-04:002022-05-04T06:51:03.679-04:00Back to Earth - IWSG May 2022<p><i>Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of the amazing and generous <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html">Alex Cavanaugh</a>. Thank you to the May co-hosts: </i><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://kimelliottauthor.weebly.com/blog" style="color: #32aaff;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0070c0;">Kim Elliott,</span></a> <a href="http://melissamaygrove.blogspot.com/" style="color: #0c343d; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0070c0;">Melissa Maygrove,</span></a> <a href="http://hogwartssabbatical.blogspot.com/" style="color: #0c343d; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0070c0;">Chemist Ken,</span></a> <a href="http://leelowery.com/" style="color: #0c343d; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0070c0;">Lee Lowery,</span></a> </span></b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">and</span><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <a href="https://nancygideon.blogspot.com/" style="color: #0c343d; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0070c0;">Nancy Gideon!</span></a></span></b><i> To find links to all IWSG contributors, <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html">click here</a>.</i></p><b>This month’s question:</b> It's the best of times; it's the worst of times. What are your writer highs? And what are your writer lows? <br /><br />A few years ago, I signed up for <a href="https://museandthemarketplace.com/">Grub Street’s Muse in the Marketplace</a>. Generally, I’m reluctant to attend conferences because when I arrive, my “I’m-nothing-but-a-fake” demon inflates inside me, but somehow that year I beat down my fear. I even signed up for a critique session which involved sending sample pages to an agent prior to the event. <br /><br />In spite of high anxiety, the day was a success, the workshops outstanding and in my mind, my agent one-on-one went worlds better than expected. The woman I’d been partnered with seemed engaged. She offered me sound advice and even appeared regretful when our time was up. All I’d wanted that day was to sit with a professional and acquit myself competently, so when she asked me to send her partial of the book I was querying, I didn’t so much walk out of that meeting, I sailed. It was enough of a rush to have enjoyed the conference, but piquing an agent’s interest in my novel? That wasn’t just frosting on the proverbial cake, it was ice cream, homemade fudge sauce and a massive dollop of whipped cream, too. I sent my submission lickety split. <br /><br />But that’s all she wrote—pun very much intended—because I received no follow up—no request to read more, no “Thanks, but no thanks.” Nothing. Zip. <br /><br />Now in case you’re wondering, by that point I’d written three books and queried two. I’d received partial requests, full requests, every manner of form rejection and was no stranger to dead air. But that day, I let my guard down. I left the conference over the moon. My husband took me out to dinner that night and I couldn’t stop talking. I was so proud of myself for conquering my fears, and while I wasn’t expecting a book deal out of it, I was convinced the agent was enthusiastic. I thought at least I’d get a helpful letter telling me why she was rejecting my novel. But instead, I got nada. I emailed after a couple of months, crossing my fingers that the lack of communication was an oversight, but received no reply to my email either. <br /><br />I get it. Agents drown in volume. One needs to be a great writer with a unique concept with the best query, and it needs to land in front of the right person at the perfect time. I can’t imagine all the queries agents (or their assistants and interns) have to wade through. But darn it. That meeting filled me with <i>hope</i>. These days, the cynic in me figures I was naïve—that requesting a partial was that agent’s personal code for “no interest.” It was easier than saying “no” face-to-face to an eager author wanna-be. <br /><br />So, there it is, a best and worst tied together. Nothing earth shattering. I keep writing. Periodically I rouse myself to query some more. But this month’s question triggered the memory of that happy day I blasted off like a skyrocket, only to drift to earth a few months later—wondering how I’d managed to fool myself into believing my agent meeting had been a success. <br /><br /> Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907885067602758337.post-59355335910967193952022-04-06T06:00:00.038-04:002022-04-06T17:45:29.809-04:00Audio for Anxiety - IWSG April 2022<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEefMQVmDVHVTJgS6z9FQpIFm8ds1xiLy8y1ikoYxa_YBFfLxLjCH6kMgkLqS43jP3Z50VPdqdD0rxMqncJfMD5U97Qa9aju-sQ9OG8vwpswzyNA4KkXb7JPADlfqXIFFb9pwUpksAXengr6UeX2wLlToQRc3NnlGW8rRLaKS15A8KX2X6cSQeU6-R/s320/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="320" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEefMQVmDVHVTJgS6z9FQpIFm8ds1xiLy8y1ikoYxa_YBFfLxLjCH6kMgkLqS43jP3Z50VPdqdD0rxMqncJfMD5U97Qa9aju-sQ9OG8vwpswzyNA4KkXb7JPADlfqXIFFb9pwUpksAXengr6UeX2wLlToQRc3NnlGW8rRLaKS15A8KX2X6cSQeU6-R/w200-h197/Insecure%20Writers%20Support%20Group%20Badge.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><i>Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of the amazing and generous <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html">Alex Cavanaugh</a>. To find links to all IWSG contributors, <a href="https://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html">click here</a>. Thank you to April co-hosts: <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=6f83febff7&e=84084ce122">Joylene Nowell Butler,</a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=2820ea2384&e=84084ce122">Jemima Pett,</a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=b50627a4a2&e=84084ce122">Patricia Josephine,</a> <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=bf1caa25e9&e=84084ce122">Louise - Fundy Blue,</a> and <a href="https://insecurewriterssupportgroup.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b058c62fa7ffb4280355e8854&id=16a6d13815&e=84084ce122">Kim Lajevardi!</a></i><br /><b><br /></b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>Optional question:</b> Have any of your books been made into audio books? If so, what is the main challenge in producing an audiobook?<br /><br />I can't answer the question, but I can speak about audio books.</span><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">While I'm fine driving locally, I’ve never been the most comfortable highway driver. For that reason, I was most often a passenger while my late husband and I listened to books when we took road trips and invariably my mind would drift. Before I knew it I’d wake up having missed Lord knows how much. But these days, I <i>am</i> the driver and audio books have begun to save me. </span><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">During my husband’s illness--I supposed as a way to pretend we had some control--we kept our lives as normal as possible. We didn’t share what we were going through with others and few people knew he was sick. Unfortunately for me, bottled-up stress manifested itself in a panic attack that occurred long before he died, on a day I was driving alone on the highway. Imagine unexpected dizziness, clammy hands and paralyzing fear of fainting while traveling 65 MPH down a four-lane highway. After the first awful one, they became self-induced. <i>What if I have a panic attack?</i> I’d think anytime I was alone on the highway. Too often, the thought triggered the symptoms. </span><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br />Now, as I recreate my life, letting this issue rule me could mean never leaving my area, which is not acceptable. At first, I pondered taking a driving course, but Covid (or more likely fear) dissuaded me. I utilized alternate means of transportation or found back-road options to get where I needed to go, until an invitation to my sister’s surprise birthday party arrived last fall. Getting there meant all highway driving. Neither public transportation nor the word “no” were an option. Enter <i>Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone </i>on audio. It's a story I know so well, if I missed a line it wouldn't matter but one I love enough it could divert my thoughts from that damaging and self-fulfilling, <i>What if?</i><br /><br />Ever a hero, once again Harry saved the day. With the book keeping me company, I made it to the party and home without issue. Even better, the trip helped me see it's in my power to drive where I need to. I'm not all the way there yet, but thanks to Harry, I’ve taken a few trips, sometimes with an audio book and notably last weekend because I forgot to download one, my longest trip without.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">So, while I have not had an opportunity to turn a book into an audio book, audio books have offered a turning point for me.<br /></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">What has
your experience been with audio books? What type of methods would you suggest to calm a reluctant highway driver?</span></i></b></div><div><br /> <br /><br /> </div></div></div></div>Lizahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16170701034715108039noreply@blogger.com23