Kick in the Butt

 Inspiration and Motivation?

The heat of the day is stifling and the humidity makes your hair cling to your neck.  The music on the radio lift your spirits as you drive down Hummingbird Lane.  The name of the street inspires you to stop the car, pull over, whip out your journal and write the final pages of your novel. 

OR NOT!

You begin to think of ways you've been motivated in the past few months.  
Dr. Oz motivating you to eat right.
Oprah, who expects you to have self esteem and inspire others.
The threat of the job loss if you don't play your cards correctly.
Diet newsletters like Weight Watchers and MRC encouraging you to lose weight. 
Articles in a magazine like Real Simple that want to keep you organized in everyday life. What a concept?  Room in a closet for more stuff when your done cleaning.

 OR

Is it in a hammock feeling lazy with a margarita and a good book? 

Wait a Minute

Where does the time go in the summer? 
        My list of summer reads keeps getting longer and longer.  Why? How?
I think I know! Does this happen to you day after day?
       The big box bookstore with the best coffee and  thousands of books sits next to the mall. I can't resist the urge to stop, browse and buy more books.  Oh, instead of $100.00 a pop, I have it under control - only $25.00 - $30.00 at the checkout. On to the mall and quickly get the "must have" dress for the party.  I rush to my car knowing the bag full of books is in the car, drive home, with a plan to read all night.  Didn't happen-golly jeez!
      I pass the library as I rush to the gocery store.  I stop, rush through the double doors thinking to myself, What's a half hour of book bliss? Children books, YA, large print adult books, magazines and so much more.  Using my card, I check out a dozen children picture books to study for plot, characters and setting.   Now I wait for the rainy afternoon-it happens most afternoon in Florida.  Didn't rain!
      Drinking a cup of tea with honey, I think of all the other places books can be found in my daily life.The museum store where I docent, my local independent bookstore and the books already collecting dust on my bookshelf.  Not a good time!

Oh, joy, bliss, heaven, its time to read!
Which one comes first?
mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine    
The Kissing List by Stephanie Reents
Fifty Shades Darker  E.L. James  

What is on your list? How much time do you give to yourself to indulge in a book? 

Membership Counts

      The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) is a professional international organization for writers and illustrators of children's literature.   Visit the website: www.scbwi.org to find a calendar of events, regional information and other resources. Become a member and have special access to the latest publications, and the discussion boards where you can participate in the SCBWI online community.
      
     SCBWI writing craft workshops at a regional conference can help a writer kick up their manuscript a notch.  Members have the opportunity to meet authors, editors and agents on a personal basis. Networking  with others is motivating and reflects the true professionals in the business. 
      SCBWI members reach out to each other, learn from each other and share successes.
      How do I know?  As an SCBWI member for over three years,  I met debut authors in Miami (regional) and at the New York conference.  Authors sharing advice and suggestions that made their book a reality.  Their vision, intense efforts, time management, revisions, edits, marketing plan and just plain sheer determination.    
     Made me a believer - Dream big, develop writing craft, work hard and persevere.            

Comfort Zone

Where Do You Sit On The Fence?

 Think new ideas,  be visionary, a beginner of  random chaos.  Make a friend, read a book from your favorite author or better yet, a debut author. Run in the rain, sing in the shower and smile at your boss.  Attend a lecture on a subject you know nothing about.  Any joy you wish you could be doing.  Let the thing surprise everyone around you.  Something new!

BUT don't forget!  Be there for an elderly relatives birthday, reread that treasured old book, sit on an over sized sofa to dream.  Remember your favorite day over ten years ago. The very thing that may surprise you.  Be comfortable.  Something old!


  
:
When I learn something new-and it happens everyday-I feel a little more at home in the universe, a little more comfortable in the nest.      Bill Moyers  A World of Ideas  


Blank Canvas

"It's so fine and yet so terrible to stand in front of a blank canvas."  Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) French Postimpressionist artist

For the writers and artists who look out a picture window on a Sunday morning to see blue sky, void of clouds, and steam coming off the road.  A picture to become part your canvas as you create your story line.  
Writing, hour after hour, the sky fills with puffy grey clouds and a thunderstorm threatens.     
The canvas changes, as does the scene within the story.
The setting, plot, characters ebb and flow.    
No blank canvas, no writers block, bliss at the keyboard.  Oh happy day!   

Before Her Time

New chapter in life

Mary Anne Evans (1819-1880) well known English novelist, journalist and translator is better known under the male pen name of George Eliot.   
In 1850-1856, living in London, she developed herself as a writer of essays and as a contributing editor of  The Westminister Review a political journal, she wrote of the need for realism not trivial romance fluff  in women's storytelling.
In 1858,  she took the male pen name George Eliot to protect her private life and be ensured her works would be taken seriously.  Women writers were not uncommon but she wanted to stand out as she developed her novels. 
Some of her literacy works include Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), and Middlemarch (1871-72) and Daniel Dermonda (1876). 

        In 1880, at the age of 61, she fell ill and died of kidney disease.  In 1980, a century later, a memorial stone was established for her in the Poets Corner of Highgate Cemetery in London. 

Which brings me to writing of  Mary Anne Evans aka George Eliot today.
 She was a women of her time, however, knew she wanted to give women a stronger position in a man's world.   Her writings would tell stories of influence, power, religion and politics similar to a Greek tragedy.  She is well known for her quote, "it's never too late to be what you might have been," leads me to believe in her final years as a writer she had more to share with world. 

In the right times, could she have been our first women president?  a secretary of state? a prime minister? a queen of her country?     

       

Come Over to My Place

The Fourth of July fireworks---innovative and refreshing.  The sparkle, flash, and sizzle awakened brand new story thoughts.  Multi-colors twisting and swirling with the west breeze. Designs exciting youngsters and  the young at heart.

Get ready!  My new web site coming your way.  Working with Donna Farrell,  my very own  web site will be up and running  soon. A new home for inspirational thoughts, links,  blogs, kid projects, book sharing, author notes, and more.   Stay tuned.    
 

The red, white and blue

Happy birthday, America! 
Flash from the fireworks, splash in the pool, sing America the Beautiful!
A fun-filled day across this great land!