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It's World Book Day!

4/23/2024

Book lovers celebrate; it’s World Book Day! This year’s theme is Read Your Way, and while it’s aimed at children I believe that adults should embrace this as well. Books not only educate, but can inspire and help you discover things through fiction that elude us in reality. They truly open the world up to us in ways that nothing else can.

You know I love books. If you ask people what I like, books is always the #2 answer behind birds. I’ve always loved reading and writing. My parents encouraged it in me from birth, and my great aunt left me a bookcase and all of her books when she passed when I was eight. Books have always been a part of my life. I write them, I read them, and Lord willing I hope to even move on to editing and/or proofreading them in retirement.

Some people are particular about how they read, but I’m not. I love ereaders and audio books, but I won’t say no to a paperback or hardback book, either. Stories are stories, and they can come in a number of ways.

But don’t limit it to a day! If you love reading, then you have a golden opportunity to do it for a good cause. The American Cancer Association is hosting the “Read Every Day in May” Virtual Challenge on Facebook. I’ve joined and am thrilled to connect with other readers who believe in helping with finding a cure for this demon that takes far too many people far too soon. Check it out by clicking here. I’m reading The Stand for my challenge. It makes sense to reread the book that inspired me to be a writer, and that’s inspired my current work in progress in particular. But I will be reading it in ebook format. My paperback copy from high school tore up years ago, and I replaced it with a digital edition. My Kindle is much lighter and easier to hold and carry that that massive tome! A great read, but heavy - literally!

Let's celebrate! Grab a book and escape reality. Here are a few more of my favorites I recommend:

Planetfall Series, by Emma Newman. This one is another inspiration for my novel-in-progress. I gave this series another read earlier this year.
Upgrade, by Blake Crouch.
Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson. There are a lot of books on colonizing Mars, and this is one of the best. This one may be due for another read soon.
Death in Holy Orders, by P.D. James. I love all of her books, but this was the first book by her that I read, and it still stands out as one of the best.
Here Comes the Night, by Linda McDonald. A fast paced thriller that even my husband read and enjoyed.

That’s all today. Take care and have a great week.

Bye!

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Direction

4/11/2024

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After a much needed vacation to a nice cabin in Bryson City, NC, last week, I return to life refreshed and with a new sense of direction. Sometimes, you need space that you can’t get inside of your everyday life. You have to remove yourself from it to release the baggage dragging you down, and let go. Or, in this case, throw it off a mountain. Whatever works.

As my husband continues his recovery and I plug back into life, I returned to find inspiration in something at work on strategic planning. While largely an organizational concept, my refreshed brain started fired inspiration that perhaps this is a concept I can take into my personal life to get a greater sense of direction and purpose. Planning for retirement is one thing. Actually knowing where you’re going and what you’re doing is another. It didn’t take much meditation to figure out where my “North Star” lies either: my writing. Specifically, how to take it to the next level. I realized that what I’m doing isn’t working anymore, and Singularity is a perfect opportunity to take out the compass and find my direction.

If I want to up my game, then I need to network wider to find people who have succeeded where I want to succeed, and who are willing to help me along that path. It didn’t take me long to find a direction, either: after two days, it seemed all of my searching led me to Reedsy. I’ve entered their weekly short story contest many times, and even won once nearly two years ago. What I didn’t realize was how many amazing resources they had for writers. I was able to quickly set up my account and send out requests for help with editing and marketing. I’ll let you know how it goes as the replies continue to come in. There’s a saying to “work smarter, not harder,” and I pray this is the way. I’m lucky to have some great folks that I work with now, and hope that Reedsy will help me strengthen my network. There’s always room for more.

That leads me to another realization from my relaxing vacation. I was sitting in that hot tub staring at the stars one night, and realized that I’ve accomplished a lot over the past year. Facing my anxiety and getting proper treatment hasn’t been easy, but it’s been impactful. The journey led me to say “yes” to keeping Chaka last year and making a valuable new friend, write Singularity (a novel I’ve been wanting to write since high school), to speak up and tell Rick I wanted a SurfacePro instead of another version of the same old laptop, to get tickets and go out of town to see Cold (one of my favorite bands) and be bold enough to ask their bass player for a picture, to buckle down on my exercise and meditation routines, to finally sign up for grocery pickup and save a lot of time on that task (which frees my weekends a lot), and to invest our tax refund in finally renting a cabin in the mountains like I’ve talked about but haven’t done, until now. That mental struggle led me to not only clean up my brain, but to look for the “yes” in my life and embrace it. Now I see that sometimes, you also have to be bold enough to ask questions to find that “yes.” If people can ask me where I get my ideas from, I can ask how to improve as a writer and reach more readers.

I think one problem is that I spent too much time fighting and resenting the “no” in my life. Honestly, I think most of us do that. The world has it’s definitions of success, and the truth is that the Lord works in mysterious ways, and often “success” is a new and different thing that we only know in our heart. Letting go of the “no” and finding the “yes” not only alleviates anxiety, but clears your vision as well. I’m learning that those spikes of anxiety are coming from incorrect focus: trying to do too much, or focusing on the wrong things, or simply not taking time out for me.

Perspective is a thing that often comes from challenges, and we’ve certainly had enough of that in the past month (or heck, years). I think it’s high time to stand, take a deep breath, study that compass, and strike out in a right direction.

I know this is a rambling blog post, but I promised to show you how my reality shapes my writing in this blog. As Stephen King says in On Writing: Life doesn’t depend on art, it’s the other way around. (That’s a great book, too – get the audiobook version because King is hilarious!) My crazy journey in remaking my reality is inspiring my writing. Buckle up. There’s better stuff coming.

That’s all today. Take care, and have a Happy Friday tomorrow and a wonderful weekend.

Bye!

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It's World Book Day!

Direction

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