Amanda Michelle Moon

First of all, this has nothing to do with anything, but have you heard of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis? I love it. Seriously. Check it out.

The point of this post, though, is Pinterest. And how amazing it is. Know before you go: give yourself a time limit. Or you will lose days. No, not hours, days. People will wonder where you went. You fell down the Pinterest hole.

I’ve been using Pinterest as my recipe box for the last few months and it’s working great. I pin all of the recipes that interest me from one of the many magazines I receive, then I go through that list and make my list of what I want to cook for the current week. You can see that board here. I’m a very visual person when deciding what too cook (or eat) so this has worked really well for me. This week, I even pinned what I want to make for lunches!

It’s true. It’s a real, honest to goodness thing. And now there is a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AVWLYG6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00AVWLYG6&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwpilatesfor-20″>book to help you fight it. 100 Ways to Fight the Flab – The Wannabe Guide to a Better Bottom

It’s only 99 cents. And if you’re not sure if it’s worth a dollar, check out this interview. I haven’t read the book yet, but if this is any indication, that was a dollar well spent.

So- I do art. You knew that right?

That has nothing to do with today’s post.

We’ve had a fun-filled, very busy weekend, because on Friday we welcomed a new family member.

Meet Picasso:

Picasso

Picasso is a nine week old Golden Boxer, that is, Golden Retriever/Boxer mix. He’s awesome: handsome, happy, and playful. His name has very little to do with our love of art and more to do with keeping up the family tradition of naming our dogs after painters.

Van Gogh

Van Gogh is our 8 year old miniature dachshund. She got her name because she’s missing half of her left ear. Picasso got his name because he’s Van Gogh’s brother.

Next Big Thing

The amazing Candace White over at aintgotenoughgravy tagged me in the Next Big Thing Blog Hop. I am honored and excited to share what I’m working on. Normally, the way this works, is that at the end I tag five more authors to continue the journey. However, all of the authors I know have already participated. So instead, I’m just going to refer you to some great author websites that I love.

1. 1.    What is the working title of your book? 

Home

1. 2.   Where did the idea come from for the book? 

A friend and I were talking about how, if we didn’t have to go to work, we might never leave our houses. The story started out as a way to explore what it would be like to actually be agoraphobic, and grew from there.

1. 3.   What genre does your book come under? Fiction
2. 4.   Which actors would you choose to play your character in a movie rendition?
   1. Ashley: Jennifer Lawrence
   2. Megan: Kate Hudson
   3. Ben: Ryan Gosling
   4. Gary: Bradley Cooper
   5. Bernice: Diane Keeton
3. 5.   What is a one sentence synopsis of your book?

Ashley hasn’t left her house in ten years, but if she can’t figure out a way to leave, her sister may die.

1. 6.   Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?

Ask me in 2014.

1. 7.   How long did it take you to write a first draft of your manuscript? 

The first draft took 9 weeks, I’ve been working on the re-write and edits in the 10 months since. I’m hoping to have it to readers by March 10, which will be a year since I finished the first draft.

8. What other stories would you compare this story to within your genre? 

I don’t know! I need to figure that one out.

9.Who or what inspired you to write this book? 

My friend Heidi, and the conversation we had about staying home. My family, for always being supportive while I tried to do everything other than write until I knew that this is what I have to do, and then for giving me the time, space, and copy editing I need to be actually do it.

Authors I want you to check out:

Joe Hart: Joe and I went to High School together. Most of my memories of him are from shop class, we must have had a woodworking class together. He writes horror, and is SO. GOOD. Check him out.

Charlotte Rains Dixon: Charlotte’s book, Emma Jean’s Bad Behavior, released today! Yay! Charlotte mentored me in The Writer’s Loft and was awesome. She has an amazing website for authors and I definitely recommend her.

Linda Busby Parker: Linda was my first (and second, I couldn’t let go of her) mentor in The Writer’s Loft. Linda worked with me when my writing was a hot mess. (And my life wasn’t so hot at the time either.) She gave me supportive, but honest feedback, always pushing me. Linda was with me through the draft of Clouded. While I’ve let that stall for now, the closer I get to having Home done(ish) the more I’m ready to jump back into Clouded and start working on a publishable draft.

Morgan Wylie: Morgan and I met at Starbucks when her daughter, who happens to be the same age as my son, sat down and started talking to me while I was writing. Morgan just finished her first book and it will be out this spring.

Hope Clark: I don’t actually know Hope. But I’ve subscribed to her newsletter for a few years (thanks to Linda!) and  I feel like she’s a friend.

Sorry I’ve been gone so long. I’ve been trying to decide how exactly to proceed with this, YPL and SpiralingForward and, quite frankly, got paralyzed  There is so much I want to do, and so much I have to do (because those kids and husband, they expect things!) that I stopped doing much of anything except working on my novel. Well, that, working my full-time job, making sure my family is fed, etc. But you know what I mean.

Anyway, I’ve had a lot of time to think and plan and consider, and I’m ready to get going. Here’s the plan:

This blog is going to remain my personal blog, but I’m going to bring more of my writing into it. During the course of re-writing Home in third person, I got so tired up just changing pronouns that I decided to start working on a short story for the first 15 minutes of all of my writing sessions. This has been SO. MUCH. FUN! So I’m going to start sharing some of that with you, along with more about the book and the work that I’ve put into it. I’m excited about it and the possibilities it holds and can’t wait to share it. I’m also going to do updates on what’s going on with YPL and SpiralingForward, but they have their own online homes, so it will mostly be “go check this out” links.

Speaking of…

Your Pilates Life is done. Well, pretty much. It’s a formatted, readable, searchable e-book. I wanted to do exercise photos to go with it and haven’t done those yet. But I’m giving myself a deadline and a launch date. On tax day, April 15, YPL will be available for sale. With or without pictures. Between now and then, I’ll be updating the YPL website and preparing some exciting offerings to go along with the book. I’m not currently teaching, and with my schedule I don’t see that changing anytime soon, but I do want to help refer out to the Middle Tennessee Pilates Community. We’ve got some awesome teachers around here.

As for SpiralingForward, first off, I’m going to be adding a blog over there too! I don’t know the exact schedule I’ll be posting on yet, it won’t be daily, and might even be just weekly, but I’m going to be using it to offer how-to’s, highlight both art that I’m making and art that is inspiring me, and to feature other artists and makers that are doing great things.

In case you’re worried that this is a tease, and I’m going to disappear again, here’s some reassurance. My amazing friend, Candace White, tagged me in “The Next Big Thing” blog hop for authors. So I’ll be posting about my new book, “Home” exactly one week from today, on February 13. I’ll also be tagging other authors I want you to check out, so make sure you come back for that.

Heart bracelet

Today, I decided I wanted a new bracelet, so I took 10 minutes and made myself one. I have (finally) come to realize how important it is for me to have at least a little bit of creative time each day and I hope I can inspire you to do the same.

From http://mommaknowsbestblog.com/2012/04/pinterest-feeds-my-procrastination/. See, it’s not just my problem!

I’m working on a book. Said book includes a garden- a beautiful, elaborate back yard garden. I went to a local nursery hoping for a quick interview that would give me a list of possible plants for the garden. Instead, when I arrived I was presented with a list, organized by category (SERIOUSLY!?!?!). It was so above and beyond and phenominal.

Side note- if you’re in the Nashville area, Bates Nursery is so worth the drive north. I live in West Franklin and drive up there for pete’s sake.

Anyway, back to the story. So I took the amazing list, paired it with Google images, and created a board on pinterest with images of each plant to help me while I’m working on the garden passages in the book.

It’s AMAZING. Except that I stopped writing almost 20 minutes ago to check the board because I’m working on a passage where Ashley is leading someone through the garden for the first time. I needed to see the pictures.

But, alas, as happens so often on Pinterest, I got sidetracked. And now I’m writing a blog post about it.   Because there is no better excuse for not getting my writing done than because I was getting other writing done.

A few weeks ago I went to Barnes and Noble, where it seemed that half of my current reading list was on the bargain table. After a mini-shopping spree, I then had to buy another bookcase. One of the books that I picked up was Steve Martin’s An Object of Beauty. Being by Steve Martin, I expected the book to be good. He has an incredible work ethic. I also expected it to be funny.

I was right and I was wrong. The book was incredible. It wasn’t a comedy though.

An Object of Beauty follows the story of gallery girl-turned art dealer-turned gallery owner Lacey as she navigates the New York art scene as a young woman from her early twenties to mid thirties. Within the book are references to both famous artists and artists I’ve never heard of, including some pictures of images. Martin’s prose is powerful: I fell so in love with some of the art just from his descriptions that I had to look it up myself.

It’s a powerful and rare thing for the author to draw you so far into the story that you feel like you are the narrator, but Martin does that through the voice of Lacey’s journalist-friend. You become part of Lacey’s circle but never completely understanding her motives nor can you begin to predict her next move. I found myself wanting to talk to other people about the book for the entire three days it took me to read it (yes, it was hard to put down, but life intervened). I’m passing it on to a friend. Check it out yourself and let me know what you think!

Self-Portrait with Straw Hat, Paris, Winter 1887/88, Metropolitan Museum of Art, (F365v)

This morning, I read this blog post and was inspired by how honest it, and most of her posts are (I can’t say all, because I haven’t read them all). It’s not that I’m dishonest in my posts, I’m just not very transparent. There is a lot about me that I keep to myself.

Which isn’t neccessarily a bad thing.

But there is undoubtedly a connection that occurs when we are fully transparent, warts and all, with each other.

So I’ve been thinking a lot about that today.

There are many different schools of thought around journal writing and how it helps the creative process. I was an undedicated journaler in high school and college, but once I moved in with Chris I stopped for fear that he would find and read it and find out what really goes on in my head. Mostly, I just process thoughts verbally. But as I write and create more, I am seeing my unresolved thoughts forcing themselves out onto the page, into the lives of my characters. It’s my unconscious saying okay, if you won’t deal with this, I’m going to make Characters A & B act it out for you. Deal with it.

So I’m thinking about going back to journaling, even if it is irregularly. Then I saw this article about five great published diaries and my thought process changed from “how can I be more open” to “oh my gosh I would come back and haunt anyone who dared publish my private writings after I’m dead.” It feels a bit like an invasion of privacy to read someone’s diary, or any writing that wasn’t intended for the world.

But I am inconsistent in this thinking, because I am curious about what I can learn about artists through these writings. I recently purchased Dear Theo. Matthew Perryman Jones’s amazing song O Theo was inspired by the letters Van Gogh wrote to his brother, and I watched A Brush with Genius on Netflix. Before this, really all I knew about Van Gogh was that he was an amazing painter who cut off is ear. I named my dog (also missing most of one ear) after him. But I never realized how consumed he was buy his art. Obviously, his consummation reached a critical level. But if I could be only a fraction as committed as him, how much more could I accomplish?

I haven’t read The book yet, but I plan to. Which once again makes me nervous to process my thoughts in a journal or diary.

What do you think? Am I just nuts (entirely possible) or do you sometimes wonder how the authors of the diaries/journals that are now published would have felt if they knew their words would be read? I’m curious.

I needed to hear this today.

(No link? Click here to watch on Vimeo)