This is an excellent article about why you need other people to read your work. Here’s my favorite line: “Nobody steals stories these days. Everyone is too wrapped up in his own story, and chances are they aren’t in love with your work as much as you are.”
Read the whole thing here:C. Hope Clark: Why Hire More Eyes?.
Today it’s cold and rainy out. It feels like winter for about the third time this year. And winter reminds me of Minnesota. Minnesota reminds me of power ballads. And power ballads remind me of the first fight Chris and I ever had. We were in his old Honda Accord coming back from somewhere (probably Kentucky) and I wanted to listen to power ballads while I drove. He didn’t. And I got mad because he was sleeping, so what did he care anyway? This is the song that set it all off. Obviously, we got over it and got married anyway. There were no power ballads at our wedding.
I am a daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend, Pilates instructor, jewelry designer, author, cook, musician, painter, illustrator, yogi, barista, cashier, etc., etc., etc,. yada, yada, yada, the list can go on and on. I hold a bajillion different rolls, and, benethe them, sub-rolls (not in the sub-sandwich sense) and even some of those can be broken down into sub-sub-rolls. . For example, as an author, I write:
I’m sure if I thought about it longer I could even come up with more.
Unfortunately, I can’t be perfect at all of my rolls. Heck, I probably can’t even perfect one of them. But, I can become darn good at some of them. And I’m realizing that to do that, I need to let some of the others go. So, for now, I’m choosing one to cross off the list. Well, actually, the sub-list. I’m going to back-burner the children’s writing I’ve been working on. It’s been nagging me, not because it wanted to be completed, but because it’s been one of those items on the “to-do” list that never gets crossed off. I’m done moving it from list to list to list. Today, for now, I’m removing it. Along with that, I’m unsubscribing from the children’s-market focused writing and illustrating blogs I’m currently subscribed to. I just don’t have time to digest everything, and I’ve got to make some room.
That’s not to say I’ll never come back to the Children’s world. Heck, I’ve got two kids, so, minimally, I’ll continue creating stories for them. It just means that, for now, my writing muscles are training for a different kind of sport. It’s like putting football on hold to focus on baseball. Just like Bo Jackson, I’ll be back. But even he couldn’t play both sports at the same time.
I need some help. The book I’m currently working on is set in Anytown, USA, meaning: there is nothing special about this place and it doesn’t have any bearing on the story. Except that there is a garden. This garden is almost a supporting character and is obviously effected by changes in the weather and the seasons. Do I need to pick a real state to put this? Or can I just give enough clues about the weather than I can keep the location vague? Opinions please…
I would like you to meet my new friend, Chocolate Covered Katie. I’ve never actually met or corresponded with Katie, but today’s post included recipes for single serving mocha chocolate cake and copycat Starbucks Frappuccino. So I can only conclude that our minds are cosmically connected.
Photo by Chocolate Covered Katie
Once you’re over there, search for the recipe for healthy cookie dough. It’s made with garbonzo beans. And I know it sounds sketchy, but I swear to you it tastes like the real thing. And because the beans have so much protein it fills you up.
From AdviceToWriters – HOME – Be Ruthless About Protecting Writing Days:
Be ruthless about protecting writing days, i.e., do not cave in to endless requests to have “essential” and “long overdue” meetings on those days. The funny thing is that, although writing has been my actual job for several years now, I still seem to have to fight for time in which to do it. Some people do not seem to grasp that I still have to sit down in peace and write the books, apparently believing that they pop up like mushrooms without my connivance. I must therefore guard the time allotted to writing as a Hungarian Horntail guards its firstborn egg.
J.K. ROWLING
Sorry it’s been a few days. I’m a busy lady!
Remember when I set the 3000 calorie day goal? I hit it on Monday. And I burned almost 2/3 of those calories before lunch! I went for a hike at Percy Warner Park. According to my Fitbit, the hike included climbing the equivalent of 35 flights of stairs. Let me tell you– my quads agreed! It was beautiful though, and when download the pictures from my phone I’ll post a few. If you’re in the Nashville area, you absolutely should make some time to hike at Percy Warner, minimally once a month. It’s beautiful all year long.
In addition to the hike on Monday, I had a fabulous reformer class and made my family a yummy, healthy supper: Tequilla Lime Shrimp. I used olive oil instead of butter. To go with it, I made black bean corn salsa by combining a can of black beans, a cup of corn, a can of tomato sauce and some spices in the blender. The family voted, we all loved it.
I got up late this morning and didn’t confirm my fitbit synched before I left, so I don’t have my data to share, but i can tell you this: I have been over my goal for calories to burn each day this week, and other than yesterday, in my happy window as far as calories to consume. Yesterday I ate at a restaurant that I can’t get the data for, so I feel like I was okay, but i don’t want to say for sure I was. It’s okay though: balance is one of the Pilates principals, and having one day of indulgence doesn’t undo previous work. It’s all about balance.
By Amanda Moon
We are the music-makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world forever, it seems.
~Arthur William Edgar O’Shaughnessy
(Posted on the Facebook group for The Spirit Project. If you’re looking for some inspiration this year, check it out!)
I bought new jeans last week. I’m wearing them today and constantly having to pull them up. A little annoying, because they are new, but super exciting! I’m going to go ahead and chalk it up to the Pilates. Because every time I’ve really lost pants sizes there has been lots of Pilates involved, and I have been getting my Pilates on most days of the week lately. I love it!
Stats for January 6:
The batteries in my scale died, and I think that’s a good thing for me. I need to concentrate more on the volume and quality of what I’m putting in my body rather than watching the craziness that happens to my body from day to day on the scale. (I kid you not, I can gain 6-7 pounds over the course of the day and then lose it all again while I sleep.)
As seen from my driveway last night.