I did it! by Cayenne Michaels

I actually did it!

And I think it’s taken me almost up to now to realize it.

A couple of weeks ago I packed up my whole house. Well, technically the brick building is still standing, but I stashed all our belongings into the spare guest room and basement. Then I jumped on a plane to move halfway across the world. To study literature.

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Writing a Book is Easy.

Or at least it seems easy in comparison to the tasks we’re faced with once we type ‘The End’.

 

If you’re an author or have friends who are authors, you know exactly what I mean.

Once the story is written, everything else you need to get that baby out into the world makes the time spent on your laptop, legal pad or typewriter (remember those?) look like a cakewalk.

If you decide to publish traditionally, you’ll have to make sure your manuscript it correctly formatted down to the exact font, spacing, margins, etc. There are strict guidelines that you’ll need to adhere to. Not to mention querying publishers, waiting for replies and dealing with rejections.

Hidden treasures by Cayenne Michaels

Let’s talk about inspiration.

Where does it come from? Is it stored inside of us and stirred awake when we encounter something in our everyday life that brings out this hidden treasure we never knew we carried?

Or, is it handed to us, as a gift, by someone or something that has you or me are the perfect person to see its true potential?

Elizabeth Gilbert says:

The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them.

Have you found any yet? Please…share them with us in the comments field. As writers I think we all know how to appreciate them. We know how precious these discoveries are.

Let’s Start At The Beginning by Emma Marie Leigh

You’ll have to forgive me. I’ve been suffering from a case of writer’s block so thick, I’ve been stumbling over what my post would be about all week. I have this awesome idea about tropes that I love, but it’ll have to be your dose on my next segment.

Before It’s Too Late by Sha Renee

Recently when I accompanied a loved one to the hospital I noticed a man sleeping in a chair in one of the waiting areas. He appeared to be in a fairly deep sleep – arms crossed over his chest, head tilted to the side. I studied his sleeping visage for a moment. Surely he was the spouse of a dear friend I met long ago when our kids were in first grade together. But I hadn’t seen him in so long… was that actually him? If so, I should wake him up and say hello.

Online Inspiration for Writers by Matt Mansfield

While I put great stock in my imagination as a writer, I also know that creativity is a hungry beast; one that forever hunts for inspiration.

Happily, there’s tons of inspiration in my life. Heck, my four kids alone provide me with enough weekly drama and comedy to fuel a book or two!

Voyage of the Bland

Words! How glorious they fall on the page. Fast or slow, deep or shallow, they drip from my fingers like misty drizzle or hammer from my heart in torrents. However they choose to come, I do my best to accept and relate them without prejudice.

And therein, Dear Reader, lies the rub. How I wish it were one of those warm, tingly, exciting rubs on delicate parts that leave us breathless and singing inside—but it’s not.

Writing is a Green-Eyed Monster When Faced Against My Life by Kate DeHart

Last night my husband spent the night at the ER for pain that ended up being kidney stones. Ouch! What does this have to do with writing you ask? Bear with me, because this might be a windy explanation.

Many years ago, I was a young girl that liked stories. Somewhere on that journey, I got the message, my imagination was a waste of time. Spending time living in other worlds wasn’t  worthy, and at some point my passion for exploring my interests got snuffed out. So I got on with all the things a normal teenager does. Dragging myself to school, reading what I was told to, and other high-schooly things.

Oh the Places Characters Go! (With Me) by Kate DeHart

Writers are a strange bunch. Everyone knows this. And if you are a writer yourself, you probably agree.

I mean, I’ve actually done internet searches on “exploding smoke bombs” and “how to disarm a gun from an assailant”. Along with “smoke traps for burglars that collect DNA”(so cool!) and “mind-altering medications that  increase sexual desire”(don’t ask). And that’s all for one story!

History of The Sun by DL Hungerford

Almost all living things on this planet depend in one way or another on the sun. Flocks of birds migrate when triggered by shorter or longer days. Plants bloom and put out seeds in the spring, then fade in summer and autumn. Early man looked up to the rising and setting of the sun to know time and season.