That one little word, approval, can mean so much to someone. To know that someone approves of something you have said or done. It gives you the confidence you might not have had otherwise. I think back on the time when Mari was in the hospital. When she had made it to her fourth and final hospital, I was told by one of the nurses about CarePages. She told me it was a way to keep family and friends updated on Mari and how she was doing. I couldn’t wait to get started. We had so many people … [Read more...]
Day 100: Writing as Therapy
Since I can remember I have kept a diary. I think I was in the fourth grade when Grandma Patton sent me a diary for Christmas as well as a pen. I could write whatever was on my mind. Whether it was that I hated my mom for something I probably got in trouble for or that she wouldn't let me do whatever I wanted. If I'd only known then what I know now. I promised myself I'd never be like my mom, yet the honest truth is all kids can't stand their parents as kids from time to time but so appreciate … [Read more...]
The First Blog Post I Ever Wrote
Blogs. There are so many of them out there today and the plethora of topics that each one is on can seem to never end. After my daughter pasted, my grief ran so deep. I bought a new diary (yes, I still call my journal a diary :) ) to write all those thoughts constantly swimming around in my head. I needed an outlet to be able to just vent. Then approximately three months later I had all those words I just had to get written down. So I sat down at my dining room table and began to write those … [Read more...]
Day 2: Abundance
To have an abundance of whatever is important to you is what matters most. For me, it's the knowledge of writing and knowing my craft top my list. Would I've ever thought that five and half years ago? Nope. I was in blissful unawareness that my life was about to be uprooted and changed forever because in three months I would loss my daughter. Three months after the loss I began to write on her dedication website. It was my outlet during a very hard time in my life as this has, and will always … [Read more...]
I’m beginning something new
I've decided to try something new here. I want to be able to write a little something each day. Whether it's about the book I'm currently writing or just to say how my day was. I want to keep my readers up to date with everything. Today, I've mostly been writing posts for my daughter's dedication website (Mommy's Angel In Heaven). I love writing on there as that website has not only become apart of me but my soul. I get to openly share with people my thoughts and how I'm feeling at the time … [Read more...]
I’m Back (Man It’s Been A Long Time)
Well, who knew that my break would have taken me this long. Since my last message we have moved to Anchorage, Alaska. Our nephew has gone back home to live with his biological mom. And now I'm back into my writing. It's been so exciting as I completely rewrote out a new outline for my book as I figured out how I needed to proceed forward. I've just started writing out the new scene's and rewriting several of the ones I already had as the book takes on a new turn. I'd like to start a writing … [Read more...]
Day 52: The Writer as Spy
As a writer we tend to get our ideas for the stories from so many places. We watch a man and woman kiss next to the ocean. Some kids are playing baseball and one of the kids just hit a home run. Two girls are standing in a corner yelling at each other for what seems to be about a sweater. Even watching television can spur on new ideas from something you watch. NCIS had a man stand over a dead body drenched in blood but he says he didn't do it. Or your watching Grey's Anatomy and a woman who … [Read more...]
Day 50: The Narrative of Your Life
We all have a narrative we live by. Our morales. Our ethics. Our beliefs. Our likes and dislikes. Plus many others. All the things make us who we are. And through writing, we can find ourselves through the words we write. I know I do in my characters. They come alive in my head and I try transferring that to the best of my ability to paper. The narrative of my life has been anything but easy. The positive through all of this is I can use those experiences in my fiction. Maybe somehow, someway, … [Read more...]
Day 49: Tilting
When we write we put our heart and souls into our characters. They become a part of who we are. But are those character verbatim of who we are? Of course not. We "tilt" the character just so, so that he or she has something similar to who we are. There might only be a smidge of something about us but it's there. Tilting the characters makes them in their own right individual and unique. But if we don't put ourselves into our work it won't sound right. No, I won't be a thing like the … [Read more...]
Day 39: Keeping a Journal
I love keeping a journal. I typically go for long periods of time without writing in it but when I do it becomes a daily ritual. Right after Mari died I told Keith I had to get a journal. What I wrote in there were all my very raw and exposed emotions. Sometimes it felt like I wrote the same things over and over again. It's one of the ways that helped me through my grief. And then one day I had tons of thought swirling around in my head. But I had a different feeling this time about writing … [Read more...]
