Join me and nineteen other author at Booktoberfest. Authors in the Park has put together this fantastic event. It will be held October 5, 2013 in Mt. Dora, Florida 2-5 pm. It’s a meet and greet that combines a Fall Festival with a Halloween theme, The authors will be dressed as one of their characters and you can choose a costume too! Visit Hidden Earth Series for all the details including a list of each authors characters and costume ideas.
Just in case the lure of books and authors is not enticing you, Mount Dora is renowned for its many antique shops. So make a day of it, come early to shop, have a lovely lunch in one of the restaurants then join the authors as we celebrate Booktoberfest. As for me, I can’t wait to visit Juliannes Coastal Cottage to get my all time favorite Kermits Key Lime Pie on a Stick.
I come from a long line of worrywarts. I’m good at thinking about the past and the future. On the other hand, I’ve read a lot about love vs. fear, and hope vs. despair and I’ve come a long way, baby. I’ve also read a lot about meditation. At first, I was afraid of it, because I thought it was strictly an Eastern religious practice and I’d lose my will power, if I tried it..
But as time went on and I became less ignorant, I began to see something worthwhile in being still and meditating. Also, I understood that meditation is also a Christian practice. The best example is, “Be still and know that I am God.”
Now, for me, meditation goes into the box called possibility, and here’s why. A wise pastor once told me that if something is true, no matter who believes it, it’s still true. That means the idea of meditation rings true to me and I’m trying it out.
The trouble is my worrywart brain loves nothing better than to grab any quiet moment and head down into the miry clay with it. That’s what the Bible calls depression: the miry clay. There’s also the falling asleep thing. Anyhow, I’ve looked into it. I’ve decided everything goes better with Christ, and I’ve done some praying. I can’t sit empty minded, but lately there comes a time early in the morning when I’ve done some journaling, had a few lovely sips of coffee, and finally I actually hear the music I have playing on Pandora . I sigh. I have a feeling of wanting to let down. I put my pen down. I take a deep breath. I listen. I hear a flutter of wings and birdcalls. I feel a September breeze promising cooler weather. In a short time, I’m ready to go back to work. Suddenly an idea comes to me. I write it down, then another, and another. Good ideas. I develop them.
In an article in the Saturday Evening Post, September/October issue called, “Time Out,” the author, Mark Matousic says about meditation, “its like doing pushups for the brain.”
Richard Carlson says, “Have you ever noticed that when you are quiet and silent, calm and still you know exactly what to do? Being silent doesn’t shut down your mind; it only activates a deeper kind of intelligence. No one knows for sure where this deeper intelligence comes from, or what it’s called, but all wise cultures are certain that it exists. When we are silent, it’s as if we tap into a universal source of wisdom. It’s as if our thinking comes to us, rather than us actively having to pursue our thoughts. It’s as if we get the benefit of “universal thought, instead of having to rely on our own limited thinking.” Don’t Worry, Make Money
I know a middle school teacher and father that sometimes takes a day off and meditates all day. But I don’t aspire to anything like that. I think for now, I’ll stick to my own kind of meditation. I call it Sensory Meditation where I hear, see, feel. That works for me, and it’s good enough for now.
If you’d like to know more about meditation, look here
Welcome to our first post of DiVoran’s Writing Tips. She has a rich history not only in writing but in editing and poetry. Her tips will of course, be wrapped in one of her delightful stories
Most of my life, Mother said, “Make yourself the best you can and then be yourself.” When that wasn’t enough, God sent a friend to chime in with, “Nobody else can be you, so be yourself as much as you can.” They must have been trying to tell me something. I ignored them. I was a people pleaser, always figuring out what I could do to make people love, admire, and respect me more.
One day I let a painting teacher read the journal I had carefully written while on vacation. She had the gall to tell me it was pretentious. Believe it or not, I didn’t know exactly what she meant by that. Didn’t matter anyhow. I was mad (hurt). I figured I was the writer and she could just stick to teaching me how to paint and mind her own business. Then in another painting class, someone pointedly mentioned people who were pretentious and I knew she meant me, and I was hurt again, but I didn’t know how to fix it.
If I can study things I enjoy, I love studying, so when going through John Fox’s book on writing poetry, Finding What You Didn’t Lose, I discovered the answer. The title of the chapter is, “Leaving the Roots on Your Writing.” He says writers need to, “tell about those aspects of ourselves we tend to conceal.”
I think about that when someone talks about things I don’t understand. I have to make a decision every time to reveal my ignorance by asking questions. I think about it when I’m with people who know God better than I do. Can I share an honest testimony with them? I find it difficult. I don’t want them to know I’m not as advanced as they are. They might start telling me how to improve myself.
I’ve recently had the ultimate pretentious experience of my life, or so it seems now. One of my Beta readers told me the first-person character I was writing was too sophisticated to be true. I struggled with that. I couldn’t let myself understand what she meant. I wanted to argue and vent and well, you know…have a pity-party cupcake. But when the light when on and I finally understood, I was so grateful I could hardly thank her enough.
Here’s what happened. I got this college course on CDs that told how to write longer, better sentences. I am of the Guideposts and Reader’s Digest school of writing which is to write short and as plainly as possible. (Yes, White and Strunk started it). I got this course and I could barely understand it, but I decided to experiment anyhow. You wouldn’t believe the beautiful lace-like creation I crocheted my character into. It was hard work, but I felt I was learning how to write better. I was learning all right, just not what I thought. When the light went on and I realized my Beta reader was right-on, my stress left me. Let the character write as I naturally write. Now I get to rewrite many passages yet again. To tell the truth, I can’t wait. Writing simply has become like riding a bike, swimming, reading, in another word—fun! Next time through, I’ll leave the roots on. I hope the Beta reader likes it. Thank the good Lord, I have her to tell me the truth.
I love crime. CSI, Criminal Minds, Magnum PI, NCIS, The First 48, I find them all fascinating. I also love reading crime novels from David Baldacci, to Brad Thor. When I saw a Groupon for the CSI Experience, I gobbled it right up. Now, I’m supposed to be dedicated to completing the first draft of my work in progress. I’ve worked on nothing else in my few spare moments and I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I needed a break, and my Groupon was getting ready to expire, so I called up a fellow crime junkie and we went to check out this CSI Experience.
There were more people at the venue than I expected, but the staff processed them effectively and before we knew it, we were zipping up our “official” CSI vests. We were given a clipboard and assigned to one of three crime scenes, then we were off. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who might do the experience themselves so I won’t go into detail. We gathered our evidence, “ran” all of the forensic tests on computer simulators, and came to our conclusion who the killer was. Along the way there are videos with cast members from the original CSI series and when you think your know who did it, you file your report. I can’t imagine how you wouldn’t be able to solve the case, but it was still fun to have Gil Grissom tell me how well I did. There is certainly room for improvement in this experience, but I’m glad we did it and I even feel more energized in my writing quest after taking the afternoon off. You can find out more about this experience at CSI Crime Exhibit
Maybe one day I will even write my own crime novel, but for now, I need to finish my work in progress. What fun things have you done to take a break from writing?
