Tag: Writing

Biographies and Contest

Biographies are obviously popular, we see a new celebrity promoting their book nearly every month. It’s human nature to want to get inside another person’s head, to understand what makes them tick.

The first biography I remember reading was Nicholas and Alexandra: An Intimate Account of the Last Romanovs and the Fall of Imperial Russia, a little light summer reading for a high school kid. I was fascinated with Russian society and drank in every detail of this doomed couple. Since then, I’ve read a number of other biographies, but as I write this, I am realizing that almost all of them were on political figures. I guess that makes sense, though, considering my love of history and desire to learn from the past to make better choices in the future.

Recently, though, I read The Soul of it All, the memoir of singer/songwriter Michael Bolton. I’ve been a fan for many years and knew a bit about his struggle to achieve the success he has, but this book gave me a new appreciation for his dedication to his passion. It is admirable Mr. Bolton was so candid about his struggles.

I love writing, and when I’m in the zone on a book I feel freer than anywhere else. Even when I’m not actually writing the zone can continue as the world I am creating takes over my brain. I love that feeling, but I don’t know if I could give up all the security I have achieved through my day job to focus solely on my writing. Mr. Bolton faced eviction and hunger more than once pursuing his passion. How often do we encounter someone with that kind of drive and confidence in their abilities? Too often I hear stories on the news or even in the office of people complaining about life not being fair, that they deserve more than they have. I’ve even been guilty of this myself, but this book was a good reminder that hard work is truly the key to success. I plan to keep the book near my writing area to help me remember good things do come to those who persevere and, of course, to make me smile at the sight of one of my favorite artists.

Just for fun, is there someone  you would like to read a biography on that doesn’t have one out yet?  Share their name and why in comments and you could be the winner of  a pre-order of my upcoming release Jessie

The four Cole boys suffer abuse at the hands of an alcoholic father, while largely being left to their own devices by a heartbroken and overworked mother. Their adventures on their island home have become a welcome escape, and one of the only things in life the boys can truly rely on. Jessie, the youngest and a dreamer, becomes enamored with US plans for manned space flight and its race to the moon, stirring his own dreams of one day becoming an astronaut. In a strange twist of fate, it is the space program and the momentum it gains that abruptly brings their beloved island life to an end. The family is forced to move to the city and start anew.
Releasing July 20.2014

A Dugout in the Desert

A Closet full of journals

 

By the time I depart for heaven, the journals I in my closet will have multiplied to over a hundred. It may hold that many now.

So what will happen to the many books I’ve written over time? Will anyone ever want to read them?

The dear ones in my family have listened to me for all, or most, of their lives. They pretty well know what I think, and what I’m going to say. I feel deeply loved by them, but I’m not sure they’re going to want to read my journals. That doesn’t hurt my feeling at all.

I write the journals as if they were letters to God, even though He already knows everything that’s going on in, and around, me. I also have in mind a reader who might like reading people’s journals for the fun of it.

If no one wants to read them, they can be used in several different ways. They can be as landfill, or as bricks for a handy-dandy little dugout in the Arizona desert. Surely so much thick paper, cardboard, cloth, and even ink (that will run in a rainstorm) would come in handy for use as construction materials.

They might be scary to read. I’m not always the nicest kid on the block. They won’t be indecent, or vicious, though. That’s just not me.

Writing helps me work through things, but if I write from hurt or in an angry fit, I shred the pages and throw the scraps away.

My son has a good idea. He says they could be disassembled and scanned. Apparently, new machines do miraculous things. It is a good idea, but I don’t want to take the time, nor do I have the equipment.

I honestly never meant to create a problem with my passion for journaling. Bill says it saved my sanity and I heartily agree. It aided my healing tremendously. But maybe the need for them will be over when I’m gone.

If I could, I would leave them for my future self, if I were my child, grandchild, or great grandchild.

If I could, I’d warehouse them for a hundred years so they couldn’t possibly hurt anyone. They’d be read for whatever someone could get out of them—if anything. They warehouse people’s bodies, so why can’t somebody warehouse my journals?

I don’t think I’ll leave them to anybody in particular. God can sort it all out when the time comes. That little dugout in the desert is sounding better and better. Or how about a nice campfire? Even that many journals wouldn’t make a bonfire…people could roast marshmallows…or…or…I don’t know. What do you think?

“Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.” Ecclesiastes 12:12

Creative Life~Rituals and Routines

Diaries and journals

Rituals and routines. We all have them. What do you need to do before you can start to write? For years, I’ve needed to check and answer all my emails the minute I sat down at the computer. I love emails, especially letters from friends, but anything else is compulsive for me, as well.

The easiest writing I do is by hand, in my journal, stream of consciousness and venting. I can spend hours at that. Sometimes I’ll cull an idea that later becomes a blog. Then one day I was writing about journaling and I began to think about the difference between a journal and a diary. Also, I was looking forward to my grandson’s daily posts either on Face Book or in his blog because he had gone to Japan.

I do my journaling by hand because Julia Cameron suggests it in all her books, starting with, The Artist’s Way. I can’t really explain the differences. Computer writing goes fast and is not too hard, but handwriting in my journal may allow me more of a feeling of privacy and freedom.

So I decided to do both. A journal is a journey of life; a diary is a listing of the things that happened in a day. Now I’m keeping a dairy on the computer and a journal in a heavy-paper sketchbook. Why didn’t I think of that before? It’s great, it will help my production of blog posts for Writing Life on Rebekah Lyn books, and My Take on Old Things are New.

The big surprise is I feel more compelled to start with my daily diary than I do to go to email! Wow. How cool. I’m set free from yet another addiction. Today, I spent the whole morning starting with the dairy but going on to finish several posts. I’ll have to wait and see how it works with novels. But, I haven’t seen my email today, so ta, ta for now. I deserve it, don’t you agree?