Gift Ideas for Writers

My loved ones puzzle over what to get me for Christmas every year. They ask, then shake their heads at my answers. The answers are always the same…every year and truth is, boring: books, notebooks, really cool extra fine point pens in black and red, stuff for my cameras (which they know won’t be used for normal pictures of loved ones but instead, research: What the hell is this picture of the corner of a log cabin for? Why photos of fencing, buckskin horses, guns, clothing…well, you get the idea.), post-it notes, more post-it notes, project display boards, more post-it notes, printer ink.

My ‘job’ doesn’t require fancy clothes (or clothes, for that matter, other than the commute, it goes right past picture window highway, so pj’s, at least.) and I’m a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl anyway. The only jewelry—earrings, transportation—shank’s ponies, no smart phone, I’m too busy observing the actual world, no tablet, (yet) I have a laptop, thank you.

I wonder, are their others out there struggling to find gifts for the writer on their list?

Suggestions:

Books:

Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch by Constance Hale: I worried this book would be boring, too difficult, but it was fun, so full of information. I read it cover to cover and it now has a prominent place on my reference shelf.

Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point of View by Jill Elizabeth Nelson: Tiny book, quick read, tons of help.  Worth buy at twice the price. http://www.facebook.com/JillElizabethNelson.Author

The Emotion Thesaurus, A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi: A great starting place for showing emotion. http://www.thebookshelfmuse.blogspot.com

A Dictionary of Costume and Fashion, Historic and Modern by Mary Brooks Picken: A must for describing, with proper terms, clothing of any period.

Anything on writing by James Scott Bell: Bell just tells it like it is and then helps you get through it, whether plotting, revising, or The Art of War for Writers, which is my personal favorite. I consider Bell a friend to writers, you know, one of those who made it and keep putting out a hand to help someone else.

Pens: I love pens, fat pens, skinny pens, pretty pens, plain pens. I collect pens. I have pens nobody, but nobody, better use. I have expensive pens…pens I love but I never use and I have pens I write with. I must have one of those pens to work. My favorites: Dr. Grip Gel by Pilot, Retractable T l fine point from Office Max, absolute fav: Precise V5 rt extra fine point by Pilot

Notebooks: I have tons of these, some I use, some I can’t bring myself to write in. I try every new notebook that comes out. I love them all, but for carrying with me on my research jaunts, Staples Gold Fibrė Writing Pad by Ampad.

Post-its: I go with the Post-it™ brand. They’re generally on sale somewhere. I do like the lined.

Oh, and chocolate is never wrong.

I’m not the only fussy writer: Pencils must be round. A  hexagonal pencil cuts my fingers after a long day. –John Steinbeck

 

Reading and Happiness

Great article in this month’s Reader’s Digest titled, “How Reading Makes You Happy” by Jessica Cassity. The list of reasons: encourage positive thinking, friendship, teaches empathy, stirs memories, inspires.

Wow, just from reading. Seems impossible. Yet, I do remember the exquisite happiness of every other Saturday when the family made the trip to the library. To this day, nothing makes me as happy as browsing through shelves and stacks of old books. Old books are like the library of my youth. The Children’s section was in the basement and every visit was full of wonder and tactile sensory invasions. Of lemon oil and heavy oak furniture, card files, long scarred tables and chairs that scuffed and dragged the wooden floor. Books and books and books, hardback books, books with library cards and cream-colored pages, just slightly musty, the outside covers dark muted navy or green or burgundy. The hushed whispers, the occasional too-loud laugh, the white-haired, grandmother-faced Mrs. Peterson shushing.

I was in fifth grade when Mrs. Peterson told my mother I had scoured through and read everything in the children section I was even possibly interested in. (That summer I decided to read every fiction book on horses in the library. It was a whole shelf long, but I did it. How I wish I could remember the titles. That was also the year I decide I wanted to grow up and be just like Louis May Alcott. Hey, look where writing got her.) She told mother to take me on upstairs to the Adult fiction.

Truth to tell, the Adult section wasn’t nearly as sensuous. Truth was it was a bit of a letdown. There were no doll collections, no aquariums, no terrariums, no stereoscopes, but the upside was I could look in the same section as my older siblings. I thought I was something and I did find reading to fall in love with and yes, happiness. Think Gone with the Wind, Forever Amber, Rod McKuen, Shane and Mrs. Mike and happiness. 

Note: One of my regrets, not really a life changing one, but, maybe, a life enriching one, is that I didn’t write down all the many, many books I read from the time I started reading, especially, from that year on. I didn’t think about doing so until 1994. How I wish I had. It’s tough going back, but I do try. I wish I had encouraged my children, all good readers, to do so, but I didn’t think of it. You can be sure I encourage my grandkids.

Remember these two things:
The world would be a happier place if we got rid of illiteracy, right?
When the world is crazy and things like 9/11, Sandy, shootings happen and you're sitting at your desk wondering if what you're doing is important, remember...it is. 

Persevere Is To Live

The last several weeks have been a mad dash to finish harvesting and putting to bed my garden as well as my mother’s. As usual, Mother Nature and the fates have not cooperated, but I persevere. Hey, if nothing else, I am tenacious. (All right, some would say stubborn, but I like tenacious. It rolls off the tongue….nicer. All those a’s and the sh sound. Sounds like a word to be prouder of.)

Then something was slowing up my desktop computer and I might be computer challenged but I know when to call an expert. My laptop, as well, started giving me little nudges. Polite little messages: It’s time to think about replacing your battery. I don’t wait for the brick to land on my head, not anymore. So, a call to my computer guru. Withdrawal started as he walked away with my Ruby Dee (Don’t tell me you don’t name your computer. Ruby Dee is red. Why red, well I think it was my computer tech’s way of being nice. At the time, my laptop was red. Why? I’m cheap. It was 10% off, if I bought the red. I could just Skinit down the road if I couldn’t stand it, right? So, the red computer.)

But, I have a laptop. My tech had a new battery. Battery faulty, but still I had the old laptop and I don’t mind being plugged in. I kept on working, looking after my mom and looking forward to an antique fair. It was a stomach bug that leveled me.

Desktop back in action. Yeh! Still working on the battery for the laptop, but things are straightening out.

One last chore in the garden before the snowstorm predicted for Friday:

October: Breast Cancer Awareness month

It’s October. Breast Cancer Awareness month, in case you didn’t hear. I’m feeling guilty because I usually start the month out with a blog about it, Facebook reminders, etc. This month is half-gone and I’ve done nothing. I usually do the walk, but this year, this crazy, busy year has just rushed along without me doing so many things I wanted to do. All I can say is: I did my writing. The garden, the little projects, the fun kind of took a back seat to some other priorities.

The big one being helping my son move his music store, MusicVillage. I thought moving a home a daunting task, but moving a business and all that includes is overwhelming, but it’s moved and better than ever.

Still, I want to do what I can for Breast Cancer Awareness month. I wanted to do the walk this year, but couldn’t, but even the smallest effort combined makes the biggest difference.

So, for the warriors, survivors, supporters, caregivers, loved ones and the departed…for my sixth grade teacher, Maude, for my mother and mother-in-law, for Marilyn and Mary, my daughter-in-law’s mothers in the fight, for Tami, my daughter-in-law’s mother, who I hope never is, for my sister, my sister-in-laws, my daughter-in-laws, my granddaughters, for my dear friends, writing and non I want to share a poem I wrote. Someone said it was a poem that I needed to cast out in the world. I thought about trying to get it published, but instead, I’m going to share it here and donate what I might have received from publishing it here

If it touches you, if you want to share this or even feel inspired to donate, I'd be honored and who knows it might just help.

SONGBIRDS



The sweet sparrow song echoes through
steeps and slashes of uncharted land
where outbound trails are littered with
collateral damage. Women interrupted—
the scarred, the wounded, the fallen,
 sisters, daughters, friends and mothers,
 her mother.





She was not armed. She was not trained.
She never meant to wade into that fray,
hike precarious mountain ridges
of that backcountry, nor
foot-slog those daunting vistas,
switchbacks and long gentle sloops.
Enlisted into guerrilla warfare






she joined loosely formed columns
armored with nothing more than
flamingo-colored chemo caps,
hauberks and caregivers surcoats. And
marched the streets, pink standard held high,
singing the only battle cry she knew:
Fight like a girl.



Songbirds sing after the battle.
Only survivors know that,
bless her heart.

 

Keeping the Fire

Do you remember when you rushed eagerly to your computer? Had ideas for your book bursting from your fingers? I do. And sometimes, it still happens. Not as often as I wish. Sometimes, I feel what is the point. Do you? Hopeful, I am not alone.

So many possibilities, then. But the hill to publication is steeper. ‘They say’ it’s wisest to write with finishing your novel, short story, poem the goal, and that does make sense, but I don’t think any of us writers can squelch that desire (need) completely to be published.(The somebody likes me, they really, really like me thing.) It hangs around in the back of our minds like a noisy crow. (Or is that just me?)

Keeping our passion is vital, but keeping that particular fire burning bright can be as much of a challenge as the writing. We all know those writers who tossed sand on that fire and turned to another. Passion comes from the heart and sometimes, that heart needs something else or it can't stand up to failing.

We, also, know writers who just keep trying. Sometimes with amazing success. Those are the ones you hear about, but there are those others. The ones that keep trying and never make it. I wonder about them. Don’t you? What do they end up doing with all their work? Where does it eventually end up? I know, every writer knows how much work, heart and tears must have gone into their writing. It makes me sad, but it makes me proud too.

Writers are their own leaders, cheerleaders, bosses. They work alone, mostly. They get inspiration from other writers. Writers they read or meet, writers they read interviews about. A writer is responsible for their own best advice, their own drive often gleaning it anywhere they can find it, a lot like they ‘find’ their stories.

Strangely, I’ve been finding great advice in the business section of my local paper. As my son’s music business struggles in this economy, I’ve taken notice of not just the publication business but also the struggles of all business and the economy.

Here are some strategies that seem to me applicable that I have gleaned:

·       Acknowledge your desire or goal either by writing it down or talking about it. In doing this, you are embracing the challenge.

·       Write down the why. It’s easy to forget that ‘real’ reason. Make a list for why you want to write. Include making money, being published.  Then put that list in order of importance to you. Not what will show your friends, neighbors, husband… (Although you really ought to acknowledge that on your list in order of importance. You should know where you stand.) Hey, and list what kind of impact you want your book, poems or short stories to make on your readers.

·       Go back to the why often. To remind yourself. You will forget as you are caught up in the doing.That's why writing it down is so important. Set goals. Clear, definite goals that reflect where you are in the process. Visit this strategy often.

·       Do something that makes you a little uncomfortable. We get bored; the monotony of the same, same each day can cloud the finish line. Do something that scares you a little or shakes you up. Smile while you're doing it.

·       Reach beyond yourself. Help someone that is struggling with their own writing goals. Actually, helping someone with any goal, not even connected with writing brings surprising results for you, but do, without yourself in mind. It’s amazing the joy, the renewed energy that seeps into your heart. Or think about a cause you love and do something for it. (I hope someone will read this and be helped just a little. Just one someone.)

·       Take a class. In writing or in some other thing you love. Get your brain and 'juices' working For me, maybe, a puppy, soon?

What I know for sure is that no matter where you stand right now—on a hilltop, in a gutter, at a crossroads, in a rut—you need to give yourself the best you have to offer in this moment. That is it. Rather than depleting yourself with judgments about what you haven’t done, who you could have become, why you haven’t moved faster, or what you should have changed, redirect that energy toward the next big push—The one that takes you from enough to better. The one that takes you from adequate to extraordinary. The one that helps you rise up from a low moment and reach for your personal best. —Oprah

Back from a Beyond

I've been gone...vacation...mountains, wild places and things...and...grief.
I'm back, but...
No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.-C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed.




L.E. next to Current Creek reservoir in June.

Every Day

The newspaper had a special section yesterday about the new economy, particularly about jobs, getting them, keeping them, creating them. I almost didn’t read it. It didn’t seem particularly valid for my situation, other than as help for my sons and when did they ever listen to me? After all, I’ve never had a ‘real’ job. I’m ‘retired.’ And I seek to be published, not hired. (Surprisingly similar things, but like I said, when have they ever listened to me? I could be sexist and say, hey, they’re men, or…and moms of boys will understand, say, hey, they’re boys, or I could say, hey, I’m just mom.)

They’re right, I worked at a pet shop before I was married and cleaned a theater for several months when my husband was laid off one winter. And gosh, a pet shop is mostly fun, isn’t it? Well, yes and no. Loved interacting with the animals. I was good at it. But lessons are learned: Puppies, kitties, and various other pets poop. A lot. And back then, we had puppies, kitties, and various other pets as the product we sold, and in the pet shop world then, product died. It was a hard fact for someone like me to learn and cope with.

Hey, for my career class, my chosen careers where Veterinarian or novel writer. I was told women are not accepted at Veterinarian Colleges and you can’t make a living writing books unless you’re a journalist. Yes, it was the dark ages and yes, the thing about novel writing is still true unless you’re Nora Roberts or Steven King or really, really lucky.  

The theater was just a big house where everyone was partying, and what on earth are people doing in a public theater anyway? You would not believe what I found hanging around the seating area. Seriously, folks?

I digress. I found three surprisingly valid articles for me, a novel writer. Will any of it guarantee I’ll be published? No more than it guarantees anyone else will get a job, but it’s a good thing to pack in your backpack and carry with you no matter which you want.

 

From one article was about improving yourself and your skills continuously. My take away for every day.

·       Learn something new for your writing.

·       Devote at least 15 minutes every day learning or improving a skill you use in your writing.

·       Learn a new word, its meaning and use.

·       Read a writer’s magazine, at least one article.

From another:

·       Find and nurture support. This can be a challenge if you don’t run into other writers in your day to day or you can’t attend meetings or such. I’m in that situations. Thank goodness for the internet. There are friendly writers and many, many support groups. That leads to the challenge of how you spend your time on the internet. Be strong.

·       Plan your writing day. Have goals, whether in time, words, whatever. Meet them, exceed them, raise them.

·       Broaden your skills and update them.

·       Work on your bio. Read it and try to add to it.

·       Attend workshops, seminars; buy DVD’s, whatever to help your writing skills.

Third article:

·       Reading, therefore writing is in a flux right now. Keep up.(Are you sensing a theme or repeated point here?)

·       Change with the times while holding to the core of good writing.

·       Remember, things go on whether the economy slows or not. People will read. They’ll want fresh, great reads no matter how it’s delivered. So the focus has to be on the writing.

·       No job, no business is easy. Problems will come and those that stay around adapt and embrace change

·       Smile. Enjoy what you’re doing. Fall in love with it. Every day.