in the end we only regret the chances we didn't take
It’s not you, Nonfiction, it’s me.
The first few times we met I had these butterflies in my stomach. You were so unlike any book I had read before. At first I loved your clever covers, your cool book jackets. You always look so great in glasses and with your backpack, and I read all those rave Amazon reviews from your adoring masses. If all of those people love you, surely they must know something, surely I am missing out if I don’t read you too.
Since becoming a writer, my daily world view has changed. I make a very conscious effort to pause at certain moments, regardless of where I am, to appreciate those with me and observe what is around me. Read More…
“What is your book about?”
This is the first question everyone asks when I tell them I’m writing a novel. Strangely enough, it has been somewhat of a difficult question to answer, at least succinctly. For simplicity’s sake, my default response has been that it is an action/suspense novel, set in the Middle East. Read More…
but fear engulfed rationale
i don’t want to be burned
what color are ashes?
can i choose, can you put my body in a chair?
the wind blew a salty breeze across her face
she couldn’t squeeze the tears back in
they rolled
down
down her cheeks and dripped into the dark ocean
she watched the salty tear
plunge into the sea
but behind the deep the sun still rose
how big is one life?
every drop
together
makes a full glass
Life has a way of throwing curveballs. You think you’re prepared, in a ready stance and watching for the fast pitches to come in on their regular cadence. And generally you hit those, sometimes even knock it out of the park. But a curve is different, it’s slower and it drops when you least expect it. Sometimes you’ll see it right before it happens, but by then it’s too late and you know it’s a miss. Just when you’re settling in and feeling confident about hitting the fastballs, the Great Comedian decides to mix things up to keep your game interesting, maybe even teach you a couple of things along the way. Last week I was thrown a curveball.
It’s been seven months since I sat down to write a blog post, over two months since I’ve written a word of my novel and fifteen months since I decided to start this crazy project. My original goal in June of 2015 was to write a book in one year, a seemingly attainable objective for that timeframe. But a lot has happened in the past year and in fact a lot has changed in just the last few months. We’ve bounced around traveling with our family to three continents and at the conclusion of our amazing trip, in a very short five-week span decided, planned and executed a move over six hundred miles away. That’s a lot of numbers. Enough numbers to make my head spin, maybe even abandon the notion that I can finish a novel. And yet I find myself at my keyboard tapping away, drawn back to my late night habit.
Friendship is a beautiful part of the human experience, an enrichment of our souls. The ability to connect and share your genuine self with another person is all at once vulnerable and immensely gratifying. As I’ve grown into an adult and grown up as a friend, my friendships are more important to me than ever, my true friends rare treasures to be cherished.
Many friends and family have asked about my NaNoWriMo progress and if I was able to achieve my goal of writing 50,000 words in November. I didn’t. Read More…
Today marks the beginning of my participation in National Novel Writing Month. I stumbled across this event and the NaNoWriMo organization as I was researching writing tools, and for some crazy reason I decided to sign myself up for this November adventure. For the next 30 days I will focus on writing 50,000 words (that’s 1,667 words per day in case you’re wondering) along with an online writing community across the country who are writing their own novels. This non-profit organization provides support, tips and tricks, a structure for setting goals and even organized local events from fellow novelists in your area. NaNoWriMo is centered around creative writing and the purpose is to focus, focus, focus. To win in a given year is to achieve your word count and actually complete a novel, and there is no limit to the number of winners. The intention of this contest is to implement the habit of writing every single day and live with your story, which is something I personally need given the many other things going on in my world. I certainly cannot achieve something I don’t attempt, so off I go… I hope this post is the shortest thing I write over the next month; wish me luck and an endless supply of words!
One of my favorite things about writing a novel is that I have one-hundred percent creative freedom with what I choose to put into print. The plot lines, the mystery and suspense, the budding romance, scenery, homes and lifestyles, even the clothes people wear and food they eat – all of it is just made up. Sure, imagination is informed by life experiences and real places and things, but by and large I can write whatever I want to write. But of all the components of make-believe, my most favorite part is creating the people. The living, breathing, feeling, emotional, complex characters who are very much like any people we would meet on the street or at work or perhaps members of our families. I’m certain every fiction writer reaches a point in the creation of their their characters that those people become very real to them. I just never knew how much fun it would be.