Lucky Friday the Thirteenth

"I'm having a hard time editing your book," my publisher told me today.
My heart leaped into my throat. "What do you mean?"
"It's so good I keep getting caught up reading and forget to edit."
And so began our conversation about the final edits and info gathering for Murder on Manitou (Wynterblue Publishing, 2012), due to appear on Amazon as an e-book next week. I've sent my headshot, my bio and received a copy of the cover art. Very exciting!
It's hard to believe this book has been in the works--writing to publishing--for two years.
As exciting as it all is, I can't wait to see it online, available to readers for $2.99.

My kids and I watched television for a few minutes before school today. We saw an add for "Double Cash for Life" the new scratch lottery tickets. I joked how I should go out and buy one. I didn't, but when the boys came home after school, my youngest found one on the coffee table. I knew my husband probably bought it the evening before, but...it was a bit eerie. We scratched it and won $12. Not exactly cash for life, but cash to buy a treat for all of us.

I've never been particularly superstitious, but I probably will be from now on.
Friday the Thirteenth will be one of my luckiest days and I'll look forward to each one!
Have a great weekend!

Another year, more goals

On Friday a group of friends were at my house listening to music and slashing magazines. As part of our journey through The Artist's Way, we worked on finding images for Vision Boards. While Julie Cameron told us to create boards that reflect our lives, I used mine to create the life I want to settle into over the coming year. I have lots of images of yoga, reiki, writing and of bringing great things into my life that I've been striving for.

Actually, my Vision Board hasn't changed much over the past 5 years. I still want to write. I still want to paint. I want to learn more about yoga and get back in shape after barely being able to walk over the past year now that my back and legs are getting stronger. It's amazing what pinched nerves and a minor slip can do to one's back.

This year, I also have writing goals. I have already submitted a short story for one contest. I am working hard on getting The Bookstore Lady ready for my agent by the end of January (sooner if possible!) I'm also working on the second book, The Mystery Lady to have submitted in February. AND, if that's not enough to take on this year, I'm putting together a collection of short stories and a novella. The name is still a secret. Those are my goals this year, aside from the usual "get in shape", "eat better", etc.

Once the glue on my Vision Board dries, I'll post a picture of it. Hopefully it can keep me on track since it's going to sit right beside my desk - in the line of sight from my new exercise bike, which I'll use right after I take the laundry off it.

Best of everything in 2012!

Cobblestone Road

My son has a couple of late assignments to work on over the Christmas holidays. He's procratinated, mostly because he doesn't "agree with" the assignments so he refuses to do them. In trying to deal with his procratination and encourage him to get them done so he doesn't have to repeat the course and derail his future plans I compared the assignments to stones on a cobblestone road.

"Every task you do in your life takes you one stone closer to the end of the road. Whether you like each stone or not, it gets you one step closer to your goal."

The goal, for him, is to one day enter law school.
For me, the goal is to write and publish books.
Whatever road we choose, there are undesirable stones we must step on in order to get there. I hate writing synopses and outlines, but that what helps me get my books to agents and publishers and out into the world. I also hate doing laundry, but that, incredibly, is another necessary stone in life.

I look back at my dad who had brain surgery nearly 20 years ago and see how many stones he passed by completely in order to walk and speak properly again. He's still not 100%, mostly because the people who could have helped him the most were banished from his life, but partly because of choices he made and the path he did take. According to him, he is perfect.

Perfection is a delusion.

He's not perfect, nor am I. I will never be perfect. I dont' desire to be perfect, that is not my path.
My path, cobblestones and all, is to be the best writer, mother, wife, daughter and friend I can be. I am not perfect, I make mistakes, I jump over stones and try to alter my path by choosing options I wouldn't normally choose. But at the end of the day, we need to come back and deal with some of the stones in our path that we've overlooked. Not to make us "perfect" but to make sure we leave no stone unturned and untouched. They are all part of our journey.

The Artist's Way

I've been very fortunate to be involved with hosting an Artist's Way workshop over the past few weeks. When I say hosting, I mean it's in my house and a fellow writer and I faciliated the meetings. We have a small, comfortable group that has become very close and realized that we have more support for our art than we'd anticipated.

Support as a writer, artist, human being is the most we can ask for.
Support from our loved ones, our friends and family, is necessary to grow and develop our creativity.
As odd as it sounds, support from ourselves is vital.

Ourselves? Why wouldn't we support ourselves?

Interestingly enough, a lot of us have tuned in those voices that tell us WE CAN'T.
The voices of people we love and admire and respect that say WE'RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

That's what Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way teaches us.
She tells us to tune out those voices. Don't trust that critic, the monster in the back of our heads that tells us we aren't worthy.
WE ARE WORTHY. WE ARE GOOD ENOUGH. WE ARE ENOUGH.

I've done The Artist's Way exercises before. Years ago when I first moved to town and knew no one, had no support and didn't believe in myself or my abilities. I found it one of the best things I could have every done to feed my creativity and support my Inner Artist. That Inner Artist now thrives. She writes prolifically, creates amazing needlepoint ornaments and longs to finish editing the current novel to spend some time painting.

My current spin through The Artist's Way is a reminder that I still need to nurture and support myself. Feeding that Inner Artist with play dates like colouring, walking around town to see the Christmas lights or something as simple as soaking in a bubble bath all of these things ignite my creativity and allow me to write. Or draw. Or paint.

In short, to create.
Happy Creating!!

Novella coming out soon!

Great news!
After a long wait and a few glitches, my novella Murder on Manitou will be released by Wynterblue Publishing via Amazon very soon! Be sure to watch for release date!

Something to think about...

The following was written as part of a prompt at an HWG writing meeting:

We have an aversion to loss of control, as much as we love it. In writing, our goal is to form images with the written word and allow the flow of those words to stream from our pens like water from a tap. But taps still control.

We edit, we doubt, we scratch out our thoughts mercilessly and do rewrite after rewrite.
We seek perfection.
We seek control.

We are afraid of writing, even those of us who love it and live it. Yet we seek to let go and let the words, the universe, the stream of unconscious mind say its piece. When we do finally give up, we find great things appear. Thoughts we never would have thought. Associations that had never occured to us. Intuitions that have sought out an eager fountain to flow from. Thoughts that have travelled the universe seeking to be released and not controlled. We become better for giving them voice.

While the words we write may never become famous or find their way to the rest of the world, they have been given voice and were heard by us.

Even if only by us alone.

  

Time for Reassessing

This fall has been a whirl wind of misfortune, reassessments and renovating.
Lately in my life there have been four women facing the prospect of breast cancer. Cancer of any kind is enough to make you stop short and take a look at your life. Especially when there are children involved. In all four cases, there are.

One of the members of the Headwaters Writers' Guild, Alberta Nye, has produced a wonderfully touching movie called "So I'm Dying...Now What?" about a woman named Margaret Hackman. Margaret had tumours in her liver, stomach and brain. She knew she was terminal and respectfully declined treatment. What she did instead was live. Margaret flew a plane, snowshoed around her yard, became a Canadian citizen and became an inspiration to everyone around her. She asked Alberta to document her final months so she could leave behind a legacy of sorts. The final movie, being premiered in Guelph on November 5th, is a moving portrait of bravery. To find out more please go to Alberta's website http://www.spiritvalleypictures.com/.

In the meantime, since I have nothing better to do, I am working with my friend Nancy to bring forth an Artist's Way workshop. The Artist's Way is a life changing book written by Julia Cameron. I worked through it when I first moved 2,000 miles across Canada and it helped to change my life and improve my outlook. Now I'll do it to refocus my energies and make sure I write every day.