The Sum of This Year
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
In A Year of Writing Dangerously, author and teacher Barbara Abercrombie shares anecdotes, insights, and solutions. She ends the book with the following advice:
You have some stories or essays now, or your first draft in some stage of completion. Or maybe you have a pile of scribbled pages or notebooks, or a computer full of notes.
Give yourself credit for anything you’ve written this year. Turn on your sweetheart voice, and let it tell you how brave you’ve been to write anything at all.
And then figure out what you’re going to do with your manuscript or notes.
Don’t give yourself the excuse of feeling overwhelmed. You’ve come this far; now get on with it.
Source: A Year of Writing Dangerously
Merry Christmas!
Book Blast: A Curse of Magick
I’m happy to welcome novelist Diane Gallagher. Today, Diane shares her new release, A Curse of Magick.
Blurb
“A desperate princess, a handsome warrior, and an ancient magick to determine their fate.”
As daughter to the High King, love doesn’t come easily to Gráinne. Having turned down hundreds of suitors, she is being forced to marry Finn, an old, ugly yet powerful general. While outside the marriage hall, Gráinne bumps into Diarmuid, Finn’s handsome foster son. From that moment, Gráinne knows if she is to have any chance at love, he is the one she must marry. She begs him to take her away from this unwanted wedding. When Diarmuid refuses, Gráinne, desperate, places a curse on him; help her or die.
Diarmuid is a warrior who only wants to serve loyally, but when the princess sets her sights on him and casts her curse, he must make the most difficult choice of his life. Does he help her, taking their chances with a vengeful Finn, or does her refuse her, leaving her to her fate, and risking his own death?
With both their lives on the line, Gráinne and Diarmuid must fight to use Ireland’s ancient magick to escape from Finn, either bringing them together in passion or in death.
A Curse of Magick is a passionate tale of love, betrayal, revenge, and redemption. A retelling of an ancient Irish myth, A Curse of Magick takes the love and romance of Romeo and Juliet, and the exhilaration of King Arthur, and mixes it together for a satisfying adventure all will love.
Excerpt
Once the cave opened, Diarmuid grinned at Gráinne in the dim light. The walls of the caves were lined with crystals. Even in the darkening light of the sunset they twinkled and reflected the deep orange glow. Gráinne gasped.
“Wait until you see it with a fire,” Diarmuid said. “I’m going to go and gather as much dried wood as I can find. Wait here.”
As he left the cave, Diarmuid listened carefully. There was no sound of Finn’s men. He didn’t expect another message from Oisin saying they were on the move. He knew they were on their own now. He gathered up a tangle of branches he found at the foot of a tree. He hauled them back into the cave and dropped them in a heap on the cavern floor.
“Hand me that bag, will you?” Diarmuid pointed to a small bag he’d left near Bran. “That’s the flint bag. We can never lose that, or we will be in trouble.”
“I know that,” Gráinne bit back. “I have my own. Look.” From just under the collar of her dress she pulled out her own leather bag.
Diarmuid grunted and turned his attention to the fire.
He piled the branches carefully so that air would draw from below and used his flint to light the fire. As the fire sparked and took, the light reflected against the crystals that covered the ceiling of the cavern, making it look like a thousand tiny stars twinkled above them.
“Oh, how beautiful!” Gráinne cried, pressing her hands together beneath her chin.
“Yes, it was Angus that showed this to me. It is like magick, isn’t it?”
Gráinne nodded and smiled at Diarmuid, looking up at him from beneath her lashes, her momentary ire forgotten.
Author and Bio Links
Diane Gallagher is a novelist and Druid priest. She is the author of three novels: A Curse of Magick, Greenwich List, and the Bastard of Saint Genevra. She has long roots stretching into her Celtic past, although she splits her life between two islands—Vancouver Island on the west coast of Canada, and Sicily off the toe of Italy’s boot. She writes young adult romance based on ancient Celtic myths of the powerful women of Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. She currently teaches creative writing at Cherry Hill Seminary.
Website | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | Twitter | Amazon Buy Link
Giveaway
Diane Gallagher will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.
Follow Diane on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.
Keep Gliding Steadily Forward
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
A long-time fan of bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff, I look forward to reading their emails and blog posts. Here’s an excerpt from a recent blog post:
Accept the feeling of not knowing exactly where you are going, and train yourself to love and appreciate this sensation of freedom. Because it is only when you are suspended in the air, with no destination in sight, that you force your wings to open fully so you can fly. And as you soar around you still may not know where you’re traveling to. But that’s not what’s important. What’s important is the opening of your wings. You may not know where you’re going, but you know that so long as your wings are spread, the winds will carry you forward.
Truth be told, some of the greatest outcomes that transpire in your life will be the ones you never even knew you wanted. As long as you keep your mind open to new perspectives and yourself moving forward, there really are no totally wrong turns in life, only paths you didn’t know you were meant to travel. And you never can be certain what’s around the corner. It could be everything, or it could be nothing. You keep gliding steadily forward, and then one day you realize you’ve come a long way from where you started.
All details aside, someday all the pieces will come together. Unimaginably good outcomes will likely transpire in your life, even if everything doesn’t turn out exactly the way you had anticipated. And you will look back at the messy times that have passed, smile, and ask yourself…
“How in the world did I get through all of that?”
Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website.
Blurb Blitz: Next Stop, Boston
I’m happy to welcome journalist and author Iris Dorbian. Today, Iris shares her new release, Next Stop, Boston.
Blurb
Sixteen-year-old Geri Randall’s life is turned upside down when her late sister’s fiance, Dez Deacon, a washed-up rock star, is named her guardian. Whisked away from the only life she knew and taken on a rock and roll tour, Geri is initially desperate to win Dez’s approval. That desire hits a sour note when Dez’s treatment of her becomes too much to bear. What ensues is a battle of wills between her and her temperamental guardian, a collision course that will push Geri to do the unthinkable to get what she wants.
Excerpt
If there was one thing she’d learned with this tour, it was that time operated on a whole other scale. It wasn’t weird to go out and have a burger at two in the morning, or stay up until five, eat an early breakfast, and then crash until noon.
At first, she’d felt like a vampire, but after a month of this nocturnal schedule, she’d gotten so acclimated to the lifestyle, she wondered how she would ever be able to go back to a daily schedule that consisted of her going to sleep at ten o’clock at night, waking up at seven o’clock so she could arrive at school by 8:30, and be in classes until 2:30 in the afternoon. Then do it all over again the next day. Lather, rinse, and repeat.
“It’s a soulless existence,” Dez said to her a week into her attempt to adjust to life on the road. He was opining about the nine to five normies. “Absolutely brain-atrophying. These poor people are like ants. Hamsters on a wheel, doing the same thing over and over again. That’s why what we do is so important to these people. For two hours, Ger, we bring them the excitement and adventure that’s missing in their dull, defeated lives. We’re like saviors to them.”
Geri clicked on her personal photo gallery. She pored through an unending succession of shots of Dez, as well as shots she never would post on her account: various hotel rooms, desk clerks on phones or dealing with customers, piles of suitcases gathered in a mound in lobbies, regular people sharing drinks at a bar, working on their laptops. She loved the simplicity of these images, which captured life in hotels with an organic detail and vibrancy. She stopped at the bar shots, then zoomed in to snag a clearer view at the people in them. The barflies seemed to be swigging whiskey or scotch, she wasn’t sure—an alcohol connoisseur, she was not; however, she’d seen so many adults in her young lifetime down gallons of liquor, she might as well be.
She studied their features to see if Dez was right about these normies. No, he wasn’t. They didn’t look defeated at all, only tired.
Buy Links
Author Bio and Links
Iris Dorbian is an arts and business journalist whose bylines have appeared in a wide array of outlets that include Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Crain’s New York Business, Business Insider, Buyouts, Venture Capital Journal, Investopedia, Playbill, Backstage, Dance Magazine, Theatermania and Stage Directions, where she served as editor-in-chief for eight years. Her personal essays have been featured in HBO’s Inspiration Room, Boomer Magazine, Jewish Literary Journal, Diverse Voices Quarterly, and Gothesque Magazine. Having previously published “Great Producers: Visionaries of the American Theater” (Allworth/Skyhorse) “An Epiphany in Lilacs: In the Aftermath of the Camps” (original publisher: Mazo Publishers) and “Sentenced to Shakespeare” (Sunbury/Milford House Prss), “Next Stop, Boston” is her fourth book.
Personal Website | Muckrack | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter
Giveaway
Iris Dorbian will be awarding a $25 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.
Follow Iris on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.
A Timely Message
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
Last week, Norman Lear died. A visionary, he wove social commentary into mainstream comedy and revolutionized the sitcom genre. While reading many of the tributes, I came across a letter that he wrote in the late 1970s. A man named Michael Hurwitz approached and asked if Norman could write a letter to his infant niece, Lisa—a message she could open on her 21st birthday. Here’s the letter:
February 2, 1978
Dear Lisa:
The first thing you must know is that you have a remarkable uncle in the person of Michael Hurwitz. That he would be thinking about your 21st birthday while you are still in your second year, makes him very special indeed.
You’re special, too, Lisa. There is only one of you, one only in all the world, and that fact is among the things I would want you to know.
Another is an ancient definition of happiness which has meant a lot to me: “Happiness is the exercise of one’s vital abilities along lines of excellence in a life that affords them scope.”
Actually, that means two things, Lisa. First, it means that you will be happy if you are doing your thing — not necessarily achieving excellence, simply reaching for it — in a life that allows you to do so. But, it also means that happiness is something we all deliver to ourselves. No man can deliver happiness to you. No amount of loving children. No money, no status, etc. Only Lisa can make Lisa happy — and then all those wonderful alternatives like husbands, and children and money and other material things, however important they may be (and I do not mean to minimize their importance) are all extras. I repeat that I don’t mean to minimize the love of a mate or a child. I intend only to emphasize that you cannot accept that love until you deliver the essence of happiness to yourself.
There is a hope that I have for you, too. It is the hope that you go through life trusting and not wary. If you go through life trusting, you may get hurt just a little bit more, but you will never miss any of the action. If you go through life a little too wary, you may not get stepped on here and there, but you will miss far more than you will avoid.
The last thing that I would like to offer you, at the invitation of your uncle, is to remember that success is a question of how you collect your minutes. From the time you wake up each morning and do the first thing you promised yourself you would do last night, you are dealing with success or failure. For example, you promise yourself that you would get up promptly at eight and you do it. Success! Tell yourself that, immediately upon arising, you will do ten minutes of calisthenics, and you don’t. Failure! Try to make the successes outnumber the failures — and most important, count them all. If you start each day counting all the tiny successes — they have a way of adding up. Each one takes you to another plateau and so you climb through your days, your successes escalating all the while.
Have a good, happy, healthy and productive life, Lisa.
Sincerely,
Norman Lear
Source: Letters of Note website
Book Blast: The Jig is Up
I’m happy to welcome authors M K Scott to my blog. Today, they share their new release, The Jig is Up.
Blurb
I looked forward to sipping tea and exploring Mark’s ancestral roots in Ireland, but oh, what a twist of fate!
My life as owner of The Painted Lady Inn hardly prepared me for this. With my detective husband by my side, we embark on a journey filled with mayhem, murder, and mischief.
As I savor every bite of Irish stew and soak in the breathtaking scenery, little do I know that our vacation will turn into a whirlwind of sleuthing.
Who could have imagined the secrets hidden behind Mark’s family tree? And what dark secrets lurk in this picturesque village, threatening to shatter the tranquility?
The jig is up, and it’s up to us to untangle the web of intrigue.
Excerpt
The car rental rep was definitely not a warm-and-fuzzy gal, but Donna put her money on Mark. He could be charming when he needed to be.
His lips curved up into a smile. “Surely, you have at least one vehicle. I’m not picky.”
What a fib! It looked like the rep bought it. The woman leaned over the counter and pointed to an open garage area. “Go inside there and ask for Liam. Tell him you want the emergency special. It’s a car we save for people who fail to make reservations and yet still need a car.”
Donna prided herself on reading people and knew there wouldn’t be the expected happy ending to their dilemma. Her husband, on the other hand, effusively thanked the woman and slipped her a colorful bill in gratitude. Not being familiar with euros, it could have been anything from a fifty to a dollar.
As for Liam, he must have gone on break because they toured the garage for a good twenty minutes. They commented on car models not seen in the US and speculated if they’d get the convertible, Land Rover, or the Volkswagen Golf. After asking several employees in coveralls, they finally located Liam, which was a relief since one of the wheels on her suitcase had just seized up. She couldn’t mention the issue since her husband would point out they had perfectly good, non-tie-dyed suitcases at home with wheels that worked.
Liam, a man of few words, listened as Mark repeated his story, including the bit about searching for his ancestors. Instead of commenting on how great it was that Mark could have some Irish ancestry, Liam responded with, “She said the emergency special?”
“She did,” Mark replied with a nod.
“Aye.” Liam grimaced, then yelled something to a younger employee about getting the car.
She heard the emphasis on the even if Mark didn’t. A few minutes later a bright yellow car just a little bigger than a bicycle pulled up in front of Liam. “Here ya go. She’s small. You’ll only have her for a wee bit. She’s easy to park, too.”
All in all, it was a cute car—and very different from Mark’s usual sedan. Her husband remained speechless, while Donna handled practicalities. “Do you think our luggage will fit in it?”
“No problem.” He motioned to his young helper. “Pull out the back seat.”
“It has a backseat?” She couldn’t imagine anything fitting into the back.
“In theory. With the seat gone, it makes the trunk a bit roomier.” Liam sunk his hands in his pockets and made a slow circuit around their luggage. “We should be able to cram that inside. Don’t buy anything until you move to a larger vehicle.”
Both Liam and his helper speculated on how to pack the car, while Mark finally shook off his stupor. “I never knew they made cars this small. Can it possibly be safe?”
“We’re not going that far. Isn’t their town just ten miles or so out of Dublin?”
“There about.”
While their luggage was wrestled inside the mini vehicle, Donna strolled to the front. Eyelashes decorated the round, front headlights. “How cute. The car has eyelashes.”
Mark rolled his eyes and muttered something about how he tipped for this. While her husband acted surprised, Donna wasn’t. She had summed up the counter rep as possibly in the wrong profession and not to be trusted. Not the car they wanted, but it would serve.
Author Bio and Links
M. K. Scott is the Morgan and Scott cozy mystery writing team of The Painted Lady Inn Mysteries, The Talking Dog Detective Agency, The Way Over the Hill Gang, Cupid’s Catering Company, and The Tenacious Librarian series. Morgan pens the tales, while Scott serves as first editor and webmaster. Daughter Sarah handles the social media and Jane the Lab supervises digging in the garden.
Amazon Author Page | BookBub | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram | Twitter | Website | Amazon Buy Link
*************The book is on sale for only $0.99*************
Giveaway
M K Scott will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.
ALSO
There is a second Rafflecopter. Find out more here.
Follow the authors on their Goddess Fish tour here.
Sharing Zen Humor
The Best Situation
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
On Fridays, I receive Hope Clark’s newsletter, Funds for Writers. Here’s a thought-provoking essay from a recent email:
Out there, in some land, at some time there is the perfect situation for writing. We may not have it where we are. We may wonder if it’s who we are, not being the right person at the right time.
On social media, I see people sending pictures of the perfect sunset on Edisto Beach, the cutest, most perfect antics of a pet, the greatest evening of a perfect dinner with a friend. Total sigh moments.
What we don’t see is that perfect sunset on Edisto Beach was the photographer’s fourth night at the beach, and served as their best picture from a hundred and ten others.
What we don’t see is the fifty attempts at getting that sometimes annoying, sometimes sweet pet doing the right trick at just the right time.
What we don’t see is the squabbles between friends and the make-up evening with this friend at dinner, and the dozen adjustments of food, lighting, and plate to set up the setting.
The odds of finding a perfect moment the first time are small indeed. What we don’t see are the modifications, disenchantments, and frustrations of arriving at that perfect moment. Without those, without enduring the innumerable setups, test-runs, and false starts, we don’t find the perfect moment.
Sometimes we just keep on keeping on in hopes the perfect moment runs into us. That’s more the situation than not.
Success is about putting yourself in the situations that aren’t perfect to find one that is. It’s why we write, and write, and submit, and weather rejections. One day may come the acceptance and all the perks that come with it, but without weathering the imperfect moments, without seeking the perfection, we never have a chance.
Joanne Guidoccio 