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.
There are no “instant” paths to success. Here are four backstories that inspire and motivate me to stay focused on my goals:
Michael Jordan, a perennial optimist, once said, “I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions, I have been entrusted to take the game’s winning shot…and missed. I have failed over and over again in my life. And, that is why I succeed.”
The first Harry Potter book was turned down by eight agents, and when J.K. Rowling finally got a deal, she was warned by the publisher, “You’ll never make any money with children’s books.”
Jay Leno‘s high school grades were so bad that his guidance counselor recommended that he drop out and go into manual labour. His loving, but no-nonsense mother sat down with him one day and gave him the following advice, “Look, you’re not very good looking and you’re not very smart, so you’ll have to do twice as much as everyone else to succeed.”
Albert Einstein failed his college exams and was advised by a teacher to drop out of school. She said, “You’ll never amount to anything, Einstein.”
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.
As summer winds down, take some time to reflect upon recent events and contemplate the future.
Today, we have Wild Rose Press author Jeny Heckman sharing her writing journey and new release, The Warrior’s Progeny.
Here’s Jeny!
Briefly describe your first act.
Daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend. My husband and I eloped after knowing each other three months. three months after we were married, I became pregnant with my daughter, Paisley. So, we had our daughter and nine days later had our first anniversary. Twenty months passed and we had our son, Charlie and I started a business. We dug in and had a fantastic and exciting life together filled with friends, sports, the business, charities and fun.
What triggered the need for change?
The kids graduated from high school and our very busy life came to an abrupt halt. It was hard enough saying goodbye to my daughter at college, but when my son left two years later, the house became very quiet. I had written my first book and self-published it but didn’t really know much about the business. I had extra time on my hands and was interested in exploring this new craft.
Where are you now?
After I published the first one, I wanted to try to write a series. I was going to a lot of classes and conferences. At the conferences, people go to a kind of cattle call where they pitch their books to agents, editors and publishers. I didn’t have a book yet, so I pitched an idea for a series on Greek mythology and modern-day descendants. Kind of a Percy Jackson meets Nora Roberts. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and I began the series, just releasing book two July 27th.
Last Monday, I began writing book three and will have a side novella come out around Christmas time. I also will be turning all my books into audio next year.
Do you have advice for anyone planning to pursue a second act?
Well, I’m no expert, but I wasn’t prepared for all the marketing that goes into a book and find myself continually playing catch up. If I had it to do over again, I would’ve written two or three books first, while establishing a simple media presence. The editing process takes a long time too, so I would have started with book one and got that out while doing the time consuming editing and marketing, all the while knowing I didn’t have to be writing the next book so quickly because I had two or three in the coffers. It just gives you time rather than writing one, editing, and releasing, then writing, editing and releasing.
Any affirmations or quotations you wish to share?
My favorite quote of all time is from the movie, Hope Floats. Beginnings are scary. Endings are usually sad, but it’s the middle that counts the most. Remember that when you find yourself at the beginning and give hope a chance to float up, and it will.
My other favorite quote is from Betty Jean Eadie, author of Embraced by the Light. I met her once and she is amazing. She said…Everyone is a writer, some people just don’t know their own story.
I don’t know if she knows how much that resonated with me, but it was very powerful.
Tagline
If love dies, can it be reborn…only stronger?
Blurb
Colton Stone is a newly traded tight end whose reputation is as battered as his football helmet. When he receives a vacation invitation from his new teammates, he accepts. There he collides with Dr. Lillian Morgan, a pediatric cardiovascular surgeon, and doesn’t know what to think.
A widow with two children, Lilly is looking forward to her friends’ wedding. When she meets Colton Stone, his arrogant attitude only makes her long for the love she took for granted. Lilly struggles between letting go of her perfect past for an uncertain future.
Strange events occur, out of the realm of normal consciousness. When black energy touches their world Colt and Lilly become the pawns of the immortal Greek gods. Is the love developing between them natural, or part of a larger prophecy?
Award-winning author, Jeny Heckman, was born in Bellingham, Washington, and was the youngest of two daughters. She met her husband, Jeff, in August 1992, and eloped three months later, at Magen’s Bay, on St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.
She wrote her first book, the Catch, in a few short months but took several years before she gained the courage to self-publish it at her son’s urging, and her love for writing began.
In 2018, Jeny knew her next project would be a series that showed adults could have adventures in the paranormal-fantasy genre too. So, she created the Heaven & Earth series, a story of doomed Greek gods and their only salvation, their modern-day descendants. Her first book of the series, the Sea Archer, was immediately picked up by the New York publishing house, the Wild Rose Press, and won, “Best in Category” from the 2018 Chanticleer International Book Awards.
In the year 2020, Jeny released, Dancing Through Tears, a short story from the anthology, Australia Burns: Volume Two, highlighting the Route 91 massacre from the perspective of one family at the concert, and at Mandalay Bay. She also intends to release, the Warrior’s Progeny, and Dee’s Cornucopia, in 2020, continuing the Heaven & Earth Series.
Jeny lives in Washington State with her husband of over twenty-eight years.
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.
Author and videographer Jody Vitek shares fifteen excellent suggestions for finding inspiration.
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.
I receive a daily dose of inspiration from bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff. In a recent email, they shared this timely advice:
One of the most important moments in life is the moment you finally find the courage and determination to let go of what can’t be changed. Because, when you are no longer able to change a situation, you are challenged to change yourself… to grow beyond the unchangeable. And that changes everything.
Of course, when hard times hit there’s a default human tendency to hold on—to extrapolate and assume the future holds more of the same. This doesn’t happen as often when things are going well. A laugh, a smile, and a warm fuzzy feeling are fleeting and we know it. We take the good times at face value in the moment for all they’re worth and then we let them go. But when we’re depressed, struggling, or fearful, it’s easy to heap on more pain by assuming tomorrow will be exactly like today. This is a cyclical, self-fulfilling prophecy. Know this! If you don’t allow yourself to move past what happened, what was said, what was felt, you will look at your present and future through that same dirty lens, and nothing will be able to focus your foggy judgment. You will keep on justifying, reliving, and fueling a perception that is worn out and false.
But make no mistake, this is more than simply accepting that life will improve as time passes. Yes, “time heals wounds,” but yours is not a passive role in the process of healing and moving past pain. The question is: where are your present steps taking you?
It doesn’t matter what’s been done; what truly matters is what YOU DO from here.
Realize that most people make themselves miserable simply by finding it impossible to accept life just as it is presenting itself right now.
Don’t be one of them!
Let go of your fantasies. This letting go doesn’t mean you don’t care about something or someone anymore. It’s just realizing that the only thing you really have control over is yourself, in this moment.
The best action you can take right now is changing your thinking, instead of trying to change the broken world around you.
Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website.
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 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.
I came across the following poem in this month’s Oprah magazine. Haroon Rashid has shared a powerful message, one worth rereading several times.
I’m happy to welcome back Wild Rose Press author Sadira Stone. Today, Sadira shares ten inspirational quotations and her new release, Gelato Surprise.
Here’s Sadira!
Thanks so much, Joanne, for welcoming me back to your blog. Since I’ve already chatted with your readers about my reinvention from high school teacher to romance novelist, today I’d like to share ten of my favorite inspirational quotations. ‘Cause goodness knows we all need inspiration to keep us moving forward during the Quarantimes!
1. “Honey, ever’body’s got somethin’ to teach you, even if it’s how not to be.” This golden nugget came from an older Southern lady I worked with when stationed in Fort Stewart, Georgia. My job: to help folks process their claims after a reassignment move had mashed up their household goods. Lots of negativity heaped on me by pissed-off customers who often took out their ire on me. This reminder served me well then, and every year since.
2. “Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we’re here we might as well dance.” I couldn’t hunt down a reliable attribution for this one, but it’s my Northern Star. There’s so much I can’t change about my circumstances, but I can still enjoy my time, look for new opportunities, and write schmexy romance books.
3. “The grubby chores will still be there when you’re done whining, so you might as well do them now.” ~Mom
Her work ethic and practicality have served me well.
4. “The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt
Don’t you feel exhilarated after going somewhere new, meeting someone new, trying something new? I sure do.
5. “Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself. I am large. I contain multitudes.” ~Walt Whitman
My favorite poet and proto-hippie refused to be squashed into a box of others’ expectations.
6. “Don’t fence me in.” ~Gene Autry
We women, especially, face societal pressures to make our lives smaller. Phooey to that!
7. “Insight, curiosity, to wonder, to mull and to muse why it is that man does what he does. And if you have that, talent makes no difference, whether you’ve got it or not. ~William Faulkner
As a writer, I sure hope he’s right.
8. “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.” ~Marie Curie
She should know!
9. “Take a lover who looks at you like maybe you are magic.” ~Freda Kahlo
Again, we women must resist others’ urgings to settle for less than we deserve.
10. “The best work anyone ever writes is the work that is on the verge of embarrassing them. Always.” ~Arthur Miller
True! My best work comes when I spill my heart’s blood on the page.
Blurb
She came to the beach to find herself—and found him.
Forty-two-year-old divorcée Danielle Peters ends up alone on her family’s annual beach vacation. Maybe time to herself is exactly what she needs. That and gelato from her favorite ice cream shop. But when the owner’s intoxicating young nephew offers more than sweet treats, she’s tempted to indulge in a hot summer fling before returning home.
Thirty-one-year-old Matteo Verducci craved a fresh start to mend his broken heart, and he’s found almost perfection in Ocean View, where he scoops gelato by day and crafts furniture by night. But when a sexy older woman stops to sample his wares—Mamma mia! He only has two weeks to convince her their passion is more than a delicious surprise.
Ever since her first kiss, Sadira’s been spinning steamy tales in her head. After leaving her teaching career in Germany, she finally tried her hand at writing one. Now she’s a happy citizen of Romancelandia, penning contemporary romance and cozy mysteries from her home in Washington State. When not writing, which is seldom, she explores the Pacific Northwest with her charming husband, enjoys the local music scene, belly dances, plays guitar badly, and gobbles all the books.
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.
I receive a daily dose of inspiration from bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff. In a recent email, they provided the following reasons for embracing change and moving onward.
1. There’s plenty of life left to be lived.
It’s never too late to live a day that makes you proud. We get one shot at the present and we can make it great. Today is the day! There’s no age limit on changing your course, and to settle in and be stuck in a life that isn’t well is a tragic waste.
Honestly, it’s never too late or too early to be who you are capable of being. There’s no perfect time – you can simply start and stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same. You can make the best or the worst of today. It’s up to you, so make the best of it. Do things that startle you. Feel things you’ve never felt before. Engage with people who help you grow. Live a life you’re proud of. And if you find that you’re not, have the courage to change things.
2. Holding on to old pain is self-abuse.
Your past has given you the strength and wisdom you have today, so celebrate it. Don’t let it haunt you. Replaying a painful memory over and over in your head is a form of self-abuse. Toxic thoughts create a toxic life. Make peace with yourself and your past.
When you heal your thoughts, you heal the health of your happiness. Now is the time to stop focusing on old problems and things you don’t want in your future. Because the more you think about them, the more you attract what you fear into your everyday experiences – you become your own worst enemy.
3. Moving on creates positive change.
You may blame everyone else and think, “Poor me! Why do all these crappy things keep happening to me?” But the only thing those scenarios all have in common is YOU. And this is GOOD news, because it means YOU alone have the power to change things, or change the way you think about things.
There is something very powerful and liberating about surrendering to change and embracing it – this is where personal growth and evolution reside.<
Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website.
Today, the Dalai Lama celebrates his 85th birthday. Calm and centered, the spiritual leader of Tibet continues to inspire us with the Buddhist message of kindness, compassion, and mindfulness. Here’s an excerpt from a recent BBC interview with correspondent Justin Rowlatt:
Briefly describe your first act.
Thanks so much, Joanne, for welcoming me back to your blog. Since I’ve already chatted with your readers about my reinvention from high school teacher to romance novelist, today I’d like to share ten of my favorite inspirational quotations. ‘Cause goodness knows we all need inspiration to keep us moving forward during the Quarantimes!
Joanne Guidoccio 