Release Day Is Here for Speaking of Love

Last weekend, I had a chance to go to a writers seminar in Phoenix.  The keynote speaker asked how many of us had always wanted to be writers?

I couldn't say it was true for me.  I was one of very few in the audience who hadn't felt the pull from kindergarten.  I stumbled into writing a couple of years ago, but I've always loved a good story.

In grade school I wanted to be a fairy godmother and a storyteller - and in that order.  That was about the size of it.  Give the kid a wand and an audience and I would have been content for life.  

Did  you know there are precious few training programs or jobs available for fairy godmothers?

Until recently, there were just a scant few story telling programs.  My advantage was the stories told to me, almost exclusively, on summer vacation.  My sisters and I pestered aunts, uncles and grandparents to explain people in the pictures and the stories behind them.  There were stories about horse drawn buggies that were driven in the snow by my great grandfather if he was needed to deliver babies.  There were others about watering holes and who swam there a couple of generations prior.  Then there were the stories about relationships and love.  

A year ago, I combined stories from my grandmothers and aunts, twisted them and wrote "How Did You Know?"  It was accepted by Bright Light Multimedia for their current anthology:  Speaking of Love.  It was officially released today.

I'm still looking for someone to make a real, working magic wand.  While I wait, I think I'll continue to twist a few tales.

29 days of giving... day 29 - the gift of the muse

The internet is an amazing place.  You can meet and converse with people from all walks of life in any corner of the world.  It can be easy to find commonality.  Communities can form over small but significant things.  (I am sure there is a community of soda fountain fans out there somewhere, but I'm not sure when I'll go looking for them.)

I began this project with less than a sincere heart.  I knew I needed to change several things in my life, self absorption the least of my sins.

Challenges, obstacles, bumps in the road exist for us all.

This current 29 day cycle made me realize it isn't the challenge that is important, it is the attitude with which they are faced.  Not saying I am a warrior of any kind, but that sometimes a smile or a wave can do wonders.  Looking for the good can truly change everything - even if you are the one who has to go on the journey.

I have several fabulous internet friends, and they all know who they are, who are very supportive of my writing.  They are also supportive of my storytelling (this skill my grandmother wished I had not honed - I told incredible whoppers). But it is all a journey and you never know what you will find when you embark.

Inspiration is everywhere and so are plot bunnies.  For me it has been a matter of actually wearing my glasses and ensuring the lenses have been clean and not overly scratched.

The muse doesn't really sleep.  At least mine doesn't.  He has grown complacent, sullen and lazy.  He likes to be front and center with all of the accolades and none of the criticism.  (Yes the typos and punctuation errors are all mine, and he points that out on a regular basis.)

In addition to changing my outlook, this project has forced Raul (the muse) out of his slumber.  Made him realize there is more than one type of story to write.  More than one place to look for inspiration.

Will I do this again?

Maybe.

Will I blog about it again?

Probably not ... we'll see.

 
Hey, now that I've done something for 29 days, maybe, just maybe, I can follow one of those 90 days to a better life program.  Or, I could just have liposuction from the nose down and be done with it.

I guess the keys to my outlook are all up to me.