Monday's Mug 010
Welcome back to the Monday Mug. I am enjoying this lovely weather we are having outside. I am having a little herbal tea tonight. I have no idea what kind because I didn’t look at it before I brewed it. The tea is excellent, though, with a little honey, it is better.
Would you like something as well? How about a brew you a cup?
This week has gone by in a blink, and it feels like I was just here talking to you. My process with submissions were I making a list of and looking for places to submit stories. I am focused on stories I want to submit. I have a few I need to edit and a couple of others I would like to complete. It seems like a slow process, and perhaps I am too hard on myself about the process.
I read through a short story with a couple of writer friends, and it was fun to pull apart the story and see what was happening. When I was in school, it was part of our assignments, but I have to say it has been helpful to be able to pick some of the stories too. I need to start the Bradbury challenge to push myself further, but I am going to wait until December. It will be reading a short story, essay, and poem every day.
Would you like some more tea night?
How is my marriage to writing going? It is a little bit of a bumpy start. There are times I question my choices, but I am a very analytical person, as well. I wonder about everything, but I am sticking to my decisions because, for me, right now, it is about love, and what at my core makes me happy. Writing does this for me still and always. Poetry has been sneaking back into my writing again slowly. I find when I am trying to make sense of the world, and poetry is how that happens often. I enjoy writing about hard problems in life and injustices. I could write volumes about romances that have gone wrong, but perhaps I will save that for later.
So, this week, overall, has been pleasing. I am making slow and steady progress even though I am not as talkative in my writing community as I usually am. I am not sure why I am so quiet, but I think maybe it is just a time for me to observe and listen.
I’m keeping it short this week, and off to get more writing done. Until next time… just write.
Free Write - Astronaut Field
Photo by Jonas Verstuyft on Unsplash
Welcome to Free Write Friday!
I will be adding an image every Friday to free write with.
It is a practice to allow your mind to wander creatively into new stories.
Set your timer for 10 minutes and write!
Have Fun!
Poetry - Triggers
Words like hail pour into my head, busting out every other thought coming into my mind. My protected gates now wide open what can I do to stop the floods of memories coming into my awareness.
Then you are there holding me close to you. Your hand is caressing my face, and I know nothing has changed.
I still love those lips and kisses so soft and tender yet...
I suddenly feel dizzy, weightless, and breathless.
But your lips released evil meditations into my soul.
Each word hammering deeper, and until I did not have the strength hold you back anymore.
Your words are crushing every shattered piece of happiness I had left until I couldn’t stand.
I laid on the cold bathroom floor night after night.
Hot showers to make the words burn off me.
Surely the heat melted your words off of me because hell is where you came from. How could I love hell. Belief in somehow, there would be some change in me and you if I could rid myself of being unclean. If I scrubbed enough, the bruises would be gone. Like the blood that filled my mouth, and the wall I was thrown against would all suddenly drift away. Hot water tonight would purify, and steam would smother the shell of what was left of me once and for all.
I sat up in bed with the sweat-drenched sheets gasping for breath. I shut the door and locked it tight on those memories once again.
Monday Mug 009 - Popping the Question
Hello Everyone, and welcome back to my Monday mug night. It has been a while since I have spoken to you. For me, the year starts new in October. I am not sure why, but it is what I keep experiencing each year. I feel the need to buy a new planner and start over with my goals for the year.
I haven’t been very active in my usual communities this fall. I am participating in NaNoWriMo, which is National Novel Writing Month. If you are not familiar with this event, it is a time when writers all around the world come together on a website and write together. They all try to reach a goal of 50,000 words and write together in gatherings nearby or virtually. This year my project is partly a new book I am writing and a rewrite of the one from last year. It is strange because I am usually such a stickler for the rules, but I am allowing myself the grace to break them this year.
Before November, these last few months have been full of hard reflection. I keep asking myself if I am going to continue writing the way I have been or really go 110% put everything out there. For me, everything means sending my stories out for publishing and really committing to my writing time even more than I have in the past. Most of all, this means being productive with my writing. I love to free write, and it does usual yield a story, but it doesn’t yield any editing. So, I have many stories I need to edit, and some I would like to workshop.
Needless to say, I feel like I’m either going to marry my writing, or we are going to have to stop dating. You know when you significate other gives you that ultimatum. I have been dating writing off and on for about three years. It is either time to put a ring on it or let the muse move on.
So what do when writing wants you to put a ring on it?
1. Can I really live without writing? Is it really something I want to push out of my life instead? Can I live without creating another story, poem, or novel?
2. Give strong consideration to how much I love writing and if I will be willing to fight for writing even when it sucks, and it doesn’t feel like love that day, month, or year.
3. Am I really going to make time to spend with writing? Will I always work more instead or keep cleaning the house instead of spending real time writing?
4. Do I have the finances to support writing, and will my writing be happy with the choices we make together?
5. Can writing get along with my family and friends? Is there a balance between writing and others in my life?
6. Does writing bring out the best in me and make me want to be a better person?
Now some of you scoff at this because why would ever need to look at writing that way. The truth is, for me, it is precisely how I need to look at it. Do I have time for the love of my life and to give it my all?
Writing, will you marry me?
Yes!
So just write.
Taking a Break and Coming Back to Writing
I think everyone I know in the writing world has taken some time off of writing. I know I did, although I wouldn’t recommend the amount of time I took off by any means. I have to say through those 10 years that I was living a different life and exploring things I would have never considered previously.
We can all use a little time off if our deadlines allow us to feed different facets of our creativity. What do we have to write about if we are not experiencing things, or maybe it is the lack of being able to experience that you would want to write about?
Today I see the story in almost everything now. There were times when I struggled to find anything to write about. However, a leaf running across the road or in the man who sits in the parking lot every day for lunch is my story starts. I wonder why this leave is moving in this very moment what would it mean to someone who feels along and what is this man going through every day he sits in his car.
What I am saying it is okay to take some time off now and then from writing. I just recently had to for my own peace of mind.
I know I said it.
Take a break.
Not because I said you should, or it is what I do but because you might find ourselves burnt out. It doesn’t mean you have to take a break for years or even months. For that matter, just take a day off.
For some of you, this might be scary because you don’t know what it would be like to not write for a day, but you can try it. Take the day off from writing and write about what it was like to take the day off.
Did you like it?
Was it like nails on a chalkboard?
Then do it again, or don’t do it again, but don’t feel like crap because you give yourself a break.
I’m constantly bombarded with posts and emails about being productive, going at it like a boss, and this is the only way to get anywhere in life. Sometimes the pressure seems like so much I don’t feel like I can breathe. That is when I stop.
I stop looking that posts, stop racking my brain for more writing time, and stop reading the great articles.
Writing doesn’t disappear, and you don’t forget everything you learned. Now you might be a bit rusty when you come back to writing, and you might want to read up a little on what is going on in the world of writing if it has been years.
You can always come back to writing.
It is never too late to write the book.
You can allow yourself to rest.
It is never too late to write again.
If this was you, stop here if you need a kick in the rear keep reading.
So maybe you are not the person that needs to take a break but need a kick in the rear?
You are screaming
Where did October go?
November is ticking away!
I have sat here for the first few days of November and realized October came and went in the blink of an eye.
What do you do now that month is over, and you have nothing written you wanted to?
1. You start over. Not from scratch mind you, but you do have to forgive yourself and realize every day is a new day to write.
2. You guard your writing time with your life. Whatever time of day that is for you.
3. Start with smaller projects or goals. Write a flash fiction story in a week or a poem if you are living a crazy busy life. At the end of the month, four is better than none.
4. If you have not other time at least, give yourself 10 minutes. Come back 10 minutes early from lunch or give yourself 10 minutes before you go to bed. Even 5 minutes is better than nothing.
I have read a lot of articles that say write every day even when you don’t feel like it. I see the benefits in this because the more you create on behalf of your passion, the better you will be, but much like life has seasons I think writing does too. It is still okay to have a break and give yourself the grace to get back to work. So if you are in that resting period, set yourself a timer and stick to when you will write again.
Minutes toward your dream are better than nothing, so just write.
Monday's Mug 008
Welcome back to my Monday’s Mug where you will hang out with me for a little bit, and I will catch you up on what has happened. I am drinking some tea tonight because I just like the warming feelings and it makes me feel like fall is closer than it really is. Would you like some tea as well? Let's go out to the deck and sit for a while there is a gentle breeze tonight.
I have been doing StoryADay for September you may have heard me talk about them previously. This is an event that happens in May and September, but we keep in touch all year round in the SuperStars group. I have been writing short stories consistently for the month. I will have a lot of stories to go through and revise. It has not always been easy nor have all my stories been the length I am used to writing in college, but it is progress. I think growth is what matters.
I am looking forward to editing a chapter of my book and sending it to a writing friend of mine. It has been a couple months since I have looked at my book and worked on it again. I have the first draft completed, but I am not sure what else should happen in the story. I will be doing a full edit of it December. Though my writer friend does not know yet, she will be getting a chapter, I hope she won't mind. I had promised her a paragraph months ago, and I still haven't gotten one to her. I think maybe I should send a paragraph first to be fair.
I have another story I am editing for some other friends to look over about a talking cat. I usually don't write about animals talking, but it was a fun experiment, and I am out of my comfort zone. I need more opinions about it. It has been a long time since I have been through these types of workshopping groups, and I am a little nervous. However, no one has accomplished anything in their comfort zone, and I am throwing my zone out the window.
I'm grabbing some more tea would you like some more? I will get a blanket as well it is getting cool tonight.
I am working out a plan for the last few months of the year. It is a break down of what I need to finish top priority (revisions) and what I really need to get completed in this last quarter (outline and new novel). There is a 30-day plan I will follow for character and plot development for my new book next month, so all my ducks are in a row for NaNoWriMo. Then, in November, when I will be cranking out my novel. In the fall and spring are when I feel like I do my best work, perhaps in the world of transition. I want to send a few things out to publish as well. I have messed up and gotten off my plan for sure this year. However, it isn't the number of times you fall down but that you get back up again.
This has been an exciting time for getting to know people in my writing community even though I am quieter than most I have enjoyed my time this year with the StoryADay community. I would advise you to get involved in NaNoWriMo is you are a writer even if you don't want to write the novel. It is nice to have a community when you do something that usually is a solo adventure.
Don't forget to just write.
Free Write - Snail Home
Photo by Sarah Trummer from Pexels
Welcome to Free Write Friday!
I will be adding an image every Friday to free write with.
It is a practice to allow your mind to wonder creatively into new stories.
Have Fun!
The 73 Questions
I was nominated by my writer friend Tammy for this challenge inspired from a Vogue Magazine Series which interviews celebrities and other public figures. The questions are designed to allow you know more about my likes and lifestyle. Who doesn’t love to answer fun questions?
1. What’s your usual Starbucks order?
I like to change it up, so I usually try out all the seasonal drinks. When I have tried them all, then I got back to my vanilla latte with coconut milk.
2. What does your workstation look like?
I have one of those desk cabinets from the 90s with doors. It usually has my computer and stack of books and papers I am working on.
3. Favorite food?
Sushi is the best thing ever!
4. Favorite authors?
Two favorites this week are Davis Bunn and Pam Jenoff.
5. What do you think of open relationships?
I think they are not for me.
6. What is your favorite video game?
Duck Hunt!
7. Guilty pleasure treat?
Cheesecake
8. Favorite movie?
Pride and Prejudice the 2005 version
9. Favorite book?
Children’s: The Story of Ferdinand (always)
Grownup: Educated by Tara Westover (this year)
10. Twitter, or Instagram?
11. Desktop or laptop?
Laptop or paper.
12. Best advice you’ve ever received?
You can do whatever you set your mind to.
13. What project are you working on right now?
I am working on short stories that are sci-fi.
14. Favorite color?
Purple
15. Did you get good grades in school?
Yes, I did.
16. Dream job?
Writing full time
17. Play any sports?
No, I used to play basketball and danced.
18. Do you have a degree?
Yes a couple
19. Nationality?
German, Irish, and French.
20. What is your favorite kind of blog post?
A day in the life or list.
21. What do you like to collect?
Marbles, books, and purses.
22. Describe yourself in three words?
Honest, quiet, student
23. If you were a rapper, what would your stage name be?
Smilie Geez
24. Who was the last person you DM?
Someone about blogging for a website I run.
25. What’s on top of your wish list right now?
A writing retreat
26. Sorting house?
Ravenclaw
27. How many tattoos do you have?
Zero
28. What are you most grateful for this year?
My family, job, and home.
29. What’s the best thing that’s happened to you this month?
I got to spend some quality time with my family.
30. What’s the best thing that’s happened to you today?
I laughed so hard at work.
31. What’s the best thing ever?
Love
32. Favorite season?
Fall
33. Favorite holiday?
Thanksgiving because I like all the food and there is not the pressure of gifts.
34. What fictional character do you relate to most?
Whichever one I am reading — I am always looking for similarities to myself.
35. Do you like surprises?
YES!
36. What’s the biggest surprise you’ve ever had?
Finding out I was going to be a mom.
37. Which surprise made you cry?
Being a mom because I was excited and terrified.
38. What’s the best surprise you’ve given somebody else?
Surprising my family with a takeout meal.
39. Do you like muffins?
Yes, blueberry.
40. Do you cook often?
I do not cook often, but I like to bake a lot.
41. What’s your favorite dessert?
Chocolate covered strawberries.
42. Is there a dessert you don’t like?
Haven’t met one yet.
43. Cake or pie?
Pie
44. What’s your least favorite food?
Spicy because it doesn’t like me.
45. What’s your favorite condiment?
Ketchup
46. It’s 4 am on a random Saturday. What are you eating?
I cannot eat that early, so I drink tea.
47. If you could teach a college class, what would it be called?
Apocalyptic Fiction
48. Best animated film?
Everafter
49. What has a guy done or said to impress you?
Bought me lilies and took me out to eat.
50. The best thing to do on a first date?
I love long walks and coffee.
51. The worst thing to do on a first date?
Hanging out with a ton of people at a bar.
53. Best comic book character?
Wonder Woman
54. Name three things which can always be found in your purse.
Pens, book, notebook.
55. Favorite drinks?
Water and Dr. Pepper
56. If you could play a historical character in a movie who would it be?
Catherine the Great I did a paper on in college she seemed interesting.
57. Kittens or puppies?
BOTH!
58. Favorite sushi roll?
Kissy Kissy roll
59. What lipstick do you use?
Lip balm that is a light shade of pink.
60. What foundation do you use?
The Body Shop
61. Blow-dry or air dry?
Air dry every day. I will even wake up sooner to air dry.
62. Who is your fashion icon?
Katherine Hepburn always
63. Favorite Disney Character?
Cinderella
64. What are you doing tomorrow?
I will work and write.
65. Movie you laughed the hardest through?
The Book Club
66. A movie that made you cry?
Avengers Endgame
67. If you could sing a duet with anybody who would you choose?
Frank Sinatra
68. If your life was a song, what would the title be?
Don’t Worry Be Happy
69. What’s your favorite animal?
Llama and tigers
70. Favorite artist?
Claude Monet
71. The person you want to have coffee with?
Jesus
72. What country would you like to visit?
Germany
73. Best way to decompress?
Cleaning
Thank you!
Monday's Mug 007
Hello Everyone! I missed you all in July. I am sitting down to a cup of hot tea tonight and letting the day's worries run off of me. What I can I get for you? I hope you will sit down with me and relax for a few minutes while I catch you up on my last month.
July was a tough month for me, and I know I am not the only one. It might be because the summer is coming to an end and the school season awaits. There were so many places I wanted to visit and projects I wanted to finish, but I didn't. So I have been spending this month looking at my plans and goals. I was becoming a little more realistic and starting again.
I did participate in Camp NaNoWriMo this July, and it was a lot of fun. The cabin I was a part of chatted a lot about writing and their projects. I was interested when shared things about their personal life. I changed my project goal to the number of hours I would work on it instead of the number of words I produced. I did win though I switched from words to hours of work on my writing. I worked on a new project that popped up at the end of June and also on short stories for submission.
Let me fill up your mug.
This month was really about getting my groove back when it comes to writing. I spent a lot of time off of the computer to see if it would help my flame reignite. The lack of a screen did help me get back to the creative space I needed. Sometimes I focus too much on the number of words I am producing rather than what I am writing. A focus on word count was helpful when I'm on a deadline, but too much can take the joy out of writing.
I did a lot of soul searching last month. I am letting go of the people that are not there for me. I'm throwing out the disappointments of my past and the fears of my future. I am loving myself the best I can each day. I am just going to write.
Free Write - Woman and the Blade
Welcome to Free Write Friday!
I will be adding an image every Friday to free write with.
It is a practice to allow your mind to wonder creatively into new stories.
Have Fun!
Writing What I Felt
I needed to write, but I was experiencing blah. Was that an emotion? It was my form of exhaustion in every way, shape, and form. I am not proud of it, but I have found a lot of my days lately have overflowed with stress. I sat in the morning pondering if I was going to write anything because I have been in a funk. I didn’t feel like writing at all, and I was not sure about the extensive project I promised myself I would finish.
So, what did I do when I didn’t feel like writing? What every good writer does surf the net. I realized email was an excellent place to start my procrastination. I was sent an email for Camp NaNoWriMo, and it was very inspiring for my moment in time. Write what you feel email by Kat Yeh said: “Some people say write what you know—I say write what you feel.”
Through my academic circles, I had studied plenty about writing what I knew, however writing what I felt has been felt out. I had not heard someone approach writing what you feel this way before. When I have been looking up ideas about character emotions, I have come across a lot of writers and artist taking a sharp memory and writing from the feelings you had at that moment — this type of writing I can do with ease. There are days, weeks, and sometimes months when I have struggled with writing. When the thought of a book came up, it felt more like a chore than something I wanted to do. The writing honeymoon was over, and it only took three years.
I am not ready to divorce writing or my muse. However, I needed to know how to work on my relationship when I didn’t feel like being in it. I heard from people give up writing and do something else with your life. What people have not witnessed was how great writing had been the one thing that had carried me through the darkness, and joy I felt in creation. I was at least staring at my screen, I got my butt in the chair, and I continued to watch the blinking curser. How in the world could I write what I feel when I didn’t even feel like writing?
In these moments of blah was when mind dumping and free writing were my lifesavers (suddenly have a candy craving). The email I had read said to take a few minutes to just writing whatever it was you were feeling. Sometimes I need to vent, and there was no one else to listen. So, I vent to the computer screen. With the beautiful world of dictation, I can yell at my device, and it will record every word I say. However, just like humans, it has continuously got some of it wrong.
I decided to do a little therapeutic writing, getting all of these emotions and thoughts onto a page for about 5 minutes. This was when a light bulb turned on for me. I have heard many times from many people, even in my academic writing circles to write what you know but what I knew at that moment was what I felt.
Then from the instruction of the email, I began to write a character in a funk about life and feeling in some way, it will never get better than this. This woman couldn’t see the future for all the things going on in her life right then. They couldn’t see the joy of the light or the relief of the rain. They stared off into the darkness, and it consumed this character like a moth to a flame. And just like that, the main character for my next book was born.
The moral of this story is to just write.
Monday's Mug 006
Hello everyone! How was your weekend? Thank you for joining me for my Monday Mug. I am having coffee with my creamer this evening, and I will get you whatever you like as long as it is coffee. I can't believe it is already July. I am just sitting here wondering what happened to the year because I feel like January was yesterday. I have had a busy week, so let's get to it.
I would bring you into my kitchen table retro 60s with the mustard yellow rolling chairs because the kitchen is where everything gets done. It is night here, and I often start to randomly talk about subjects in the evening because my days are spent listening to others.
So, to start with I had a really rough week last week. I thought things were going good, but for some reason, I had just really been struggling with my writing. It wasn't that I didn't have anything to write about or projects I love, but I just couldn't get myself to walk over and sit in my chair to write. It was mind-boggling to me, and I finally started to reach out to other writers. I had many different opinions to choose from and enjoyed them all. I just wanted a parental butt chewing because I thought that was what I needed. The butt chewing didn't happen, but other advice was given instead. I decided I should stop being so hard on myself for not being at the level I expected of myself.
I still didn't write much after that, and I do believe some of it was because I was going to be doing Camp NaNo this year. For those of you unaware NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month that happens in November. They have more flexible camp versions that occur in April and July. I am back with a cabin in July I have been in for a couple years to change up the rest of my year. I felt like I just didn't want to write this last week before camp began because this month at camp, I am pushing myself for 50,000 words. Which is odd because only a few sentences ago I said I should stop being so hard on myself. I think my goals may change just so I can breathe a little more. My idea for the camp had also not solidified yet, so I am totally pansting it this year, which also give me a little anxiety.
Would you like more coffee? I will refill your mug too.
It was a busy week at my daytime job, which may account for my lack of wanting to write in the evening when I come home. I am trying to figure out how to give myself enough rest so I can be a morning writer. I have also tried to write in notebooks, and I don't like it. I have tried every pen and paper type I can find, but I still am having problems with it. I think it just because I trained myself in college to type every story I was working on then. I have also come to a place where I am typing as fast as my internal narrator speaks, and I cannot keep up handwriting. I do still enjoy writing poetry out by hand, but I think it is because I play so much with the position of the words as well.
I had meetings and classes this week that didn't go as planned, but it turned out that is was okay because I really just needed to give myself a break for a few days and work on my mindset with where my life is headed right now.
I guess I am going to let you get some rest for now and maybe I should get some too. Until next time.