New Year, New Friends, Blog Hop

Today, I'm pleased to be part of the Prism Book Group Blog Hop.

                                                         www.prismbookgroup.com

Acquiring Editor, Jacqueline Hopper, is celebrating 100,000 views on her blog with this blog hop as well as some wonderful prizes.  Like a Book Lovers Gift Pack from Prism Book Group.


As a writer I often find motivation from the humor, inspiration and camaraderie of other writers.

Inspiration:
Here's an inspiring quote for notable writer Ursula K. Le Guin.

                                                                         photo courtesy of theguardian.com

" A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it. Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom, and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight."

Humor:
Here's a bit of humor from my most-beloved Canadian author, poet and feminist, Margaret Atwood. I smile each time I read Ms. Atwood's reply when she was recently asked to write a blurb for an upcoming book that was not her own.

                                                               photo courtesy of huffingtonpost.ca

Here is her reply.

(I blurb only for the dead, these days)

"You are well-known, Ms. Atwood," the Editor said,
And we long for your quote on this book;
A few well-placed words wouldn't bother your head,
And would help us to get in the hook!"

"In my youth," said Ms. Atwood, "I blurbed with the best;
I practically worked with a stencil!
I strewed quotes about with the greatest largesse,
An the phrases flowed swift from my pencil.

Intelligent, lucid, accomplished, supreme,
Magnificent, touching, but rough,
And lucent, and lyrical, plangent, a dream,
Vital, muscular, elegant, tough!

But now I am aging; my brain is all shrunk,
And my adjective store is depleted;
My hair's getting stringy, I walk as though drunk;
As a quotester I'm nigh-on defeated.

I would like to be useful; God knows, as a girl
I was well-taught to help and to share;
But the books and the pleas for quotes pour through the door
Till the heaps of them drive to despair!

So at last I've decided to say NO to all.
What you need is a writer who's youthful;
Who has energy, wit and a lot on the ball,
And would find your new book a sweet toothful,
Or else sees no need to be truthful.

Such a one would be happy, dear Editor, to
Write you quotes until blue in the brain.
It's a person like this who can satisfy you,
Not poor me, who am half down the drain.

So I wish you Good Luck, and our author, and book.
Which I hope to read later, with glee.
Long may you publish, and search out the blurbs,
Though you will not get any from me."

(Thanks to Passive Voice for sharing this on the web last year.)

Camaraderie: 

I'm new to the group of Prism authors and my novella, co-written with my good friend Sandra Tilley, entitled Destined for Deception will be releasing next month. So please check out the other blogs listed to the right of this post.

As always feel free to comment.

A New Year of Writerly Humor, Inspiration and Camaraderie

Am I the only one who has a hard time creating titles? 

Be it short story, novella, or novel titles always strain my brain. And then I tend to get fixated on one a title.  Usually containing alliteration. Which sounds nice to my ear and works for some of my children’s writing but some times...not so much. For instance, I just finished an adult short story and the only title I could think of was  "Bets, Bros and Booze." 

So for a dose of humor here are some titles, along with the author’s name that might bring a smile.

• The French Chef by Sue Flay
• Tight Situation by Leah Tard
• Unemployed by Anita Job

• Off to Market by Tobias A. Pigg

• I Lived in Detroit by Helen Earth
• Inflammation, Please by Arthur Itis
• Handel's Messiah by Ollie Luyah

• Downpour! by Wayne Dwops
• Cloning by Ima Dubble

• Irish Flooring by Lynn O'Leum
• Holmes Does it Again by Scott Linyard

• Home Alone IV by Eddie Buddyhome

• Neither a Borrower by Nora Lender Bee
• The Scent of a Man by Jim Nasium
• Is O. J. Guilty? by Howard I. Know
• Animal Illnesses by Ann Thrax
• French Overpopulation by Francis Crowded
• Fallen Underwear by Lucy Lastic
• House Construction by Bill Jerome Home
• Yellow River by Iam Ping

• Lewis Carroll by Alison Wonderland
• Leo Tolstoy by Warren Peace

• The L. A. Lakers Breakfast by Kareem O' Wheat
• Why Cars Stop by M. T. Tank
• Wind in the Willows by Russell Ingleaves
• Look Younger by Fay Slift
• Mountain Climbing by Andover Hand
• It's Springtime! by Theresa Green

• No! by Kurt Reply

• And Shut Up! by Sid Downe

• 40 Yards to the Latrine by Willy Makeit and Betty Wont
• Glass Bikini by Seymore Skynn
• Yellow River by I. P. Freely

• Sex on the Beach by Sandy Shortz

And for Inspiration...

How about this Magic House? A wonderful writer’s studio found in the urban backyard of my good friend Cath Rathbone.  The inside is just as inspiring. I believe every writer needs a Magic House.

And from a master Anais Nin, a little camaraderie

                                                             photo courtesy of wikipedia

"If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don't write, because our culture has no use for it."

Feel free to comment and share your writerly humor, inspiration or camaraderie.

Times They Were A-Changing

I am pleased to welcome to my blog Kate Farrell, here to introduce a wonderful, exciting women's anthology, just in time for the holidays. 

Linda Joy Myers, Kate Farrell and Amber Lea Starfire launch 

Times They Were A-Changing: Women Remember the '60s and '70s. The book is the perfect gift for opening discussions with friends and family members and illustrating what a powerful time the '60s and '70s truly were.

Forty-eight powerful stories and poems etch in vivid detail breakthrough moments experienced by women during the life-changing era that was the ’60s and ’70s. These women rode the sexual revolution with newfound freedom, struggled for identity in divorce courts and boardrooms, and took political action in street marches. They pushed through the boundaries, trampled the taboos, and felt the pain and joy of new experiences. And finally, here, they tell it like it was.Through this collection of women’s stories, we celebrate the women of the ’60s and ’70s and the importance of their legacy.

Kate Farrell shares a little more insight into this amazing anthology.

They say the planets were aligned just so in the ’60s, that the Earth was bombarded with cosmic influences, that we were witnesses to the dawning of a new age. Who can really explain the explosion of social change that did seem to come “out of the blue” and affect us all, no matter if we lived in small towns or urban centers?

When the three of us editors put our heads together to spin the stories of our memories from those times, it was surprising how much passion they still held. In some ways, our tales were the coming of age stories of any generation. But for a young woman coming of age in the ‘60s and ‘70s, the sky was the limit. There were so many ways to experiment. 

The fact that young women did participate in the counterculture or as political activists could be shocking, and it took courage and willingness to risk. That edge, that passion was still alive in how we shared our daring do with one another. To share the passion of the times and what that meant for women became our motivation as editors.

Often that meant sharing secrets. Later decades became more conventional; some ‘60s experiences were best left in the past. What was exciting about editing this anthology was remembering those wilder times, reading other women’s stories that stirred our hidden memories, cheering our authors on when they bared difficult, taboo, or unspoken experiences—ones that had shaped their lives. 

How the ‘60s & ‘70s came about, we’ll never really know. But if cosmic vibrations created them, those vibes linger and move us still. With our anthology and its authentic stories and poems, we hope to share an exciting legacy with our readers, and its spirited passion for change.

Kate Farrell earned a M.A. from UC Berkeley; taught language arts in high schools, colleges, and universities; founded the Word Weaving storytelling project in collaboration with the California Department of Education with a grant from the Zellerbach Family Fund, and published numerous educational materials. She is founder of Wisdom Has a Voice memoir project and edited Wisdom Has a Voice: Every Daughter’s Memories of Mother (2011). Farrell is president of Women’s National Book Association, San Francisco Chapter, a board member of Redwood Branch of the California Writers Club, member of Story Circle Network and National Association of Memoir Writers.

Find out more about the book online:

at Amazon 

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TimesTheyWereAChanging

Times They Were A-Changing blog: http://www.timestheywereachanging.com

Twitter: @womensmemoir60s

Thanks for visiting my blog today, Kate.

As always feel free to comment.

Buffy the Blog Slayer

Meet my colleague Buffy Andrews. 

She is an author, blogger, journalist and social media maven. 

By day, she’s a journalist, leading an award-winning staff at the York Daily Record/Sunday News (York, Pennsylvania, USA), where she is Assistant Managing Editor of Features and Niche Publications and social media coordinator.

By night, she’s an author, writing women’s fiction, young adult and middle grade.

For this interview Buffy has agreed to give us some writerly Humor, Inspiration, Camaraderie. 

Humor: Funny Buffy Story

One time I dropped a penny while at the drive-thru window. I couldn’t open my door to get the penny, so I backed up and… CRASH! I destroyed my side car mirror when it hit the drive-through window jutting out. I thought Hubs was going to kill me. At first, I didn’t tell him how much change I actually dropped. I just said I'd dropped some coins.

“How much?” he asked.

I couldn’t lie. "A penny."

So my attempt to get that single dang penny resulted in hundreds of dollars in damage to my car. Lesson learned. Let the little things in life (like a penny) go.   

Inspiration: Buffy Quote:

“Three words of advice for any writer: Make me care”

Here is a link to a whole Pinterest board of more of Buffy's inspirational sayings: http://www.pinterest.com/buffyandrews/my-words/

Camaraderie:

Keep writing. Don’t give up. Believe in yourself, believe in your dream. And when you fall, get back up and try again.

Buffy's newest release: The Christmas Violin

Can there ever be an encore to true love?

It used to be that the only woman he could think about was Camilla. When he closed his eyes it was her that he saw. But now, he saw Willow. And it scared him and made him feel guilty. And yet he couldn’t help himself, couldn’t help feeling what he was feeling…

The last thing grief-stricken widower Peter St John expects to find at the cemetery is love. But one evening, as he lays flowers on Camilla’s grave, he is drawn to the haunting melody of a solitary violin player.

And so he encounters beautiful concert violinist Willow Channing, who has her own grief.

A second, chance meeting fuels the fire. And Peter knows as one song ended, so another begins.

Interesting note about this book: It was written like a violin concerto in three movements.

Other Books by Buffy

The Yearbook Series: Gina and Mike

The Moment Keeper

          The Yearbook Series: Sue and Tom

In addition to her writing blog, Buffy’s Write Zone, she maintains a social media blog, Buffy's World and check out  her author page. 

Feel Free to comment or ask Buffy a question.

Humor, Inspiration and Camaraderie with Hemingway

What's not to love...tight, sparse, wise writing--one of America's best--Ernest Hemingway.

Here's some Ernest Hemingway inspired Humor:

A visitor to a certain college paused to admire the new Hemingway Hall that had been built on campus.

"It's a pleasure to see a building named for Ernest Hemingway," he said.

"Actually," said his guide, "it's named for Joshua Hemingway. No relation."

The visitor was astonished. "Was Joshua Hemingway a writer, also?"

"Yes, indeed," said his guide. "He wrote a check."

Images of Key West--a place Hemingway called home

Can't forget Key Lime Pie

Camaraderie:

Hemingway Shares a word or two on the joys of writing:

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at the typewriter and bleed.” Ernest Hemingway

“There is no rule on how to write. Sometimes it comes easily and perfectly; sometimes it’s like drilling rock and then blasting it out with charges.” Ernest Hemingway

“Writing and travel broaden your ass if not your mind and I like to write standing up.”

Ernest Hemingway

“There is no friend as loyal as a book.” Ernest Hemingway

Inspiration: 

I’ve mentioned on this blog before about my favorite movie (the main character, played by Owen Wilson, is a writer) Midnight in Paris.  Owen Wilson, gets to shmooze with Hemingway.  A must-see.

And while researching Hemingway quotes I found this gem. Not on writing, but still genius.

“Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.” Ernest Hemingway

As always feel free to comment, or share your favorite Hemingway book.

A Hit of Inspiration, Camaraderie and Humor

Writer's Inspiration:

“We have not wings, we cannot soar, but we have feet to scale and climb, by slow degrees, by more and more, the cloudy summits of our time.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.” Helen Keller

photo courtesy of Chris Marin

And so you won't feel so alone while trying to soar, a touch of camaraderie

Success as defined by a writer:

Success consists of going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm. (I have this on a magnet to remind me not to lose enthusiasm)

And if that didn't inspire you maybe a little humor will help.

There was once a young man who professed his desire to become a great writer.

When asked to define great, he said, "I want to write stuff that the whole world will read, stuff that people will react to on a truly emotional level, stuff that will make them scream, stuff that will make them cry and howl in pain and anger! 

He now works for Microsoft writing error messages. :)

And as you soar remember these wise words...

“Eagles may soar, but weasels don’t get sucked into jet engines.” John Benfleld

As alway feel free to comment or add your own hit of humor.

Humor and Inspire Me, Buddy!

Back to the Blog

I follow many writer’s blogs, and lately I’ve been unsure what I could possibly add to the writing/author blog-o-sphere. Hence, my longer than usual absence. (Okay, in the spirit of honesty, that may be my brain making excuses.)

But my brain kept saying things like...my blog post needs to be interesting, enticing, entertaining, new, knowledgeable, perky, pretty--STOP--too much pressure. (I feel a migraine coming on.)

So... I asked myself. What do I enjoy in the zillion blogs I read? (Okay, might be an exaggeration or a form of procrastination, take your pick.)

What I like best in blog posts:

Humor. Inspiration. Camaraderie. 

Plus, I like the post to be short, less than a minute read time. (can we say ADHD)

Oh, and visuals--love me a pretty photo.

So... in the spirit of a short, humorous, inspiring, buddy-to-buddy blog post, I give you

Humor: 

A writer died and was given the option of going to heaven or hell.

She decided to check out each place first. As the writer descended into the fiery pits, she saw row upon row of writers chained to their desks in a steaming sweatshop. As they worked, they were repeatedly whipped with thorny lashes.

"Oh my," said the writer. "Let me see heaven now."

A few moments later, as she ascended into heaven, she saw rows of writers, chained to their desks in a steaming sweatshop. As they worked, they, too, were whipped with thorny lashes.

"Wait a minute," said the writer. "This is just as bad as hell!"

"Oh no, it's not," replied an unseen voice. "Here, your work gets published."

Inspiration: 

“It is perfectly okay to write garbage--as long as you edit brilliantly.”

C.J. Cherryh

Camaraderie:  

There’s no instant feedback for writer’s. Instant happens in the time it takes for something like this to occur.

(Photos of New Zealand, Courtesy of Chris Marin)

As always feel free to comment and/or offer what you like to see in the blogs you read.