Out of the Mouth of (my) Babe

 I Dream Big.  Really Big. – My Son

It’s back to school.  Who knew my son, the baby, the jock, the quiet one would turn out to be the poet I most admire this week?  English is not his favorite subject.  Dyslexia makes sure of that.  Yet, this assignment struck a chord with him and his words strike a chord with me.  Is it because he’s my son?  Maybe.  Nevertheless, with his permission I share the following:

I am me and only me.

I wonder all the time.

I hear the music I like to hear.

I want to succeed.

I am me and only me.

I pretend I am a ninja.

I feel good when I do something good.

I touch the smooth wood of a baseball bat.

I worry about not passing.

I cry when I laugh real hard.

I am me and only me.

I understand the game.

I say just don’t give up.

I dream big.

Really big.

I try to work as hard as I can.

I hope to succeed.

I am me and only me.

Carpe Diem y’all, Michele

Best Lines: Writers Who Say It Way Better Than Me

“Deliver me from writers who say the way they live doesn’t matter. I’m not sure a bad person can write a good book. If art doesn’t make us better, then what on earth is it for.” – Alice Walker

Best Lines: On Writing

“A freelance writer is one who is paid per word, per page or perhaps.” – Robert Benchley

Best Lines: On Writing

I keep six honest serving men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
and How and Where and Who.

- Rudyard Kipling

Best Lines

“Every day of our lives we are on the verge of making those slight changes that would make all the difference.”  ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic’s Notebook, 1960

Don’t Pay the Ransom – I Got Away

 ”Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn’t wait to get to work in the morning:  I wanted to know what I was going to say.”  ~Sharon O’Brien

They’re looking at me.

The Deadlines!  The Deadlines!

I guess I need to keep it brief. 

It started with the re-write of the YA Novel.

Then the phone rang.

A new client. 

A new opportunity.  

Yes.

Then an email.

Another new client. 

I smile.  I type, “Yes.”

Then another.  “Yes,” I say.

A friend asks me to join her for the afternoon.

“I’m sorry, I can’t. I have to work.”

Professional milestone marked.

‘08 in Freelance Writer World is a sweet time indeed.

The phone rings. 

Another new opportunity. 

Another request. 

Another surge of possibility tingles through my veins.

“Excuse me.  I have to check my calendar.”

Another professional milestone noted.

Yes! 

Carpe Diem Y’all, Michele 

Get it Together Get it Togeter Get it Together

Begin at the beginning,” the King said gravely, “and go till you come to the end; then stop.”–Lewis Carroll (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland)

It’s a gift really. I’m talking about my ability to focus on many things as once.  It’s as if I was otherwise occupied when they passed out the filtering system that tells me that this piece of stimuli is more important than that bit of stimuli.  Most likely I was researching a story idea, that reminded me of another subject I wanted to learn more about, that made me think of this guy I went to school with, that looks alot like the postman, that makes me remember to check the mail, pay the bills, make the grocery list, clean out the junk drawer, return library books, de-clutter the office, not to mention the hall closets, get receipts together for the accountant, work book edit, contact business profile clients, do billing, and oh, and yeah, catch up on blogging. 

January in Texas equals spring cleaning at my house/home office.  It’s my month to make order out of the chaos that was last year and yesterday.  When do you, and how do you get it together?  Or do you?  Carpe Diem Y’all, Michele

A Rose By Any Other Name

Name Generators

Cool link for writers, time-wasters and writers wasting time.

Carpe Diem Y’all, Michele

Best Lines: The Holiday Edition

 ”A noted poet was once asked in an interview if he could explain one of his poems ‘in ordinary terms.’ He replied with some feeling, ‘If I could say what I meant in ordinary terms I would not have had to write the poem.’ – Dr. Brian Linard, A Way to the Heart of Christmas

The Advent Season- A time to wait.  And while we wait, we’re asked to remember and anticipate.  At the same time.  Which pretty much sums up my own season of waiting, remembering and anticipating that I’m sure all military families with loved ones deployed far from home experience. 

I find myself drawn to poetry these days.  And songs.  And art.  They comfort me.  The words and the music and the objects of art give me something tangible to hang my thoughts and feelings on as I wait, remember and anticipate.  I’m grateful for the poets, the lyricists and the artists who sum up with their work what I’m thinking and feeling.  They do so way better than I can.  

(And even though I make it a point to keep this blog as positive and as uplifting as possible, I have to say, if I hear the song, I’ll Be Home for Christmas one more freaking time, I might shove the radio into the radiator while punching out.)

Today, I read Longfellow’s poem, Christmas Bells.  It’s a classic, I’ve read many times before.  I’ve even sung the words.  The tune hums in my head as I write.  But today, the poem touched my heart.  Carpe Diem Y’all, Michele

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men! 

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep.
“God is not dead, nor doth he sleep!
The wrong shall fail,
The right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men!”

Don’t Pay the Ransom

I try to leave out the parts that people skip.  ~Elmore Leonard

Don’t pay the ransom, I got away and have just enough time to say: 

:::pause for effect:::

1.  I finished the YA novel

:::dance in circle::::

2.  I said I FINISHED the YA NOVEL

:::pump arm in air and repeat after me, “Woot Woot”:::