Happy Halloween!

 I was playing with Paint and made something for  Halloween...meet Witcherella, my attempt at a spooky Cinderella!

Introducing "Dear Voracia"

 Just for fun, I've started a dragon advice column on Wattpad called "Dear Voracia."

 

 "Dear Voracia" is a magical phenomenon! The mysterious dragon columnist has been dispensing her wise admonitions and lethal stratagems for over a millennia now. Not sure if you should buy a cursed needle or a poison apple to hex your enemies? Ask Voracia. Arguing with your significant other over whether to add armored newts or battle guppies to your castle moat? Ask Voracia. Wondering if a pair of glass slippers is a fair trade for your soul?

Ask Madame V.

*You can read the first two letters to Voracia, "Human Pest Control" and "Happily Cursed," right now!

Summer's End

 Summer always ends too quickly! I'm never ready. 

Linear Perfectionism vs. the "Miyazaki" Method

Confession: so I have at least five novels where I wrote over 100 pages, and then I just . . . stopped. I am afraid I'm too much of a linear perfectionist! If I can't get my chapter outline ordered just right, all too often writer's block slams me and I just give up after awhile and trash my story. 

However, after reading an article about legendary filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki and his creation method for his animated movies, I decided to try something new in my own writing. Miyazaki doesn't begin with a perfectly written script. Instead, the genesis of his story begins with "visual storyboards," and then he builds the rest of the story around these powerful core images.

I was stuck on a chapter of my own WIP Agent Regalia that was very important and introduced a lot of key players in the story. But the more I sat in front of my computer and stared at the mocking blink of the cursor on an empty white screen, the more daunted I felt and the less I knew what I wanted to say. So, I thought about a future scene in the story that I could really visualize and filled me with excitement, and I wrote that instead. I skipped the line! I ended up writing a whole other chapter that actually helped me understand what I wanted to distill in the previous chapter. And now I feel a bit more confident about stepping back into the linear track and tackling the hard part . . .

I guess what this experience has reminded me is that there is no one right way to write. And that one writing method may help sometimes, and other times, perhaps a different ink hack will do the trick. Good luck with all your creative endeavors!

Shiny Corners

In some ways, I feel like throwing my words out into cyberspace and the sea of submissions is like tossing pennies into the void. Most of the time, no one will even notice the splash of my middling ink. And the older I get, the more I begin to wonder if it isn't better to live one's life as elusive as Enya, weaving lyrical dreams in solitude beyond the reach of the mundane world . . .  

But I suppose if I keep tossing pennies, I'll end up with a very shiny corner.

Summer Moonlight

A peek of silvery white for any who need a wishing gem. I know I do sometimes. 

Trash Petal Treasure

When tossing clippings last year, I noticed heaps of iris bulbs thrown in a big trash bin. I adore irises and couldn't bear to leave them, so I rescued a few and planted them...spring ta-da! Amethystine and pink petal beauty. 

I feel like my writing journey is similar...I trash my ink again and again, but sometimes a surprise springs up that makes it worth all the effort! 

Hint of Sky

Winter has been far too long for me! I can't wait for springy green things again, and flowers with petals soft as silk tears...

*Actual roses beneath all this snow, I promise

I used to judge myself a total failure as a writer because I couldn't make my ink bloom beautifully and consistently year round. But you know what? Even nature needs its fallow spells, its winter chill, naked branches and solitary shivers that go straight down to the soul. Sometimes, detritus is required to make rich loam for fresh imaginings.

I've been on planet Earth for almost 4 decades now, and I still don't know where my stories will take me next...but there is light in my basement window again, and I treasure that hint of sky.

Star Sticker

One of the most important habits I picked up in my creative writing classes was to always email myself updates of my drafts. That way, if my computer died or a tornado carried my house off to the land of Oz, at least my work would be accessible online! Recently, on a whim I started adding a tiny pep-talk with each attached draft email. 

 

*Embellished screenshot of email

We writers can be really tough on ourselves sometimes...so why not be our own cheerleader occasionally, too? 

I'm happy to report that I am now one-third done with my first draft of Agent Regalia!

And the Word of the Year is...

Some friends unexpectedly invited us over for a new year's party. We played board games (I'm a Dixit fan forever!) and enjoyed scrumptious snacks and celebratory carbonated grape juice. However, I was baffled when I was asked what my "word" for this year would be. I struggled to think of an appropriate focus word to reside at the heart of all my goals, and settled on "drive." 

However, I discovered an even better syllabic confection that I wish to use as the prism lens to filter all my wishes and goals this year:

EUNOIA 

It is Greek for "well mind" or "beautiful thinking." I want to learn to balance all my aspirations and energies evenly. I don't want to be outpaced and outstripped by my dreams, but to work in silence and strength towards my better self . . . and best stories yet!

 

Wishing you serendipity with all your endeavors this year, fellow Earthlings.