On May 30, 2019, I lost someone very special to me. I lost my father due to congestive heart failure. Thankfully my mother, my two children, my husband and I all were with him in the hospital when he passed. It was one of the hardest days of my life. My heart goes out to all the people in hospitals or nursing homes right now who can't have their loved ones with them due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. 

My father was my hero and my biggest cheerleader. He taught me to love to read and to love other cultures. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think of him. Tell the people that are special to you how much you love them, because you never know when something might happen.

Well it has been over a month in TN where the Stay at Home Order has been in place. I feel for other states that have been at home much longer. When life was crazy busy there were days that I just wanted to stay at home so I could write, however now I long for our crazy busy fast paced life. I miss watching my daughter play softball, I miss going to powwows, and I miss seeing and talking to people in person. 

I have taken all of my manuscripts off of the shelves during this month and I have re-read all of them from front to back. I have rewritten Shanghai Sunset again with some major changes. I am working on typing all of the manuscripts that are still in handwritten form. Yes, I write all of my manuscripts by hand, edit, type and edit fifty more times before I ever send it to a beta reader. I write the manuscripts by hand because it feels freer to me. When I try to just start typing I get bogged down with spelling, grammar issues, etc. when I just need to get the story on the page so I don't forget important parts, I have even tried recording my manuscipts so I can then upload to my computer... that didn't work out well either. My husband bought me a livescribe pen and notebooks for Christmas, we still can not get it to work correctly. This pen requires special paper that is coded and you can have it synced with your computer and everything you write goes directly to your computer, or you can plug in the pen and transfer it that way.... great concept when it works. I have followed the instructions to the letter and still nothing, so the old fashioned pen and paper is still my preferred method of writing. I am also editing like crazy. I have written several new poems and my character, Breeze has been making an appearance again. I have made notes about a possible new manuscript in her series or a possible spin off with one of the secondary characters. I love being busy with my writing, it feels amazing. I have tried to allow for 15 minutes a day regardless of what is going on in my life, but now I can sit blocks of time aside in the evenings to focus on my craft and my stories. 

During the re-reading of all of my manuscripts, I sat down and did a play list for each manuscript that just felt right at the time. I went back and compared notes to when I originally wrote the manuscript and was really surprised at how many of the songs were on both lists. I always am listening to music especially when I write or cook. I think music is good for the soul. 

Not only have I been re-reading my manuscripts, rewriting some of those manuscripts, and editing all of the manuscripts, I have also been reading like crazy. I had picked up an audio book before McKays closed for the stay at home order and it was book 3 in the Wanted Men Series by Nancy Haviland. Talk about action and adventure... this series is amazing. That was the only book I had in the series and being the avid reader that I am, I wanted to run to the library to get the others only to remember that the library is closed. So I resorted to Amazon and am patiently waiting on the books to arrive. I have finally read The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Series, I am a Harry Potter fan for sure! The Lord of the Rings 

During this crazy time in our lives, it has been nice to focus on my writing and my art again. I have enjoyed spending time with my children, working on art projects. While I work having my daughter sit beside me and her doing her school work. I have also seen a lot of tv shows that I really had no idea that they even existed. I can do without tv, but I can't live without creative thought and expression. My art was my salvation after my divorce, it helped keep my sanity while I was trying to get my writing grove back in place. Now, I have both my writing and my art and I could not be happier. 

 Stay safe everyone. 

As a writer, I think it is key to attend writers conference and workshops, but I also think it is key to find creative outlets outside of those workshops and conferences. Every year, I attend the Clarksville Writers Conference and I always feel so alive and inspired when I leave there. It is nice to be with like minds and creative individuals who truly want to talk about your writing & ideas as well as talk about their writing & ideas. When the conference is over, I tend to reflect on my notes and practice the techniques for a week or two after the conference, but then I get back into my normal routine and don't make time for my craft as I should. 

I have made New Years Resolutions that I will write everyday for 2 hours a day, that resolution quickly because non-existent, due to it being an unrealistic goal. I have a crazy busy life with 2 kids in college and one in high school, not to me mention sports and powwows. I quit make resolutions about 3 years ago, but I do sit down and map out goals for the year. One of the goals that has showed up repeatedly on my list is to allow myself to be more creative and allow that creativity to show. Another goal is to write 15 to 20 minutes a day. That goal is a more realistic goal and is an achievable goal for me. I can accomplish so much in those 15 or 20 minutes.  If I write longer great if not that is fine.  The time does not have to be consecutive, it can be spread out through the day. The point is to write and get the thoughts and ideas on the page. Normally when I do sit down and write I truly do not want to stop, but life goes on and I have to be a part of it. 

The goal of being more creative and allow that creativity to show. I purchase art journals and creative writing prompt books, I read avidly, and I have bought more brighter colored clothes. One day a week, I allow my inner artist to shine through my apparel, it is so freeing and liberating. Self expression is important for artists and writers are artists we choose to fill our canvas with words instead of pictures. I choose to do both. Two years ago I started drawing free thought pieces and I came up with this wonderful Steampunk piece, Time clock piece and a Cuckoo Bird World. I love my cuckoo birds and their world. One day my daughter said to me, "Mom you should illustrate a children's book." It was something that I had never even considered before. I don't want to illustrate others books, but I could easily create a story to go with my cuckoo birds and illustrate my own children's story. It is a new goal that came about because I allowed myself the freedom to be more creative and express it more. As writers it is easy to fall into isolation and just write, but you have to keep the creative juices flowing. Getting out and smelling the roses or people watching or looking through magazines to see the craziness of the world is really ok and might just give you some great new ideas for that next book that you are writing.  

In May of 2019, I lost my hero. My father passed away from congestive heart failure. It was probably one of the hardest days of my life. The funeral, I was an absolute wreck. The Military honors truly rocked me to my core. 

I speak of this because my father taught me the love of reading and writing. He encouraged me to believe in myself and to never give up. Our book choices varied greatly, however, If I told him that I had just finished a really good book, then he would ask to read it, regardless of the genre. My father was one of the biggest inspirations of my life and I miss him dearly.

The article is title 52 Ideas for an Inspired New Year.  The front of the magazine was what caught my attention with the title of 52 ideas to boost your creativity in 2018.  In June of this year I took a trip to New Orleans to try to get back in touch with my writing.  My divorce was final and I needed more to reconnect with me and everything that I loved. New Orleans was exactly what I needed to light the creative spark, though I tried to focus only on writing, New Orleans is so rich in culture, music, writing and the arts that the creative juices started flowing like crazy in all creative areas.  The problem was when I arrived home I began paining more and then I decided to make a quilt.  I am not a quilter by any means but I had a vision that I wanted to create and I sat out to do it.  I will say my quilt tells a story all of its own. 

My point is whatever helps you find your creative spark, embrace it.  I am not writing as much as I want, but I am still writing and reading at least 15 minutes a day and now I am expressing myself with art as well.  I am hoping to write poems to go with my art, we shall see where this creative path takes me. 

I recently read an article asking readers if they continue to read a book if it is not catching their interest. Previously, I was one that had to finish a book no matter if I loved it or hated it. However, in the last 10 years I have realized that I don't have to finish the book if it is dragging, lost my interest, is poorly written and/or if there are massive editoral errors.  Now, if a book does not have my interest by chapter 2 I can close the book and never look back.  There are just too many good books to be read in this world, that I don't need to waste my time on the ones that can't keep my interest or are poorly written just because I want to know what happens.  

​In the article it mentioned the 60 page rule, meaning that if by page 60 the book had not caught your interest then that was the time to walk away. Can you walk away from a book that you have started? When do you know that you like, love or hate a book? If you decide to not finish the book at what point do you finally say enough?

I have started making serious changes to my website. Over the next week or so I plan to completely vamp up the pages and update all of the information.  I hope that you will check back in often to see all of the changes. 

2015 seems to be flying by. It has been a busy and amazing year with work, softball, powwows, and of course writing.  I attended an online workshop for 21 days back in Sept; it was created to get authors and writers to believe in themselves and simply write. It was a great refresher and reminder to write at any opportunity possible, regardless if it is for 5 minutes or an hour.  It also reminded me to be my own cheerleader and not beat myself up all the time. 

I had started beating myself up if I was reading instead of writing, but then I remembered to be a great writer I have to be a great reader. As long as I read, write, or edit I am making gains in my writing career, I just have to remind myself of that.  It honestly makes life easier if I accept where I am and what I am doing at that moment in time.  I wrote 2 chapters on a new story this weekend and I edited one of my manuscripts. It felt really good to make the time for myself. Life doesn't stop or slow down for anyone, I do need to remind myself to embrace those little 5 minutes treasures of writing with a good cup of coffee every now and then before life and time completely flies by leaving me behind.