Lately I've been having some serious issues with writer's block. It seems like all the time I have so many ideas just floating around my brain until I sit down to actually write. The second I pick up a pen/pencil, or sit down at the computer my brain just empties. It's beginning to make me insane. I have all these things plotted out and notes written down, but when it comes time to turn them in to something -- *poof*.
Sometimes I get lucky and can get a few words down, but then if I look them over I am horrified. I start wondering who on earth would read this? It's worse than the worse thi...
Hi everyone!
I'd like to apologize for the long hiatus. Many things have been going on in my personal life. I won't go in to too much detail, but I've had a lot of health issues and a couple of surgeries in the interim time. I've also lost three close family members in the space of the last couple of years that have thrown me and I have still not really absorbed their loss.
Another reason that I have been absent so long is that I've also had a lot of self-doubt as a writer. I have actually gotten some writing done, as well as a bit of my first novel started. After the first bit I was hi...
Just recently I began submitting my blog to various blog related listing sites, and found I had a small problem. All of them ask me to classify what this blog is about. Uh-oh. For some reason they all seemed to lack the proper category. The neglected to add the "whatever strikes my fancy" category.
That led me to sit down and really think about what this blog is about.
I've been told it's a "mommy blog" since I have posted parenting relating things, or it's a "contest blog" because I post giveaways. Ok, I can get with that, sort-of. Those are parts of me, but I have a problem with cla...
Many of you don't know that I have both a sister and a niece with special needs. My sister suffered brain damage as a result of her belirubin climbing to record heights as an infant. Her functioning level was put at that of a six year old, even though she is 30 years old. She is the sweetest person, but has had a very rough life due to this and other unrelated problems. My niece has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, and I have been learning all I can about this very common Autism Spectrum Disorder.
As a result, I am a proud supporter of sites and causes that promote information and f...
I’d like to apologize for the long hiatus. Many things have been going on in my personal life. I won’t go in to too much detail, but I’ve had a lot of health issues and a couple of surgeries in the interim time. I’ve also lost three close family members in the space of the last couple of years that have thrown me and I have still not really absorbed their loss.
Another reason that I have been absent so long is that I’ve also had a lot of self-doubt as a writer. I have actually gotten some writing done, as well as a bit of my first novel started. After the first bit I was hit so hard with doubt of my skills that I allowed myself to be hit with the biggest case of writer’s block that I have ever had.
On the positive side, we have also welcomed a new member to our family. We have grown from a family of six to seven, and the youngest has everyone wrapped around his little finger already. Hard to believe that he is already two years old. We also welcomed a new nephew that is only a month older than our little guy. It will be great for them to be able to grow up together, though I know if my nephew is anything like my brother they will be adding some serious gray to my hair.
I have again decided that the only was that I will ever know for sure if I can make my dream come true is if I actually write. Even if what I produce is absolutely horrible, I can always clean it up in editing. I’ve realized it’s a little difficult to edit a blank page.
So with that decided, I felt my next step was to resurrect my old blog as a way to motivate myself to actually produce. Not only will it let me warm up with writing and get my creative juices flowing, but now I have people to answer to if I don’t follow through. (I figure there should be one or two of you that will call me on it if I don’t start writing about having something ready for submission.)
I have also decided that I will refocus to a smaller beginning. I plan to hone my skills on some short stories first. Then submit them to paying markets and see what the response is. My initial goal of producing a complete novel is just so large that it seemed to overwhelm me to the point that I couldn’t function. Yes, I know I will be risking rejection, but I have tried to prepare myself for it. I will not let myself be stopped, because I realize no matter how good my writing may (or may not) be, it could still be rejected for various reasons not related to what I have written. (Not the least of which may be this wonderful economy that I am sure has been effecting the writer’s market as well.)
So, that’s basically where I’m at with everything. I will be posting progress along with my usual bits of this and that. My pledge is a minimum of one post per week, though I am hoping for more. Feel free to yell at me if I don’t.
Well, better late than never, and it’s only a day, right?
What is my Tuesday Toot? That we finally got my grandparent’s house cleaned out yesterday. (Which is actually why this post is a day late.) We got the complete house cleaned out and emptied, including getting my aunt packed and moved (though she hadn’t even packed a single thing during the past year prior to the insane house clearing.) It was overwhelming and broke all of our hearts because we ran out of room in our own houses for many of my grandparents belongings. We ended up filling a full dumpster and the equivalent of a second dumpster. We just didn’t have room for everything, but we saved the most important and sentimental things. I’m still amazed at how much was accomplished in such a small amount of time.
I just found a new blog meme thanks to a new Plurk friend. It’s called Saturday 9. Feel free to click the link to see what the current Saturday 9 are, if I haven’t already blogged about them.
In celebration of Father’s Day, this one is devoted to the4 topic of fathers.
1. How long since you have been with your dad?
It’s probably been about three months now. The last time I spent time with him was when he came down with my brother when my brother went out to prom with his then girlfriend. We got to hang out for quite a while that night, and I had a blast.
2. How many siblings share your dad?
I have two younger brothers and two younger sisters. My sister, amusingly enough is a day (ok, only 11 hours and some odd minutes) younger than my oldest son. Ok, go ahead and read that last sentence again. It will make sense eventually.
3. Will you see your dad tomorrow?
Nope. Unfortunately he lives too far away and I have to work my out-of-the-house job.
4. Do you give him gifts on Father’s Day?
Honestly I haven’t for years. Writing this makes me feel really guilty about that. I’ll probably get a card and send it to him Monday. It’s the thought, right? (Off to my corner now to berate myself for being a bad daughter….)
5. Have you ever had a tough time in your relationship with your father?
I had a worse relationship with him as a child. He was a more scary figure when it came to punishment. At the same time though, he was always there for me and a good friend. He helped me get through some rough family times with humor. Now our relationship more similar to friendship than father-daughter.
6. What was the last thing that you did with your dad?
Hung out with him while my brother and his then-girlfriend went to prom. Didn’t I already answer a question like this? LOL
7. Growing up, was your dad tough on you?
Yes, and no. Depended on what it was about. If it was something he felt strongly about, such as my choice of attire he would um…. strongly object. I felt that at 14 I could walk out of the house in a half top or a bandanna top, and he thought it wasn’t appropriate. Looking back, I must admit that I can see his point.
8. Are you close to your father?
Off and on. We are both so busy nowadays that it’s hard to connect. We used to talk once a week, but things have been so hectic that neither one of us have called the other in a while. I’d have to say it’s a good month when we connect every other week or so.
9. How long since you have spoke to him?
I talked to him a couple weeks ago on the phone. He called to let me know that my brother was going through a rough time. I really haven’t talked to him since then.
Well, that’s it for me. I hope everyone has a great Father’s Day!
Here are the top ten that I have found most attitude altering (in no particular order):
1. No matter the love you have felt before, your love for your child will eclipse it.
2. If you’ve just put on clean clothes something will make it necessary to change. (Baby spit up, food, mud, some unnamed substance you really don’t want to know what it really is….) The same is true when children get dressed up to leave the house.
3. Each child is different, and each child is different from moment to moment. (This is especially true of what foods they like. If I had a penny for the number of times I have heard “But I don’t like that!” even if it’s something they couldn’t get enough of the day before.)
4. It doesn’t matter how clean your house is, within 5 minutes of children returning it will look like you haven’t cleaned it in a year.
5. Anytime you sit down to do something for yourself, you are guaranteed to have a life threatening emergency of biblical proportions. (Such as a splinter in a little finger, someone spilled milk, child one accidentally spit while talking and it hit child two, etc.)
6. If you put something in one spot it will be gone in the space of five seconds.
7. It doesn’t matter how many socks go in the dryer, you will always end up with an odd number and at least 5 socks that have no match.
8. If something spills, breaks, disappears, etc and try to find out who is responsible the culprit is always “not me” no matter who you ask. (Personally I think Not Me should start paying rent. I’ll bring that up if I ever find him.)
9. If you schedule a big event that involves you and the special someone in your life (husband, boyfriend, whatever) at least one of your children will come down with a bizarre mystery illness. This illness will include but will not be limited to a fever, vomiting, and/or other unknown symptoms that make it impossible for your intended evening festivities.
10. You can’t sweat the small stuff, more of it keeps cropping up. (And you’ll just go insane if you keep letting it get to you.)
Thanks MommyFest Blog Party for this great topic! I never stopped to think how much my children have taught me!
Well, after finding yet another place to blog, I have created a new one. Let’s see, this puts me up to….. I don’t even know. I have to sit down and ferret out all my links one day.
For a start, here is a little about me. I am a work at home mom of five beautiful children. I have been married to the love of my life for almost 13 years. At this posting my boys are ages 12, 10, 6, and almost 4 months. My lovely (drama queen) daughter is 8. They keep me busy, but are truly the most important people in my life.
I am currently a web/graphic designer, offer retail/distributor/wholesale gifts, sell mineral make-up, bath and body products (ones I have created and those of others), sell communications, and more. Pretty much if it catches my eye and attention I try to add it to my line. I am also trying to become a professional (read – selling) writer.
That’s about it on the nuts and bolts of my life. Please feel free to check my links to see what I am currently up to.
Well, it seems that for every step forward I have to take two big leaps back. I ahve been trying to write my first spec fiction novel and have hit a wall. I have the world, the story line, the main character, the plot, and only two pages. I’m not sure if I have just been over-thinking this and have built it up into such a huge force it’s stiffling my creativity or what.
I have decided that I will step back and let it percolate in the back of my mind for a while and see what happens. I’ve started a new story (see how I am starting out small – finally, lol) about a woman with an affinity with the forces of nature that has a disfunctional family. So far that’s all I know about her. I have no idea where the story is going, but maybe that’s for the best. If I can’t analyze it to death maybe I can actually produce something.
i think I was going in to this the wrong way. I started with the goal of publishing a novel. I made this my last chance effort of fulfilling any of my childhood dreams. That’s enough pressure to crack anyone’s creative spirit, isn’t it? I’ve had a complete attitude adjustment and realized that I have a beautiful family and a fantastic husband which is more than a lot of people have. I am raising four amazing little people and that is more than enough.
I am going back to writing because it’s something I love and it fills a void in me that it has taken many years for me to realized exists. It’s taken me even more to realize that that void is my creative soul slowly dying from lack of attention. I’ve tried various ways to feed it, but it seems that writing in any form is the only way to truly nourish it.
Quite a bit of self-analysis for a couple of days, isn’t it?
On that serious note, I will take my leave. I need to get myself and children ready for my day job. I hope to be posting some of me actual writing up here soon for comments and feedback. In the meantime I will enjoy what I have rather than what I don’t.
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