After a long, hot and glorious summer with the kids and my beautiful neice, swimming and bouncing and camping and eating from the garden - and yes, writing too - I'm at work. Just turned in a 20-minute segment for Bexley radio about the Columbus Writer's Conference. And last night, I was approached at a radio party to host my own weekly hour-long show on my favorite topics: conscious living, holistic health, sustainability, and travel.
What an amazing opportunity! And I've got enough ideas to fill 20 hours of programming!
How different from Wednesday when I'd hit writer's block. I felt so drained, a kind of panicky drained, where I'm afraid I'll never be able to write again. A writer friend called, and she talked about her artist dates, and how they seemed like a complete waste of time, but the day after taking time for her inner artist she worked more easily, smoothly.
She's right, I thought. Without hesitation, I grabbed my favorite black and gold fountain pen, my journal, and headed out to the pool where my son lounged in the hammock with stomach flu. I put on a California Guitar Trio cd, and sucked up the freedom of letting myself just BE.
After about an hour, I began to see vivid images in my mind, and this poem fell out. This is its fifth draft:
Decision Maker
We are arrows shot
black against turquoise sky
a silver-tipped swish.
We the bow
the burning bicep
white fingers, blood starved,
hot scrape of string to arm
and the vibrating core
of the bow-master.
In my quiver, a thousand decisions,
aim of my eye,
each shot, destiny wrought.
The arc interrupted by an act of will, or not
interrupted at all.
----------------------
The poem reminded me of something I'd read in Khalil Gibran's The Prophet. So I scurried upstairs and found this on page 18:
“You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.”
It's no shame to be trumped by a master, and I have to give the blue ribbon for archery metaphors to Gibran. But it was interesting to see how my language differed from his. We also talk about different subjects - Gibran about the separateness between one generation and the next, between child and parent and how important stability is for how far a child can fly. My poem is about how our decisions govern our life's experiences, and how we can choose to change old patterns through the act of will, or create a positive life by using the principle of trajectory.
In a business and marketing class I'm taking from Freelance Success's Erik Sherman, I've posted this piece of advice on my wall: "through ordered and diligent work, you can take advantage of business that happens by accident." I think that, too, also resonates with the bowmaster and the vibrating core.
I didn't realize I missed blogging this much!
Friday, September 14, 2007
Friday, June 08, 2007
Last day of school blues
Last day of school, and I feel a bit sad because I'm picking up steam in writing work and now the schedule shifts - to what? How will I create time to write? How will I find solace?
But I know, if I look to past summers, I will be able to integrate my life: kids and summer fun with writing. Somehow!
The kids know of my need. One day when my son was trying to think of a punishment for some small trespass I'd committed he said: "I know, you're grounded from writing for three days!"
"OOOOHHHH!" I wailed. "You really know where to hurt me!" And he grinned and we giggled.
I can see it now: they're putting me in a nursing home but checking out the internet connection and finding a lap table so I can still use my computer, diary, pens....
I'm working on two stories at the moment: one non-fiction about Nazi-era provenance art for Bexley Public Radio, the other fiction, a 2,000 word short story I want to enter into the Ohio Writer's competition.
The online competition service CRWROPPS (which you can subscribe to as a feed, see previous posts for details) spits out five to eight competitions per day for me to peruse. And I'm getting picky.
Competitions can be a scam. Think of a good name for your comp, set up a PO Box, advertise and watch the checks come in. That's why the website which keeps an eye on comps, Preditors and Editors, doesn't take as valid any comp which charges a reading fee. (Ditto for agents). However, comps are one way magazines and writers' groups get revenue in to keep them afloat.
My rules have become: if it lists a PO Box as its address, don't enter. Wait for comps from magazines and writer's groups you recognize, then check out their websites. One website CRWROPPS listed had a rolling competition - ie, they gave winners out every few months. But when I clicked through to the site, the poetry was diabolical, and basically pay to play.
But I know, if I look to past summers, I will be able to integrate my life: kids and summer fun with writing. Somehow!
The kids know of my need. One day when my son was trying to think of a punishment for some small trespass I'd committed he said: "I know, you're grounded from writing for three days!"
"OOOOHHHH!" I wailed. "You really know where to hurt me!" And he grinned and we giggled.
I can see it now: they're putting me in a nursing home but checking out the internet connection and finding a lap table so I can still use my computer, diary, pens....
I'm working on two stories at the moment: one non-fiction about Nazi-era provenance art for Bexley Public Radio, the other fiction, a 2,000 word short story I want to enter into the Ohio Writer's competition.
The online competition service CRWROPPS (which you can subscribe to as a feed, see previous posts for details) spits out five to eight competitions per day for me to peruse. And I'm getting picky.
Competitions can be a scam. Think of a good name for your comp, set up a PO Box, advertise and watch the checks come in. That's why the website which keeps an eye on comps, Preditors and Editors, doesn't take as valid any comp which charges a reading fee. (Ditto for agents). However, comps are one way magazines and writers' groups get revenue in to keep them afloat.
My rules have become: if it lists a PO Box as its address, don't enter. Wait for comps from magazines and writer's groups you recognize, then check out their websites. One website CRWROPPS listed had a rolling competition - ie, they gave winners out every few months. But when I clicked through to the site, the poetry was diabolical, and basically pay to play.
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Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Be the explorer on the edge of your world
It's being so scared, and yet deciding to do that thing you're most afraid of, and getting beyond it and finding out you're not only alright, but better for the experience, and then seeing the next thing you're scared of, and then saying to yourself 'I'm a brave person. I did the last thing that scared me to death. I'm a person of courage and I'm going to do this next thing that scares me to death,' and you do, and it's ok...that's what makes life such an adventure.
You can be Marianne the Librarian and lead a wonderful, adventurous life because you're facing your fears every day...and it will look to other people that you're just an ordinary bod going about ordinary bod things every day, but you won't be.
You'll be an explorer on the edge of your world; you are the bravest person to face the fears that make you the most frightened, and the most courageous to do those things anyway.
For everyone who lives like this, their reward is the most wonderful freedom; their life is the most exciting; their dreams are the most fulfilled.
You can be Marianne the Librarian and lead a wonderful, adventurous life because you're facing your fears every day...and it will look to other people that you're just an ordinary bod going about ordinary bod things every day, but you won't be.
You'll be an explorer on the edge of your world; you are the bravest person to face the fears that make you the most frightened, and the most courageous to do those things anyway.
For everyone who lives like this, their reward is the most wonderful freedom; their life is the most exciting; their dreams are the most fulfilled.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
The Gift Day
Yesterday I received a wonderful gift from my mother: a clipping of an article from the Christian Science Monitor which she'd written in 1953. In the article she described how she'd bought and trained a budgie to take to her grandparents on a visit from her apartment in New York to their Seattle cottage. During the long train journey across the US, passengers took a shine to the parakeet as she tried to teach it to speak. 'Cheerie' refused - until he arrived at Grandma's house, settled in, and began to sing "I love you Grandma" and "I'm Hughie's bird".
I'd been down in the dumps that day. June's upon us, and that's when I switch out of writer to childcare expert and chief play wizard. I hadn't got as much published as I'd hoped in the previous nine months, and couldn't understand what I'd achieved. Mom's article cheered me up, particularly her large vocabulary and her clear style. I remembered how she took such great care to teach me interesting and difficult words, and to pronounce them correctly. I know that my large vocabulary, easily handled, has to be due to this childhood training, as well as our daily study of the King James Bible and Science and Health - a book with tortuous and awesomely difficult words for a child.
After reading Mom's letter, I opened my email to doggedly face the work I felt I'd failed at, and wonderfully there - an acceptance! The Christian Science Monitor had taken a piece I wrote about our trip to Tuscany. As I looked again at Mom's article, I noticed publication day was May - the same month as my acceptance.
I'd been down in the dumps that day. June's upon us, and that's when I switch out of writer to childcare expert and chief play wizard. I hadn't got as much published as I'd hoped in the previous nine months, and couldn't understand what I'd achieved. Mom's article cheered me up, particularly her large vocabulary and her clear style. I remembered how she took such great care to teach me interesting and difficult words, and to pronounce them correctly. I know that my large vocabulary, easily handled, has to be due to this childhood training, as well as our daily study of the King James Bible and Science and Health - a book with tortuous and awesomely difficult words for a child.
After reading Mom's letter, I opened my email to doggedly face the work I felt I'd failed at, and wonderfully there - an acceptance! The Christian Science Monitor had taken a piece I wrote about our trip to Tuscany. As I looked again at Mom's article, I noticed publication day was May - the same month as my acceptance.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Agent & Editors List
If you're looking to publish a novel, non-fiction or young adult book, and you've done the groundwork which makes you ready to approach an editor or agent, then subscribe to Publisher's Lunch. You get an email digest for free, and if you subscribe (tax deductible remember!) on a monthly basis you have access to a database of editors and agents which you can search by category or with keywords.
At the moment Pub Lunch is advertising the BEA in New York, and if you click into the writer's conference and scroll down to the pitch slam, you'll find a list of editors and agents listening to pitches. These people are actively trawling for new writers to boost their lists.
I've archived my list in my email in-box under editors/agents. I'm also archiving everything cwropps (the contest bulletin board) sends. Then I will search my email by keyword and up will pop lists of editors and agents looking at manuscripts this year. Then I can search on their names and see if they match what I write. Pub lunch makes this an easier process because of the category function.
Ok, you twisted my arm. Here's the Pub Lunch list of editors and agents listening to slams at the BEA. Have fun!
Linn Prentis
Lynne Rabinoff
Jenny Rappaoport
Jessica Regel
Janet Rosen
Rita Rosenkranz
Emma Sweeney
Olga Vezeris
Cherry Weiner
Ted Weinstein
Larry Weissman
Jennifer Weltz
John Willig
Michelle Wolfson
Caroline Woods
Helen Zimmerman Marilyn Allen
Janet Benrey
Daniel Bial
Regina Brooks
Sheree Bykofsky
Debbie Carter
Jennifer Cayea
Adam Chromy
June Clark
Donya Dickerson
Jen Dunham
Stephany Evans
Grace Freedson
Mollie Glick
Emily Sylvan Kim
Jud Laghi Michael Larsen
Meg Leder
Julia Lord
Jonathan Lyons
Michael Mancilla
Sharlene Martin
Paul McCarthy
Jeffrey McGraw
Laurie McLean
Jackie Meyer
Peter Miller
Michael Murphy
Colleen O'Shea
Lori Perkins
Alicka Pistek
Elizabeth Pomada
At the moment Pub Lunch is advertising the BEA in New York, and if you click into the writer's conference and scroll down to the pitch slam, you'll find a list of editors and agents listening to pitches. These people are actively trawling for new writers to boost their lists.
I've archived my list in my email in-box under editors/agents. I'm also archiving everything cwropps (the contest bulletin board) sends. Then I will search my email by keyword and up will pop lists of editors and agents looking at manuscripts this year. Then I can search on their names and see if they match what I write. Pub lunch makes this an easier process because of the category function.
Ok, you twisted my arm. Here's the Pub Lunch list of editors and agents listening to slams at the BEA. Have fun!
Linn Prentis
Lynne Rabinoff
Jenny Rappaoport
Jessica Regel
Janet Rosen
Rita Rosenkranz
Emma Sweeney
Olga Vezeris
Cherry Weiner
Ted Weinstein
Larry Weissman
Jennifer Weltz
John Willig
Michelle Wolfson
Caroline Woods
Helen Zimmerman Marilyn Allen
Janet Benrey
Daniel Bial
Regina Brooks
Sheree Bykofsky
Debbie Carter
Jennifer Cayea
Adam Chromy
June Clark
Donya Dickerson
Jen Dunham
Stephany Evans
Grace Freedson
Mollie Glick
Emily Sylvan Kim
Jud Laghi Michael Larsen
Meg Leder
Julia Lord
Jonathan Lyons
Michael Mancilla
Sharlene Martin
Paul McCarthy
Jeffrey McGraw
Laurie McLean
Jackie Meyer
Peter Miller
Michael Murphy
Colleen O'Shea
Lori Perkins
Alicka Pistek
Elizabeth Pomada
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
The Art of Happiness at Work for writers
The good news: returned from the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) conference brimming with ideas and a pitch to-do list that made me sing. The bad news: what's happened to my time? How can I be working so hard and standing so still? Time, like money: where's it all gone?
Then when I hit the page after accomplishing so little, I feel the mountain of work left to be done is just that, a mountain. My friend calls my method of writing "drip drip" - like Chinese water torture.
I'm reading the Dalai Lama's "Art of Happiness at Work" and loved the insights. Flow, defined as the state of losing yourself and track of time through focus on work, is apparently psychologically unachievable on a regular basis. I thought in order to be a proper writer, I had to achieve flow every day. I get frustrated when I don't. But this says that if you achieve flow a mere six to seven times a year, you're going very well.
But it also pointed out that "flow" people can be pretty grumpy curmudgeons. Can you be a people-pleaser and an achiever at the same time? I really struggle with trying to carve the time and space to write while still managing a family, keeping healthy friendships and being energized enough for a successful healing practice. It's a huge balancing act and very often I fall off the beam, frustrated.
What is this frustration? It's fear. Fear that I'll never live up to my pre-kids potential as a writer; that the hiatus I took from a writing career was a full stop, not a comma. Yet I look at the way my work flows now, at the power, the purity, the effortlessness of the language and I know that's due to the time out I took to develop my character, to walk with integrity in every place in my life.
Another insight came from a dialogue between the Dalai Lama and the author Howard C Cutler, MD, on how people see their work: as a job and timeclock, a career with attendant ambition and jealousy, or as a calling.
His description of careerists as ambitious, jealous, and competitive brought to mind my years as a reporter, when I chaired the Women Writers' Network, and wrote my first two novels. I collapsed due to exhaustion and inspirational burnout. After re-orienting myself through growth as a healer and subsequently opening a practice, writing also needed to shift into a calling. But first my healing practice went through a smaller version of the same process after I realized I did not want to be a career healer, making a living from classes, workshops, healings and how-to books.
Writing as a calling sees the body of work. It sees the growth of the writer, through skill, deepened experience, and for me through a broad range of contacts plus cuttings and books that show maturity. It's about curiousity, and other people's stories. It's a celebration of where we are on the planet, in this incredible time to be alive.
During the transition out of career writer, I wished to be able to read other people's books without jealousy, and love them for the light of new ideas they bring into the world. I can. I wished to be hungry to write again for publication. I am.
And now I wish to be able to integrate my calling for writing and publication into a very rich and diverse life that I lead as a person.
I will.
Then when I hit the page after accomplishing so little, I feel the mountain of work left to be done is just that, a mountain. My friend calls my method of writing "drip drip" - like Chinese water torture.
I'm reading the Dalai Lama's "Art of Happiness at Work" and loved the insights. Flow, defined as the state of losing yourself and track of time through focus on work, is apparently psychologically unachievable on a regular basis. I thought in order to be a proper writer, I had to achieve flow every day. I get frustrated when I don't. But this says that if you achieve flow a mere six to seven times a year, you're going very well.
But it also pointed out that "flow" people can be pretty grumpy curmudgeons. Can you be a people-pleaser and an achiever at the same time? I really struggle with trying to carve the time and space to write while still managing a family, keeping healthy friendships and being energized enough for a successful healing practice. It's a huge balancing act and very often I fall off the beam, frustrated.
What is this frustration? It's fear. Fear that I'll never live up to my pre-kids potential as a writer; that the hiatus I took from a writing career was a full stop, not a comma. Yet I look at the way my work flows now, at the power, the purity, the effortlessness of the language and I know that's due to the time out I took to develop my character, to walk with integrity in every place in my life.
Another insight came from a dialogue between the Dalai Lama and the author Howard C Cutler, MD, on how people see their work: as a job and timeclock, a career with attendant ambition and jealousy, or as a calling.
His description of careerists as ambitious, jealous, and competitive brought to mind my years as a reporter, when I chaired the Women Writers' Network, and wrote my first two novels. I collapsed due to exhaustion and inspirational burnout. After re-orienting myself through growth as a healer and subsequently opening a practice, writing also needed to shift into a calling. But first my healing practice went through a smaller version of the same process after I realized I did not want to be a career healer, making a living from classes, workshops, healings and how-to books.
Writing as a calling sees the body of work. It sees the growth of the writer, through skill, deepened experience, and for me through a broad range of contacts plus cuttings and books that show maturity. It's about curiousity, and other people's stories. It's a celebration of where we are on the planet, in this incredible time to be alive.
During the transition out of career writer, I wished to be able to read other people's books without jealousy, and love them for the light of new ideas they bring into the world. I can. I wished to be hungry to write again for publication. I am.
And now I wish to be able to integrate my calling for writing and publication into a very rich and diverse life that I lead as a person.
I will.
Technorati Tags:art of happiness at work for writers, career, books, contacts, cuttings, writing, publication, dalai lama, howard c cutler md, asja, pitch list, pitch, flow, writing flow
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Thursday, March 08, 2007
Two More Contacting Editors Tips
I heard two editor contacting tips this week. These are the short versions. And it's much better if you do the longer version (two blogs ago) because then you're forced to examine the magazine, which gives your pitch a higher chance of acceptance. But once you know these tips, you may be tempted, (as in the chocolate cake is in the fridge and I just need a teeny slice, no, better not dirty a dish - I'll tackle this with my fork) to take the shortcut.
For magazine contact information: www.hoovers.com
For insider information on magazines: www.bacons.com
Don't say I didn't warn you.
For magazine contact information: www.hoovers.com
For insider information on magazines: www.bacons.com
Don't say I didn't warn you.
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Friday, March 02, 2007
Ad infinitum
My son pointed out a few weeks ago, that mathematically .9999999 repeating to infinity is the same number as one.
The reason? Because in math, a pattern takes precedence over numbers.
I like to think of this as I work out in the gym. I don't lift as much weight as the other ladies. I don't run as fast. I can't do as many reps of v-ups. But I show up. Every week I lift weights twice, get my butt kicked in Boot Camp on Fridays, and spin for an hour on a leftover day. I have a repeating pattern. As I slog around the gym, last in line during the Indian running (do Indians really do that? I don't think so...) ready to drop to a walk, I remind myself that I don't have to be in the gym at all. I could be home watching tivo.
This is like my resurrected writing career. I'm creating patterns: send out queries to editors, get more ideas, send those out, follow up queries, get rejected, try again. Here I'm .999999 once again as I build a reputation for myself, and get back on top of my game. But I remember as I send out another query letter, that mathematically I'm the same as 1. Because it's the pattern that takes precedent over where I physically seem to be today.
There's another theory that the life you're living today, is the life you created for yourself three months ago. That's how long it takes for the ideas you envison to precipitate into the physical world. In otherwords, it will take three months for me to see the life I'm actually creating today, and I'm living the results of what I created three months ago with my actions and intentions.
You may feel like .9999999. But if you're laying down repeating patterns for yourself and struggling to create a different life than the one you didn't like, you're actually mathematically 1.
I'm going to get kicked out of Boot Camp if I keep on trying to tell them these things during our clapping pushups.
The reason? Because in math, a pattern takes precedence over numbers.
I like to think of this as I work out in the gym. I don't lift as much weight as the other ladies. I don't run as fast. I can't do as many reps of v-ups. But I show up. Every week I lift weights twice, get my butt kicked in Boot Camp on Fridays, and spin for an hour on a leftover day. I have a repeating pattern. As I slog around the gym, last in line during the Indian running (do Indians really do that? I don't think so...) ready to drop to a walk, I remind myself that I don't have to be in the gym at all. I could be home watching tivo.
This is like my resurrected writing career. I'm creating patterns: send out queries to editors, get more ideas, send those out, follow up queries, get rejected, try again. Here I'm .999999 once again as I build a reputation for myself, and get back on top of my game. But I remember as I send out another query letter, that mathematically I'm the same as 1. Because it's the pattern that takes precedent over where I physically seem to be today.
There's another theory that the life you're living today, is the life you created for yourself three months ago. That's how long it takes for the ideas you envison to precipitate into the physical world. In otherwords, it will take three months for me to see the life I'm actually creating today, and I'm living the results of what I created three months ago with my actions and intentions.
You may feel like .9999999. But if you're laying down repeating patterns for yourself and struggling to create a different life than the one you didn't like, you're actually mathematically 1.
I'm going to get kicked out of Boot Camp if I keep on trying to tell them these things during our clapping pushups.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tricks for contacting editors
Getting through to editors at magazines can be like trying to wiggle a limpet off a rock. Do they want submissions? Apparently not. Read the mastheads and it's a rare editor who lists their email address or telephone number.
However, if you read the masthead you will also find out there are precious few people running that magazine. It's stripped to the bones. Which is why they rely so heavily on freelance input. But if you're a new freelance, how do you get to the editor? Generic emails yield extremely few results.
I will reveal the secret. But if you use the secret you're going to look like a fool unless you have a slick delivery about your idea by phone, or you've got a professional looking, well-researched query letter. With that caveat (because I have been in busy newsrooms, and I do sympathize with overworked editors who get into a groove only to be interrupted by a nuisance call) use the following tips judiciously:
Go to the masthead on the magazine and write down the names of the editor, managing editor, assistant editor - whomever you want to reach. Then go down to advertising: they're the bunch that want to give out their email addresses. Look for the pattern -firstinitiallastname@mymag.com. You'll use that same pattern to email the editor with your white-hot, well-researched query (no attachments).
Then see where the editorial offices are located, and look for the number for the advertising or circulation department which is located in the same building. Now you've got the switchboard number and you can call the operator for the editor's number. If you get through to voicemail you can: call back, pitch to the mailbox, or go back to the operator and ask for the person's assistant. They don't really have assistants, I'm finding out. These magazines are horribly short-staffed.
This method takes a bit of sales practice. I like to have my pitch written out in front of me pared down to one sentence. Then they can ask for more information or send me away if it's not right for the magazine, or I can try to pitch a second article. I think if I had a list of articles it would either be impressive or annoying. I haven't tried that one yet. I'd love comments from other freelances about this method.
However, if you read the masthead you will also find out there are precious few people running that magazine. It's stripped to the bones. Which is why they rely so heavily on freelance input. But if you're a new freelance, how do you get to the editor? Generic emails yield extremely few results.
I will reveal the secret. But if you use the secret you're going to look like a fool unless you have a slick delivery about your idea by phone, or you've got a professional looking, well-researched query letter. With that caveat (because I have been in busy newsrooms, and I do sympathize with overworked editors who get into a groove only to be interrupted by a nuisance call) use the following tips judiciously:
Go to the masthead on the magazine and write down the names of the editor, managing editor, assistant editor - whomever you want to reach. Then go down to advertising: they're the bunch that want to give out their email addresses. Look for the pattern -firstinitiallastname@mymag.com. You'll use that same pattern to email the editor with your white-hot, well-researched query (no attachments).
Then see where the editorial offices are located, and look for the number for the advertising or circulation department which is located in the same building. Now you've got the switchboard number and you can call the operator for the editor's number. If you get through to voicemail you can: call back, pitch to the mailbox, or go back to the operator and ask for the person's assistant. They don't really have assistants, I'm finding out. These magazines are horribly short-staffed.
This method takes a bit of sales practice. I like to have my pitch written out in front of me pared down to one sentence. Then they can ask for more information or send me away if it's not right for the magazine, or I can try to pitch a second article. I think if I had a list of articles it would either be impressive or annoying. I haven't tried that one yet. I'd love comments from other freelances about this method.
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Thursday, February 22, 2007
Has it really been that long since I posted? Time's all crumpled up these days. I could have sworn it's only been a week.
But since then, I've had my first interview broadcast on Bexley Public Radio (Local Power FM - 102.1 in Columbus), and sat down with our engineer Eugene to edit tape for a couple news pieces. We've had lots and lots of snow, so that's been a distraction. At one point we were under a level 3 winter weather warning, which means you're not allowed to go out in your car.
Since last week I've signed up for the ASJA conference in New York, booked my flight, found somewhere to sleep; and signed up for a 'write your non-fiction book proposal class' through Freelance Success on-line. Jennifer Lawler teaches the class, and although I won't be able to take part of it due to other commitments, I thought I'd better have my proposal ready for the conference to punt to agents and editors. I've also joined the Freelance Success query challenge, and have to get some queries shifted off my desk today so that our group gets some points.
It's been a HUGELY busy and productive ten days. Almost overwhelmingly so. On Saturday night I dreamed this amazing dream, and spent Sunday with my head in the computer turning it into a short story. It's a firecracker - but now it needs redrafting before it's in shape to send out. The week before that, a whole novel plot landed in my head ready-born, and I'm very, very excited about that project too.
I've shut down my healing practice for the month of February. That's because I concentrate so hard during the day, I'm too tired to give clients full focus once my evening office hours roll 'round. (I will be back up and running in March). However, one client came in under the wire. She's a writer too, and asked a question about writing sad or dark stories. For people who believe that intention creates our world, or that thoughts can turn into things, writing dark stories feels like contributing to the evil in the world, rather than being part of our Earth's healing.
I found a diary entry I'd written while re-drafting The LightCatcher. I had real problems with that book trying to make it dark enough. I'd become so deeply involved with my healing practice, and identified so strongly with the characters, that I couldn't give them enough pain to make the story interesting.
"One of my many blocks to writing I discovered yesterday. In all metaphysical texts they talk about not only the importance of action, but also of thought: how it's important to send good thoughts, pure thoughts, into the world, for the health of other people and also for your own health.
"Writing a dark book is an action, and it makes negative thoughts concrete. As a healer I don't want to participate in that cycle. However, the canvas (flat or sculpture or a novel) is a place where we can safely manipulate imaginary icons without damaging real people as we explore human nature for ourselves and others.
"That's why art is such an important spiritual medium, and a safe and right place to direct emotion, our wonderings and our wonderment. It's another vehicle of birth which allows the expression of emotion and the safe passage through to communion with ourselves...with others. Snapshots of other minds, other situations. Birth, and out the other side."
But since then, I've had my first interview broadcast on Bexley Public Radio (Local Power FM - 102.1 in Columbus), and sat down with our engineer Eugene to edit tape for a couple news pieces. We've had lots and lots of snow, so that's been a distraction. At one point we were under a level 3 winter weather warning, which means you're not allowed to go out in your car.
Since last week I've signed up for the ASJA conference in New York, booked my flight, found somewhere to sleep; and signed up for a 'write your non-fiction book proposal class' through Freelance Success on-line. Jennifer Lawler teaches the class, and although I won't be able to take part of it due to other commitments, I thought I'd better have my proposal ready for the conference to punt to agents and editors. I've also joined the Freelance Success query challenge, and have to get some queries shifted off my desk today so that our group gets some points.
It's been a HUGELY busy and productive ten days. Almost overwhelmingly so. On Saturday night I dreamed this amazing dream, and spent Sunday with my head in the computer turning it into a short story. It's a firecracker - but now it needs redrafting before it's in shape to send out. The week before that, a whole novel plot landed in my head ready-born, and I'm very, very excited about that project too.
I've shut down my healing practice for the month of February. That's because I concentrate so hard during the day, I'm too tired to give clients full focus once my evening office hours roll 'round. (I will be back up and running in March). However, one client came in under the wire. She's a writer too, and asked a question about writing sad or dark stories. For people who believe that intention creates our world, or that thoughts can turn into things, writing dark stories feels like contributing to the evil in the world, rather than being part of our Earth's healing.
I found a diary entry I'd written while re-drafting The LightCatcher. I had real problems with that book trying to make it dark enough. I'd become so deeply involved with my healing practice, and identified so strongly with the characters, that I couldn't give them enough pain to make the story interesting.
"One of my many blocks to writing I discovered yesterday. In all metaphysical texts they talk about not only the importance of action, but also of thought: how it's important to send good thoughts, pure thoughts, into the world, for the health of other people and also for your own health.
"Writing a dark book is an action, and it makes negative thoughts concrete. As a healer I don't want to participate in that cycle. However, the canvas (flat or sculpture or a novel) is a place where we can safely manipulate imaginary icons without damaging real people as we explore human nature for ourselves and others.
"That's why art is such an important spiritual medium, and a safe and right place to direct emotion, our wonderings and our wonderment. It's another vehicle of birth which allows the expression of emotion and the safe passage through to communion with ourselves...with others. Snapshots of other minds, other situations. Birth, and out the other side."
Technorati Tags:metaphysics, metaphysical, intention setting, intention, spiritual practice, asja, agent, editors, editor, energy healing, freelancing, freelancer, freelance success
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Monday, February 12, 2007
Which agents actively trawl for writers? Plus a cheerful look at conference etiquette
Don't have an agent? Don't have conference fees? Feeling out of the loop?
The best way back into the loop is through conferences. There you can hear all the tips and advice and find out what the industry needs as it moves in this rapidly changing information-driven world.
BUT if you've been to the conferences at a time when your work wasn't ripe to sell, and need to know who's trawling for authors now, then go to writers' conference websites and find out who's touring. Agencies will send people who need to build their list of authors; newly-opened agencies will cherry-pick from conferences; and one-man bands will also trawl for writers.
It's best to get your butt to the conference, get your mug in front of the agent with a good-looking business card that lists your website and your blog, practice your thirty-second pitch speech in the mirror the night before, and give it to the agent with lots of direct eye contact and a firm handshake. Professional. That's what sells and that's what you've got to appear to be.
I learned two conferences ago not to have pretty folders with my tear sheets and the first ten pages of the novel ready to hand to the agents. Each person said they never accept manuscripts at conferences. They prefer to receive your information by email. So don't look like a dork and try to thrust anything on them bigger than your business card. And be ready with pen and paper in case they've run out of cards and want to give you their contact details.
I'm like all writers. I sit in my office, most of the time with a makeup free face and my weight-lifting gear still on. If I remember to put on earrings and extra deoderant after my workout (I do shower every morning, so it's not as stinky as all that), it's a bonus. But the dog and the cat don't care. However, as my children continue to remind me when I get too freaky - looks matter. As much as I hate it, people respond better to people who look normal. They give you more attentive service for looking normal. They want to please you if you make an effort to please them by wearing nice clothes.
Clothes at conferences - I consider them tax deductible. These are clothes I will never wear other than at a conference, or some job interview I may attend in another incarnation. Makeup for conferences - same. I don't wear makeup, (despite the blue lady), except for eyeliner and mascara and lipgloss from CVS. So if I have to get my nails done and put Crest strips on my teeth and buy shoes, foundation and the whole Eddie Murphy, I think that goes down as a conference expense.
Do not go to conferences on what you cobble together from your existing wardrobe, ok? I did that my first conference. What was I thinking with those beaded cream party shoes and a sensible skirt? Apart from falling off my shoes regularly because of the hefty case - full of all those useless folders for agents, remember? - I felt stupid and out of place. Wear a black pumps and black trousers, a decent jacket and a nice sweater or not-too-dressy blouse.
Get the Mary Kay lady to show you the latest tips for applying makeup, and then practice at it. Hold dry runs. Makeup is a real pain-in-the-tuchus for me. I played in trees and wrestled with the neighbor boys, instead of Barbie. I was disappointed to learn the makeup I'd bought and worn forever - blue eyeshadow and silver eyeliner - had to go, despite the 80s being 'back' this season. In came various shades of brown, with matching shades of brown lipstick. Sadly, sparkles are out.
You're going to be at it for a couple days, back and forth to the coffee table and in and out of sessions, so be comfortable while you look nice. Show your personality through your earrings and your manicure, rather than mis-matched I-live-in-a-garrett clothes, or drama queen scarves you bought because you wanted to look like a writer.
Writers who make it are extremely together and professional. Be her.
PS - Thanks for the comment Isabel! (Previous post). I'm glad I wasn't the only bluesy chick scrabbling for inspiration last week. Hope you found yours!
The best way back into the loop is through conferences. There you can hear all the tips and advice and find out what the industry needs as it moves in this rapidly changing information-driven world.
BUT if you've been to the conferences at a time when your work wasn't ripe to sell, and need to know who's trawling for authors now, then go to writers' conference websites and find out who's touring. Agencies will send people who need to build their list of authors; newly-opened agencies will cherry-pick from conferences; and one-man bands will also trawl for writers.
It's best to get your butt to the conference, get your mug in front of the agent with a good-looking business card that lists your website and your blog, practice your thirty-second pitch speech in the mirror the night before, and give it to the agent with lots of direct eye contact and a firm handshake. Professional. That's what sells and that's what you've got to appear to be.
I learned two conferences ago not to have pretty folders with my tear sheets and the first ten pages of the novel ready to hand to the agents. Each person said they never accept manuscripts at conferences. They prefer to receive your information by email. So don't look like a dork and try to thrust anything on them bigger than your business card. And be ready with pen and paper in case they've run out of cards and want to give you their contact details.
I'm like all writers. I sit in my office, most of the time with a makeup free face and my weight-lifting gear still on. If I remember to put on earrings and extra deoderant after my workout (I do shower every morning, so it's not as stinky as all that), it's a bonus. But the dog and the cat don't care. However, as my children continue to remind me when I get too freaky - looks matter. As much as I hate it, people respond better to people who look normal. They give you more attentive service for looking normal. They want to please you if you make an effort to please them by wearing nice clothes.
Clothes at conferences - I consider them tax deductible. These are clothes I will never wear other than at a conference, or some job interview I may attend in another incarnation. Makeup for conferences - same. I don't wear makeup, (despite the blue lady), except for eyeliner and mascara and lipgloss from CVS. So if I have to get my nails done and put Crest strips on my teeth and buy shoes, foundation and the whole Eddie Murphy, I think that goes down as a conference expense.
Do not go to conferences on what you cobble together from your existing wardrobe, ok? I did that my first conference. What was I thinking with those beaded cream party shoes and a sensible skirt? Apart from falling off my shoes regularly because of the hefty case - full of all those useless folders for agents, remember? - I felt stupid and out of place. Wear a black pumps and black trousers, a decent jacket and a nice sweater or not-too-dressy blouse.
Get the Mary Kay lady to show you the latest tips for applying makeup, and then practice at it. Hold dry runs. Makeup is a real pain-in-the-tuchus for me. I played in trees and wrestled with the neighbor boys, instead of Barbie. I was disappointed to learn the makeup I'd bought and worn forever - blue eyeshadow and silver eyeliner - had to go, despite the 80s being 'back' this season. In came various shades of brown, with matching shades of brown lipstick. Sadly, sparkles are out.
You're going to be at it for a couple days, back and forth to the coffee table and in and out of sessions, so be comfortable while you look nice. Show your personality through your earrings and your manicure, rather than mis-matched I-live-in-a-garrett clothes, or drama queen scarves you bought because you wanted to look like a writer.
Writers who make it are extremely together and professional. Be her.
PS - Thanks for the comment Isabel! (Previous post). I'm glad I wasn't the only bluesy chick scrabbling for inspiration last week. Hope you found yours!
Technorati Tags:agent, find agent, find an agent, writer, writers conferences, writing conferences, freelance, freelancer, freelancing, freelance success
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Tuesday, February 06, 2007
The business of freelancing
It's hard to face the computer and the tasks I know I have to do today. We've had freezing temperatures in the below-zeroes for the past two days, and now there's snow falling horizontally outside my window.
Weather isn't any reason not to write. (Ok, revise that. It's very hard to write in August when it's blazing sunshine and the cool pool beckons). I don't know why I'm feeling discouraged. I've got two wicked-awesome tapes in the recorder - the first a collection of stories from the non-violent communication conference, the second the drug story I'm doing with the OSU professor. Both I like. I also got a 'good' rejection from Natural Health magazine for one of my stories today, and reminded them of an outstanding query on another story they might like. And emailed a contact to thank him for an interview, and sent him an idea. All good stuff.
But I feel blocked. I'm having a difficult time with this drug story, wrestling it on the page. Problem is, it seems like two stories, or even three. It has angles to sell to mens and women's health magazines, Psychology Today, as well as military and mainstream magazines.
I think what it needs is a day at Borders, going through magazines and collecting names of editors - but why don't I just use the Writer's Market? Because I get a better feel for the pitch when I see the real magazine in front of me. Sometimes there are magazines I've never seen, either - like the day I ran across Tea Experience Digest and that sparked an essay idea for me. Borders, Writer's Digest, or the Internet? What will it be? Of the three I like Borders best because I can buy magazines and bring them home to precisely target my piece.
So that's why I'm blocked. Because I really need to be at the bookstore instead of watching incessant, falling snow.
Weather isn't any reason not to write. (Ok, revise that. It's very hard to write in August when it's blazing sunshine and the cool pool beckons). I don't know why I'm feeling discouraged. I've got two wicked-awesome tapes in the recorder - the first a collection of stories from the non-violent communication conference, the second the drug story I'm doing with the OSU professor. Both I like. I also got a 'good' rejection from Natural Health magazine for one of my stories today, and reminded them of an outstanding query on another story they might like. And emailed a contact to thank him for an interview, and sent him an idea. All good stuff.
But I feel blocked. I'm having a difficult time with this drug story, wrestling it on the page. Problem is, it seems like two stories, or even three. It has angles to sell to mens and women's health magazines, Psychology Today, as well as military and mainstream magazines.
I think what it needs is a day at Borders, going through magazines and collecting names of editors - but why don't I just use the Writer's Market? Because I get a better feel for the pitch when I see the real magazine in front of me. Sometimes there are magazines I've never seen, either - like the day I ran across Tea Experience Digest and that sparked an essay idea for me. Borders, Writer's Digest, or the Internet? What will it be? Of the three I like Borders best because I can buy magazines and bring them home to precisely target my piece.
So that's why I'm blocked. Because I really need to be at the bookstore instead of watching incessant, falling snow.
Technorati Tags:freelance, freelancer, query, queries, natural health, psychology today, borders
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Thursday, February 01, 2007
Non-Violent Communication conference
The Non-Violent Communication movement is big in Columbus. Following the work of Marshall Rosenberg, NVC teaches people how to speak heart-to-heart and connect to their feelings and needs when handling difficult conversations.
I went to the two-day conference as a paying guest yesterday, but took along my digital recorder and a microphone to get some tape for the community radio station. I talked to several people and came away with about five interviews. It's a balance - I wanted to participate in the workshop but also knew that with the growth of this movement in our city, it'd be a great story for radio.
So that meant taking time to chat with people at lunch, and slipping interviews into break time. I made myself work when I wanted to relax, but I'm happy I did. Today I'm exhausted.
Marshall Rosenberg spoke for two days, and broke us into pracitise groups only twice. This gave him almost no breaks in his speaking, story-telling, ceaseless demonstrations of the techniques of Non-Violent Communication, and songs. His energy filled the room, making him seem younger from a distance than he appeared up close.
Time after time he coached participants through difficult conversations, helping them to breakthroughs of empathy and understanding. I saw profound healings of old emotional wounds all day, and believe that, on an energetic level, the healers in the audience also participated in making this happen through their attention, presence, and engagement.
But there was also a strange thing happening to me. Because I wanted to cover the story for radio, I'd emailed the organizer ahead of time asking for an interview with Marshall Rosenberg. I'd been a bit sloppy and left it to the day before. However, I knew another reporter would be at the conference, and that she'd emailed well in advance. So I thought we'd get one interview between us, and expected a fifteen - at the outside 30 - minutes shoed in somewhere.
Instead, I got an extremely chilly shoulder from the organizer when I introduced myself on the first morning. And continued to receive the same chilly demeanor when I bumped into him for the next two days. On the morning of day two, my colleague revealed that the organizer said he hadn't even asked Marshall about an interview. We put together a note with our bios and left it on his chair.
Funny thing was, I knew the organizer! We'd actually conducted a conference opening some years previously, and had attended a couple meetings together. I thought he'd at least put together half a smile at some point in the day. But it felt like I'd received the label 'Press' and he couldn't see past it. I felt sad that at a conference where we learned for two days to speak heart-to-heart, I'd been labeled. And also sad that the radio station for which I'm creating the story, was put together by the same organization (Simply Living) whose conference we'd opened together in 2004!
We didn't get the interview with Marshall. Although we approached him during a break, he referred us to his team. And when we approached the team at the end of the conference for one final bash at it (reporter 1: if you go up and ask, I'll give you lots of empathy if you get rejected. reporter 2: Deal.) their manner was closed down and brisk. Get rid of the press.
I loved the conference. I received tools I'll use for the rest of my life. But I wanted to share that joy with a wider community through my gifts of communication, and got blocked by being labeled as a pest.
Do I have a point? Maybe. Perhaps they've been burned in the past. Perhaps he's too frail to give one ounce of extra energy during two days of teaching, that he must reserve all juice for his healing work. Fair enough.
An editor once said to me: "Don't be a reporter unless you enjoy sticking your head in a meat grinder." In situations like this, that piece of unfortunate advice still seems to ring true.
I went to the two-day conference as a paying guest yesterday, but took along my digital recorder and a microphone to get some tape for the community radio station. I talked to several people and came away with about five interviews. It's a balance - I wanted to participate in the workshop but also knew that with the growth of this movement in our city, it'd be a great story for radio.
So that meant taking time to chat with people at lunch, and slipping interviews into break time. I made myself work when I wanted to relax, but I'm happy I did. Today I'm exhausted.
Marshall Rosenberg spoke for two days, and broke us into pracitise groups only twice. This gave him almost no breaks in his speaking, story-telling, ceaseless demonstrations of the techniques of Non-Violent Communication, and songs. His energy filled the room, making him seem younger from a distance than he appeared up close.
Time after time he coached participants through difficult conversations, helping them to breakthroughs of empathy and understanding. I saw profound healings of old emotional wounds all day, and believe that, on an energetic level, the healers in the audience also participated in making this happen through their attention, presence, and engagement.
But there was also a strange thing happening to me. Because I wanted to cover the story for radio, I'd emailed the organizer ahead of time asking for an interview with Marshall Rosenberg. I'd been a bit sloppy and left it to the day before. However, I knew another reporter would be at the conference, and that she'd emailed well in advance. So I thought we'd get one interview between us, and expected a fifteen - at the outside 30 - minutes shoed in somewhere.
Instead, I got an extremely chilly shoulder from the organizer when I introduced myself on the first morning. And continued to receive the same chilly demeanor when I bumped into him for the next two days. On the morning of day two, my colleague revealed that the organizer said he hadn't even asked Marshall about an interview. We put together a note with our bios and left it on his chair.
Funny thing was, I knew the organizer! We'd actually conducted a conference opening some years previously, and had attended a couple meetings together. I thought he'd at least put together half a smile at some point in the day. But it felt like I'd received the label 'Press' and he couldn't see past it. I felt sad that at a conference where we learned for two days to speak heart-to-heart, I'd been labeled. And also sad that the radio station for which I'm creating the story, was put together by the same organization (Simply Living) whose conference we'd opened together in 2004!
We didn't get the interview with Marshall. Although we approached him during a break, he referred us to his team. And when we approached the team at the end of the conference for one final bash at it (reporter 1: if you go up and ask, I'll give you lots of empathy if you get rejected. reporter 2: Deal.) their manner was closed down and brisk. Get rid of the press.
I loved the conference. I received tools I'll use for the rest of my life. But I wanted to share that joy with a wider community through my gifts of communication, and got blocked by being labeled as a pest.
Do I have a point? Maybe. Perhaps they've been burned in the past. Perhaps he's too frail to give one ounce of extra energy during two days of teaching, that he must reserve all juice for his healing work. Fair enough.
An editor once said to me: "Don't be a reporter unless you enjoy sticking your head in a meat grinder." In situations like this, that piece of unfortunate advice still seems to ring true.
Technorati Tags:non violent communication, marshall rosenberg, nvc, nvc conference columbus ohio, editors, reporting, reporter, community radio, simply living
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Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Writing Contests
Here's a site that sends regular lists of writing contests. But check Preditors and Editors before you enter anything you don't know by reputation. Some charge entrance fees just to get your money in the door.
Preditors and Editors is a fantastic site for anyone considering an agent, a book deal, entering a contest, or whether a person in publishing is legit.
To sign up for the contest list, send a blank e-mail message to crwropps-subscribe@topica.com
Preditors and Editors is a fantastic site for anyone considering an agent, a book deal, entering a contest, or whether a person in publishing is legit.
To sign up for the contest list, send a blank e-mail message to crwropps-subscribe@topica.com
Technorati Tags:writing, writing contests, preditors and editors,
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Friday, January 26, 2007
Journalism
I'm feeling my way forward as I reconstruct my writing career in Ohio after building it in London.
It's not easy. But I've found a friend in radio to buddy with, and we talk on Monday mornings and Friday mornings, for an accountability check. A radio friend works well because she's not selling to my market, so I feel good about talking about my stories, and I'm not selling to her's. She also encourages me to get into radio, and I encourage her print sales.
It's also a matter of finding out where to look for work. I joined Freelance Success. They send a monthly e-newsletter with publications to pitch, and host several on-line forums where I can chat to other freelances and authors. The group has strong ties to the ASJA and several members go to that annual conference.
Another great resource is Publisher's Lunch, an online daily newsletter from the publishing industry. You can get a short, free version which is enough if you want to just keep tabs on your genre. Or you can subscribe for a monthly fee, which gives access to an editor and agent database. Then it's a matter of typing in your genre, and up pops a list of potentially interested editors. You can also pick out a book that matches your book's theme, and find out who agented it. Then it makes it an easier approach. People at conferences rave about Publisher's Lunch.
If you're looking for writing work in your area, try Craig's list. Please add your comments to this blog if you've got any writing work tips or urls.
It's not easy. But I've found a friend in radio to buddy with, and we talk on Monday mornings and Friday mornings, for an accountability check. A radio friend works well because she's not selling to my market, so I feel good about talking about my stories, and I'm not selling to her's. She also encourages me to get into radio, and I encourage her print sales.
It's also a matter of finding out where to look for work. I joined Freelance Success. They send a monthly e-newsletter with publications to pitch, and host several on-line forums where I can chat to other freelances and authors. The group has strong ties to the ASJA and several members go to that annual conference.
Another great resource is Publisher's Lunch, an online daily newsletter from the publishing industry. You can get a short, free version which is enough if you want to just keep tabs on your genre. Or you can subscribe for a monthly fee, which gives access to an editor and agent database. Then it's a matter of typing in your genre, and up pops a list of potentially interested editors. You can also pick out a book that matches your book's theme, and find out who agented it. Then it makes it an easier approach. People at conferences rave about Publisher's Lunch.
If you're looking for writing work in your area, try Craig's list. Please add your comments to this blog if you've got any writing work tips or urls.
Technorati Tags:freelance, freelancer, journalism, freelance success, asja, publisher's lunch, publishing
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Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Reality?
This morning hefting a 15lb weight for a bicep curl at the Y, I said to my compatriot on the next bench: "this isn't reality you know. It's just a series of events that we label reality. What's reality is the template behind the events that precipitate them into our lives. Birth and death are the huge clues that this is all an illusion."
She told me to shut up.
So I tried again at the bank. While the guy notarized my letter, I said: "It's a 'what is the nature of reality?' kind of a morning. I guess this is a sign that I've got too much time on my hands."
He said: "Go to Starbucks and get a coffee and then drink a Red Bull. That'll shake it out of you."
He seemed so certain that caffeine would solve my existential questioning, I didn't have the heart to tell him I've given up caffeine because of palpitations.
I think I've been more existential than usual because A: I saw a client yesterday for an energy healing session and B: I'm working on a story about how people withdrawing from drug addiction have difficulty solving problems where multiple solutions present themselves.
So (A) the energy healing session showed me once again that there's a template level for our physical bodies and if we can alter the template we alter first our moods and our level of possibility in our lives, and then our physical bodies start coming into better alignment.
Part of (B) is that they've discovered a commonly-available drug which can help people in withdrawal solve complicated problems. This has wonderful implications - it means that addicts have a way to keep performing and reduce anxiety as they get clean.
What do A and B have to do with each other? Well, they are different ways of tackling our problems. Some people might say they're mutually exclusive. But I see both as part of a raft of solutions.
What is reality, anyway?
She told me to shut up.
So I tried again at the bank. While the guy notarized my letter, I said: "It's a 'what is the nature of reality?' kind of a morning. I guess this is a sign that I've got too much time on my hands."
He said: "Go to Starbucks and get a coffee and then drink a Red Bull. That'll shake it out of you."
He seemed so certain that caffeine would solve my existential questioning, I didn't have the heart to tell him I've given up caffeine because of palpitations.
I think I've been more existential than usual because A: I saw a client yesterday for an energy healing session and B: I'm working on a story about how people withdrawing from drug addiction have difficulty solving problems where multiple solutions present themselves.
So (A) the energy healing session showed me once again that there's a template level for our physical bodies and if we can alter the template we alter first our moods and our level of possibility in our lives, and then our physical bodies start coming into better alignment.
Part of (B) is that they've discovered a commonly-available drug which can help people in withdrawal solve complicated problems. This has wonderful implications - it means that addicts have a way to keep performing and reduce anxiety as they get clean.
What do A and B have to do with each other? Well, they are different ways of tackling our problems. Some people might say they're mutually exclusive. But I see both as part of a raft of solutions.
What is reality, anyway?
Technorati Tags:reality, existential, energy healing, withdrawal, anxiety
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Thursday, January 18, 2007
Toffees
One of the guys I worked with in London has THE premier blog for Ireland. It's rude and fun (but not explicit) it's http://www.blogorrah.com/ I think you'll like it!
Technorati Tags:poetry, writing, journalism, fiction, healing, energy work
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Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Spinning
I love it when ice crystals skate across the road in gray, ectoplasmic swirls. The temperature finally dropped after weeks of rain to a clear 28 and a crisp frost descended over the grass. Ice-cicles hung over the park's stream, and with the sun shining on the water glittered like our twinkling Christmas lights, so effortless without electricity or plastic or wires. Ice-cicles, our original sparkling inspiration, created silently, invisibly, unshouted, over a little stream.
This poem came to me:
I am the spider
weaving in darkness
creating what is to come.
Purposeless these silver threads
seem to me
over a stream with no fish.
But when the world turns
and lifts its burning eye,
for that day
my web
completed
a mandala of moonlight hope
circle and spoke
will catch what
Earth provides -nothing less -
and I will be satisfied.
This poem came to me:
I am the spider
weaving in darkness
creating what is to come.
Purposeless these silver threads
seem to me
over a stream with no fish.
But when the world turns
and lifts its burning eye,
for that day
my web
completed
a mandala of moonlight hope
circle and spoke
will catch what
Earth provides -nothing less -
and I will be satisfied.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Timidity
For all our bravado as a nation, we've been timid about standing up on a local level. Problems seem to large. The country itself seems to big. DC is too far away. We're afraid of repercussions, from being blanked by the other parents at school to being shot by a lunatic for voicing our minds.
I felt this keenly when I moved from Britain back to the US, and voiced my disapproval about the Iraq war at its beginning. People told me to 'go back where you came from' if I though our nation was wrong. Even though I'd originally come from Seattle.
Every time there's violence in my community, I feel cowed. That if I speak up against guns, some NRA nutjob will leave poop - or worse - in my mailbox. Yet how will we stop our children dying in school, on their own porches, in their own homes from guns?
I remember Britain after Dunblane, the terrible Scottish tragedy when a lonely, backwards little man gunned down a school in his home town. I felt amazed as I watched the British Parliament swing into action to ban handguns, rifles and shotguns once and for all.
They held gun amnesties across the nation. People brought Uncle Fred's service revolver down from the attic, and into the police stations. They collected piles and piles of guns - even a few ancient muskets that would kill the next person who tried to fire them.
Why can't we do this? Our kids die each year. If we can try to get a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage - which hurts no one and helps a bunch of people - why can't we ban guns? Is there really a justification for bearing arms now that its historical context is gone?
Guns do one thing. Kill. And it's totally within our power as a society to stop gun violence.
I felt this keenly when I moved from Britain back to the US, and voiced my disapproval about the Iraq war at its beginning. People told me to 'go back where you came from' if I though our nation was wrong. Even though I'd originally come from Seattle.
Every time there's violence in my community, I feel cowed. That if I speak up against guns, some NRA nutjob will leave poop - or worse - in my mailbox. Yet how will we stop our children dying in school, on their own porches, in their own homes from guns?
I remember Britain after Dunblane, the terrible Scottish tragedy when a lonely, backwards little man gunned down a school in his home town. I felt amazed as I watched the British Parliament swing into action to ban handguns, rifles and shotguns once and for all.
They held gun amnesties across the nation. People brought Uncle Fred's service revolver down from the attic, and into the police stations. They collected piles and piles of guns - even a few ancient muskets that would kill the next person who tried to fire them.
Why can't we do this? Our kids die each year. If we can try to get a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage - which hurts no one and helps a bunch of people - why can't we ban guns? Is there really a justification for bearing arms now that its historical context is gone?
Guns do one thing. Kill. And it's totally within our power as a society to stop gun violence.
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Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Keep on keepin' on
The act of creation is the hero's journey. Anyone who creates an organization, a company, a novel or a piece of art embarks on the hero's journey.
We are so used to working en masse, of doing what's been assigned to us, or what the prevailing current provides, that it's the toughest act to create from an idea that no-one seems interested in or bothered about, and to imbue that idea with energy, with its own spirit, and charisma.
There comes the point in each hero's journey where he can choose: to return home to safety, or to soldier on against exhaustion, starvation, and harm. At this eleventh hour, he always gives up and loses hope, if only for a few minutes. When he decides to try again, the hero finds he's changed. He's died a little death, and given birth to himself. A new, stronger, more determined and experienced person tackles the final summit to fight the last ogre.
We have all given up and returned home at some point in time. We've all plumped for safety over plunging on. But we all have to turn again to the hero's journey if we want to feel truly alive and engaged with the world.
What part of the hero's journey are you on today?
We are so used to working en masse, of doing what's been assigned to us, or what the prevailing current provides, that it's the toughest act to create from an idea that no-one seems interested in or bothered about, and to imbue that idea with energy, with its own spirit, and charisma.
There comes the point in each hero's journey where he can choose: to return home to safety, or to soldier on against exhaustion, starvation, and harm. At this eleventh hour, he always gives up and loses hope, if only for a few minutes. When he decides to try again, the hero finds he's changed. He's died a little death, and given birth to himself. A new, stronger, more determined and experienced person tackles the final summit to fight the last ogre.
We have all given up and returned home at some point in time. We've all plumped for safety over plunging on. But we all have to turn again to the hero's journey if we want to feel truly alive and engaged with the world.
What part of the hero's journey are you on today?
Monday, January 08, 2007
Under Construction
Got the stomach bug this weekend, and a gurgling tummy put me flat on my back in bed with nothing to do except comb through my energy system.
What does that mean?
It means visualizing the body as energy, and find the gunky places. Then you scoop out the poop, take it away from the body, and pour light (kinda like spraying on bleach) into that place. It's fun when you get good at visualizing your body and taking the virtual tour. And it works. Apart from tiredness, no more stomach sickness. All gone.
I found these little erector-sets around my chakras, the funnels which bring energy into main points in the body. (Acupuncture uses the chakras to help rebalance the body.) I seem to be under construction.
It certainly feels that way. I have SO MANY dreams. How can I bring them into the physical world, so they can be manipulated and played with? Work.
When I was a kid, work scared me. It meant picking up rocks in the back yard, .25 cents per bucket. But now I want it. Work means engagement with the world. Work means creating my life.
What does that mean?
It means visualizing the body as energy, and find the gunky places. Then you scoop out the poop, take it away from the body, and pour light (kinda like spraying on bleach) into that place. It's fun when you get good at visualizing your body and taking the virtual tour. And it works. Apart from tiredness, no more stomach sickness. All gone.
I found these little erector-sets around my chakras, the funnels which bring energy into main points in the body. (Acupuncture uses the chakras to help rebalance the body.) I seem to be under construction.
It certainly feels that way. I have SO MANY dreams. How can I bring them into the physical world, so they can be manipulated and played with? Work.
When I was a kid, work scared me. It meant picking up rocks in the back yard, .25 cents per bucket. But now I want it. Work means engagement with the world. Work means creating my life.
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