children again
honouring mothers
giving thanks
or maybe
trying to forgive

motherless ones
remembering with joy
or grieving their loss
or maybe
it’s complicated

childless ones
by choice or not
hurting or content
or maybe
waiting

you are, all of you,
worthy of love
you are, all of you,
loved

happy mother’s day

I’ve got a lovely bunch of starfish

There they are all standing in a row

Big ones (that’s my son’s size 10 foot there for reference)

Small ones

Some as big as your head!

Okay, that’s enough. But it really was a lovely day at the reef!

Peace…

Dad: What’s in your shirt?

Girl: Crabs.

Dad: Put them back.

Girl: awww

She walked back to the water’s edge, crouched down, and returned all the crabs to the ocean. Then she headed back to where her dad and sister were waiting, pausing to pick up a narrow piece of driftwood. “A walking stick!” she shouted, waving it triumphantly for her father to see. “I got a walking stick!” And she used it well as she made her way across the stones and up the small embankment.

And I thought, you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need.

And then I also thought, it’s that way in our creative lives sometimes. We think we want something–want a project to be a certain something, want a certain agent or publisher, want things to happen at a certain time (ie NOW)–but we don’t get that. The project morphs into something unexpected or doesn’t go anywhere at all, a form letter arrives, the waiting goes on (and on).

But then it turns out, somewhere later along the line, we get what we need. We end up with what is really best for us, even though we might not recognize that at the time. A disappointment makes room for something new…maybe something even better than the original thing we’d hoped for. A “no”, a rejection, a closed door allows a different door to open. The waiting finally ends at the most perfect time. We didn’t get what we wanted, but we got what we needed.

Have you ever found this to be true? If you’re an aspiring writer, do you look at rejections or disappointments as indications that it wasn’t the right time, the right agent, the right manuscript? Or do they just get you down?

Maybe next time we feel a sting of disappointment or frustration, we should crank up the Rolling Stones, dance out our stress, and choose to believe that we just might find we get what we need.

Peace…

And yet… Maybe I will manage to close the gap enough to do the story justice, to be happy with what it becomes, even if it isn’t the perfect story of my imaginings. It won’t be anything at all if I don’t try! And who knows—maybe what it becomes will be the story it’s actually meant to be. I have to believe that, I think, if I’m going to move forward on this.

Maybe that’s how it is with all creative work. You start out with a vision, and then you put your heart and soul into it, but then, when you see what you’ve made, it’s not what you were aiming for. Somewhere along the way you went off track, or you couldn’t “bridge the gap”, and you’re disappointed.

I think we need to trust that our creation will become what it is meant to be. That our efforts are not wasted or worthless. That if we put our heart into this act of creation, it will speak to someone else’s heart, too. And that bridges a gap between hearts. Between people. Isn’t that the most important bridge to build?

As you go the way of life, you will see a great chasm.
Jump.
It’s not as wide as you think.

– Joseph Campbell

Jeanne Ryan!

Congrats, Jeanne! Visit THIS POST to choose from the remaining prizes, then email Denise with your choice:  d(at)denisejaden(dot)com.

Okay. So, Back the the Future… The possibilities are endless, really. I could talk about how overcoming obstacles and learning to adapt is like inventing a Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor that uses household garbage to create energy when you find plutonium is in short supply. Or how making your characters face their greatest fears to create meaningful change is like how George standing up to Biff that one time changed everything about his future in a surprising but totally believable way. But I decided to go with the last line of the movie:

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Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.

I want to encourage you today to forge your own path, to follow your weirdness (as Annie Dillard would say), because what will really make your manuscript stand out is the way it is uniquely yours. I think sometimes we see trends in the bookstores or we read the Publishers Marketplace deals, and we think “roads”. We think, “this is what I have to write to get published! this is the path I must follow!”

Nuh-uh. We need to have a good story, and we need to tell it well.

Reading good books and learning about the craft and practising what we’ve learned…these things are all necessary. We can’t skimp on read/learn/write and hope to succeed, IMO. But then—

Maybe the DeLorean is our story (oh, the places books can take us!), and all our reading/learning/writing is our fuel. But when we climb in behind the wheel, it’s up to us where we go. We don’t need roads.

Happy writing, WIPsters. Have a blast!

[ETA: I realized this post is totally aimed at writers. For the readers/bloggers/illustrators doing March Madness, my apologies! I hope you get some take-home from all this Back to the Future stuff.]

Check-in tomorrow on Angelina’s blog:  http://yascribe.blogspot.com  

If all that happiness isn’t enough incentive for you, how about those prizes? In fact, I’m going to give away another one right now. Alex Villasante, you are today’s winner! (Go to THIS POST to pick your prize — your choice of any of the remaining prizes. Then email Denise at d(at)denisejaden(dot)com and we’ll get your prize to you.) Congratulations, Alex!

And now — you knew it was coming, didn’t you? — today’s Back to the Future writing analogy. (Please adapt as necessary for reading/blogging/illustrating. )

Writing is hard. Not always, of course, but sometimes *shakes head* oy. One thing that makes it hard is the taunting. What, I’m not the only one that hears it, am I? You know…that little mean voice that is sometimes your own and sometimes from outside you…that voice that says you’re not good enough, you can’t do this, it’s too hard, no one will like your stories anyway but hey, go ahead and FAIL. Yeah, that voice. It wants to beat us up, so it basically says, “what are you–chicken?” And we’re like, you bet I am. And we hide under our desk and don’t write for the rest of the day. We’re safe under there, but we feel lousy.

I offer you a better way:

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My dear WIPsters, don’t let anybody call you CHICKEN.

Write the hard stuff. Write when you get rejections. Write when nobody “gets it” and they call you MAD and you feel like a crazy person for trying but great scott! you’ve got these words inside you. Write.

Believe that YOUR voice and YOUR stories have value, and put them out there. And when that voice starts taunting and you’re tempted to run from the challenges or hide under your desk, take a lesson from Marty and say, “Nobody…calls me…chicken!”

Check-in tomorrow on Angelina’s blog:  http://yascribe.blogspot.com  

*drumroll*

Liz Mertz!

Congratulations, Liz! Drop by THIS POST to pick your prize from the list, then email your choice to Denise — d(at)denisejaden(dot)com — and we’ll get your prize to you.

After writing my last MM post, with its talk of Marty McFly and Back to the Future, I seemed to see BTTF references everywhere. And so, a Tuesday-check-in theme was born. (If you haven’t seen Back to the Future, I apologize for what will therefore be very odd metaphors. Also, go watch it.)

Today I want to think a bit about obstacles and challenges. We’ve all got ‘em, and we’ve probably got strategies we could be using to deal with most of them. But then there’s that one thing that seems to be a constant battle. Maybe it’s self-doubt. Maybe it’s procrastination. Maybe it’s time-management or fear or perfectionism. (Okay, we all know that list could go on and on…we writers do have our challenges, lol!) Whatever it is, we can never seem to get one-up on it, and we let it take way too much from us. Kinda like George McFly dealing with Biff…

(watch the first minute and a half)

So tell me: In your writing life, and in particular your efforts to reach your March Madness goals, what’s your Biff? 

Think about that thing…

Okay, now watch this one:

How are you going to stand up to your Biff? What’s the knock-out punch you can give it so you’ll be able to reach out to your WIP or to your creative spirit, help it up, and say with dignity and compassion, “Are you okay?”

Happy writing/reading/blogging/illustrating…

Check-in tomorrow on Angelina’s blog:  http://yascribe.blogspot.com  

Saturday Snapshot is a meme hosted by Alyce from At Home With Books.

On a recent walk, I discovered this cute painted rock sitting on a driftwood stump on the beach. It’s pretty hefty for a “pet rock” — maybe about 10″ long by 6″ high — so I could see it from quite a ways off. It made me smile. And I can think of no other reason someone would leave a simple, colourful, child-like bit of art on the beach other than to make people smile. So, mystery artist, mission accomplished!

This bit of found art got me thinking about leaving simple gifts for others as we journey through our days. A smile, a kindness, a listening ear, a compassionate word, a reassuring touch. Maybe even a little art on the beach. Such things nurture joy, hope, and healing, bringing a little more colour to a grey and weary world. Art at its finest.

Peace…

My parents live in a rural area. Cell reception at their house is limited to one particular spot in the kitchen and generally requires that you lift your phone above your head and tip it toward the centre window behind the table while standing on your left foot and reciting the alphabet backwards. (Okay, so the left-foot-alphabet part is a lie, but you get the idea.) So naturally, during my recent visit, I mostly left my phone off. When I turned it on one evening and searched for the sweet spot so I could check my messages, the screen looked like this:

Check out the date! My phone thought it was January 4, 1981. For a moment, I felt like Marty McFly. (Who knew the Model A in my dad’s garage was actually a DeLorean in disguise?)

After letting my mind wander back to reality (it doesn’t especially like reality, but it’s willing to check in now and then), I got thinking about 1981. Do you remember 1981? Some of you probably weren’t even born yet, lol. But me? yeah, I remember it. And guess what I realized as I thought back over the years? Time passes. I know–crazy, right? But here’s the thing: it passes whether we’re moving toward our goals or not. And March 2013 isn’t going to be any different. March will pass, and we can be right where we are now in terms of our goals. Or, March will pass, and we’ll have achieved amazing things!

Where do you want to be on March 31?

Think about the goals you set. Now hop in your DeLorean take a step toward your goals. Put in the time, do the work. Then tomorrow, take another step. And another the day after that. Keep at it (even when it feels like madness), and I guarantee when you finally get to the future, you’ll be thrilled to see what you’ve accomplished.

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How’s March Madness going for you so far? Are you moving forward?

Check-in tomorrow on Angelina’s blog:  http://yascribe.blogspot.com  

Remember, each check-in and each comment you leave encouraging others earns you an entry for some great prizes! (If Blogger or WordPress aren’t playing nice and you have trouble leaving a comment, try commenting on the previous day’s check-in or on Denise’s original post — it’ll still count as an entry, and we’ll definitely still appreciate your participation!)

It’s here! March Madness! This version of March Madness has nothing to do with basketball and everything to do with a Big Accountability Plan. It’s for writers, readers, bloggers, and illustrators who want to make serious progress this month!

Join us as we set some crazy goals and work like mad during March to reach them! Expect terrific camaraderie, support, and encouragement, and the occasional kick in the pants if that’s what’s needed to help you achieve your goals. Plus, in case reaching your goals isn’t enough of a reward, there will be prizes! Books, critiques, and more!

Each day of the week, one of our hosts will post a check-in on their blog (I’m hosting on Tuesdays). The daily check-ins will keep you on track and help motivate you, and each time you check-in on a blog to record your progress earns you an entry for a prize. You also get an extra entry each time you encourage others via the comments section of the check-in posts.

Visit Denise Jaden’s blog today to set your goals. (If it’s already part-way through March when you read this, no worries! You can still sign-up and take part. Some madness is better than no madness, right? )

It’s time to amaze yourself with how much you can accomplish in a month of madness. Ready…set…go!