Living Consciously means being present in the moment, not worrying about the past or superimposing you wishes on the future, rather, just experiencing the here and now in all its abundance. That is a choice we all make on a moment-to-moment basis. When you’re having coffee with a friend while checking your news feed on your cellphone, you are not living consciously. Read more here…
A to Z Primer — A Study of the World Behind Your Eyes
Hey, I’m back again (so soon?) for Day Two of the A to Z Challenge. As background, after much wrangling with potential themes and possibilities for decent content on a month’s worth of blogs, I settled on the one thing in my universe that needs the most work — me.
The original idea came while attending my weekly yoga class. I take yoga once a week and while the benefits are amazing, they certainly don’t last an entire week. By the time I go back the following week, it’s as if I never went in the first place. Time to shake things up, I see, so why not combine challenges?
For the entire month of April I will attempt transformation from the me who sits too much, thinks too much, eats too much stuff that’s not good for her, doesn’t sleep enough, and who is so totally invested in being a mom, wife, lawyer, and writer that she pretty much will let herself fall apart at the seams, to a glowing, nimble, peaceful person who happens to also do all those life things but respects her Self in the process. Maybe my little bit of self-improvement will add light to the sum of light out there and the angry planet we find ourselves spinning on will perhaps get a dose of much-needed equilibrium. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not on some save the world thing. I’m totally limiting my quest to my own darkness and my own light, but if the light somehow spreads, well, that would be cool, too.
So let’s talk about breathing. Read more here…
A to Z Primer — A Study of the World Behind Your Eyes
Can writing improve your life? I’m going to attempt to write something every day for a month, and I’m hoping the daily blog doesn’t become the daily slog, but I want to see if I can do it, to commit to writing in a way I haven’t committed before. I may not be up to my personal best every single day, especially because my obsessive editing is going to be asked to sit this one out, but I’m going trust that whatever comes of this will be worth the effort.
Words:
I
They’re sweet like
honeysuckle,
hiding in the bushes.
II
They’re the words
of mourning, when you get
a midnight phone call: “There was a crash … ”
For centuries, the moon has captivated our imagination, influenced our bodies, and penetrated our dreams in all her evanescent, full and mysterious glory. Moon Talk, by Wade Stevenson pays a metaphorical tribute to the golden glowing orb whose raw, ubiquitous power can sway the tides, and dances like the moon herself between the dark and light, the fixed and fungible, a chiaroscuro of our favorite heavenly body.
The book is set in three parts: poems, musings, and some final thoughts and reflections of other poets and writers who have come before and all paid homage to the moon. Moon Talk may spark a need to close your eyes and lose yourself in reverie, or maybe even go outside and howl at the moon.
The ghost of Dashiell Hammett floats between the pages of The Chocolate Assassin, by Peter Durantine, a crime noir novel á la Hammett, Raymond Chandler and the rest. Set between two time periods — present day and World War II Germany — The Chocolate Assassin presents as a hard-boiled crime noir novel, but where Hammett’s characters are surly and disillusioned with life (think Sam Spade), Durantine’s protagonist isn’t bitter, or smart-alecky, or even mad; he’s just a good detective. Similarly, the gritty nature of Hammett’s characters is not present in The Chocolate Assassin, and that’s a good thing because Durantine is his own writer, and Detective Grey is his own man, a detective with a conscience and no particular grudge against life. How refreshing!
Post three in a three-part series on the art and craft of writing for children:
The Emperor’s Cool Clothes by Lee Harper is a reimagining of the beloved tale, The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen. We’ve all read the original. A very vain, very rich man, the Emperor, orders some fancy new clothes. His greedy tailors comply, but in the process, decide to stick it to the Emperor. They spend hours and hours creating the new wardrobe and when finished, present it to the Emperor with the caveat that only those worthy will be able to see them. Of course, there are no clothes, but the Emperor doesn’t know that, and when he can’t see what he’s supposed to be wearing he thinks he himself is not worthy. The Emperor’s Cool Clothes is the same story, yes, but the real joy of this version is Harper’s amazing illustrations and cleverly reimagined characters, modernized to resonate with today’s kids. The book is beautiful, a paean to illustration. So what are you waiting for? Go buy it for your kids. Read the interview here…
Post No. 2 in a series of three posts with three children’s authors dishing on the art and craft of writing for kids.
Justine Bugaj, co-owner of bookscover2cover with a newly launched PR and marketing business has recently published her first children’s book, Alex Moves to a New House, a delightful tale of overcoming fear and embracing change. Psychologists tell us that moving to a new house is one of the top ranking stressors, right up the with death and divorce, so if it’s tough for an adult, imagine what it’s like for a kid? How do children deal with the emotional fallout of moving? Justine’s protagonist does just fine, not only acclimating, but excelling by making new friend the day after they arrive with the garden-growing neighbor next door. This leads to a new life skill as Alex learns all about growing vegetables and plants. The book ends with an entire page dedicated to pictures of plants and vegetables, lending support for kids to identify real world foods. Alex Moves to a New House is endearing and heartfelt, great for young readers and curious thinkers, and a lovely addition to any children’s book collection.
Writing children’s books is hard work. At first blush you think, “cake walk,” but upon closer inspection you realize the attention to detail, the dedication to concision, and the ability to simplify complex ideas so young minds can grasp them is both art and skill. It takes a mental dexterity that you wouldn’t associate with children’s writing until you actually sit down and try to write a children’s book. I’ve seen seasoned authors near to tearing their hair out trying to get the scene, the theme, and the dialogue just right. So in that spirit, for the next three posts, I give you three children’s book authors, two new to the genre and one who’s been in the game for a while and let them give you their take on the art and craft of writing for children.
We all seem to be in transition these days and if the transition is a tad scary, Maddy’s Journey, by Julie M. Gotwald can help. It’s a kid’s story about moving to a new home, but with a twist. This time, it’s the grandparent doing the moving.
No one likes change, especially kids. There’s an inherent destabilizing factor that throws even the most stalwart of us into chaos. Maddy is a young girl worried about her grandmother’s impending move into a retirement community. The move means Gran will need to leave the house she’s always lived in which in Maddy’s opinion is a terrible thing. Read more here…
“ Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure.” -Thomas Watson, Founder, IBM
“The entrepreneur: passionate, unrelenting, courageous, and, arguably, insensible at times when it comes to believing in their ideas and visions–a friend of mine likes to think “entrepreneurs all have a weird tick,” something that bothers them so much that they start a company to solve it. My Co-Founder [of Everwaters], Matthew Lisle, and I definitely have a tick: 3.4 million, mostly children under the age of five, across the world die each year because of contaminated drinking water; it kills more than malaria, measles, and AIDS combined per day.”
Adrian Leivano, Everwaters
read it here…
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Green Life Blue Water 