laugh about it now

Marie Osmond‘s Might As Well Laugh About It Now is a great memoir. It was a page turner and so damn enjoyable I did not stop reading until the end. I felt very connected to her personal trials, joys, and scheduling conflicts. The title is based on the advice, “You’ll laugh about this someday.”

I’m thankful I do not have a raging fire in my past, as Marie did, that destroyed the memorabilia of my life. I’m thankful not to use Sharpie markers on my face. Marie and I are the same age, so there is hope I can look as awesome but   NutriSystem is probably not in my future as I like creating my own meals. I will not dance until I’m too sore to move if a kid drops a snake on my bed. (Hm, I was too sore to move after bowling earlier this month but the kids are all grown and none ever had a snake.)

I didn’t expect to see comparisons between myself and the youngest daughter of an internationally acclaimed family of entertainers, with perfect pitch, who are Mormons. But there were many similarities in her family relationships that mirrored my Irish Catholic musical family, with a strong focus on food and faith, in suburbia Ohio. Plus, Marie and I share the multitasking skills of a mom though I only have four.

Last night, my astrologer sister checked the stars and said there are good transits for me to retreat and revision my memoir. It’s been tucked in a drawer for four months. She’s even offered a private place for a few days as my writer’s cave.

Someday is always today, regardless of the trauma of the moment, and it’s always a good time to laugh.

stars and other worlds

The big dipper looks bigger in my backyard tonight than it did last night outside our camper in eastern Oregon. It’s not that a hundred miles makes a difference, it’s the amount of sky in view. There, the sky is huge, the milky way is vibrant and we can see satellites tracking across their path. Here, there are tall trees that limit the view so the big dipper is all I see over the rooftop.

My writing exercise this week has been about limiting the view and turning an overload of information into a few focused pages where each sentence is bright and stellar. This was a good exercise for me as yesterday I again tried to distill a rambling 45 minute characterization-by-the-stars workshop into a coherent 1,500 word article.  I’m about halfway there and gaining confidence.

The other stars in my view this week are from My Journey with Farrah by Alana Stewart. It’s a chatty diary style book and the horrors of Farrah’s surgeries and procedures are brushed passed in the first half of the book as random information, like how many times Farrah vomited in x-many hours. So if you are interested in reading this book but afraid of it being too brutal, no worries. Alana mostly muses on thirty years of recurring parties and events between two blond girls from Texas who are really into down home cooking. Even with a roster list of big Hollywood names peppering the pages and parties, there’s little fodder for movie star fans to get an insider view of that world. Instead, most of the journal entries take place in Germany.

Even as breezy, depressing, and subtle as the story of Farrah’s primary caretaker seems, I was engaged in watching Alana change and grow while Farrah slowly died. I have not seen the documentary they were working on during that time, nor was that Alana’s reason for being intimately involved with Farrah’s care. Instead the flavor of the journal was for these two soul-sisters to have a clear record of a horrible time with a focus on Alana’s side of the story. They probably both expected a success story where Farrah could lament that while she endured these horrible things, Alana was off having a passionate affair with a delicious German chef.

I think that aspect of Alana’s journey is what shows an honesty few will admit as a normal reaffirmation-of-life response by a healthy person, intimately entwined in the shadow of illness and death. There are few stories that highlight the caretaker role in life altered events, and while it wasn’t Alana’s intent to do so, that is what she created with this memoir. All she really wanted to do was be there for a friend she dearly loved. And she was.

The caretaker story is often overlooked because the focus is primarily on the victim. But life is short, and personal growth through love and compassion for others is a really big deal to experience and almost impossible to explain. So the more I think about this nicely written book, the more I appreciate the time I took to read it. Regardless of her fame, or if she’s got a star on the boulevard, Alana’s shining bright in my mind tonight.

getting it done

Novel, done. Well… got the final chapters to my critique partners.

Financial audit of a sister-writer-chapter, done. I try to keep my former life experience in accounting a secret but – the treasurer knew. Good experience, glad that life is over… Realized from this exercise that I have to get my business accounts in order for what my future will entail…

October conference arrangements, done.

Still pending: Thank you notes to contest judges that gave me high marks, even in the internal/external conflict portion!  Yeah, I’ve killed the nice police and have graduated as a novelist to happily inflict trauma on my characters.

Still pending: Article on my characterization-by-the-stars workshop, as requested by attendees. This workshop integrates my years of dedication to the craft of storytelling with the hero’s journey as first defined by Joseph Campbell; the Goal/Motivation/Conflict objectives as defined by Deb Dixon, and Michael Hauge’s – Story Mastery templates…  all integrated with my understanding of basic astrology…

Currently distracted by:  a random tech writing job that came out of nowhere (which means it’s important for reasons of professionalism) and is connecting me with a more recent past life as an independent business/tech writing consultant. I’m going to assume the lesson of this project is related to the financial value of my time and effort. But I’m also getting great characterization insights and story fodder from this project.

I’ve got a mermaid on my windowsill. My friend Morgan was recently at the coast with her parents and when she saw the mermaid she thought of me, and my novel. So she bought the gift for me. A mermaid holding a sea star in her hands.

As I’m getting projects done, I’m also getting warm and fuzzy encouragements about who I am, and the past lives that are done, and the new ones being created.

wonderfully busy

Summer fun and juggling lots of projects makes me happy. Everyone I know is also extra busy right now, some of them like it too.

7/17/2011 marked the 14th anniversary of our family move to Oregon.  That journey is worthy of its own story and I’m suddenly inspired to begin writing it. It may take more than a year to complete it, or it may have been percolating long enough in my psyche to fly onto the page. Well, the first draft will…

Nothing inspires me to get busy completing projects-on-hand more than being inspired by a new story to begin. It’s a 14 year-old-story but I can’t begin something unless I know how it ends, and now I know how what was initiated then, has become a grander story than even I could imagine.

There was lots of conflict; drama, choices, challenges, loss, illness, and hurts, which makes good stories. But there’s also growth, happiness, and new stories created from the ashes, which makes better stories.

So here’s a mini webbit tour for you: Visit Costa Rica and go ziplining (this is the third time this month someone raved about it) ; reignite passion into your relationship (I’ve got more passion posts in process);  shave the cat (lots of cat stuff in my life right now); changed weather patterns (yep, she lives in my neighborhood);  how to serve the food (we had an impromptu dinner party on Saturday); and why writers stare (and why others don’t think we’re working.)

Happy Monday!

sport passions

I could probably do an analytical essay on the passion within the team and the fan base to build community through sports. There are movies that show how sports can even help heal towns and countries like: Invictus, We Are Marshall, Remember the Titans. Choose a sport and there’s a movie or book and they are uplifting stories.

My girls are into snowboards, horses, dirt bikes, and more. I’ve explained that my passion for romance novels is like their sporting passions but they all shake their heads because the only thing on the line in my novels of choice are the characters hearts. Ed is into anything aviation related and this past weekend he and our grandson watched remote control airplanes compete over the lake, took a flight in Ed’s Cub, and road dirt bikes. I have a bicycle and a kayak, no engines or competitions for me.

However, for most of my life I’ve been involved in the sport of focus for every season of the year from softball leagues, dressage competitions, rodeos, motocross races and air shows. I get the whole energy of the events, the dedication and skill, and have never taken a book with me to read at a sporting event. I’d rather take pictures, talk to others, or run the snack stand.

Which leads me Lisa Nowak’s YA adventure novel Running Wide Open. Her blog post, Off to the Races touches on many layers of the local stock car scene. It also shows the passion Lisa brought to creating her book.

Lisa also owns a landscaping business and has been called an “engine exhaust junkie” from a post as her work season was starting in March.

But Lisa took an additional journey to bring this book to her fans. Lisa had requests from agents and publishers, but the changes they wanted were not good. Then Lisa joined a team who were creating a new publishing venture but the additional work to publish others books was too much. Finally she decided to self publish and I’ve really liked being a fan on the sidelines of her story.

Her fans will be thrilled to know she’s working on sequels.

Passion

The word passion popped up many times this weekend, and when I saw the word in text on Sunday morning I realized it was a message. Suddenly, recent random things became interconnected pieces of a puzzle. I love jigsaw puzzles so that’s how I get messages.

Here’s how the pay attention to passion message was presented to me. I’ll list them in chronological order but I saw them all in a flash with that moment of seeing the word in text on Sunday morning.

The movie example I used during my characterization workshop on Saturday is Ever After, a movie I can quote even though I haven’t watched it in a year or more. The Leonardo DaVinci character states, “A life without passion is no life at all.” The Prince Henry character states, during his primary transformation moment, “You have more passion in one memory than I have in my entire being.”

On Friday, we watched the final scenes of The DaVinci Code, and we began at the scene in Teabing’s home with the passionate debate on symbols.  On Saturday night, a friend was looking through our DVD’s for a movie to borrow and pulled out The Passion of Christ, a movie I have never watched but has been in my home since we settled my parents estate. (She put it back.)

When I saw the word passion in print, it was in reference to a woman being told, “I don’t understand your emotional issues since you have a great life.” This is when the idea light bulb flashed for me and I knew I was to pay attention. My comment to her was she needs to channel her passions in a creative way. I also told her I felt I could learn a lot about passion from her journey.

It’s rare for me to get a three movie message for someone else so I am sure there are many reasons for me to get the passion insight that I will continue to explore. In this instance, I spent the rest of the day and had conversations with others, for me to feel comfortable I gave the right advice. This woman had a lot of loss and sadness in her past and few outlets to share it because she wants to be considered upbeat, positive, in control. Which she is, and the man in her life loves that and wants to provide a good lifestyle for her to share. However, it is a busy life with requirements, and there’s been little time for her to explore and find a personal passion. She admitted it is a good lifestyle, that she should appreciate. She doesn’t want to be someone with issues and didn’t realize hers are not issues, but are wounds, and a huge distraction from being passionately creative about her own life. Fortunately, she’s already in professional counseling and my involvement is only as someone who cares.

In my opinion, women have been infused with the feel-happy-be-happy propaganda and this can promote depression if there’s no outlet for a good cry or vent when needed. But too many feel they should keep negativity out of their life as they are dealing with their own issues, and loss is to be avoided. The law of attraction doesn’t differentiate between positive and negative. It responds to passionate intent.

This woman, who triggered my personal pay attention to passion message, has worked hard on her spiritual growth, self esteem, and education. Once she stopped trying to “get past the sadness to be happy,” and made a passionate plea to attract, “help!” it was swift and abundant as the cavalry-charging-to-the-rescue, with hugs. Comfort was always available but first she needed the courage to ask. Hiding wounds does not help them heal. She’s still on the healing journey but with a new sense of constant virtual hugs from many.

The law of attraction doesn’t operate as we feel it should. But it will give us the courage to ask for help. It will attract hugs and support, and deliver comfort and understanding during times of loss and sadness.

So this piece of the passion puzzle is specific to the law of attraction as an energy force within our power, that is for more than attracting wealth, happiness and a good parking spot.

Spirit of the Mountain

Spirit of the Mountain by Paty Jager is a book to savor for the story, the style, and so much more. As one reviewer stated, “Spirit of the Mountain is the historical I’ve been hoping for since reading Pocahontas.“

Based in Wallowa County 1770, Wren of the Nimiipu holds her mountain and her people dear in her heart even if she is a bit more high spirited than her father would wish. It is when she feels being torn from all she loves is her gift to save her people as fated by her vision quest, that Wren shows her whole heart. Then her adventure and this rich and powerful love story begins. As the author states – “The daily activities and beliefs of the Nimiipu in this book are factual -” and Ms. Jager presents a beautiful world laced with the magic of nature and entwined with the spirit of the mountain.

Once I entered Wren’s world, as a reader, I was swept into another time and culture full of beauty, passion, and dangers. The challenges and choices have deep meaning, and require extreme trials.

Hell on the Heart by Nancy Brophy is a really good contemporary romantic suspense that also took me into a different world and culture. Ms. Brophy presents a Texas gypsy compound that has a strong balance between mystical traditions and current crime prevention technologies.

What these two book have shown me is that I prefer stories where the characters have personal philosophies for their lives and strong cultural structures and communities. Between reading these two books I also quickly read through some best-seller authors and found the characters too generic and the stories shallow, even though the writing and craftsmanship was good.

For some more books to choose:  Minnette Meador and Jessa Slade also have new/recent releases that I highly recommend. And Delle Jacobs has another of her books as a Free Read on Amazon.

after the wedding

The bride and groom are back from their honeymoon and I’m in this strange place of now called – after the wedding.  Those three words became a litany this spring as many other projects and opportunities were in process. I focused on the tasks as needed but oft repeated the phrase, “I’ll give this more attention after the wedding.”

The wedding presented awesome stories spread before me like a fanned deck of cards. Many unique and wild characters stood out from the deck and revealed themselves as jokers, queens, aces, and more. I could easily spend a month making notes for future stories. But I haven’t because I was asked to move the Characterization by the Stars workshop I offered to present to my writer group – to July, which means this Saturday, instead of in September.

I also agreed to complete two business projects this month, one a tech writing job, the other is to audit a small non-profit’s set of financial records. I got word that my marketing partner and I are now on the back-up list as workshop presenters at a conference in October.

Both business projects and scheduled workshops were confirmed during the week of wedding activities and before my sister Rose returned to Ohio. We chuckled that I’d better get the final chapters of my novel to my critique partners as an editor may soon be asking for the polished complete. And, I’d better hustle on the editorial comments on my memoir. These are tasks I stated would become my focus after-the-wedding.

But before I could nap, my sister Sharon wanted us to wind down together and forwarded this Inelia Benz interview with Bill Ryan from Project Avalon. I downloaded the 29-page-transcript and took it to our slumber-party.  This meant the first thing I did after the wedding was delve into aliens, multiple-time/life lines, and galactic potentials. Which would be really beneficial if I wrote paranormal novels.

The reasons for our shared interest are many but the main one is, Sharon and I were raised under the pending Armageddon (the Apocalypse energy) and Ms. Benz clearly stated it’s not gonna happen anymore. Humanity is about 70% complete in balancing the rules of our evolution game to a more positive playing field on Mother Earth. (She didn’t state how long before that 30% of fear and war negativity will end.) Our dad did state, in 2003, that we didn’t have to worry about the Armageddon stuff anymore and could live with the potential of a future. But Dad didn’t tell us girls, he told one of our nephews, who shared the news with me after Dad’s funeral.

I’ve always planned the potential for a future. I’ve often said, “the future is yet to be written and I’m going to write it.” This applies to all as we are the authors of our life story. But when it rains, it pours. In Oregon the rains have stopped and the weather is gorgeous. This means Ed has to rebuild an old laptop for my use so I can meet all these deadlines and still spend these prime weeks at our summer place.

I’m also recovering from a bowling party. Show-off injuries. I’ll save that story for another post.  Also, coming soon, a review of Spirit of the Mountain by Paty Jager - a book to savor.