It's the first Wednesday and time for the ISWG post! Can't believe it's already February! You can find the link
here.
It has been non-stop at my house lately and I this is the first time all day that I've had a chance to pause and write this blog. I've been trying to blog every Wednesday but I got behind in that too.
The prompt for ISWG this month is how writing has changed me as a reader, and I know there are a couple of big things. One is that I don't waste my time with bad writing anymore. There are just too many good books out there to spend time with ones that are a chore to wade through. I have my favorite genres but I'm open to try new ones as long as the writing and storyline are entertaining or informative. Another thing that has changed is that as I read, I pause and think about what I liked and how the writer was able to convey that successfully to me as a reader. I use those tidbits in my writing.
I'm in the process of writing my daughter's story, and I passed the 20,000 word mark. Not as fast as I would like to go but steady progress, none the less. I also sent the first ten pages off to a group that would help promote the book and it was passed on to yet another person to have a look. (They already have a book published for children about the work they do but the memoir would really be a boost)
I also wanted to give a shout out to Alex Cavanaugh for his book CassaFire, which I finished reading recently.
I think I have a bit of a crush on the main character Byron, and trust me, if they ever made a movie based on his series I'd be in line to see it! Really well written, definitely on par with Star Wars and Star Trek. I'm not even a sci-fi fan but I enjoyed both books so far and will be getting the rest of his books.
Finally, I take a minute to breathe and read quotes from my Daily Peace book from National Geo. The theme for February is Healing, and the quote for today is:
"What is required of us is that we love the difficult and learn to deal with it. In the difficult are the friendly forces, the hands that work on us." - Rainer Maria Rilke
I think of my daughter with this quote, because working through a traumatic experience is hard and difficult. I watch her struggle every day, but the strength she finds to get up and keep trying is inspiring. If anything, I've learned that all that matters in life is family, friends, and love, because those are the friendly forces that are there when the going gets tough.
We can definitely gather strength from our struggles. Sorry to hear your daughter is struggling, but it sounds like she is inspirational. I'm glad you both have a support system. Thanks for sharing about Alex's book. I've yet to read one, because I'm not a sci-fi fan, but have recently added it to my TBR list, and now you've really sold me. Can't wait to meet Byron! Thanks, Christy
ReplyDeleteCongrats on reaching 20K words! Steady progress is definitely better than no progress at all. I can relate to wanting to be faster, though. (I always feel like a glacier with my own projects, haha.) Best of luck with your daughter's story!
ReplyDeleteWow, thank you! Glad you enjoyed it so much. Robyn at Life by Chocolate also has a crush on Byron, so you two will have to duke it out. (Hope you weren't pondering too deep while reading it though.)
ReplyDeleteYou're still making good progress. It's not a topic that's easy to crank out and you need to take your time. Just keep after it.
Congrats on hitting the 20K mark!
ReplyDeleteAlex gave you a shout out on his blog. He posted your CassaFire snippet from this blog post.
Awesome on getting to the 20 thousand words! Hugs.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful quote. I used to try to focus on overcoming the difficult, but later I realised that I miss out on parts of my life because it feels like Im waiting to get through the difficult in order to start living.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your book. I hope you do find an appropriate publisher for it.