Tag Archives: August McLaughlin

Appreciating Our Precious Gifts!

Hi Everyone!
 

Whoa…
 

What’s that smell?
 

Wait just a moment while I open up a window in here to let some fresh air in so that we can all breathe. There, that’s much better! Can you feel it? Can you feel that fresh salt infused ocean breeze from the Pacific rolling over the page?
 
 
 
Ah, yes…Refreshing!
 

Don’t mind the surfer. He’s just playing around in my backyard. 🙂
 

Now where was I?
 

Oh yes, that’s what happens when you get sick and leave a blog unattended. Things around here got mighty stagnant over the last couple weeks. Silence blazed through the pages of this ghost-like blog leaving it shattered in quiet desolation in the blogosphere. Why I’m still cleaning up all the cobwebs and dust bunnies.
 

Yet, with all the talk and the worry while I was away, life went on. You all kept connected, busy with your blogs, tweeting and posting on Facebook with others. I on the other hand felt like I was locked away in a cold dark dungeon and was finally set free to wreak havoc see the light. And what do I find? Myndi Shafer had her baby girl minus a gall bladder, August McLaughlin sang on her blog with a guitar (very nice by the way) and Tim L. O’Brien posted on his blog.
 

Say what? Tim’s blogging again? Is this still the year 2012? 🙂
 

When you’re forced into solitary confinement, a la infection, you make a choice as to how you might spend your days. At first you are too sick to care. Then as time wears on, you make a conscience choice: do you wallow in self-pity and depression or will you look at things in a more positive way.
 

I was inspired by all the wonderful encouraging posts that my dear WANA friends wrote while I was incarcerated. Because of weakness I left very few comments, but yes, be assured, I did read them. What a fine group of talented people who are willing to share a part of their lives, their world, their dreams or a splice of nature —a part of their many precious gifts.
 

Then I thought about how outstanding and versatile we all are and just how much our many differences make up the truly magnificent world that we live in. Some have a gift with an ear to hear and compose whimsical music. Some have a gift with an eye to see images capturing them in photos and canvasses. Some have a gift with a nose to smell and develop seductive scents and fragrances. Some have a gift of taste with a talent for preparing delectable dishes. Some have a gift with a mind able to calculate astonishing logical equations. And then there are those who have the unique capability to harness all those senses to create bright new worlds to share with the rest mankind.
 

Ah yes, the writer.
 

And for this, I am forever grateful. Grateful because if not for the writer and my new found love for my kindle, I would’ve completely lost my mind! Instead, I was able to indulge myself through the passage of wonderful stories. Stories that took me to another world, to far away places. First I spent time on a farm in northern Florida and then in a small country town in South Carolina. Then I found myself stranded on a deserted island to be finally rescued by helicopter after nearly drowning in a historical tsunami. Whew, that was a close call!
 

Not to mention all the new releases on Amazon over the past recent weeks from all my multi talented WANA friends. And I’m afraid that I may have missed some of them. So because I appreciate all your many precious gifts, here’s what I would like you to do. In the comment section below, please leave the name of your present novel and a brief description of your latest endeavor so that none of you will be missed. And just to even the score, let’s open this thing up to everyone, whether you’re writing a first draft or for those of you who have already published a novel.
 

Let’s have some fun with this. We’re all anxious to know what you’ve been working on! You all deserve the recognition! So bring it on and let’s appreciate our many precious gifts!
 

So what do you think? Did you miss me? It’s okay, lie if you have to! LOL! I missed all of you! 🙂
 
 

Would you like to see more great posts like you saw today? Then I encourage you to go now! Run up to the top right hand side of the page and click on the Follow button to receive your personal copy of future posts!!!!
 
 

Thank you everyone for dropping by and for all your wonderful comments! 🙂

Karen
 
 
 

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ROW80: Alive and Kicking!


Today is 3/11…Wait… Isn’t that the name of a Reggae Rock band?
 
“Whoa, amber is the color of your energy.”
 
Oh I’m just being silly!
 
How was your week everyone? I was sick last week, so I didn’t check-in. Did ya miss me? Well I missed all of you! This week flew by fast. Unfortunately we are still dealing with Hubby’s back so that makes things a bit stressful around here, but life goes on.
 

And no I will not break into another song!
 

So are we ready? Okay, here we go…
 

The dreaded check-in
 

Let’s take a look at how I did last week, shall we?…
 
 

Goals for Round 1:
 
 

1- Work on my current WIP.
 
This really could be combined with goal number two. But I am in the process of moving forward with both WIPs and also plotting a new story for my third novel.
 
Yep, still plotting and developing character arcs.
 
 

2- Check in with Donna Newton at WWBC once a week.
 
Check. I did converse with Donna via email this week. As you know, Donna is now reading my number one WIP. She says she is a slow reader. LOL! So she is not finished yet. Hurry up Donna! I’m waiting here! Just sayin’. 🙂
 
 

3- Participate in my online class to help authors balance writing and business with Bob Mayer.
 
All done. 🙂
 
 

4- Blog at least once a week.
 
Yep, posted on Wednesday. I wrote a blog about how a horse can give us inspiration for our writing. Say what? I know it doesn’t any make sense, but go check is out. I guarantee you’ll walk away feeling good about yourself! I have to say that this once a week thing is working for me. I also think that it makes it easier for those who follow my blog to visit and comment. And I can’t thank you enough for all the support and wonderful comments that you leave on my site. You guys are awesome!
 
 

5- Visit and support 5 bloggers per day.
 
I am happy to say that I have read actually more than 5 bloggers per day. I have been reading them until my eyeballs fall out! And since I have now visited everyone from WANA1011, I thought it would be a good goal to try to go visit everyone from WANA112. Although I’m trying to figure out how to get a list of those bloggers. If anyone has a list or knows of a list, please let me know. Thanks!
 
 

6- Tweet at least once per day.
 
Yep, I was able to meet this goal and I’ve been busy all week tweeting to support others. And I would like to take this time to thank these awesome people for all their support and Twitter love!
 

@Angela_Peart @DianeCapri @_FabioBueno_@Judythe2 @DebraKristi @PrudenceMacleod @GeneLempp @DebraEve @jenjensen2 @ElaineSmothers @MarcyKennedy @MDragonwillow @SSchroeder @jenmariepowell @jhansenwrites @MelindaVan @crothhobsen @AugstMcLaughlin @BMcDowellOH @Suesan0814 @RickBylina @GingerCalem @DeborahJHughes @alanasaltz @MikeSchulenberg @RchelFunkHeller @JBLane @StacyGreen26 @MSMillerAU @AprilPlummer @SusieLindau @Ali__Dent @MerryFarmer20 @DebraEve
 

Thank you for your Tweets and Re-Tweets! I’m sending you all a big Hug!!!!
 
 

7- Exercise during the week.
 
Nope, I fell down on this one. I was sick at the beginning of the week and then, well, I just didn’t exercise. I have talked to Ginger Calem about this over at #writersbutt (I know, clever name eh?). Ginger said that she would partner up with me and kick my butt into gear. LOL! 🙂
 
 

So now I’m looking forward to a fresh new start to this week.
 
 

Oh, before you go be sure to check out these awesome blog posts from the past week that caught my eye:
 
 
Even though we all know that breaking up is hard to do, August McLaughlin put a new twist on this particular subject with her post, “Beautiful Breakups: What the Revision Process Can Teach Us.”
 

Rachel Funk Heller takes us all on a ride with her amazing post, “From Reader to Writer: The Driving Metaphor.” Rachel found that learning how to write is a lot like learning how to drive. Let’s just say that she’s giving us the spark that will start our engines so we can really go somewhere when writing our stories.
 

Then across the pond Jennifer Jensen take us for another ride. This time she’s “Driving on Irish Country Roads” with her family and it comes complete with a vlog of those perilous country roads. All I have to say is watch out for sheep and cows Jennifer! It’s all in great fun!
 

Now if you happen to have a techie question then Jenny Hansen’s your girl. She is a wiz on all things technical and last Tuesday she wrote a post on Linked-In called “Social Media Madness.” My sentiments exactly Jenny! It is madness, but thank you for talking some of us off the ledge!
 

And last but not least I want to include Donna Newton’s post “So You Want to be an Author?”—Part Two. In her post Donna helps break down the confusion by educating us on all the different genres that exist so we know where our writing fits in and what the rules are. Rules? I hate rules. But okay Donna, only because you say so. 🙂
 
 

Okay I did it. I got through another week and I’m not alone. There are others that are right beside me to help me along the way. So that I don’t irritate my wonderful supportive subscribers, feel free to delete my ROW80 posts if they start to irritate you. They probably won’t be all that interesting, unless…
 

Unless I can temp you all to join us over at the party at ROW80! Feel free to jump in anytime. See you there! 🙂
 
 

So what do you think? How did I do? I know I can still count on your support, right? Or you have my permission to come and give me a swift kick in the butt! Uh-oh, it looks like Ginger Calem has already beaten you to it! LOL! 🙂
 
 
If you enjoyed this, I encourage you to run right now to the top of the page and hit the follow button to receive future posts!
  

Thanks guys! I knew I could count on you!
Karen.
 
 
 

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ROW80: Kicking and Screaming!

I’m still Kicking and Screaming guys!
 

Why I’m posting today? I have no idea. This has got to be one of my worst ROW80 check-ins. And that’s not saying much since I’ve only been participating with this goal setting venture for six weeks. Truly, one would hope there would be more progress by now. But sad to say, no.
 

Well, I plead insanity by means of family (invasion); if there even is such a thing. I should ask Diane Capri. She’s an attorney. She would know about this kind of thing.
 

Diane, can family cause insanity?
 

Because slowly as each family member arrived, chaos erupted. Every day over the last week someone new appeared at our front door. Now mind you, we don’t have a large place, so by mid week our home looked like a bomb had detonated. Clothes flung here and there; luggage, boxes, bags, beer bottles, wallets, phones, keys, sunglasses, and shoes were sprawled out everywhere. Blankets, sheets, towels and pillows strung along furniture and floor since there were more bodies than beds. If we had connected all the cords from everyone’s phone chargers, I think we could’ve wired the house. And the kitchen… Well, I should have just set up a cot. But I won’t bore you with anymore of the specifics, but let’s just say I was doing okay with my goals until we hit Wednesday and then things started to rapidly deteriorate.
 

I think I now need to find a detox program from an overdose of too much testosterone.
 

Oh wait. I know just the thing!
 

I’m going to hop on over to August McLaughlin’s “Beauty of a Woman” Blogfest post. I think that might work. And by the time I finish reading all those amazing estrogen infused posts I hope to feel cleansed, refreshed with my womanhood restored, and fully equipped to approach the upcoming new week. Whew!
 

So do we really have to do this?
 

Okay, ready or not, here we go…
 
 

The dreaded check-in
 
 

Let’s take a look at how I did last week, shall we?…
 
 

Goals for Round 1:
 
 
1- Work on my current WIP five days a week.
 
Obviously I did not work on my WIP again last week. Who could have time for that with the explosion that went off (homeland invasion)? I did squeeze in a little reading with James Scott Bell’s, “Plot and Structure”. And even though my eyes may have been at half-mast, I think I was able to retain a little something from what I read in order to move forward with my novel.
 
 

2- Check in with Donna Newton at WWBC once a week.
 
I did not have time to get in touch with Donna last week. She probably thinks that I died and fell off the the face of the planet or something. But I want to thank her for tweeting about my post last week. That was encouraging.
 
 

3- Participate in my online class to help authors balance writing and business with Bob Mayer.
 
If you have the opportunity to take any of Bob’s classes, this is the class to take. It will help give you the mind set on how to become a successful writer. Last week’s lesson dealt with “Courage” and we were asked what our greatest attribute is. I don’t know if I have the courage to turn in my answer. LOL. No, I will get to this on Monday. Monday is when I am planning on getting my life back. And well, let’s just say I can’t wait until Monday. 🙂
 
 

4- Blog at least once a week.
 
Yep, posted on Wednesday. Did a little revealing about myself in that post. Something different that I don’t think people were really expecting. Then again, who knows from week to week what I might be writing about. I just hope that everyone had as much fun reading it as I had writing it. And I have another interesting post lined up for this coming week. So stay tuned.
 
 

5- Visit and support 5 bloggers per day.
 
This is the first time I didn’t do this. Well, that’s not really true. I did visit several blogs until Wednesday. After that I fell apart. Again, because of the family invasion.
 
 

6- Tweet at least once per day.
 
Okay, this didn’t happen either after Wednesday arrived. I must say that in my defense, it was a case of insanity in which I am checking with Diane on this. I think I have a verifiable case. Though I would like to take this time to thank these awesome people for all their Twitter love!

@LynetteMBurrows, @LisaHallWilson, @Angela_Peart, @DebraKristi, @DianeCapri, @KourHei, @SharlaWrites, @AugustMcLaughlin, @colin_falconer, @SJDriscoll, @DonnaNewtonUK, @SusieLindau, @GingerCalem, @SerenaDracis, @ColeenPatrick, @Allanmhhuj, @NatalieHarford, @ LenaCorazon, @_FabioBueno_, @ @LynNerdKelly, @traci_bell, @JenMariePowell, @CCMackenzie1, @KESaxonAuthor, @BethanyLopes2, @Shahw1, @AlleWells, @ReneeMJ, @JuliaIndigo, @barrycrowther, @stacygreen26, @BMcDowellOH.
 
I think I’ve got them all. I do apologize if I missed anyone. If you are not following these people, you should be. They really take the lead in supporting one another!
 
Thanks guys! I’m sending you all a big Hug!!!!
 
 

7- Exercise on my elliptical twice a week.
 
I’m thinking about taking this off my list of goals, but I’m going to give this one more week because of my insane family invasion. I did get one walk in with the brother-in-law if that counts for anything.
 
 

For all my family subscribers, just so you don’t disown me, I really do love you and thought we had a great time. I was kidding, okay? LOL! 🙂
 
 

So now I’m looking forward to a fresh new start to this week.
 
 

Whew, okay I did it. I got through another week and it was awful okay, though I’m not alone. There are others that are right beside me to help me along the way. So that I don’t irritate my wonderful supportive subscribers, feel free to delete my ROW80 posts if they start to irritate you. They probably won’t be all that interesting, unless…
 

Unless I can temp you all to join us over at the party at ROW80! Feel free to jump in anytime.

See you there! 🙂
 
 

So what do you think? How did I do? I know I wasn’t able to meet all my goals, but I can still count on your support, right? Or you have my permission to come give me a swift kick in the butt! LOL!
 
 
Thanks guys! I knew I could count on you!
Karen.
 
 
 

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