Orchids and Prose
Thursday, May 23rd, 2013
Dare To Share, Photo Credit: Alexaa, Dreamstime.com
Words. A picture is said to be worth a thousand of them. Use a comment to share a few.
Rock. Gabrielle. Hard place.
Thursday, May 16th, 2013
Targeted, Photo Credit: Lunetskaya, StockFreeImages.com
Life rocks for Facebook, Google and other high-income, high-tech geeky types in Silicon Valley. In Sparks, the same is true for those living in Crescent City, and it’s even more upscale coastal neighbor Skye Pointe.
They work hard. They play hard. At the end of the day, they stagger home – or somewhere else – to bed. The typical ultra-chic, ultra-geek, urban lifestyle.
On one typical day, ultra-chic, ultra-geek, habitual rule-breaker Gabrielle Winston discovers something that she shouldn’t even have been looking for. Now she’s in the line of sight of predators at the very top of the food chain – and they’re stalking her. Mad. Men. Some want her head, and others want…well…different parts of her.
They’re closing in for the kill. Can Gabrielle save herself? Could you if you were in her shoes?
Spoiler alert: Read the ending of Sparks near your lover. You’ll both be glad you did.
Open! …or Closed?
Thursday, May 9th, 2013
Open Heart, Photo Credit: Alyona Ryazanova, Dreamstime.com
Fathers and Mothers; Children, Friends and Lovers; we all deserve to live in love.
Love is strength and passion; gentleness and mercy. It takes the best in each of us and reaffirms us all.
In love, hearts are given freely. But many times, open hearts fall prey to harm.
There are those who take love greedily, only with the purpose to sustain themselves. Black holes, they pull love in until it is utterly depleted; giving nothing in return.
There are those who take love to twist and deform it. The vilest of demons, they torture what was the most brilliant of lights into darkness.
In spite of potential harm, some of us still risk our hearts; daring to look for the one whose open heart completes our own.
We have an almost primal understanding that when one open heart matches another, each yields more love – to give to fathers and mothers, to children, friends, and each other.
Open your heart to love? Dare you risk it?
Climate Change
Thursday, May 2nd, 2013
Mother Earth PHOTO CREDIT: Kamensky, Dreamstime.com
When nations inspire hatred in other nations, innocents get caught in the crossfire. Do not despair. We have a place of safety and it is called Sanctuary.
When leaders protect only their own interests, they sacrifice our well-being to meet their own ends. Do not despair. We have a place of safety and it is called Sanctuary.
When neighbor turns against neighbor, fear replaces generosity with selfishness. Do not despair. We have a place of safety and it is called Sanctuary.
When human rages against human, do not despair. We have a place of safety. Mother Earth is our Sanctuary.
Too Many Balls!!!!
Thursday, April 25th, 2013
Pretty, But Too Many Photo Credit: Andrejs Pidjass, DreamsTime.com
It is a physical law that energy is neither created or destroyed. In spite of that, my energy disappeared. Fatigued beyond belief, I screeched to a full stop. To my surprise, my energy replenished itself and even grew.
Then I understood – my energy hadn’t really disappeared, it had simply been spread out across too many exertions. How had I let that happen? I’ll go crazy trying to figure it out, and I prefer to keep my sanity.
It’s true that life is a juggling act. It’s also true that each of us has total control over the number of balls. So this juggler decided to simplify and drop a few. Another surprise – I dropped more than I kept.
It’s amazing how few things are truly important. For me, writing is one of those few things. All I need to do is be true to my voice and let the words fly.
Hello (again) World! What are you letting go of today?
Doin’ Lines?
Thursday, February 14th, 2013
Waves – Not Lines Photo Credit: Stephanie Swartz, Dreamstime.com
Yep, here’s another one in my bait-n-switch meme.
Not those kind of lines…
The ones I’m talking about are storylines. Why are they called that? Lines are boring. Once drawn, they just sit there. Doing nothing. Whomever named them should change the name.
Instead, I see story waves. Each made up of rising action, climax, falling action; constant motion. Some waves are the tiniest of ripples. I don’t use those. Others are of the tsunami type, wiping out everything in their paths. Nope – not those either. I capture story waves that start off as low cresting and fast moving. Then I make the waves higher, and their crests closer and closer together. Finally, the story climaxes with the one highest cresting wave that is just right for the end of an exciting ride…oops – I mean read.
Story ‘wave’ or story ‘line’? You decide. Read Sparks.
Got Pot?
Thursday, February 7th, 2013
Pots! Photo Credit: Me!
Another of my bait-and-switch posts – not that kind of pot. 😀
Nor am I referring to our modern cooking pots. The pots I truly love are those that were made over the centuries by people now long gone; who sat at their potters’ wheels molding clay with patience and artistry. When their pots dried, they decorated and glazed them, and then kiln-fired them to permanently set their shapes and colors.
Even in today’s world of molded, mass-produced pots, the art of pottery making remains true to the traditions passed down from antiquity. Whether ancient pots were made for necessity, trade or art; today we revere the bits, pieces and unspoiled examples of their work by enshrining them in glass so that we can oooh, ahhh, and wonder whose hands gave them form.
What will survive of the work we create in these times? Assuredly many of the arts we’ve inherited from the ancients: paintings, sculptures, books, and of course, pots. They have already proved their longevity.
Will our computers, phones, and other electronic devices be enshrined? If so, they will only work if batteries and electrical adapters are also preserved. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Imagine the thrill of someone from a far future generation finding a piece of our technology, turning it on, and marveling that it still works. Tell me – can we wean ourselves from transient energy sources and transform our technology into functional art?
Leap! Frog
Thursday, January 31st, 2013
Got Hops? PHOTO CREDIT:Nicemonkey, Dreamstime.com
Just into my forties, mid-career; hotly pursued by footsteps. Closer, closer. Soon they’ll be upon me.
Ascending the pyramid, I’m approaching the top. The climbing gets harder. Vertical musical chairs. Only in this game, failure to get a chair ends a career. The dilemma: reach for the next level or hold on to the chair at hand? The young ones are looking to leapfrog me; the old ones won’t let go of their chairs. They fight to hold on while the leapfroggers use their knees as stepping-stones.
There are two truths to this game. The first is the door that blocks the upper levels of the pyramid. The key that unlocks it is sponsorship. A sponsor is a mentor – but with power in the boardroom. Those without sponsors are as chum in the sea. We are happy when chum is around because it means that the sharks have easy pickings. They won’t yet be searching for more agile prey. But when the chum is consumed, the rest of us are fish at risk. Beware the unexpected invitation – chum.
The aggressive, confident faces of the leapfroggers belie the second truth. That’s because they don’t yet see it. But soon, they will. Others are coming after them.
Above the Cloud…er, Crowd
Thursday, January 3rd, 2013
Above the Clouds Photo Credit: Bruce Rolff, Dreasmstime.com
For the past two years, I used a post close to the new year to measure my progress against my goals. Not this year – it’s far too exciting to look ahead. I’m learning publishing in the same way I learned writing – step by step. The business of publishing is in the midst of change. It’s like studying from a textbook as the pages are being written rewritten.
I’m about to say something heretical, especially for an author who only has an ebook: print books are still – and will always be – a preferred way of getting a story into readers’ hands. Ebooks yield a quicker path to market, which also means there is a glut of them. After writing a unique and compelling story, an author has to figure out how to position it to rise above the clouds crowd. That’s what I’m doing with Sparks, and validation is building – reviews are positive. It will soon be time to extend electronic distribution beyond Amazon.
In the meantime, I’ve emersed myself in the new story and the challenges it presents. Leaving Gabrielle and Jarin behind is difficult. Their story may still go on in novels to come, but not as the central characters. I have a community of stories involving the San Chapelle family, each of which begs to be told, each of which involves a different couple who surmount their obstacles and find each other. And yes, the story of Xavier and Netta is part of that community. It is a thrill to get the stories out of my head and share them with you.
A Holiday Wish for You
Thursday, December 27th, 2012
Love is… Photo Credit: Stasys Eidiejus, Dreamstime.com
Wishing you a Beautiful Season and a Bountiful New Year.
May you be surrounded by love, and may all your dreams come true.
