Sometimes, it’s a matter of priorities. Where do your dreams rank among other things in your life? For me, the dream is pretty high up there. While I may not be blogging like crazy, I’m striving to achieve my dreams. Going to school to hone my craft while dealing with children and still working on novels is challenging at best, but will be so worth it in the end. I see the goal line and have every intention of reaching it. Nope dear readers, I’m just getting started, so stick around while I continue chasing my dreams. And while you’re hanging out with your Guinness or Triple Venti Irish Cream Latte,  share your dreams and what you are doing to chase them down.

No coffee in reasonable amount of time from when I leave the bed equals a very unhappy and zombie-like mom. Not the lightening fast ones that you see being depicted in movies today either. More like the original George Romero Night of the Living Dead type zombie. All stiff limbed and groaning. Even my skin lacks that certain glow that a relatively lively mother should have.

Maybe there is a way to avoid the morning zombie state. Perhaps if Starbucks simply mainlined coffee into my veins before I ever left the bed in the morning. You know, a timer goes off, not to unlike programming your coffee pot to start brewing in the morning. This might solve my dilemma. Then I could pop out of bed fresh and fully ready to take on the day. Or am I destined to wake in the zombie state forever? Come on. This is 2011 people, what’s a girl gotta do to get a little coffee on demand?!

We do this often you and I. You tempt me with your story ideas–a melody I cannot resist. The keyboard is ready for us to indulge in the movements we are so familiar with.  My fingers are hovering over the keys…waiting. A whispered word. Vampire. I think–overdone. Something new. Again you whisper the same word. I give in.

The words begin to form a scene that is all mine. The excitement builds. Passion for the art I so dearly love is reignited. Then you step away and take those little temptations that spark life into my work with you. I search for you and discover that my partner has left me alone to dance in the dark.

You may think this will stop me. That I will leave the dance floor. Spirit broken. But you lured me out and the song is not finished. I will continue dancing. Alone if I must. For I have not yet mastered this dance. Little do you know that my determination runs deep. So to you my dear muse, I have only this to say-

Would you like to join me? With or without you, I will continue this dance. Even in the dark if I must. Though, I do prefer to have a little company from my partner in crime. Take time and think about it. I will be here, fingers dancing on the keys.

Yours Truly,

Moira

Granted, my actions throughout my childhood pretty much speaks for itself.

The determination to have my way and defy my mother while I was still young enough to be in a walker just so I could touch a plant.

The refusal to let a single tear slip from my eyes when a slapping war ensued over an ashtray. (Again, I was at a young age.)

Move to my teenage years and my poor parents were dealing with sneaking out, breaking curfews, ditching school, falling grades, calls from the police, and dropping out of high school. Still, and this is by no means an endorsement for bad behavior, but I didn’t turn out so bad. It took many years, yet I know that the person I am today is a direct result of my parents guidance.

Sometimes, I guess being a bad seed isn’t so bad, if you have the right guidance with a dash of carefully administered love, you just might be like the ugly duckling and manage to transform into something those you love can be proud of. Hope I have managed to do that.

Now that I am done sharing my very round about thanks to my parents, the update is as follows-

1. I hereby forbid myself to work on any other story (outside of plotting) other than my paranormal WIP ~ Chosen. – Again, doing well I think. I have thought about my Young Adult Book, but no writing…but then again there has been little writing at all since the last update.

2. All current 117 pages of said story have been printed out. I realize this is working ass backwards, but I will use that to help fill in my plot structure and story arc. While doing so, I will not open up the original document and all notations will be made in either a notebook or in the side margins of the printed version. – Ok, hard to do bad on this when I haven’t opened the document or worked on the story at all.

3. The nights when the kids are with their dad…. I will limit my online time (i.e. the devil Facebook) outside of a brief check in or status update. The kid-free time will be utilized for writing and research. - This didn’t really happen due to the kids not being able to go to their dad’s in the last two weeks.

4. I will gag my internal editor as much as possible during this process so that I may actually have a finished draft before all is said and done. – This would have worked better if I hadn’t decided to change the setting for my story, which I did during the course of the last few days.

5. Once a week, I will blog about my progress. – Has been more than a week, but I did it, so it is all good.

~*~*~

..something to think about…

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was
repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes:
The musician played continuously.  Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin valued at $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the price of seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities. The questions raised: in a common
place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:  If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made…. what else are we missing?

~*~*~

If you would like to see the story please visit The Washington Post. Whatever else you may take away from this story, please take at least this… live in the moment, do not rush through it.

Scale back your long hopes to a short period. While we speak, envious time will have already fled. Seize the day and place no trust in tomorrow. ~ The Odes by Horace

While we all struggle to keep our heads above water as we tread the turbulent seas that are swirling in the financial arena, I believe it is important to embrace these words more now than ever before.  Why put off your dreams in hopes that tomorrow may be a better time to start the chase? It is all too common for us to postpone things and then the tomorrow we wait for never comes.

Each of us has a dream, or we should have, that instantly elicits feelings of excitement or butterflies in our stomachs. One that makes you want to crawl out of bed in the morning, and look at the world with a renewed sense of hope and motivation. My dream has always revolved around using my creative side. My head is forever in the clouds and when I was younger it came out in the form of drawing and writing. Though my dreams have changed or evolved, they have never strayed far from the original. Now I have the joy of pursuing my dream on a daily basis when I sit down and put fingers to keys to pen my manuscripts. Something that started out as a dream and gives me hope every day that all things are possible. This is my proof that I will take to my kids when they tell me of a dream they have and feel is unattainable.

Dreams push us forward, keep us young at heart, nurture our inner child, teach us to love and embrace life, and inspire us to reach farther than we ever thought possible. If you aren’t taking steps to achieving your dream, then I must ask you why? After all, what good is a dream if it is kept a secret never to be pursued? Think about it…. everyone’s dreams deserve a chance at being fulfilled, even yours. So I challenge you to go out and chase the dream, breathe a little life into them, and most importantly seize the day!

1. Unhappy with a story element
2. Try to fix and questions arise regarding the plot points
3. While attempting to navigate through murky waters of said questions, I contemplate what would happen if I lose one of the elements of the story.
4. Begin to write element out and start to second guess the decision. 
5. Turn to trusted friends and crit partners, who tell me they think the element should stay, but that I am the author. 
6. One or more of them slap me senseless and tell me to stop second guessing the very elements that make my story unique and interesting. 
7. A few rounds of brainstorming and I go back to the manuscript with a renewed fervor that will sustain me until i can start this glorious process all over again. 

So, I ask all of the enlightened and inspiring writers out there-

How do you deal with second guessing yourself? Or do you even second guess yourself? Have you learned to control that nagging little voice in the back of your head or simply gagged and hog tied her until you reached the end? I’ve tried locking mine up but it would seem the art of lock picking has not surpassed my dear inner voice. I throw myself at the mercy of my peers and beg for you to share your wisdom!

In the past I found myself in a similar rut with Romantic Suspense and Mystery. In those genres I found myself falling prey to the likes of Kay Hooper and J.D. Robb (yes I am not immune to any of Ms Robert’s personas). The key to getting out of the rut? Don’t know, I haven’t found it yet. Though on occasion I am lucky enough to have something fall in my lap that aides in the process.

Do you find yourself in similar ruts? How do you break out of them?

My mother asked me about a story I hadn’t thought about in some time. A nice romantic tale I have high hopes for. Scenes have fallen into place in my mind and although they aren’t really in any particular order, I can see the story taking shape. It just might be what I focus on next. (Afterall, my mothers opinion has hardly failed me yet.)

Ideas for stories laden with romantic entanglements are of no short supply over here. However, they ping pong (something I do quite frequently-just ask Heidi) from contemporary to paranormal. This got me thinking.

I’ve heard there are benefits to staying with a particular genre once you are published. As a writer, each story benefits from the things learned while working magic on the previous woven tale. Sticking with a particular genre also allows you to build a following of readers. But the ability to write cross genre has its appeal as well. If you can do it effectively, it allows you as an author to write whatever story comes your way. However many questions arise from these thought processes. 

1. If you jump genres do you as an author benefit? What about your readers? 

2. Is there a time in a writer’s career that is more conducive to genre hopping?

3. As a reader, how do you perceive a writer who jumps around? (Jump around… Jump around… Jump up jump up and get down… jump jump jump…. oh sorry)

4. In a genre like romance, there are many sub-genres. Where do you draw the line? Would Paranormal Romance and Contemporary Romance count as two separate genres or just a smaller part of the Romance genre? 

Ok, really my mind could go on forever with this line of thinking and I beg your forgiveness and understanding. I am firing on few cylinders right now, as my lack of sleep over the last two weeks is catching up to me. (Thank god I lurve my Editor Could you imagine if she were a real slave driver? This post would make even less sense than it does now.) Now that the rambling has set in, or rather, has surpassed what I consider acceptable, I am off to bed. Sound off if you please! 

P.S. Pop on over to The Girls on Books and check out Penelope Holt, our Author of the month. Betty has dished with the lovely Ms Holt and is spilling the beans.

Having my head in the clouds just provides me with a whole magical garden full of whatif flowers, just waiting for those like me, to help them bloom. The ‘what-ifs’ are food for dreamers and writers alike. Each whatif flower can give bloom  to more, simply through our belief. So what exists in your garden in the clouds? Are your whatifs made of magic and fantasy? Heartache and woe? Retribution? Mystery? Or perhaps they are made up of something else entirely.

Now with all of the talk of gardens in the clouds and what not, I must give my allegiance to the whatif flower which inspired this post… Margay Leah Justice

Thanks for inspiring me mom, dad, and of course …Margay! Oh and don’t forget to share!