CONTESTS - The Competitive Art for Writers

Most unpublished authors, at least those who are members of RWA, invertibly wonder—are contests for me?  Perhaps. 

On the positive side, contests can provide invaluable feedback.  Anonymous judges are often a better indicator of your writing ability than friends, family and even critique partners.  And if you final, you can get the attention of editors and agents

The negatives?  First contests are expensive.  If you decide to take the plunge, make sure you keep a tally of those deductible expenses.  And while contests provide good feedback, you occasionally will get a judge who simply doesn’t get it…or you. 

Should you decide to take the plunge into the contest waters, here are a few hints:

• First, make sure you entry is the best it can be.  Then, download a copy of the scoresheet and rate your entry—be honest.  Fix those pacing and dialogue issues.
• Know your genre.  You can bet most of the judges will.
• No prologues.
• No backstory in first five pages.  Absolutely NONE.
• Double-check spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
• Don’t just get feedback before you submit your entry—get lots of feedback.  Find someone who bores easily and is brutally honest. 
• End your entry with a hook—even if you fall short of the allowable pages or word count.
• Enter contests that drop the lowest score.  Our business is a subjective one.  The odds of getting one judge who doesn’t like your story/voice/style are very high.  Improve your odds by getting her score eliminated.
• Once you submit your entry, get back to writing.
• Once you get the contest results, get back to writing.

Whether you win, place, or get a no-go, celebrate!  Then, honestly consider all feedback.  Does the comment have merit?  Has more than one person made a similar comment?  If the answer is yes, rework your entry and try again.  If you get a low score you feel is undeserved, remember contests are a microcosm of the reading public.  Some people will love you, some won’t.  So  reinforce your sense of humor (i.e, buck up).

 
And most important, believe in yourself.  One study showed that people with high expectations get what they want nine out of ten times.    To improve your chances of winning, combine this believe with the suggestions above. J

Putting Positive Vibes On Our Pages -- Vonnie Davis

Writing a positive and enjoyable story, whether fiction or non-fiction, is hard when we're in a "blue funk." Sadness comes to us all, in one form or another, sometimes in short duration and sometimes for a season. As Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet, "When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions." Don't we all feel like that sometimes? As if we're weighed down with one problem or crisis after another?

Often sadness forms like an odious vapor from within our souls. Then again, it may rain on us from outside sources. Either way, we are affected and sometimes unable to write.

Our creativity becomes a prisoner, encased within the bubble of these morose, unhappy or depressing emotions.

Or is it?

Many songs have been written as a result of a catastrophe in the song writer's life. A lost life of someone held dear or the loss of a love. "Tears in Heaven," for example is a grief-spurred ballad written by Eric Clapton after losing his 4-year-old son, who died upon falling from an apartment window.

Pain can immobilize us or make us sound out, either with music or poetry or prose.

Depression can pull us down into a numbing abyss. Or we can fight like hell to rise above. Either way--succumbing or surviving--is never easy. Both can zap our energies. Both can take a chunk of our souls. However, surviving leads us to the emotional sunlight of healing. And so we keep fighting.

Perhaps we can keep writing, too. Oh, not our current WIP's perhaps, but we can write down our emotions with all it's vivid blues and swirling grays. We can fill the blank computer screen or pristine journals with our disjointed emotional thoughts. A stanza of poetry might surprise us. Or a magazine article. One thing for sure, by writing down our emotions, we create a well of resouce for ourselves.

If I put down my feelings of dispair over a health issue, perhaps. Then one day, months later, when my character is facing something incredibly scary, I can go back to my "Blues File" and pull forth an emotion my character needs.

In otherwords, use your negative emotions for good. Don't deny them, but feel them, taste them, smell them. Allow them to roll around on your hands as you examine them. Paint them honestly on a computer screen or canvas. For one day, they may become something profound on a page. Something that resounds with someone else. Someone who needs a touch of positive reinforcement.

If at first it doesn't work....

'If at first is doesn't work, try, and try again.'

And so it is with meditation. 

Sorry Sandra :-) but there's another saying 'There's more than one way to skin a cat.' (Honest I am a cat lover!)

So if one way of meditating doesn't work for you, but you still feel you'd like to benefit from meditation, then experiment.

In the past I have talked about finding a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed to meditate, but for some that mind of environment would put them off.

A friend asked if she could dance while meditating in a workshop.  No one minded so this friend danced round the room during four meditations that took place during the workshop.

Another  member of the group asked how she could possibly concentrate while dancing, and her answer, ‘To me dancing IS meditation.’

So today my meditation message is brief.  If you can’t relax in a quiet place to meditate, then find a way to meditate while doing something else that relaxes you.

http://sherrygloagtheheartofromance.blogspot.co.uk/

The Reserved Brit

Free Pet Wallpaper

Like its American cousin, the British Shorthair broke through the class barrier and went from upstart to royalty.  It was brought to England by the Romans over two thousand years ago. This tough guy spent much of its time fighting in alleys and roaming the streets.
In the late 1800s, the British Shorthair came out of barns and into cat shows as a breed of its own.
World War II decimated the breed. After the war, it was cross bred with Persians and short hair breeds to build back up. After the cross-breeding ended, the result was a round-faced, large cat with an easy going disposition.
These felines come in a wide array of colors, the most common being British Blue. Whatever the color, this beautiful animal has a large head set on a thick powerful neck and a wide chest. Its a very healthy feline. Its coat, thick and velvety.
The British Shorthair is an affectionate cat that often adopts the whole family instead of just one person. It follows its humans around like a dog, will sit quietly by their side, likes children and other pets.
Like a lot of us, the British Shorthair tends to put on pounds when it reaches middle-age. Its diet should be carefully monitored so that his/her life expectancy of fourteen to twenty years isn't cut short.
If this beautiful cat does suffer from health problems, its probably  gingivitis or  cardiomyopathy.
This is a large cat. The males may weigh as much as eighteen pounds.
British Shorthairs are an affectionate cat but they don't normally like to be held or carried around. Interested in adding one to your family?  Even though, this breed is rare in America, before you go to a breeder, please check your local rescue or shelter and save a life.

Featured Finds: The Redemption of Lord Rawlings by Rachael Van Dyken

Regency Romance is something I'm being drawn to more and more.  I had the opportunity to meet Rachel Van Dyken at the Romance Times Booklovers' convention and am falling in love with her style.  

She's a USA Today best selling multi-published author with titles such as Waltzing With The Wallflower, Every Girl Does It, An Unlikely Alliance, Compromising Kessen, and The Parting Gift.  She recently celebrated the release of The Redemption of Lord Rawlings, book three in the House of Renwick series following the bestsellers The Ugly Duckling Debutante and The Seduction of Sebastian St. James.

 But let get to the good stuff.  Lord Rawlings.  Is there really a chance he can be redeemed? 

Click Image To Purchase

 The Redemption of Lord Rawlings

Blurb

Phillip Crawford, the eighth Earl of Rawlings and notorious rake of the ton, has come to the end of his rope. Out of money, out of favor, and out of luck, he wanders the streets of London in the rain, hoping to be hit by inspiration...or a runaway carriage. Something has to give. It is his father's final cruel trick to hold his inheritance just out of reach, requiring him to marry by his next birthday in order to claim his full rights as earl. His step-mother refuses to offer him any more support. With no money, no prospects and no other place to turn, he has only two options:

Marriage or debtor's prison.

The better choice seems clear enough, but with his name and reputation being attacked daily in the society papers, there's not a proper lady in all of London desperate enough to accept him. It isn't going to be easy, even if the reports of his exploits and rakish lifestyle are greatly exaggerated.

On the other hand, debtor's prison does start to look much more appealing when the only friends he has left decide to help him in his search for the perfect bride. Matters become much more complicated when the only woman who shows an interest in him just happens to be the young sister-in-law of the Duke of Tempest; the same man who, just months ago, had been tempted to kill him.

One thing is for certain, as the Season draws to an end, Lord Rawlings will have to decide once and for all, if his wicked ways are enough to bring him contentment in life, or if a leopard really can change his spots. Or in Phillip's case—can a devil truly be redeemed?

The Redemption of Lord Rawlings

Excerpt

This author’s curiosity had been piqued. While taking an innocent stroll through Mayfair, it was noted that a curricle of a certain earl was outside a particular duke’s home. Well, they say that opposites attract. This author wonders if even the Angel Duke can influence a man as corrupt as Rawlings. It has been said that he once had a mistress in every hair colour to suite his scandalous tastes. Alas, it seems we will be seeing more of this unfortunate creature. Ladies, guard your honor.—Mrs. Peabody’s Society Papers

Of all the ways for a man to swallow his pride, this had to be the worst. Phillip arrived at the house of his once betrothed, now the Duchess of Tempest, and one of the wealthiest dukes of the realm—a man he had wanted to kill and a woman he had desired for himself not so long ago.

Asking them for help was reminiscent of the time Lady Fenton had yelled at him for gawking at her bosom, when he was all but one and five. The lads hadn’t let him live it down for years. He had been appalled the witch had seen him staring, and to this day, felt he couldn’t quite look at her in the face without thinking of something else entirely. Shuddering, he lifted his gloved hand to the door and knocked.

They should be just about ready for afternoon callers. And although it was a little early for the women to begin making visits, Phillip had hoped he could have this dreadful conversation done and over with before the dandies and puppies made their appearances. No doubt they would be crowding the doors of the duke’s home in hopes of an audience with Abigail.

He shook his head, a cynical grin creasing his lips. It would be impossible to use any other sort of address for her. She would always simply be, Abby. Not Miss Abigail Gates. And certainly thinking of her marrying and obtaining a title made him want to spit. Fortunately, it seemed she was merely out for a bit of fun this Season and not planning to marry. Her actions proved she was nothing more than a curious innocent out for London adventure.

“My lord?” The butler answered the door and recognized Phillip. Not because he was such a good friend of the duke’s, much to Phillip’s dismay, but because he was the infamous rake. That blasted Mrs. Peabody had made him sound more deranged than even he could imagine. How was it that the menacing woman knew what he was up to so often? It seemed he was being stalked like a lion’s prey, and he did not appreciate it one bit. For every time he read the society papers a new sin of his was on display, warning the entirety of the female population in London to be wary of him.

It was another reason he had decided to take Emma up on her offer.

Nobody would have him otherwise.

Just this morning, when he went for his usual ride through Hyde Park, he was appalled to endure an elderly lady’s attempt to throw an apple at his head. Unsuccessful, she had yelled a derogatory name, loud enough for some young ladies to hear. Their faces lit up in seductive smiles which were quickly smacked away by their mamas, who whispered who-knew-what in their ears. Their eyes widened in horror, and they scurried away as if he was some diseased creature.

Which he wasn’t.

But they didn’t know that. All they knew was he had been with so many women that even the men who called themselves rakes looked like innocent boys standing next to him. Not that the talk was minutely true. Hundreds of women was quite a stretch, even for a man of his appetite, and he hadn’t fed said appetite in over a year.

The butler heaved a deep sigh, which spoke volumes, then looked behind Phillip as if to make sure nobody knew he was entering their house, and quickly ushered him in.

His pride would have been pricked had he any left, but instead, he was grateful the butler had insight Phillip hadn’t. And even more grateful that the duke’s butler had been reading his papers, for he had tea and biscuits brought in from the kitchens. Food wasn’t that scarce yet at Phillip’s house, but good hot tea was.

Nodding his head in a silent thank you, Phillip ate, and then he waited.

As he finished the last of the biscuits and his tea began to cool, Emma rushed in with Sebastian at her side.

“I knew it!” She tapped Sebastian across the chest with her glove. “I was just telling him this morning after reading the papers that you would be desperate enough to take me up on my offer.”

“Ah, desperate.” Rawlings rose so he could bow to the duchess. “A word I’ve been overusing as of late. And yes, you are correct in your assumption. Did you know someone threw an apple at me this morning? And the number of lovers I’ve had has tripled over night. Imagine my shock to wake up in my bed alone whilst I was apparently tupping half of London.” Frustrated, Phillip hadn’t meant to announce all that information to the duchess, but he was at his wit’s end. Had he just said tup in front of the Duchess of Tempest?

Get your copy of The Redemption of Lord Rawlings at:

Barnes and Noble

Amazon

About the Author:

Rachel grew up in a small community where cows outnumbered people and there were more tractors than cars.  And just between you and me, she thinks “the world would definitely be a better place if we ate more chocolate and read more books. Just saying. *wink*”  She now resides in Idaho with her husband and invites us to come on over for a Starbuck’s cuppa.

Connect with Rachel around the web:

Website:  http://deliciousromancebyrachel.blogspot.com

Twitter: @RachVD

Facebook: Rachel Van Dyken Author

  

~ * ~ 



If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:

Featured Finds: Author Marsha A. Moore
Featured Finds: Dark Heirloom by J.D. Brown

Featured Finds: Exile by Toni V. Sweeney

or

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Until next time, may your dreams be magical.  

      Charlene

~ * ~

Charlene A. Wilson is an author of paranormal suspenseful tales that take you to other dimensions. She weaves magic, lasting love, and intrigue into multi-layered story lines to immerse you into the lives of her characters.

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RETAILER READER FORUMS BECOME A CONCERN

RETAILER READER FORUMS BECOME A CONCERN

Have you ever gone to any of the reader lists associated with a retailer? I’d say most of us have and for good reason. One, we are curious if any readers are discussing our book. Two, to see if maybe there is a trend or new genre you should be writing in. Three, to let readers know about your book. So, yes, we check out the various reader forums at places like Amazon, Sony, Barnes and Noble, and many others.

When you go to these forums at the retailers you might be faced with the unexpected.

Please note: I am just reporting on what I’ve found. I’m not looking for a war. I’m not saying it is everywhere (I hope it isn't) and certainly does not include review orientated websites for readers and authors, and I’ve only been to the romance genre forum sections at retailer sites.

There seems to be a trend on these forums to bash authors. That’s right, at first glance you might think it is a fluke that these people are so upset with an author. But if you view how the forums are set up they completely forbid authors to post on the forums. There may be one section set aside for authors to announce a book or to "shamelessly self-promote", and that’s about it. Heaven help you if you don’t read the rules set up in these forums.

Even if you do read the rules watch out for your signature file, make sure you don’t self promote. Just having a website listed in your signature can be perceived as self promotion. Sometimes I see posts in the “rants” defending an author or authors in general, let’s say you wouldn’t want to be that person.

Let’s face it, we are solitary creatures, that is why we write alone. To go out and promote our work is one of the most difficult aspects of being an author. It would be nice if just publishing the book could alert all the readers. But, unless we toot our horns no one if going to know our book is out there.

The whole undertone of the retailer reader forums makes me wonder what the heck authors have done to deserve all the horrid opinions of us. Yes, I’ve seen some authors go overboard on the self promotion, but they really are a small number and usually stop when called out on it. I can even understand the readers wanting to discuss a book without the author there, let’s face it not everyone is going to like our book. But still, the attacks and attitude toward authors is scary.

I wonder, how the authors have become the enemy. Why would readers take offense to what an author might say? Even if an author did not post in their discussion, don’t they realize the author will read it? A person can write their opinion without being cruel.

Posts can be made in the “author” sections, and make sure that is the only place you post. I wonder if authors shouldn’t start a RANT section in that area against some reader posts. I can sure understand how an author could get upset. And let’s face it, posting to other authors isn’t exactly much of a promotion.

After visiting these forums I can understand why so many readers don’t post. They are even turned off by these forums to the point they won’t post a review, even if they love the story. Many of the reviews have become a sounding board for this current attitude that author is always wrong.

With luck you will have a much nicer experience on the retailer reader forums. I for one will avoid them. All the bad vibes makes it difficult to write, so I won't go back. I love to chat with my readers and friends on the internet, I don’t want to become afraid to post. I can say that if I faced these nasty remarks when I started publishing I might not have continued.

There are good places out there to talk to your readers, most are through review sites like Coffee Time Romance and More, The Romance Studio and others where they want authors and readers to come together. You can promote where it is fun to talk to everyone. Heavens, you can’t expect everyone to like you, but you shouldn’t have to put on steel armor just to make an announcement.

My advice, find reader/author sites and join in, don’t be shy. See how others post in these sites to be sure it is the right atmosphere and a place you want to join. Be careful at the retailer forums, I really hate to say that, but I don’t see any up-side for an author on them. You can post in the restricted area for authors, just don’t over step the boundary and then too, you are probably posting to the choir.

A concerned author,

Jewel Adams

www.hippiechicks68.com

PS Update to:  My Best Promotion Ever in the comment area of that post.
http://sevennightwriters.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-best-promotion-ever.html

Home Office Anti-Procrastination

I finally did it. I couldn't cram one more paper in our old metal four drawer filing cabinet which we've moved through six houses. I went to Suze Orman's site, printed the list of how long to keep what and started shredding. It took me from morning until 6 PM, when I had to stop to go to CPR class. By the way, if you've never taken a CPR class or if it's been a long time and your certification has expired (as had mine) take a class, save a life. I've performed it twice with good outcomes.

Anyhow, after class, I returned to the file cabinet. And finished! I had to leave the six piles of settlement documents on the floor, until I could buy some expanding file folders to neatly package them. Apparently, you only need to save the proof that your lien has been released for former properties. I elected to save the title insurance and most of the settlement papers. I did get rid of the loan applications and homeowners association documents.

Suze says you only have to save three years of tax returns, six if you under reported your income by 25%. I certainly haven't under reported my income, but I saved six years anyhow.

I saved significant health event bills/reports and shredded the rest.

I still have every paycheck stub I've received, but since my retirement is deferred, I elected to save them, just in case my employment history was wiped from the books. I didn't dare shred any of hubby's. I let him know they were there and he indicated he might go through them some day and save some of the significant raises.

We now have two half-filled drawers, one empty drawer and the bottom drawer has room for a couple more home purchases.

Five bags of shredded paper went to the recycling center.

Today I caught up on correspondence I'd been putting off, sometimes for years! It just took one morning to get everything checked off my list.

I ended the afternoon by making an appointment at the hair salon and calling our internet/cable/phone provider, asking to be rebundled. I'd done this last August and save a few dollars. Today they were able to save me $8.88 per month and threw in three free months of two premium channels. I saved over $100 for the year, just because I called and asked.

It feels wonderful to be rid of the clutter and dread. Is there something you've been putting off? Just do it. You'll not regret it.

The Beginnings of Arlington National Cemetery

In my research of the American Civil War, I ran across this little tidbit about the revenge-driven birth of the Arlington National Cemetery. 

The Beginnings of Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington House

Union Quartermaster General Montgomery  Meigs appropriated land around Arlington House from its owner Gen. Robert E. Lee in June 1864 for use as Arlington National Cemetery.  General Meigs wanted to make Arlington House uninhabitable for the Lee family by placing Union soldier's graves right to the front porch. In his excellent documentary,  The Civil War, filmmaker Ken Burns adds that General Meigs had previously lost his son, a Union soldier, in battle against Lee led forces and the appropriation of Lee's land was particularly satisfying to the Quartermaster General.

I have only seen Arlington by photo or film.  It is a place I must visit before I die. My daughter has been there on a school group trip led by my good friends, and excellent teachers, the Lane Brothers.  She loved Arlington and everything about Washington, DC.  Coach Lane was my head football coach and once gave me a football scout VCR tape, on which at the very end of the tape was copied the film he took of the changing of the guard at the Tomb on the Unknown Soldier.  I still have that tape safely stored away.  Incredible. Solemn. Beautiful.

Written in Stone

Imagine the difficulties for the first writers. What if they made a mistake? Chiseling information on stone isn't the same as scratching some symbols on paper.

I wonder...

What if the chiseler was less than meticulous? What if he/she made a mistake and just shrugged the shoulders? After all, rectifying such an error would be a huge undertaking. It's not as though he could crumple up the stone and toss it over his shoulder. What if he decided to be creative with the symbols and add little tails on the points--or little hearts above the heads?

How do we know if the stonemasons were accurate? Much is being written and discussed about the Mayans and 2012. But how do we know one of their priests didn't have a creative bent and added some extra snakes or feathers when they were chiseling out their prophecies?

I wonder how many oddly spelled names on tombstones were actually mistakes by the stonemasons. I have an ancestor with her name spelled Alys instead of Alice. What do you suppose that's all about?

It's not written in stone, we say when we want to offer the option of change or revision. So why do we resist change in our words? In our hearts, are they written in stone?

anny
www.annycook.com

Shapeshift Your Life

Shapeshifting is popular in literature, television, movies, comics and video games, and has been a common theme is the arts for centuries. In many stories, shapeshifters take the form of another human, an animal other creature or superhero. The characters shift for a variety of reasons. Sometimes characters shift deliberately using magic, other times they can't stop the change that comes over them due to an internal or external influence. In these artistic works, the transformation may or may not have a purpose.

Some readers/viewers/players love the idea of changing into a forceful personality, others just like to think about the fantasy. But what if you could add shapeshifting to your “normal” life. Would you do it? If yes, why would you change and what form would the change take?

First, let's consider the basis of shifting. Indigenous cultures who practice shapeshifting know that all life is energy. Shamans, and others who shift, focus their intent to change energetic patterns, resulting in a new form. They do this on one, two or three levels – cellular, personal or
institutional.

The cellular level is transforming from a human into another form like animal or plant. I was told of a powerful South American shaman who shifted from his human form into a bat when he died. There are many stories of men who change into predator form when hunting for their tribe, or healers who shift into a form that allows another person to heal. In these cases, the intent is obvious – protect the tribe, help others.

Personal level shifting is easier for many people to understand. Anytime an addict overcomes their dependence on a substance or behavior, they shapepshift into a new being. A person who loses a considerable amount of weight is, in esssence and fact, a new human. Shuck a belief system, something you were told by family or friends that no longer rings true for you and voila, you're a shapeshifter. Again, the intent to change drives the transformation, regardless of how the decision to shift came about.

Finally, there is institutional shapeshifting. This could mean starting a new business that uses
innovative practices to transform the field. Or institutional shifting could be making substantial changes within an established cultural identity. Alterations to cultural identity may include shifts in government practices, educational methods or attitudes toward nature. The intent here may be to bring about change for the good of the country or the world.

Shapeshifting, whether portrayed in the arts or practiced in everyday life, can help you recognize the power we each hold to change our own and our common reality. The practice teaches the power of recognizing and modifying stagnant energetic patterns wherever they exist. You can change the world - it's easier than it sounds when you practice shapeshifting.

If you would like to know more about shapeshifting, what it is and how to use the practice in your life, I recommend you read the books written by John Perkins. He has worked with shamans from around the world for decades, and is himself a powerful shapeshifter.

Now please take a moment to answer the questions I posed above. If you could shapeshift your world, what would you change? Here's one last query – what are you waiting for?

Let me know if you've already shifted or intend to do so soon!

I'm sorry I missed my post day. Had a major computer crash that messed up my entire network. After many hours with the tech, and around $1000.00 I'm back up and running and will see you guys on the 2nd of May!

"How I would Love to be Transported into a Scented Elizabethan Garden..."

 ‘Hot lavender, mints, savory, marjoram;

The marigold, that goes to bed wi’ the sun, and with him rise weeping.’ 

~ Shakespeare, Winter’s Tale

‘If you set it,
the cats will eat it,
If you sow it,
the cats don’t know it. ‘
~ Philip Miller, The Gardener’s Dictionary, Referring to Catnip

‘Salt is a preservative. It really holds flavor. For example, if you chop up some fresh herbs, or even just garlic, the salt will extract the moisture and preserve the flavor.’ ~ Sally Schneider

 

‘The Herbs ought to be distilled when they are in their greatest vigor, and so ought the Flowers also.’ 

~Nicholas Culpeper

‘The intense perfumes of the wild herbs as we trod them underfoot made us feel almost drunk.’ ~Jacqueline du Pre

 

‘I plant rosemary all over the garden, so pleasant is it to know that at every few steps one may draw the kindly branchlets through one’s hand, and have the enjoyment of their incomparable incense; and I grow it against walls, so that the sun may draw out its inexhaustible sweetness to greet me as I pass ….’
-  Gertrude Jekyll

 

“There’s fennel for you, and columbines; there’s rue for you: and here’s some for me; we may call it herb of grace o’ Sundays. O! you must wear your rue with a difference. There’s a daisy; I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died.” ~Shakespeare, Hamlet

‘Thine eyes are springs in whose serene And silent waters heaven is seen. Their lashes are the herbs that look On their young figures in the brook.’ ~William C. Bryant

Waters are distilled out of Herbs, Flowers, Fruits, and Roots.
~Nicholas Culpeper

“We have finally started to notice that there is real curative value in local herbs and remedies. In fact, we are also becoming aware that there are little or no side effects to most natural remedies, and that they are often more effective than Western medicine.”  ~Anne Wilson Schaef

‘The basil tuft, that waves
Its fragrant blossom over graves.’
~Thomas Moore, Lalla Rookhm, Light of the Harem

 

“The herb that can’t be got is the one that heals.” ~ Irish Saying

‘See how Aurora throws her fair Fresh-quilted colours through the air: Get up, sweet-slug-a-bed, and see The dew-bespangling herb and tree.’ ~ Herrick, Robert ~Corinna’s Going a Maying

‘As for rosemary, I let it run all over my garden walls, not
only because my bees love it but because it is the herb sacred to remembrance and to friendship, whence a
sprig of it hath a dumb language.’
-  Sir Thomas Moore

‘Eat leeks in oile and ramsines in May,
And all the year after physicians may play.’
(Ramsines were old-fashioned broad-leafed leeks.)

‘My gardens sweet, enclosed with walles strong, embarked with benches to sytt and take my rest. The Knotts so enknotted, it cannot be exprest. With arbours and alys so pleasant and so dulce, the pestylant ayers with flavours to repulse.’ ~Thomas Cavendish, 1532.

'

‘When daisies pied and violets blue, and lady-smocks all silver white. And Cuckoo-buds of yellow hue, do paint the meadows with delight.’ ~ William Shakespeare, 1595.

‘Women with child that eat quinces will bear wise children.’ ~Dodoens, 1578.

‘Gardening with herbs, which is becoming increasingly popular, is indulged in by those who like subtlety in their plants in preference to brilliance.’
-   Helen Morgenthau Fox

‘And because the Breath of Flowers is farre Sweeter in the Aire (where it comes and Gose, like the Warbling of Musick) than in the hand, therefore nothing is more fit for delight, than to know what be the Flowers and the Plants that doe best perfume the Aire.’ 

~ Francis Bacon, 1625

‘Caesar….saith, that all the Britons do colour themselves with Woad, which giveth a blew colour… ‘ ~John Gerard, 1597

‘You have got to own your days and live them, each one of them, every one of them, or else the years go right by and none of them belong to you.’~Herb Gardner

‘Once you get people laughing, they’re listening and you can tell them almost anything.’~ Herb Gardner

“According to old wives’ tales, borage was sometimes smuggled into the drink of prospective husbands to give them the courage to propose marriage.’
-  Mary Campbell, A Basket of Herbs

‘As Rosemary is to the Spirit, so Lavender is to the Soul.‘
-  Anonymous

‘As for the garden of mint, the very smell of it alone recovers and refreshes our spirits, as the taste stirs up our appetite for meat.’ ~   Pliny the Elder

‘How could such sweet and wholesome hours
Be reckoned but with herbs and flowers?’
-  Andrew Marvel

‘There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance;
pray, love, remember; and there is pansies,
that’s for thoughts.’ ~Shakespeare, Hamlet

‘The first gatherings of the garden in May of salads, radishes and herbs made me feel like a mother about her baby – how could anything so beautiful be mine.  And this emotion of wonder filled me for each vegetable as it was gathered every year.  There is nothing that is comparable to it, as satisfactory or as thrilling, as gathering the vegetables one has grown.’
~  Alice B. Toklas

‘How I would love to be transported into a scented
Elizabethan garden with herbs and honeysuckles, a knot garden and roses clambering over a simple arbor ….’ ~Rosemary Verey

 

***I'm teaching an online herbal lore class in May for Celtic Hearts Romance Writers--open to the public.  For more info here's the link.

 

 

Ugly Spring

One of my gardening pet peeves is forsythia. Yes, a beautiful shrub, a shot of sunshine in early spring able to lift winter-worn spirits, which many enthusiasts love, but poor pruning often mangles the potential for beautiful sprays of flowers. My own employer is guilty. The photo shows shrubs found at the entrance of otherwise well-landscaped grounds.

Of course, before any shrub is every placed in the landscape, it should be selected for how its characteristics will naturally develop. Plant selection, however, is an extensive topic in its own right, and not of importance now if you already have one in your yard.

Forsythia develop into beautiful natural-looking hedges, but are not meant to be sheared into smooth planes of foliage like privet. If you want topiary, begin with a shrub more inclined to become what you want. Forsythia's natural character is to look unkempt and natural-looking with long arching branches. They can overgrow their site, which again goes back to the subject of plant selection. Next year's flower buds form during the early summer, so shearing branches after they leaf out removes next year's flowers.

New homeowners often inherit ungainly forsythia problems. The yard came with these shrubs in place. After years of neglect, forsythia might be growing in shade. These shrubs should be removed as they will never bloom to full potential. If it's a case of an overgrown shrub or little flower production, pruning is a (relatively) easy job. The best time to prune in very early spring before they shrubs bloom, or just after they bloom. Yes, if the plants are pruned before they bloom, flower potential is being cut out, but it is easier to see the branches, or canes, at that time. One third of the thickest, oldest canes should be cut back to ground level, along with any dead or broken canes, or any that look wildly out of place.

That's it! Pruning forsythia three years in a row rejuvenates the entire shrub, and it won't need pruning for a few years unless a smaller shrub is desired. Isn't that simple? Next spring the long elegant canes will reward all viewers with a profusion of flowers.

Loving to Travel -- No Matter Where

When I was a small child, I dreamed about traveling. I didn't care to where as long as it was to somewhere. And as an adult, I still have the travel bug.

Every year in February/March we head off to Jupiter, Florida for St. Louis Cardinals baseball spring training. From there we take little side trips such as driving along a street with all those luxurious Palm Beach homes.

"Spirits Reaching to the Sky" MMSikes

This year, we've just returned from Sedona, Arizona where I absolutely adore all the art galleries. The scenery is fabulous, and there is a feeling of spiritual connection everywhere you go. Even the clouds have angels hidden in them.

In addition to spirituality and healing in Sedona, there are more art galleries than most anyplace I've ever visited. The art is gorgeous and experimental in all the ways I love.

"Sedona Red Rocks" MMSikes

Later this year, we will head to Wisconsin and then we will go to Boone, North Carolina where I plan to tale a week-long artist workshop. We will also take our annual trip to Hilton Head, South Carolina for tennis.

For me, travel is an inspiration. Ideas for new books begin in some far away place I've perhaps visited in my dreams. The photographs I take inspire my art.

I love to travel. No matter where.

Monti
Mary Montague Sikes

Tumblr

Happy Friday the 13th, everyone!

What do you get when you combine Twitter and blogging? Apparently, you get Tumblr. Tumblr reminds me of Pinterest a little bit, but Tumblr was here first. So what exactly is Tumblr?

Straight from the Tumblr website: Tumblr lets you effortlessly share anything. Post text, photos, quotes, links, music, and videos, from your browser, phone, desktop, email, or wherever you happen to be. You can customize everything, from colors, to your theme's HTML.


Tumblr is microblogging, or blogging in brief. Tumblr certainly makes it easier for people to comment on your randomness. With Twitter, you have to rely on @'s and direct messages (or DMs) in order to see what people have to say about your tweets. In Tumblr, you have a comments section, just like on a "regular" blog. I haven't tried it out myself yet, but maybe this is a way to go since I gave up on maintaining my personal, "normal-sized" blog because I simply didn't have the time. Thank goodness for this group blog, or I wouldn't be blogging at all! Tumblr requires a little bit more of a time commitment than Twitter, but still not a whole lot. Yet another short but sweet way to get information across in our (some say) ADD-addled, information-driven age. 


It seems particularly great for artists--hey, look at this thing I made! Comment on it! Give me some feedback. Or pictures you take with your phone of weird things you see while you're out and about and want to post online. Hey, look at this weird thing I saw! ...And you get the idea. But I'm sure it's great for other things as well.  


You don't hear about Tumblr as much as you hear about Twitter, Facebook, and even Pinterest (which is fairly new), though. Which leads me to wonder if it's around to stay. People who use it seem to really like it. Sarah Dessen, one of my favorite authors, has a Tumblr, and I haven't even checked it out yet. Which leads me to wonder if I'm really even a Tumblr person. Or if I would ever become one.


In a way, I'm wondering if all these guys are just chasing Facebook. I wonder how long any of them are going to be around. I wonder when/if we'll ever have another innovation like that. I mean, there was social media before Facebook (remember MySpace? Friendster? etc.), but Facebook took things to another level. No matter what you think of Facebook, you have to admit there was a lot of ingenuity and sheer creative force behind it. Nobody's really one upped Facebook yet. Not truly. Will they? Can they? What will be the "next Facebook?" I guess you can never really know until it gets here. And I guess that's kind of an arrogant thing to say/assume. Kind of like how saying "I've written the next Harry Potter" is sure to get an eye-roll from anybody reading your query letter. No matter who you are, when you're creating something, you have to do the best you can, put it out there, and just wait to see how it's received. And although you can control a lot of things (from revising to pre-screenings to focus groups depending on what your product is), you can't ultimately control that reception. Unless you can read minds or something.


So what do you think? Have you tried Tumblr? What are your experiences if you have?

‘Do you have to meditate to meditate?’

Do you have to meditate to meditate?

Stupid question?

Actually, no.

 

When someone is involved in something that interests them, or they are passionate about, they often enter what is described as ‘the zone.’ 

It is a place of perfect understanding and harmony between the physical and the soul.  It is the centre of your being connecting with your inner self and finding that spot that simply IS.

Is it the same as meditation?  It’s certainly the closest you’ll get to it, and that doesn’t necessarily mean meditation transcends experiencing the beauty of being ‘In the Zone.’

It is the moment of unification with all that you are, all that you have been and all you strive to be.  It may not last long, and is therefore often ignored for the powerful entity it is.

Meditation has become ‘big business’ and promises, in some cases, to deliver all that you are looking for.  Don’t be fooled, you can do it on your own. It doesn’t mean you have to sit in solitary stillness for hours on end while the world and your friends pass you by.  No, indeed, all it takes is remembering to occasionally seize the chance to do something very special and you may find yourself automatically take into the beautiful place called the Zone.

For me it is when I write.  Not every time.  How I wish! Lol. But in particular when I work with selenite crystals I often find that my intended outcome is nothing like the final piece I hold in my hands at the end of the day.  And if I fight the soul of the selenite, you can be sure I usually end up with nothing at all.

Recently I was commissioned to create a set of selenite runes.  I could have picked around in the bits and pieces and created a set of small runes and painted the symbols on the polished crystal, but my friend wanted something bigger, palm-sized runes which meant the symbols had to match.  Bear in mind I know nothing about runes.

I couldn’t ‘see’ it.  So I had to still my mind and go online to find something suitable. I searched and searched and ended up with a design I didn’t particularly care for, but could see the practicality of the choice.

With a small plea to ‘Whoever,’ I started work.  At every stage of the creation I had to set my own ‘self’ aside and let the ‘energy’ flow.  It took me nearly two weeks of eight hours a day to complete the order and if I say I enjoyed every moment of it, I would be lying.  There were times when nothing seemed to go right, and that’s when I realised ‘I’ was getting in the way.

My friend still hasn’t seen the finished set, events have put obstacles in the way and we haven’t had a chance to get together.

Do I know whether she’ll like them?  I’m not sure at all.  But what I do know is that while I was not meditating, I do believe while I worked on that commission, I was in a meditative state.

Did I experience being in the zone all the while I worked? 

Of course not. 

But on the rune I anticipated having the most problem I did indeed find myself in such a state of peace I almost grieved when I finished that rune.

Therefore, in answer to my earlier question, ‘Do you have to meditate to meditate?’

My answer is ‘No.’