Quote Of The Month

"There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't help other women."
Madeleine Albright

Thursday, August 27, 2009

A New Blog For Me

Some of you know I make tote bags for fun and profit, plus it keeps me off the streets.
Until recently photos of the bags were posted on my website, but this became too difficult to manage. Many of the bags on the website have been sold or "reinvented" into a different style. Plus, having made almost 30 new bags this summer, I would have been bugging the web mistress to add and delete bag photos every few days. Not fun for anyone.

So . . . while updating another blog, one of those "well, duh" moments struck. I'd recently learned another computer skill--adding photos to my blogs. I could do this.
And I did.
To see up to date pictures of the bags I've made this summer, go to www.KatsKarryAlls.blogspot.com
Peace

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Sharing Gifts With Others

Recently two people [actually more than two, but these two are foremost in my mind right now] shared their gifts with me.
A member of my writers' group brought in copies of articles from the recent Writer's Digest. Not only was it an excellent, well written article, it was something this man did not have to do. Now that I think about it, he does this often. I shall have to make the time to thank him.

The other gift came from a second chapter member: one of our newest members [she recently rejoined after an absence of maybe 10 years, maybe less] shared memories and lessons learned from the founder of the chapter on our blog. it was a lovely tribute from one friend to another. I shall have to take the time to thank her privately.
Peace
Kathy

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Toss out that loaf of stale bread

until recently if anyone asked me how to handle writer's block, I'd have responded with my favorite acronym: BTSOOM.
At a recent writers' group meetings, other members had abeen pushing writing to different audiences or targets, shorter romances, less than 5,000 words. Impossible, was my continued response--until I tried it.

What a difference it has made to my entire frame of mind!
Unbeknownst to me I've had writer's block for years, since finishing Try Just Once More back in 2006 I'd started many stories, outlined several, researched sort of for a few, completed nothing.

Until I wrote 2 shorts [less than 1,000 words] for an e-zine. I didn't think I could do it and almost gave up a few times. I submitted in the end of July and early August. They responded, saying they might go on hiatus and pick things back up again in 2010 and offered me the option to submit elsewhere.

So I did!!
I took one of the ezine stories and expanded it to just a tad over 3,000 words. It was a struggle at first finding those last 500 words, but I did it and submitted it as a stand-alone story but part of a series titles based on the vanDyke poem I call Those Who Love.
The second was somewhat easier to write due to the amount of external conflict [take back the night march].
I am quite pleased with myself.
More than that, I am feeling better about myelf and my writing than i have in a very long time.

Peace