Photo Friday: My Mentor, Shirley

photo: Shirley and I went to listen to Jack Canfield speak a few years ago.

I was invited to visit with my friend and mentor, Shirley Waite this afternoon. She is such an inspiration! I know it sounds cliche' but I just can't think of another way to put it, but let me try.

Shirley is a longtime writer with hundreds of articles to her name and even a book. She is also longtime friend of my mothers. When I was a teenager, she helped me to polish a piece that I entered in the Guideposts Youth Writing Contest. She was the first person to recognize that I had a teeny bit-o-talent for writing. I won a $2000 scholarship for my entry, A Special Smile.

Much later in my life, she invited me to a local Christian writer's group. There, I brought my book, titled BREAKING THE CODE. It was a biography about my father and his wartime experiences. But something transformative happened; it was just a simple comment but it changed the life of my book. She said, 'Karen, have you considered that this isn't just your father's story...that it's your story too?' Umm...no. I hadn't. I talked about how chasing the story was affecting me, but then I wrote it about HIM. I hadn't considered it at all. But with those words, I knew something important had happened.

I went home and started to add all of my feelings, my emotions, my experiences. I'd say at first, it was more of my experiences. Later, I would realize that my feelings and emotions needed to be shared too. That was the scary part! But I did it.

When I wanted to enter my book in a writing contest, she volunteered to edit it. Then she sat down with me and went through each word, each line, each paragraph. She told me what she thought needed to be done and where the text was confusing. Honestly, I'd thought she'd just pat me on the back and say, "Oh my! What a fabulous writer you are! I wouldn't change a thing!" But true to the writer-blood that flows through her veins, she shared every minute detail that her editors eyes saw.

I didn't mention in this piece that Shirley has Parkinson's Disease. I didn't mention the tremors and shakes that wrack her small frame, and the pain that accompanies it. Why? Because it is irrelavent, except to show the strength of her character.

So, thank you Shirley, for the cherry dessert you served this afternoon. But thanks most of all for seeing something in me that no one else had seen; that I really could write. You are one amazing lady!

Have you had a mentor in your life? Have you written about him/her? Don't you think it's time?

Write Now - Because it's Later than you Think! ~Karen

Resolve to Write - 11 Ways to Find the Time

It's a new year and the perfect time to resolve to start a few good habits or get rid of some bad ones. But since this blog is all about getting your stories written down, I thought I'd tackle the most common thing that stops most people; time.

11 Ways to Find the Time to Write

1. Get up a little earlier.
2. Stay up a little later.
3. Carry a small notebook with you and write down any ideas that pop into your head. 4. Write while waiting (doctors office, dentist, picking kids up etc)
5. Write during your lunch hour (or half-hour).
6. Take your kids or elderly parent to their care provider a half-hour early a few days a week and use that time to write - in the parking lot of your employer or at your desk at work.
7. Take yourself to coffee and bring along your laptop.
8. Give up a favorite television show and write during it instead.
9. Let your significant other do the bedtime routine with the kids a day or two a week.
10. Take your friends up on their offer to exchange play dates.
11. Pay a responsible teen or adult to watch the kids, make dinner, do the laundry or attend to any other task that will free you up to write.

If you resolve to do it, you will. Remember that.

Oliver Wendell Holmes

"Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so? Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out." -Oliver Wendell Holmes

Erin Dealey Rap

How do you measure success?

I have read that Stephen King writes five pages a day. Supposedly, in a year it amounts to something like a 90,000 word novel. Pretty impressive. And five pages sounds totally attainable to me. But today, as I was searching this, I learned about R.L. Stein. Remember him? I do. His GOOSEBUMPS series made him a best selling author. But it did something even more important. It got my little reluctant reader to read obsessively. So there's a special place in my heart for R.L. Stein.

So anyway, I was reading about Mr. Stein here; http://www.hauntedcomputer.com/scottst52.htm and learned that he is now in retirement but can't seem to stop writing. He writes five pages a day but says, "Five pages a day isn't a writing career." Hmmmm...he just might be wrong.

Do you have a daily, monthly, or yearly goals? How do you measure them?

A Chance to Tell Your Story- Today Show Contest

Hi everyone- I ran across this contest today. The deadline is Monday, August 8, 2008 at noon. We all have a story to tell, and here's a place to tell it. If you win, a song will be written and performed by a surprise broadway singer. And you'll be sent to New York city. Can't get any better than that. Here's the link; http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26224149/.

As always, WRITE NOW-BECAUSE IT'S LATER THAN YOU THINK! ~Karen

Bridge Anyone? Moving Beyond the Expectations of your Life

photo courtesy of Karen L. Alaniz

My favorite television news show is "Sunday Morning" on CBS. It is on, of course-Sunday mornings. You can look at some of the stories here; http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/07/09/sunday/main13562.shtml. This morning there was a profile on the card game of Bridge. The camera scans a room of mostly gray haired people at a tournament in California. It's not one of those top tournaments. I thought I recognized someone at one of the tables and sure enough I did. It was Bill Gates.

The story was about the game of Bridge and how young people aren't playing it. Bill Gates as well as a few other billionaires have put a million dollars of their own money into elementary schools to be sure that game doesn't become extinct. But just like a church sermon, I often miss the main point but pick up something life-changing none-the-less. When the interviewer asked Bill Gates if he was good at Bridge, I had one of those moments.

Gates said, 'Well, no. But I get to play with people who are so much better than I am.'

And that comment got me to thinking. I think it's human nature that we're attracted to people who are like us. Our friends are usually within our own socio-economic status. They hang out at the same places, participate in the same activities, and rise to the same levels of aspiration. Bill Gates, of all people, could sit back and just enjoy being with people like him. And yet, he chooses to be with people who are better than him at something. How can I break out of my comfortable life? Do I want to? Do I really want to? What changes might I have to make in order to move above and beyond where I am now? What difference might it make in my life, in my writing, in my ability to succeed?

How about you? Do you want to move beyond the expectations of your daily life? Our lives are a series of steps- some small, some large. What steps can you take today to get there? Where do you want to be ten years from now? How about 20, 30, or even 50? But more importantly, where do you want to be six months from now? How will it look different than today?

I am open to ideas. Please do share! ~Karen

A Room of My Own - Photos

I always laugh at those home design shows where they redesign "small" spaces. Their idea of small and mine are entirely different. This room belonged to my youngest son. It's on the second story of our home and when my daughter graduated and moved out, he moved to her room. It has sat virtually unused for a couple of years. And now I wonder why! What a wonderful writing room this is. Our home was built in 1907 and in those days there was no air conditioning so they had sleeping porches. You would open up all the windows and enjoy a cross breeze that ensured you would be able to sleep (most nights) The temperature here in the summer gets up above 100 degrees so it was a necessity. Contrary to what you may believe about the Pacific Northwest, we enjoy about 300 days of sunshine a year and not a lot of rainfall. Anyway- I so enjoyed the sunshine as I wrote yesterday.

The photos above and below were taken from each end of the room. The bookshelf was made by my dad, who is almost 87. I bought the chair when my, now 13-year-old was a baby...it's seen better days! There are windows on all four sides! How is that possible? Three face the outside and then one side has a window that looks into the hallway and the other looks into, well...the bathroom...don't worry, there's a curtain. I'm guessing the original sunroom was an addition, though not too long after the house was built...so the windows that face into the hallway and bathroom, probably looked out onto our back yard at one time. Anyway- this is so much fun. I highly recommend it! ~Karen

A Room of My Own

There is a book called, "A Room of Her own." Each chapter of the book is a different woman who has made one room in her home her very own. Some are famous people and some are not. Some have extravagent spaces and some have a converted closet. I am most inspired by the small spaces that with love and care become something new. Though I read the book years ago, it put a little seed in my little brain. My sister just moved back town after many years so today I called her. She came over and we transformed a small "bedroom" into a writing space for me. I put the word bedroom in quotes because that is what we have used it for even though it is really too small for that.

My sister helped me clean it out and then we gathered things from around the house that represent me and my hopes and dreams and placed them about the room. It was great fun! I gathered all of my writing books and brought them up (it's on the second story). And right now, I am writing from the mostly-finished space. What fun it is to be writing to you from my little room. I'll post some photos later this week. But in the meantime, tell me something...where do you write? ~Karen

The Rejection Dog

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." -Thomas Edison

Wow! If that's not inspiring, I don't know what is. Writing can be so difficult, especially on the emotions. If you're writing for publication, you know what I mean. There is something about rejection that makes you want to quit. Go figure! But as writers we must go against logic and continue to go back again and again to that dog that bit us. We'll learn new approaches along the way and eventually, it just may lick our hand and send us a check. Until then, we must persist, because success is just around the corner. ~Karen

100 Years From Now

I have fabulous news. I just received my copy of a magazine called, "The Mid-Columbian." I'll include a link when it is ready. My article about the history of a local park is published in the March/April issue. This is very exciting for two reasons. First of all, the park I wrote about was conceived of 100 years ago by a group of women who dreamed of a city park.

The 58 acre park is right across the street from our house and my kids, when they were little said it was their park. It now contains some of the oldest trees in our state. They are beautiful and stately trees. There is also a playground, a man-made hill for sledding, a rose garden, and an aviary. Also on display are a bronze sculpture and a civil war cannon. At the center of the park is an almost 100-year old bandstand. Anyway- I just love the thought that someone saw so far into the future. They organized the planting of small saplings, the same ones we now sit under for shade from the summer sun. Makes me contemplate what I am doing now that will live on 100 years from now. Hopefully my writing will. Hopefully the people I touch today and during my life, will in turn touch another generation and I will live on that way. It's a tall order, isn't it? The life of every person carries the possibility to change the world. Amazing! ~Karen

P.S. Just realized I only gave you one reason why having this article published is so darned exciting. Guess you'll have to tune in later to find out the second reason. ~K

What a Difference a Day Makes

What a difference a day makes, indeed. My mother gave me a pot with a large Amarylis bulb in it. If you haven't had one before, it's time you treated yourself. It begins it's life in the pot looking like nothing but a blob in dirt with a bit of moss on top. But with just a little water each day, and a lot of light, it begins to grow. It grows so fast that it really seems like you can watch it grow. So cool! So I decided to take a photo of it when it looked ready to bloom; see first photo. The very next day, today, its bloom was complete; see second photo. Within the span of 24 hours it went from mystery concealed to mystery revealed. Amazing. And it made me think...what steps can I take in a span of just one day which will propel me toward my destiny? What tiny growth is taking place within me which will one day, seem to be "all of a sudden" evident? I know it's there. But what can I do about it today? What can you do today that will bloom another day? Lets bloom together, OK? ~Karen

Finding Motivation

I'm reading, "Bird by Bird" by Anne Lamott. In the book is a passage about motivation. The author shares that she has a one-inch by one-inch frame on her desk. And when she is struggling with something she is working on, she looks at that frame and remember to just work one inch at a time. I love that.

I don't know where I can find a one inch frame, but I do like thinking about it. In fact, I think I'll put a ruler on my wall or bulletin board. Sometimes I am overwhelmed by my own goals. At times it seems to not matter. I have no boss breathing down my neck; no time clock to punch; no set hours to keep. But life is made up of the small choices we make.

What do you do to keep motivated? ~Karen

Treasured Words

I went thrift-store shopping with my daughter today. I don't ever give her real name here to protect her privacy. But every time I talk about her and use a fictional name, she complains that the name just isn't right; it's too weird, too old fashioned, too dorky, too...whatever. So I'll just call her X. Well, X and I made the rounds to our local thrift stores. She had a very specific list of things she was looking for but I did not, so I just looked around, finding a few usable items. Then as I looked through the books lining one long shelf near the checkout, I saw it.

I am somehow attracted to old books; not old as in from the 70's, but old as in canvas covers with simple embossed letters. The began reading a random paragraph of the book and found it quite engaging, and motivating and positive. I looked at the copyright, which was in an unusual place (common among old books). It had it's first printing in 1944 and this particular issue was from 1948...Cool! I love books like that. Then I looked for the title, which was hidden. Instead of being on the front of the book, it was on the edge. "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living" it said, "By Dale Carnegie." I hadn't heard of Dale Carnegie but I soon read that he'd written the famous, "How to Win Friends and Influence People." Cooler! Then I found a sticker with the price...75 cents! Even cooler yet! I don't really consider myself a worrier so it's a good thing I read the book before seeing the title. For the next few posts I'll share what I've learned from this new, and yet old...treasure.

"Happy the man, and happy he alone,
He, who can call to-day his own;
He who, secure within, can say:
'to-morrow, do thy worst, for I have lived to-day.'"

~Horace

Am I the only one who loves this? This is just so cool!

~Karen

A Quote for You

"Make Someday Today." -Author unknown

OK ...the author isn't exactly unknown. It was written inside a Dove chocolate wrapper. I love those chocolates and I love getting a little message each time I open one. If you haven't had the pleasure...go buy yourself a bag. I highly recommend it!

Karen

What's Your Motto?

Four years ago, I prayed a simple prayer, "God, give me a word." It was New Years Eve and it had been a particularly difficult year. Physical and financial problems persisted relentlessly. And it seemed that every single member of my family was experiencing some kind of difficulty. So I prayed.

I wasn't asking for much. I was asking for a single word, just one. God could save his books, chapters and paragraphs for someone who had the time to read them. He didn't even have to speak in complete sentences. All he had to do was give me one itsy-bitsy little word. New Years morning I awoke with a word in my head. You know how if you set your clock radio to go off in the morning, then whatever song you wake up to, plays in your head the rest of the day? It was like that. It was as if this word had been rolling around in my little brain all night. And when I awoke, there it was. What was this fabulous word? Do! Yep, that was it. And funny thing is, it actually made sense to me.

After a series of events in my life, my thinking had become limited and so had my actions. I felt limited by my physical problems and limited financially too. The word "Do" helped me jump the hurdle from powerlessness to powerFULness. The following year, I got a new word, and the year after that, I got two words together. But this past New Years...nuthin'. No word came to mind. So I've gone through the year without my motivational words...until yesterday.

My daughter came by and gave me the words. She didn't know I'd been searching for them. She had made me a burlap bag lined with recycled fabric. But the best part was that it had words stitched on it. (see photo) On one side in swooping letters was the word, "Live" and on the other side, in the same swooping letters was the word, "Life."

Live life! Could it be more perfect? It's time to live a little...no wait...it's time to live alot.

So what's your motto?

~Karen

nanowrimo word count- 2,200

Old Experiences-New Eyes

I went on an adventure today. I walked my dog to the campus of our local liberal arts college. It is a beautiful old college with breath-taking grounds. I'd forgotten that. I drive by all the time. But driving isn't the same. I brought my camera along and took a couple of photos. When you have a camera in your hand, you begin to see things differently. You are looking for something to take a picture of. I saw things I'd passed by often. I took pictures of common things that are always there, but which have become so much a background of my life, that I didn't see them anymore.

So on my quest to have new experiences, I've learned that looking at things with new eyes also creates a new experience. And I plan to have many more of them!

Write Now,

Karen

Friday Night Quote

"When we hear the word "inspiration" we imagine something that comes like a bolt of lightening, and at once with a rapt flashing of the eyes, tossed hair and feverish excitement, a poet or artist begins furiously to paint or write. At least I used to think sadly that that was what inspiration must be, and never experienced a thing that was one bit like it. But this isn't so. Inspiration comes very slowly and quietly." -Brenda Ueland

Time to get a Bigger Blanket

Do you ever hear an expression so much that you want to scream? "Just want to be sure we're all on the same page." is my personal favorite. When I was teaching, a know-it-all teacher or administrator used that phrase all the time. Are we so lacking in creativity that we must repeat it a zillion times? And what does it mean anyway? Well...as I studied the particular people who used this phrase (sneaky huh?), I came to a conclusion. They used it to manipulate those of us who were not on "their page." In other words, does anyone ever challenge a statement like that?



"I just want to be sure we're all on the same page." Says person #1



"Why?" Says person #2. "What makes you think I want to be on your page." Says person #2 "Maybe your page stinks. Maybe your page should be ripped from the book and burned. Maybe you need to open to a new page in my book.



No. I've never heard anyone say that. So needless to say, I hate that expression. Here's another one. "We need to think outside the box." Yeah right. Whose box are we talking about? Who decides what is ok to suggest outside said box? I wanna know.



And my dog agrees with me.



Every morning I make my bed and then spread out her special blanket on one corner. She's always just stayed on her little corner of the bed. I mean it's not so small-it's a good 1/4 of the bed. She should be happy with that, right. Well, recently she's been testing her limits. At first it was just a paw over on my cream-colored quilt. Then two paws. When she leaned way off her blanket, I scolded her and told her to go back to her blanket. She obliged...until I left the room. Then she stretched out again. No matter how many times I made her move, she only ended up back on my quilt. What to do...what to do?



This morning, after once again making her move back to her blanket, I stood there to watch. She eyed me. I eyed her. She curled up into a neat ball on the blanket. I watched some more. She still eye-balled me. When she fell (apparently) asleep, I tiptoed out of the room. I watched from the other room, where I could see her paws but she couldn't see me. Sure enough, in one swoop, she stretched out nearly all the way across the bed. And then it came to me.



She was thinking "outside the blanket." And she'd discovered that she quite liked it. She was comfortable on the blanket before. But now that she'd experienced something more, she didn't want to go back.



Is it time to expand your blanket?



Photo: Togo livin' life beyond the blanket.



Write Now,



Karen

The Somebody of your Life

At my recent evening with Jack Canfield, he told a story that went something like this;

A couple walked the same route every day. And every day they passed a rose garden that hadn't had someone to tend to it in a very long time. It was dried up. And everyday as the couple walked by, one or the other commented on how someone (the city) should do something like that. And day after day, they walked past it.

Then one day when the woman said, for the umpteenth time, "Someone really should do something about that", her husband responded in a different manner than ever before."

"We're somebody." He said.

So the next day they began to tend to the ugly piece of land. They watered. They fertilized. They planted. And soon a beautiful rose garden emerged.

What or who is the somebody in your life?

Photo: Jack Canfield during power-point presentation (see the roses)

Karen