Last day of 2008!

We all say, "out with the old and in with the new" and I am really working on feeling like that. A new year...a new beginning...I am up for it. My glass NEEDS to remain half full!
Good-bye, 2008.
"Light, light...more light!" -Goethe

Winter Blues

It's Winter Solstice today...the shortest amount of daylight in 24 hours in the Northern Hemisphere! It's a time to celebrate those things that we associate with the dark. It's a time of relishing the rest and a time of rebirth. Think of the female black bear as she hibernates during these long winter months, quietly getting ready to give birth to new cubs when spring arrives. She will rest, body and spirit waiting for the long daylight hours after the long winter darkness. In Maine, it is a long winter. The long hours of darkness take their toll on many of us, myself included. I am feeling depressed, sluggish and wishing that I lived in a warmer climate. This is a tough time and it's important to adjust the attitude to "hey, it's always like this...it gets better...buck up!" However, we have had one serious winter storm after another and it just seems to be never-ending! Add the fact that my daughter and granddaughter have been trying to fly to Maine from Virginia since Friday and their flights keep getting canceled! It's Sunday and there is no end in sight. My heart is broken that they aren't here. I do believe that she is going to drive up! That doesn't make me feel happy at all, because it will be such an ordeal...heavy sigh...
After the Christmas and New Year celebrations, I will take advantage of the hours that I cannot be outside and I will write. I have not heard from any of the seven educational publishers that I sent packets to. It has been less than a month, so I am not feeling too discouraged yet. Some other writers that I have been in touch with sent out packets as well and some of them have actually gotten some news. Nobody has yet gotten an assignment, but one or two have gotten the good news that their work is appreciated and even though the company isn't hiring at this time, their work will go on file for future assignments. I mustn't despair, however. The economy is in a shambles, and for perhaps the first time in "forever" both educational and trade publishers are feeling the pinch and cutting back...another heavy sigh...
As I see it, I need to work on this SAD and try and get myself back in working order!
I predict that my poetry will be dark...

"If it could happen to me..." by Kristen Landon

I get The Writer, among other magazines, to assist me with the craft. The very last page of the Jan, 2009 issue has an interview with Kristen Landon, who writes Science-Fiction. I was glued to her every word. Science- Fiction is my favorite genre to write, in terms of fiction. I adore the notion of creating vast, as yet to be realized settings; believable, compelling, seemingly insurmountable obstacles for the very human characters that my imagination gives birth to; checking in with the laws of Quantum Physics to see which ones I can adhere to or need to override; the excitement that boils up in every cell of my body as the writing makes all of this take shape. My heroes are of course, Albert, who is the ultimate in having made sense of what doesn't, as well as Stephen Hawking, who is also brilliant beyond numbers, and Michio Kaku, whose books are at my side as I weave my way though parallel universes, and such. He's so amazing that it hurts!
Anyway, at the end of the interview, Landon gives advice. "Take chances. Work hard... Grab the luck... ...if your heart isn't in it, don't write it. Find the issues that spark your passion and build your stories around them. If this is really what you want - if you're telling your stories - then you've got a chance. If it could happen to me..."
Whoa. I'm there. I'm not published, but I am there. I found my passion many years ago. Now, I need to make it happen! And, I will.

A Recent Angel Encounter

Let me get it right out there. I believe in Angels. Period. End of discussion. They are as real as you and I. I am a WRITER, but I am so much more. You are as well. Many of us know that. Many of us do not. Anyway, here is the first of my angel encounter series. Please understand that it is not the first of my encounters. It is, however, the beginning of my writings about those experiences.

I keep a calendar. It's one of those pocket-sized planners that slip easily into ones purse or pocket. It's essentially, my memory. I write everything in it. Otherwise, I would not know which end might be up. It helps keep me centered and on track. Well, I lost it. Had I moved items from it to my large "hanging in the kitchen by the phone" calendar? Surely you jest. That would be a resounding "no." After several days of searching, panic began to set in. There was no proverbial stone that had not gone unturned. My planner was gone. I was about to give up, when a fleeting reminder to ask for help stopped me in my tracks. I closed my eyes, took a few deep, cleansing breaths and asked my angels for help in finding it. From there, my feet took me to a box that I had looked in at least a half dozen times. I pulled it out, and there was my calendar.
Of course, I thanked them (once again!).
Now, a calendar/planner might seem like a silly thing to ask angels for. It might seem like a silly thing to stress over. Maybe. But not to me. The angels are there for the big things, but they are also there for the not so big. In other words, they are there.

If...

If I had nothing else to do, I'd have this blogsite and my Livejournal site all spiffed up and reader ready! If lots of people read my blogs, I'd do it anyway. If I never had to sleep, eat, clean, (etc times 100), I could have my sci fi fiction ms all ready to commit to market. If I could find my way out of a paper bag, I would have traveled to places of inspiration for my poetry. If life didn't interfere with what I would like to accomplish, I'd be "all caught up." Wait a minute....isn't life what I write about? As insignificant as these interruptions seem to be, they seem to be snippets of life. If I didn't have my life, I wouldn't be typing these words on this page, now, would I?
If I can find more time, I will make every effort to stay up-to-date on my blogsites while at the same time finding even more time to write. The rest of the time, life can have at me!