20 Best Gifts for Writers

It’s that time of year again.  The time of year you start giving gifts to the writer in your life.  Gift giving? What? Shouldn’t this post have been back in November before the holidays?  Well, yes.  But think about all those gift giving opportunities on the horizon.  Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, June birthdays (I don’t know about you, but I know so many people with birthdays in June.  Maybe people just get frisky when back-to-school rolls around.), and teacher appreciation gifts.  Then there are summer vacations.  I’m always looking for great hostess gifts for the multiple friends who house us on our annual summer road trips.  See, anytime is a good gift giving time!

If you’re anything like me, you’re always looking for the perfect gift to put a smile on your favorite writer’s face.  I’ve compiled a list of my Top 20 Best Gifts for Writers.  Enjoy and be sure to let me know if you’ve received any writer’s gifts that have knocked your socks off.  I’ll add them to my list.  If you use Pinterest, you can check out my post on Pinterest for Writers here and you can check out all of these gift ideas on my Pinterest board “Gifts for Writers.”

1. 

Bamboo Custom Carved Keyboard and Mouse Combo – $89.98  I can just feel my fingers gliding over this sleek looking keyboard.  It’s an earth-friendly keyboard which connects to your computer via USB.

2.  USA Literary Map – $19.94  An original hand-lettered poster which features 226 geographically connected authors.

3.  Conceal Bookshelf – $16.09  Make books float on your wall with this gravity defying bookshelf.  I can picture my office covered with stacks of books hovering from the walls.

4. 

“Writing is Rewriting” Cuff Ring – $13.95  Etsy.com is one of my favorite places to find one-of-a-kind gifts.  This ring is hand stamped with the phrase “writing is rewriting.”  It will serve as a daily reminder that the hard work doesn’t end the first time you write “The End.”

5.  Gift certificate to Moo.com for 50 Mini-Moo Business Cards – $19.99  These cards can be custom designed with multiple images.  They would be great to feature quotations or images from that new novel your writer friend has coming out.

6.  Hand-Painted Business Card Holder – $48.00  Speaking of business cards and speaking of Etsy.com, this San Francisco-based Etsy artist creates beautiful works of art on metal business card holders.  Your favorite writer friend will feel proud to pull out this holder when networking at the next writer’s conference.

7.  “Shut up and write.” Canvas Totebag – $25.15  We all need a reminder now and then.  Filled with groceries or library books, this tote will serve as a constant reminder to the procrastinating writer.

8.  Writer’s Flask – $20.00  We all need a little liquid courage sometimes.  Regardless of what it’s filled with, this flask will give your favorite writer a laugh (and maybe the courage to fight back that inner editor) every time they sip from it.

9.  Pop Art Edgar Allen Poe T-shirt in Pink or Black – $26.99  The image of Edgar Allen Poe on this t-shirt is created out of the words of his famous poem, “The Raven.”  If you follow me on Facebook or Pinterest, you know I love fun t-shirts.  This one will definitely find its way into my closet.

10.   Stick-Up Weekly Calendar – $10.00  What better way to remind yourself of those weekly wordcount goals than with a self-adhesive calendar stuck to your computer monitor.  Remember appointments with your doctor, your friends or your keyboard with these handy little Post-It note calendars.

11.  Bracelet made from Vintage Typewriter Keys – $85.00  Many writers love the nostalgia of the good old days.  This bracelet harkens back to a time when writers were hunched over their Remington keyboard clacking away.  Made from real typewriter kays, this bracelet is a must-have for the writer’s jewelry box.

12.  Virginia Woolf A Room of One’s Own Teatowel – $14.67  The Literary Company has a wide selection of teatowels, posters and mugs imprinted with original book covers by the world’s favorite authors.  I also love The Great Gatsby poster and the Slaughterhouse Five mug.

13.  Magnetic Poetry Writer’s Remedy – $13.60  The gentle relief of Writer’s Remedy helps with all writers block.  The bottle has over 200 magnetic tiles with words like “beauty,” “pickle,” and “confess.”

14.   “Please don’t make me mock you in my novel” T-shirt – $18.95  This shirt comes in men’s and women’s sizes with all different colors to choose from.

15.  “If I don’t write to empty my mind, I go mad.” Necklace – $22.50  This wooden pendant hangs from a sterling silver chain.  The quote by Lord Byron perfectly captures the feeling that many of us have that if we don’t capture all of those thoughts on paper, our minds might explode or go mad.

16.  Virginia Woolf “Orlando” Totebag – $15.78  You can never have enough totebags, and the Virginia Woolf quote on this one is particularly fitting.   Not only does it capture the frantic life of many writers, but it hits a chord for me on days when I’m juggling family, work, friends and writing.  This jumbled mass of humanity (with or without the gin and the birthing in the next room) is sometimes the perfect (and only) atmosphere for my writing.

17.  Edgar Allen Poe T-shirt – $27.00  You can’t go wrong with Edgar Allen Poe gifts for writers.  This t-shirt is printed with one of Poe’s most ominous, albeit true (in his case) quotes.  “I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.”  Some days just feel like that, don’t they?

18.  Ampersand Earrings – $8.00  I, like many writers, am a sucker for typography.  These simple acrylic earrings make me happy every time I see them. Not only is the ampersand a beautiful piece of typographic art, but I love the possibilities that a lone ampersand (or a pair of them) provides for life.  And… and…  and…

19.  “We are such stuff as dreams are made on” Sterling Silver Cuff – $97.00  This adjustable wrist cuff is stamped with a quote from William Shakespeare’s The Tempest.  And what better way to sum up the world of writing than with this wise and poetic sentiment?  Writers truly are such stuff as dreams are made on.  How else could we keep plugging away at it everyday?

20.  F-Bomb Paperweight – $45.00  Sometimes, there is nothing better than an appropriately shouted (or stifled) f-bomb.  This paperweight makes me giggle everytime I see it. Yes, it’s crass.  Yes, it’s irreverent.  Yes, that’s what I love about it.  Aren’t we all just the tiniest bit crass and irreverent sometimes?  That’s why we’re writers, right?

How about you? Have you received any perfect writer’s gifts?  I’d love to have this list up to 50 ideas by November, 2012 – just in time for the next round of holidays!

Words of Inspiration for Writers

Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old-fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he’ll eventually make some kind of career for himself as writer. – RAY BRADBURY

 

The reason 99% of all stories written are not bought by editors is very simple. Editors never buy manuscripts that are left on the closet shelf at home. – JOHN CAMPBELL

 

Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any. – ORSON SCOTT CARD

 

Books aren’t written, they’re rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn’t quite done it… – MICHAEL CRICHTON

 

One of my standard — and fairly true — responses to the question as to how story ideas come to me is that story ideas only come to me for short stories. With longer fiction, it is a character (or characters) coming to visit, and I am then obliged to collaborate with him/her/it/them in creating the story. – ROGER ZELAZNY

Words of Inspiration for Writers

It is the writer who might catch the imagination of young people, and plant a seed that will flower and come to fruition.- ISAAC ASIMOV

 

Unless a writer is extremely old when he dies, in which case he has probably become a neglected institution, his death must always be seen as untimely. This is because a real writer is always shifting and changing and searching. The world has many labels for him, of which the most treacherous is the label of Success.- JAMES BALDWIN

 

Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.- BARBARA KINGSOLVER

 

The author must keep his mouth shut when his work starts to speak.- FREDERICH NIETZSCHE

 

Begin with an individual, and before you know it you have created a type; begin with a type, and you find you have created – nothing.- F. SCOTT FITZGERALD

The Music – Writing Playlists can set the mood and get you out of a rut

Music is very Pavlovian for me when I’m writing.  I can’t start a new work without creating a playlist.  Once created, that playlist drives my writing time.  I pop on the headphones, crank up the playlist and I’m immediately transported to the world I’ve created in my WIP. Months later I can hear a song from the playlist and my fingers get itchy to type.

We were driving in the car the other night and my iPod stumbled upon my Sliver of Souls playlist.  Commenting on my DJ’ing skills, my husband told me I was in a very Emo mood.  It made sense.  I didn’t create the playlist with those characteristics in mind, but Maggie (the MC of SoS) is kind of an emo chick.  She’s the best kind, though.  She has all of the melodramatic teen angst without the poser wardrobe and affected melancholy.  Rather an ironic Emo if you think about it.  The Emo sub-culture is ironic to begin with in their angsty posturing.  Maggie unintentionally embraces all things Emo, so doesn’t that make her an Ironic Emo?  Now we’ve coined two phrases for a new line of t-shirts.  “Sublime Fools Unite” and “Ironic Emos Unite.”  I’m ditching this writing thing and going into the t-shirt business.

Here’s a look at the Silver of Souls playlist.  I shoot for a play length of approximately 60 minutes because I write in one-hour bursts.

• “Staplegunned” (Remix) by The Spill Canvas = 3:11
• “Dismantle.Repair” (Acoustic) by Anberlin = 4:34
• “Cross the Line” by Ruth = 3:40
• “Tiffany Blews” by Fall Out Boy = 3:45
• “Idlewild Blue (Don’t Chu Worry ‘Bout Me)” by Outkast = 3:24
• “That Day” by Poe = 2:41
• “T.V. Family” by The Rocket Summer = 4:13
• “Swandive” by Ani DiFranco = 6:30
• “My Junk” from the Spring Awakening Broadway recording = 2:28
• “September Skyline” by Single File =  3:15
• “As Lovers Go” (Ron Fair Remix) by Dashboard Confessional = 3:29
• “Shooting Up in Vain” (T-Ray Remix) by Eagle Eye Cherry = 4:51
• “Some Say” by Sum 41 = 3:26
• “Typical” by Tickle Me Pink = 3:15

Today, I’m working on a playlist for my WIP.  No working title yet.  I don’t pick the songs based on lyrics or titles.  I just listen to my gut.  If they give me a certain feeling that fits with my MC, they make the list.  Funny enough, once I dig into the playlists for months at a time, I find hidden meaning in the lyrics which seem to fit certain scenes or certain writing days.  Here’s the latest list:

• “Thief” by Our Lady Peace = 4:01
• “25 to Life” by Eminem = 4:01
• “Falling in Love” by Lisa Loeb = 4:07
• “Not Coming Home” by Maroon 5 = 4:21
• “Kids” by MGMT = 5:02
• “The Only Difference Between Martrydom and Suicide is Press Coverage” by Panic! At the Disco = 2:57
• “Yellow Ledbetter” by Pearl Jam = 5:00
• “Mercy Street” by Peter Gabriel = 4:44
• “The Zephyr Song” by Red Hot Chili Peppers = 3:52
• “Devil Boy” by Seven Mary Three = 4:24
• “The Grocery Store” by Single File = 2:59
• “Nightingale Song” by Toad the Wet Sprocket = 2:03
• “Winter” by Tori Amos = 5:42
• “Hands Held High” by Linkin Park = 3:55
• “Let It Be” by The Beatles performed by Gospel Choir of the Cascades = 3:48
• Bonus Song: “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri = 4:45

Take a listen and let me know what you think about my new MC.  I’ll give you a hint… she’s a 16-year old girl.  What type of person do you think she is?  What is she going through right now?

Do you write to music? Or do you need it perfectly quiet?  Any good playlists or songs that have inspired your writing?

Words of Inspirations for Writers

First you look for discipline and control. You want to exercise your will, bend the language your way, bend the world your way. You want to control the flow of impulses, images, words, faces, ideas. But there’s a higher place, a secret aspiration. You want to let go. You want to lose yourself in language, become a carrier or messenger. The best moments involve a loss of control. It’s a kind of rapture, and it can happen with words and phrases fairly often—completely surprising combinations that make a higher kind of sense, that come to you out of nowhere. But rarely for extended periods, for paragraphs and pages—I think poets must have more access to this state than novelists do. – DON DeLILLO

An idea, like a ghost, must be spoken to a little before it will explain itself. – CHARLES DICKENS

A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus: What am I trying to say? What words will express it? What image or idiom will make it clearer? Is this image fresh enough to have an effect? And he will probably ask himself two more: Could I put it more shortly? Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly? – GEORGE ORWELL

To sum it all up, if you want to write, if you want to create, you must be the most sublime fool that God ever turned out and sent rambling.

You must write every single day of your life.

You must read dreadful dumb books and glorious books, and let them wrestle in beautiful fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next.

You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads.

I wish for you a wrestling match with your Creative Muse that will last a lifetime.

I wish craziness and foolishness and madness upon you.

May you live with hysteria, and out of it make fine stories—science fiction or otherwise.

Which finally means, may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world. – RAY BRADBURY

What’s the Word? – One Little Word Project

Ali Edwards is a mother, photographer and documenter of life.  I’ve followed her blog for some time. Her digital scrapbook layouts are inspiring without being cheesy, and I could only dream of finding the time or inclination to document my own world quite so beautifully. In 2006, Ali began the One Little Word project - choosing one word for herself each January.

a word that I can focus on, mediate on, and reflect upon as I go about my daily life. I invite it into my life. I live with it. I let it speak to me. I might even follow where it leads.

Ali says, “Choosing a word each year came about as an alternative to a list of resolutions. I wanted something I could hold close and actually develop a relationship with over the course of the year.

Some years my word has made a major difference, and other years it’s been a more silent companion through the challenges and celebrations in my life.

The action of choosing a word (or having a word find you) is full of potential and possibility. And here’s one thing that’s totally interesting: sometimes a word pops into your brain and it doesn’t make any sense right now. Give it some time. Let it percolate a bit. I have often found that our hearts speak to us in very unique ways. Maybe it’s a word you need to hear, but you just aren’t ready for it yet. Again, be open to the possibilities.

Your word can be tangible or intangible. It can be a thought or a feeling or an emotion. It can be singular or plural. It might be silly or serious. It might be something you want to bring to your life. It might be something you want or need to change.”

A single word can be a powerful thing. It can be the ripple in the pond that changes everything. It can be sharp and biting, or rich and soft and slow. The key is to find something that has personal meaning for you. This is not your mother’s word, or your spouse’s word, or your child’s word – this is YOUR word.

I thought I’d choose my own word this year.  Something simple to carry with me and reflect upon.  I chose:

INTENTIONAL

in·ten·tion·al/inˈtenCHənl/

Adjective:  Done on purpose, deliberate

Synonyms:  Deliberate, wilful, willful, purposeful, intended

There are days when I feel like I’m floating through life – sucked up by the immediate needs of others (my kids, the school, my husband, the dog, the house) or the hedonistic needs of my psyche (sleep 30 more minutes, eat one more cookie, it’s too cold to go for a run.)

In 2012 I want to live with intention.  I want to write with intention, parent with intention, take care of myself with intention and take care of others with intention.

I want to get haircuts with intention so that I don’t look like Mr. American Apparel.  I don’t have a problem with emo-chic.  But seriously, have you seen my photo?  I can’t pull off that haircut.

What’s your word for 2012?

Why do you write…in six words or less?

I was driving up the mountain last night after a meeting in Denver and listening to NPR.  It was just about the time the BBC News was on.  I’m a sucker for BBC news.  I especially love the human interest stories. Something about the dry British wit of the reporters has me chuckling in my car every time.  Last night’s story was a take-off on a project that’s been happening for several year.  In the mid-2000s the online magazine Smith asked readers to write a memoir in six words or less.

Smith based this experiment on an old story. Supposedly Ernest Hemingway was asked to write a full story in six words or less.  His response:

For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.

Smith magazine took a page from Hemingway and has since published a book filled with six-word memoirs such as:

Fifteen years since last professional haircut – writer, Dave Eggers

Couldn’t cope so I wrote songs – singer, Aimee Mann

Well, I thought it was funny – comedian, Stephen Colbert

The British reporter last night put a slight spin on this concept.  Her challenge was to answer the question, “Why do you do what you do?”  This was from a professional perspective, so in essence, why do you participate in your chosen career.  Her point was that many of us fall into our professions without too much thought.  Maybe astrophysicist didn’t work out so you became a banker.  All the stripper poles were full, so you were forced to become an award-winning writer.

This challenge got me thinking.  Why do I write?  I took a stab at really analyzing how I became a writer.  Here are the best four:

Telling people’s stories well is rewarding

Followed husband’s job; writing travels well

Perfect descriptive phrase makes me giddy

Always wanted to. Finally realized how.

Now it’s your turn.  Leave a comment and tell me in six words or less ”Why Do You Write?”  I’m sure we’ll have some great responses. 

Combatting Procrastination

Some days it’s hard to sit down and write.  Call it fear.  Call it laziness.  Call it whatever you want, but inspiration can’t strike if you aren’t working.  That’s easy to say, but some days it’s seemingly impossible to get your butt in the chair and actually start writing.

First, let’s look at the procrastination side of things.  Here’s the list of the top five things I would rather do some days than sit down and write:

1. Reality television – I will never understand why Storage Wars (or looking at other people’s tossed off crap) is more fascinating than writing.
2. Reading to my kids – I love reading even more than I love writing.  If someone would pay me to sit around and read all day, I’d probably chuck this writing gig and camp out in a hammock filled with books for the rest of my days.  I especially love reading to my kids. The joy that they experience in learning about a vulture’s wingspan or Jack and Annie’s escapades in the Magic Treehouse is priceless.  Given that I’m instilling a lifelong love of the written word in my kids, I wouldn’t call this item procrastination.  At the end of the day, though, I’m still not any closer to my own word count.
3. Grocery shopping – especially if it’s at SuperTarget because then I can sneak over to look at t-shirts with sarcastic sayings on them or baskets made from wicker or reeds or wood.  I am a firm beliver that you can never have too many baskets or too many tote bags for that matter. 
4. Sleep – No matter how many times I set the alarm for 5 a.m. to beat my kids and husband out of bed and get a few hundred words under my belt, the cool sheets and my warm Snuggie convince me to hit the snooze button about twelve times.  Yes, I own an as-seen-on-TV Snuggie and I’m not afraid to say it. A friend bought me a leopard-print one a few years ago. It makes me feel like Mrs. Howell on Gilligan’s Island when I wear it.  Yet another thing you can never have too many of – fleece blankets.
5. Internet – Who invented Pinterest and why is it so addictive?  It’s so much easier some days to create a virtual life on Pinterest than it is to sit down and face the real one which involves writing.

Now for the top five ways I have discovered to combat my urge to curl up with my baskets, blankets and tote bags, create pin boards on Pinterest which include beautiful baskets, blankets and tote bags, and watch Storage Wars in which I often get to see other people’s old baskets, blankets and tote bags.

1. Deadlines:  Real deadlines.  My article is due at 10 a.m. deadlines.  The first draft of my book is due on July 31st deadlines.  We’ve already proven that I’m a planner who loves calendars and timelines.  However, I don’t always answer to myself very well. I come out of the gate strong with self-imposed deadlines and fizzle out quickly.  Deadlines imposed by other people (preferably with checkbooks to pay me) are another story.  Give me a deadline from one of my editors, and I hop out of bed when the alarm goes off at 5 a.m. to edit (or finish) my story.
2. Writer’s conferences:  Once I have a writer’s conference on my schedule, I crank out the word count. Register for the conference; put it on your calendar and work backward to create a realistic writing schedule to ensure that your synopsis, book proposal or manuscript are ready.  You only get limited chances for face-to-face agent pitches.  Don’t pass up those opportunities because you wasted your days watching Gilligan’s Island re-runs.
3. Critique groups: When someone else is counting on me, I always come through.  No one is going to fire me or disown me if I don’t get that chapter finished for my next critique group meeting.  But, the fear of being the only one to show up at the weekly meeting without a completed chapter provides the motivation that I need.
4. Freewriting sprint: Sometimes writing is just like working out.  Getting started is the hard part.  Once you start, you usually want to keep going.  On days when I don’t have looming deadlines, it’s more difficult to find the motivation to write.  I set a timer and force myself to freewrite on my current project for ten minutes.  I type as fast as I can and let the ugly words flow.  When the egg timer starts ringing, I’m usually lost in the scene.  It’s too late.  I’ve been sucked in by my own words, and I know that I’ll finish my word count for the day.
5. Word count goals:  Breaking a project down into realistic goals makes it less scary and more doable.  On a non-deadline day, I usually aim for 1,000 words.  Two 500-word sessions are very realistic for my schedule.  If I’m throwing together a first draft, I can dash off 500 words in 30 minutes.  One hour of writing per day puts me 1,000 words closer to a finished draft. I should specify that deadline days (work days dedicated to a project with an upcoming deadline) are structured much differently for me. Those are the days when I don’t need to search for motivation.  Deadline days are when the professional writer in me takes over.  I stop sitting around waiting for inspiration to strike, I shut off Storage Wars (or at least mute the television) and write.

What are the crazy ways you waste time when you should be writing? What are your best techniques for combatting procrastination?

WWW(W): Writing on the Web this Week about Writing

I don’t know about you, but I’m always inspired by the community of writers (and readers) who share valuable and smile-inducing information in their blogs.  During your writing breaks this weekend, take a few moments to read some of these articles that have been floating around the internet this week.  I hope these articles will fill up your own writing well with new inspiration, and you might just discover a new blog to follow. 

Meanwhile, check out the Contact button up above if you’re looking for other places to find me in cyberspace.  In addition to this blog,  you can find me on Twitter and Facebook.  Have a great weekend and Happy Writing!

• I tweeted about this post on i09 ealier this week.  “How to Write a Sincere First Draft of Your Science Fiction or Fantasy Epic”  I don’t write either sci-fi or fantasy, but I still found some helpful tips on “Figuring out what you really meant to write, instead of the garbage you actually did write…”
• I love Writer Unboxed.  This writers’ community started in 2006 by then unpublished (and now published) authors Therese Walsh and Kathleen Bolton, offers up a collection of tips and musings from emerging and veteran authors, literary agents and more.  Today’s post “Turning the Soil” was by guest poster Sarah Callender.  It will be helpful for all writers who are struggling with their story’s seeds of doubt.  I suscribe to National Geographic’s motto “Live Curious,” and Callendar’s post drove home the challenges and thrills that living curious presents.
  

  “Identifying and exploring one’s sense of wonder is thrilling; it is also scary. It is deeply satisfying; it is also hard, hard work. We must do the hard work of turning the soil, of disturbing and disrupting the earth, if the dirt in which we plant our story seeds will yield anything worth harvesting.”

• Do you ever feel like there are eight million people offering up words of wisdom about being a writer, but maybe eight who actually give you concrete tips?  If you’re having one of those days – needing a “show me, don’t tell me” place to visit – hang out at Flogging the Quill.  This website, written by author and editor, Ray Rhamey, is filled with those concrete tips.  Ray’s Flogometer provides the opportunity to submit your first page and receive feedback from Ray and his writers as to whether your first page would compel them to keep reading.  The latest post was about Jack’s opening chapter of Night of the New Hummingbird. 
• In the spirit of my recent Ira Glass post, I was so happy to see someone else addressing “The Gap” that Glass mentions.  Men with Pens is a web design and web copy writing business.  The Men with Pens blog frequently has helpful tips for non-fiction and fiction writers.  “How to Fight Your Way Through the Writing Gap” gave inspiring insights into overcoming your fear of the gap.  I loved this line:

[It] will never stop being difficult. But you may stop being daunted by difficulty.

The question is whether you want to stop being daunted now, or in twenty years.

• Finally, you must visit Two Writing Teachers, a blog written by Ruth Ayres and Stacey Shubitz, two women who teach writing and literacy to kids on opposite sides of the country.  “Storytelling” gave me warm fuzzies.  I’m helping to start a literary magazine for the students at my son’s elementary school, and I get such a rush from the excitement that young kids experience in their moments of creative exploration.  Be sure to read this post.  It will renew your faith in the power of storytelling by and for all ages.

Ideas for a Novel: Where do they come from and how can we find them?

A common question that I’m often asked is, “Where do you get your ideas for your writing?”  With NaNoWriMo upon us, many are asking, “How do you decide on an idea worthy of a dedicated month or year of effort?” I mentioned in the About Me section that I’ve known since I was young that I wanted to write.  I spent hours locked away in my room as a kid devouring the words of Thomas Hardy, Louisa May Alcott, Shakespeare, Judy Blume, Alice Walker.  You name it and I wanted to read it.  Reading inspired me.  I wanted to read more and I wanted to write. I always said:

If someday I can, through just the right combination of words, make someone feel the way some of my favorite authors have made me feel, I will consider my life successful.

The problem? I knew that I wanted to write.  I just didn’t know what I wanted to write about.  I had that same question that many of you do. Non-fiction came easy – and still does.  Fiction was more challenging.  All of my ideas felt cliche or overdone. I was convinced that I didn’t have muse.  It took me a long time to realize that the muse has to be nurtured.  Mine especially likes Peppermint Patties when I’m on deadline.  Sweet treats or not, a muse doesn’t just show up and hand you ideas on a silver platter.  She drops hints along the way, and it’s our job as writers to follow the breadcrumbs one by one to a great story.

Once my muse who claimed to be shy for so long suddenly decided she was an extrovert, I was swamped with more ideas for fiction than I could possibly write in a lifetime.  I was shocked because I didn’t know what had happened to open these floodgates.  Was it a wealth of life experiences? Probably. Was it the maturity that comes with a career and parenthood? Possibly.  Or had I tapped into something more important? Definitely.