Travel Tuesdays: Hoping to Live a Transient Kind of Life

Towards the end of Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, the hunky Javier Bardem suggests that they stitch together a life that includes splitting time between New York, Australia, Bali, and Brazil (well, the Brazil part is in the book, not the movie). For some people, this sort of life might sound like a nightmare, or at the very least inconvenient or hectic. But I found myself envying the life that Gilbert and her partner would lead.

Read the rest of the article here on Yahoo!: http://voices.yahoo.com/hoping-live-transient-kind-life-10835387.html?cat=41

Movie Monday: The Ides of March by George Clooney

The Ides of March has been on my radar for a while, and I knew that it was going to be the type of movie that pisses me off because it's about how dirty our politics really are. The toxic culture of our political system is on full display, and the message is not hopeful:

Eventually, even the good guys are corrupted.

George Clooney plays said good guy, a seemingly straight-shooter that isn't willing to compromise on his views just to get some votes. He says, "I'm not an atheist or a Christian...if I'm not religious enough for you, don't vote for me." Clooney and Grant Heslov wrote the screenplay, and the brilliant aspect is how Clooney's character, the presidential hopeful, is built up to be this wonderful guy--good to his wife, no bullshit, not willing to make promises for cabinet seats that would help him get endorsed by other politicians and therefore nearly ensure locking in the presidential nomination. People that have called for Clooney to run for office will be salivating at his performance.

And yet.

You know that he can't be as perfect as he appears, and you would be right. And Ryan Gosling's character, a hopeful campaigner that truly believes that Clooney is different from the rest, ends up covering up Clooney's mistakes. As a result, he too is now tainted, and you can see the shift in his attitude. It's like once he got his hands dirty too, he decides to just roll with it and become dirty like the rest of them.

I hope every politician watches this movie, and it serves as a wake-up call that things have got to change, and until it does, our country will continue to suffer. I hope Clooney continues to write and direct realistic movies like this that call people out for their bad behavior. Bravo.

SUPER Sharing Sundays: Best Links of the Week

Favorite quote of #WDC12 via Chris Baty: "There's someone out there who has waited their whole life to read your story." That's a happy, happy thought!


Organize your writing career, pronto via WB Terrien


Literary fiction vs. genre fiction was a hot topic at the writer's conference last week, so I thought this post was intriguing by Andy Ross Agency


Practical, hands-on advice: How to Build a Press Kit (good for any entrepreneur, especially authors!)


Brad Taylor talks about the importance of authenticity aka real life moments in your fiction, no matter your genre


Steal Like An Artist  by Austin Kleon, who cautions that "we are a mashup of what we let into our lives."


I LOVE insight into other writer's writing processes. Here's Roni Loren's via one of her blog tour stops.


An option for authors to get out of the slush pile via Iguana Books explained on Sasha Jackson's blog.


Advice I am trying to remind myself each time I get a rejection: "If one person doesn't fall in love with [your book] it doesn't mean that it's not loveable." ~Millicent Bennett at #WDC12


S.M.A.R.T. goal-setting advice we learned in grade school, but often forget to do as an adult via Ashleigh Oldfield


Julie Anne Lindsey's debut romance novella, Bloom, recently hit the estores, and she is just one of those positive, happy, excited people, but even better, a great friend and supporter of other writers on Twitter. Check her out on her blog tour.

Soul Saturdays: #Manifestival Part 2: The Connections In Our Lives

Week Two Theme: C O N N E C T I O N S: Family, friends, and community

To read the prompt: http://www.manifestival2012.com/manifest.html


Here are my responses:

The most meaningful relationships in my life are with people that I feel in my bones love me for me. They aren't judging me but rather are supportive of my efforts and dreams. They are openly loving and give praise. I leave interactions with them feeling happier and stronger. In turn, this is how I hope to make other people feel when they interact with me. 

Gratitude is something that I want to work on in 2012. I think when I am with others, they know that I appreciate them, and I try to send texts and emails that show others I am thinking about them. But thinking about someone and telling them specifically why you are grateful for them are two different things. 


I would like to include more writers in my circle. I have a great group of digital writer friends thanks to Twitter, but I want to start brainstorming and spending face time with writers in my community. I know that this would bring joy, creativity, and energy into my life. to take action with this goal, I will research the existing writing groups in my community and if none are quite what I'm looking for, I will consider starting my own.


I will also start writing a "gratitude" letter at least once a month to someone that is important to me and has impacted my life in some way. I think this will be a fun activity and make both me and the receiver feel happy.


Spaces mean nothing if you aren't meaningfully connecting with the people in those spaces. I know that I need to make more of an effort at home with my husband because right now as I try to navigate my writing career, I tend to make the entire house my "office," and I need to make some spaces work-free zones so they can be areas of relaxation. 

Fiction Fridays: A Little Mark Twain Brilliance: Puddn'head Wilson

I love reading about Mark Twain. I think he was smart-as-a-whip and his social commentary was spot on. I wonder what he would say if he were alive today about our extremely divided democracy and greedy American culture?

Anyway, The Tragedy of Puddn'head Wilson is about a man who people called a "puddn'head" because they thought he was stupid because of one unfortunate remark. Don't judge a book by its cover? Give people the benefit of the doubt? Not pigeonholing others? All important lessons taught through Twain's character.

Twain is obviously strongly against discrimination of any kind, and with this book, he will make you ashamed of any time you were a bully or failed to stand up to a bully on behalf of someone else. He judges the judgers--people who try to make others feel bad about themselves instead of doing some self-inventory and trying to improve upon their own flaws.

I also like how he starts each chapter with a quote taken supposedly from Puddn'head Wilson's calendar. Chapter 1's states: "Tell the truth or trump--but get the trick."

When you read this book, it is worth your time to go back and reread the quote from the beginning, because it always has significance. I'm a big fan of starting chapters with quotes anyway.

Tune Thursdays: The Royal Noise Trio Album Release Party in Savannah

http://theroyalnoise.bandcamp.com/album/keep-on-moving

Last year was a big year for The Royal Noise, which started in 2007 as the brainchild of Johan Harvey, the band’s manager and guitarist. They enjoyed being the house band for Live Wire Music Hall for much of the year, which allowed them to open for “national acts like Val Halla, Sol Driven Train, Zongo Junction, Arpetrio and Dirk Quinn,” explains Harvey. Plus, they continued to grow as a regional/East Coast act, with “plans to play in cities like Charlotte, Asheville, Richmond and Philly a couple of times a month.”

To read the rest of the interview, please check out my Music Matters article for Savannah Morning News by clicking on the link.

Writer Wednesdays: Goins, Writer

Jeff Goins is on fire for 2011. He was named to Brazen Careerist's Top 20 Young Professionals to Watch in 2012. His blog was named a Top 10 Blogs for Writers 2011/2012, and he has a book deal thanks to his blog.

Okay, enough about WHY he's an expert; now I'll tell you WHY you must add him to your reading list.

He will light a fire under your ass. Period.

He uses powerful language to motivate readers to take action. Immediately. After reading one of his blog posts, if you allow yourself, you could accomplish something great of your own. Start reading his posts when you have  a free block of time so that you can do what he encourages--no, demands--that you do for yourself immediately after you re-read his post and get inspired.

It's not that he gives step-by-step tips on how to get published (which he does at times and provides plenty of resources for writers). It's not that he is saying anything new (but of course, sometimes he does). No, his blog is powerful because it forces you to take stock of yourself, your dreams, and your willingness to do absolutely whatever it takes to make your dreams into reality.

He lives by the no BS policy, which is a great place to inhabit. Yes, we will all encounter challenging obstacles, difficult odds, and feel like curling up under a blanket watching movies all day sometimes, and that's okay. But you better bust your ass the next day. And the next. The only way to get ahead and where you want to be is to put in more hours and effort than the majority of other people.

Don't self-sabotage. Don't feel sorry for yourself. Don't waste another minute living a life you don't want to be living. Pull on your big-girl or big-boy pants and tackle your days. Reading Goins' posts will make you want to do all that and more. 

Travel Tuesday: Consider Key West for New Year's (or Any Time You Wanna Let Loose!)

 

 While the people in Times Square freeze waiting outside for hours to watch the ball drop, people in Key West bar-hop and take over Duval Street, which is closed off for the festivities. There are three different places to watch something drop, and each one is unique and embodies the Key West atmosphere in a different way.

Please read the rest of the article here:
http://voices.yahoo.com/celebrating-years-eve-key-west-10835499.html