Golden Coffee Cup and Don't Stop Thinking about Tomorrow

Howdy, peeps, another week has come and gone. Be sure to checkout my yearly blog event. The Third Annual Golden Coffee Cup is on the horizon, my answer to the NANOWRIMO idea of writing a book in a month. Yes, I know some of you out there can do it, but I invite all NANOWRIMO folks to consider me the back-up plan. I think it's hard to make any goal and keep it. I think that a picture book draft in a month is beyond awesome! Post you goals on the Golden Coffee Cup page. Join me for wild ruckus, heartfelt inspiration, and a chance to win a real cup of coffee. Click here for goal-setting tips.

We are heading back to 1977. I watched Star Wars over 50 times and Fleetwood Mac came out with a little album called Rumours. That's the first time I heard Don't Stop Thinking about Tomorrow.. This song has been rolling through my head all week. I like that forward thinking attitude. I think that writers are really into tomorrow. We are writing for the future.

It's a faith leap, folks. The central hope is that your voice will reach out and connect with someone else. So join all the madmen that have walked out into the wilderness and cried out. Take some time today and just say what you want to happen, say it like it is. I whisper the good days are ahead. I whisper the names of my books. I imagine their covers. I think about what they will feel like. I see them. This is no psychic connection for me; it's just hope. Dear readers, this week, go ahead and hope. Have some faith.

Here is this week's doodle: "Now, Faith"



Remember: ©Molly Blaisdell, all rights reserved. If you want to use my cool doodles, ask permission first. It is so wrong to take people's doodles without permission!


Have fun and never mind what anyone else says. PINK

Third Annual Golden Coffee Cup is around the corner and some encouragement for late bloomers!

Hey, folks, another week has come and gone. Be sure to checkout my yearly blog event. The Third Annual Golden Coffee Cup is on the horizon, my answer to the NANOWRIMO idea of writing a book in a month. Yes, I know some of you out there can do it, but I invite all NANOWRIMO folks to consider me the back-up plan. I think it's hard to make any goal and keep it. I think that half a novel in a month is beyond awesome! Post you goals on the Golden Coffee Cup page. Join me for wild ruckus, heartfelt inspiration, and a chance to win a real cup of coffee. Click here for goal-setting tips.

This is a busy fall for me, and I just ache for a slower pace in life. I'm going to confess the sad truth; I'm not exactly blazing forward with work right now unless you are a snail. I'm sure if we were all snails I'd be in the winners' circle.

I go to yoga every week and at the end we always do a balance series, often including tree pose. I'm always surprised how slowing the pace and breathing will inform the rest of my life. I was feeling a little down this week because freaking everyone races past me in the journey of creation. I see deserving authors start their journey and then move onto big contracts and then national awards, movie deals, and boatloads of readers. As I held my tree pose today, I began to think of all the kinds of trees out there. Some show big glory in the spring like the beautiful cherry trees. Evergreens have a steady beauty that last year round. But for me I love the white aspens and the glorious maples. They put on the big show in autumn. I connected that thought with who I am as a creator. I'm just at the end of the summer of my life and moving toward autumn. I feel within me the power of the sun stored up and starting to seep out into my leaves. My big show is just beginning. I have no words for the great surprise of these days.

Big shout out for my friend Kathi Appelt. Her book The Underneath was just nominated for the National Book Award! Kathi has created one of those books for the generations. Kudos and thanks to her. I'm predicting at the very least, a Newbery honor coming.

So it's time for doodle of the week! I call this one Girl and Tree.

Remember: ©Molly Blaisdell, all rights reserved. If you want to use my cool doodles, ask permission first. It is so wrong to take people's doodles without permission!

Time for action is now. It's never too late to do something. Carl Sandberg

The Third Annual Golden Coffee Cup Is Coming and I Love Your Blog.

Hi, folks, another great week. I've got an event coming up on Tuesday at Woodinville Barnes & Noble's annual Educator Night at 7:00 P.M. on October 14, 2009. I'm going share about art enrichment with a hefty slice of inspiration and practical tips. There is a cauldron of art love within me and I enjoy sharing my passion with others.

The Third Annual Golden Coffee Cup is on the horizon, my answer to the NANOWRIMO idea of writing a book in a month. Yes, I know some of you out there can do it, but I invite all NANOWRIMO folks to consider me the back-up plan. I think it's hard to make any goal and keep it. I think that half a novel in a month is beyond awesome! Post you goals on the Golden Coffee Cup page. Join me for wild ruckus, heartfelt inspiration, and a chance to win a real cup of coffee. Click here for goal-setting tips.

I was nominated by Holly Cupala and Janet Lee Carey this week for "I Love Your Blog." According to the rules, I've got to nominate seven blogs. These are blogs that I have bookmarked. Feel free to pass on the love. Click here for the rules.

1. A Sound From My Heart, Author Peggy King Anderson. The world best writing cheerleader.

2. Books and 'Rocks, Author Fiona Bayrock. An author ponders the writing life, the process of writing, the biz, the good books she's read lately, and how all that fits into her family, the 'Rocks.

3. Reading Undercover. Linda Johns. Author and Librarian Extrodinaire.

4. Reading, Writing, Ruminating, Vijaya Khristy Bodach. On of the most passionte writers I know. I predict many of you will cherish one of her books someday.

5. Strange Encounters with a Seer. Linda Joy Singleton. Friendly blog by a dedicated children's fantasy author.

6. Neil Gaiman's Journal.

7. Days in the Life. Celebrated author Robin McKinly's blog.

This week turned out to be one of surprising inspiration. I took a graphic novel class from Mark Siegel, the Editorial Director of First Second Books and a visual talented storyteller in his own right. My local region of SCBWI had a special graphic novel class. I started reading comic books in the dark ages of the early 80s. My older sister loved comic books and she had a whole collection. I'm haunted by images of manga and stuff so dark that sometimes I wish I'd never seen it.

I read inventive, hilarious, thought-provoking, wild stories and experienced many fresh voices. My sister's graphic novels were from a brave new world of creators, often produced in some guy's garage. Their genius was generally ignored by mainstream. Yah, you don't forget stuff like that. So I took this class on a whim to connect with that time in my life when I was sneaking into my older sister's room and reading her dangerous comic books, and instead of a whimsical sweet day, Mr. Siegel shook me to my core.

So here is a taste of Mark Siegel, author, illustrator and editorial director of First Second Books. How did such a young guy get so wise? It must be something about France. My first note is this guy is kind of bumbling up there, oh, no!

It all goes uphill from there and then right into the stratosphere. He built up the onion theory of creative endeavor. The outside of the onion is the our face to the world. Our PR or professional manner is our connection with the external universe. Next, was styles ways and means, I guess this means that you get paid and you find what house you fit with.

Going deeper there is craft and then the editorial voice answering back. Underneath that is the unique human experience that is you. This is not about your ego, but your internal worth. What are your dragons? What is your purpose? The deepest levels of that creative onion -- we begin understanding our spirit and inner life. Where do your thoughts dwell? What do you meditate upon? Where are you serving your life? What dragons are you trying to slay? Finally in that white hot core of you, how is translation happening? The substance of you--how are you moving that into your work.

Yah, there's a lot to think about here. I hope you think about the onion of you. Try getting into those layers this week. Create your best work.

I'm having technical difficulties this week and I'm unable to post pictures. I'm sorry about that. I had an awesome doodle.

Third Annual Golden Coffee Cup!

It's that time of year, folks. The 2008 Golden Coffee Cup held from Nov 1 to Nov 30 will be awarded for a month of goal setting and achievement. CLICK HERE FOR TODAY'S INSPIRING POST

In honor of National Novel Writing Month, I have a little event on my blog for anyone one who needs an extra boost of motivation to get their current project rolling. If you don't know about Nanowrmo, National Novel Writing Month, this is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30. This is a kamakazie approach to writing, it's about quanity and not quality.

The Golden Coffee Cup is a different kind of motivational thingy. This coveted award (an awesome picture of a coffee cup emailed to you that you may display it with pride) will be given to the successful November goal setters.

EXTRA, EXTRA INCENTIVE!!!!! Four lucky winners will receive a card good for a real paper cup of genuine coffee. Winners will need to send me(molly.blaisdell@verizon.net)their address to receive their card.

This is my answer to that "interesting concept" (cough, cough) of requiring writers to churn out 50,000 incomprehensible words in one month. I do the judging and it is wholly subjective. You do not have to be my friend to win, really, honestly, cross my heart hope to die stick a needle in my eye.

THE RULES:

1. Post your November creative goals here by Nov 1. That is the deadline, folks.

2. Come back weekly for general cheering and wild ruckus, celebrating your successes. We'll do some holy snappin'. For extra motivation, celebrity guests will be on hand to offer high fives for your achievements!

3. If you reach your goal from Nov 23 to Nov 30, and post on blog, you will be recieve your Golden Coffee Cup picture. There is no verification process, I believe you. Send in your email address to molly.blaisdell@verizon.net and your Golden Coffee Cup picture will be emailed to you. Display it proudly as wallpaper, post it on your blog, print it out and tack it on your bulletin board for year-long motivation. Write a great post and you might win the real coffee!

GOAL GUIDELINES:

The Golden Coffee Cup is about making a goal and keeping it.

If you are a novel writer, you can write something new with a realistic word count goal, keeping your life in mind. Your goal might also be making your first novel submission (think Delacorte Contest) or a revision of a novel you've already written. You can do this!

If you are a picture book writer or artist, hey, picture books are harder to write than they look. I don't really care about the word count because if your project is over 500 words that might be a problem. Picture book artists tell stories too. You might be an artist making a dummy and a dummy is certainly as hard to create as a novel. This is about quality not quantity.

Win your very own Golden Coffee Cup.

Let's bring some excellence into that creation!!!!!
I can't give you a peek at the THE Golden Coffee Cup but here are the Motivational Coffee Cups. Feel the power pouring into you!


Want to be featured in the 2008 Annual Golden Coffee Cup? Send me (molly.blaisdell@verizon.net) a digital picture that expresses your "High Five", a link to your blog, website or book, and up to three sentences of inspiration. This opportunity is open to children's writers and illustrators only. You do not need to be published. I will fit in as many as I can.