Christmas Prayer 2008

Be
Sing
Waltz,spin
Keep it real
Shout Hallelujah
Look on the bright side
Hear the bells, taste sweets
Hold on to the good, toss out the bad
Enjoy the sunshine, weather the storm
Pray, hope, forgive, redeem, remember love
Help me,
O Lord
Amen

My Christmas doodle:



Here's a blast from the past playlist hit, from 1978, Boney M performing "Mary's Boy."



I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. Charles Dickens

Finesse

This week, I was having a conversation with my author friend Louise Spiegler about what it means to finesse your writing. We discussed that once you have a complex story with believable characters that has gone through several revisions; there is still some room for another pass. Refine your manuscript -- add more depths of character, shades of mood, and complexity of feeling.

This kind of tooling is delicate and will take all your artisan skills as a wordsmith to create the textured kind of writing that rises above and has true meaning. This is a time to experiment skillfully. You must make subtle changes in you word choice to bring life to your work. Refine and manipulate your words with savvy and dexterity. Finesse your work.

I hope this discussion informs your work this week and helps you create a meaningful story, exactly what you want.

I call this week's doodle "Catfish".


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!

This week my playlist hit is "Unwritten" performed by Natasha Bedingfield.



Finesse is the best adaptation of means to circumstances. Thomas Babington Macaulay

Brave: Laini Taylor

What an inspiring week. I heard fantasy author Laini Taylor, this week at the local SCBWI meeting. She offered all kinds of tips how to keep moving forward with your work. She brings a spirit of play to her work and that was sooo refreshing. Follow that link for hours of inspiring information.

I find it takes tons of bravery to write books. You have to sit in that chair day after, seek out your muses, and toss out fresh, brilliant work (eventually). Either you are crazy or you are on a mission. I'm going with the mission.

So these are my steps to bravery. I bring to mind those times when I was sure of what I was supposed to do. I read my journals and they help me remember how I got here and where I'm planning to go. I leap whenever necessary. I revise when I figure it out. I listen to my friends. I hope extravagantly. And this is my favorite thing - while I'm waiting, I believe.

This doodle is really old and sort of a self-portrait.I think was nineteen-years-old. I'm calling it Green-girl.



This is kinda long, but it was the major playlist hit this week. From Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, "Somewhere over the Rainbow."




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!

True bravery is shown by performing without witness what one might be capable of doing before all the world. François de la Rochefoucauld

Words

I've been up before sunrise the last few mornings. Not hard to do when the sun is rising around 8 a.m. I don't know how to describe the morning light of these last few days. Above me the sky almost blinds me with brilliant light blue and the clouds dazzle me with their rosy tint that fades to midnight blue. Today, I imagined if I was looking at everything through rose colored glasses that this would be exactly what it would look like. All the colors were such rich hues. I feel this wealth that beyond any monetary system, the wealth that is my right for watching the sunrise.

The sunrise stirs something deep within me, something ancient, something down in core of what makes me human. This elemental connection with the world is part of storytelling for me. The connection creates a hunger in me to reveal the natural world and our place in it. The morning light make me aware of deep core things that bind us together with our world and our sun -- I've always been aware of these things, maybe more so as a child than now, but I've always felt this need to respond to, to praise, to give thanks, to shout at, to imagine, to find the right words for the world around us.

This awareness draws me into words, into a need to find the right words to capture this "sudden drown of knowing". I borrowed this phrase from my dear friend and the wonderful poet, Katherine Grace Bond. You might want to check out her poetry. Regardless, I hope you take time today to find the right word.

I call today's doodle "Olympics from Dungeness Spit".



I'm a adding this little feature go my blog -- my current playlist hit for the week. This week the playlist hit comes from Benji and Joel Madden of Good Charlotte -- "A Beautiful Place."



One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.— Jack Kerouac

The Winners of the Golden Coffee Cup

Hi folks, it's time to announce the winners of the 2008 Golden Coffee Cup! Everyone is a winner who participates, but only four take home that steaming cup of hot java and the coveted golden coffee cup award! Here's this year awesome graphic!




This year the four winners are as follows:

Julie Reinhardt -- She finished up her whole cookbook project. This is Julie's first win since she received "Most Improved" on the soccer team her freshman year in high school. Snap! Snap! Snap!

Kjersten Hayes -- She fell behind, almost gave up, and then kicked into gear, finishing her goal!!! Snap! Snap! Snap!

Trudi Trueit -- She felt like giving up, but kept on going, and in the end reached the spot where there was no going back !!! Snap! Snap! Snap!

Lois Brandt -- She was also a Nanowrimo participant and wrote all 50,000 words of her next novel. She also lead an intrepid group to the same glorious goal. Snap! Snap! Snap!

If you are a winner and didn't make it to Seattle Kid-lit Drink night, email me your address and I'll pop your graphic and java in the mail!

Thank you all for participating. Special thanks to the talented Holly Cupala who offered her special cheer leading skills to this year's Golden Coffee Cup and made the journey way more cool! I hope the warmth of inspiration has gotten a fire going inside you. Have fun creating! See you next year. Until then check out my weekly posts with original doodles, crafts tips, marketing stuff, and, yes, more inspiration. Seize the day! Molly:)