The Golden Coffee Cup begins Monday!

Hi, folks, A short post today! Click here to learn more about the Golden Coffee Cup.
We will begin our own odyssey on Monday. I'm excited about making a goal and keeping it. Be sure to post your goal by Monday at midnight. Hot stuff is coming.

I try to see the sunset every night. Here is a recent picture of Texas big sky:

I ask myself, "Look at the beauty of the universe. Look how immense and breath-taking it is. How do I want to respond to it? Who am I? What do I want?" I am moved to write, to captures some filament of the truth woven into the fabric of what I see. Oh, in the end, I'm sure my art is not enough, but I must try. I must.

Here is a quote to get you going:

I don't care how much power, brilliance or energy you have, if you don't harness it and focus it on a specific target, and hold it there you're never going to accomplish as much as your ability warrants. Zig Ziglar

Win Coffee! Join the Golden Coffee Cup on Nov 1

I hope that you are getting your goal ready! Yay for the folks already in! 31 days of CHEERING YOU ON blogging is about to begin on NOV 1. Here are the quintessential motivational coffee cups:


Make a goal and finish it. Share in a creative journey. Join the 2010 Golden Coffee Cup. Want to make a good goal for the Golden Coffee Cup? Check here.

THE SCOOP

In honor of National Novel Writing Month (NANOWRIMO), I have a little event on my blog for anyone one who needs an extra boost of motivation to get their current project rolling.

The Golden Coffee Cup is for children's content creators or anyone who might like to hang with us (Come on over, Nanos!). Artists, writers, screenwriters, if you fit the bill, this is for you.

The Golden Coffee Cup is a different kind of motivational thingy.

THE RULES: 1. Post your November creative goals on blog by Nov 1. I'll make sure all goals are moved to the November 1st post so we're all on the same page. Nov 1 at midnight is the deadline, folks.

2. Come back daily for general cheering, inspiring, and wild ruckus. We'll work hard and do some holy snappin'. For extra motivation, virtual 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 your story on my blog, and you will receive your Golden Coffee Cup jpg. There is no verification process, I believe you. Send in your email address to me(molly@mollyblaisdell.com), and I'll email your Golden Coffee Cup. Display it proudly as wallpaper, post it on your blog, print it out and tack it on your bulletin board for year-long motivation.

4. EXTRA EXTRA Incentive! Write a great post and you might win real coffee! I will select the four best goal stories, and the winner will receive a STARBUCKS card for a cup of coffee. 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. (Ahem, if you don't like coffee you can totally buy tea - the CHAI at Starbucks is mighty tasty.)

Get ready, folks! Major high fives, holy snappin' and so many inspiring folks are ahead. You can do anything you put your mind to. Really.

People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily. Zig Ziglar

Life Inspiring Fiction -- Janet Lee Carey, author of THE DRAGONS OF NOOR

Please check out my upcoming Golden Coffee Cup and the following Opportunity, but to create meaningful work, we have to get the fire within burning. The answers to our writing journey are threaded through our life journey. On this journey, we find the themes that we circle around and explore in our stories. Most of us find that we spend our entire career revealing these heart-felt themes.

Talented fantasy author Janet Lee Carey is here today to share some of her insight into how we move the inspiration of our life into the fiction that we write. Janet is the author of many books including STEALING DEATH, THE BEAST OF NOOR and its sequel THE DRAGONS OF NOOR. Today we’ll be taking a close look at how Janet’s real life passions and interests connected with and inform her newest fantasy novel THE DRAGONS OF NOOR. This blog is in celebration of her newest book.



The natural world is a huge force in your work, please suggest some practical ways that you draw strength to create from the natural world.

I’m lucky enough to live by a lake where I can watch the morning mist rising over the water. The lake changes moment by moment. I look down to read a paragraph and when I look up again the light has gone from gray to rose, new birds have flown in. I’m constantly thrilled and challenged by the fierce beauty of the natural world, so it’s not surprising that it’s central to all of my fiction. When writing new scenes I try to let the setting speak. For this to happen I have to get out of the way and let the natural surroundings say what needs saying in the story at that particular moment. Everything the story needs is right there in the scene.

Describe the how and why of the moment the kernel of an idea was formed for THE DRAGONS OF NOOR.

There were two parts to the original vision. One came from a daydream I had years ago where I saw children stolen by a wild wind.
Children fly when worlds are shaken,
Now the children are Wind-taken.
Seek them there, seek them here, before the children disappear.
The first few lines of the poem above came early in the writing process. Sometimes poems arrive like signposts. It’s my job to follow the signposts into the story to see where they take me.

The second kernel had to do with an image of the ancient forest toppling down through some mysterious blight. Funnily enough the question, “Who will speak for the trees?” raised by Dr. Seuss’s book THE LORAX, accompanied the vision.
These two images collided in my mind. I knew the loss of the ancient trees and the wind-stolen children were connected somehow, but I didn’t discover the internal story map right away. I had to write the first draft to understand the connection.

Caution: allowing the imagination elbow room and writing discovery drafts leads to a lot of cutting and revision down the pike. Still I wouldn’t write any other way.

Trees, it’s all about the trees. In THE DRAGONS OF NOOR, the azure trees are dying, connections between worlds are severed, heroes must rise up and save these connections, could you share some stories of how trees have inspired you and how they made your way into your story?

I grew up under the towering California redwoods, and I mean under them. The ancient trees dwarfed us. I think this gave me a unique perspective growing up. I felt there were older living beings around me -- that I was a small person in their world. Because of this I see all the manmade structures, our houses, buildings, bridges, as necessary to our survival, but I also feel we are building on ancient terrain.

The forest was a presence. I felt the trees surrounding me walking to and from school. I also read fantasy books up in the boughs. In ON STORIES C.S. Lewis says “[the reader] does not despise the real woods because he has read of enchanted woods: the reading makes all the real woods a little enchanted.” This was certainly my experience. The books I read made me see the redwood forest with a deeper appreciation.

Some seedling thoughts I discovered writing THE DRAGONS OF NOOR.

Trees play an essential role in the human psyche. Our bodies, hearts, and brains need their silent majesty, green boughs, and shade.

Trees are rooted in humankind’s childhood. When we cut them down we sever ourselves from our wild past and chop down our most ancient playground.

The tree deya, Evver, says to Hanna as they part ways:
~Feel the ground beneath your feet as you walk. Heart to root; remember the ones who hold you up.~


You’re sending donations to PLANT A BILLION TREES as part of the celebration of the release of THE DRAGONS OF NOOR, could you explain why you’ve chosen to support this organization and what it means to you?
Of course! I knew when the book came out I’d be looking for just the right outreach to celebrate. The Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees is the perfect fit.

Plant a Billion Trees goal is to restore one billion native trees to Brazil's highly endangered Atlantic Forest over the next 7 years.

Nature Conservancy says, “Tropical forests are the lungs of the earth, filtering out ten million tons of car-bon dioxide from the atmosphere every year. Every day these valuable trees help reduce global warming.”

Readers who want to help restore the forest can check out the “Giving Back” page on my website, or go straight to Plant a Billion Trees campaign page.

More Celebrations:
Local Seattle area readers are welcome to join THE DRAGONS OF NOOR Book Launch Party at Parkplace Books in Kirkland, Oct 23rd 7-9 pm.

Thanks for the great questions, Molly. It was a pleasure to visit Seize the day today.

In lieu of this week's doodle, here are some lovely trees to inspire you on your journey.


credit Tom Carey


QUOTE:
Sometimes I go about pitying myself
And all the while I am being carried across the sky
By beautiful clouds
Ojibway saying

Fifth Annual Golden Coffee Cup is Nov 1!

HOW TO MAKE A GOOD GOAL FOR THE GOLDEN COFFEE CUP.

Put on your thinking caps. You need to make a really good goal. Keep it simple. Complicated goals tend to get tossed. Be reasonable. How long would it take you to get in shape for a marathon run? Give yourself that much time if you have a big goal. Keep it real, folks.

If you can't make a deal with yourself to make a goal, well, you need to work on that. Discipline is about practice. Try making four 1 week goals. You have to think about the amount of work, but be aware of the amount of time you have available. There is still no way to stop time. Your goal needs to jive with the time you have available. I am serious.

Goals are just that, not another reason to kick yourself, not another reason to eat that tub of chocolate brownie caramel fudge ice cream, not another reason to say that you are just a big mess up. My advice, if you are caught in this glue, go talk to someone. OK?

So now that you have settled on reason itself, put a pen to paper and write down your most awesome goal. Next, start preparing yourself for success.
Most of all, have fun!

SO WHAT IS THE GOLDEN COFFEE CUP?

In honor of National Novel Writing Month (NANOWRIMO), I have a little event on my blog for anyone one who needs an extra boost of motivation to get their current project rolling.

The Golden Coffee Cup is for children's content creators. Artists, writers, if you fit the bill this is for you.

The Golden Coffee Cup is a different kind of motivational thingy.

THE RULES: 1. Post your November creative goals on blog by Nov 1. I'll make sure all goals are moved to the November 1st post so were all on the same page. Nov 1 at midnight is the deadline, folks.

2. Come back daily for general cheering, inspiring, and wild ruckus. We'll work hard and do some holy snappin'. For extra motivation, virtual 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 your story on my blog, and you will receive your Golden Coffee Cup jpg. There is no verification process, I believe you. Send in your email address to me(molly@mollyblaisdell.com), and I'll email your Golden Coffee Cup. Display it proudly as wallpaper, post it on your blog, print it out and tack it on your bulletin board for year-long motivation.

4. EXTRA EXTRA Incentive! Write a great post and you might win real coffee! I will select the four best goal stories, and the winner will receive a STARBUCKS card for a cup of coffee. 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.

OPPORTUNITY to featured in the Golden Coffee Cup.

A quote for the week: First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end. Aristotle

Want to be featured in the 2010 Golden Coffee Cup?

OPPORTUNITY! It's that time a year again! Want to be featured in the 2010 Annual Golden Coffee Cup? Send me (molly@mollyblaisdell.com) a digital picture that expresses your "High Five", a link to your blog, website or book, and your favorite bit 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.

SO WHAT IS THE GOLDEN COFFEE CUP?

In honor of National Novel Writing Month (NANOWRIMO), I have a little event on my blog for anyone one who needs an extra boost of motivation to get their current project rolling.

The Golden Coffee Cup is for children's content creators. Artists, writers, if you fit the bill this is for you.

The Golden Coffee Cup is a different kind of motivational thingy.

THE RULES: 1. Post your November creative goals on blog by Nov 1. I'll make sure all goals are moved to the November 1st post so were all on the same page. Nov 1 at midnight is the deadline, folks.

2. Come back daily for general cheering, inspiring, and wild ruckus. We'll work hard and do some holy snappin'. For extra motivation, virtual 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 your story on my blog, and you will receive your Golden Coffee Cup jpg. There is no verification process, I believe you. Send in your email address to me(molly@mollyblaisdell.com), and I'll email your Golden Coffee Cup. Display it proudly as wallpaper, post it on your blog, print it out and tack it on your bulletin board for year-long motivation.

4. EXTRA EXTRA Incentive! Write a great post and you might win real coffee! I will select the four best goal stories, and the winner will receive a STARBUCKS card for a cup of coffee. 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.

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. C.S. Lewis