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Tag Archives: International Authors

Perfect Writing Room

22 Monday Feb 2016

Posted by Kristine in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

amwriting, HoW, inspiration, International Authors, USMC

It’s all so complicated, but we make it so.   Perhaps writers and artists, creatives of any kind, will recognize the idea that they can’t (won’t) get started until everything is just right. Just the right tools at hand, the right weather, the right amount of background noise (or none at all.)  We somehow get it in our minds that we can’t create until everything is juuuust right. Thanks a lot, Goldilocks. I blame it squarely on her, Ms. Folktale, taking away our ability to sit in a chair too hard, sleep in a bed too soft, or eat foods that are too cold. Everything has to be just right, we heard in childhood. Seemed to make sense. Life is all about comfort, innit?

So, not writing is so much easier when I have Goldilocks to blame for my problems. Or the fact that my office is too cold, or there’s too many people in the house, or I haven’t had enough beer yet to be in that comfort zone, that sweet spot that opens and words pour through.

So, to quote a friend, “Bullshit.”  The sweet spot don’t exist, it’s a myth. Successful people, not just writers, but creatives, executives, cubicle creatures, scientists, students, it all applies to them:  They succeed because they worked for it instead of standing around waiting for their coffee to be the perfect temperature, their mood just right, the stars aligned, who the hell knows what the sign is that tells them it’s time to begin.  Successful people just keep at it. They want to, have to, and the truly lucky ones are doing it because they are in love with it. Perhaps a degree is helpful, but how much does it mean if you never use your gift (after polishing the hell out of it since forever.)

I read an article online recently that darkened a shadow that’s lurked behind me for some time.  I allowed the idea to take roost in my head that the best way for my work to be taken seriously when submitting to a poetry contest is to have MFA nestled somewhere in the bio. I looked back at previous winners and felt my sweet spot go right sour. Oh god, there’s no hope for me–or any fledgling writer–how can there be, when the “literary elites” are the ones who dictate what’s great–and publishable.  I shared my ongoing fear with authors and editors whom I respect, trust, and look up to.  The responses were passionate, as expected. One was particularly thrilling for the beautiful language he chose to assuage my concern.  Their responses shared the same message:  Don’t worry about “literary elites.” Just keep working.  Great writing will always find its way to the top, no degree required.  I do believe they blew my MFA shadow away into grains of sand in the wind.

But. There’s always a but. All this writing talk leads me to yet another article found on Literary Hub, shared here for your perusal.  The perfect room. Another myth. What kind of moment it was when I discovered the perfect room to write in is the one I am in right now. Last week it was the library. Two days ago it was in a spiral notebook with my feet in the cold sand, sun warm on my arms, waves wandering in, not especially concerned with fledgling words. The perfect manuscript does not exist. There will always be room for one more nip, one more tuck. Sure, a really great cup ‘o joe and the worlds most comfortable pen (or laptop with silent keys) can make the writing experience easier, more pleasurable. But none of it matters if there’s no thinking, dreaming, or writing going on.  I’m not known for being disciplined. I don’t think Goldilocks was, either, but one of us is going to sit in chair too hard, burn her mouth on something spicy, and put some words together that someday, somebody will really want to read.  I am the perfect room.

Oorah!

Notes From The Highbrow

11 Tuesday Aug 2015

Posted by Kristine in Uncategorized

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Tags

International Authors, meeting

Sharing notes from an all too brief moment of privileged conversation.  An excellent summary of the meet-up (which is nothing at all like an Iron Maiden tailgate meet-up, but the camaraderie feels the same).  I do hope you will hit the link and explore.

Cheers!

http://carterkaplan.blogspot.com/2015/08/international-authors-meeting-in-ibm.html

Our Hands, With Love

10 Monday Aug 2015

Posted by Kristine in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Flash fiction, HoW, inspiration, International Authors, Iron Maiden, Moorcock

Today I experienced privileged conversation. We are not a secret enclave set out to dominate and rule the world. Writers have better things to do, but don’t forget, we are an insular breed. Still, we find a way to open doors and windows so we can inspire and be inspired, impossibly.  Creatives of similar minds gravitate to this place. Privileged because we “get it” and we probably live in a world where our spouses and children, our family tree, our bosses and everyone in between just totally does not get it.

When the internet was new to me, I explored everything I had a passion for–things that swept me away, things that elevated and saved me. I only knew what my soul stood up and responded to, what my writers mind reacted to and appreciated, recognized lines I wish I had written in the books written by Michael Moorcock, for one. He and Stephen King (and Iron Maiden) had the earliest impact on my writers mind.

By fate I came to a place that challenged me to write in the format of six sentences–flash fiction.  I come from a background of cathartic writing, often from the hood of a Ford Bronco beneath a moon and alongside the Hudson river.  Looking back I can see how far I’ve come, which doesn’t mean “I OWN.” It simply means I see the growth and want it to continue. By chance, fate, fortune, by the Universe’s manipulations, call it what you will, I landed on a page where my primordial, cathartic words were seen and I was asked to come, to be, to participate in a House of Writers.  True to form, I gave a thousand and one excuses why I could not come.  I was summoned, and despite myself, I went to meet strangers at a secluded chalet in the shaded woods of North Carolina. It was the best thing I ever did for my writing life and for my spirit. I wish grateful thoughts were dollars so my writing friends could be millionaires because they deserve it.  Later, we came together by the ocean, and I was reacquainted with myself and this Writing Thing that demands my care and attention. My love for words and for those writing friends only grows.

Today I focus on the words “privileged conversation” because sharing the foundations of writing is important to me. I was privileged to listen to authors sharing their origins, their interests, and what our future writings will be.  What I focus on is not so much the authors that inspired them. Instead I focus on what their passions are driving them towards today.  Meeting with these authors and creatives raises the bar. It causes me to examine my work microscopically and challenges me in so many other ways.  So. Your hand holds a lantern which lights my way. In my hand holds all soul and passion and destiny. It is my realistic hope that wonderful things are on the way. By my hand, holding yours.

Thank you to IA

09 Sunday Aug 2015

Posted by Kristine in Uncategorized

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Tags

happy problem, International Authors, meeting, progress

A big thank you to the IA group for a lovely meet-up at (an undisclosed location) in Manhattan. On 56th.  Near Trump Towers.  Did I give too much away?

Met a lovely group of authors, and I couldn’t be more inspired to keep the hand pushing forward, to hold the lantern up and keep writing!

Did I mention I still have to finish Rose’s book and the sun is setting and I have to attend to my day job tomorrow and there are only 24 hours in a day?  A friend of mine, I believe, would call that a happy problem.

Onward!

International Authors meet-up

09 Sunday Aug 2015

Posted by Kristine in Uncategorized

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Tags

HoW, International Authors, meeting

Much to do and little time to do it. But this is the old sin of a creative person, that habit of procrastination. We aren’t driven unless we are under the clock, or writhing with guilt?  But that cannot be the only thing that drives us on, it just can’t be. It’s unhealthy, so bad for the spirit. (Yeah, I didn’t just make that up. That’s the shades of Steven Pressfield and Julia Cameron hanging around with me.)

So we have to take care of our Selves because no one else will do it for us. Take care of our Spirits. And we have to make the proper amount of time to write, otherwise we will spend the rest of the day distracted, thinking about the notes we did not jot down, dreams from the night before, a To-Do list to keep ourselves on track instead of hurtling through our lives like a kid in a mine car a la Indiana Jones. Full disclosure: this is not something I’ve always done… this is a “new thing” in this writers life, and it seems to have fallen in quite nicely. And falls off. Then I pick it back up again…

So if it matters, gotta make a plan. Take care of the plan and allow for deviating from it because stuff happens.  But just make sure the words arrive, eh?

This morning doing some blogging and preparing to drive down to the city to meet up with a fascinating bunch of writers, authors, and artists of varied stripe. Looking forward to new faces and soaking in the vibe. Not looking forward to getting lost and walking around the same block twice, but hey. If that’s the worst that happens today, no biggie.  Note to self: Update flash drive files and take the right one with me, helloooo…

There’s been a lot of writing going on in my head lately and I think it’s because the House of Writers retreat is still creeping around inside my body like immortal red blood cells, unseen but doing their job, keeping the inspiration going.  I suppose it’s my job to keep vibe going, to put more fire on the coals, every. single. day. And whenever the words strike.  I miss my friends and wish I could see them all the time. I know “absence makes the heart grow fonder” and I know if we lived together, communal-like, we’d wind up getting on each others nerves, so I take the precious few hours allowed us each year and hold them close.  They are dearer to me than family, and maybe that’s a sin to pronounce, but I don’t care. Truth is truth, and that’s what this life is about.

Time to shift gears, not just in the writing but do the girly thing and figure out an outfit to wear. I’m thinking something black. With boots. And a leather wristband.  And a shirt, I suppose.

IMG_20150805_112008_burst_02

Authors Meeting

06 Thursday Aug 2015

Posted by Kristine in Uncategorized

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Tags

International Authors, meeting

Who me? I get to be on the invite list?  Fab.

Looking forward to sitting with those wonderfully talented High Brow types and bringing my Low Brow squeak to a little get-together in the city to talk future projects.  Will be nice to see our Dear Editor, swap stories, and eat and drink from a High Brow menu that I shall want to translate before ordering.

Ciao!

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