Taking a Leap of Faith

Photo by Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash

The one thing I try to remember is that every aspect of my writing is a leap of faith. Honestly, every time I get ready to hit the publish key, my insides turn to Jello. I know there's no one out there who's really going to criticize what I write, but there's always that chance.

I've gone and done something that I'm already starting to regret, but I had to do it for my own piece of mind. Over at Medium.com, I've created a newsletter entitled Promptly Inspired. It's a weekly newsletter of writing prompts for fiction and non-fiction writers alike. I don't know how well it will be received, but I've got to try something to keep myself going.

I almost didn't do the writing prompt thing over there as there are a lot of well-established publications on the site that offer up writing prompts to their subscribers, and they're very good. Even though I used to publish writing prompts to hundreds of subscribers myself, I now felt like I was doing something wrong. Like I was stepping on someone else's toes. But one of the writers on the site told me to go for it and I did.

I just have to keep pushing myself. It's no longer a want to do this, it's now a need. I need to get back into the writing game. I need to keep myself moving in a forward motion. I need to do this and quit coming up with excuses. I need to take this leap of faith.

Finding My Way Back Home

Photo by Sašo Tušar on Unsplash

Can you believe it's been 4 years ago TODAY that this blog last got any attention? That's awful. I'm a horrible blog mommy. Well, let's fix that right now. It's time to bring some love back to this poor little blog.

I originally created this little spot to help me get back into the whole writing thing. It's taken me a very long time to find my voice, but it's slowly starting to come back. I've joined writing groups, but that just made me realize how old I was as most of the other members were basically kids.

I tried starting up a few other blogs in particular niche fields, but that's going slower than even I expected. Like going nowhere fast. I created a Tumblr account to give me a place to practice, but again, I feel like a little old lady hanging out at the playground after school.

I'm not sure what I'm going to start doing here, but I have to do something. I have found a creative outlet for my writing at Medium.com. I love that site. I've done more writing in the past month on that site than I have in the past, well, 4 years. It's been mindblowing. I feel like I'm getting my mojo back. 

This might just end up being a site where I can post my opinions, do some blog giveaway stuff, or that kind of thing. It's not going to make me a millionaire, but it might keep me moving in the "write" direction. I'm enjoying myself again and I can't let that go. Here's to my happy writing life. Cheers.

On Blogs, Vlogs, and Shameless Plugs

I realize not only that it's been a while since I posted but that I've only ever posted maybe once or twice - and for both of these things, as well as a host of others, I'd like to apologize. The truth is that I fell on some pretty hard times physically which sent me back to physical therapy and landed me back on meds. The PT worked wonders where the medication did not. Needless to say, I lost a lot of time and work during that period and am just now getting back around to doing the things I was plotting when this calamity befell me.

One of those things is writing more, and more often. But I have to say that I have moved on from blogging - not altogether, mind you (obviously) - I just feel that it has served its purpose and, despite what some may claim, the point was never money nor fame nor any such thing; for me, blogging was about learning to let go - to stop trying to craft every sentence so perfectly, to stop worrying if every single word was as singularly specific as it could be, if every thought or idea advanced the plot or added depth to the character or story. The point, for me, was learning to write - to write well, to write succinctly (or verbosely, as I was so inclined), and to write quickly.

I've certainly never been one for deadlines.

So it is that I wanted to stop by and say that while I'll still be dropping by from time to time, both to comment as well as enter the errant post, the technology has finally advanced to the point that I feel a different mode of communications is calling. Some call it "vlogging" (idio... Internet slang for "video blogging"), others call it "podcasting," still others call it any number of things. We've no format at this point, no real talking points, nor any plan - much the way I started blogging back in the late '90s when it was called "weblogging" and was used specifically by webmasters to inform visitors as to what we were working on, the techniques and programs we were using, and so forth.

We also do a comedy show on the weekends wherein we "riff" a movie - that is, mock and comment on it as we watch it IRT - specifically in the vein of the classic TV show, Mystery Science Theater 3000. The movies are not screened before we sit down to rip them apart, although we've often seen them and even riffed them previously (as we've been idiots for far longer than almost anyone would imagine), and the entire show is performed live and unscripted before your very eyes. If you miss it (well, I don't know that "miss" is the best choice of words but remember what I said regarding singularity and specificity of language and how blogging helped me learn not to give a shit about it and we'll move right along), the recording is available the following day on The Weirding YouTube Channel.

I love writing and always have; I vividly recall the first "real" story I wrote, as well as the second. By the fifth grade, I wrote a story every week featuring my unmarried, former nun, teacher and her beau. The entire class had to write these stories, employing that week's vocabulary list, and I never failed to dazzle, baffle, and amuse. I was hooked. I wrote and performed plays in highschool, and had already been published twice by the time I was a highschool Freshman.

Writing is what I do and always will be.

But I am excited by this new frontier and the opportunities it presents - which includes the option of scripting material, both to be delivered as well as performed. And I'd really love for some of you to follow along, or at least check it out from time to time (we'll get better eventually, I promi... inevitably - I mean, we have to, right? Right!?). In return, I'll drop by from time to time and give you a written... whatever - update, report, look behind the scenes.  Who knows, maybe we will even end up collaborating on something at some point.

Meanwhile, keep writing and keep reading! I met Christine some five years or more ago on a blogging site and she hasn't given up yet, so I don't think she's going to anytime soon. Take a page from her book, as corny as that sounds, and do the same.

Also, come check us out. We have big things planned. We are not very likely to actually do these Big Things but they are planned. Well, we have discussed setting aside some time in the future for planning. So. You do not want to miss that!

- C Harris Lynn, 2014
www.theweirding.net

Miss Mabel's School for Girls by Katie Cross

Never underestimate the power of a determined witch.

Letum Wood is a forest of fog and deadfall, home to the quietly famous Miss Mabel’s School for Girls, a place where young witches learn the art of magic.

Sixteen-year-old Bianca Monroe has inherited a deadly curse. Determined to break free before it kills her, she enrolls in the respected school to confront the cunning witch who cast the curse: Miss Mabel.

Bianca finds herself faced with dark magic she didn’t expect, with lessons more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. Will Bianca have the courage to save herself from the curse, or will Miss Mabel’s sinister plan be too powerful?

Miss Mabel’s School for Girls is the first novel in The Network Series, an exciting new fantasy collection. A gripping tale about the struggle to survive, it will take you to a new place and time, one you’ll never want to leave.

I love a good book. One you can crawl into and get lost in and this is one of those books.  Introducing Miss Mabel's School for Girls by my little friend, Katie Cross. 

I fell in love with the characters as soon as I started reading.  You've got all the elements of a spellbinding story here.  Like any high school, you've got your popular girls and your book worms, but these girls all have a little something else. You've got teachers who make the learning process fun and those who make the students cringe at the thought of being called upon.  Oh, did I mention the creepy forest surrounding the school?  

You'll notice that I'm not giving anything away with this book because I firmly believe you've got to read this one.  I will tell you that it's got everything you could ever want in a magical YA book.  And it's done in a way that is actually believable.  I've read a lot of books of this nature that were just so far out there that it could never happen in real life.  But MMSFG is different in the fact that you think that there could actually be a school out there where high-school aged girls are learning the mystical arts.  

As a first novel, I really think Katie did an awesome job.  And one of my favorite things about it is that it's a great read for book lovers of any age.  I can't wait to see what she comes up with for the next installment.

Want to keep up with everything going on with this book and the others coming up?  Check out Katie's fanpage on Facebook or the Miss Mabel's site.