Travellers Tales weekend festival

Yesterday was another amazing day at the Travellers Tales festival and yes, I got to meet Alexander McCall Smith. What an elegant, charming gentleman! He was such an entertaining speaker and I believe everyone who heard him was touched by his grace.

I enjoyed the day very much and the whole event very much and know that it will be one of those markers in my life. We are in the merry month of March now and time is ticking by which I am aware of so I have to be using those pockets of time properly and get some writing done anytime I can sit to write.

A word at a time, sustained efforts and focus on a few things will get me to the appointed destinations. 

Thank You, Father for yesterday's opportunity.

Going for gold

Today I attended the first day of a travel writing event; I had been excited about it all week and though I couldn't do everything that was on offer, I really enjoyed it very much. And came back home quite inspired and hoping from Monday the 2nd of March, things are going to snowball because I am using my time better than I have been. I have been doing my best but I need to stop writing according to feeling.

I am going for gold as a friend put it and putting into practice some of the things I have been reading and learning about. On Friday I began tennis lessons at long last and it was so exciting and humbling at the same time. It was one of the things on my PASSION list for this year; a short list after whittling down my interests to passions and I am very grateful for that.

Tomorrow is the continuation of the event and for me the highlight of the 2 days in the appearance of Alexander McCall Smith. Something else on my list that is being fulfilled. Forget the sceptics; the law of attraction really does work and on that note, I believe that my efforts to go for gold are really going to come to pass with the daily steps of progress.

Thank You, Father for today and thank You for Your mercy that abounds daily. 

Feisty females

I just finished a book by Sara Paretsky and I guess I have written it before, but I thoroughly love feisty female characters because I admire them and want to be like them, I suppose. A heroine of sorts, solving problems for people.

I looked Sara up on the Web and was surprised to read that she was not encouraged as a child because she was a girl. That kind of resonates a little with me and I could feel a bit of her emotion coming through as I read about her. What better way to get rid of such baggage than to write about it and make a point? Well, there is a better way. Give it up to God and then write about it too.

Her protagonist is a bit like the one written of by Sue Grafton and she has such a strong voice that one can almost imagine her.
That is the power of a good writer. One who creates a character who feels three-dimensional.
Nana, read and learn. What a great way to study: read to my heart's content.
Of course within the boundaries of discipline.
Hmmmm. Thank You, Father.

Getting there

Still struggling to find a routine but I am not at all despondent or hopeless. It has been an emotionally trying few months due to a friend's issues but there is closure now and very soon, it will all be over.
I am doing my best to get Baby Sarah to be more independent and though it is easier said than done, we will get there. I am very aware of the fact that we all go through blips and when something is what you are meant to be doing, the opposition can be very intense sometimes.
The Lord is my Helper indeed and He neither slumbers nor sleeps.

Stir yourself up, Nana

I haven’t written in a while though the intent has been there. I have come to appreciate in these past few days that health and productivity are so linked to each other. I have not been able to shake off the lethargy completely and it is affecting my imagination and productivity; naturally.
I have to shake myself up and stir myself up so that I can move. Being tired makes me focus on the negative instead of the positive and just when I should be walking tall on the back of getting a letter printed, there is this slump. I am wiser now and will do my best never to let exercise slip away from my lifestyle.
I am stirring myself up and shaking off the weight.

Dick Francis

It is not a pleasant thing to be uninspired as a writer. It feels quite frustrating because you do want to write but your mind is blank. I am by no means the first writer to experience this phenomenon. I have read about it several times from other quarters and much as I am doing my best to write when I don’t feel like it, it is hard doing sometimes.
Today (the 11th) I have felt like that and after taking a nap and waking up with still nothing beeping in my mind, I picked up the new Dick Francis book to read and I am yet to finish the first chapter but he has me in smiles already and I feel inspired to jot down what is happening. There is nothing like a master at his game. I am so glad he is back again writing and even if it is still about houses and races, I say bring it on, Mr Francis. You have a lifelong fan in me not just for your tales but your paucity of writing.
I love this writer.
I have to note that when I need inspiring, I have to head for a Dick Francis novel to do the trick.Tight,pacy, gritty writing; just the kind of medicine that I need.

Ministry

In season and out of season.

These are my words for this year. As I was pondering over the writing and thinking of which direction next, this verse came to mind.
2 Timothy 4:2 preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching.

If I consider this writing to be a ministry gift then I must write if I feel like it or not, motivated or not, inspired or not. That does not mean putting out shoddy work but it means that I no longer have the excuse of not feeling like writing and I must write every day, whether it is a line or hundreds of them.
What matters is that I do it all for the glory of God as a minister of the gospel; So in season or out of season, I write the words I hear in my mind.

My good friend, the journal

Each time I read an old journal I get quite tickled and pleased at some of my musings in there and I also find out whether I have grown up at all in any way. Sometimes I get quite surprised to see that I have written something I am still grappling with or realize that I have had answers to questions or prayer requests I have jotted in there. I am glad I keep a journal. I have recently come across a market for submissions and I have spotted a few lines in one of my old journals that I could pick up and follow through to submit to this market.

I am also hoping to get out a vision letter to Barbara,my coach, about what I want to achieve next year and even though I am feeling physically tired at the moment, I am at the point where I realise that if I do not push forward my dreams tired or not, they will remain exactly those: dreams and who doesn’t have dreams, tell me? We all do but few realise the grand things they picture. All the boring words I normally do not like to think about are necessary to achieve my dreams. Diligence, perseverance, hard work, preparedness, etc,etc and all those “lovely’ words come into play over here. I have at least one thing to help me. A journal to pour in my difficulties and of course prayer, music, the Word and all the support I have from those who love me come to mind.
And of course, keeping a trusty journal to keep me company along the way is always a good thing.