Is the Dream Really a Nightmare?

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been doing some research. I wanted to change the direction of my writing, its focus. Well, I've been led in a certain direction, and I can't turn back now. My conscience won't let me.

You may or may not know that I don't watch much television. Well, unless there is a storm coming or something of that nature. I quit watching "news media" television after September 11, 2001 because it struck me that WTC 7 collapsed, but no plane ever hit that building. And it collapsed in the afternoon. If you want to know more, just use google. It's all there. But you won't see it on the television. The channel I like to call FauxNewsChannel is, in my opinion, one of the biggest news network lie machines ever invented. Not to mention the tabloid press.

It's time we wake up. Before it's too late.

Look at the world around us. Look at what is going on. Is there any ring of truth? Those who have eyes to see, and ears to hear.....they will see the truth, and recognize the illusions. And they will hear the difference between the truth and the lies.

The ones who speak truth are systematically taken out of the picture. Their voices are silenced. THINK about it. Martin Luther King, John Lennon, JFK, Robert Kennedy. The list goes on and on. And it's not just activists, or politicians. Artists are taken out of the picture, too. Writers, musicians, artists of all kinds.

THINK about that one for just a minute. Think of all the musicians we have lost. What was their message? Did their message change over time? If it did, what was the result when they stopped sending the message the record companies wanted them to send? What happened to them when they started using their art for a bigger, global message? A message of LOVE? Michael Jackson changed his message, and look what happened to him. The media vilified him and convicted him in the Court of Public Opinion, then crucified him, damaging his career irreparably.

Just THINK for one minute what we lost because of what the media did to Michael Jackson. The art, the music, the films we could have enjoyed for the rest of our lifetimes, and the generations to come. The media robbed humanity of gifts Michael Jackson could have given us, gifts we could have used to help heal the human race and the planet it exists upon.

Who controls the media? Who decided what we see, what we know, what we won't see and will never know? What is your definition of TRUTH? What you see or hear? Or is your definition of truth decided AFTER you have read all the facts, and not just opinions?

Take this in, digest it. THINK about it. For your sake, and the sake of your children. For the sake of the world. Our world.

So what do we do? We use our talents to heal the world.

When will it end?

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."
- Jimi Hendrix

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New Look for the New Year

The blog has a new look to go along with the new horizons I'm moving toward. I'm very pleased, and I hope you like it. Please leave me some comments and let me know what you think. Just click 'Friends Said' at the top of this post.

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New Year, New Resolve, New Horizons

Happy New Year, everyone!

I've decided to set some goals for my writing for 2010. I say goals instead of 'resolutions' because those things never pan out for me. They are usually forgotten by Valentine's Day. So far:



Fiction
* I will complete my first draft of "Call the Four Corners" by Jan. 31st.
* I will start the 2nd draft of "Cast the Circle Widdershins" on Feb. 1st. Completion date is 5/31.
* I will start the 2nd draft of CT4C on 6/1. Completion date is 10/1. This will give me time to prepare for the 2010 Muse Online Writer's Conference that begins on 10/17. (Check the link, I'm listed on the site as a promoter! Thanks, Lea!) I also will work on the story arc for The Willowvale Chronicles series in preparation for another year of insanity otherwise known as NaNoWriMo in November.
* Complete 1st draft of Book Three of The Willowvale Chronicles in November. The title of this one is "Guardians of the Watchtowers."

And if that's not enough, I also plan to take my freelance life to a new level. I haven't done any freelancing since I got sick in Oct. 2008, and at that time I only published a few articles online, and that was just to see if I could. I'd never done any kind of non-fiction before. But at least I took a good long swim in the Fiction Pool from then until now. And I'm not getting out anytime soon.

But I've got to get serious about freelancing. It's looking more and more like freelancing will eventually be my full-time job due to my health. I will still be writing fiction, just in what spare time I have left. But I will make time to work on The Willowvale Chronicle series. While I have made vast improvements since going gluten-free, I still have a long way to go. And I have come to the stark realization that I might never fully recover to the point where I was in May 2008. Sorry to be so depressing, but I've got to face that reality and plan accordingly. It gets reinforced in my mind every night at work that I won't be able to do my job much longer due to chronic fatigue. I have to stop and rest after climbing only 16 stairs. And after doing that repeatedly for 8 hours a night, I'm completely exhausted and in a lot of pain by the time I get home. Making a living exclusively from writing has always been my dream, and I plan on making that dream a reality in 2010.

So here goes:

Freelancing:
eHow
* 100 articles in 2010. Yeah, yeah. I know that sounds like a lot, but it's only two articles/week.

Suite101
* Apply to write for this site.

HubPages
* 100 hubs in 2010. Two hubs/week.

Demand Studios
* Apply to write for this site. I've heard the pay isn't so great, but I can make quick $ here.

Examiner: Huntsville
* Apply to this site and pray I get accepted. This would be freaking awesome for my resume.

I have some other sites I will apply to and post a few articles and see what happens. Most of them don't pay as well as the sites listed above, but they are good sites for beginning freelancer to start with. They include:

Associated Content: This is a money-maker. I'm going to shake it, shake it good.
Bukisa: Looks good.
ConstantContent: Another money-maker.
Elance: This looks interesting.
Helium: I've been a member here for a while now, just got sick and didn't post any articles. That will change this year.
Life123: Just joined this site. Will post articles.
Qondio: Been a member here also. Will post articles here.
Orato: Possibilities.
Red Room: I will be posting articles here once I get a few more freelancing credits under my belt.
Squidoo: Been here a while also. Will make lenses in 2010.
Triond: I'll be trying this one out.
Xomba: Already joined, will post articles on this site in 2010.

Well, as you can see, I've done my homework as far as finding out where to write. And I've set some goals that are attainable. Now I've just got to get it done. So the motto for 2010 is:

Write. Now. As if my life depends on it. Because the reality is that it does.

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The Purple Bar: Nirvana

NaNoWriMo Soundtrack song that was playing when I validated the win: "Come As You Are" by Nirvana. I came with no plot. No plot? No problem! ;)

On Nov. 1st I had absolutely no idea what to write. I knew Lily's story wasn't finished, but didn't have any ideas about where it was going to go. This month has been a series of discoveries and moments of amazement as I watched her story unfold on the page before me. I started this journey last year with other writers from all around the globe. I've 'met' some wonderful people, and received so much encouragement from everyone. I can't tell you how much of a 'wannabe' writer I felt like when I started my first NaNoWriMo last year. Could I do it? Was I just fooling myself? Could I do this and dare to call myself a 'novelist' when I had yet to publish a novel? (Notice I said 'yet' to publish a novel. I'm a firm believer in mentally manifesting what you desire. The universe usually delivers. It will happen, hopefully soon.)

I'd wanted to be a novelist ever since I was fourteen years old and read "The Shining" by Stephen King. I didn't sleep for three days and was constantly nervous. I startled at the slightest noise, for certain Jack Torrance was after me with an axe.

I had my "Aha!" moment right then and there. I wanted to be a novelist. I wanted to write novels that made people lose track of time. To forget the dishes in the sink, the bills, their problems. And look up at the clock amazed that they had been reading for hours. That's the kind of writer I wanted to be. And I still want to be a writer on that level of skill. I'm not comparing myself to Stephen King. That would be insane on my part. He's the Master of Horror, and always will be in my book. But it's his level of skill and ability to take me out of my own world and put me in his that I admire. And it's a world that I don't want to leave once I'm in it. That's what I want to achieve as a novelist. To take my readers out of their world and put them in the one I've put down on paper. And make them want to stay in that world I created, and be filled with regret when they reach the last page and have to leave.

But last year when I finished "Cast the Circle Widdershins" and not only tied up the plot in the ending but also a sub-plot, I was amazed. I couldn't believe I had tied up all the loose ends without even thinking about it very much. I thought, "Maybe I can do this again. Maybe I can tell a story, and it be good."

And I must say that this story is really getting good, even if I did write it. I'm anxious to find out what happens myself. :)

"Cast the Circle Widdershins" isn't finished. And neither is "Call the Four Corners". I've yet to type "The End" on this second novel in a series of four.

Stay tuned. It's going to be a wild ride.


P.S. Happy Birthday, Toney. I miss you.

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Nanolysers are Awesome

Here's mine: Helen's Nanolyser

P.S. I'm sorry to disappoint you if you click on my profile link in the sidebar for Book Marketing Network. You won't see much there until December as I haven't had time to personalize my profile. Check back next month please. ;)

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Over the 25k Mark: It's a Downhill Ride from Here

After writing over 4,000 words in 24 hours I have finally hit the halfway mark. Final word count for tonight: 26,184. And it's all thanks to Alternate Shift at Work who as far as I know actually showed up on the job today. Don't even think about calling in tomorrow. Seriously.

The Most Honorable Mentions go to:
1. My family and friends who have unceasingly cheered me on every day this month.
2. My Fellow Scribes on Facebook and Twitter. You are an invaluable source of inspiration. And I do have quite a few cheerleaders on both networks. Thanks Tammy, Kathy L. and Kathryn on FB. And KVLong, Devon Ellington, Kippras, Nanda, JordanDrew, tamlynleigh, MoonStaress and the rest of my fellow writers and my NaNo family on Twitter.
3. My Alabama North Regional Municipal Liasons on the NaNoWriMo site. Thanks so much Amy and Brian, and everyone else in the Region!
4. Liquid Story Binder. You make writing a wonderful experience. Even the times when I have no more words left and I want to pull my hair out. You have many pretty bells and whistles that I can play with while I'm waiting for my Muse to whisper in my ear. Or for inspiration to strike. Whichever comes first.
5. My awesome heating pad that has a "Stay On" feature. It's tied to the back of my chair with shoestrings. It's been like that since last November. I've never taken it down. I think it will take up permanent residence there due to the fact that I will be living in Edit Hell in December.
6. Elvira, the most wonderful computer in the world. She has been holding up wonderfully, but I'm starting to believe she'd telling me that I have been working her way too hard for the past year. She seems very tired. Along with her, my back and my knees are telling me I really need a netbook so I can cut this invisible chain that has me tied to my chair. Then writing at work with LSB won't be a problem when Alternate Shift @ Work calls in every week on one of my off days.
7. My AlphaSmart 2000. This thing has really saved me on the word count. If not for it I would be so far behind I would probably give up. I'm grateful I have it. It was a mere $20 on eBay. But it won't run LSB, and I find myself forgetting essential plot points when I'm writing at work because I can't go back in previous chapters and check the details. Yes, I do believe it's time for the netbook. I am already saving up.

I'll have more Honorable Mentions on the 30th. This is enough for today. It's off to bed now. I have tomorrow off as well (do you hear that AS@W?) and I want to get as far ahead as possible. It's too nerve-wracking for me to be behind. It aggravates me on a physical level to the nth degree. That's not good.

It's feels so good to be coasting downhill.

On to 50k!

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