she who blogs

Another Opportunity For Folks With Big Hearts

Holidays are around the corner, and I’ve noticed that people open their hearts to others this time of year. Especially I see that knitters and crocheters all over the internet keep their hands busy creating items to give away. But, you don’t have to be crafty to give … just creative. You can purchase handmade items from someone on Etsy, or talk a friend into making a handmade gift and you pay the shipping!

That’s what I’m told at Sharing Our Gifts. They have a special program going on right now, and the deadline is almost upon us, to make hats and mittens for women and children at the Lee Shore Center in Kenai, Alaska, which provides a safe haven for women and children escaping from domestic abuse and sexual assault. That sounds like a place that could use the warmth of our love.

The project in Alaska is the second project in an ambitious goal of 50 projects for 50 states. My friend Barbara, who was one of the main participants in Share A Square two years ago, is collecting these and needs them by November 25th.

No, I didn’t give you a lot of time on this one, but if you are crafty I bet you make the time. Or, you can buy a handmade gift from a crafter … you know they would be happy to make a sale. That’s my “good” for this Only The Good Friday.

What’s yours?

I hope y’all have a wonderful weekend. Please join these other fine folks who occasionally post their “good.”
RV Poetry; Candid Karina; All My Great, or Not So Great Adventures; Inside Mo’s Mind; Thorne’s World; Down River Drivel; Duward Discussion; Ramblings of an Unstable Mind; Insightful Nana; Newbie Lifeline; Everyday Tarot; West of Mars; Life’s Journey; Round Circle; Barbara’s Travels; Blog of Revelation; Desert Diva; Blogjem My Life As It Is

Related posts:

1. Only The Good Friday # 9: HAP
2. My Optimism is Challenged
3. In Emergencies, The Red Cross AND Facebook Are Good
4. I Knew That People Had Big Hearts
5. Helping Others To Dress For Success

Visit Shelly at This Eclectic Life

November is NaNoWriMo

Well, I kinda fell down on the job for NaBloPoMo, but I’m rockin’ n rollin’ with my annual noveling efforts for NaNoWriMo during the month of November.

After an agonizing month of worrying about the fact that I wasn’t excited about it this year, and that despite NaNo founding father’s advice to “not worry if you don’t have an idea; just write”, I was devastated by the wasteland of my personal creative landscape. It appeared barren beyond any desert and as far as the eye could see. The closer November first came, the more worried I got. My thoughts continually returned to last year’s NaNo Novel… 51K words of a projected 150K word novel that I hadn’t touched all year. Every character, scenario, story line or idea I had seemed to circle back and be a part of the unfinished ‘08 Novel.

I came to a decision. Despite the suggestion to start and complete a 50K novel with a complete story arc for NaNoWriMo, this is my time to write! This month and the daily word count goals and the permission I give myself to be self absorbed and totally immersed in writing seem to be the only way for me to maintain the self discipline to actually pound out a story.

Imagine my surprise when I dropped in to the NaNoWriMo site forums to discover that I was in good company with other rule breakers. I am an official Nano Rebel, (as attetested to by the badge). Hee hee!

When I wrote last year I was only about 20k in when I realized that it would be impossible to complete my story arc in 50k words at the rate I was going. My story was going to need a lot more words than that. So I began summarizing the story here and there, and writing scenes as they sort of needed to be written. I’d find myself slipping from summary to dialogue and prose and then back to summary. Writing this way got me to 51K, a NaNoWriMo “winner” by Nov. 31. I had a complete story arc, albeit one with a lot of HUGE holes!
This year it’s all about filling in those holes to the tune of the monthly goal of 50 thousand words, which breaks down to 1667 words per day. I started writing a bit late, between my cleavered typing finger (a story for another day- and no; you don’t want pictures!!) and the necessity of going through the manuscript and identifying the holes. I went to sleep this morning sometime after 3 AM having knocked out 3,048 brand new words, which is about 5k short of being on schedule, but I’m back to it today and tonight, and hoping to catch up in the next couple of days.

If any of you lovely bloggy peeps write novels or screenplays, you absolutely must get Scrivener, by Literature and Latte. It is the most phenominal writing program I have ever used, and it’s making it soooo simple for me to keep a word count of this year’s writing separate from the entire manuscript form last year. It has super cool meta data, you can make notes and links and stick index cards on a corkboard on a spilt screen, color coded labels and, and, and… it just rawks! Check it out!!

Okay. I gotta go. I’ve just spent over 500 words, and I don’t know if there exists a finite amount of them in me each day or not. Lawl! Wooo hooo!

Peace, out!

Visit Thorne's World

Hope To Dream

 
Hello and welcome to Hope To Dream!

I am honored that you have taken the time to stop at such an important place for myself, and soon for others alike, as well as supporters of a very important topic.

I hope and pray that this blog will bring hope, encouragement, comfort, support and a reason to live to all of those who have suffered (and still might be) from abuse. NO ONE deserves such things to happen to them.

I will be adding my full story of child abuse and domestic violence in phases. Please check the sidebar link often for those updates.

Other plans for this blog are to include available resources for help, statistics, other survivor stories, as well as news events on child abuse and domestic violence.

If you have any thoughts and/or ideas for posts for this blog, please feel free to leave me a comment with the information. (ALL comments will be moderated on this blog.)

Thank you. And again...WELCOME to Hope to Dream!

Visit the Site

Voice for the Victims: LOVE is not abuse...

Did you know that October is National Domestic Violence Awareness month? Every year, men and women are recognized for their survival or remembered for losing their life to domestic violence. I AM one of those individuals.

For almost 4 years as an adult I was abused both physically and verbally. I was punched, kicked, choked, slapped, thrown across furniture and into walls…all resulting in not just bruises, but a broken foot, fractured right skull, and a crushed ear. And although I am now away from my abuser, I still suffer physically from old wounds.

Because of my abuser's continual threats to harm my life as well as my family, I have had to literally change my entire identity and relocate for protection. Life has not been easy, but I do my best to move forward and press on. Time does heal, but the memories will forever be there. It is what I do with those memories and experiences that help continually to heal my heart and my life.

I have taken extreme risks to share my own personal story by speaking out at live press conferences, participating in radio interviews, and even sharing my story with local and national newspapers and magazines (e.g. Washington Post, executive magazines, etc). Why? Because if my survival story can save the life of one man or woman, then it was well worth it.

It only took one person to stand up and say something to me, and that was a manager where I worked. He literally stepped in and saved my life. Since then, I have dedicated a large portion of my time speaking out against violence in hopes to help save lives of other men, women, and children who have suffered or are still going through, domestic violence.



Below is information and statistics on domestic violence. Current statistics show that domestic violence is not only continually on the rise every year, but violence against men (from women) is on the rise as well.

If you or someone you know is suffering from domestic violence, there is hope! People do care! (Not everyone will continually turn a blind eye for their own sake and reasons.)

STATISTICS:

• Men AND women are victims of domestic violence.
• Every year, domestic violence shelters turn away thousands of individuals and parents with children, because there is no capacity to house them.
• Almost 5.3 million intimate partner victimizations occur every year.
• Almost 2 million of those result in injuries and nearly 1300 deaths.
• Domestic violence is verbal and/or physical.

SIGNS OF ABUSE:

• Criticize or put down
• Ignore or put down your opinions and/or accomplishments
• Controlling
• Blames you and everyone else for their abusive behavior
• Accepts no fault
• Has unrealistic expectations
• Physically harms you and/or your children (hit, punch, kick, slap, etc)
• Calls you names and/or curses you and/or your children
• Extremely moody - Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE
National Teen Dating Abuse Hotline: 1-866-331-9474

Visit Blue Chair Diary

Attention Writers for Young Adults

Get in Front of Top YA Editors and Agents with ONLY the First 250 Words of Your YA Novel!

Have a young adult novel—or a YA novel idea—tucked away for a rainy day? Are you putting off pitching your idea simply because you’re not sure how to pitch an agent? No problem! All you have to do is submit the first 250 words of your novel and you can win both exposure to editors, and a one-on-one chat with one of New York’s TOP literary agents Regina Brooks.

Regina Brooks is the founder of Serendipity Literary Agency and the author of Writing Great Books for Young Adults. Brooks has been instrumental at establishing and building the careers of many YA writers, including three-time National Book Award Honoree and Michael Printz Honoree Marilyn Nelson, as well as Sundee Frazier—a Coretta Scott King Award winner, an Oprah Book Pick and an Al Roker book club selection. As an agent, she is known for her ability to turn raw talent into successful authors.

ADDITIONALLY: The top 20 submissions will all be read by a panel of five judges comprised of top YA editors at Random House, HarperCollins, Harlequin, Sourcebooks and Penguin. All 20 will receive free autographed copies of Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks. Of the 20, they will pick the top five submissions and provide each author with commentary and a one year subscription to The Writer magazine. ONE Grand Prize Winner will have the opportunity to get feedback on a full YA manuscript and win a free 10-week writing course courtesy of the Gotham Writer’s Workshop.

Please submit all entries via the contest website at http://www.writingclasses.com/ContestPages/YAPitch.php. One entry per person; anyone age 13+ can apply. Open to the U.S. & Canada (void where prohibited). Entries for the YA Novel Discovery Contest will be accepted from 12:01am (ET) November 1 until 11:59pm (ET),

NOVEMBER IS NaNoWriMo In honor of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.org)—an international event where aspiring novelists are encouraged to write an entire novel in 30 days—this contest is meant to encourage the aspiring YA author to get started on that novel by offering an incentive for completing the first 250 words.

So apply now! http://bit.ly/1PYGaN

JUDGING

YA literary agent Regina Brooks, along with editors at Sourcebooks, will read all of the entries and determine the top 20 submissions. These submissions will then be read by Dan Ehrenhaft, head Acquisitions Editor at Soucebooks Fire; Alisha Niehaus, Editor at Dial Books for Young Readers (Penguin); David Linker, Executive Editor at HarperCollins Children’s Books; Michele Burke, Editor at Knopf Books for Young Readers (Random House); and Evette Porter, Editor at Harlequin. These judges will whittle the top 20 down to four winners and a grand prize winner—all five will be provided commentary on their submissions.

Contributed by Callista at Callista's Ramblings

Poefusion

Hello~ My name is Michelle Johnson. Poefusion is a creative outlet allowing me to share my love of poetry, photography and everyday life with others who have the same interests. Nature, animals and old abandoned houses (barns, buildings) inspire me most.

When I'm not blogging or outdoors I can be found with my husband, John Johnson, and my daugther, MyKiah Arnett, in Maysville, KY. MyKiah and I have lived here since 1997. It's a small, historic town with some beautiful, old buildings. It also neighbors the small town of Augusta where George Clooney is from.

My participation in a Poetry Postcard project in August and Postcrossing has led to my love of collecting postcards from the US and other parts of the world. Who knows, maybe someone who stops by for a visit may someday receive a postcard from me.

Until then, maybe you could e-mail me to say hello or to ask any questions about Poefusion from time to time at poefusion@hotmail.com.

 

"Michelle has a wonderful way of adding her words and thoughts into her comments. Whether it is a simple praise or a kind word, she simply makes you feel you have been heard and read and understood."  -  Lissa

Visit Poefusion 

Where I Am From

"The soul of Africa, its integrity, the slow inexorible pulse of its life, is its own and of such singular rhythm that no outsider, unless steeped from childhood in its endless, even beat, can ever come to experience it, except only as a bystander might experience a Masai war dance knowing nothing of its music nor the meaning of its steps." ~Beryl Markham, West with the Night


I was directed to the template for the following piece by my lovely friend Dori. The original poem is by George Ella Lyon and I have probably taken a bit more liberty than the creator intended… but, isn’t that what art is all about?

WHERE I’M FROM

I am from equatorial highlands drenched in morning fog and Kilimanjaro rising out of the horizon on a crystal clear day, from rolling hills blanketed in a green sea of Lipton tea fields, plains of Dole pineapple plantations, coffee grown on “a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong Hills” and Tusker.

I am from remnants of British Colonialism… afternoon tea, football, proper speech, Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, shillings, fish and chips, colour, and knowing which fork to use first.

I am from the shadeless branches of the upside-down Baobab, the Jacaranda that paves my steps in purple royalty, wild Poinsettia too majestic for tacky gold foiled wrapped holiday décor, Bottlebrush, Frangipani, Flame Tree and the mighty Muna.

I am from Sunday night pancake suppers, cookie baking wars, chameleon collecting and December 25th morning readings of Luke 2:1-20. I am from 'My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean' and 'Sam’s Song' and 'Jim Dandy.' Lyrics optional.

I am the place of the winds, a president’s cornerstone, spaghetti casserole on metal dining trays, curfews, crater hikes, sports tournaments, ugali & sukuma wiki from the duka, quarry runs, digging stumps for detention and 101 ways to sneak out of a dorm.

From “Stay out of the sun from 12 until 2!” and “Here, read this book. See where it takes you.”

I am from faith deeply fostered on rough hewn wooden benches during three hours of celebration in a building with mud walls… or no walls… or in the dirt under the flat umbrella of the Acacia. A place where testimonies are shouted proudly with joyous abandon, music is the soul of worship, sermons come in three languages, sugar cane & eggs a good offering make and honored guests eat what they are served without question… lest they offend.

I'm from a Texas American-Mutt birth with a lot of German Shepherd, a bit of Scottish Terrier, plenty of English Bulldog and a dash of French Poodle thrown in just for flavor. I am chicken curry, sauerkraut with dumplings, southern-style biscuits & gravy and warm Coke in glass bottles.

From overnight Tsavo train rides sans rogue lions, filling up crab holes in the sands of the Indian Ocean and racing from reef to shore at the turn of the tide, I am the explorer under the waves.

I am animal print photo boxes, scrapbook supplies spread to and fro on table and floor, framed wall collages, painted portraits, missionary slide sentimentality and memories imbedded in a multi-continental consciousness.

This is me.

And you? Where are you from?

Visit Beth

Introducing The Day Trippers

 

 Lissa is a camera-toting dreamer who does not like to write about herself even in the third person. When she was young, she wanted to be a musician or at least someone who can play the piano or guitar and be able to brag about it but sadly she did not succeeded. Like most families, she was encouraged to get an education in which she could acquired a job that pays the bills. However, that did not squashed her creativity. She is forever, starting one creative project after another and even if she never finish any of them, she is fine with that. She is equally delighted to work on the daytrippers with her blog buddy, Frances.

Frances D is female, nearly forty-eight, and has been blogging/photoblogging about herself & New York for nearly ten years. When she was a child she wanted to grow up to be a stage actress as well as an artist, musician & writer.  Hers was a business-oriented family, so those dreams were not encouraged.  In August of 1998 Frances was introduced to something called the Internet.  Soon after she discovered blogging, and hasn't stopped since. Her daughter and only child Josephine, a recent leukemia survivor, is her personal hero. Frances is truly delighted to be working with her blog buddy Lissa on the daytrippers.
 

Visit Them Here

Haunted

Shelly tells me that’s the theme for this year’s NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month). I don’t usually participate, because it’s just too much pressure right before I begin NaNoWriMO (National Novel Writing Month) in November, but I’ve been so out of the swing of writing with one or another life thang in the way, that I have decided to give it a shot. I’ve already missed the first day, but I’m not lettin’ that stop me. Escpecially with a theme like…

Haunted!

I’m still pretty busy around here, so I might be having a little photo fun with ya’ll this month. After all, there are a lot of fun, witchy items around here to fit the theme, so…

without further ado:

Haunted! Day 1

Morning Coffee with Igor

Round about the cauldron go;
In the poison’d entrails throw.
Toad, that under cold stone
Days and nights hast thirty one
Swelter’d venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot.

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg, and howlet’s wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,
Witches’ mummy, maw and gulf
Of the ravin’d salt-sea shark,
Root of hemlock digg’d i’ the dark,
Liver of blaspheming Jew,
Gall of goat, and slips of yew
Sliver’d in the moon’s eclipse,
Nose of Turk, and Tartar’s lips,
Finger of birth-strangled babe
Ditch-deliver’d by a drab,
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger’s chaudron,
For the ingredients of our cauldron.

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
-Macbeth, Willie Shakespeare

Peace, out!

Visit Thorne

Introducing Text Diva Saranna DeWylde

In addition to featuring our own member's profiles & posts, She Who Blogs will be featuring fabulous females from all corners of the blogosphere.
I contacted Saranna with in minutes of visiting her group blog.
If you would like to recommend a sensational she who blogs, or share your own story; please contact me at coffeebarchick[a]msn.com
Much bloglove to all,
 Frances

I stumbled on textnovels quite by chance. I saw the Dorchester contest advertised in one of my Yahoo groups and thought I'd take a peek and see what it was all about.  I posted my story and got instant feedback, which is like crack.  Whenever I start to feel my motivation running away from me like it's Little Red and I'm Big Bad, I just go back and read my comments and the reader's enthusiasm pulls me right back in.

I also love the author/reader interaction as a reader.  I like feeling personally involved in the story. The smaller chapters make it ideal for catching up in the quick moments I have to myself throughout the day. That is, until you start following twenty-some stories.  It's kind of addictive for readers and authors.  There are so many great writers posting their work in all different genres.  For a book lover like me, it's like that chubby kid locked in the candy store.  Who am I kidding?  That's me too.

 

The best thing about Textnovel though, I have to say it's the people.  Everyone is so positive and helpful. You can count on constructive crit with no flaming.  That's not tolerated by the admins, but I don't think it has been a problem.  The ladies that I'm blogging with at TextDivas, I didn't know until I joined Textnovel.  We all seemed to click just like Legos.  And I'm thrilled to be included in a group with such talent.  I've found great networking and opportunities for lasting friendships.

 

I've been writing since I watched The Exorcist at my 8th birthday party.  I knew I wanted to touch people like that movie touched me.  My first love was horror until I discovered romance novels at a most likely inappropriate age.  Now, I write in all genres.  I've written a true crime memoir about my time as a female corrections officer in an all male max facility which I'm shopping to agents currently.  I write horror, romance, and some technical gigs that shoes on my feet and chocolate in my mouth.  I've been in Loving the Undead, Alien Skin, Dark Realms, Horrotica and a few other anthologies.  My newest horror piece will be out with The New Bedlam Project this October.

 

The story that I'm working on for Textnovel is called How To Lose A Demon in 10 Days.  A little about that: (Grace always steals the keyboard. She's chatty.)

 

Don’t ever let anyone tell you that being a witch will make your life easier.  It’s about as fun as a visit to a drunken Proctologist.  It’s my own fault, I suppose.  I am the one that summoned the demon.

 

You must understand that Michael drove me to it. He’s my still kind of hot, but completely evil, Russian mobster ex-boyfriend.  He’s stolen our son and wants me to sacrifice myself so he can buy his demonhood before he’ll give him back.  I figured what better way to get him back than by summoning a demon?

 

Well, that presented its own bag of problems.  I didn’t get just any demon.  I got Caspian, a Crown Prince of Hell who didn’t want my soul, but wanted me to ride his pitchfork like a scooter, if you get my drift. Maybe it’s more like a Harley.  I have to confess that it’s still a beautiful piece of machinery even though it hasn’t been out of the garage since 1972.  You know, the devil-shagging gothics were all the rage then.

 

Anyway, Michael is plagued by all sorts of punishment.  Demonic crabs, explosive diarrhea during the opera that’s nothing short of Hiroshimic and a reanimated hooker.  Michael murdered her and she’s found sweet revenge as a Dominatrix demon in the afterlife.  All of which drive him to the conclusion that I did summon a demon and while singing Are You Lonesome Tonight in my ear, tells me I have ten days to get rid of the demon or he’s going to kill our son.

 

IE2m not sure how to get rid of him.  I contemplated bad sex, that makes almost anything male go away, but I decided that would have to be the centerpiece jewel in the Hurts Me More Than You crown.

 

The cast of characters includes my grandmother, Seraphim, who just happens to be a legendary witch known as the Baba Yaga.  And you know how that devil shagging was all the rage?  Well, she knows the Devil personally. He might be my grandfather.  He’s a remnant from the old pantheon days and still likes to be called Hades. It’s just a job to him, really.  He’s not too happy that someone in his employ is having his sulphuric way with his granddaughter though.  He’s willing to tolerate it because Caspian starts to grow a heart, a very uncomfortable transformation for all involved.

 

Ultimately, it’s the key to my happily ever after. The road to one of those is never easy, but banter, smutty Mephistophelean contracts and hijinks ensue.

 

 

Yes! I have the keyboard back! The other Text Divas have great morsels available for immediate consumption as well, all with delicious hereos! The World's Oldest Shotgun Bride by Gail Hart has a sexy flyboy hero. Fae Nights by Robin Wright has a bad boy Fae and I have to confess to a crush on Liane Gentry Skye's Hellhound shifter in Surrender the Night.

 

You can find us all at www.textingbetweenthesheets.blogspot.com and you can find me at www.tinyurl.com/LoseADemon or Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Blogspot and LiveJournal under Saranna DeWylde And wow, does all of that social networking make me tired, but I love to meet other authors and readers. So stop by!

 

Saoirse Redgrave, winner of the 2008 Textnovel Contest has a great YA coming out in 2010 from St. Martin's Press. It's her Textnovel winner, 13 to Life: A Werewolf's Tale.