Who Inspires You?

Hey. Did you ever notice how creative people tend to gravitate toward one another?
It like something sparks in the brain, "Must get to know that person. Now."
I've always been one of those creative types, probably didn't realize it until it was too late.
The pictures of me at age two holding a paint brush bigger than myself, smushing red and blue glops onto paper attached to an easel might have been a clue. The fact that I could read to myself by age three, (according to Momlore at least) and by age five had read most of the books in the Kindergarten library could have been another.
I was a daydreamer, always lost in thought someplace far from the confines of the school I hated.
Still pretty much lost in thought but now I have a valid excuse.
I'm a writer.
Creative type. Yep.
Funny thing is, I married a Science Guy. All facts and figures for him. But it works. I guess we sort of balance each other out, although I dare say I tip the scale on most issues, but he loves me anyway.
So as I've...ahem...matured, shall we say, and embraced the creativity inside of me with continuous attempts to write books and revise manuscripts and hold onto my sanity all at the same time, I've realized something.
I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't know other crazy people.
Yes, shocking at it is, there are others out there following their own dreams.
They inspire me.
Jenness Walker, Jennifer Hudson Taylor, Betsy St. Amant were all in a critique group with me once upon a time. They're all published authors now. They give me hope. They make me smile. I'm rejoicing with them and encouraging them in the journey. Ask any of them and I'm sure they'd be the first to tell you they never expected this, success, as it were. Yet we all strive toward the same goal.
To be heard.
Writers, artists and musicians - where would the world be without the dreamers? I'm in awe of anyone who can sit down at the keys or pick up a guitar and come up with something amazing. I've listened to my daughter sing songs she wrote when she was in Africa. Awesome stuff. Truly touched by God. My son can play for hours and I don't get tired. They inspire me to write, not because of what may come from it, but because I love it.

I have a good friend Paulette. She inspires me too.
She has just released her first CD! Paulette and I first met in Bermuda when she came to our church and later, to our house, sat at the piano and began to play and sing. My dear friend Sandy, so much like Paulette in a lot of ways, (but not as hyper) had just left the island and I was so sad. We had that connection, you know, the one I talked about at the beginning? When it just clicks? As I spent more time with Paulette and got to know her, I came to realize God had put her in my life at that time, not as a replacement for what I'd had with Sandy, but a sort of continuation. She was full of love for life, crazy about Jesus and all about creativity. She has encouraged me so much with my writing, and I'm thrilled to see her dreams coming true.
Take a look at her website, you can listen to her music there too.
http://paulettedixon.com/
And to the rest of us, don't give up on your dream.
Inspire me.

My Take on Time Travelers...

Okay, I'm curious. What's the big deal with The Time Travelers Wife?
As a writer, the most important question we ask is, "What if?"
I do it a lot. And I consider myself a fairly artistic person, open to new ideas.
That said, I tried to read the book last summer. Couldn't.
I kept having to flip back to see what was going on, wondering if I'd missed a chapter or something.
So I didn't finish it. I thought they should have called it The Time Waster.
However, I realize it was on the bestsellers list for a hundred years or thereabouts.
And then comes the movie.
I know so many people raved about the book and couldn't wait for the movie to come out.
I thought maybe I'd really missed something in the book so I'd go see the movie.
I think I'm still missing something.
It just didn't make a lick of sense. I mean, I understand the concept and everything but, really?
Totally implausible. Then again, so are hobbits, wizards and vampires. I don't have a problem with them.
Hmm.
What's wrong with me? Tell me what I'm missing here. Should I try to read the book again or what?
I probably won't so don't tell me to.
I wonder if it's the hype. I've always preferred to make my own judgement calls, so when I hear a million people raving about something I'm more inclined to think it really can't be that good. Like The Shack. But that's another blog.
So clue me in, are you a Time Travelers fan? Am I just a faint majority who simply can't step out of the box of reality enough to enjoy something that simply cannot happen?
There's gotta be a support group or something...

Time Stops.

Blogging is a bad habit. You can try to quit, but sooner or later...okay, bad analogy. I didn't actually quit blogging, I just haven't had time for it. Haven't had time for a lot of things over the past year, but that's a moot point.
Thing is, no matter how busy I get, the world keeps going.
Without me.
Weird, huh? In a few weeks a bunch of my friends will be getting together at the ACFW conference.
Without me. I doubt anyone will even notice I'm not there amongst the crowds of wonderful writers, agents and editors.
You know they say a lot of the publishing process depends on the timing. The right book with the right editor at the right time.
It just hasn't been the right year for me. It HAS been the right year for a lot of my friends/critique partners.
I find that a little ironic really, having so many people I know getting publishing contracts whilst I'm pulling my hair out to find ten minutes to sit undisturbed at the computer.
I've had to come to terms with the fact that I've probably missed the boat this year. Yes, one more year to add to the stockpile.
Some dreams hover just out of reach no matter how hard you try. Apparently seeing my name on the cover of a book is one of them.
I realize that most of my blogs over the past year have been nothing short of whines bordering on...well, whatever.
There are about four months left in this year.
I have decided to forgo the new year resolution deal and go for the end of year resolution instead.
I'm going to try to be a nicer person.
I'm going to finish my manuscript revisions and send them back to my agent.
I'm going to work on something new.
I'm going to be more positive and try to find the good in everything.
No matter what.
We'll see how that goes.
For now, I'm just going to accept that this is where I am in life. And all in all, it's still a pretty good life.