A Work in Progress

I know what you're thinking. Humility and blogging don't go together. You're right. For the most part, especially bloggers who are authors --who's blog URL is their full name -- humility is NOT their middle name. (I'm guilty as charged). So, in honor of "H is for humility," I'm not going to write about anything, especially nothing about me. Nope. Nothing. Except for these few words. And even though my first name begins with the letter H, and I could write about that, instead I'm going to send you to another blog. Someone named DL Hammons who is one of the hosts of Blogging from A to Z . His last name begins with the letter H. It's fitting. Besides, he has a great blog, great contests, great books and great posts. So head on over to his blog, Cruising Altitude 2.0  and tell him hello. Tell him I sent you over ... wait, no. Don't tell him that! That's not very humble at all. Just go over, visit and paruse his posts. H is for

I'm not going to get feminist on you. That's for somebody else to do. But did you realize that three of the best selling books --series -- of the last twenty years or so are written by women? The films didn't do that bad either. In fact, they were some of the highest grossing movies ever. 1. Harry Potter, written by JK Rowling. Okay, no explanation needed here. Everyone knows who she is. She is a very talented writer. No wonder her books did beyond great. I love the stories, I love the friendships and familial ties that are promoted. Rowling is a true story teller, to me. 2. Twilight Series , written by Stephanie Meyer Again, you'd have to be a castaway on an island not to know who she is. Her books sold in the millions, and though the subject matter isn't a new one, teens to forty-something moms loved them. I think (and this is just me) some of her books were way too long. As in, she could've told the same story and cut 25,000 words out of each book. Wha

If you're a writer, you know what distractions are. It's the facebook check, or the e-mail check, the laundry, or the sink of dishes. It's every single chore that's left to do in your house, but the actual act of writing. These distractions are sometimes intentionally put out by ourselves, and at other times, it's the normal routine tapping us on the shoulder trying to get our attention. Distractions come to other folks too. But, their distractions seem different, maybe not as cruel. A writer sits by themself, everyday, alone to battle the demons of inferiority, writer's block or procrastination with no one else but themself to bat them away. This isn't to say writers have it worse than other professions. We don't. The problem is we have to talk to our diversions all the time to be productive. We have to ignore the phone, the texts, and the books we want to read. Because, if writers don't do a simple two things -- sit down and type -- we don&

Ode to Coffee Some think you are empty, disgusting, void of true taste. Misunderstood are you, hot drink of mine; you who oozes warmth and understanding, that quenches my desire for peace, or inspiration, from this ivory demitasse or mug, sometimes tall or grande and in an excepetion, venti. Oh coffee, depart from my lips only when I depart from this earth- for whom can I rely on for anonymous trust who never judges, doesn't impair (unless a five shot mocha is in order) or doesn't deceive? You awake my senses, every morning, in my pot, and like my dog, you're alway there, wherever I roam ... even on every corner, in most large cities. Coffee, my love, may you stay at my side ... until I feel like tea. -Heather Spiva

Okay, so this is really a lame word to choose for the letter B. I mean, how obvious is it that I'm blogging, we're all blogging, and we're in this blogging challenge together? The thing is, I want you to think about that word: Blog. It's really a culmination of web log, which turned into blog. And truthfully, I hate that word. It sounds lazy, or boggy, or blah ... like you have something stuck in your mouth while trying to say log. I don't know. It's such an uneloquent word for the world of writing. And yet, is blogging eloquent? Depends. Depends on what you're trying to get across, say, tell, brag, express, journal ... wait did I say journal? Yes! Journaling. That's what a lot of people use blogging for: a way to get our feelings across. I'm not that into blogging so as to replace my journal with a blog. I don't wear my heart on my sleeve. I'd rather tell you something informative, so you'll return here, next week, to get another t

I don't know if you've read those cool mystery novels by Sue Grafton, where she uses a letter of the alphabet for every title (and subject) for her books. I have. I've read a few. And her writing is fantastic. I believe that's where the inspiration came for the blog challenge that I'm in right now. It's called Blogging from A to Z Challenge and I'm supposed to write a blog everyday based on one letter of the alphabet. And that one word I choose, that starts with that letter, is my subject matter. Okay, super random moment: Did you know that right now that there is a huge mega millions lottery that's worth a half a billion dollars if someone wins? Wow. By the time this posts, someone could have a heck of a lot of money. Here's my angle: If you were to win a half a billion dollars , would you have the aspiration to do anything else, ever again? I mean, if I won that money, would I feel the need to write? Would I feel the need to make money? Def

Warning! Warning! I will be blogging for all of April! Totally shocking, I know. Especially coming from someone who maybe blogs once a week. So, what has gotten into me? And why would I do something so drastic as to blog everyday for a month? I'm doing this awesome "blog challenge" if you will. It's kind of like NaNoWriMo , which was about writing a novel in thirty days. But this, this A to Z challenge, is about blogging on the topic of an alphabet letter-- a different one-- everyday for the next thirty days, minus a few sundays off. It's called Blogging from A to Z challenge April 2012. I thought about writing about The Hunger Games, because that is super trendy-- and because it would capture most peoples' interest.  It wouldn't be hard to do, especially because the difficult letter K is already filled for lead character Katniss. However, I'm sure a gazillion bloggers are going to do this. Oh, and it doesn't help that I haven't read the