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| Deer Me... |
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| Man and Beast |
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| Targeting... |
This week's topic is The Best Thing These LiPPs Ever Tasted, and my recipe for basic whole wheat bread has undoubtedly been my most-requested over the years. I make fresh flour using my Whisper Mill grain grinder and a heavy-duty mixer, but friends have had success using good quality whole wheat flour from the grocery store and kneading by hand. Here goes.
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| Yes, those are bananas. |
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| It was a big'un! |
From the Merriam-Webster free online dictionary:
fickle - adjective - marked by lack of steadfastness, constancy or stability; given to erratic changeableness.
In yesterday's post, my blog parter Lindy described herself as "likely to change especially due to irresolution or instability." I take issue with that assertion. I have known the Unstoppable Mrs. Start for some time now, and there is nothing irresolute or unstable about her.
Granted, we must adapt to the rapidly changing world around us in order to survive. But that doesn't make us fickle. I like this definition from Wiktionary even better:
fickle - adjective - quick to change one's opinion or allegiance; insincere; not loyal or reliable.
That DEFINITELY doesn't describe most of the amazing women I know. As a matter of fact, I can think of countless times have I been loyal to a fault. Remained on a committee that I no longer felt passionate about because I feared conflict. Stayed beside a friend who did not nurture me - who in fact sucked the lifeblood out of me - because I didn't want to hurt her feelings. Stayed in a relationship that was unsatisfactory - or worse, abusive - because I feared being alone.
Life is short, my friends. We deserve better.
Every breath we take could be our last. Every moment matters. Yes, it's hard, but sometimes the greatest kindness we can show ourselves is to simply say the word "no."
It gets easier with practice.
I have learned that I CAN be replaced on a committee, that the old friends will make new friends, that my next great love might be waiting right around the corner. That doesn't make me fickle; that makes me constant - at least to myself. And that is true integrity.
From dictionary.com:
integrity - noun - the state of being whole, entire or undiminished
To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.
~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet
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| I'm melting... |
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| I felt quite heroic after ziplining through the rainforest canopy in Belize. |
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| Yes, that's me. In the porthole of a cruise ship. I make no apology for this. |
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| My brother Greg and me, August 1981 |
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| If you need a plumber, don't go gettin' any ideas. |
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| Photo courtesy of http://www.freepicturesweb.com/ |
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| Tryst in the Garden |
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| Evening on the Chattahoochee River in Roswell, Georgia. |
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| Isla Roatan, Honduras |
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| The Actresses of Fried Green Tomatoes L to R: Mary Louise Parker, Mary Stewart Masterson, Kathy Bates and the late Jessica Tandy. |
Welcome to our blog! I'm Pam, the first "P" in "Writers Li.P.P."
You will meet Lindy - the "Li" - on Wednesday. There is no longer a second "P" - she bowed out before we ever got started - but that's okay. Because "Li.P.P." also stands for "Life in Penned Perspective." And that's really what this blog is about. A couple of romance writers sharing their views on life and love and everything in between.
We want to start a conversation with you - readers, writers, family, friends, Romans, countrymen. So please feel free to jump in with comments and questions. The more personal, the better. If there's one thing we're not, it's shy.
Each week, we will address a new topic; this week it's introductions. So please allow me to introduce myself. I wear a lot of hats: single mom, daughter, sister, friend, lover, dog owner, piano teacher, jewelry designer, novelist. Today, I want to share my journey as a writer.
Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.~Sydney J. Harris
I have always loved writing. I earn my living teaching piano lessons, but if I hadn't majored in music, I probably would have studied English. Most of my writing was nonfiction: papers for school, pieces about home education for home schooling publications, articles about teaching piano for my studio newsletter and business website. But what I read was fiction, lots of it, and dreamed of writing a great story myself. Someday.
Shortly after my divorce in 2001, I came up with an idea for a novel, based loosely on my experiences as a single mom looking for love, but not a memoir; after all, the guilty must be protected. Years went by, though, before I finally decided to take action. It came to this: at the end of my life, I didn't want my epitaph to be, "She meant to write a book."
Well, it is one thing to contemplate writing a novel; it is quite another thing to actually write one. I assumed the words would just flow, perfectly formed, from beginning to end. Not! I signed up for an online fiction writing class and quickly found out how much I didn't know. There was so much to think about: setting, character, plot, point of view, dialogue and scene. Finding my "voice." "Show, don't tell." Determining whether I am a "plotter" or a "pantser" (I have elements of both). I started my novel with a rough outline, but I have changed my mind about many details - including the opening scene and the name of one of my main characters - as I have gone along.
I love the process, although it is much more difficult than I ever imagined. For me, consistency is key; I do my best to write 500 words a day, seven days a week, but even a couple hundred words moves me in the right direction. And though it's inevitable that I might miss a day every now and then, I try to never miss two in a row. A few days has a way of turning into a few weeks. And, as they say, you can't edit a blank page.
Sure, I would love to become a New York Times bestselling author, but right now what I want most is to have a finished manuscript that I am truly proud of. I am working on the second revision of my novel; I plan to have it finished and ready to query by the end of June. I am eager to start working on my next project. I am hoping that what I lack in talent, I will make up for in determination. I am looking forward to sharing the ups and downs of my experiences - in writing as well as in other areas of my life - with all of you.
If you dream of writing a book but haven't yet started, what is standing in your way? Fellow writeres, what are your biggest challenges? Is it an aspect of craft, or simply finding the time to work? Leave a comment and you will automatically be entered in a drawing for an autographed copy of Suzanne Brockmann's Kiss and Tell and a Writers Li.P.P. t-shirt.
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