Michelle Zink's Blog, page 31

Black Sheep by Gin Wigmore

This week's song is brought to you by New Zealand writer and Prophecy reader, Catherine! I love finding new music and especially love learning about bands from other countries.

Definitely an upside to having so many international readers!

Hope you enjoy this one. Can definitely see it becoming one of my anthems.

Thursday Night Write – Progressive Story #1

I thought it would be fun to try a progressive story for Thursday Night Write.

So here's the deal; I'll post the first sentence. You guys jump in with one of your own to follow whichever sentence was posted last in the comments. Try to have your post ready to copy and paste so we don't get too many cross-posts.

When it's all done, I'll post the results! Fun, right?!

Here goes;

It wasn't the shadows that worried him but the light flickering at the edge of the trees.

Now someone hurry and post the first follow-up sentence!

Shelter by The XX

This week's song was recommended by reader, Melissa. It suits my mood.

Which doesn't say much for my mood. Ahahahahahaha… ha… ha… ha… Yeah.

Anyway. Love the song. Hope you guys do, too. Thanks for the rec, Melissa.

Also, tomorrow is the last day to request free bookplates for yourself or to give as part of an extra-special book gift. If you have a reader on your list, a personalized bookplate makes a nice touch to any of the Prophecy books. This will be the last free giveaway for Prophecy bookplates so take advantage while you can!

No One Said It Would Be Easy…

Today I feel like I'm staggering under the weight of the world.

I'm not even sure why. It started yesterday when I read a feature in my local newspaper about how the number of homeless children is at an all-time high in America. The story featured several  local families that are really struggling – parents living in subsidized motel rooms with their kids while the mother studies to be a Nursing Assistant and tries to get a job with no car and one child who can't afford the .25 for his reduced-price lunch. He's so embarrassed that he asks his teacher if he can sit in the office during lunch so no one will know he can't afford to eat. That was the story that really broke my heart, I think.

And somehow I know these stories are only the tip of the iceberg. People everywhere are suffering.

I know there are people out there who will say that life isn't fair, but is should be. I so WANT it to be.

Why can't we live in a world where everyone has enough? Children have no say in the families into which they're born. They shouldn't suffer because their parents are having a hard time making ends meet. But they do. Each and every day they do.

I turn on the news and see stories of children who are mistreated and hungry and missing, and well… sometimes I just cant bear it. I feel so helpless. How are we supposed to live and be happy and enjoy everything we have when so many people have nothing? Some days I just want to look away, because I feel like the despair will crush me, but that doesn't seem right, either. To turn away is to deny, in a way, and if all I can do is to SEE, to acknowledge, it seems like I should.

But some days I just can't. This is one of those days.

Mystery Monday – Transcendantal Meditation

Many of you know that I'm a big believer in meditation. I have definitely bi-polar tendencies coupled with anxiety disorder that can almost cripple me with worry about everything from social gatherings to an unexpected turn of events to everyday minutiae.

Thankfully, as I've gotten older I've learned what I need to do to make sure I'm okay. Taking care of myself physically, emotionally, and mentally is a very big part of the equation. As long as I eat right, plan ahead as much as possible, eliminate negative people from my life when and where I can, take vitamins daily (including the magical B Complex – a must for anyone who tends toward depression or anxiety), have time for my writing, and practice yoga and/or meditating, I can generally keep from feeling like I want to crawl out of my own skin.

Yoga and meditation have been truly key in managing my BPD and anxiety. If I skip them for a couple of days, the stress creeps back in and I start to feel like I just want to crawl under the covers and disappear (something I can never do even when I want to because, well, I have responsibilities). Up until now, I've practiced mostly mindful meditation which involves being in the moment, and (for me) focusing only on my breath, in and out. It's harder than it sounds to tune everything out! But It really does make an amazing difference. Sometimes, if I'm feeling particularly depressed/angry/resentful/bitter/hurt, I'll use a mantra or I'll imagine all the bad stuff leaving my body and spirit with my breath on the exhale.

Lately, I've become very interested in a thousands-year old form of meditation called Transcendental Meditation (TM). Favored by creative people, TM is said to allow one to access a higher plane of consciousness, the very source of thought, also called the Unified Field. This insight is said to open up one's view of the world, one's art, everything!

It's different from mindful meditation in that mindful meditation keeps the mind busy by focusing on a given thing (breathing, mantra, etc) while TM focuses on a sound, given to you by a meditation teacher, that you repeat over and over. This is supposed to allow your mind to settle into a place of deeper alert, restful consciousness.

Tons of artistic people are advocates of TM including filmmaker David Lynch, Musicians Paul McCartney and Sheryl Crow, and director Clint Eastwood, among many others. David Lynch, in particular is a tremendous advocate for the method, crediting it for eliminating a persistent sense of anger he'd carried around his whole life in addition to feeding his (brilliant!) creative mind.

You can hear David Lynch speak about TM – what it is and how it changed him – below. You can also learn more about TM at http://www.tm.org/.

I'm listing this as a mystery because I find it fascinating to contemplate the possibility that reaching a higher and/or different level of consciousness can impact one's sense of peace, artistic perspective, and general happiness.

What do you guys think?!

Thursday Night Write – What Works, What Doesn't?

Are you guys as relieved as I am that November's over? Good God… What a month.

I know many of you did NaNo and are probably exhausted! Since I wrote 75,000 words in the month of November, finishing my 2013 book the night before my deadline, I can honestly say I know how you feel.

Writing 50,000 words in a month isn't that unusual for me, but I have to say, 75,000 while being a single mother to four kids PLUS a holiday was really, really tough. I figured this might be a good time for all of us to share what worked for us and what didn't.

So here's my list! Share yours in the comments!

What worked;

Keeping a schedule – I've said it before and I'll say it again, I live and die by my schedule when I'm on deadline. This past month I wrote from 8am – 11am, again from 4pm-5pm, and again from 7pm-9pm, seven days a week. I tried not to answer the phone or be on the internet during these hours or do anything else that could distract me. Mac Freedom was my friend when I used it.

Take advantage of little bits of time – I usually need to be in the zone to write and won't even bother trying to squeeze in words when I only have half an hour, but I just couldn't afford to think that way this past month. I left my laptop in my office upstairs rather than bring it downstairs, and when I had even an unexpected 30 minute block of time, I forced myself to go up and write. These little bursts added exponentially to my overall word count.

Build in time for the necessities – My schedule allowed me to still do yoga (most days), have 45 minutes for lunch in which I read a book by myself, have an hour for tea with my daughters after school, make dinner and eat it with my kids, and still watch one episode of Doctor Who or something with them at the end of the night. This time was essential to my sanity and my need to feel like I was still being a good mother to my children.

Build in time for fun stuff – I knew I wouldn't be able to do much writing on Thanksgiving, so I doubled up on my word count the day before and the day after. It was nice to feel like I could take that one day and not be too worried about losing momentum.

Taking care of myself – I mostly managed to do this (see my mention of sleep below!) and it made a huge difference. I made a point to take my vitamins every day, try to get in yoga and/or meditation, get enough sleep (after my initial fail), eat well, and keep stress at bay. I gave myself permission to let a lot of little things go and tried to be Zen. It all made me feel much more equipped to go hard on the writing.

Take advantage of every minute for other tasks – I wrote postcards to my readers while my tea boiled, paid bills while dinner cooked, plotted my next writing burst while I drove the kids around, and cleaned my bathroom when I was stuck on my manuscript (because it's next to my office, I was still forced to stay in my work space). Other things had to be put off, but I managed to do a lot of little things that helped me feel at least a little bit in control of my life during this time.

Total Immersion – In some ways, I liked being forced to write this book in a big frenzied jag. Ironically, I think I did some of my best writing, and I attribute it to the total immersion forced by the deadline.

What didn't work;

Access to the internet – Yes, I used Mac Freedom, but not nearly enough. The internet, as always, was my enemy. I wish I'd used MF more. I probably would have gotten more done in less time.

Blogging – Looking back, I would have been less stressed if I'd just been honest with you guys at the beginning of the month and said I wouldn't be blogging or anything. The truth is, I hate to be out of touch for too long. But there were many night that I scrambled to come up with a blog post or poll or catch up on Twitter/Facebook. I should have spared myself the stress.

Waiting until the last minute to start – I should have started this project LONG before I did. In my defense, my editor and I hadn't agreed on what it would be until mid-August. Then, I was expecting notes on another project, so I waited. It seemed silly to start a book and have to stop a week later to work on revisions for another one. I made this excuse to myself all through September, too, then finally got the notes in October. That meant I spent most of October working on those and didn't really dig into the 2013 book until the first of November. From now on, I'm going to work five days a week on my normal schedule, no matter what, unless I'm on vacation. If I don't have one project to work on, I'll start another, even if it means stopping a few days later. Even a 10,000 word head start on my 2013 book would have helped when I got down to the wire.

Not getting enough sleep – Let me say first that I usually get 5-6 hours sleep a night. Then I try to take a short nap in the afternoon and that gets me through. At the beginning of the month, I experimented with staying up to write until 1am or 2am. I love to write at night and I do some of my best writing at night, but this schedule only allowed for about 4 hours of sleep and left me so wiped the next day that I LOST time in the end. I finally realized that getting enough sleep was vital. Once I figured this out, I stopped writing at 9pm every night, went to bed by 11pm, and was much more equipped to work hard the next day.

So these are my basic for surviving a super-stressful writing jag! What are yours?

 

Twitter Giveaway!

So we've been making space in the office for A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS swag (which we'll begin distributing in earnest after the holidays) and apparently, I haven't given away enough stuff yet.

Our shelves are groaning, and Rebekah tells me a MUST give away some books, t-shirts, and did I say BOOKS?

I also happened to notice that I have 3835 Twitter Followers. I'm the first to admit I'm not very active in seeking followers on Twiter or Facebook. For the most part, I assume the people who want to find me will find me. But this seems like an opportunity!

So here's what we're going to do; You guys tweet anything with the hashtag #prophecyofthesistersextravaganza (just copy it, it'll be easier!) as many times as you want. When I reach 4,000 Followers, I'll enter you to win one of the following prizes;

Prophecy of the Sisters (I'll give away five of these)

Guardian of the Gate (I'll give away five of these)

Circle of Fire hardcover (I'll give away one of these)

One of Five Victorian Guys are Hot t-shirts

Assorted swag

You MUST use the hashtag above or I won't be able to find your entry(s). I'll give you one entry for every time you tweet or RT. There will be at least fifteen prizes but quite possibly more depending on how much swag I round up in my office and how I decide to distribute it.

Good luck!

July Flame by Laura Veirs

I'm really digging this week's song, recommended by one of my favorite readers, Dee. This one has a really unique, folk/gospel sound and the video is just too cool. One of the reasons I started Song of the Week was so we could all find new music, and I don't think I would have found this one on my own.

Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did!

Also, just a reminder that if you want a free bookplate to give away for the holidays, you have to send an email to prophecypress@aol.com with your address. PLEASE don't leave your requests in comments here on the site, both to protect your privacy (address on the internet? NOES!) and because Rebekah is managing the bookplate requests through the prophecypress email address.

 

 

Mystery Monday – Parallel Universes

I've always been fascinated with the idea of parallel universes. The possibility that another reality is existing in time with ours but just to the left or right (so to speak) has had a ring of truth for me since I was a kid, long before I'd heard any science jargon to back it up.

I mean, doesn't it seem entirely possible that there's something else going on – something slightly different – at this very moment just outside our view?!

Which is why physicist Brian Greene's (author of The Elegant Universe and The Hidden Reality) theory on the possibility of parallel universes made perfect sense to me when I read it. In fact, his explanation probably makes the most sense of any I've read.

Basically, Brian posits that there are only so many ways matter can arrange itself inside the universe. At some point, matter would have to repeat itself, arranging itself in similar ways. Which means if the universe is infinitely large, it is also home to infinite number of possible parallel universes. If you've ever heard the term "multiverse", this is what it means.

He explains it like a deck of cards; "Now, if you shuffle that deck, there's just so many orderings that can happen," Greene says. "If you shuffle that deck enough times, the orders will have to repeat. Similarly, with an infinite universe and only a finite number of complexions of matter, the way in which matter arranges itself has to repeat."

Makes a strange kind of sense, yes?

Anyway, there's a super interesting article about it on NPR, if you're interested in learning more. What do you think? Do you buy the theory?

On another note, many of you know that I've been under a super-tough deadline this month, so please excuse the sporadic blogging. Things should be back to normal next month. For now, I'm imagining another me in a parallel universe, already finished with this project and drinking eggnog and eating sugar cookies while reading.

I also want to remind you guys that you can still get a FREE signed, personalized bookplate for that special reader on your holiday list. The bookplates are designed to coordinate with the interior of the Prophecy books. All you have to do is send the number of bookplates you're requesting (up to three) and to whom you'd like them signed. If you tell me a little about the person, I'll try to make the message as personal as possible.

Then you can stick the book plate (they have a sticker backing) right in one of the Prophecy books and it's just like giving a signed copy. They make lovely, thoughtful gifts all for the price of a book. I can send the bookplates free to anyone in the US or Canada. If you're an international reader, just send a signed, self-addressed stamped envelope to me at P.O. Box 136 Burlingham, NY 12722.

I've received almost 100 requests so far and will continue filling requests through 12/7.

Skin by Sixx AM

This weeks song was brought to you by Brandi Pudlio. I've never heard of this band and I've never heard this song, but it's really beautiful.

Hope you guys enjoy it.

And keep those song recs coming to prophecypress@aol.com with "Song of the Week" in the Subject line.

Also, don't forget that you can still get free signed bookplates for the holidays. They make a really nice addition to a book for the reader on your holiday list, and I'm happy to personalize them (for you or the recipient).

Just my little holiday gift to you!