Michelle McLean's Blog, page 23
January 25, 2012
Blog Chain - What Makes You Feel?
Today's Blog Chain topic was chosen by the lovely Kate, who wants to know what inspires us. Her instructions:
Post pictures, songs, movie clips, poems, or novel excerpts that make you feel. Feel what, you ask? Feel anything. Happy. Sad. Angry. Nostalgic. Hopeful. Hopeless. Jealous. Joyful.
I have read in several different places that YA novelist John Green said of his latest novel, The Fault In Our Stars that he wants to make his readers "Feel All The Things." I would love that someone could go through this blog chain and through what we all choose to post have that same Feel All The Things feeling.
For me, music is what make me feel the most. A good, peppy song can instantly put me in a great mood. And I always listen to music to get me in the writing mood. Especially for those really intense scenes. When I need to really "feel" I usually turn to Rob Dougan, Evanescence, E.S. Posthumous, Apocalyptica, Chopin and other classical masters. Here are a few of my favorites :)
The Apocalyptica videos wouldn't embed, but any of their songs, espeically Bittersweet and Not Strong Enough I absolutely love - go listen! :D And be sure to check out PK's post from yesterday and Tere's tomorrow :)
Post pictures, songs, movie clips, poems, or novel excerpts that make you feel. Feel what, you ask? Feel anything. Happy. Sad. Angry. Nostalgic. Hopeful. Hopeless. Jealous. Joyful.
I have read in several different places that YA novelist John Green said of his latest novel, The Fault In Our Stars that he wants to make his readers "Feel All The Things." I would love that someone could go through this blog chain and through what we all choose to post have that same Feel All The Things feeling.
For me, music is what make me feel the most. A good, peppy song can instantly put me in a great mood. And I always listen to music to get me in the writing mood. Especially for those really intense scenes. When I need to really "feel" I usually turn to Rob Dougan, Evanescence, E.S. Posthumous, Apocalyptica, Chopin and other classical masters. Here are a few of my favorites :)
The Apocalyptica videos wouldn't embed, but any of their songs, espeically Bittersweet and Not Strong Enough I absolutely love - go listen! :D And be sure to check out PK's post from yesterday and Tere's tomorrow :)
January 20, 2012
Friday Funnies
Guess what I finally woke up to today? :D Happy Friday!!
January 17, 2012
What Do You Do?
So...I'm feeling the need to streamline, cut down on things, simplify. I have a website - well, 3 actually (one for me and the two pen names I was considering - just in case I needed them :) ). But I don't do anything with them. Everything is pretty much on my blog anyway and more people come to my blog. Soooo, I'm thinking I might just combine everything over here instead of trying to maintain different sites.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you guys have separate sites or do you just keep everything in one spot?
What are your thoughts on this? Do you guys have separate sites or do you just keep everything in one spot?
January 13, 2012
Friday the 13th Funnies
Happy Friday the 13th!
Well, my 1 week hiatus turned into a 2 week hiatus...and was almost a 3 weeker :D I hope everyone was healthy, happy, and productive! I...wasn't (productive that is) LOL. But I'm hoping to remedy that soon. :) In the meantime, have a few funny kitties on this cold, snowy Friday the 13th :)
Well, my 1 week hiatus turned into a 2 week hiatus...and was almost a 3 weeker :D I hope everyone was healthy, happy, and productive! I...wasn't (productive that is) LOL. But I'm hoping to remedy that soon. :) In the meantime, have a few funny kitties on this cold, snowy Friday the 13th :)
January 4, 2012
Blog Chain - Childhood Memories
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We interrupt this unplugged week to bring you a prescheduled blog chain post :D It's the first chain of the New Year!! And the awesome Jon picked our first topic.
Now, as I mentioned, I did this post a bit early so I could get it scheduled before Family Week of Awesome hit, so I won't have the exact wording or instructions, but essentially, he wanted us to draw the layout of one of our childhood homes. As we form the walls, doors, and angles of that house, memories will surface and he wants us to turn that memory into a story.
When I began to focus on my childhood homes, it was incredibly interesting to me that what stood out in my mind the most was the placement of the bookshelves in our houses. The one in my mom's room where I found the Laura Ingalls Wilder series, the Clan of the Cave Bears, and the Victoria Holt books that I love so much. My dad's office with the entire back wall covered in bookshelves or the house in TN where the living room had an entire wall of shelves. I'd sit for hours in both places with a stack of encyclopedia's by my side.
One of my earliest memories is opening a box full of books and tapes on Christmas. And I vividly remember lying on my stomach listening to the tape read the story as I followed along. I think I was 2 when I got those.
So, though this is cheating a tad (I don't feel guilty as I am on my way out of town and doing this a little early so I don't know the exact rules…and am short on time) :D this is something I wrote about my love of books and research a few years ago for a creative non-fiction class. Because, it seems, my life has always revolved around my beloved books :)
~~
I walk in, take a deep breath, and immediately relax in the comforting quiet. My eyes scan the familiar surroundings for the aisle I need and I begin to wander. Every now and then I'll stop, take a volume off the bookshelf, and leaf through the pages. The unmistakable smell of "book" rises up to meet me. It's unique, a musty mixture of ink and stale paper. I make sure the volume I'm holding contains what I may need; then I move on.
My excitement builds as I discover each new text. Sometime I get lost in the passages I find. Time slows as I stand sandwiched between narrow shelves, tying to juggle the books I'm holding and the book I'm reading. Occasionally I give up and just sit on the floor, the chosen work in my lap. I stop only when another patron drifts by, subtly clearing his throat to get my attention. I fill my arms with as many books as I can carry and find a nice, quiet spot to begin my search.
~~
Abby comes after me so be sure to head to her blog tomorrow to see how her childhood shaped out :)
We interrupt this unplugged week to bring you a prescheduled blog chain post :D It's the first chain of the New Year!! And the awesome Jon picked our first topic.
Now, as I mentioned, I did this post a bit early so I could get it scheduled before Family Week of Awesome hit, so I won't have the exact wording or instructions, but essentially, he wanted us to draw the layout of one of our childhood homes. As we form the walls, doors, and angles of that house, memories will surface and he wants us to turn that memory into a story.
When I began to focus on my childhood homes, it was incredibly interesting to me that what stood out in my mind the most was the placement of the bookshelves in our houses. The one in my mom's room where I found the Laura Ingalls Wilder series, the Clan of the Cave Bears, and the Victoria Holt books that I love so much. My dad's office with the entire back wall covered in bookshelves or the house in TN where the living room had an entire wall of shelves. I'd sit for hours in both places with a stack of encyclopedia's by my side.
One of my earliest memories is opening a box full of books and tapes on Christmas. And I vividly remember lying on my stomach listening to the tape read the story as I followed along. I think I was 2 when I got those.
So, though this is cheating a tad (I don't feel guilty as I am on my way out of town and doing this a little early so I don't know the exact rules…and am short on time) :D this is something I wrote about my love of books and research a few years ago for a creative non-fiction class. Because, it seems, my life has always revolved around my beloved books :)
~~
I walk in, take a deep breath, and immediately relax in the comforting quiet. My eyes scan the familiar surroundings for the aisle I need and I begin to wander. Every now and then I'll stop, take a volume off the bookshelf, and leaf through the pages. The unmistakable smell of "book" rises up to meet me. It's unique, a musty mixture of ink and stale paper. I make sure the volume I'm holding contains what I may need; then I move on.
My excitement builds as I discover each new text. Sometime I get lost in the passages I find. Time slows as I stand sandwiched between narrow shelves, tying to juggle the books I'm holding and the book I'm reading. Occasionally I give up and just sit on the floor, the chosen work in my lap. I stop only when another patron drifts by, subtly clearing his throat to get my attention. I fill my arms with as many books as I can carry and find a nice, quiet spot to begin my search.
~~
Abby comes after me so be sure to head to her blog tomorrow to see how her childhood shaped out :)
December 31, 2011
Happy New Years Sat Funnies
Happy New Year!!! And a very happy birthday to my awesome Dad :) May 2012 be filled with productivity, health, and happiness for everyone :) I am taking an unplugged week next week as I'll be spending time with my family *squeeeesoexcited* I hope to see much progress from everyone when I get back :D And yeah, that goes for me too LOL
December 27, 2011
Resolved to be Resolute
Well, we are one week away from New Year's - which means...resolution time *dun dun duuunnnn* (and yes, we are still a week away but I'll be out of town next week so I figured I'd start thinking early :D )
I'm trying to keep it simple this year. I have generally tossed my resolutions out the window by midnight of the 1st...sometimes sooner :D So for this year, I'm going pick one simple thing that I should be able to stick to. One thing that should make everything else easier to accomplish.
Use my time wisely - I fritter away a lot of time. And I will continue to fritter away lots of time. BUT I will try to do so less :) There are things I want to get done and that just isn't going to happen if I don't get on the ball.
The two main goals I have for this year are to keep up with the house, and to WRITE - even if it's a sentence a day, I want, I NEED, to write. So many things I want to accomplish but if everything stays locked up tight in my head it's not doing anyone any good...especially me. :) And both of these are more than doable if I just use the time I have wisely.
There are lots of other things I want to do....lose weight (as always), be a better mom and wife, learn a couple new languages, organize my house from top to bottom, read lots and lots, finish my cross stitching projects, and a million more things. But I'm hoping if I focus on just that one thing, everything else will follow.
What are your writerly resolutions for next year?
I'm trying to keep it simple this year. I have generally tossed my resolutions out the window by midnight of the 1st...sometimes sooner :D So for this year, I'm going pick one simple thing that I should be able to stick to. One thing that should make everything else easier to accomplish.
Use my time wisely - I fritter away a lot of time. And I will continue to fritter away lots of time. BUT I will try to do so less :) There are things I want to get done and that just isn't going to happen if I don't get on the ball.
The two main goals I have for this year are to keep up with the house, and to WRITE - even if it's a sentence a day, I want, I NEED, to write. So many things I want to accomplish but if everything stays locked up tight in my head it's not doing anyone any good...especially me. :) And both of these are more than doable if I just use the time I have wisely.
There are lots of other things I want to do....lose weight (as always), be a better mom and wife, learn a couple new languages, organize my house from top to bottom, read lots and lots, finish my cross stitching projects, and a million more things. But I'm hoping if I focus on just that one thing, everything else will follow.
What are your writerly resolutions for next year?
December 23, 2011
December 20, 2011
A Writer's Christmas
I think I'm probably a hard person to shop for. My poor husband doesn't want to give me a gift card every year but he knows my first response when he asks me what I want for Christmas is going to be - books :D
So this year I made him a list. It includes:
A gift card for books - because really, as boring as he might think this is, it ROCKSOffice supplies - again, he might snooze, but man does my little heart go pitter-pat when I get my hands on a bunch of new pens and post its and notebooks oooo and especially organizational stuff like binders and bins and cork boards and those really pretty push pins and paper clips and....well you get the point :DComputer software - I specifically asked for Scrivener and that software that will read your manuscript to youMusic - I asked for some specifics (Apocalyptica, Chopin, Evanescence...my typical mood setting stuff) :) Aqua Notes - have you seen these things?! It's a notepad you hang IN YOUR SHOWER. I get probably 80% of my awesome ideas and epiphanies in the shower and I forget about 80% of those before I get out of the shower. NO MORE! If I find these in my stocking I can write down those awesome ideas before they go down the drain :D (p.s. saw these first on Stina's blog - she's got a great Xmas list for writers going to - check it out!)I used to ask for uninterrupted writing time :D but with both my kidlets in school full time now, I can write while they are gone during the day. But this is a great gift for writers who have to squeeze their writing time in between jobs and/or kids or other obligations.What is on your writer's wish list this year?
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