Beth K. Vogt's Blog, page 94

In Others’ Words: Trust

 

Photo from iStock.com

“One must be fond of people and trust them if one is not to make a mess of life.” ~E.M. Forster (1879-1970), English novelist

As a novelist, I spend a lot of time with imaginary people.

I don’t just hang around with them — I actually expend many hours and much energy getting to know these fictitious characters. I try to understand their pasts so that I can properly write their presents and futures. Along the way of delving into all the “who are you?” questions and “why do you do things that way?” questions, I discover my characters’ values.

Case in point: In my second novel, Catch a Falling Star (Howard Books, May 2013), I discovered my hero valued independence — for lots of reasons I won’t go into here. And I discovered my heroine valued helping kids.

Funny thing is, as I discovered all these imaginary people’s values, I more clearly understood my own values. For so long I would nod my head when someone said kindness was important. Or truthfulness. Or courage. Or gentleness.

All true — and probably what these people valued.

But I’ve wrestled with the “What do I value?” question for several years now and I know that I know that I know that I value relationships. (And several other things, but that’s another blog post.)

And to be in relationship with people you have to, as E. M. Forster said, “… be fond of people.”

Makes sense, doesn’t it?

But it’s not always easy to do, even for a relationship-valuer like me. I don’t always like the things people say and do — and I’m willing to bet there are times people don’t like me.

And then there’s the whole issue of trust (my word for 2012!) Here’s what I believe: To not make a mess of life, you have to learn who to trust — and who not to trust.

In Your Words: What do you value? And what lessons have you learned to not make a mess of life?

 

August Contest: Where in the World is Daniel?

Tomorrow, August 1, is Allison Denmark and Daniel Rayner’s three-month anniversary.

It’ll be three months since my contemporary romance novel Wish You Were Here debuted and readers were introduced to Allison, the woman who kissed her fiancé’s brother five days before her wedding.

I loved launching Wish You Were Here with my fellow “Debs,” whose books also debuted in May: Dani Pettrey (Submerged), Katie Ganshert (Wildflowers from Winter), and Olivia Newport (The Pursuit of Lucy Banning). It’s been fun connecting with readers and hearing how people weren’t sure who Allison was going to end up with and how much they enjoyed the llamas, Kuzko, Pacha and Banzai.

Photo by ywel/stockxchng.com

To celebrate Wish You Were Here’s three-month anniversary, I’m hosting a “Where in the World is Daniel?” contest during August. Here are the rules:

Every Tuesday and Thursday during the month of August, Daniel will send a postcard to Alli from an undisclosed location. I’ll put Daniel’s postcard on my blog so you can read it too. (I promise the messages won’t be too personal!)
Based on Daniel’s hint in his message, leave a comment either on my blog or on my Author Facebook page guessing where you think Daniel is.
You get one entry for guessing, right or wrong. If you Tweet about the contest or share it on Facebook, you get another entry for that day.
If you haven’t “liked” my Author Facebook page, please do so and I’ll toss in another entry for you.
At the end of the contest, I’ll put all the entries together and draw the winner for the prize package.

And just what is the prize package?

The winner of the “Where in the World is Daniel?” contest wins a prize package worth over $100:

a collection of sixteen postcards by wildlife photographer Thomas Mangelson (Remember how Daniel gave Alli a gift of a Thomas Mangelsen photograph, Maroon Bells Daybreak?)
a $20 Starbucks gift card (Daniel keeps himself caffeinated while he travels the world!)
a “Life is Good” water bottle (Daniel’s motto — and he was wearing a “Life is Good” T-shirt in Chapter 1 of WYWH.)
a $50 Visa gift card (Always good to have on hand if you’re a traveling man like Daniel.)
a Heart of Adoption necklace (The same necklace that we gave away at the Debutantes’ Story Soiree.)
a signed copy of Wish You Were Here
a signed copy of my to-be-released in May 2013 novel, Catch a Falling Star

The contest starts Thursday, August 2, 2012!!

In Others’ Words: Chaos

 

 

Photo by zeafonso/stockxchng.com

“Our real discoveries come from chaos, from going to the place that looks wrong and stupid and foolish.” ~ Chuck Palahniuk (1962-), American novelist & freelance journalist

It has been a haphazard summer.

“Haphazard” is just a three-syllable word for chaos.

And “chaos” is a two-syllable word for “Would somebody please tell me when I’m going to have a normal day again because I haven’t had one in a long, long time and I’m teetering on the edge of …”

Pardon me. I got a bit carried away there.

Since I’ve been living with chaos for quite a few weeks now, I decided to find a quote that put a positive spin on life spinning out of control. I like today’s quote and how it promises something good out of chaos: discoveries. And at the same time it also unpacks chaos for us, describing it as a place that is “wrong and stupid and foolish.”

Well there ya go.

There are times I would classify the last few weeks — months — as wrong, in the “this isn’t what I expected for the Summer of 2012″ meaning of the word. But I’m not going to belabor the chaos … instead, I’m going to embrace Palahniuk’s statement and believe there are discoveries waiting for me in the midst of all this craziness.

Evacuate from my house for weeks? I discovered I can live with a whole lot less stuff than I thought.
Computer crashes and attempts to retrieve all my data fail? I discovered that sometimes I have to accept that one of my worst nightmares just came true — and then be surprised when someone saves the day and finds a way to rescue all those supposedly irretrievable documents.
Vertigo flares up again after a 5-week reprieve? I discovered life went on … I just slowed down a bit to compensate.

In Your Words: What discoveries have you made in a season of chaos?

I’m getting ready to celebrate a 3-month anniversary & I’d like you to celebrate with me! Wish You Were Here, my contemporary romance novel, debuted on May 1 — almost 3 months ago. I’m planning a fun “Where in the World is Daniel?” contest to celebrate. Come back tomorrow for more details.

 

 

 

In Others’ Words: Art & Life

“You don’t have to make something that people call art. Living is an artistic activity, there is an art to getting through the day.”

~Viggo Mortensen (1958-), actor

Friday is always a look-back-over-my-shoulder kind of day for me.

The week has finally run into the weekend — hooray! — and I mentally shift gears from “weekday” life to “weekend” life.

I like how today’s quote allows me to glance back at this past week through the lens of “art.”

For the longest time I called myself a writer — but not an artist. An artist was someone who used a paintbrush. Or a pottery wheel. Or a jeweler’s tool.

Me? I just took the thoughts in my head and poured them out onto paper as words. Vowels. Consonants. Sentences. Paragraphs. Chapters … would you look at that? It all added up to a novel.

Today’s quote expands the definition of art even more to include all of life: who I am, what I do, what I say. I’m looking back at Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday … and I’m looking for the artistic moments that didn’t involve paint or pastels or clay or cloth. Where was art created between me and others in my world?

In Your Words: What art did you create this week as your lived your life?

 

In Others’ Words: Comfort

“Remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That’s why it’s a comfort to go hand-in-hand.” ~Emily Kimbrough (1899-1989), American author & journalist

Sometimes I trip myself up all by myself. I rush through my day and forget an all-important something on my To Do list.

Or I say something I shouldn’t. Or don’t say something I should.

I doubt instead of having faith.

Anger flares instead of a flourish of grace.

And then there are the times when others trip me up when an unkind word or an incorrect (and hurtful) perception of who I am.

Yes, my life can be a series of missteps and stumbles.

And that’s when I am thankful for the people who know all about me and who still like me, still love me — who hold my hand and hold me up when I stumble.

Without them, I’d land flat on my face in the dust of discouragement — and just stay there.

In Your Words: Who are you going hand-in-hand with? Who holds onto you when you stumble?

 

 

In Others’ Words: Achieving Success

 

Me with my wonderful mentors, Rachel Hauck & Susan May Warren

“No one lives long enough to learn everything they need to learn starting from scratch. To be successful, we absolutely, positively have to find people who have already paid the price to learn the things that we need to learn to achieve our goals.” ~Brian Tracy (1944-), self-help author

It’s one thing to have a dream.

It’s something all together different when someone else comes along and embraces your dream with you.

When another person peers into your heart — your wish-upon-a-star-hopes — and says, “I believe in you!” — ah, that’s when dreams suddenly start looking like reality.

And when someone pours their heart into your passion … suddenly the goal seems achievable, doesn’t it?

Such is the power of a mentor — that so-wise person who has the experience, the know-how that you need to climb the proverbial ladder to success.

I’m starting this week off with a prayer that each of you would find that person — or persons — who already knows what you need to move closer to your dreams. I pray that each of you would find mentors who believe in you — and who come alongside you and say, “You can do this. Let me share something that helped me. “

In Your Words: Who has helped you achieve your dreams? And when have you had the chance to help someone else reach their dreams (because you’ve already paid the price to learn what they need to know?)

In Others’ Words: Celebrate

“Love one another and you will be happy.  It’s as simple and as difficult as that.”  ~Michael Leunig (1945-), Australian poet & cartoonist

 

It’s wedding week at the Vogt household.

This Friday, July 20, my daughter marries a wonderful young man named David Baker.

Amy Baker.

It may take me a while to get used to that.

My husband and I have watched Amy and David fall in love. I’ll share a bit of their story with you: Within weeks of their first date, Amy came into my writing office and told me, “I’m going to marry him.”

I didn’t say anything. As a mom, you learn not to stay quiet when your twenty-something daughter makes an announcement like that. I was already praying for them — not in an “Oh, no!” kind of way. More of a “What’s up, God?” kind of way.

So, I kept on praying.

And my husband joined me.

And here we are.

So pardon me while I excuse myself from blogging and Facebooking and tweeting this week. The past few weeks have been all about wildfires and computer viruses and the like. Now it’s time to celebrate Amy and David.

And the Vogt Family knows how to do just that.

See you in a week.

 

In Others’ Words: Choose

By Max Lucado, best-selling author & preacher

“I Choose Love…

No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.

I Choose Joy…

I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.

I Choose Peace…

I will live forgiven. I will forgive so I may live.

I Choose Patience…

I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I’ll invite him to do so, Rather complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clenching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.

I Choose Kindness…

I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for that is how God has treated me.

I Choose Goodness…

I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I accuse. I choose goodness

I Choose Faithfulness…

Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My friends will not question my word. And my family will not question my love.

I Choose Gentleness…

Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice may it only be in praise. If I clench my fist, may it only be in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.

I Choose Self-Control…

I refuse to let what will rot, rule the eternal. I choose self-control. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ. I choose self-control.

Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control. To these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek His grace. And then when this day is done I will place my head on my pillow and rest.”

In Your Words: What do you choose today?

In Others’ Words: Tomorrow

“The long-lived books of tomorrow are concealed somewhere amongst the so-far unpublished [manuscripts] of today.” ~Philip Unwin, author

Tucked within today’s quote is both hope — and the promise of hard work.

Every writer I know has at least one manuscript waiting to be published … one story waiting to be told. Some writing friends have two finished manuscripts. Or four. Or more.

Wasted words?

No.

Waiting to be published words.

It’s all a part of the process. We’re writers — we write. We are not in control of whether our manuscripts are published. The Great and Powerful Oz … um, I mean the pub board is the deciding factor.

But we have every chance — every hope — of hearing the longed for yes.

And this is where the hard work comes in. The writing. And rewriting, which is another word for e-d-i-t-i-n-g. And learning our craft so the next manuscript is better than the last.

Hope and hard work — two key facets of a writer’s life.

In Your Words: What gives you hope as a writer? And how do you stay at the hard work of writing? What are you doing this week — today — to improve your craft?

In Others’ Words: Values

“It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” ~Roy Disney (1930-2009), senior executive for The Walt Disney Company

My friend “Wise Guy” talks a lot about values. Sometimes he talks and I listen … and then sometimes he listens as I wrestle with refining what I value.

Did you know there are lists of values that can help you determine your values — kind of like a “menu” that lets you pick and choose what’s important to you, just in case you forgot about:

Acceptance
Benevolence
Encouragement
Influence
Motivation
Practicality
Reason
Service
Wonder
Zeal

As I wrote this blog, I paused and asked myself: What are my top three values? These three words came to mind:

Faith
Relationships
Honesty

And all three values are intertwined, affecting how I live my life, how I interact with others, even how I write.

In Your Words: When you think about what you value, what comes to mind?