P.C. Zick's Blog, page 47
May 10, 2013
Book Review Friday – Awareness Gentoku McCree
Gentoku McCree lives a gentle life, and he shares the success of his life with others through his thoughtful books. Awareness, one of those books, offers a primer on how to become thoroughly aware and comfortable in mind, body, and environment.
“Awareness is a foundational skill in mindfulness practice.” Gentoku opens Awareness with this statement. When we become aware, we are better able to live more fully. Gentoku begins by giving the four basic types of awareness: base, engaged, open, and reflective. They are not mutually exclusive types, but rather serve as a step ladder to mindfulness in all we do.
I like the simplicity of his explanations in this book. It’s a good book for starting on a more thoughtful existence, and it serves as a helpful reminder of basic things we forget as we become caught up in our busy lives. The book itself is only twenty-nine pages so it’s a quick read with powerful information.
He provides exercises that can be easily incorporated into daily life without much effort. The majority of the eight (standing, stretching, waiting, walking, emotions, acknowledgements, form, and listening) assist in making us aware and atuned to our body. I particularly like the one for waiting. I hate waiting in doctor’s offices, in line anywhere, and in traffic. Gentoku provides a script to use in our mind to make the time go quicker. He suggests we might even be sorry when the wait ends.
Gentoku sells the book on his website for $2.99 per download.
Gentoku pulls on his background as a mindfulness-based personal trainer, former monastery resident, a yoga school student, writer, and Zen Buddhist practitioner living in Portland, Oregon. Gentoku is his Buddhist name given to him by his teachers Chozen and Hogen Bays at Great Vow Zen Monastery. His name means manifesting virtue or present sincerity. His mission is to support others in living a more healthy, balanced, and mindful life. He’s off to a fantastic start with Awareness.
NOTE: I was given a copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. I received no other compensation for writing this review and it in no way influenced the review.
May 8, 2013
Author Wednesday – Gentoku McCree
Welcome to Author Wednesday. Today I welcome Gentoku McCree, author of two self-help books, Fit and Mindful and Awareness.
Gentoku stops by today with a guest post on “mindful writing.” He stops by again in June for a post on movement for writers.
Blogging Pains
By Gentoku McCree
I used to hate writing. For years, I tried blogging and failed. The pattern was always the same. I would get fired up about a topic, write feverishly for few weeks and then lose steam. My blog would lay cold and abandoned like a scorned lover. Every now and again, I‘d get inspired and write something. But it never lasted. Eventually I stopped trying.
Hope
Then last year I started writing a blog on Mindful Fitness. Right away, I noticed something was different. I was focused and motivated, post ideas appeared out of nowhere, and I was getting positive feedback. After years of trying, I fell back in love with writing. It was wonderful.
So What Changed?
Many things changed but the key was this: I stopped worrying about what I wrote and started caring about how I wrote.
Writing is one of the most vulnerable things you can do. Yet, many of us write with empty hearts. We get so obsessed with the product that we neglect the producer.
This is a huge mistake because our hearts hold the power to create connection, embody truth, and manifest joy. Our job as writers is to create a space for our hearts to speak.
One of the best ways to create this space is to write mindfully. Mindfulness helps us bring awareness, focus, and intention to our work. And it’s easier than you think.
Six Steps to Writing Mindfully
1. Write Down Your Intentions
We are great at writing down goals. But intentions are harder, because they ask us to define who we are. Ask yourself what is my intention for today’s work? If your answer is to write well, Great! But look deeper. What are you trying to create?
Connection?
Thought?
Hope?
Laughter?
Having clear intentions establishes a strong foundation for excellent writing.
2. Write Down Your Fears
We are all afraid of something, especially when it comes to writing. Are you afraid no one will like your work? That you won’t be able to express your ideas? Or maybe you’re afraid you won’t write anything at all?
No matter what it is, admit it, and write it down. Unspoken fear has power, to conquer your fear bring it into the light. Accept that you’re afraid and then let it go.
3. Set a Timer
Simply put, I always writer better when I use a timer. Limiting time increases our focus. We are more likely to only write what is essential. And when we say less we reveal more.
4. Set a deadline
Important tasks always have a deadline. When we create deadlines, we are saying our work is important. But deadlines only work if we…
5. Make it hurt
A deadline without pain is more of a wish than a promise. A real deadline means you have to show up. And that’s what you want. You want to show up for every sentence. I achieve this by making bets. I’ll tell a friend I’ll pay them $50 if I don’t finish on time. When I bet I meet the deadline. When I don’t I’m often late.
6. Set the scene.
Now that you have made a promise to show up and created the conditions for success you have to prepare the environment. Unplug the Internet, block out distractions, whatever it takes. Make your writing environment a sacred place. A cluttered room means cluttered mind. If you are terminally cluttered, go somewhere else. Find an open clean space where you feel at ease.
Finally, make sure to honor times where creativity is ripe.
I do my best writing after yoga class. But only if I don’t listen to the radio on my walk home. Find your writing sweet spots and exploit the crap out of them.
Final Thoughts
Writing is less about producing and more about creating the space for our own voice to arise. Great writing not only comes from this space, but it also creates this space for the reader. By taking the time to care for ourselves, we create the strength to show up in a ways we never thought possible.
Discussion Question:
What techniques do you use access your heart when you write?
About Gentoku
Gentoku McCree is a mindfulness-based personal trainer, former monastery resident, a yoga school student, writer, and Zen Buddhist practitioner living in Portland, Oregon. Gentoku is his Buddhist name given to him by his teachers Chozen and Hogen Bays at Great Vow Zen Monastery. Gentoku means manifesting virtue or present sincerity. His mission is to support others in living a more healthy, balanced, and mindful life.
Contact Links
Blog – blog.mindfulfitnessmovement.com
Website – mindfitmove.com
Purchase links for books - http://www.mindfulfitnessmovement.com/#!resources/c164j
Twitter – @mindfitmove
May 6, 2013
Winner of Book Tour Announced
The Trails in the Sand blog tour ended on April 29. Thank you to those of you who participated in some way. And now the winner of the tour giveaway: Ty Wilson from Utah.
Ty will receive signed copies of both Live from the Road and Trails in the Sand along with a Route 66 baseball cap, magnets from both books, and a “green” grocery bag donated by Betsy Wild over at the blog What’s Green with Betsy. Congratulations to Ty and a round of applause to all of you who visited my tour stops and entered the contest.
If you’d still like to try and win a copy of Trails in the Sand, there’s a giveaway going on over at Goodreads now through May 15.
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Enter by clicking here.
May 3, 2013
Book Review Friday – Vapor Trails
The subject of Vapor Trails by R.P. Siegel and Roger Saillant intrigued me from the start. I’ve been looking for other contemporary fiction novels with environmental themes, so when this one came across my twitter feed, I immediately researched it and then bought a copy. I wasn’t disappointed with the read, although there is no middle ground with this book, which might have drawn in a wider audience. The book preaches to the choir rather than pulling converts to the green movement.
Vapor Trails enters into the bowels of corporate greed to the highest level of power. And power or energy at any cost to the environment and its people, is the heart of this story. The story is told from the viewpoint of three main characters: a corporate stooge, an environmentalist attempting to work within the corporate system, and a free spirit who rides his bike 2,500 miles just to attend a sustainability conference in New Orleans. Through the eyes of these three, the reader receives an education on oil and its damaging effects.
An unnamed hurricane in New Orleans causes water to surge and break through the levee system. This storm brings the odd trio of characters together when they are stranded at the sustainability conference. The storm is used to bring the key players together, but it isn’t used in any useful way to make a comment about man’s folly with playing with nature. Also, it left me slightly annoyed that the three characters don’t have to put up with the unpleasantness of the aftermath because helicopters and corporate jets zoomed down to rescue them out of the hellhole of southern Louisiana.
Mason Burnside, the corporate stooge, brought a lethal oil disaster to the rain forest in Ecuador though his cold-hearted decisions encouraged by his CEO at Splendid Oil. Ellen Greenbaum is an idealistic college grads ready to make a difference by working for the evil behemoth Splendid Oil in their sustainability department. Jacob Walker yearns to make the world a better place. Add together a man missing in Indonesia, and the novel has intrigue and mystery enough to hold the reader captivated.
Through the conversations, much information is imparted on the state of energy companies, the environment, and the impact on human lives.
While the novel can come across as pedantic and biased toward the green side, the ideas presented are considerably well-researched.
It is Mason who changes the most, as the other main characters remain static. Mason goes from stooge to hero through a series of life-changing events. Perhaps if the other two characters, who experienced the same events, had also undergone some type of transformation, the novel would be a more even representation of real life.
“. . . his arrogance finally caught up with him when he thought he could control nature,” says one of the characters near the end of the novel, and that is the crux of the whole novel making it an epic undertaking by the authors.
I highly recommend the book. If you’re on the fence about how you feel on this topic, this book will give you a good background for one side of the argument. For those folks who turn red at the mention of green, this book will do nothing but turn them further away.
I applaud the authors for a well-written and well-researched book on the treachery of pushing through projects in unsafe and deadly ways. I just wish they’d left a little room for the shades of gray in this discussion.
May 1, 2013
Author Wednesday – Jennifer Donohoe
Welcome to Author Wednesday. Today I welcome Jennifer Donohoe, author of two fantasy novels, The Legend of the Travelers: Willow’s Journey and her most recent release, Fly Away. Jennifer stops by today for an interview about her writing life.
Welcome to Author Wednesday, Jennifer. Rachel Carson (Silent Spring) said she never chose a subject because as a writer, the subject chose her. Describe a time when a subject chose you.
I always allow the subject to choose me. Most often I usually get inspiration from varying sources, then over weeks, months, or years I develop the story in my mind until I have a strong threshold for it. Currently, most of my stories are fantasy, but I have quite a few ideas that are not. They range from historical fiction to adventure to horror to thriller.
What messages or themes do you try to convey to your readers?
In whatever I write, I try to convey a message. In the two books, I have out now those messages are, “You cannot run from your life. You must face it,” and “We can’t choose the life we’re given, but we can do something about it.”
Fly Away was originally slated to be a psychological thriller. However, my characters decided differently about the whole thing. I combined some favorite themes like the Neverending Story and Dante’s Inferno to create a more unique story. I hope it worked out well.
Are you planning to continue writing in the same genre?
I’ll write wherever my characters take me, but I do plan on moving from fantasy to other genres at some point.
How did you choose the title? Has it been the title from the very beginning?
My titles often come to me prior to the book being written. I move from that title on to the idea of the story. Fly Away came to me for NaNoWriMo [National Novel Writing Month] for 2011, and it smoothed its way into the story it is now.
How long do you estimate it took you to take the book from an idea to a finished, published?
I only had a few weeks to formulate Fly Away into a story, then I wrote the first 50,000 words in a month. After that, the book was completely written within a year (October 2012). From there, I revised it and sent it to a beta reader. I finished revising it in March 2013 and sent it to an editor at that point.
That’s quite an accomplishment. If you listen to music while you’re writing, what is it?
The type of music I listen to completely depends on the type of story I’m writing. For instance, The Legend of the Travelers: Willow’s Journey was written listening to true Celtic music. Fly Away was written to more modern music. I prefer to listen to music without words. The reason behind this is so that the words don’t disrupt my thoughts.
What book are you reading right now?
I am a die hard fantasy reader. I do read other genres too, but fantasy is always my first choice. Currently, I’m reading A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin. You may know it by the title, Game of Thrones.
Thank you for stopping by today, Jennifer. It’s always very interesting to hear from other authors about their process. Somehow you manage to do it all while still working at a day job. Congratulations to you for a job well done.
About Jennifer: Jennifer Donohoe currently lives in Northeast Ohio. She works as a In-Home Counselor to Felony Juvenile Offenders. She loves taking landscape photography as a hobby and uses the photos as descriptions for some of the settings in her stories. Her passion is writing and enjoys the company of her characters.
Purchase links for Fly Away:
Amazon Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/Fly-Away-ebook/dp/B00CEGHLPA
Paperback Link:
http://www.amazon.com/Fly-Away-Jennifer-Donohoe/dp/1480114146
Author Central Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Jennifer-Donohoe/e/B008CTFQGO
About Fly Away: Robin Sullivan is given a magical book where she can
experience a better life in a new world called Tearmann. She can
finally escape the terrible reality of life with an abusive, alcoholic
father, her mother’s schizophrenia, and her best friend’s Leukemia.
Robin must choose between deserting her real life or living in a world
promising a better one. Events come into play forcing Robin to make a
decision. Will she be able to save those she loves and still save
herself?
April 29, 2013
Tag, You’re It!
I’m playing Indie Author tag today, and I’m IT. Being “IT” means that I share information about my work in progress, or WIP.
The Rules
Give credit (including a link) to the Indie Author who tagged you.
Play by the rules; therefore, you must post the rules.
You MUST answer all ten questions below.
List five other Indie Authors with links that you have “tagged” so that the game can continue.
Link Back
The Indie Author who tagged me is Christoph Fischer who writes the blog Writer Christoph Fischer where he writes reviews and promotes Indie Authors. He’s the author of The Luck of the Weissensteiners. His work in progress is Sebastian.
What is the title or working title of your WIP?
Safe Harbor, but I will have to change it before publishing. There are too many other books out with the same title.
What genres does your novel fall under?
Contemporary fiction with environmental themes
What actors (Dream Cast) would you choose to play the characters in a film version?
Emily Booth: Ashley Judd
Daniel Booth: Matt Damon
Barbara Evans: Michelle Pfeiffer
Jack Owen: Harrison Ford
What is the main outline for your book?
Safe Harbor is set in Florida where an international conglomerate starts to set up perfect living and vacation communities where they control every aspect of life, including wildlife put on display for the enjoyment of humans. The novel examines the folly of man when he transforms nature for his benefit. Nature always wins in the end. A group of ordinary citizens forms an odd group as they attempt to stop the destruction of the natural world they treasure.
Will your book be Indie published/self published or represented by an agency and sold to a traditional publisher?
I plan to publish this book as an Indie. However, I would be happy to accept an offer from a traditional publisher for any of my books.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
I wrote the first draft during six months in 2007. Then life interrupted, and I put the manuscript aside until now.
What other books in this genre would you compare your book to?
It could be a combination of Barbara Kingsolver and Carl Hiassen.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
The book is set in Florida where I lived for thirty years. For a time, I was a reporter covering the politics of several small towns in north Florida. For some reason, Florida and its people write the stories for me. Sometimes I create scenes that are tamer than real life because some of the things that happen in this state are not to be believed. Remember hanging chads, an astronaut in diapers, Trayvon Martin, and Casey Anthony, and you can figure out what I mean. Add in swamps that cover the lower part of the peninsula and some pythons, panthers, and alligators, you’ve got the setting for the next Great Florida Novel.
What else about the book might pique readers’ attention?
How about this: wildlife on steroids, new age charlatans clearing auras at the farmers’ market, a Vietnam Vet who’s actually a spy, and a dentist in love with his drill. I didn’t even mention the love triangles and the mysterious appearance of a tribe of people thought to be extinct.
Five other Indie Authors I’m tagging: Stop by their sites and say hello.
Rachelle Ayala: http://www.rachelleayala.com
Kris Jackson Design: krisjacksondesign.blogspot.com
Jennifer Donohoe, Author: http://www.jenniferdonohoe.com
Michele Shriver, Author of Real Life Women’s Fiction: http://micheleshriver.com
Carol Ervin’s Auther: http://carolervin.com
I hope you enjoyed this game of Tag as much as I enjoyed putting it all together.
Today is the last day of Trails in the Sand’s Virtual Book Tour and that means, it’s the last day to enter the giveaway. Visit my last tour stops today and enter the cool giveaway.
I’ve been on a virtual book tour with Trails in the Sand this week and today is my last stop and your last chance to enter to win a special package.
I’ve been on “tour” April 22-29 to celebrate the forty-third anniversary of Earth Day and to celebrate the publication of Trails in the Sand. Today’s the last day you’ll be able to enter a raffle for an exciting giveaway at the end of the tour. I’m giving away a package of autographed copies of both Live from the Road and Trails in the Sand, along with a Route 66 baseball cap, a Trails in the Sand magnet, all wrapped in a “green” grocery bag donated by fellow blogger Betsy Wild at What’s Green with Betsy. The bags were designed by Where Designs.
The Tour Schedule for April 29 – Check out these blogs today and enter to win the tour giveaway.
April 29
Jody’s Book Reviews features my guest post “Tikkun Olan Found Its Way into the Novel.” Jody features giveaways and tours. She also posts book reviews, but at this time she is not accepting requests for reviews.
Celtic Lady’s Reviews features a review of Trails in the Sand. Kathleen Kelly says her blog is for reviews and giveaways.
Confessions of an Inner Aspen features an interview with me. Aspen is an aspiring writer of fiction and writes book reviews.
April 28, 2013
Book Tour and Giveaway Continues
I’m on a Virtual Book Tour this week with Trails in the Sand – Visit tour stops to enter giveaway
I’m on “tour” April 22-29 to celebrate the forty-third anniversary of Earth Day and to celebrate the publication of Trails in the Sand. At each stop, you’ll be able to enter a raffle for an exciting giveaway at the end of the tour. I’m giving away a package of autographed copies of both Live from the Road and Trails in the Sand, along with a Route 66 baseball cap, a Trails in the Sand magnet, all wrapped in a “green” grocery bag donated by fellow blogger Betsy Wild at What’s Green with Betsy. The bags were designed by Where Designs.
The Tour Schedule for April 28 – Check out this blog today and enter to win the tour giveaway.
April 28
Bex ‘n’ Books features Trails in the Sand. This blog features book reviews, giveaways, and promotes authors and their books.
April 27, 2013
Trails Book Tour and Giveaway Continues
I’m on a Virtual Book Tour this week with Trails in the Sand – Visit tour stops to enter giveaway
I’m on “tour” April 22-29 to celebrate the forty-third anniversary of Earth Day and to celebrate the publication of Trails in the Sand. At each stop, you’ll be able to enter a raffle for an exciting giveaway at the end of the tour. I’m giving away a package of autographed copies of both Live from the Road and Trails in the Sand, along with a Route 66 baseball cap, a Trails in the Sand magnet, all wrapped in a “green” grocery bag donated by fellow blogger Betsy Wild at What’s Green with Betsy. The bags were designed by Where Designs.
The Tour Schedule for April 27 – Check out this blog today and enter to win the tour giveaway.
April 27
Create With Joy – Live With Passion features a review of Trails in the Sand and an excerpt. The title of this blog says it all: “an inspirational blog that celebrates creativity – in all its forms.”
April 26, 2013
Book Review Friday – Sailing Down the Moonbeam by Mary Gottschalk
On Author Wednesday, I interviewed Mary Gottschalk who wrote the memoir, Sailing Down the Moonbeam. Today I’m pleased to review the book that captures several years in the 1980s when Mary and her husband Tom embarked on an adventure to sail the world for five years. I thought it would be a travel memoir, but instead I discovered the book is the memoir of a marriage with the travel providing the setting and the sailing serving as a metaphor for the troubled relationship.
Mary and Tom decide to set sail from New York City for five years. Idealistic, romantic, and downright scared at times, they do what many of us only talk about doing if we won the lottery. When I told my husband the basic premise of the book, he asked, “Are they still married?” I told him he’d have to read the book to find out the answer. Mary states in the beginning that the stats for couples enduring life on long cruises is “not encouraging.”
Thankfully, Mary kept a journal of the journey, which eventually she turned into this memoir. Let her example be a lesson to all authors or those interested in writing a memoir of events in the past: Write in a journal just to keep track of all the details that will fade from our minds but not from the page. Her descriptive details of the sea and its living world are precise and graphic, which creates word photos for the reader. Here’s one description of her view as they left Boot Key.
“As we made our last trip out through the lush mangrove-lined channel, Tom had the helm, his even more faded orange-and-yellow hat shielding his balding head from the blazing Florida sun. Manatees cavorted among the roots of the trees. Pelicans sat stolidly on the wooden pilings, waiting for the right moment to pluck lunch from the water. Raucous frigate birds were everywhere, flying madly about, hitting the water like torpedoes when they saw fish. Through it all, white ibis stood by like pieces of sculpture, regally taking it all in.”
Without her journal notes, these literary and literal images would be impossible to recall after more than a two-decade gap in the experience and the publishing of her memoir.
Equally descriptive is Mary’s examination of her marriage with Tom. The relationship rides the continual waves of emotion as two people learn to live and function in a cabin on a 37-foot sailboat. Mary touches on many truisms of marriages, and I felt myself nodding my head often while reading the book. Miscommunication (or no communication), different agendas, and competitive spirits collide during the sea trip. Sometimes it was painful to look so closely into the intimate portrait – only because it reminded me of my first marriage that ended in divorce after twenty-six years. So many hurts, disappointments, and infractions build up over the years until they stifle the partners or explode the relationship into tiny pieces of shrapnel.
The emotion I felt during the reading this book is a tribute to Gottschalk’s honesty, descriptive portraits of people and place, and an immaculate writing style.
I recommend Sailing Down the Moonbeam, even you don’t sail. I don’t sail, but I sure loved living vicariously for a short while. I asked the author about her record keeping, and she assured me she didn’t use everything in this book. Good news – perhaps she’ll write more on sailing the seas, both literally and figuratively.
Links:
www.Sailingdownthemoonbeam.com
I’m on a Virtual Book Tour this week with Trails in the Sand – Visit tour stops to enter giveaway
I’m on “tour” April 22-29 to celebrate the forty-third anniversary of Earth Day and to celebrate the publication of Trails in the Sand. At each stop, you’ll be able to enter a raffle for an exciting giveaway at the end of the tour. I’m giving away a package of autographed copies of both Live from the Road and Trails in the Sand, along with a Route 66 baseball cap, a Trails in the Sand magnet, all wrapped in a “green” grocery bag donated by fellow blogger Betsy Wild at What’s Green with Betsy. The bags were designed by Where Designs.
The Tour Schedule for April 26 – Check out these blogs today and enter to win the tour giveaway.
April 26
A Page Away features my guest post “Saving Sea Turtles One Nest at a Time” about my job on the team to rescue sea turtle nests during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The creator of this blog says “adventure and wonder are Only A Page Away!” She dedicates her blog to sharing thoughts and views of books.
BestsellerBound Recommends features an interview with me using “M” words to describe myself. Maria Savva and Darcia Helle created this blog to showcase Indie Authors and to provide a place for Indies to gather.
April 25, 2013
Enter to Win During Book Tour
I’m on a Virtual Book Tour this week with Trails in the Sand – Visit tour stops to enter giveaway
I’m on “tour” April 22-29 to celebrate the forty-third anniversary of Earth Day and to celebrate the publication of Trails in the Sand. At each stop, you’ll be able to enter a raffle for an exciting giveaway at the end of the tour. I’m giving away a package of autographed copies of both Live from the Road and Trails in the Sand, along with a Route 66 baseball cap, a Trails in the Sand magnet, all wrapped in a “green” grocery bag donated by fellow blogger Betsy Wild at What’s Green with Betsy. The bags were designed by Where Designs.
The Tour Schedule for April 25 – Check out this blog today and enter to win the tour giveaway.
April 25
I Read Indie blog features my guest post “Why I love sea turtles” about my first interaction with the ancient creatures and how they became a central part of the plot in Trails in the Sand. I Read Indie blog reviews and features Indie Authors.
Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers features Trails in the Sand and my guest post “Subject Chooses the Writer.” Stop by Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers to “feed your need to read.” Gina’s love of books led her to create a site for her readers.
