Kory M. Shrum's Blog, page 10
April 22, 2016
#Read a #poem #Friday #Earthday
Rock Me, Mercy
Related Poem Content DetailsBY YUSEF KOMUNYAKAAThe river stones are listeningbecause we have something to say.The trees lean closer today.The singing in the electrical woodshas gone dumb. It looks like rainbecause it is too warm to snow.Guardian angels, wherever you're hiding,we know you can't be everywhere at once.Have you corralled all the pretty wildhorses? The memory of ants asleepin daylilies, roses, holly, & larkspur.The magpies gaze at us, stillwaiting. River stones are listening.But all we can say now is,Mercy, please, rock me.
Learn more about this poem and poet here.
Related Poem Content DetailsBY YUSEF KOMUNYAKAAThe river stones are listeningbecause we have something to say.The trees lean closer today.The singing in the electrical woodshas gone dumb. It looks like rainbecause it is too warm to snow.Guardian angels, wherever you're hiding,we know you can't be everywhere at once.Have you corralled all the pretty wildhorses? The memory of ants asleepin daylilies, roses, holly, & larkspur.The magpies gaze at us, stillwaiting. River stones are listening.But all we can say now is,Mercy, please, rock me.
Learn more about this poem and poet here.
April 15, 2016
#Read a #poem Friday
Consolation by Wislawa Szymborska
as translated by CLARE CAVANAGH AND STANISŁAW BARAŃCZAK (visit links for translators' notes)
Darwin.They say he read novels to relax,But only certain kinds:nothing that ended unhappily.If anything like that turned up,enraged, he flung the book into the fire.
True or not,I’m ready to believe it.
Scanning in his mind so many times and places,he’d had enough of dying species,the triumphs of the strong over the weak,the endless struggles to survive,all doomed sooner or later.He’d earned the right to happy endings,at least in fictionwith its diminutions.
Hence the indispensablesilver lining,the lovers reunited, the families reconciled,the doubts dispelled, fidelity rewarded,fortunes regained, treasures uncovered,stiff-necked neighbors mending their ways,good names restored, greed daunted,old maids married off to worthy parsons,troublemakers banished to other hemispheres,forgers of documents tossed down the stairs, seducers scurrying to the altar,orphans sheltered, widows comforted,pride humbled, wounds healed over,prodigal sons summoned home,cups of sorrow thrown into the ocean, hankies drenched with tears of reconciliation,general merriment and celebration,and the dog Fido,gone astray in the first chapter,turns up barking gladlyin the last.
as translated by CLARE CAVANAGH AND STANISŁAW BARAŃCZAK (visit links for translators' notes)
Darwin.They say he read novels to relax,But only certain kinds:nothing that ended unhappily.If anything like that turned up,enraged, he flung the book into the fire.
True or not,I’m ready to believe it.
Scanning in his mind so many times and places,he’d had enough of dying species,the triumphs of the strong over the weak,the endless struggles to survive,all doomed sooner or later.He’d earned the right to happy endings,at least in fictionwith its diminutions.
Hence the indispensablesilver lining,the lovers reunited, the families reconciled,the doubts dispelled, fidelity rewarded,fortunes regained, treasures uncovered,stiff-necked neighbors mending their ways,good names restored, greed daunted,old maids married off to worthy parsons,troublemakers banished to other hemispheres,forgers of documents tossed down the stairs, seducers scurrying to the altar,orphans sheltered, widows comforted,pride humbled, wounds healed over,prodigal sons summoned home,cups of sorrow thrown into the ocean, hankies drenched with tears of reconciliation,general merriment and celebration,and the dog Fido,gone astray in the first chapter,turns up barking gladlyin the last.
April 13, 2016
Congratulations audiobook winners!
Congratulations to the winners of my audiobook giveaway! These lucky people won not one but THREE audiobooks:
Christopher B.
Shaya C.
Brittany H.
Mai T.
Mike W.
Lisa M.
Kaie H.
Thank you to everyone who played! If you didn't win, don't worry. Because I have a new book coming out in a couple of weeks (May 2!), there will be plenty of chances to win prizes this month, starting with a Facebook event on April 24th.
If Amazon giftcards and free books sound like your thing, you can join the party here.
If you want a direct link to the three-book audiobook, click here.
April 11, 2016
#Mondayblogs: Facebook #ARC Party
Author Angela Roquet and I both have book babies coming the first week of May. So we decided to team up and celebrate the release--double the fun!
In addition to free ARCs (advanced reader ecopies) for 22 lucky peeps, we are giving away two $25 Amazon giftcards and an assortment of swag.
So if you're free Sunday the 24th, for any or all of the party, we would love the chance to hang out with you. So stop by and say hi! :)
You can join the event here.
April 8, 2016
#Read a #poem #Friday
April MidnightBY ARTHUR SYMONS
Side by side through the streets at midnight,Roaming together,Through the tumultuous night of London,In the miraculous April weather. Roaming together under the gaslight,Day’s work over,How the Spring calls to us, here in the city,Calls to the heart from the heart of a lover! Cool to the wind blows, fresh in our faces,Cleansing, entrancing,After the heat and the fumes and the footlights,Where you dance and I watch your dancing. Good it is to be here together,Good to be roaming,Even in London, even at midnight,Lover-like in a lover’s gloaming. You the dancer and I the dreamer,Children together,Wandering lost in the night of London,In the miraculous April weather.
Side by side through the streets at midnight,Roaming together,Through the tumultuous night of London,In the miraculous April weather. Roaming together under the gaslight,Day’s work over,How the Spring calls to us, here in the city,Calls to the heart from the heart of a lover! Cool to the wind blows, fresh in our faces,Cleansing, entrancing,After the heat and the fumes and the footlights,Where you dance and I watch your dancing. Good it is to be here together,Good to be roaming,Even in London, even at midnight,Lover-like in a lover’s gloaming. You the dancer and I the dreamer,Children together,Wandering lost in the night of London,In the miraculous April weather.
April 7, 2016
Last Call! #Giveaway #amreading
It's still happening! The giveaway for my boxset audiobook (as well as some ebooks) ends this weekend.
The Dying for a Living boxset is now available as an audible audiobook. Audible users can now get 3 audiobooks for one credit. And if you aren't an audible user and you don't want to be, good news! I'm going to give away several copies of the audiobook and you don't have to have an audible account to listen to it :)
For your chance to win free audiobooks and ebooks, interact with the rafflecopter below. And as always, thanks for playing! :)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The Dying for a Living boxset is now available as an audible audiobook. Audible users can now get 3 audiobooks for one credit. And if you aren't an audible user and you don't want to be, good news! I'm going to give away several copies of the audiobook and you don't have to have an audible account to listen to it :)
For your chance to win free audiobooks and ebooks, interact with the rafflecopter below. And as always, thanks for playing! :)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
April 6, 2016
#Book #Review: Bird by Bird -Anne Lamott
4 out of 5 stars
Good for: Writers and people who teach writing. It had a lot of sage advice, was very funny, and the chapter topics would work well for teachers who want to address certain common writing topics and techniques.
Not good for: People offended by inappropriate humor...enough said
Some gems:
Write the same time every day.
A writer is...equal parts hideous conceit and low self-esteem.
At times when you’re working, you’ll sit there feeling hung over and bored, you may or may not be able to pull yourself up out of it that day. But it is a fantasy to think that successful writers have never had these bored, defeated hours, these hours of deep insecurity when one feels as small and as jumpy as a water bug.
Almost everything you think publication will do for you is a fantasy, a hologram—
In writing and in life… “Driving a car at night, you can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” (E.L. Doctorow)
Writing can be a pretty desperate endeavor, because it is about some of our deepest needs: our need to be visible, to be heard, our need to make sense of our lives, to wake up and grow and belong. It is no wonder if we sometimes tend to take ourselves perhaps a bit too seriously. Kory adds: and why we find the task goddamn exhausting.
Good for: Writers and people who teach writing. It had a lot of sage advice, was very funny, and the chapter topics would work well for teachers who want to address certain common writing topics and techniques.
Not good for: People offended by inappropriate humor...enough said
Some gems:
Write the same time every day.
A writer is...equal parts hideous conceit and low self-esteem.
At times when you’re working, you’ll sit there feeling hung over and bored, you may or may not be able to pull yourself up out of it that day. But it is a fantasy to think that successful writers have never had these bored, defeated hours, these hours of deep insecurity when one feels as small and as jumpy as a water bug.
Almost everything you think publication will do for you is a fantasy, a hologram—
In writing and in life… “Driving a car at night, you can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” (E.L. Doctorow)
Writing can be a pretty desperate endeavor, because it is about some of our deepest needs: our need to be visible, to be heard, our need to make sense of our lives, to wake up and grow and belong. It is no wonder if we sometimes tend to take ourselves perhaps a bit too seriously. Kory adds: and why we find the task goddamn exhausting.
April 5, 2016
3 ways to Nurture Positive Views (of yourself) #bethechange
No one likes a Debby Downer.
But even those of us who work hard not to be a nagging, whining, pessimist around others, fail to be as upbeat and positive with ourselves. Sure I might sweeten my tone when asking my love to please clean up after herself—and yet when I speak to myself, I’m never as gentle or considerate. God, Kory! You still haven't finished this blog post? What a lazy *&%^# you are!
Often we are ruthless with ourselves. We make demands, fret, worry, etc. without offering any of the gentle kindness that we would readily give to another person.
Why is that?
Do we not love ourselves more than other people? Do we not care about our own feelings more? Or is it simply that we cannot expend the energy needed to be nice to ourselves…if you think this last one is the case, then I ask you how much energy do you think you use beating yourself up? You can do the math and see where I’m going here.
But how to nurture positive views of oneself? Here are three suggestions:
*Make a list of accomplishments.
It is hard to think you suck at everything if you have a list of all the things you were able to do and the context and difficulty of each task. And YES small accomplishments count too. Maybe you suffer from depression and getting up and brushing your teeth is a major accomplishment. Don’t demean that experience. Celebrate it.
*Accept praiseThis is something I tend to be very bad at. I’m getting better, but once upon a time if someone paid me a compliment of any kind, my reaction was always, “Oh no….<insert reason they must be mistaken>. Later this habit became “Thank you, but…” Here’s an example:
I loved your latest book, Kory! It was so exciting!
“Thank you, but it's far from perfect. There’s this chapter that’s just horrible because…” and I go on and on about my imperfections.
Now most people would think that I’m looking to have the person heap on more praise. But honestly, no matter what they said the belief that something actually sucked for X, Y, or Z would not change, no matter what they said to the contrary.
Nowadays I've managed to let most of this habit go and when I’m paid a compliment, I just say “Thank you!”
*Focus on the positive
Most situations are a mix of positive and negative. The problem is that most people obsess about the negative and disregard the positive. If I receive a book critique that is 99% praise with 1% suggested corrections, you better believe that I will have the 1% memorized by the end of the day but would be unable to tell you one thing my beta readers loved.
And this isn’t just a phenomenon that plagues writers. The majority of people (at least the ones I know) zoom in on the bad stuff and completely overlook the good. The next time something happens, try to change this habit. Look at the positive. Give yourself credit for what is good or what you did right.
Mr. Roger's said that when he would see horrifying things on television (like a bombing, for example), that his mother would say "look at all the helpers".
That's "focusing on the positive" in a nutshell. Even when a bomb goes off, see all the helpers. See how brave, compassionate, kind, and courageous people can be.
Including you.
But even those of us who work hard not to be a nagging, whining, pessimist around others, fail to be as upbeat and positive with ourselves. Sure I might sweeten my tone when asking my love to please clean up after herself—and yet when I speak to myself, I’m never as gentle or considerate. God, Kory! You still haven't finished this blog post? What a lazy *&%^# you are!
Often we are ruthless with ourselves. We make demands, fret, worry, etc. without offering any of the gentle kindness that we would readily give to another person.
Why is that?
Do we not love ourselves more than other people? Do we not care about our own feelings more? Or is it simply that we cannot expend the energy needed to be nice to ourselves…if you think this last one is the case, then I ask you how much energy do you think you use beating yourself up? You can do the math and see where I’m going here.
But how to nurture positive views of oneself? Here are three suggestions:
*Make a list of accomplishments.
It is hard to think you suck at everything if you have a list of all the things you were able to do and the context and difficulty of each task. And YES small accomplishments count too. Maybe you suffer from depression and getting up and brushing your teeth is a major accomplishment. Don’t demean that experience. Celebrate it.
*Accept praiseThis is something I tend to be very bad at. I’m getting better, but once upon a time if someone paid me a compliment of any kind, my reaction was always, “Oh no….<insert reason they must be mistaken>. Later this habit became “Thank you, but…” Here’s an example:
I loved your latest book, Kory! It was so exciting!
“Thank you, but it's far from perfect. There’s this chapter that’s just horrible because…” and I go on and on about my imperfections.
Now most people would think that I’m looking to have the person heap on more praise. But honestly, no matter what they said the belief that something actually sucked for X, Y, or Z would not change, no matter what they said to the contrary.
Nowadays I've managed to let most of this habit go and when I’m paid a compliment, I just say “Thank you!”
*Focus on the positive
Most situations are a mix of positive and negative. The problem is that most people obsess about the negative and disregard the positive. If I receive a book critique that is 99% praise with 1% suggested corrections, you better believe that I will have the 1% memorized by the end of the day but would be unable to tell you one thing my beta readers loved.
And this isn’t just a phenomenon that plagues writers. The majority of people (at least the ones I know) zoom in on the bad stuff and completely overlook the good. The next time something happens, try to change this habit. Look at the positive. Give yourself credit for what is good or what you did right.
Mr. Roger's said that when he would see horrifying things on television (like a bombing, for example), that his mother would say "look at all the helpers".
That's "focusing on the positive" in a nutshell. Even when a bomb goes off, see all the helpers. See how brave, compassionate, kind, and courageous people can be.
Including you.
April 4, 2016
#Mondayblogs: The #Power of Believing in Yourself
For April’s challenge, I chose to explore the power of belief. Many people might already agree that belief in something is essential to its power or success. After all, there are books and lectures and podcasts and so on about how to creatively visualize an object or circumstance into existence. If you want your life to change, envision a different one. If you want something good to happen “put it out there in the universe” as some would say.
If you want a dream to come true, you believe it will happen—this somehow increases the chances that it will.
But there is a particular type of belief that I am interested in: Belief in oneself.
This is often an overlooked or neglected aspect of the power of belief. It seems more acceptable to most that the world may change in our favor. That we can will circumstances or situations to change.
However, I argue that believing in oneself is more important. By believing you in yourself, you are acknowledging and accepting the power you have over your own life. You think: I want things to change and I believe I can change them. There’s a lot of power in approaching life this way because in addition to believing, you accept responsibility of the situation.
But does one simply wake and say: “I believe in myself! I can do anything!”
There are opposing forces to believing in oneself, of course.
*Negative self-talk
*residual bad experiences (from the past)
*low self-esteem/confidence
I’ll explore each in this week’s posts. And I've made a few resolutions that will help me explore this type of power too:
*Nurture positive views
*Eliminate negative self-talk
*Appreciate past accomplishments
*Do something hard
*Set goals and meet them
So here we go!
Have a great week everybody J
Kory
If you want a dream to come true, you believe it will happen—this somehow increases the chances that it will.
But there is a particular type of belief that I am interested in: Belief in oneself.
This is often an overlooked or neglected aspect of the power of belief. It seems more acceptable to most that the world may change in our favor. That we can will circumstances or situations to change.
However, I argue that believing in oneself is more important. By believing you in yourself, you are acknowledging and accepting the power you have over your own life. You think: I want things to change and I believe I can change them. There’s a lot of power in approaching life this way because in addition to believing, you accept responsibility of the situation.
But does one simply wake and say: “I believe in myself! I can do anything!”
There are opposing forces to believing in oneself, of course.
*Negative self-talk
*residual bad experiences (from the past)
*low self-esteem/confidence
I’ll explore each in this week’s posts. And I've made a few resolutions that will help me explore this type of power too:
*Nurture positive views
*Eliminate negative self-talk
*Appreciate past accomplishments
*Do something hard
*Set goals and meet them
So here we go!
Have a great week everybody J
Kory
April 1, 2016
#Read a #poem Friday: blessing the boats
blessing the boatsBY LUCILLE CLIFTON
(at St. Mary's)may the tidethat is entering even nowthe lip of our understandingcarry you outbeyond the face of fearmay you kissthe wind then turn from itcertain that it willlove your back may youopen your eyes to waterwater waving foreverand may you in your innocencesail through this to thatLucille Clifton, "blessing the boats" from Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000. Copyright © 2000 by Lucille Clifton.
(at St. Mary's)may the tidethat is entering even nowthe lip of our understandingcarry you outbeyond the face of fearmay you kissthe wind then turn from itcertain that it willlove your back may youopen your eyes to waterwater waving foreverand may you in your innocencesail through this to thatLucille Clifton, "blessing the boats" from Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000. Copyright © 2000 by Lucille Clifton.
