Shiloh Walker's Blog, page 129
December 19, 2011
A sharp right turn…or left. Whichever
I've got an idea that I want to do.
I need to talk to my editor about it.
But it goes something like this.
As in… a sharp turn away from what I'm doing now.
I think it's necessary. But I need to talk it over and see what she thinks.
December 18, 2011
This year…I shall do this
I usually buy ducks. Or goats. And I may still do that.
I like this kinda gift, because it's not just a few bucks that will buy one meal-this keeps giving and can also provide a source of income to a family. (image from world vision). You can get things like 3 ducks for $18, for which provides eggs to a family-they get much needed protein, and they can also sell the eggs.
But I heard about a different sort of giving-microloans. $25 to Kiva can help a group like this…(image from Kiva)
A group of people lend them money. They use to to establish their business, (there's a variety…establish or improve a business, build a home, etc)…something they'd never be able to do without people like you, me, John Brown in the coffee shop, lending them the money. Over time, they pay it back…you can start as small as $25. I can then turn around and lend it to fund a salon in Mexico, or a clothing type business in Africa, help a family here in America buy a home…so many things. And it's just $25. It keeps giving. Really cool.
Easy ways to give a little bit. And…both of these have fab ratings on Charity Navigator. I always vet the places I give to…nothing worse than trying to help out and realizing that too much of the money is going to administrative costs or worse…a failing or corrupt charity.
December 17, 2011
Saturday Snippets
It's Snippet time…
Saturday snippets…winter!
Staring at it, his heart racing, he wondered. Was this the end of it, then?
Had they found her?
He looked up, saw Dez staring at him.
"She's in there," Dez said quietly. A heavy sigh shuddered out of her and he realized, although the sky was beating down on them and the frost covering the ground had started to melt, it was colder now than it had been. "I feel her."
"Is she . . ."
Other snippet-y authors…
Lauren Dane
Rhian Cahill
Eliza Gayle
Selena Blake
Anne Rainey
Jody Wallace
Lissa Matthews
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Taige Crenshaw
Alison Kent
Delilah Devlin
HelenKay Dimon
Shelli Stevens
Shiloh Walker
TJ Michaels
December 16, 2011
The Friday 56…mystery book…
O.o I got to read this last week. It was awesome
The plants were finally coming back – kudzu draped a crumbling wall here and there and bright yellow dandelions and crimson bloody dandies, the dandelion's magic-altered cousins, poked out between the fallen bricks.
About the Friday 56
Grab the book nearest you. Right now
Turn to page 56.
Find the fifth sentence.
Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
Post a link along with your post back to this blog.
Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.
December 14, 2011
Writer Wednesday… Myla Jackson…
Today's writer wednesday is …Myla Jackson
What's the one thing that remains unchanged during your writing process, from one book to another? (ie: Intensive plotting? Music?)
A: Focus. I have to focus on one project at a time and push my way through.
What's the one piece of advice you'd give a new writer?
A: Keep your day job! Writing is not for the risk averse. It's a tough business with unpredictable income.
What's the one piece of advice you wish was wiped from the minds of writers everywhere?
A: That there's only one right way to write a book. Writing rules are guidelines you don't always have to follow.
What's the one book you think everybody, writer or not, should read?
A: The book of life. There is no one book for everyone to read. Live your life! Books can enrich and make life a better experience, but nothing beats getting out and exploring the possibilities yourself.
December 12, 2011
Giving back…
December isn't always the easiest month for a lot of people. My family is blessed. We've got a roof over our heads, we've got the money to buy our groceries, pay our bills…and my guy & I can buy presents for our family without hitting the credit cards (usually).
It wasn't always the case. There was a time when I'd been pretty sick-back when I was working as a nurse, had some health crap, had to take some time of from work, and we were just broke. I didn't have the money to buy groceries and if it wasn't for some friends at church…well. I know what it's like to be broke. I know what it's like to wonder how you're going to put food on the table. I've been there.
I try to do what I can to give back throughout the year, and do a little more during the Christmas season. We've got local things where you can buy a family a meal for Christmas- I do that, and we usually sponsor a child from the Salvation Army Angel Tree. I send books to the soldiers through my friend who helps out with the SOS groups.
I firmly believe that when you give…it comes back to you. Although that's not why you should give…the world is much smaller than we realize sometimes and when we help somebody, whether it's a stranger or a friend, we're doing something that helps in a very deep way…there's that saying, Nobody can help everybody, but everybody can help somebody…
Whether it's a monetary sort of help, a donation of time…every time I've given back, every time our family gives, we get blessed.
I've had somebody say (paraphrasing), "It's just too big a job. There's too much suffering and you can't change the whole world."
But that's bull. We can change the world. We start small, and we help one person. Because when we help one person, we've changed that person's world. When 100 people help 100 people…the world has changed for 100 people. When 1000 help 1000…when 1 million help 1 million…that's how we can change the world. Maybe it's not world peace, maybe it's not the cure for cancer or AIDS. But if we take steps where we can to alleviate suffering, it's a start. Even in just small ways…a donation to a local food pantry, sponsoring a child at Christmas, volunteering your time to a local school or nursing home or sending letters to those serving over seas.
After all, the world would be a pretty miserable place if nobody tried to help anybody because it was 'too big a job'.
December 11, 2011
December 10, 2011
Saturday Snippets
It's Snippet time…
Saturday snippets…family. This one is a dysfunctional family, but hey…it's family.
But their family had a lot of bygone traits and skills.
Like his father's habit of keeping a piece on the side.
His mother's habit of ignoring it.
A functioning alcoholic, that's what Elsa Jones had been, floating through their grand house, sipping her cocktails and pretending to be the happy wife at all the social functions, just as a good mayor's wife should.
It all fell apart after Anna disappeared. Sweet, pretty little Anna—his baby sister, somebody who had made him laugh. Made them all laugh, even Mother at times. But then Anna had disappeared and everything changed.
His father tried, Taylor knew. The old man did his damnedest and Taylor, at least, had that. But Elsa . . . a couple of years after it happened, Elsa took one of her cocktails and made it special.
She never woke up.
Other snippet-y authors…
Lauren Dane
Rhian Cahill
Eliza Gayle
Selena Blake
Anne Rainey
Jody Wallace
Lissa Matthews
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Taige Crenshaw
Vivian Arend
Alison Kent
Delilah Devlin
HelenKay Dimon
Shelli Stevens
Leah Braemel
Louisa Edwards
TJ Michaels
December 9, 2011
The Friday 56
From The Reunited...which is what I'm working on now so it's technically the closest book.
There was death here.
He didn't know how long ago it had happened, but people had died here and it stained the air, a vicious black stain that would never fully fade.
It was fucking cold, too. The lingering echo of those trapped here, he knew. Which was why the place was so heavily imprinted on Dez's brain, why he'd followed the trail to it to easily. Probably all but infested with ghosts.
About the Friday 56
Grab the book nearest you. Right now
Turn to page 56.
Find the fifth sentence.
Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
Post a link along with your post back to this blog.
Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.
December 8, 2011
Powerful…
I saw a tweet about this guy when I was out of town last week and I saved it. I just read it again and I get the same shivers now that I did when I first read it.
I was fighting so that you wouldn't have to deal with or die in another 9/11. I was fighting so that you and America would never have [to]know another war on our soil.
He was killed in a firefight recently. In a letter to his family, he said:
I died happy. Maybe not peacefully, but happy, and with purpose. That's all I could have ever asked for.
Image and info from the LA Times
