Author: Lynn

My husband and I live in beautiful Nova Scotia, Canada, and now that we are empty nesting I again began pursuing my dream of writing for children. I am privileged to have met and/or corresponded with Canadian and US authors,; among those are internationally known Canadian author Budge Wilson who wrote many MG and other books, Laura Best, Darlene Foster; US author Drew Lamm (originally from Canada); US author/novelist Sue Harrison - all whose books I've reviewed on my blog, Amazon and other sites. It's my joy to be in contact with other writers and professionals of all stages of the process. Life brings change, and for me that meant the opportunity to pursue a decades old dream - to learn to paint. I now join other painters weekly and we paint and learn together. You can check out my paintings at https://www.instagram.com/lynn.a.davidson2019

Book Review: My Own Worst Enemy: how to stop holding yourself back – by Janet Davis

Book: My Own Worst Enemy: how to stop holding
yourself back
Author: Janet Davis
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Date: March 15, 2012
Genre: Christian living
Pages: 172
Price: $14.99; less for e-book
My rating: An inspiring, encouraging read, especially for women who self-sabotage and want to break that cycle.

I received an ARC (advanced reading copy) through LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review.

First I must say that even though I stated the genre as “Christian living”, this book can be helpful to anyone seeking a way to break free of the nagging voice in her head …

“Just who do you think you are?”

Have you ever heard that in your own thinking? Have you held back because of what others will say or what they would think of you being so bold as to share your thoughts or talents? Why, you could look proud or cause someone to be jealous! Pish tosh! (By the way, pish tosh means rubbish, bunk, a ridiculous proposition.)

In her book, Janet Davis addresses the many ways women sabotage themselves and hold themselves back from being all they are made to be. To quote: “Women often find that the biggest obstacle to being all they were created to be is themselves. Though they long to succeed, they can’t silence the voice inside whispering, “Just who do you think you are?”

In three sections and thirteen chapters, the author addresses various situations while using her own life as an example along with those of other women. She also parallels those stories with women in the Bible. (I did question a few of her suggestions regarding Biblical situations, but that did not overshadow the overall ministry to women through this book.)

Section One Chapters are: The Unimagined Life; The Unworthy Life; The Unlived Life

Section Two Chapters are: Identity: Pretense vs Presence; Creativity: Conformity vs Uniqueness; Shining: Recoiling vs. Radiance

Section Three Chapters are: Choosing Vulnerability; Choosing to Say No; Choosing to Tell Your Story; Choosing to Re-Create in the Midst of Loss; Choosing to Persevere in the Midst of Injustice; Choosing to Grow Up; Choosing to Say Yes to God

At the beginning of each chapter, Janet poses something to consider, then at the end she revisits that thought and adds a list of questions for the reader to answer. Those questions can go as deep as you allow them to, depending on how much time you want to take, how serious you are about dealing with the problem, and how much you are willing to face.

My Own Worst Enemy: how to stop holding yourself back is a great read-alone book, but it also can be used in a small group of women who get together to work through the questions and help one another address the problem of self-sabotage.

If you have not been aware of how adept woman are at undermining themselves, you may be surprised as to how subtle is that inner voice. My Own Worst Enemy – by Janet Davis – may be just the book you didn’t know you needed.

You can find My Own Worst Enemy: how to stop holding yourself back listed on my BUY THE BOOK! page.

Thanks for reading … and, Creative Musings! 🙂

More Writers’ helps added

Just a quick post to say that I have added more great helps for writers on my Writers’ Helps page. There are so many useful things out there but these ones stand out to me.

I will add more later, but check these ones out and see what you think. Hopefully, something will inspire you or help you to create with more confidence.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Root canals and the misbehaving Muse

Monday was an interesting day, not at all what I had anticipated.

As the day got closer I became more anxious. My root canal was scheduled for the morning at 11:30. To say I was nervous would be a slight exaggeration. I tried to be calm; I took a 400 mg Advil suggested for the jaw pain I get during dental appointments; I prayed to be calm.

Soon I remembered the herbal remedy I occasionally used years ago when I was singing in a group. My jangled nerves would mess me up so my voice teacher recommended Rescue Remedy, which worked amazingly well. A quick dash to the health food store and I had a new little 10 ml bottle of stress relief. A few drops on my tongue, and before I arrived at the dental office I felt much more relaxed.

I had been experiencing tooth pain for a few weeks, but tolerated the discomfort since I had a regularly scheduled dental appointment anyway. When the appointment came around in late March, it was determined a root canal may be needed. Oh dread! My dentist sent me on to the specialist who does only root canals, and who – I was told – is very good, won’t do anything not required, and is gentle and careful. Okay, that sounded acceptable, so I went along to him a week later. After x-rays and checking the problem, he set up an appointment for me to have a root canal three weeks later, April 23. Also, because of my likely jaw pain he could divide the procedure into two parts if it were to become too difficult for me during the usual 1.5 hours to completion.

I arrived for the procedure but this time he found no reason to do the root canal! He said somehow everything had settled down and he suggested we wait to see if the problem flares up again. Imagine that!

I m a g i n e that.

I’m thanking the Lord for this turn of events. If I do end up having to go through the procedure later, the time will be right.

Now, you may be asking .. what does all this have to do with writing? Nothing. (Doesn’t everyone enjoy stories about root canals, especially the non-occurring ones?) Nothing, unless I can think up an allegory to fit. hmmm

Nope. Nothing.

Unless you think that trying to write when nothing is forming in your mind is like a toothache nagging at you and nagging at you. You need a rescue. You need to go down deep and find the words, the source of the irritation. You need to tunnel into those deeply hidden, elusive thoughts and permit your true ‘writerly’ genius to excel. You need … a mental root canal!

Too over-the-top? Sorry. Let me try that again.

How about this? When–

something hurts, write;
anger surges, write;
lifted up by joy, write;
events sadden, write;
there seems to be nothing at all … write.

WRITE to discover what is concealed there. Write more and continue to write.

Gee, I wish I’d said that … oh, I did! Now to take my own advice – advice given to me, and which I am now passing on to you.

JUST WRITE!

What is your best advice for that absence of creativity, or for the seemingly wordless Muse that won’t quit nagging?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

PS: The original version of this post (with a different message) can be found on my Scarlet Thread Musings blog on blogspot. http://novascotiaflavour.blogspot.ca/

New Page: Writers’ Helps

As promised, I have created a new page here on my blog. Writers’ Helps has a list of links that will be of help to writers and anyone needing just the right word, a rhyming word, a translation, and more. I will be adding to this list as I find sites I especially like.

You can find the new page from the list at the top of the front page, and also in the pages category down the left side of this page.

If you have any great links that you would like to share, please leave a comment for me and I will check it out to perhaps add to my list of writers’ helps.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Book Review: Still Alice – by Lisa Genova

Book: Still Alice

Author: Lisa Genova

Publisher: Gallery Books

Date: January 6, 2009

Genre: fiction novel; mental health

Pages: 337; paperback

Price: $15.00 US; also available from Simon & Schuster Audio & as an e-Book

My Rating: A ‘must-read’ for anyone dealing with Alzheimer’s in any way, or wanting to know more about what it’s like – from the inside of it.

This is a book I discovered at a meeting of our local Alzheimer’s Support Group. I was urged to read it, so months later – when I felt I was ready – I borrowed it. [As an aside: We meet once a month, and I highly recommend that you join a support group if you are a caregiver of anyone with dementia.]

At first I put off reading this book. I lent it to my sister to read, she said, “Read it!” I lent it to one of our respite workers, he said, “Read it!” Finally, yesterday .. I read it.

This book will open your eyes to, and broaden your understanding of, some of the inner workings of Alzheimer’s disease and what it is like to be its victim. Even though this is a work of fiction, the author did extensive research and study to get it right. It is so very believable. To me, it felt as if I were reading the memoir of an actual person, I felt the frustration and pain of her family, and I laughed out loud at one incident which was both funny because of what happened and sad because of why it happened, and in another place I had tears in my eyes because of the truth of it.

This is a painful and terrifying disease. Even as I write this review I feel the emotion of it. Alzheimer’s steals its victim away, a little at a time. Lisa Genova so aptly described the disease through her characters and helped me better understand the cruel reality of what I (and my sister) deal with every day in some capacity.

Lisa’s main character, Alice, is a very intelligent, highly regarded and respected professor of cognitive psychology at Harvard University. She and her husband (also a Harvard professor) had brought up their three children and now, at only fifty years of age, Alice knows something is seriously wrong with her memory. She puts off telling anyone and sets out on her own, at first, to find out what is going on. What she learns changes her whole world, and that of her family.

The author draws the reader into the lives of Alice and her family in a very smooth and captivating way. I wanted to know, I needed to know, and Lisa does not disappoint as she covers two years in Alice’s life.

At the end of the book, there is a section of Discussion Questions for a group, or for personal study of the novel. There is also an interview conversation with Lisa Genova.

Lisa Genova, holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Harvard University and Still Alice is her first novel.

Now, to you I say, READ IT!

You can find Still Alice listed on my BUY THE BOOK! page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Writers’ Helps – I made a list

Have you ever been writing along and then find yourself stuck for a word?

Ever need to be sure of a spelling, or a meaning, or a word that would say the same thing – only better?

Do you write poetry or occasionally really want a rhyming word?

Do you just simply want some motivation to write, or a little diversion?

I have found a few helpful sites that I thought may be of benefit to you, too. As well as listing them in this post, I also am going to create a new page here on my blog just for writers’ helps. As I find more I will add them to that page.

Check these out and let me know what you think.

Needing just the right word, or the correct meaning:

Needing words that rhyme:

Needing motivation:

Writing prompts

Needing the exact number of words:

Translators & Quotes to spice things up:

Then when you need shorter links to post:

Are there any others that you just don’t want to be without? Please tell me about them – with link – so that I can possibly add them to my list. Thanks!

Thanks for reading, and .. Creative Musings! 🙂

Is it enough to be crazy in your writing?

Today I’ve been busy taking care of the normal things at Dad’s; I also have to pull together a manuscript for 12×12 in 2012 before this month ends – in only four more days! Yikes! Hopefully I can spend time on that this afternoon while Dad is resting, but first ..

when I saw the following quote on Twitter I knew it would be a great topic for today. My other blog ideas will have to wait awhile.

“Being crazy isn’t enough.” – Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss was famous for his much-loved zany stories and characters. They may have been written with a message, but what was important was that they were fun, funny, and memorable. But why were – and are – they so popular? Besides the fact that they are a delight to read, could it be because they were different, daring, and really stood out for their uniqueness? At the time they first appeared in the publishing world, illustrators were mostly creating commonplace characters, what was expected, created with care to fit the norm. But not Dr. Seuss. He did not fit the mold, neither as an author nor as an illustrator, and he didn’t want to – even though he was warned to not veer away from what was being accepted then because doing so could only mean failure.

These days you hear two different minds on the topic of what to write. Some say to be sure to offer what publishers are looking for or risk your hard work being tossed aside. Others say to submit the different things, things that are not the trend, because how else is the trend going to change? How is your work going to be noticed if you don’t take that chance? I have even read that some publishers are waiting for the outstanding off-the-trend work, something new to get excited about in the piles of the usual submissions.

How do you feel about that?

Look at a few more of Dr. Seuss’ quotes that reveal his philosophy:

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope.”

“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!”

“In my world, everyone’s a pony and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies!”

Now, does that last one sound like a normal thinking mind that sticks with the every-day-the-same routine that produces the every-story-must-fit-the-usual? I think not! 🙂