THE WINDS OF CHANGE ARE BLOWING...

 

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To all my current and future #DCSPeeps (DECIDE, COMMIT, SUCCEED), welcome to my new series in my continuing effort to inspire, amuse, and entertain you! Each Monday I will select a new word to analyze how it might apply to our writing lives and also give you a peek into my childhood growing up in the swamps of southern Louisiana, so kick back, put your feet up, and check out my story about TODAY'S WORD:


CHANGE

 
One sentence can CHANGE your life. 

Sometimes the CHANGE can be great and sometimes it can destroy a chapter in your life.

Sometimes all it takes is a seed of doubt to be planted to CHANGE how a person sees themselves. 

When I was in my twenties, I joined Weight Watchers for the first time. I weighed less then than I do now and followed the program until I was within ten pounds of hitting my goal weight when one sentence from someone I thought loved me changed my life for the next thirty years.

“You’ll never reach your goal.”

He was right. 

I didn’t.

I gave up on myself.

But sometimes with age come wisdom and I’ve been lucky enough to have CHANGED the way I see things. Not only in how I view the person I see in the mirror, but how I work now toward my writing goals. I have discovered I am much smarter than I give myself credit for, and much stronger in spirit than I appear.

I DO deserve a healthier life!

I AM strong enough to make the best decisions regarding my writing career!

I CAN CHANGE not only how I let food dictate my self-worth, but also how I share my skills as a story teller!

Most authors have insecure egos to begin with. We sometimes question our ability to weave a story and capture the imagination of our target audience. We sometimes even question our very sanity in choosing this life. But we can CHANGE all that.

We can CHANGE how we view our writing skills by investing in writing courses, books, seminars, and classes that will challenge us to improve our own writing.

We can CHANGE our chances of becoming published authors by working with a critique partner or joining a critique group and being open to the advice they might give us to help tighten our stories.

We can CHANGE our ability to find the right agent or publisher for our work by doing the proper research before we query. Making sure our pitches and query letters are as sharp as they can be to entice that career partner to take a chance on us.

What is it in YOUR life that you would like to CHANGE?  Don't be afraid to take that risk. A chance taken and failed at, is a far better goal than living the rest of your life regretting a chance you let slip through your fingers...

Have an awesome day today, my DCSPeeps, because you deserve it!

 

 

Children's book author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a 'ninja' writer of children’s picture books, middle grade chapter books and young adult novels by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books. She is also a book reviewer for Harper Collins, and a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators. Donna is a lover of dark chocolate, good stories, and an adoptive mom to 20-pound guard kitty in Knoxville, Tennesse

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EXCUSING MY WAY OUT OF WRITING...

To all my current and future #DCSPeeps (DECIDE, COMMIT, SUCCEED), welcome to my new series in my continuing effort to inspire, amuse, and entertain you! Each Monday I will select a new word to analyze how it might apply to our writing lives and also give you a peek into my childhood growing up in the swamps of southern Louisiana, so kick back, put your feet up, and check out my story about TODAY'S WORD:

EXCUSES


We all make excuses from time to time in our lives...good reasons to hit the snooze button, a little white lie to get out of a social engagement, maybe even stories to tell the boss why you were late for work.


Most of the time it's harmless in the grand scheme of things and not a line drawn in the sand where stepping over to the dark side would actually lead to permanent damage.


My EXCUSE aha moment came when I was about 9 years old.


If you've read any of my DCSPeeps posts, you will already know I came from a dirt poor family where my mother struggled daily to put food on the table. This left no ability to splurge on those little luxuries other kids seemed to have free access to...like everyday candy.


Besides the holidays when I was fairly sure the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus would see to my sweet tooth,  I was haunted by images of my classmates who seemed to tease me with their daily indulgence in confectionary delights while I could only watch and drool.


But one Saturday I had an opportunity to change all that. I was sent to the grocery store to purchase cigarettes for my mother when I saw it.


Row after row of candies. Hershey's Kisses rubbed elbows with Mars bars and Zeros nudged out M & M's as they all tried to get my attention. I stood there for a moment, wishing with all my 9 year old heart that, for once, I had a nickel so I could buy some candy of my very own. That is when an EXCUSE floated by to land on my shoulder.


"There's so much candy that if I only take one piece, the store won't really miss it."


That EXCUSE kept playing over and over in my mind until it became a reality. That one piece of candy ended up in my coat pocket and I walked around the aisles of that store wondering if I was brave enough to walk out the door with it.


I was lucky that day.


The mind is a wonderful thing and mine decided the candy I tried to take with no intention of buying was not worth the guilty conscience of knowing I had stolen something (and the beating I would get if my mother ever found out), so I returned the candy to the shelf and left the store.


My mother never found out and for that my behind is eternally grateful!


The life of a writer can be full of EXCUSES:


"My writing will never get published so why not quit?"


"It's so hard to find an agent to represent me!"


"I have to catch up on some emails so I'll work on my story later."


Those EXCUSES hang out with us all the time, pretending to know what's good for us and sometimes even convincing us to give up on our heart's desires.


I say why not turn those EXCUSES into PROMISES?


"One day my stories WILL get published so I'm not going to quit now!"


"If I do my research and keep submitting the best work I know how to create, one day I WILL find the right agent for me!"


"I won't let ANYTHING get in the way of my writing each and every day!"


I grew up a little that day in the grocery store, and hopefully I will continue to grow as a writer...forging straight ahead on my publishing path...with no EXCUSES to stop me!


How about you? What EXCUSES do YOU use to slow you down on your own publishing path?

Children's book author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a 'ninja' writer of children’s picture books, middle grade chapter books and young adult novels by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books. She is also a book reviewer for Harper Collins, and a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators. Donna is a lover of dark chocolate, good stories, and an adoptive mom to 20-pound guard kitty in Knoxville, Tennesse

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Author Email: www.donasdays@gmail.com

 



A STORM IS COMING...

 

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To all my current and future #DCSPeeps (DECIDE, COMMIT, SUCCEED), welcome to my new series in my continuing effort to inspire, amuse, and entertain you! Each Monday I will select a new word to analyze how it might apply to our writing lives and also give you a peek into my childhood growing up in the swamps of southern Louisiana, so kick back, put your feet up, and check out my story about TODAY'S WORD:

 

STORMY

 

When I was growing up, every first day of school would be at the beginning of hurricane season in southern Louisiana. And most years we could never actually GO to the first day of school because my hometown would be in the path of a hurricane.

 

STORMY weather can be a scary thing to a six year old. I can remember my mother filling up our bathtub with water just in case that would be all the six of us would have to drink or clean with for the next few days. 

 

Hurricane lanterns would also be filled, with matches ready as most of the time we lost electricity as the STORM raged around us. The batteries in our small transistor radio would be changed out for new ones to make sure we would always have contact with the outside world.

 

There were even times when we had to evacuate and make a run for the high school. Cots would crowd the gymnasium floor and you could almost smell the fear radiating from strangers now huddled together like family...all waiting to see what destruction would come with the STORM beating on those glass panes.

 

I still remember one time my father lifting me onto his shoulders to look outside a tiny window as one hundred mile an hour winds tore shingles from a teacher's house across the street from the school and trashcans became airborne, flying like missles into cars parked on the road in front of us. 

 

Later when I was an adult living in Dallas, I lived through a tornado crossing over the top of my mobile home one night, but in my mind, nothing could compare to those childhood STORMS.

 

Choosing to become a writer is very much like choosing to be a STORM chaser. Whether it's the illusive story idea you try to catch or even the rarer publishing contract, STORMY elements surround your writing, raining on your parade of becoming an author...

 

Publishers rejecting your submissions.

 

Writer's block in the middle of a project.

 

 Agents refusing representation of your work.

We who live to write sit in the eye of the STORM every day and balance those stories calling to us. We hold them close and protect them until the time comes when the STORM passes and all we can see ahead of us is clear sailing on that path to publication...

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I hope you have a awesome day today because you deserve it!

Children's book author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a 'ninja' writer of children’s picture books, middle grade chapter books and young adult novels by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books. She is also a book reviewer for Harper Collins, and a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators. Donna is a lover of dark chocolate, good stories, and an adoptive mom to 20-pound guard kitty in Knoxville, Tennesse

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Author Email: www.donasdays@gmail.com

 

CHANGING THE CHANNEL...

To all my current and future #DCSPeeps (DECIDE, COMMIT, SUCCEED), welcome to my new series in my continuing effort to inspire, amuse, and entertain you! Each Monday I will select a new word to analyze how it might apply to our writing lives and also give you a peek into my childhood growing up in the swamps of southern Louisiana, so kick back, put your feet up, and check out my story about TODAY'S WORD:

CHANNELS 

In this day and age of endless technology, it's sometime hard to imagine a time without cell phones, cable TV, or hundreds of radio stations jamming the airwaves.

But when I was growing up in that small town in southern Louisiana, cell phones didn't exist, and the only TV we had was a small, black and white TV with rabbit ears antenna that got three CHANNELS.

That's right.

Three CHANNELS summed up my childhood life and if I didn't like what I saw on one station, all I had to do was change the CHANNEL.

Then in the early '70's my father brought something home I will never forget.

My first portable radio.

This was during a time before FM was even invented and I remember the first song I heard on that wonderful invention was Charlie Pride's "Kiss An Angel Good Morning." My mother was a die hard fan of the OLD style country music so the only singers I recognized were people like Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, and Dolly Parton.

Finally at around age 16, I discovered there was a whole other world out there...rock 'n roll...and all I had to do was change the CHANNEL on that old radio to find music more in tune with the person I was becoming.

Writing is kinda like those CHANNELS.

Years ago there were only a couple of ways to write and the same amount of ways to get published.

Authors wrote their stories, mailed hard copies to publishers...and waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

If they were lucky, their stories became published. If not so lucky, it was back to the drawing board.

Today, authors can become published through many venues. Some, like myself, travel the route of looking for an agent to help them accomplish the dream of sharing their stories with the world. Others have options submitting to large publishing houses, small independent publishers, and even a number of options to self-publish your stories.

Many CHANNELS to choose from.

With the right amount of research, any of these CHANNELS offer a way to become a published author.  

Which one do YOU use to get your stories out there? And more importantly, WHY chose that particular CHANNEL?

I hope you have an awesome day today because you deserve it!

 

Children's book author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a 'ninja' writer of children’s picture books, middle grade chapter books and young adult novels by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books. She is also a book reviewer for Harper Collins, and a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators. Donna is a lover of dark chocolate, good stories, and an adoptive mom to 20-pound guard kitty in Knoxville, Tennesse

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Author Email: www.donasdays@gmail.com

 

BROKEN IN THE MOST DELICIOUS WAY....

To all my current and future #DCSPeeps (DECIDE, COMMIT, SUCCEED), welcome to my new series in my continuing effort to inspire, amuse, and entertain you! Each Monday I will select a new word to analyze how it might apply to our writing lives and also give you a peek into my childhood growing up in the swamps of southern Louisiana. So kick back, put your feet up, and check out my story about TODAY'S WORD:

BROKEN

When my sister and I were growing up, we helped our mother with the holiday baking. My brother and oldest sister were both in the military.

That meant every year my mother would spend hours in the kitchen preparing a sweet, culinary care package to ship out to places throughout the country as my siblings waited to receive some homemade love in a little brown box.

Cut out sugar cookies covered in colorful royal icing, thumbprint cherry cookies, oatmeal cookies bursting with golden raisins, and snickerdoodles I would only see at Christmas time.

Everything had to pass the MOM test before it could go in the box.

You would think my stomach would have ached with the taste testings of so many sugary delights.

Nopie.

We actually weren’t allowed to EAT any of those cookies.

Not one.

They were for the ones in faraway places, while the burnt, BROKEN pieces were just as flavorful as the rest.

The next time you start to create perfect characters for your stories, my DCSPeeps, realize it's the BROKEN and flawed personalities that connect with your readers, not those demigods on Mt. Olympus. BROKEN people like...

The ditzy neighbor that's a little bit OCD.

The strong, leading man that tears up at sad movies.

The work driven female that can't seem to complete any home projects.

Take time for another look at your stories and see how you can BREAK those perfect characters into more realistic people. And don't worry whether a flawed main character will be welcomed by your reader. They may be BROKEN, but they're are ALL just as sweet!

I hope you have an awesome day today because you deserve it!

Children's book author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a 'ninja' writer of children’s picture books, middle grade chapter books and young adult novels by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books. She is also a book reviewer for Harper Collins, and a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators. Donna is a lover of dark chocolate, good stories, and an adoptive mom to 20-pound guard kitty in Knoxville, Tennesse

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Author Email: www.donasdays@gmail.com

 
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TIS THE SEASON TO BE SNEAKY...

To all my current and future #DCSPeeps (DECIDE, COMMIT, SUCCEED), welcome to my new series in my continuing effort to inspire, amuse, and entertain you! Each Monday I will select a new word to analyze how it might apply to our writing lives and also give you a peek into my childhood growing up in the swamps of southern Louisiana. So kick back, put your feet up, and check out my story about TODAY'S WORD:

 

SNEAKY

I grew up in a very small town to a very poor family with six mouths to feed. Things may have been very rough any other time of the year, but during the holidays my mother made sure there were plenty of surprises under the tree to be opened on Christmas morning.

Only thing is, it was never a surprise what was in those gifts so colorfully wrapped. You see, I’m the youngest of four siblings and my brother learned how to be SNEAKY at a very early age.

As the baby of the group, I was the lookout while my parents slept, and my brother would very carefully unwrap each gift and tell the recipient what they were going to get the next day! Then he would just as carefully rewrap the present and return it to its rightful place under the tree. For years this was a Christmas Eve ritual with us kids.

And my mother never found out.

I know this because she had a very strict moral code when it came to things like that and let’s just say our backsides would have been redder than a baboon’s if we would have been caught.

Sometimes you have to SNEAKY. Take this writing journey we are all on. We all began this journey for various reasons. You know the ones I mean…

“My kids love when I tell them stories.”

“I want to see my name in print.”

        “I've read several books and I can do better.”

        “There's something I want to share with the world.”

But there are times when negative self-talk and doubters all around you try to sabotage your writing efforts. And if you truly want to be a writer, you have to be SNEAKY to trick your mind into doing what’s best to stay on this publishing path…not what’s comfortable!

My own SNEAKY examples:

1) Make it a priority to write every day, no matter what!

2) Participate in writing groups, whether in person or online to connect with other writers.

3) Take a writing course...or two...or three...to continue to improve your writing skills.

4) Don't be afraid to put your writing out there and get others to critique your efforts. Seek out the wisdom of those who came before you and learn from them.

Writing for me is not a hobby; not something I can simply set aside when something better comes along. For me, there is NOTHING better than writing and I intend to SNEAK in writing every chance I get for the rest of my life.

How about YOU?

I hope you have an awesome day today, DCSPeeps, because you deserve it!

 

 

Children's book author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a 'ninja' writer of children’s picture books, middle grade chapter books and young adult novels by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books. She is also a book reviewer for Harper Collins, and a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators. Donna is a lover of dark chocolate, good stories, and an adoptive mom to 20-pound guard kitty in Knoxville, Tennesse

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Author Email: www.donasdays@gmail.com
Story Catcher Fan Club Emai: www.storycatcherfanclub@gmail.com