Words of inspiration from author Cheryl Kaye Tardif via The Happiness Recipe

Listen to Cheryl's latest interview at The Happiness Recipe:

Then check out the recipe she talks about--Strawberry Dumplings--at http://www.happinessrecipe.net/happiness-recipe-whats-great-encouragement/

Facing the Fear and Trying Harder

I love inspirational quotes and even keep a journal for those that strike a chord with me. One of my favorites isn’t a saying but a statement written by Gregg Levoy. I found it in a writing magazine which quotes from Levoy’s book, The Business Of Writing. The statement says:

“Rejection is a writer’s best friend. If you are not failing regularly, you are living so far below your potential that you’re failing anyway”.

For me, this single sentence eliminated much of the fear of failing that used—and still sometimes does—keep me from submitting work, especially to popular magazines and contests. Levoy’s remark made me realize that trying is so important that I decided to keep a detailed record of everything I was submitting. (I used to keep track of only publishing acceptances). To date, I’ve submitted work over 1,200 times in the past thirty years, and have even managed to win a few writing competitions, albeit little local ones.

So why haven’t I produced and submitted any new stories lately? The answer is partly because I’ve been so involved in novel writing, but I think part of me still doesn’t want to face the many rejections I’ll likely receive before my loved story finds a home. Rejection is frustrating and sometimes demoralizing, but then so is not trying. I really do need to get to work and start submitting again. Resting on past glories just isn’t enough.

Fatal Encryption is available through amazon.com at http://tinyurl.com/ddzsxl and Taxed to Death can be found at http://tinyurl.com/czsy5n

Where Do Ideas and Inspiration Come From?

As I wrote on Twitter the other day, if I had a penny for every time someone asked me where my ideas came from, I’d have $5.76 by now, which is about the average weekly income for most Canadian fiction writers.

In truth, the answer to this question is not always quick or easy to identify. Sure, there’s the standard source: newspapers, TV news, conversations, family issues, day job incidents, overheard conversations, or dreams. But really, ideas come from all sorts of places and often when you least expect it. Take the day I was at a wading pool in a park with my daughter who was then three. I was watching the kids splash around when a baby who couldn’t have been more than fourteen months old, waddled into the pool alone, fell forward and began to struggle. His caregiver (possibly his mom) was busy talking to a friend at the time. I stood, other adults stood and suddenly the caregiver rushed into the pool and rescued him. My heartbeat didn’t slow for quite a while. This is where stories come from, although they needn’t be this dramatic.

One night, many years ago, I was with a boyfriend in downtown Vancouver. We were waiting in line for the movie theatre to open. I was watching traffic and pedestrians until my gaze drifted up and I saw an enormous white owl perched on the corner of a building. He was magnificent against the black sky. All these years later, I haven’t forgotten that moment, so I think it’s still waiting to appear in a story somewhere.

If you’re looking for inspiration, there are countless things to try. For me, much of them involve relaxing the mind: walking in quiet areas, washing dishes in warm, soapy water, or relaxing in a hot tub

So, I’ll toss in my penny and ask, where do you find your inspiration? Or maybe the more important question is, what do you do with it once you’ve found it?

Fatal Encryption is available through amazon.com at http://tinyurl.com/ddzsxl and Taxed to Death can be found at http://tinyurl.com/czsy5n

Inspiration for Promotion and Writing

Another week and another round of promotion, but it's been fun and productive. Library orders are starting to come in and I was featured on Dan Janal's Cool Book of the Day site.

On the bulletin board behind my computer, I keep a list of wonderful sayings and bits of wisdom that I've collected from ByLine Magazine over the years (I'm still reading back issues to catch up). The sayings are directed at writers struggling with their prose and poetry, or with the submission process. But as I re-read some of them today, I realized they also apply to the writer who's working hard to promote his/her book. Here are some of them:

"Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man. But sooner or later the one who wins is the one who thinks he can."

"Believe in yourself and keeping trying."

"Rejection is a writer's best friend. 'If you are not failing regularly,' Gregg Levoy observes in The Business of Writing,' you are living so far below your potential that you're failing anyway."

"Tenacity is essential to success in writing. While successs as a writer is a great achievement, considerable merit attaches to the effort itself. As in athletics, training is the struggle; victory is merely the affirmation of that struggle."

Food for thought, eh?

To read excerpts of Fatal Encryption visit:

http://www.debrapurdykong.com

My interview at Dan Janal's site is at http://www.coolbookoftheday.com/fatal-encryption

Welcome to Kelly, and Five More Great Quotes

First of all, welcome to Kelly. I tried to leave a comment, but I'm not exactly a technical wizard. I wanted to say that I relate to much of what you said, except for the being young part. For me, the important about writing is to do what you believe is right for you. I've followed my instinct many times and it's always served me well.

Here's some more quotes I'd like to share. May one of them strike a chord with you.

"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self." -- Cyril Connolly

"For your born writer, nothing is so healing as the realization that he has come upon the right word." -- Catherine Drinker Bowen

"The reason one writes isn't the fact he wants to say something. He writes because he has something to say." -- F. Scott Fitzgerald

"Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer." -- Barbara Kingsolver.

"Every word is a victory against death." -- Michel Butor

www.debrapurdykong.com
Fatal Encryption available at amazon.com