Sunday, September 28, 2014

Poem - My True Mom

Can you see me?
Do you hear me laugh?
Do you know I love to write?

I read your poem the other day,
Guess what?
For the first time in 3 years I didn't cry.

I'm trying to keep smiling,
I'm trying to keep writing,
Are you proud of me?

I've finished four stories,
I have dreams of you


I miss you my true Mom.
I hope I've made you proud.

It's been 3 years Mom.

Poem - I Remember You

I miss you
As the days and years pass

I miss you
As the pain of grief softens

I miss you
As new memories are made

I miss you
As I smile and laugh

I miss you
Today and everyday

I miss you
Always and forever in my heart

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Poem - A Mother's Love

Your warm eyes I catch gazing my way,
That sweet smile you give to me each day,
I will hold you close, and keep you near,
A mothers love will never disappear. 

Poem - Already Dead


Lonely and hurt, 
Broken I remain
Residing in hell,
living in pain

Masked by lies, 
I slowly fade away;
The nightmare I live with, 
each and every day

The meaning of it all, 
to which my mind attends
Has not one answer
that I fully comprehend

The bottom of my mind 
holds the answers which I call;
I keep reaching towards it 
in this never-ending fall

"Stay strong and keep going, 
it's never too late"...
No one seems to realize 
that it's not worth the wait

There's no such thing 
as help outside of your mind,
It's you against yourself, 
with your demons intertwined

It's a battle, hard fought,
but never to be won...
Either way you end up losing 
when it's all said and done

"Too late" came and passed
and, of me, nothing more
I wrote my own ending, 
and I shut my own door

"Live your life to its fullest"
that's what they all said,
But what's the point in trying 
when you're already dead?

Monday, September 15, 2014

3 Writing Motivational Tips

“Raven, I wanted to tell you that I’m finally finding time to write,” my friend, Trey, dropped me an email.

“Awesome!” I thought to myself. I knew he could do it.

3 Writing Motivational Tips
  1. Get started. When you break your writing into bite size pieces of time, it’s easier to take the time.
  1. Get back up. When you fall off your goal, don’t quit. Get back up and start over.
  1. Go for the feeling. When you find it difficult to get started writing, reflect on the satisfaction and good feeling you’ll have afterwards.
How about you? Would you like to set some writing goals or develop a regular writing habit? If so, share your stories.

If you want to write a book, stories or memories, learn how to write or learn how to write better, you just got to practice and practice never give in, or give up.

Most of all, find time to write because the world needs to hear your unique voice and what you have to share. Go Write NOW

57 Reason You're Not a Writer (Yet)

Here’s a list of fairly random, and overlapping reasons why you’re not a writer.
If you find this is you, you need to learn the importance of believing in your calling and showing up every day to do what you were made to do: write. To help you with that, be sure to snatch Jeff Goin’s wildly popular book,


  1. You label yourself “aspiring” and a “wannabe”.
  2. You don’t take yourself seriously.
  3. You don’t believe in yourself.
  4. You care more about what people think about you.
  5. You have let the fear of failing dominate.
  6. You can’t commit to finishing a writing project.
  7. You don’t take the time to write.
  8. You’re not a reader.
  9. You are constantly distracted by the internet.
  10. You believe you just don’t have the talent.
  11. You’re not willing to listen to constructive criticism of your writing.
  12. You are not yet writing consistently.
  13. You refuse to let the world see your work.
  14. You wait for ideal conditions in which to work.
  15. It’s hard for you to call yourself a writer.
  16. You can’t focus on the blank page in front of you.
  17. You compare yourself with others excessively.
  18. You’re more motivated by money than you’re passion for writing.
  19. You are not interested in people.
  20. You let doubt keep you from writing, and/or finishing.
  21. You believe just posting tweets all day makes you a writer.
  22. You are impatient.
  23. You spend more time talking, less time writing.
  24. You dream more than you execute.
  25. You write seeking fame and fortune.
  26. You spend more time consuming than creating.
  27. You’re easily distracted.
  28. You give in to that little voice in your head that says “what if” or “but” all too often.
  29. You rather play it safe than publish.
  30. You just don’t do the hard work of sitting down and writing.
  31. You don’t approach the work like a pro.
  32. You’re not clear with what you want to accomplish.
  33. You haven’t cultivated that attitude of curiosity.
  34. You don’t seek to know the why behind the what.
  35. You have not yet positioned yourself as an expert in your space.
  36. You write more to impress.
  37. You fail to plan and prepare accordingly.
  38. You feel you have to get it right the first time.
  39. You don’t approach life that failure is common. So the fear of failing stalls you.
  40. You overanalyze everything, leading to complete writing paralysis.
  41. You don’t seek feedback to improve your craft.
  42. You give into that thought that you’re not good enough.
  43. Checking twitter and facebook is more a habit than writing.
  44. You write more in hopes of gaining attention.
  45. You can’t stay committed to writing consistently.
  46. It’s hard for you to switch off social media as you go to write.
  47. You don’t seek out the rules of good writing.
  48. You avoid criticism at all costs.
  49. You write as if there is no deadline.
  50. You avoid learning about the habits of other great writers.
  51. You fail to create and stick to a realistic writing schedule.
  52. You can’t shut off your internal editor and just write.
  53. You don’t look at old writings seeking to improve them.
  54. You rather write for pay than for the love of writing.
  55. You fail to set goals and meet them.
  56. You can’t stay focused on writing.
  57. You’re reading this instead of writing...

Why Writers Write!

A lot of the people who check in here I know are writers. But some are not. Some are Internet surfers who stop by—one stop in their never-ending search for something they’re looking for. The Internet is like a vast sea of information, and everyone with a computer sails out into it, setting their coordinates for one destination or another. Once they get to where they’re going, they cast their nets out, and hope they can catch that elusive thing they’re looking for.

It may be an article about some subject they want to know more about. Or a piece of music they want to hear, or a You Tube clip they want to watch, or the address of someone from their past. Everybody’s out there, tapping their keyboards, surfing the Internet. Searching. I picture millions of surfers out there, right now at this very minute, millions of people casting their nets into the information ocean, all searching for something. All hoping that the next click of the mouse they’re going to find it.

It’s the same with writers. People think that writers know more than the average person. That they have some special knowledge to impart to the world, and that’s why they write. People think most writers are experts on whatever it is they’re writing about. It may be true that a writer may have more first hand personal knowledge of a subject. Like Hemingway knew about bull fighting. And Fitzgerald knew about life among the rich. “The rich are very different from you and me.” J. D. Salinger, hermit/writer, knew the pain of adolescence and the insanity of the world and how it can drive a sensitive person insane.

They know their subjects, these writers. Ray Bradbury remembered his childhood, the good and the bad, and echoes of it can be heard in everything he ever wrote. George Orwell knew the oppression of the mind that comes with totalitarianism. Aldous Huxley saw the society of the future as a place where humans were “decanted” and the population was controlled not by brain washing, but by drugs and entertainment. These writers knew their subjects well too. Or did they?

Somehow, I wonder. Somehow, I can almost picture them sitting at their typewriters (a keyboard of an antiquated type) sailing out at the midnight hour, surfing, not into an electronic sea of data, but into the sea of their own imaginations. They felt close to their subjects, they had a feeling for it, but to find a way to express it—that was what they spent their lives trying to learn. Every sentence, every word was a search. A search that sometimes took them to some strange places–some to drink, some to suicide, some to a life with little human contact. But in each of them the need for the search was stronger than the need even to live.

They may have written about bullfights, or tragic heroes, or colonies on Mars, but those were only the visible, comprehensible forms of something deeper that they were all searching for and trying to express. But what was it really? Something they may have occasionally only glimpsed, something that always retreated back into the dark distance the closer they got to it. Whatever they wrote, whatever the final product, it never fully satisfied. Never really came close. But they tried to get it down, as best they could. That’s what a writer does.

And so you’re out there right now, sitting at your keyboard, reading these words on your computer screen. Trying to understand what it means. Trying to see if it has any meaning in particular for you. Maybe. Maybe not. Whatever it is, it’s all part of the Search.

Friday, September 5, 2014

In Loving Memory

When I look to the heavens above,
Somehow I feel you near.
I think of how much I love you,
And to me still so dear.


You were an angel sent to earth
To fill our hearts with love
A Forever Kind of Angel
Sent from heaven above.


We didn't know you'd leave so soon
That God for you would send.
An angel would hold you in His arms,
And heaven with you ascend.


Uncomplaining and courageous,
You smiled through all the tears.
So much faith and understanding,
Proclaimed throughout the years.

I'm thankful for the time we had
For time we'll have again.
Together we will be once more
But only God knows when.

Until I see you once again,
I'll hold you in my heart
The sweet memories of my angel,
From me will never part.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

How to Publish a Book: 7 Tips From the Pros

1. Write the best manuscript that you possibly can

Don’t just come up with a great idea—spend time executing that idea by writing, editing, rewriting, editing and rewriting again. Find a group to workshop your novel with, whether it be in person or online. Book publishing starts with a great manuscript.

2. Write a dynamite query letter

Whether you’re pitching to an agent or directly to a publisher, you can’t just write “publish my book because it’s awesome.” You have to do your homework, researching literary agencies and book publishing companies, and craft a query letter that targets the specific person you’re trying to get to say “yes” to your book.

3. Prepare for rejection—it’s part of the game

Nearly all writers get rejected. J.K. Rowling got rejected several times before someone took a gamble on Harry Potter. Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help, was rejected 60 times before finding someone to publish her future bestseller. Getting rejected is just part of the getting-a-book-published process. Use it less as a springboard for depression and more as motivation to work harder.

4. Build a Platform

Get on Twitter and Facebook and Pinterest. Write a blog. Do anything you can to try to build an audience on your own. Most How-to-Get-a-Book-Published guides leave out the cold-hard truth: Agents and Publishers give extra weight to writers who have a built-in following. If you want to publish a book, you should be doing anything you can to do help your own cause—and building a platform (of any size) is something you can do.

5. Understand how the publishing process works

In this age of the Internet, it feels like everything flows at lightening speed. The publishing industry, though, still runs at a slightly slower pace. Publishers know how to publish a novel and follow a specific process from acquisitions editors to the editorial staff to design staff to marketing managers and more (all of which is explained in the free download at the top of this page!) To get your book published, familiarize yourself with how the publishing process works. It can only help you.

6. Continue to learn throughout the process

After you submit your query letter out to agents and editors doesn’t mean you have to stop learning. Read up on writing a book proposal, synopsis and anything else that can help you on the business side of things. Read blogs about how to get a novel published and ones that interview literary agents. Stay ahead of the curve.

7. Continue to write

While you are waiting for that phone call from a book publishing company saying, “We want to publish your book!” continue to do what you do best—which is write. Write your second novel. Write a collection of short stories. Heck, learn how to write book reviews and support other writers on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The publishing process is a patience and determination game, so it’s key to fill up the downtime time with the thing you love most. Always keep that in mind.

(Copied from Writer Digest)