Month: December 2012

What Are Your New Year’s Resolutions?

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 1 Comment

English: New Year's Resolutions postcard

Christmas is behind us, my tree is down, and I am beginning to feel a tiny sense of routine returning, but we still have two more day’s before all the New Year‘s festivities are over, so I won’t get my hopes too high. In the meantime, I’ll continue to debate the issue of making New Year’s resolutions for 2013. I didn’t do well with  the ones I made for 2012. It wasn’t for lack of trying, but then, isn’t that the excuse everyone uses.

Looking back over the year, I was surprised to find, in spite of all the disruptions, I’d managed to keep half of the resolutions I made in 2012. Okay, half might be stretching it. Maybe I didn’t keep half, but more than I expected. I started a new blog page, Sheila’s Morning Pages, was elected President of my writer‘s group, and kept at least one of my daily prompts (most days). In addition, one of the short stories I submitted made it to the top 40 as a finalists in the WOW, Women on Writing, Summer 2012 Flash Fiction Contest. So, 2012 wasn’t a complete washout.

Nevertheless, I’d be lying if I didn’t say this past year has been challenging for me, personally. Life definitely got in the way, as it often does. I’m a planner by nature and this year was a frustrating year for me as a writer. If  I learned anything, during this time, it was this: you can’t plan life; you have to go where it takes you.

To quote John Steinbeck, “… the best laid plans… often go awry.”

That’s not to say this diehard planner won’t make a few plans or set a few goals for 2013. But New Year Resolutions…. I don’t know. I think I’ll leave those for the hard-line resolver’s, like you, perhaps, and stick to simpler, short-term goals, more suited to my hectic and unpredictable life.

Like, “Today, I will….”

What about you? What are your New Year Writing Resolutions? Leave a comment, I’d loved to know, and please have a Happy and safe New Year’s.

“Life is what happens while you are making other plans.” John Lennon

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Intuition

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / Leave a comment

I can’t believe Christmas is here. The week has flown by with last-minute preparations for family, and as the year winds down, I’m contemplating the direction I want my writing to go for next year.  As, of now, I’m now sure which direction I plan to go, but I’ll share more later. In the meantime, I along with the rest of you will be taking a few days off to be with family and friends to enjoy this sacred holiday.

But, before I go, I’d like to pass on a great article, I read this week, The Moo of Intuition.

The article was written by one of my friends Nan Lundeen, author of The Pantyhose Declarations. Nan teaches The Moo of Writing Workshop, and you can find her columns in Female First.

This week she wrote about listening to your intuition,  and the role it plays in our creativity. For me, listening to intuition goes hand in hand with authenticity, especially in writing, staying in tuned to both is the key. I highly recommend Nan’s article.

You can find her book, The Pantyhose Declarations  at Amazon, and it’s on sale now for those of you who may still be looking for last-minute gifts.

Merry Christmas and God Bless

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WHY?

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / Leave a comment

prayingThere is less Christmas joy in the air, this week. The merry season is forever tainted. Our nation is still reeling from the tragedy that unfolded, two days ago, in Newton Connecticut. We can’t wrap our heads around the insanity of such an act against innocent children. That it happened so close to Christmas, a time families cherish with their children, only adds to the horror. And, we are all left asking “Why?”

The truth is, there is no “why.” There is no “one” explanation for why bad things happen to good people. I wish there were, and then we could stop it, eradicate it.

These parent’s will be grieving for a long time. They have every right to scream to the Heavens,  “Why?” I can only imagine their grief and pain. I pray for them every night.

But, the politicians and lobbyists shouldn’t try to answer that question for these families by promoting their own agenda’s. They should leave them alone.

There may come a time when one or more of the families choose to take up a cause in the name of their child, but that should be, must be, their choice, not a choice driven by the media or politics.

This is not about gun control, violence in Hollywood, the music industry and their influence, or how inept our nation is at helping the mentally ill. These issues are important and worth discussing, but NOT NOW.

This is about 26 innocent victims, 20 of them children killed less than two weeks before Christmas. For those families and surviving siblings, Christmas will never be the same. For journalists and politicians  to exploit these grieving families to further their own agendas, is but another tragedy.

It is up to us, society, and to those close to the families to help them as best we can by offering our prayers, words of comfort, and help protect them from opportunistic journalists and politicians. Tell them to let these families grieve in peace.

To the families of Newton Connecticut, you are in my prayers.

 

Pay it Forward

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 1 Comment

 

I’m surprised and  honored. My blog has been nominated  for the  Very Inspiring Blog Award and I’d like to pay it forward. 

I’m up every morning around six o’clock. The smell of hot coffee permeates the air as my oldest Bichon dances around my feet ready to start our morning routine.

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It takes his sister, Piper a little longer. She’s still snuggled underneath the covers where she’s managed to wiggle her way in, the same way she wiggled her way into our lives some four years ago. We still can’t resist those adoring dark eyes staring at us, especially, in the wee hours of the morning.

My husband sleeps while the three of us walk out to grab the morning paper. They get a doggie biscuit, I get coffee, and we settle in front of the fire to catch up on the latest news.

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But, headlines are the same they were the day, week and month before. Stories of the dreaded fiscal cliff, threat of nuclear weapons, or the ongoing clashes between the political parties long after the election, cover every page. I stop reading, and close the newspaper on the never-ending rhetoric.

It’s Christmas! Time for joy and inspiration.

Elizabeth Cutright has been a tremendous source of inspiration for me. It was through   becoming acquainted with The Daily Creative Writer, and the many other talented bloggers that Morning Pages from the Cow Pasture Chronicles, sprang to life.

My blog, Cow Pasture Chronicles focuses on the how-to’s of  writing while Sheila’s Morning Pages is my chance to share my words and stories. Perhaps, one such story, Christmas Magic, was the reason my blog came to be nominated for this special honor. It appears my seven-year-old granddaughter, Mallory, has touched many hearts and I’m happy to have shared it with you all.

I challenge you to Pay it forward. Write a good story and share it with others.

Now to the business end of the award nomination:

  • I’m southern born and raised and I love sweet tea with lemon and lots of ice.
  • I was climber as child; my exploits included the ironing board, the refrigerator, and the top of the frame of a house being built. I was three years old. My mother and the builder talked me down.
  • I’m a Registered Nurse by profession but have long been retired.
  • I spent half of my career delivering babies and the other half as a transplant coordinator for the American Red Cross bone and tissue program, and Administration; Polar opposites.
  • One of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited has been the Grand Canyon. I rode all the way on a mule and saw the handiwork of God.
  • I collected clowns, dolls, and figurines for years. The clown and the character behind the face intrigued me. I eventually packed them away when my daughters reached an age they found them creepy.
  • And, although I love uplifting stories, my favorite genre is crime thrillers.

Blogs I nominate: 

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