Lines of Hope

April 21, 2015October 21, 2016 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 4 Comments

Photo Courtesy of Pinterest

Sybil didn’t know whether she believed in this stuff or not as she walked through the beaded and taking the seat across from the gypsy woman. She squirmed under the scrutiny of the woman’s stare; did she really want to know?

Bracelets jangled as the woman stretched her hand, palm up across the table, motioning Sybil to relinquish her own. The woman ran a jeweled finger across each line in her hand, studying each with an intensity that unnerved Sybil before speaking.

“The things you seek are not to be, but do not be disheartened, change is coming and with it a new beginning worthy of the wait you’ve endured,” she said offering Sybil her first smile and a ray of hope.

Watch Out for Squirrels, It’s That Time of Year

April 15, 2015October 21, 2016 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 10 Comments

Photo Courtesy of.google and http://blog.drshannonreece.com

You may have noticed, Cow Pasture Chronicles has a new look. I hope you enjoy the change. I sat down at my desk on Saturday with a plan to write. First, of course, I needed to catch up on all the emails I’d missed while at the beach. It’s amazing how fast they can accumulate and overwhelm you, isn’t it?

I opened the cabinet above my desk for an item and froze. I am an admitted organization nerd and a notebook neurotic, but my cabinets looked like organized chaos. The next thing I knew, I had emptied them of all contents and had cleaning supplies in one hand and a sponge in the other. Writing had become a distant, fleeting thought. An occurrence happening all too often these days.

“What in the world are you doing?” My husband asked, wading through the contents I’d spread across the entire kitchen.

Images Courtesy of google and housecleaningbovol.blogspot.com

“Spring cleaning,” I said, my voice muffled from deep inside the cabinet. I cleaned like the Pope was coming to inspect.

“I thought you were going to work on your book?” He is forever nudging, no make that prodding, me to finish my work in progress (WIP).

I pulled my head out and glared. “I was planning to work on my blog, not my book.”

“So what happened?” He pointed to the mess.

I looked around, brushed my hair from my face and sank into the nearest chair. “A squirrel,” I said.

His brow furrowed in confusion and worry. “Squirrels?”

“Yeah, you know the kind that hijack your thoughts and hide them like nuts for winter storage. I call mine Jennie.”

He shook his head, grabbed a coke from the fridge. “Whatever,” he said as he headed toward the den.

It’s in the genes. Come Spring, I can’t help myself. I grew up with a woman, my mom Jennie, who believed Windex and newspapers, floor wax, cleaning supplies and rags came out the same time with the flowers and pollen every year. She’d wake us on a Saturday morning, bright and early, hand us rags and our marching orders and Spring cleaning would commence.

We washed windows, stripped the hardwood floors, applied new wax, scrubbed base-boards, and grout in the bathroom tile (with a toothbrush). We washed and spruced everything in the house and when it when done, we opened the sparkling new windows to let the fresh new air flow into our lungs. We inhaled that fresh air like a dying man sucking on his oxygen tube.

It may sound harsh, but with five girls we got to where we could knock the list out in a day ( I have no memory of my brother with a rag in his hand) and I am a hell of a housekeeper.

It took me all day (not as fast as I once was) to finish reorganizing. Exhausted, I pulled off my rubber gloves and resumed reading emails. Where I promptly opened this article from The Daily Post, “Spring cleaning: Reorganizing Your Blog.“ Well…what can I say. The squirrel was loose.

Photo Courtesy of Pinterest

Helpful How-to’s or a Reason to Procrastinate?

April 6, 2015October 21, 2016 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / Leave a comment

As writers, we often find ourselves collecting as many “how-to” articles and books on writing we can digest, and then some. My library is overflowing. Space won’t allow me to name them all, but Hooked, Structuring Your Novel, and Write that Book Already! are a few of my favorites.

Some of the books in my library I reference on a regular basis, The Emotion Thesaurus is one.

However, when we collect how-to-books to the point learning our craft becomes a distraction or another reason to procrastinate from completing your our own work in progress (WIP), we’ve stopped learning.

If you’ve ever done any of the following, you may be how-to obsessed, or second guessing your ability as a writer.

Have you ever:

Red-inked a story, chapter or novel based on a particular books recommendations.
Re-written a story, or chapter based on a books recommendations.
Started your novel over completely.
Attempted to be a plotter when you’re a panster at heart.
Or, used tools that don’t fit your personality because they were recommended.

As a result, your WIP sits unfinished on your desk which leads to frustration and more procrastination.

Stop it.

I’ve loved self-help books, on any topic, for as long as I can remember. And my kids will tell you receiving my favorites as a gift are as inevitable as Christmas Day. But, quitting something has never been an option for me. It isn’t who I am. So it’s time for me to close the how-to’s, clean out my mail box and open my Scrivener file.

In 1908, John D. Swain novelist and screenwriter wrote a letter to his son who was beginning his student life at Yale. Here is what he told his son about quitting.

“…Finally, if you make any of the teams, never quit. That is all the secret of success. Never quit! Quitting, I like to believe, has not been a striking characteristic of our family, and it is not tolerated in our college.

If you can’t win the scholarship, fight it out to the end of the examination.

If you can’t win your race, at least finish—somewhere.

If your boat can’t win, at least keep pulling on your oar, even if your eye glazes and the taste of blood comes into your throat with every heave.

If you cannot make your five yards in football, keep bucking the line—never let up—if you can’t see, or hear, keep plugging ahead! Never quit! If you forget all else I have said, remember these two words, through all your life…”

(Source: The Book of Man: Readings on the Path to Manhood; Image: Yale football team, 1908, courtesy of Manuscripts & Archives, Yale University.)

The past couple of years has given me any number of reasons to procrastinate, reevaluate my life, priorities and even put writing on the back burner permanently, but I’ve never been a quitter. All of the how-to-books I have are excellent resources. I’ll use them when necessary but for now, I’ll sit my butt down and write.

Do You Prefer Real Books or eReading Devices?

March 19, 2015April 12, 2015 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / Leave a comment

Photo courtesy of :
theeducatedprocastinator.com

In a recent Pew Research Study 78% of readers preferred real, paper books over e-reading devices. I’m not surprised, I do, too.

Before receiving my Kindle people told me, “You’re gonna love your it and you’ll read more.”

Photo Courtesy of pslibrary.com

It’s convenient unless the battery runs down in the middle of a chapter, which happens more often than I care.

Thousands of free books can be downloaded on an eReader, but all those freebies can overwhelm you, leaving you with a library of books you may never read. In addition, paying for a book on the bestsellers list can become pricey.

Amazon has addressed the cost, somewhat, by offering Kindle Unlimited. For $9.99 a month you can download and read as many books as you like, that’s $120 a year! Why pay when I can check out a hard copy at my local library?

But, aside from the convenience of having books available in an instant, and the light weight, I prefer old fashion hardback books. And, I’m not alone.

According to the article, Paper Books, alive and well, published, March 13,2015, in the Chicago Tribune, a significant percentage of readers prefer the paper copy. (You can read the full article here).

“A Pew Research study found that 78 percent of those from ages 18 to 24 have read a print book in the past year — compared with 21 percent who have read an e-book.” Chicago Tribune

I don’t read more books. In fact, before receiving my Kindle I read one to two books a week, sometimes more. Now, it’s maybe one a month. It’s hard to argue against the convenience of an eReader, but the same reasons I prefer “real books” over eReaders are also supported by the Pew Research study.

1- The feel and smell. There’s something about holding a book, turning the pages, and the smell of words in print that an eReader cannot copy. Sound silly?

“… College students polled in Slovakia, “1 out of 10 talked about the smell of books. There really is a physical, tactile, kinesthetic component to reading.” Chicago Tribune

2- I like to collect books I can see, touch and pick up on a rainy day. I have a rather large collection on my Kindle, but they do not beckon me as those on my bookshelf.

“… likes the satisfaction of finishing a book, placing it on a shelf alongside others and letting it quietly remind her of its contents.” Chicago Tribune

3- I’m a note taker and a visual, tactile person. For instructional or self-help books, I like to underline, highlight and scribble in the margins. You can take notes and highlight on a Kindle, but it’s not the same.