I Must! I Must!

 

September  2023 Blog

Three-Ring: A Haiku

Life is a circus,

And I am its saddest clown,

Alone in a crowd.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

(9/1/23)

 

My friend, Laura, told me so! “You must keep writing”, she said. And she’s right. Truer words were never spoken – or typed.

I am a writer, and that’s what writers do – they keep writing – whenever the muse strikes, with whatever the muse has in mind – like the above Haiku.

I’m not really in a sad mood. I could be, I suppose, but the morning was beautiful. The words just came to me almost verbatim. I simply had to write them down.

I have truly been neglecting my muse and my craft lately. Okay, I have plenty of excuses: I’m not getting any younger; my husband has been ill; my son decided, “Life is shitty”; the world is burning up, drying up and on fire. All of that would make the happiest clown sad.

But I think what makes me the saddest, is that I am not wiritng. And I find my joy and release in writing. So – I must! I must! – saqtart writing again, pay attention to my craft, and resume publishing and promoting my novels, my ebooks and my audio books.

I have no reason not to. I have only excuses and they no longer serve my purpose.

And so this sad clown will put on a happy face, take a deep breath and slip into tbe magical cannon and see if I can reach the stars – or at least the top of the “BigTop”.

Absolutely going to keep track of my progress this month and maybe post it on my FB author page.

https://www.facebook.com/AnnWilmerLaskyAuthorlink

Feeling better about this than I have in a long time. And it’s long past due. Time to catch up and forge ahead.

So we will see. As always, I welcome your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there or look for any publication announcements.

amazon.com/author/annwilmerlasky      

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

Also, Eldreth, the Castleweaver, asked me again to post the links to his books. He claims no one understands him. I claim I do. He just rolls his eyes and keeps weaving his tragedies. By the way, my son, Vernon Ray Wilmer, Jr. did all the artwork in both Castleweaver Chapbooks. I will be donating a dollar for each of these books sold from now on to a suicide prevention program.

Amazon https://tinyurl.com/y9d8czj4

https://tinyurl.com/y6x9pqno

It’s now September and the year is two-thirds over. My sunflowers never got big enough to bloom.

 

 

 

 

 

Brain Freeze!

 

February 2023 Blog

Cold Thought: A Haiku

There are those days that

Chill the mind as well as the

Body – this is one.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

(1/31/23)

 

There is ice over everything today and almost all over the whole of the United States. In Roswell, New Mecico, we have had a rather mild winter. February 1^st may be the worst of it.

My brain is frozen, too, and I can use only my inside voice. Which is not as free-wheeling as my outside voice writing in the sun and fresh air.

And, I have a deadline (self-imposed for sure), but I have promised to have “Raven’s Roost – A Sam Rock Novel” to my manuscript checker in early March and to my audio narrator this s\Spring.

So it’s coming (come hell-or-high-water) this Spring – my Sam Rock sequel. Yay! Just a few more chapters to finish off and preliminary editing and then off to the printer.

It has not been as prolific a winter as I had hoped, but I did discover some early poetry that is both free verse and rhymed (way before any thought of Haiku). I am seriously thinking of publishing a collection this summer – after a little editing, of course.

Me and mine have survived the winter well so far. No serious illnesses or injuries. I hope that you and yours have all fared as well. Although I know that a lot of the country had had far more brutal weather than we have had here.

I’m looking forward to Spring. I’m really hoping to revive my green thumb this Spring. I used to grow a lot of flowers, vegetables and even trees in California. But for some reason, not in Roswell. Seems I either over-water or under-water them here. Gotta get that straight this year. I want to have lots of flowers for the few bees and butterflies left in the area. Plus they are beautiful to gaze on as I’m writing.

As February is a short month, this will be another short blog post. I could beg off that I must go and write and finish up, but that’s what I said last month. I guess I could say that all my Haiku writing lately has shortened my attention span. Maybe getting back to some regular poetry will help me was more poetic again. I can hope anyway.

I am again looking forward to an entire month of writing. Again, it’s onward and upward.

Please, feel free to check out my eclectic selection of books on Amazon. The list will surely grow this year.

https://www.amazon.com/author/annwilmerlasky

Until next month, read and write to your heart’s content, and remember we deserve to be much happier this year, and I’m still hoping we will be.

As always, I welcome your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there or look for my publication announcements. They will surely be forthcoming this year.

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

It’s now February, the second month of 2023. Ten more months to look forward to. Let’s make it a great year.

 

 

 

 

 

Transition!

 

October 2022 Blog

Transition: A Haiku

“That I am” need not

Be. if I change the story

That I tell myself.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

(9/30/22)

 

To paraphrase Anderson Cooper on Stephen Colbert’s late night show: “You can change the story that you tell yourself”. Thank you, Mr. Cooper. Rearranging my story now.

“That I am” has not served me well lately. Need to rethink where I’m headed and head in a different direction. The last two years have just been devastating to so many of us in so many ways. I no longer feel the need to even list all that’s driven us to virtual distraction. Let’s just say our lives have been rearranged for us whether we wanted it or not. Time has come to take back what we can – to take control of those things dangling within our reach and set out again on our own path, believing that we can make our story go the way we want it to go.

Reminds me of what we authors do. We control our novels and their characters. We forge the story to go the way we want it to. Sure, sometimes they grab the reins and force their stories elsewhere...

But wait! Isn’t that what we must do with our own lives now?

Mine, anyway, needs an overhaul. I need better organization and better follow-through – starting with “a place for everything and everything in its place”. That way, when I get around to tackling a project, I’ll have everything I need right where I need it and won’t have to spend valuable time searching for stuff – a definite waste of time.

Starting and stopping projects hasn’t served me well either. Taking too long to restart the project means I often have to “reinvent the wheel” and backtrack before I can move forward – another time waster.

I probably should limit my computer time also. I have a tendency to get caught up in Twitter and solitaire and jigsaw puzzles. It’s amazing how time flies when you’re hyper-focused on those things.

I consider Twitter my window on the world right now, so I probably won’t cut back much on that. However, the solitaire and jigsaws may demand some kind of time limit. I should start setting my timer for fifteen minutes or so, so I don’t find myself glued to the chair an hour later, having spent time that could have been better spent sparring with my characters and recording their stories for posterity.

What a great idea! I can rearrange my story in order to tell their stories! That’s the spirit! Pumping myself up now. I’ve spent way too much time being down in the dumps. I’m smiling a little bit now. Thank you again, Anderson Cooper for your enlightening take on chaning our own stories and living our lives as we want them to be.

What an amazing concept! Building enthusiasm now – and energy. Hope it lasts longer than most of my bright ideas. But then it wasn’t my idea, was it? It was Anderson Cooper’s.

If I can make it work, I’ll be releasing my Sam Rock sequel in time for Christmas, along with Steve Hamm’s brilliant audio version of my paranormal western, “Black Oak: Town of Joy”.

In the meantime, I’m jumping back on the “Fly Lady” band wagon this month to get rid of my paper clutter. Really need to cut down on the boxes and boxes of paper stuff I’ve always thought I needed to keep. Less stuff means other stuff is less likely to get lost and force more downtime searching for stuff. Love that word “stuff”! It’s so much better than the word it replaces: “sh*t”, you know.

Well all of this will start tomorrow. Tonight starts the “Svegoolie” month of horror. Gonna love every minute of it! Oh, and then there’s the season premeire of SNL – Gonna love that, too.

If you care to check out some more horrific stuff, feel free to check out my eclectic selection of books on Amazon. There may be something there to terrorize you.

https://www.amazon.com/author/annwilmerlasky

Until next month, read and write to your heart’s content and see if you need to alter your own story. There will never be a better time.

As always, I welcome your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there or look for my publication announcements. They will be forthcoming:

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

It’s now October and the world is cooling off. Unfortunately, its weather is most unruly. Praying for all those affected by the storms. May be a good time to check out: “Global Warning: Climate in Crisis” available from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KWQ6SHK/

 

 

 

With Some Urgency!

 November 2021 Blog

Point of Reference: A Haiku

I have only the

Rest of my life to do what

I want to get done.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

 

Not that I have anything ominous hanging over my head, I just have another birthday coming up. They seem to be piling up ever more quickly. I’m grateful that they still are, yet wary of their cumulative effect.

In honor of my upcoming birthday and in light of the fact that November is NaNoWriMo month, I will finish my Sam Rock sequel and publish forthwith. There will be some unexpected twists and turns and a lead in to the third and final book in the series.

I’ve done NaNoWriMo for so many years, I’ve lost count. It’s always a good time to start or end a project. For one full month, I can concentrate on little but writing  and not feel guilty about it. Kind of like a busman’s holiday. (Now, that’s an old reference.)

My #NaNoWriMo Mascot "Rhimo":

Not sure what next year will bring, but I just got my Pfizer booster, (got my flu and pneumonia shots last month) so I should be relatively safe from the bugs out there. Hopefully, I can concentrate the whole next year on my writing.  Many more sequels, prequels, and chapbooks to come.

Also thinking about downsizing in the possessions department. I have so much stuff I’ll never use again and certainly wouldn’t move if I ever did that again. Also, I have stuff that’s not worth passing on. So, I’ll be sorting into three piles: Keep, Toss, and Give Away. Hope the last two are way bigger than the first.

As 2021 winds down, I’d love to announce that the pandemic is winding down with it. I guess it is, but I thought we’d be beyond masks and distancing by now. I guess we’re not.

So many things I’m sure will not go back to the way they were. And that’s not all to the good. Don’t know when, if ever, the Supply Chain problem will be solved. I’ve heard also that it’s going to be a cold winter with heating fuels being scarce and expensive.  Guess I’d best stock up on woolies – they will probably become scarce as well.

Wish I could turn the world off and and sit in my garrett (or backyard) and write, bit I do have to deal with the real world occasionally. Maybe I can make it a little less often – although with all the lockdowns and shutdowns, I have been pretty isolated. I should have been able to write a “War and Peace” length novel by now.

I guess it’s a matter of concentration. It’s hard to concentrate on anything these days, and more and more things are flinging about ready, willing and able to distract me.

Too bad I’m not enjoying them all. The one thing that does bring me joy is writing. So, I’m going to check my supply of pens and paper and get at it.

I wish you all a happy holiday season, starting now. Of course, we must be safe and careful, and wary of things we seldom had to worry about about before. But we must surely find some joy in what we do. Or what’s the point?

Okay, so not going down that rabbit hole. Going to  poise my pens for better things.

See you all on the other side of Thanksgiving and before Christmas. Whether you read or write, please enjoy it.

Until next time, read and write to your heart’s content. My eclectic collection of reading matter may take your mind off things. Enjoy.

https://www.amazon.com/author/annwilmerlasky

As always, I welcome your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there or look for my publication announcements:

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

Hopefully, this month we can enjoy our Thanksgiving and next month will find us looking forward to a Joyous Noel to be followed by the happiest of New Years.

 

Departure

 

August 2021 Blog

No Way: A Haiku

It may seem I’m not

Getting anywhere, yet I

Will not go nowhere.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

 

Stubborn, aren’t I?  As August starts on another rainy note, it also brings an upswing in Coronavirus cases again. My mind has grown tired of living in fear of its own life. I would have peace from this global hell of man’s creation.

I would have surcease of constant sorrow. I would have freedom from constant fear of death, either of mind or body. It also wouldn’t hurt to have freedom from the constant restrictions imposed in the battle to fight this pandemic for over one-and-a-half years.

I would have an end to it all.

I had a dream about nothingness last night and woke up with the tune and words to The Beatles “Nowhere Man” running through my muddled mind. Hence the above Haiku. In the dream, I was choosing a morbid dark-hued cloak with even darker symbols which I don’t remember clearly except for a dark maroon star (and I’m not even sure of its shape).

I also chose a pliable blue mask of a freakish cat face. It all might make a great horror novel some day, but I have no clue what any of it means.

     But that idea will have to wait until the completion of my many other projects . When will that time come?

Sooner than later, I promise. Starting today, I have promised to write every day. At least until the end of the year, if not forever. So far, such a pledge has worked well for me. I’ve posted at least one Haiku a day every day since January 1, 2014 and a blog on the first of every month since January 1, 2017.

So, next month’s blog will herald the progress I will have made during August. Should put me close to the end of the Sam Rock sequel. Would love to publish that by the end of the year, lest I publish no new book this year at all.

Other than that, there’s not much new in my world. Hard to have new experiences when there’s little you can go out and do, even with some of the restrictions being lifted. And sad to say that I’ve gotten used to not going anywhere and not doing much.

You’d think that I would  enjoy the isolation and write and write and write. But I always seem to run out of time or find some way to put I off until a tomorrow that seldom comes.

I so need to get beyond that and get back in the habit of writing ever day. It’s the only way I’m going to get things done what I need and want to do.

And to do that, I would best leave undone that which would waste my time – easier said than accomplished.

But, since I prefer not to be a “Nowhere Man”, I will give it another shot.  We’ll see what happens. We’ll see how far I can get.

July has also been brutal. Looking for so much better from August. Here’s hoping.

As always, I welcome your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there or look for my publication announcements:

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

Also, please feel free to visit me at my Amazon Author Page:

https://www.amazon.com/author/annwilmerlasky

 

 

Will She or Won’t She?

 

July 2021 Blog

Insurmountable: A Haiku

I have hit that wall

Over which I cannot climb,

Yet I keep trying.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

 

Does that make me noble, hopeless or just plain stupid?  As July starts on a rainy note (It’s actually Monsoon Season), I’m vacillating between “hanging it up” or “hanging in there”.

I’m suffering from a really bad case of Writer’s Block. Except for the blog and my daily Haiku, I haven’t made any progress in more than two months.

Sam Rock is not pleased. He wants his new adventures with Marie Delacroix to be published and soon. The natives of Acqueria are anxious to get their early story out there also. And there’s always Eldreth lurking in the shadows wondering why his story isn’t finished.

My muse sits and sulks. She wants us to go outside and write, but we can’t. It’s been too hot (well over 100°F) for most of the month or (lately) raining day and night. She says it’s no excuse, but she knows my inside voice is hampered by the slightest distractions.

And there are plenty of those: the computer, the TV and all the housework and organizing  that screams to be done.

It would be so easy to just hang it up and not make the effort, but I’m not sure the other stuff would get done anyway. And I certainly wouldn’t be any happier.

In fact, I’m happiest when I’m writing , so I guess I owe it to myself to keep at it. There’s always the chance my muse and I will connect, and the words will flow.

My not writing would not lead to a happy me.

This will be the shortest blog I have ever posted, but it’s a compromise with my muse. The alternative would be no blog at all this month, and I’ve posted faithfully since January 1, 2017. I don’t want to break my streak, Hoping for more and better news to report next month. Until then – keep the faith and keep well. Try to stay cool. That’s been difficult in our neck of the woods where the temperature having been north of 100 F° for a while now.

June has been brutal. July promises to be no less. Let’s hope August cools down, but I’m not holding my breath.

As always, I welcome your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there or look for my publication announcements:

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

Also, please feel free to visit me at my Amazon Author Page:

https://www.amazon.com/author/annwilmerlasky