The Write Life!

 

September 2022 Blog

Be Prepared: A Haiku

Words not written can

Oft’ not be remembered, thus

I keep pen at hand.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

(8/31/22)

 

I always try to keep pen and paper handy. Sometimes I fail and the words are lost. In my mind, those lost words were really brilliant, and their loss a loss for all of posterity.

Okay, maybe that last part is pretty far-fetched, but you get the idea. As most writers usually do, I get ideas at the oddest moments – not just when I’m sitting down to write. I try to be prepared at all times.

I have a steno pad turned to a clean page with a pen insered in the spiral witin arm’[s reach of the bed. I used to joy down my notes in the dark of night, but I’ve recently added a tiny flashlight so I can read wheat I’ve written the next morning. Otherwise, it’s jibberish.

I also keep a small spiral notebook the my pocket along with a pen. They really come in handy at those odd moments I’m out and about and an idea strikes. I’ve even gone so far as to jot down an inspiration while sitting on the commode.

When I drove a lot, I used to have a cassette recorder handy to record those fleeting moments of brilliance. Now I don’t drive much or far and cassette recorders are fairly passé.

But the idea stands: Think it, Write it, or lose it. It is also important for those of us who write poetry. One may think of the perfect phraseology for a piece of brilliant poetry, but it can slip away before the ink can strike the page.

Although the main idea may persist, the perfect way to put it may be lost.

It also helps to jot down story ideas, plot points and even a tidbit one of your characters may share with you in those odd moments you are mulling over your story in your head.

I once had one of my main female protagonists tell me she had a younger sister and her name was Petra. The novel tool a whole new turn and richness. Thank goodness I captured that thought (though having a sister is kind of hard to forget).

It’s taken a while, but I guess I’m falling in love with the art of writing all over again (after a long dry spell). I’, beginning to picture scenes and people to populate the worlds my mind dreams up once more. My mind is filling with scenarios involving those people and places – beautiful. Stunning scenarios and (because I’m a horror writer) glorious blood and gore and...

Okay, I’m on a roo. Time to gather my notes and start writing again.

First come the ideas, then the words, then the sentences, the paragraphs, the chapters, the novels, and the series.

Smiling now!

So the take away from this month’s ramblings should be this: keep something to write with and something to write on handy. You will thank yourself (and maybe me) when that gem comes to you, and you capture it. Then you can polish it and share it for posterity.

If you care to see what I am sharing with posterity, feel free to check out my eclectic selection of books on Amazon. There may be something to inspire you.

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

Until next month, read and write to your heart’s content and jot down those random thought. You never where they may land you.

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

You may also find some inspiration in my Haiku Collection Celebrating the #WritingCommunity: “Life’s Lemons and Lemonade: A Collection of Haiku, Volume Two: The Write Life”, available, of course, from Amazon at:

https://tinyurl.com/ycqtq3mt

It’s now September and the world is thoroughly heated up. The A/C is still working way too hard. A little more rain recently brought us some relief from the drought. Still a good time to check out: “Global Warning: Climate in Crisis” available from Amazon:

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

 

 

 

Contemplation!

 

August 2022 Blog

Contemplation: A Haiku

To write or write not –

Seems more than my navel needs

Attention these days.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

(8/1/22)

 

That is the question. Searching for an answer this month.

I find I cannot continue as I am – always promising myself to sit down and write the stories, the novels, this blog. I am only consistent with the Haiku I write daily, and that is probably because it’s become such an ingrained habit.

All else is up for contemplation.

I find very little inspiration in life these days for continuing my writing. Even though the act of writing does offer me those few moments of joy in life I so desperately need, I sometimes wonder if I can continue.

I do have a decent backlist  of books to my credit, and I would certainly like more, but I will never match the well over 100 historical romance novels my good friend, neighbor and landlady has produced.

She cranks out a new one every month or so. I would find that exhausting. But even more exhausting is mentally beating myself up because I have not written, because I can’t seem to carve out the time for writing.

Sometimes I wonder how I ever did. I wrote most of my novels while still working a full time job – mostly writing in the evening propped up in bed for an hour or two.

Now, I don’t work , I have all the time in the world and I just can’t seem to find that time.

Or am I just the world’s best (or worst) procrastinator? I guess I’m the best, because I’m so good at it.

So, do I overcome, or do I succumb to this latest version of writer’s block?

If I succumb, I don’t have to ever worry about missing a deadline again. But, by the same token, I will never know the joy of hearing someone say they enjoyed my work again, or it made them feel better for a little while, or even that they agree with me and I made a slight difference somewhere.

I I can overcome, I will have satisfaction in knowing that I’ve still got it – the drive and the talent.

Hopefully, I can sort it out this month. I guess it boils down to this: If I post a blog next month, I overcame. If I don’t – I succumbed. I’m actually leaning toward overcoming, but we’ll see.

In the meantime, I’ll get my manuscripts todgether and look at what I have already written. Maybe that will inspire me to continue. Or one of my characters may whisper in my ear and get me going again. That has happened before, too.

Hopefully, I can gather my wits about me and continue. Life would be boring without the murder and mayhem my characters can get me caught up in.

While we’re all waiting to see which way the cookie crumbles, feel free to check out my eclectic selection of books on Amazon. There may be something there you have yet to read.

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

Until next month, read and write to your heart’s content. Enjoy what respite you can find in your lives.

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

It’s now August and the world is heating up. The A/C is working way too hard. Not much rain recently to bring us any relief from the drought. May be a good time to check out: “Global Warning: Climate in Crisis” available from Amazon:

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

 

 

 

Nothing New Under the Sun

 

September 2021 Blog

Unchanged Melody: A Haiku

As the day dawns, there’s

Nothing new under the sun;

It sets as it rose.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

 

Almost two straight years of deadly pandemic, raging storms, endless fires, and angry people. Would love to see something new (and good) as the coming year looms, but I’m not holding my breath.

August has not seen a down-turn in any of the above-mentioned areas. Not sure September will either. But I’m back on track for getting the Sam Rock sequel published by the end of the year. Just a few more tweaks to the final plot points and then on to editing and preparing the manuscript for publication.

     Then I can start wrapping up some of my other projects. Eldreth really wants his novel finished. He says he really needs to be about his dastardly deeds. He hasn’t woven an enemy or a feckless lover into a living tapestry in ages. He’s just itching to get back to in that dungeon.

https://tinyurl.com/y9d8czj4

Come to think of it, I’m pretty much feeling like him down in that dungeon. I’m really tired of not feeling like going out and doing things. Again, I haven’t  been out to a restaurant in ages. Seems like the only time I get out now is for doctor’s appointments (when a doctor is available) and shopping. Even there, I’m beginning to rely more and more on Amazon. There’s not a lot you can’t get on Amazon these days – or somewhere else on line. Whatever you want seems to be only a Google away.

     I’m not sure if that’s good or bad these days. It’s surely convenient. And the choices are vast. Sometimes I just feel like throwing a dart and choosing that way. I’m sure I could get a good deal on darts somewhere.

     The weather here in Roswell has turned dry again. After an unprecedented monsoon season, we are hardly seeing a cloud in the sky. Our extended forecast day after day lately has been temperature in the mid-nineties for the next ten days out and no chance of precipitation.

I’m really looking forward to the Fall, assuming we actually have a Fall and don’t go straight to Winter again.

Seems we are having another year of unprecedented weather all over. Parts of the Earth are being consumed by fire while other parts are being inundated with raging waters.          Unless of course, you are California, which is running out of water and burning. There’s even smoke at the North Pole for the first time ever (due to fires in Siberia).

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

Then there’s the melting ice caps with the release or long-frozen biological entities capable of hatching here-to-fore unknown diseases that will probably surpass Covid in  deadliness.

So far, I’ve seen little about the countries of the world coming together to combat what is undeniable Climate Change rapidly becoming an undeniable Climate Crisis. But then, the countries of the world don’t seem to come together much anymore about anything.

At the start of this year I thought things were going to get so much better, but two-thirds into it, it just seems more of the same with a slightly different cast. Also, I’ve really not seen any progress toward the next year being any different.

I guess I’ll just have to light a candle and hope for the best and do my part to make my little corner of the world the best I can.

Come to think of it, if we all do that, we will improve our little corners and perhaps overlap to help improve more and more expanding corners of the world. At least that is something to look forward to.

I guess I can end this with a smile on my face and a slightly brighter outlook on the near future. September may be better after all.

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

 

 

 

 

Oops!

 

March 2021 Blog

Well that didn’t work!

 

Daylight: A Haiku

Sad – when the day shines

More brightly than I ever

Can hope to again.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

 

But then, it’s been a busy month – and short. And I’m not the brightest tack in the box lately – nor the sharpest bulb.

Most notably, I’ve had my second vaccine shot (Pfizer) and there were no noticeable side effects for either. One more week, and I should be immune.  My husband got his first (Moderna) and gets his second March 15^th. By the end of the month, we can both breathe more easily.

Also, our county is out of our state’s red zone and into the yellow, so more businesses will be reopened. Hope our favorite restaurant, Peppers’s Grill and Bar, makes a comeback. They will be sorely missed if they don’t. They are an institution around here.

The audio version of “The Seasons of Sam Rock” is inching ever more closely to being released. And my narrator, Steven P. Hamm has expressed an interest in doing my “Black Oak” novels, starting with “Town of Joy”. He’s done a preliminary chapterm and it’s just great. It helps to have a talented actor as narrator.

The Sam Rock sequel is inching ever closer to publication. Found that I really like the story behind “Raven’s Roost”, so I’ve been saving the changes I was contemplating for a third Sam Rock novel on how he got kicked off the police force. Spoiler alert – it wasn’t all his fault.

I continue to write (and post to Twitter and Facebook) my daily Haiku. That’s 2,614 Haiku (at least) since Jan. 1, 2014. I’m still going strong, although I’ve considered quitting a few times. I always seem to manage to crank out just one more.

March heralds the coming of Spring, and I’m starting to consider Spring cleaning. I would love to see everything bright and shiny and free of any chance of harboring the Covid-19 virus. I think we all deserve a new start this year, and Spring is a great time for renewal.

Still not planning any trips, nor considering visitors. I feel it’s just too risky. Although I shouldn’t be able to contract the virus, there’s no guarantee that I can’t carry it from something or someone I’ve touched.

You know, that’s really hard for a little old lady who’s used to hugging people. Doubt we’ll even regain the habit of shaking hands anymore. So sad, to feel you shouldn’t touch someone you love.

Hope all my readers and writer friends are doing well and survived what has turned out to be a horrendous winter of vicious cold and storms. I thought we were going to get through the season with only global warming to worry about. Looks like I was wrong. However, it is nice that we have a renewal of concern for the climate change emergency we are faced with. Hopefully, we get the Covid-19 crisis under control, so we can concentrate on alleviating the world-wide crisis.

Always so much to think about. Where do we start? There’s global and domestic hunger and homelessness. Then, there’s world-wide and domestic terrorism. So much unrest and dis-harmony everywhere. Hopeful here, there’s solutions to be found for more than one of our problems.

In the meantime, I’ll keep writing, if not to illuminate, then to entertain and allow an avenue for some escape for at least a little while.

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

Until next time, read and write to your heart’s content, all the while looking forward to enjoying our lives even more in the coming months. Let’s keep the faith.

Hard to believe that I have eleven books published, All are available on Amazon for your pleasure.

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

 

 

 

 

Stop the World

 

November 2020 Blog

Not even sure whom I am petitioning anymore. Doubt anyone has the answer these days.

 

Cease and Desist: A Haiku

Stop the world and let

Me off, or barring that, give

Respite from the storms.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

 

But I do have #NaNoWriMo in November. So, for one whole month I can lose myself in writing my next novel.

I am sitting outside in the warm sunshine right now, which wouldn’t be strange except that we had eight inches of snow yesterday from a constant snow from two days before. Now it’s supposed to be over 70F in a couple of days.

It would be no wonder that everyone is getting sick, except for the fact that everybody has been getting sick for the last six months or so from that thing that has been going around that shall remain nameless from now on.

Not sure what my writing project for #NaNoWriMo will be. I should be able to finish the two novels I’ve been working on for the last two years – the sequel to “The Seasons of Sam Rock” and the prequel to my “The Chronicles of Acqueria: Blood Moon Treachery”. A combined 50,000 words should do it.

I am currently basking in the glory of my newly released Haiku collection, “Global Warning: Climate in Crisis”:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KWQ6SHK/

For the remainder of the year, I am donating $1.00 from each book sold to https://www.planetbee.org/

They are dedicated to the education of children and adults on just how important bees are to our survival on this world.

At least I will feel that we have done something positive for the environment besides throwing words at the problem.

I hope all my readers and fellow writers have survived the Summer, and are heading into the Fall and Winter in good shape. We will need all our survival skills and a lot of luck to come through to the Spring intact.

I know a lot of things have to change before we can breathe easy again and expect to get some joy and satisfaction out of life. I won’t go into what changes we need to make.

All of my friends know where I stand and of what I write. I’m hoping the normal that was my life for so many years may be so again, and soon. I would like to spend my waning years with a modicum of the hope and pleasant anticipation for the future I grew accustomed to.

I smile just thinking about how I used to welcome the thought of retirement and leisure and travel and restaurants and concerts and ballgames and crowds – all maskless and gloveless. And, oh how I would love to hug someone.

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, next month will find us all in the mood for some holiday festivities, as this month has not. Not anticipating any family gatherings or even going out to our favorite restaurant to enjoy their wonderful cuisine. Maybe some take-out, but somehow it’s just not the same.

 

 

 

Dichotomy

 

October 2020 Blog

Nothing ever changes; nothing remains the same.

 

Dichotomy: A Haiku

Morning has broken,

Yet the night will not yield, and

The darkness prevails.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

 

I stand by that first sentence, seeming conflict or not.

I am sitting outside watching the birds scouring the ground for seeds and nuts. (The pecan tree is providing its harvest.) Even the hummingbirds are still visiting their summer nectar. (I provide a colorful feeder, since I cannot grow flowers on this Godforsaken piece of earth.) The squirrels are cavorting up and down the tree trunk, doing their Fall dance before they retire to their nesting place.

All appears to be well. The long, hot  Summer has broken and Fall seems to be on its way.

But all is not well. We are warmer than ever, and all of us are not well. We are sicker than ever – in body and spirit.

Amidst all this, I am launching my latest Haiku collection, “Global Warning: Climate in Crisis”.

 

With its release, I hope to sway some of the folks who may not yet realize that our Earth is in deep trouble, for there’s not much mention of it these days. I’m not sure we even realize how deeply our nation is in trouble with the current pandemic. There are so many other distractions out there. (The upcoming presidential election sitting front and center.)

So, we have been here before in history, and we have never been here before. I see it all as a matter of how a pendulum swings. Either the pendulum will swing in ever widening arcs until it breaks away and flies off in who knows what direction, or – most likely (as pendulums are wont to do) it will swing in ever decreasing arcs as it loses its momentum until it stops dead, fini, complet, the end.

I would hope for better. I would hope we all would vote our conscience in the upcoming election and somehow get back to a more normal life with the health and wellness of all humankind and this planet Earth as our all-consuming concerns – or is that too altruistic of me?

     I guess this book couldn’t be released at a more appropriate time, as we are at the crossroads of a need to react or be doomed. The tipping point is fast closing in on us. As I say in the book, I may not see the demise of life on this Earth, but perhaps our children’s children’s children will. And that is an atrocious legacy for us to leave. One that should haunt us all in whatever final resting place we languish in until we are reunited with the rest of the stardust in the Universe before we wink out into nothingness.

Cheery thought, isn’t it? On a lighter note – Wait, there is no lighter note. Okay, let’s create one.  Let’s look forward to the upcoming season of holidays, and make them the best we can, under the circumstances.

I’m all for eating the Halloween candy we can’t give away, and stuffing the turkey anyway. We can eat leftovers for weeks, if we freeze them. Then sing carols through our masks, send presents and virtual love and hugs everywhere to everyone. Let’s all keep in touch the best way we know how – with the click of a button and a keystroke.

I will push the publish button in the next few days and announce on Twitter and Facebook when it’s up and running and what charity I will be donating a dollar to for every book sold in October. Look for the announcement.

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 the publication announcement:

https://twitter.com/awlasky

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

Hopefully, next month will find us all on the mend and on the upside of this thing, but that’s what I said the last few months, and it didn’t happen yet. However, I am still hoping...