Passion

An Update:
I'm feeling guilty that I haven't blogged since October. Life seems to get in the way. My new leaf, or New Year's resolution is to blog once each month and gradually get back into weekly blogging. I used to do it so I know it can be done. (reference the writing blog you see at the side of this one!)

Writing is going well. I was hoping to have this therapy book into the graphic stage at the beginning of January but I want to add more photos ... and since they are pics of flora, fauna, gardens and landscape I need summer to arrive. Not really sure what I want to do on that.

Speaking engagements are coming in, which is nice. I love meeting people and chatting with them.

Our Topic: Passion

While I've written for newspapers and magazines at local and national levels, journalism is not my passion or my gift. Writing story is. This becomes self-evident when my "stories" go national, then international and are translated into other languages. It becomes obvious when those same stories win awards for passion.

When you truly care about your topic, it shows. People feel something when they read your words. They may laugh, or just chuckle. They might sob, or quietly sigh. Even anger is desirable (not pleasant, but still coveted) over indifference. No matter what the response, your passion has joined with the light that lives inside each of your readers and for a moment you are a combined being.

Write about what you are passionate about and proficiency will come knocking. And for God's sake, DON'T edit anything you aren't capable of writing! That's just ridiculous! Inability WILL show, just as ability does.

List twelve topics you are passionate about. Each month in 2012 investigate one. I will too. Post your twelve topics during the first week of January on this blog, in the comments section, and we'll talk about them during the first week of February. If you are a writer who has not been published and would like to be this is a good chance to start thinking about where to direct your efforts.

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah.
God bless you .... and for YOUR sake, WRITE SOMETHING!
Love and joy,
Karen

A Slight Hiccup ...

Work is going well. The book looks good. Lots to do though and I was derailed by a broken tooth filling which meant a crown ... OUCH$! It wasn't the dentist appointments that waylaid me, it was the price tag. It meant more piece work, more technical writing so I couldn't get to my own work. Ah well, gotta pay the bills, you know?

I'm stuck on a couple of formats. I like them both. One day I like one better, the next day I change my mind. Still somewhat of a bonfire going here.

I will start taking submissions in January of 2012 but am concentrating on several types of books. More to come on that later. I'm not being coy, I just haven't talked to my consultancy board yet. They'll help me make decisions on the details.

Well, I'm done for the day. I have press shots tomorrow, pray that I don't look like an idiot which is usually what happens. Not this time, right? ;-)

Talk soon ... and for goodness sakes ... write something!
God bless,
Karen

Back to the Blogosphere ... Never having left the writing world...

I've been so busy with life and work that I haven't had time to blog. Mea culpa. Bad writer.

For some odd reason I feel the need to be outside as much as possible in the autumn before the snow flies. It's not unusual for a work day to start extra early so I can be done by 11:00 a.m. on my way to the Mississippi River to watch the eagles, check on the tundra swans, buy a sprout and avocado sandwich at a favorite haunt ... well you get the idea.

Work is going well. I'm in the weird twilight of organizing a book that I'm still researching. It's the point where I dance around it, working on it like the silly thing is a bonfire, too hot to handle. It sits on the table, or on the living room floor if the table doesn't have enough room, in pieces that seem to come together like a build function in a Lego Batman or Lego Harry Potter game. Wish I had a wand to wave them around. Instead I pick them up, set them down, arrange them and rearrange them. Some chapters are settled and I move them in their entirety. Others have sections that need to shift and morph into somewhere or something different.

It feels more structured now. Less an entity and more of a book-like thing. Walking, much as I hate it, helps. So does driving places, working in the yard and cleaning. The last time I left the chapters all over the living floor to do dishes, because I needed that "break", I came back to find the dog sprawled across everything. Strangely enough, the pages that she kicked over into other piles ... well, some of them looked better there. I bribed her off my text with a dog biscuit and settled in to rearrange, the dishwater getting cold as momentary clarity hit.

I'll get there. It's just how the process works.
Hope your writing day is going well.
God bless....

Karen

In-flow

As an artist, I'm starved for 'in-flow' right now. Julia Cameron advises artists to make artist dates with themselves and head out to explore their inner child. While I see the value of consciously keeping tabs on the amount of artistic stimulation we experience, I disagree that those pursuits need to explore the inner child. Perhaps, instead, we need to tap into our inner artist, our creative spirit.

One of the best ways for me to reconnect with my creativity is to head out into nature. If I can spend time gardening, nature walking or taking in the out-of-doors with all five senses I'm in good shape to write. While I'm viewing an grandfather oak, certain connections in my brain take place and stories form.

Right now, the ground is soggy and the air is cool, 32 degrees this fine May morning. I think I need to head out to a greenhouse where it's toasty and filled with the flora and fauna of spring.

Make a date with yourself to get out and experience life. Feed the artist within.
Much love and joy,
Karen

Summer is coming!

Today has been a good day to write. While I can't usually wait for a "good day" to write, some days it's hard to put my butt in the chair and do it. Days like Sunday and Monday. Both were 70 and sunny. Today it's rainy and hard to come up with excuses to "dance around the fire" as it were.

May is an incredibly busy month. It seems like everything comes to an end. Summer is twelve weekends jam-packed with an extravaganza of fair and festival attendance, family and friend reunions, and other sundry obligations and activities that keep us running most of the months of June, July and August. We don't have to live by the mantra "weather permitting" as the sun actually packs some heat and the breezes grow soft and balmy.

This summer I have an activity that I'm cooking up with one of the city council members to combine our Best Buddy group and the Master Gardeners in an effort to grow flowers and herbs along the riverfront. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm a big believer in therapeutic horticulture so can't wait to see what kind of benefits are reaped for the kids, along with the herbs. I'm sure it'll be amazing ... with the added benefit of slowing me down in the summer months.

I'll post an invite for the ribbon cutting of the raised beds. I hope you can join us! Take care and leave a few weekends open this summer. I may need you all to water plants for me! lol.
Much love and joy,
Karen

Eaglets

It's another day and I'm torn. I need to work on my therapy book but my fiction books are the most fun. Seems like I face this decision daily. To say nothing of marketing the book that is already out there ... and researching ... and editing ... and ....watching the eaglets hatch in Decorah. Yeah, I know I derailed a bit there. My family is from Decorah so it carried a little more meaning for me I guess, than the average person.

I watched the first eaglet hatch and was struck by the mother's constant gathering, positioning and moving around the eggs and chick. She fed the first little dude some meat that I assume was regurgitated, although my view was blocked a little. I wondered it this was her first batch of eggs. Do all new mothers feel the same way? Nervous, overattentive, continually adjusting our responses to the baby's cries? I watched the mother eagle and it seemed almost as though there was a tangible intensity emitted from her. The movements were broody and tense.

You never know when you'll need those kinds of details when you're writing. All experiences feed into the stories you write in some way. A writer friend of mine, when bad things happen in her life, is fond of saying, "It's all material." Yes ... and no. Some of our experiences serve to change our view, others feed into our bank of sensory awareness, still others we merely enjoy or get through.

Today I'll check on my eagles. Brood a bit over my book babies and finally settle in to feed one.
See you next time.
For goodness sake ... write somethin', will ya?
Much love and joy,
Karen

The Peter Principle

I'm in the research stage of the next book I'm writing, it's nonfiction as well. It's the longest stage of writing and the most wearying. I love the whole process but it's the most jumbled and chaotic stage of writing as well. There are times when I cut up what I'm doing and lay it all out on the floor. I walk between the pieces figuring out the order of things. It's the way of nonfiction I guess.

Now, fiction, is a completely different process. It's more organic in nature and it's my favorite to write. I'm also on the final edit (the mechanics of writing) for my first fiction book, Prairie Autumn, and my readers have that. (I hope you're reading it ladies! Hint Hint.) and finishing the second book in the four books series, Dakota Summer.

Writing fiction books is different than nonfiction. I plot, and I research as I write, and take joy in the twists and turns of subplot. It's a much more enjoyable process overall. My fiction books have anachronistic language in parts and I've taken some geographical liberties as a writer, but the books take place in eastern South Dakota, a place I lived. Think post Civil War homesteading era. Books three and four are plotted. Book two rocks! I've got so many subplots, however, that I have to be careful not to get tangled up.

There was an agent who was interested in the first book when I sent a summary. His editor, however, was clueless and annoyed me so much that, even when he called apologizing for her, I told him I wasn't interested in his agency anymore. She was arguing about when crops ripened in SD ... um yeah ... I've lived there, she's from CA. That was only the tip of the iceberg.

 I'm so anal in my writing that if my character uses a clothespin I make sure they've been invented and look at pics of the item before I put them into my story. This chick was guessing all the way through! She'd comment on something saying, "I don't believe that this was around at that time, do your research!" I'd sit here, on my end, with a photo of the item in question in my hand with invention dates and dates of widespread use. Apparently SHE should have done some research. If I would have listened to this idiot my whole book would have been screwed up! Not only that, my antagonist was weak and she never once even MENTIONED an antagonist or lack thereof. How do these people get their jobs????? Or keep them? Sheesh! The Peter Principle at work!

I have two agents who have expressed interest in the book series but I don't know if I should farm it out or publish it myself. I don't like cross-collateralization and many times that is standard in book contracts. My publishing company is set up so that I'll be able to use national distributors down the line like anyone else if I want to. It would certainly be easier to fund my son's special needs trust with a larger profit margin. <sigh> We'll see what happens. This is something I'm praying about and hoping to see the clear path on. Decisions, decisions. I don't have to decide today so I'm waiting on God's timing on this one.

At any rate, this blog is all about stream of consciousness and babbling about the craft. Feel free to chime in!

Have a great week ... write somethin' wouldja?
Karen

A random blog entry putting off my column

I have a column due in a couple of days and I'm wondering about a topic. I've written the column for eleven years now and it sometimes seems hard to find something fresh, something my readers will like. I feel for people like Dave Barry, who have weekly columns. It must be hard to be funny all the time.

My column is a little different in that it's what we call a feature column. All the hallmarks of a regular column that looks like a feature article (duh) ... longer and more in depth. My editor wants to go on vacation during normal deadline dates so requested our columns a little early. I'm tossing ideas around in my head. The issue is typically on camps and summer fun, but I've covered camps for the disabled and there is only so many times you can cover it, nothing changes. So, now I'm looking for an angle, playing with other pieces.

Last night I should have been writing, even though I felt like yukky. One of the problems with working at home is working through illness. You pretty much have to, you know? Who else will do it? Boy, you can tell I'm rambling. Not getting anything done here. I sat and edited six chapters in one of my fiction book. Again, the column is more pressing. <sigh>

So dear readers, I leave you to get my column written. I promise I'll be more focused next time. This post is a black hole of words. Sucked into cyberspace with absolutely no meaning or gestalt. I'll catch you when I'm a little less distracted.

Take care ... and write somethin', wouldja?

Much love and joy,
Karen

Book Release ... Children of Light by Karen J. Olson

Yippee! My book is finally out! I apologize that I haven't been posting as regularly as I was. My bad. I was so busy with work that I couldn't get to it. No excuse ... just that season of my life, I guess.

If you read my column or like my Chicken Soup for the Soul stories you'll love this book too! It's a labor of love.

Here's an excerpt:

Chapter 2
A Child of Light

You may not have experienced the NICU and the roller coaster we were on, but if you have a child with special needs, you've been at the amusement park. We all hang on to the sides of our seats when our child's life, or happiness, hangs in the balance. We can't help but ask "Why?" "Why is this happening to me? What did I do wrong to deserve this?"

If you're interested in seeing more, or ordering a copy, please go to the publisher's website at http://www.casparapublishing.com/ and click on "store" to order a copy ... or two. ;-)

Much love and joy,

Karen

I'm booking inspirational speaking engagements ... contact Caspara Publishing with your request at info@casparapublishing.com 
Thanks 

Research Monday

Today is a research day. And I love research. It's a day I give myself permission to roam about the Internet reading, compiling, running stats. I truly enjoy plugging numbers into correlational formulas or simple chi squared equations. I adore finding an obsolete source or newly formed website. Combing through studies, contacting experts, learning ... it's what research is all about.

Strangely enough, even though I give myself permission to wander, I have to be vigilant so that I'm not chasing rabbits. It's easy to get distracted by our own curiosity at the expense of the task at hand. How do you stay focused on the questions you need answered? Do you post them on the corner of your laptop, hoping they'll keep you on track? Do you allow a certain amount of time for each question you need answered? How do you do your research and take joy in the chase without ending up miles away from where you need to be?

I set a predetermined amount of time. Today it's from nine o'clock a.m. until noon. I have a number of questions that I need to answer, the questions lay to my left for easy access. I copy and paste for easy reading later, taking care to get citations and make the note "read only" on the materials. When I am done reading them I delete them so that I don't violate copyright law. All I want is to put all my facts in one place on my computer for cohesive reading during my designated reading time, which is late afternoon.

Someone asked me once, why I read research in the late afternoon. It's the same reason I do rough draft writing at that time. I'm tired. It doesn't seem like it makes sense but it's a time when my walls are down. I'm free flowing, my internal editor is turned off for the day and I spew creative vomit all over the page. In the case of research, I make quantum leaps in my thinking ... I make connections I wouldn't normally make when I'm alert and clearly focused.

Try it sometime. Write at a time when you are at your editorial best. Write about your favorite summer day. Then a couple of weeks later, wait until you're exhausted and write about the same thing. Read them both. You'll see what I mean. Pay dirt. From me to you ... have an amazing Monday. See you next week!

Much love and joy,
Karen

Derailed by Diet

If you think you can't be derailed by a diet ... think again. I started aggressively changing my diet last Thursday not only to lose weight but to bring my body and health into balance. That's my main focus, so in addition to changing the way I eat, I'm adding various supplements, vitamins and minerals. All that to say ... my body doesn't know what hit it and is more than a little disgruntled.

Fast forward to Monday. I get up, get out the book, set up and get a couple of hours of work in. Against my better judgment I had scheduled a morning appointment with my accountant to do my taxes. What? A half hour to an hour, right? Easy peasy. HAH!

I get down there and 25 minutes after my appointment time I get pushed off onto an assistant who doesn't really understand anything about LLCs. When I called I'd explained that I needed to be very careful and talk to someone with experience in LLCs because I'd set it up last fall very carefully. Semantics means everything in a new company start up. You can completely dismantle your LLC if you submit your taxes incorrectly. No problem, I was told. DOUBLE HAH!

Finally at 11:00 and getting nowhere, the big kahuna is done with her client and comes in to say that I'll have to make another appointment, the person helping me has other appointments. WHAAAATTT??? Why didn't the person in front of me get bumped so I could get in? Well, I might have been a little hungry, which added to the fact that both barrels were loaded in my verbal gun. I let fly. No, I wasn't angry, but I was very firm and let them know how unhappy I was with everything. I left my taxes so the main person could do some research to a questions that I even knew the answer to. I might have been smoking.

The more I thought about it, the madder I got. If they messed up my LLC tax return it could expose my son's special needs trust. I called an attorney. She knew what I was talking about when I told her how I'd set up the LLC. She also knew how important this first tax return was. I picked up my paperwork from the accountant and told her not to bother. ARG! Now I'm starting from scratch with my taxes but am validated by my chat with the attorney ... crisis averted. The day was lost to writing, because by that time I was completely derailed. I work from 6:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. then again in the evening if I need to. If I would have scheduled that appointment in the afternoon I would've been fine, but instead I allowed it to derail my precious work time ... what an idiot!

On Tuesday I dealt with a Visa that had been stolen. Yes, thank you. It was fun. I also dealt with a screwed up writing account bank statement. The bank statement was on the schedule, but typically if I don't balance within an hour of starting, I put it away and save it for the blank spots in the afternoon or evening and go back to work. Instead, I suddenly went on a mission from God to straighten things out. It was absolutely ridiculous. I would have been there after work, it wasn't going anywhere. Honestly!

Both days reminded me of when I first started freelancing years ago. I used to let any and all crises derail my writing so that by the end of the day, I would feel lucky to have written at all. Then I got savvy and set office hours.

If you don't have a schedule and protect it ferociously from those who think freelancer means freeloader you will pay the price. Be prepared for people to be angry with you for not answering the phone, running over to help them immediately or being downright nasty about it. It will happen, I promise you. Protect your work hours.

There! I'm done with my rant. I hope you gained something from it ... or had a good laugh. Either way, I'm shaking my head and wondering what today will bring as I write Monday's blogs on Wednesday. lol. Ah well, be strong, Grasshopper. It will all come out in the end.

God bless your writing today,
Much love and joy,
Karen

Recognition, Recall and Remembering

Here I am. One year old. Note the beer bottle I was playing with near the chair.

It is said that in order to remember an experience in our lives we need to attach meaning. If we don't, our brains don't have any way to catalog the information for recall.

I've always been sensitive. Maybe that's why when I was in my late teens and early twenties I anesthetized myself with alcohol by binge drinking every weekend. I attached meaning to everything. I remember it all. Except for those weekends that is. My bad.

I have journals that date back to second grade and when I read an entry I can remember the day. I can remember the emotions, the joy, the sorrow, the embarrassment, even the location in some instances.

I remember this picture.

I know what you're saying. Uh huh. You remember that because you've seen the photo but that's not true. I remember the tree.

About fifteen years ago I was looking for artwork to hang on my living room wall. I'd seen an Ansel Adams of a tree that I liked but it wasn't quite right. I combed local art sales, trying to find the perfect painting, preferably by a budding artist ... or a starving one. I knew that I wanted a weeping willow in the mist. I wanted the light to be early morning. I'm not naive enough to think I'd find that particular scene but I was looking for a certain style of painting so that I could hire that artist to paint what I wanted. No such luck.

I'd been visiting my grandmother and asked about artists in northern Iowa. I described what I wanted. A strange smile crept across her face and she excused herself. She returned with this photo in hand.

"Is this the tree you're talking about?" she asked.

I gazed at the old black and white in silence. I wanted to yelp like Lucy Van Pelt when Schroeder finally plays a one-note Jingle Bells .... "That's it!"

My family had no other photos of this tree. We looked. I remember this photo, I recognize the chair ... I recall the emotion of intense happiness, true joy. I loved that tree and how I felt when I was there.

Pull out an old photo and write about it today. Don't have one? Tear out a magazine photo and write a back story to the person featured. Be creative.

Have a great day!
Much love and joy,
Karen

Want to buy Karen's book Children of Light? Go to www.casparapublishing.com

My Family Rocks!

Hello my fellow artists....

The attached is a photo I've probably posted before. It was painted by a great great aunt who was an artist. I post it every now and then when I need to remember that I come from artists ... that me being one isn't so odd in a family full of teachers, business people and others who excel at traditional jobs. It's because of traits from both sides that I can make being an artist work. Without the organizational skills I'd just be a wannabe, you know? Someone who wanted to grab the opportunities but had no idea of how to focus on what needed to get done.

All that to say ... I treasure all the gifts I've received from my family through genetics, example and teaching. Without you I would sink like Peter in this painting, doubting myself. As a family you've been supportive, creative and my touchstone. Thank you.

I'm including a writing prompt for my writer friends. How has your family influenced who you are as a writer? Have they goaded you? Encouraged you? (trust me, there's a difference!) Have you experienced inspiration, desperation ... what?

Comment with your stuff if you'd like. Keep it under 25 words.
God bless ... and lift your doubting butt right out of the sea!
Much love and joy,
Karen

Butt in Chair

Good morning,

The day is just starting and I'm determined to finish writing the first section of my next book. There has been a delay in the layout and design of my first book,Children of Light. I have to contact the Library of Congress today and change the pub date. Wish me luck!

This next book I had scheduled for spring 2011 but with the delays on the first book I've decided that I'll need to purchase some seriously expensive software earlier than I thought. Nuts! I had kind of hoped that I could continue doing what I'm doing and put off the purchase of the software, but it's been made very clear to me that I need to move ahead on my own time table. Isn't that the way of it?

All the research is done for the first section so the writing itself should go well. I usually research everything first, then write, then edit. This book's nature demands that I research, write and then move on to the next section, leaving all editing until later. Odd how each book develops it's own rhythm.

Caspara Publishing, LLC, will also distribute fiction in 2012. I'm looking forward to that. The first fiction book will be historical fiction with an anachronistic flavor. Keep your eyes peeled for continuing updates on the publishing company. I will start accepting manuscripts in late 2012 or in 2013.

I'd better get going ... Butt in Chair, you know. Write until you hit pay dirt. Have a productive and blessed day writing, my friends.

Much love and joy,
Karen