yourpassions.tk

Today’s post features Seasons of Our Lives , an innovative series of anthologies that include writing tips with each story. These anthologies evolved from contests run on WomensMemoirs.com. by co-founders Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonet. Matilda and Kendra are excited to be launching the series today, February 1,, with a limited time special offer you won’t want to miss. Details are at the end of the post . Matilda Butler introduces the series in the following interview. In keeping with the books’ structure, she includes a short writing tip at the end of each answer. SL: Matilda, could you explain how the Seasons of Life series came about? MB:   For several years, Kendra and I have run contests on WomensMemoirs.com covering all kinds of topics. Last year we decided to have four contests, each focusing on stories from one season. We ended up with hundreds of truly wonderful and touching stories. Kendra and I found ourselves laughing sometimes and crying others. Many of the v...

If a random person had handed me a copy of Shannon Hale’s novel, Ever After High: The Story Book of Legends , I might have flipped through the pages and admired the stunning design, skimmed a page or two and handed it back unread. I would not have known what I was missing. Fortunately for me, the person who handed me the book was Sarah, the granddaughter mentioned in the two previous posts . This book moved into her life, luring her away into remote corners of the house and keeping her up half the night. When Sarah finished reading the book, she began talking about it in fascinating depth and detail. She mentioned that the characters were the children of fairy tale people like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Prince Charming, and a long list of others. These charmed children all attended Ever After High the boarding school for all descendants of legendary characters. In a keystone event, second year students ceremonially claimed their legacy and pledged to relive their ancestral storie...

“I don’t really know how things will turn out until I start making them. They don’t always look like I thought they would, so sometimes I’m surprised.” My eight-year-old granddaughter Sarah was talking about the clothespin doll she was wrapping in a scrap of cloth when she told me this, but she could have been talking about writing. She is also a budding writer, though most of her story-making remains in her head at this point. I covered her doll making process in my previous post and explained how observing her expanded my creativity. Here are a few tips I gleaned that apply to any creative endeavor, especially writing. Remain open to possibility. The doll pictured above became an Evil Queen, eventually  named Medusa. Sarah didn’t know who the doll would be when she began. Its identity emerged from the choice of spikey silver hair and black fabric and grew with the addition of lace and lamé. Stories often work that way for me. Sometimes fanciful stories emerge from freewrit...

Last week I learned the value of suspending judgment and listening with an open heart. “Hey,” you say. “You are within a few million breaths of completing seven decades of a passingly happy and successful life and you just figured this out?” To that I can only say, “Yes and no.” Of course I’ve known this most of those nearly seventy years. But a few days ago my eight-year-old granddaughter inadvertently put new spin on the concept. Let me back up. Compare this picture featured in a blog post on September 1, 2009 with this picture from last week. Both pictures feature clothespin dolls. I made the dolls in the top picture four years ago for my daughter’s girls. Sarah, the oldest, was four at the time. When they came for a visit last week, Sarah, who is now eight, wanted to make clothespin dolls. My mind whirled at the thought of teaching her to sew the tiny seams along the sides of the dresses, but Sarah immediately took charge of the situation. She selected a rust-colored...