Reeling

Photo: ©Nudgies® - All Rights Reserved

We lived next door to one another until I was seven and she has always remained my mentor, friend, spiritual encourager, and cheerleader. She was a sage of intellect and wisdom. With my first book, I'd learn of a large order of books from one private buyer, and discover later she was the purchaser, and also discover that she was sending copies to the likes of Oprah and others she thought should be aware of me. We were cousins, but our kinship went far deeper than that. Without prelude or warning she departed January 24, 2007. She was private in her gifts and her endlessly generous good deeds, so I must respect that privacy now and not call her by name, but her name is ever imprinted on my soul, in my mind, on the tip of my tongue when I want to define beauty inside and out.

I bid you adieu, dearest one -- until we meet again.

Kudos, First Fridays, and Focus

Intriguing week! I've felt as though I was on a mental seesaw. Up and then down, down and then up, but never really feeling out of balance. I've actually been having some genuine fun.

For a moment I was caught up in a flurry of kudos that left me feeling sort of heady. I felt invincible, as though there wasn't anything I could not accomplish if only I thought I could. That has been my state of mind for the most part of my life, really, but I'd started to waffle somewhat as wisdom kicked in and a few "things" decided to try to take me to the mat. Feeling that all empowering sense once more has been great, it has fueled me, yet it has not made a fool of me. I am reminded that there is nothing I cannot accomplish that is worthy of my time and effort. The time and the effort parts of that statement are what is key. That's when wisdom can now be very swift with its foot if those elements are lacking.

Then, yesterday, I had a nice surprise. A fellow author and friend's second novel has just been released. I have been anxiously awaiting it because a hand-full of us communicate on a fairly regular basis.

First Fridays - Cherlyn Michaels - Hyperion Books

I remember so well the utter euphoric fits we all had when she landed her original deal, (Counting Raindrops Through A Stained Glass Window - Hyperion) and it was hard to believe that she was already releasing the second book of that deal. Plus,the impending release of her second book was being heralded with great critical anticipation. Well, I got my copy of "First Fridays" by Cherlyn Michaels (Hyperion) last evening and thumbing through it I started to read the acknowledgements and saw my name included there. That particular acknowledgement bought quick, hot tears to my eyes. It really meant a lot! And, even though I hadn't planned to do so immediately, I started reading her book. I read the first chapter and I will not lie! It was all I could do to put the book down! It jump starts with a major bang!

Now I have to refocus my attention on "moving my own cheese," as another dear friend frequently says. I have much undone that I cannot ignore. Time to ease off the seesaw and leave the playground. It's time to go take care of my chores!

Speaking of Spirit!

I have the profound pleasure to be working with a publication that has already begun to sweep the globe off its feet. My involvement is freelance, but there is such an aura about this entire endeavor that the experience is continually humbling. It brings to you the best of the best of our essence as women -- women of the world.

What intrigued me first was the title of the magazine: Spirit: A Magazine Designed for the Diverse Woman. My first reaction was, humm, that's a mouth full, but once I had an opportunity to work my way through the product itself, to interact with the people behind the scenes who are making the wheels turn, I realized that not only was the title appropriate, it resonated truth in a way rarely seen in media today. Diversity isn't a 'buzz' word here, diversity is the empowerment of our differences, the power of our gender, and the reach and pull of our strength when we approach life and this world we co-exist in with common purpose and commitment.

That's why, although this is a very young magazine, it is already circulating to over 1,000,000 and growing in leaps and bounds! They have already focused features on China, Poland, Lebanon, Italy, Greece, Mexico and the U.S., and cover those issues that bind us like music, care giving, gifted children, teaching , our teens, our health and that of our families, our dreams, our hopes, and our aspirations. Volume 3, Issue 8 is now available and movement towards the next quarterly issue is in progress. Visually, it has the look and feel of a Coffee Table book rather than a quarterly magazine, and, to be honest it's not the kind of book you'd probably ever throw away. It is beautiful!

Okay, enough of my gushing! I just wanted to mention it since I am now moderately involved in selling it, but you can check it out for yourself by clicking here! And if you really want to know more, contact me directly at peggy@spirit-mag.com or plovewriter@gmail.com.

Birthday Gift

Photo: Eddie and Luguine Nash

I received a very unexpected and delightful surprise on my birthday, but it appears that the timing was just a coincidence. In 1999 I posted a couple of inquiries on a genealogy board seeking information on some of my ancestors. I knew some things about them, but, for too many reasons to try to enumerate, there was much, much more that I didn't. One of those inquiries dealt with my great grandparents, Eddie and Luguine Nash, and questions about their parents and, well, their parents parents and so on. Dead air was all I got.

Then, about 2:00 AM this morning I was on line and I heard a little bleep notifying me an Email was coming through. I casually looked at it and it informed me that there was a response to my inquiry regarding my great grandparents. I had no idea what they were talking about because it had been so long since I started the search I had completely forgotten I was searching. That's when I pulled up the response and saw it was to a question posed nearly eight years before and it was an absolute goldmine of information! All day long I have been communicating with the respondent and it seems like I can now trace my roots almost all the way back to King Tut (well, perhaps I embellish a little).

But now I know that somewhere along the line I'm a VanLandingham, a Fox, a Doolin, a Jamison, a Kern, a Meredith, an Ashford and the list goes on and on. I have names and dates that coincide with oral histories and family tales and they dovetail almost perfectly. How liberating to know for sure from whence I come and to whom I belong! What a way to start the new year, both the new calendar year and this new personal year of living. What a gift!

Twilight in Red

My current manuscript has been waking me after just a few hours sleep so that it can take me through a few more paces. I'm not being driven by character's talking a mile a minute. The characters are pretty tame at the moment. It is more the architect building and structuring the story that won't allow me to sleep. The internal sounds of hammering and nailing this piece here, and that piece there demand that I get up so I can at least get a feel of what we're building. Last night it was a time line. A time line that I discovered this morning was an absolute jewel of a tool (I'm not trying to rhyme) which solved an issue of three days within the storyline that just weren't flowing properly!

I vaguely remember mapping out the time frame, drawing lines on a piece of graph paper under days of the week and filling in events and circumstances, but I don't remember switching to the red pen that I made the additional notes with which brought everything into a harmonious flow! I remember nodding, and catching myself a couple of times just a moment before falling asleep with a bang on my desk. I'm sure it was between those twilight moments I picked up that red pen and some uninhibited sense within took pity on me and tapped into some subliminal space that retrieved that information which thereafter gave me what I needed to give myself permission to finally end that marathon session!

Whatever the process, I'm thrilled with my time line. It works and it is most definitely worth a few hours of lost beauty rest.