Diana Scimone

The dream is still alive

"Administer justice every morning and deliver the person who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor" (Jeremiah 21:12).

Today is a national holiday in the US to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I wrote this post a few years ago about how he inspired me in my fight to stop child trafficking.

* * *

Five decades ago, my sisters and I set up a little store in the playroom of our house in New York. When we invited our parents to come and shop (i.e. to spend their money), they were aghast to see the sign we had hung in our store:

"We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone."

My parents explained to us the meaning of this sign, which we must have seen in a real store, and why it was wrong--that it was racial discrimination designed to keep out blacks. (As Italian-Americans, my parents had their own encounters with injustice and discrimination, particularly my father.)

I had no clue. I went through the 1950s and, I regret to say, the 60s and still had no clue.

What was happening in the south didn't seem to affect me--Little Rock, Birmingham, Memphis, the March on Washington, Martin Luther King, Jr. It was all something on the pages of newspapers, but didn't really involve me.

When I was 17, I moved to Washington to attend college during the years when race riots scarred the streets. The events of the day began to get a little closer to home.

A decade later, I moved to Alabama and met people personally affected by injustice. The struggle for justice got closer.

Then I moved to central Florida, where one morning I looked out my window and saw five men cloaked in white sheets protesting outside the Jewish Community Center across the street, claiming the Holocaust was all a myth. Now the struggle for justice was just outside my front door.

Yet another decade later, I was co-writing a book called The Dream Is Alive about the struggle for racial justice within the Christian church. The title, of course, refers to Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. While researching information for the book, I read his speech on the internet and listened to scratchy on-line recordings of many of his other speeches--and they powerfully impacted me. Now the struggle was right at the tip of my fingers.

Today, five decades after taking down that sign, I think I'm finally getting it. Injustice has many forms and faces, and they're all ugly. In my travels, I've seen the injustice of child trafficking face to face--girls in cages, boys sold on streets, and more. As I took down that sign 50 years ago, now I'm working to take down a different form of injustice through The Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking.

Dr. King's struggle in the face of overwhelming odds, along with his profound words that documented it, are part of the inspiration that has propelled me.

Here are some of his words from his "Letter From a Birmingham Jail." I hope they inspire you the way they inspire me.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

"Justice too long delayed is justice denied."

"We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor. It must be demanded by the oppressed."

"We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right."

"Was not [the biblical prophet] Amos an extremist for justice? 'Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream' [Amos 5:24] . . . So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?"

--excerpts from "Letter From a Birmingham Jail," by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

To read and hear more:

• "Letter From a Birmingham Jail," April 16, 1963 (audio clips)
• "I Have a Dream" speech, August 28, 1963 (text and audio versions)
• "I've Been to the Mountain Top" speech, April 3, 1968, the night before Dr. King was killed (text and audio versions)
• The King Center

 * * *

A few more great quotes (hat tip @charlestlee):

“A minister cannot preach the glories of heaven while ignoring social conditions in his own community that cause [people] an earthly hell.”

“This hour in history needs a dedicated circle of transformed nonconformists. The saving of our world from pending doom will come not from the actions of a conforming majority but from the creative maladjustment of a transformed minority.”

 

 

Can I quote you on that?

I took a blogging break in December (you noticed, right?). This post begins my 6th year of blogging!

Here's my annual first post of the year. All year long whenever I need some quick inspiration, I just look at the top of my daily to-do agenda where I keep a list of motivational quotes I gather. Whenever I find a new one, I add it to the list. I post them front and center to inspire me as I work on The Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking.

When the fight seems impossible, I read what Einstein said. Or Edison. Or Zappos.com.

Today I start a brand-new list, so enjoy these now. I hope they motivate you as much as they do me. Most of these come from my fellow Twitterati, so I've included their Twitter names after each quote in case you want to follow them.

Got a fav quote of your own? Leave it as a comment. I've already begun my 2012 list and could use a few good quotes to start the year right.

* * *

"They didn't know it was impossible, so they did it.”—Mark Twain

“Ending human trafficking is not idealistic or naive. It is audacious. And it is people of audacity who change the world.”—Rob Morris (@RobLOVE146)

“Justice, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”—Martin Luther King, Jr.

“If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.”—@jujulee89

"Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair."—G.K. Chesterton (via @RobLOVE146)

"Endure. In the wilderness, either your issue will die or you will."—Casey Doss (via @theramp)

"When I look at the [pruning] work Nancy did with the roses today, I realize that there is a sense of relief. No need to support the branches that will no longer flower. It was good, but now is a burden."—Jon Swanson (@jnswanson)

"If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door."—Milton Berle (via @gailtiv)

"Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness is largely a matter of conscious choice and discipline."—Jim Collins, from Good to Great

"The start and finish are easy. It is in the long middle of the race where preparation and commitment matter most."—Doug Picirillo (@doug_picirillo)

"Achievement seems to be connected with action. Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit."—Conrad Hilton

"Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, 'But we knew nothing about this,' does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who guards your life know it? Will He not repay each person according to what he has done?"—Proverbs 24:11-12

"You have to have an idea of what you are going to do, but it should be a vague idea."—Pablo Picasso

"I'm writing a book. I've got the page numbers done."—Steven Wright (via @PhilCooke)

"The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done."—Arnold Palmer (via @Jenny_Shain)

"Art is what we call...the thing an artist does. It's not the medium or the oil or the price or whether it hangs on a wall or you eat it. What matters, what makes it art, is that the person who made it overcame the resistance, ignored the voice of doubt and made something worth making. Something risky. Something human. Art is not in the eye of the beholder. It's in the soul of the artist."—Seth Godin (@thisissethsblog)

“Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you."—1 Chronicles 28:20

“There is no passion to be found playing small, in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”—Nelson Mandela (via @HopeMore)

“A year from now you will wish you had started today."—Karen Lamb (via @JohnStanko)

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”—Martin Luther King, Jr.

“If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough.”—Mario Andretti

“We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat.”—Queen Victoria (via @BeAuthor)

 

Can an ebook for kids help stop child trafficking?

I hope so! In fact, I'm counting on it.

Each year more than 1 million kids get lured into trafficking all over the world, including in the U.S. Some of them are just 5 years old.

If you read this blog regularly, you know that The Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking is smack in the middle of pilot-testing our innovative program to reach kids before the traffickers do.

Now we're hoping to fund expansion of the program through sales of a new ebook for kids:

It's called Born to Fly: The tale of a dream that would not die. And it features the same storyline as in the wordless book that's the centerpiece of The Born2Fly Project.

It's a delightful tale about what it takes to pursue your dream. I like to say it's a novel for children--and adults who can still think like children.

Born to Fly costs just $5.99. What a deal, huh? And proceeds go to The Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking.

Blossom shows kids how to go after their dreams

OK, so I'm biased, but Born to Fly is one of the cutest children's books you'll ever read. Here's a little teaser on the plot:

Blossom is in big trouble. Her grandfather warned her not to go beyond the village gates. After all, no caterpillar in Twig Valley has ever ventured there and returned to tell.

For centuries the caterpillars of Twig Valley have lived with a Dark Cloud over the land. For as long as anyone can remember, no caterpillar has ever become a butterfly. In fact, no one thinks about being anything more than a bug that crawls in the dust of the ground.

Until Blossom...

A companion website, www.borntoflybook.com, has games and activities for kids and a free reading guide/curriculum for teachers and schools.

The storyline is by yours truly with 43 charming illustrations in soft pastel by artist Leah Wiedemer:

 

You don't need an iPad, Kindle, or Nook to read it!

If you don't have an ereader, just download Kindle for PC on your computer (it's free) and you can read Born to Fly (and any ebook).

So click here to order your copy today:

• Amazon (for Kindle)
• iBooks (for iPad or iPhone)
• Barnes and Noble (for Nook)
• Sony (for Ereader)
• And many other readers

And remember, proceeds go to The Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking.

Give a gift for Christmas or Hanukkah

If you know a child who likes to dream big, you can give Born to Fly for Christmas or Hanukkah. Just click the "give a gift" tab on each of the bookstore sites to send a gift ebook.

One more thing...Blossom has her very own Facebook page, so please be her fan, okay? She'll be thrilled. And maybe she'll tell you what in the world she's doing in this picture:

 

The B2F curriculum is FINISHED!

This is huge news!  After 1 year of solid work, we've FINISHED the curriculum for The Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking.

Can you see me jumping for joy? Dancing? Spinning? Doing cartwheels?

I wish I could show you this amazing curriculum that gives teachers all over the world the tools they need to teach the important concepts in the B2F wordless book.  Our goal is to reach kids before the traffickers do -- and this curriculum does that.

The team has worked on it for a year and they did a brilliant job. Mega thanks to educators Karen Armistead and Georgia Ana Larson for sharing their expertise and heart on every page, and to artist Leah Wiedemer whose illustrations make it all come alive.

Georgia Ana, who's taught at-risk kids in 3rd-world countries, told me, "If you want to make a change in a community, you have to involve every level of that community in what you're doing."

That's what we've done. 

She helped us create a 6-week community program to stop child trafficking. It involves not just kids, parents, and teachers, but the entire community.

It's nearly 70 pages and includes age-appropriate teaching material, games, posters, activities, and more. Adults mentor teenagers to be "apprentice teachers," and they work together to teach the younger kids in their community. That way we reach everyone.

There's NOTHING else like this anywhere. 

That's why dozens of people all over the world have written to us and are waiting for copies of everything.

But first we have to test it.

And here's more good news.

Someone has offered to cover the costs to test the B2F program in the Dominican Republic -- starting THIS MONTH. They're even taking care of printing costs. Awesome!

Once we get feedback from these teachers, teens, and kids, we'll tweak everything and begin distributing these amazing materials around the world.

So watch this space for details!

B2F in DC

Last week I was in Washington DC where I met with a number of people about child trafficking and what The Born2Fly Project is doing to stop it.

Here are some quick quotes from some of them:

"The whole issue of human trafficking is not taken seriously by governments. They ratify the treaties but don't follow through and do anything. The US is the only country with an ambassador heading their anti-trafficking office. More countries need to do that."

-- Baroness Mary Goudie, abolitionist and member of the House of Lords

"Many countries have a very 1880s view of what human trafficking is. For them it simply means 'moving prostitutes across borders.' The US and UK focus on the exploitation nature of human trafficking. You can't just relegate women to be prostitutes. These women are exploited."

-- Ambassador Luis CdeBaca, director, Office to Monitor and Combat Human Trafficking, US State Department

"Corporations must recognize there is a real vulnerability if they don't recognize these issues. They can be trailblazers on these issues."

-- Mark Lagon, former ambassador-at-large with the Office to Monitor and Combat Human Trafficking, US State Department; now consultant to corporations

"The exemplar of this is Avon [and their foundation to stop domestic and gender violence]. We must build a message that philanthropic goals are going to shape a corporation's name, brand, and profits. It's doing well by doing good."

-- Paula Stern, former chairwoman of the International Trade Commission

I also met with Amy O'Neill Richard at the State Department, one of the authors of the annual Trafficking in Persons Report; Julie Stricker at the State Department, who works with international programs fighting human trafficking; and Dr. Laura Lederer, former head of the Office to Monitor and Combat Human Trafficking and now director of Global Centurion, which works to stop the demand side of trafficking.

Laura invited Born to Fly to join Triple S Network (Stop Sex Slavery), a coalition of 100 anti-trafficking organizations. (We accepted, of course!)

I've had some follow-up conversations with Baroness Goudie, and she'll be guest-posting on this blog (and graciously invited me to write for hers).

"We must keep writing articles and blogging about human trafficking," she stressed. "That is the place to make changes." 

Amen. Thank you for reading this blog and wanting to make changes.

Sneak preview of the Born2Fly book to stop child trafficking

"When can we see the Born to Fly book?  When, when, WHEN???"

Okay, you win! I'm trying to keep the book under wraps until the companion curriculum is complete, but I WILL give you a tiny sneak peak at the cover.

So here for the 1st time ever (drum roll) is the cover of the wordless book that's the centerpiece of The B2F Project to stop child trafficking:

The words you see are the only words in the entire book!  They are the title of the book in about 40 languages ranging from A to Z (Arabic to Zulu -- really!). 

Shout out to many people, including the Twitterverse, for helping to get all those translations. We have so many translations in fact, that they spill over to the back cover (which isn't shown here). The actual cover is about 8x10" so it will be a lot easier to "read" than the tiny image you see here.

Why wordless?

We're going wordless so that we don't have to translate the book into thousands of languages. We tell the story in 400 illustrations by artist Leah Wiedemer -- about 80 pages in all.

That's Blossom on the cover -- a caterpillar who has a dream to fly. In her quest to follow her dream, she gets kidnapped by the Dream Thieves, who are out to steal everyone's dreams (including hers). In the process she learns 4 important lessons that will help keep kids from getting trafficked:

1. Choices have consequences.
2. It's important to know who your true friends are.
3. You are valuable.
4. You were born to fly; don't settle for less.

Want to see more?  You'll just have to wait!

Companion curriculum

Meanwhile, for the past 6 months we've been working on the companion curriculum that will teach kids the important concepts in the wordless book.  It's about 75% finished -- and a whole lot longer than I ever thought it would be, but the more material we can include for teachers, the better. This will have to be translated into major languages, of course.

Remember, most kids get taken because they don't know the lures that traffickers use (their parents don't, either).  We can dramatically reduce the number of kids being trafficked simply by educating kids and their parents ahead of time.

If you'd like to partner with us to do that, you can make a tax-deductible donation via PayPal or credit card by clicking here.  Thank you for helping us reach kids before the traffickers do.

The photo that changed my life

My Twitter buddy Pam Mandel (@nerdseyeview) is one smart cookie.  Pam is a travel writer and blogger (and one of the first people I ever followed on Twitter). 

For the month of April, she's opened up her blog, Nerd's Eye View, to 29 people to write a guest post -- as long as it's about some aspect of travel.

I jumped at the chance and today she features my guest post about the photo that changed my life.  You can read it here.

This is the photo, by the way, but you'll have to click on over to Pam's blog to read why it changed my life.

Child sex tourism: They're kids, not tourist attractions

Little-known fact about Diana:  The very first thing I ever published was a travel article. 

It was way back in the 1970s (I was 2 years old at the time, of course), and it was a newspaper article about the week I spent eating fantastic foods while visiting relatives in Sicily. 

The Washington Star graciously published it (and I suspect my atrocious first attempt at writing contributed to the demise of the Star a few years later). 

I still love to travel (41 countries and counting).  There are many things I do not like about travel, however:

1. Jet lag
2. Tummy trouble
3. Child sex tourism

You can guess which one this blog post is about. 

This is about organized tours that you can book on the internet so you can fly to a another country—or another city in the US, like Atlanta—and pay a few dollars to repeatedly rape a little girl (or boy).

Why would anyone want to do that? How's this for justification:

"On this trip, I've had sex with a 14-year-old girl in Mexico and a 15-year-old in Colombia. I'm helping them financially. If they don't have sex with me, they may not have enough food. If someone has a problem with me doing this, let UNICEF feed them."

--Retired U.S. school teacher (via US Department of Justice)

This Monday, January 11, is Human Trafficking Awareness Day. (Actually all of January has been set aside in the US as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.) 

Since I love to travel, I’m commemorating the day and month by writing about the not-so-nice side of travel:  child sex tourism.

The facts

• More than one million children worldwide are drawn into the sex trade each year. (ECPAT)
• They service 10-40 customers a night.
• Some are just 4 years old.

According to World Vision:

"Some Americans take advantage of prostituted children while traveling to impoverished countries for business, tourism and other legitimate reasons. Others travel abroad specifically for a 'sex tour.'

"Sex tourists travel to countries such as Cambodia, Thailand, Costa Rica, Mexico and Brazil, expecting anonymity, low-cost prostitution, easily accessible children and impunity from prosecution.

"Notably, it is estimated that one-third of the prostitutes in Cambodia are children.
The United States has laws that prohibit sex with minors in other countries and has greatly increased government efforts to combat this problem. Under the Protect Act of 2003, United States citizens or residents who engage in sexual activity abroad with a child under 18 can face 30 years in a U.S. prison. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is now actively investigating American sex tourists abroad and making arrests.

"Sexually exploited children are severely wounded physically and emotionally. Many acquire diseases such as HIV and AIDS, and almost all experience rejection by their families and communities in addition to fear, shame and despair."

Under federal law (18 U.S.C. § 2423), it is illegal for a U.S. citizen to travel abroad intending to engage in sexual activity with a child younger than 18 that would be illegal if it occurred in the U.S.  Individuals who commit these crimes are subject to prosecution in the U.S. even if the crime was committed on foreign soil. (National Center for Mission and Exploited Children)

You don’t have to fly around the world to find child sex tourism. It happens in the US, probably in your city. The documentary Playground reports on this horror in Atlanta. (Warning: graphic content.)

Traveling? Here's what you can do about it:

1. Whatever your profession or interest, here’s a comprehensive list of what you can do: www.endslaverynow.com (hat tip blogger Emily Bain Murphy at Season of Light).
2. Call or e-mail your representative to voice your support for the Child Protection Compact Act (HR 2737).
3. Report an American sex tourist if you have information regarding someone who has sexually exploited a child. E-mail the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Operation Predator: operation.predator@DHS.gov
4. If you’re planning an international trip, look up your destinations in the 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report and learn about the child sex tourism industry there.
5. See where your destination country ranks in the fight to stop child trafficking.
6. Take free anti-trafficking brochures, posters, info cards with you (available in many languages).
7. Watch US Immigration and Customs Enforcement awareness videos.
8. Learn what to ask if you think someone is trafficked.
9. Carry a copy of Global hotlines to report child trafficking in other countries.
10. In the US, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center to report a trafficking victim: (888) 373-7888.

If you're in the travel industry:

• Thecode.org:  What the tourism industry is doing to stop child trafficking
• Fact sheet about child sex tourism (ECPAT)
• U.S. law on child sex tourism (World Vision)
• Information about the Protect Act (World Vision)
• Young Person’s Guide to Combating Child Sex Tourism (ECPAT)
• Child Sex Tourism Prevention Project (World Vision)
• www.slaverymap.org
• How India is cracking down on the tourism industry for promoting child sex tourism
• Google “human trafficking awareness day.”  There are more than 1.5 million entries listing events, resources, and stories.
• Google “how to stop child sex tourism.”
• Google “what hotels are doing to stop child sex tourism.”
• Google "Olympics child trafficking."
• Google "World Cup child trafficking."

Travel blogger Pam Mandel (@nerdseyeview) has a great post on BlogHer about her own experiences in Cambodia seeing the horrors of child sex tourism all too up-close-and-personal. I'd love to see more travel writers cover this not-so-nice side of travel. (If you do, leave a link in the comments.)

Thanks for reading this extra-long post.

 

Can I quote you on that?

At the top of my daily to-do agenda, I keep a list of motivational quotes I've gathered. I post them front and center to inspire me as I work on The Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking. All year long, whenever I find a new one, I add it to the list.

When the fight seems impossible, I read what Einstein said. Or Edison. Or Bono.

On January 1, I'll start a brand-new list, so enjoy these now. I hope they motivate you as much as they do me. 

Got a fav quote of your own? Leave it as a comment. (I'll begin my 2010 list on Saturday and could use a few good ones to start the year right.)

1. “God has a plan to help bring justice to the world—and his plan is us.”
    —Gary Haugen

2. "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."
    —Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

3. “Learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the children."
    —Isaiah 1:17

4. “The day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
    —Anais Nin

5. “Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.”
    —Leon Joseph Cardinal Suenens

6. "Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral."
    —Paulo Freire

7. "Dreams have only one owner at a time. That's why dreamers are lonely."
    —Erma Bombeck

8. "Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, 'But we knew nothing about this,' does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who guards your life know it? Will He not repay each person according to what he has done?"
    —Proverbs 24:11-12

9. “When you choose to look past the horizon, the sky is the limit.”

10. "Glance up to the summit, know that you're worthy of journeying there, and focus down on your feet, and just take the next, simple step."
    —Jamie Clarke

11. "You do the ridiculous, God will do the miraculous."
    —Jaeson Ma

12. "Dream the dreams that alter the course of world history."
    —Bill Johnson

13. "If God answered all your prayers of the last 7 days would anything in the world change or just your world?"

14. "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."
    —Exodus 14:14

15. "It is not safe to play it safe."

16. “My very greatest asset was that I simply did not understand what was impossible.”
    —Wendy Kopp, founder, Teach 4 America

17. "This is what the Sovereign Lord says to you, dry bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life."
    —Ezekiel 37:5

18. "Isn't 'Love thy neighbour' in the global village so inconvenient? God writes us these lines, but we have to sing them."
    —Bono

19. "How would you treat a friend who lied to you as much as your fears do?"
    —W.P. Young

20. “God...gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were."
    —Romans 4:17

21. "When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this—you haven't."
    —Thomas Edison

22. “It will cost us heavily to stand for the right when the wrong is in the majority, which is 100 percent of the time.”
    —A.W. Tozer

23. "A time comes when silence is betrayal."
    —Martin Luther King, Jr.

24. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
    —Martin Luther King, Jr.

25. “It’s not that I’m so smart. It’s just that I stick with problems longer.”
    —Albert Einstein

26. “It always seems impossible until it's done.”
    —Nelson Mandela

Who Knew Santa Was an Abolitionist?

It's amazing what you can learn by reading children's books.

Earlier this year I had an opportunity to edit a new children's book called Tales of the Tick-Tock Time Traveler: Saint Nicholas's Secret, written by Karla Johnson and illustrated by Nathan Wiedemer.

Nicholas, a 3rd-century bishop who lived in what is now Turkey, learned about a poor man with three daughters to marry off. 

The man was too destitute to pay the dowry for the girls, meaning they would be sold into slavery (aka child trafficking).

Nicholas heard of the girls' plight and late one night quietly waited outside the family's meager home and threw coins into their window--making sure no one, especially the father, saw him.

The father found the money and used it to pay off his debts--and his girls were rescued from a life of slavery.

OK, no one knows for sure if that truly happened, but according to the Saint Nicholas Center there's good reason to believe it did:

This story, distinct to Nicholas, can be regarded as historical in its essence. There are three very ancient accounts which only differ in regard to the number of maidens and other detail.

This event reveals important aspects of St. Nicholas's personality, namely, his charitable nature and humility. This story is not found in hagiographic accounts of other saints' lives.

Saint Nicholas, of course, became the model for modern-day Santa Claus. 

Who knew Santa was really an abolitionist?

90 Days to Go

So how's that book coming?  You know, the one you promised yourself way back on January 1that you'd write in 2008?

No guilt, no pressure, but just to let you know, you've got about 90 days to get started. You don't have to finish your book in 2008, but wouldn't you like to start it?  Here's a painless way to begin--two don'ts and one do:

Don't just sit down and begin writing chapter 1.  

That's the surest way to never finish.  How can you write your book when you don't know what to say--or how you're going to say it?  You may be bubbling over with info, but please do not just sit down and start writing.  Trust me on this.

Do brainstorm. 

Grab a piece of paper or a blank document on your computer--and start brainstorming.  Make a list of everything you'd like to cover in your book. Every thought, every quote, every example, every topic. Make it as long as you like.  Spend a couple of weeks on it.

Don't edit your list.  

Don't hit the delete button or erase a thing.  You're just brainstorming and you have to allow your brain the liberty to think without restraints.  There will be plenty of time to edit your list later.

If you can do that one step, you'll be on your way to writing your book.  Meanwhile, if you need help, direction, and focus, I have two tools for you:

1. How to Write a Book
2. Personalized one-on-one writer's coaching

So what's kept you from writing your book?  Share it with the rest of us.  The more we can understand the blocks to writing, the more we can overcome them.  Just click "comments" below (or go to my blog site and click on "comments" at the end of this post). Let the rest of us know the writer's blocks you face--and how you overcome them.

 

Shalom!

I love to travel...and I love to write about traveling.  Here's my just-published article about visiting Israel.  It comes out in next month's issue of Charisma magazine, and is already up on their site. 

I had fun researching it--going to Israel and then interviewing (or e-interviewing) people all over the world about their own trips.  (Can you believe I actually found someone in China who'd just returned from Jerusalem?)

This is the 3rd piece I've written on Israel.  The others are here and here.

Enjoy...and shalom!

How to Write a Book

If I had a dime for everyone who's told me they want to write a book, I'd be a rich woman. 

I can't tell you how many people over the years have said they've always dreamed of writing a book--yet don't know how to do it or where to begin.

That's why I wrote a practical and information-packed e-book called How to Write a Book.  I made it motivating and encouraging, and filled it with useful information to help you write the book that's inside you. 

In 7 practical steps, it sets out a do-able plan to help you:

• Move your book from dream to reality.
• Overcome the pitfalls every writer faces.
• Organize your thoughts and research.
• Plan what to include in your book (and what to leave out).
• Fit book-writing into your already busy schedule.
• Keep yourself motivated and moving forward. 

That's a lot of information for the cost of a few visits to Starbucks--just $14.95. 

If you're ready to learn how to write the book that's inside you, just click here to order.  You can pay by credit card or PayPal, and in about 5 minutes How to Write a Book will be in your in-box--and you'll be on your way to writing the book you’ve always dreamed of writing.

I can't wait to read what you write.

The Writer's Workshop: Another Book Trend

Yesterday I mentioned one of the trends I saw at the annual ICRS show was an increase in the number of fiction books.

Here's another trend: more self-published books than ever before. One of the largest booths was a publisher I had never heard of--WinePress.  They do "custom" publishing as well as print on demand; I'm not sure what the difference is, but you can check the various packages on their website.  WinePress had 4 book signings going on at once.  The covers were very nice and the print quality was excellent. 

There are plenty of other POD publishers in both the Christian and secular market.  Just Google "print on demand" and you'll see what I mean.

If you're considering a POD publisher, always ask for samples of their work and references from other authors they've worked with.  Read Writer Beware on SFWA's website; their warnings tend to be a little negative, but they're good to read so that you consider the advantages and disadvantages of POD.  The site also includes links to more articles and resources.

If you missed yesterday's post, click here for two great resources to help you find an agent when you're ready for that step.

Happy writing.  I can't wait to read your book.

Books, Books, and More Books

Yesterday I joined about 13,500 other people at the annual International Christian Retailing Show (formerly known as Christian Booksellers Association) in Orlando, Florida.  There were three highlights--only one of which had to do with books:

1.  I attended a book signing for my brother-in-law, John Stanko, who just published his 9th book, The Faith Files.  (You'll soon be able to download the e-book version on John's website.  In the meantime, take the free assessment on the site to find out your PQ--Purpose Assessment.)

 

 

 

   

   

2.  I met Ben Stein, whose documentary Expelled premiered earlier this year and is about to come out on DVD.  (He was signing posters for the film.) (No, he wasn't wearing his signature schoolboy shorts.)

Expelled exposed the prejudice against scientists who reject Darwinian thinking.  It took in almost $8 million at the box office earlier this year, making it the 12th most successful documentary of all time.

 

3.  I met Roy and Melanie Fields and Lindell Cooley.  Roy leads worship at the Florida Outpouring, the 4-day event that is now in its 105th day with no end in sight; I've gone to the meetings many times and loved them all.  Lindell led worship for years at the Brownsville Revival in Pensacola, Florida.  Here we are all acting goofy:

One trend I noticed at ICRS this year was the huge amount of fiction books.  So if you're writing a novel, this is your year. 

And if you've finished your novel, here are two great resources to help you find an agent: Query Tracker and Agent Query.  Who knows, maybe your book will be at ICRS next year and you'll be doing a book signing. 

The Writer's Workshop: Got Books?

Here's an interesting trend in book publishing:

Last year the production of traditional books rose only 1%, but the output of print-on-demand (POD) and other non-traditional books soared--from 21,936 in 2006 to 134,773 in 2007!

You can read the full R.R. Bowker report here.  There's more in Publisher's Weekly and The Book Marketing Expert newsletter.

This is good news for not-yet-noticed authors who haven't been able to interest a traditional publisher in their books.  Self publishing is getting easier and cheaper year by year.

Remember, you can't publish what you haven't written.  If you need help writing your book, I offer personalized writer's coaching anywhere in the world. I'll even pay for the call--via phone or Skype.

There's a book inside you and if you need someone to help you pull it out and get it on paper, a personalized coaching session can do wonders. 

Want more info?  It's here or email me at coaching@peapodpublishing.com.

And You're Not Working on Your Book Because....?

When I read about the 5 men who co-authored a new book, Lost Innocence, I knew the rest of us have no excuse for not writing our own books. 

The authors are convicted murderers serving time in prison.  They decided to band together to write a book that could help young people avoid the same mistakes they made. 

After they wrote it, they pooled their own money with help from their families to pay for an initial printing of 200 books, which they want to donate to schools, libraries, and juvenile facilities. 

You can read more here.

Now, about those excuses you've been giving for not working on your book...

The Writer's Workshop: The Greatest Fear

If you're writing a book, you already know what your greatest fear is: "I'll never finish this book!"

If your book is a novel, you need to identify your hero's greatest fear, too.  That's one of three elements that will help you weave a can't-put-it-down plot.  (For the other two, see here and here.)

What makes your hero panic?  What keeps him or her up at night?  Is she afraid of rejection?  Does he fear failure?  Heights?  Dying?  The family farm?  Her father, mother, or older brother? 

Perhaps it's ridicule, control, or drowning.  Maybe it's spiders, sharks, or snakes (think of Arachnophobia, Jaws, and Indiana Jones--although in Indy's case, snakes are more of a recurring gag; his greatest fear is probably boredom!). 

Your hero's greatest fear keeps the story moving because it's one of the elements that he or she must confront and conquer (or at least try to) by the end of the book.

That's why plot whiz Martha Alderson calls fear one of the "basic character traits that have the potential to create dramatic action scenes filled with conflict, tension, and suspense."

Click here for more from Martha's article on plot.

Spinning a Plot by Marileta Robinson also has helpful info on fear as a plot device.

Spend some time thinking about your hero's greatest fear.  It will help you overcome one of yours ("I'll never finish this book!").

 

To comment, click "comments" below (or go to my blog site and click on "comments" at the end of this post).

The Writer's Workshop: The Fatal Flaw

A few weeks ago I shared with you some of the writing lessons I've learned as I've worked on the first book for the Not For Sale project to stop child trafficking.  One of them is called the "I want" song.  The hero of your book (or film or musical) wants something--and what he or she wants is what the plot is all about. You can read more about the "I want" song here. 

Here's another powerful plot element--and what happens when it collides with the "I want" song.  This one is called the "fatal flaw."  Every hero needs a flaw.  As writers, we fall in love with our heroes and we tend to make them too perfect.  That also makes them unbelievable. 

No one--not even your hero--is perfect.  Every hero needs a fatal flaw.  That's what makes him human.  It's what we can relate to.  It's what gets her into all the trouble that carries the plot. By the end of the book, he's conquered it or it has conquered him.

Does your hero get angry too easily?  How about impatient?  Prejudiced?  Totally unorganized?  Late?  Controlling?  Codependent?  Narcissistic?  

You may be saying, "That sounds like the villain, not the hero!"  Your hero doesn't have to be possessed or totally controlled by his fatal flaw; it just has to be part of his character traits and his growth.  It's what he has to learn to overcome.  It's how she grows as she learns from her mistakes.

The fatal flaw gets the hero into trouble.  The "I want" song keeps him going in spite of it.  When those two elements collide, your plot begins to take shape.

For more on this, just Google "fatal flaw writing" and you'll come up with a lot of tips, such as this from Dara Marks, this from the "unknown screenwriter," and this from Jessica Morrell.

I have a third plot element to add to this collision and will share it with you in another post. 

Meanwhile, keep writing.  If your fatal flaw is procrastination, this is the time to take control of it. 

If you need someone to help you along, I provide personalized writer's coaching by phone from anywhere in the world and am happy to help you get your book out of you and on paper. You can email me for more information. 

Remember: You can't publish what you haven't written.  Take that first step and start writing what's inside you. The world is waiting to read it.

 

3-2-1...and We're Live!

This Wednesday morning, I'll be interviewed live on the premiere of a new internet radio program called Your PurposeQuest: The Power of a Focused Life, with Dr. John Stanko.

Thanks to internet radio, you can listen live on your computer from anywhere in the world (or listen later on demand).  You can even call in a question--it's live!

The host of the program, John Stanko, is my brother-in-law.  John has helped tens of thousands of people all over the world (including me) find their purpose and be more focused, creative, and effective at what they do.  (He and I have a running competition about who's been to more countries; sadly, he's slightly ahead...for the moment.) 

If you know John, you know he's a fantastic speaker and motivator (and very funny).  If you don't know him, you're in for a treat.  Here's what we'll be talking about:

Episode One: Write a Book, Save a Child

Have you ever thought about writing a book?  Ever wanted to travel or start a company that will make the world a better place to live?

If so, then you won’t want to miss John Stanko’s inaugural program with his guest, Diana Scimone. Diana is a publisher, author, world traveler and founder of PawPaw's Pals, a nonprofit organization working to alleviate the child trafficking problem around the world. Join John and Diana as they talk about writing, travel, purpose and how you can be a person of purpose, too!

I invite you to listen live on VoiceAmerica's website this Wednesday, May 21, at 9:00 am Eastern time.  That's 8:00 am Central, 2:00 pm in the UK, 3:00 pm in Zimbabwe, 9:00 pm in China--or for your own city, click here for a world clock. 

It's really easy to tune in.  Just go to VoiceAmerica's website, click on the "networks" tab, then "VoiceAmerica," and you'll immediately hear the program.  The program will be repeated 12 hours later, then archived on the site for on-demand play.

You can call the show while it's live at 1.866.472.5787 or email your questions to John before, during, or after the show.

John will host a new episode of Your PurposeQuest every week in the same time slot.  Join me on the premiere this Wednesday.  (And if you call in a question, please make it an easy one, okay?)   

 

To comment on this blog post, click "comments" below (or if you subscribe to this blog, click here or go to my blog site and click on "comments" at the end of this entry).

Journey to Jordan

The article I wrote about my trip to Jordan last fall has been published in Charisma magazine.  You can read it here.

I've also added a Jordan photo album to this blog; it's just to the left of this post if you're reading it on the blog itself (otherwise, you can see the photos by clicking here; double click on the thumbnails and you'll see them full-size with captions).

My journey to Jordan was great and I look forward to a return visit; it's time for more yummy mezzas and another death-defying, donkey-dodging climb in spectacular Petra.  Hope you enjoy the article and the photos!

 

To comment on this blog post, click "comments" below.

 

The Writer's Workshop: Lessons From Broadway

Exactly two years ago this week, I had an opportunity to meet Broadway writer and director Stephen Schwartz--and four of his words have stuck with me ever since.

All his words were memorable, of course, but I'm going to focus on just four of them here because they've been so valuable as I've worked on my first book for the "Not For Sale" project to help stop child trafficking.

Schwartz has written music and/or lyrics for many Broadway shows including Godspell, Pippin, and the current Broadway hit, Wicked. He collaborated with Leonard Bernstein on Mass, and with Alan Menken on the scores for the Disney animated features Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  He also wrote the songs for the DreamWorks animated film The Prince of Egypt. 

Can you see why when Stephen Schwartz spoke, I was taking notes?

So what are the four golden words he shared that I've remembered to this day?  They are:

The "I want" song

The hero of any musical or novel or film wants something--and what he or she wants is what the plot is all about. 

Since Schwartz deals with music, he calls it the "I want song."  As he spoke, he showed us how his musicals open with the hero singing his or her "I want" song. 

Pippin, for example, features the beautiful song "Corner of the Sky" a few minutes into the plot.  (Check out William Katt singing it on Broadway, with a little of Ben Vereen thrown in for fun.)

You can't get more "I want" than those lyrics:  "I've got to be where my spirit can run free, got to find my corner of the sky."  The rest of the musical is about Pippin's quest to run free and find his corner of the sky--with all the ups and downs and near-death experiences that his quest entails.

As you write your novel (or screenplay or musical), think about the "I want" song for your main character.  What does she want so badly that she's willing to go through an entire book to find it?  What propels him, keeps him up at night, motivates him and practically drives him crazy in his quest to reach it?

Find it, and you'll find a valuable tool to help develop your plot.

In an upcoming post, I'll talk about another powerful plot element and what happens when it collides with the "I want" song -- which is exactly what your story needs to keep readers on the edge of their seats (or paying $150 for a ticket to see it on Broadway). 

To read more of what I learned about writing from Stephen Schwartz, check out Issue #10 of my e-letter, The Writer's Workshop. (I'm no longer publishing The Writer's Workshop and have instead incorporated it into this blog, but you can find all the back issues here including the first seven, which are part of my e-book, How to Write a Book.)

   

To comment on this blog post, click "comments" below (or if you subscribe to this blog, click here or go to my blog site and click on "comments" at the end of this entry).

 

A Tip for Writers

One of my favorite free e-zines is the monthly Children's Writing Update, published by Writing4Kids.  For the next 13 days, they've got a great deal on e-books for writers (sale ends April 15).   

While most of the sale e-books are designed for children's writers, some have helpful info whether you're writing for kids or adults.  For example, Author to Editor: Query Letter Secrets of the Pros is great for all writers. (I've found it really helpful, and, yes, I paid full price :-( .)

Here are the other e-books on sale for the next 13 days:

• Improving the Odds: Insider Secrets to Getting Published
• Career Starter, The Beginner's Guide to Writing Children's Books
• The Children's Writer's Big Book of "How To"
• I've Written a Story. What Do I Do Now?
• In Their Own Words: The Best of CBI's Interviews
• CBI In-Depth: Plot Workshop
• CBI In-Depth: Character Workshop
• CBI In-Depth: Brainstorming Workshop

Click here for more info on the e-book sale. (Disclaimer: Yours truly gets a tiny percentage of your purchase price if you order anything from Writing4Kids by clicking through any of the links in this blog post.)

While you're on the Writing4Kids website, here are a few more resources for writers (most of them are free):

1.  Free e-books.  On the home page, click on "articles and tips" on the left side, then on "free e-books."  Scroll down to "free e-books," which you can download immediately. 

2.  Free how-to articles.  While you're on the same page, scroll through the list of dozens of helpful (and free) articles about how to write for children.

3.  Free monthly e-zine, Children's Writing Update.  There's a sign-up box on the home page.  You'll receive a free e-book for subscribing, Getting Started Writing Children's Picture Books.

4.  Children's Book Insider.  There's a charge for this one, but it's well worth the price.  Go to the home page and click "The Newsletter" in the upper left.

Remember, the sale on e-books ends April 15.  Happy reading (and writing)!

 

It's Coming: Celebrate a Failure Week!

Each year, Dr. John Stanko, president of PurposeQuest International, declares the last week of April as "Celebrate a Failure Week."

Really, this is not an April Fool's joke. It's a real holiday--and there's a real reason for it.

"During Celebrate a Failure Week," explains John (who happens to be my brother-in-law), "I urge you to find every way possible to celebrate the powerful role of failure in your life or the life of your organization."

Failure can be powerful?  Yes, and you can read why on John's "Monday Memo" blog by clicking here and here.

As part of the celebration, John encourages everyone to talk about their own failures and--just as importantly--to share what they've learned from them. 

So, now that I've brought it up, I guess I have to do that, right? 

One of my most spectacular professional failures occurred back when I was a special assignment correspondent for a news service that covered human rights and religious rights around the world.  My editor passed along a tip about some families in France who belonged to a religious organization that was being accused of disciplining their children in a way the government felt was too harsh.  The government had even removed 7 children from their homes and placed them in state custody.

It seemed like a clear case -- not of child abuse but of religious harassment by the government.  I talked to countless people, poured over faxes and affidavits (in English and French), and even interviewed a French Supreme Court justice by phone.  Oh, a few people felt the situations were abusive, but most everyone else I talked to said these people were just being persecuted for their faith, and there was no evidence of any abuse.

Over a period of months, I wrote numerous articles about the case.  At one point, the coverage came to the attention of an international organization, which sent a delegation to France to investigate what seemed more and more like a cut-and-dry case of religious persecution...until the organization called me with the shocking news:  This was a cult and there was abuse involved. I had been duped.

I was devastated--not only for the children who truly were in danger, but also by my ignorance and stupidity in believing lies.  My news service had to print a retraction.  My editor apologized to me for involving me in the fiasco, but I could not blame her; I did not do a good enough job of uncovering the facts.

What did I learn from this debacle?  It made me a better journalist.  I learned to check and double check.  I learned how to recognize my own biases.  And I learned a lot about child abuse that I'm using today as president of an organization working to stop child trafficking.

Would I have preferred not to go through that devastating failure?  Absolutely.  But as someone once said, "I wouldn't give you a dime to repeat that experience, but I wouldn't take a million dollars for it, either."

You've probably learned a lot through your failures, too.  "So get ready for a big celebration," says John, "for we all have some colossal failures to celebrate and some important lessons to review. We want to get failure working for us and not against us, so with that in mind, let the party begin."

 

To comment on this blog post, click "comments" below (or if you subscribe to this post, click here or go to my blog site and click on "comments" at the end of this entry).

David vs. Eliab

Last night I watched a classic David vs. Goliath story--the film Elizabeth: The Golden Age.  (You can read my post about it here.)

This morning when I checked my email, there was an article in an e-letter I subscribe to entitled "David vs. Eliab."

Everyone knows Goliath--but who is Eliab?  He's a guy we need to know as we take on Goliath-sized issues (such as child sexual trafficking), because sometimes it's Eliab whom we face, not the more obvious Goliath.

Rather than excerpt the article, I'm going to reprint it here (with permission of Elijah List, where it was originally posted).  It's by Victoria Boyson, one of my favorite contemporary spiritual writers.  (Victoria is like E.F. Hutton, when she writes, I listen.  Her contact info is below.) 

Here's her article:

DAVID VS. ELIAB

Those around you see you as insignificant but your destiny is very great, indeed. You are a giant killer.

by Victoria Boyson

As David went to the battlefield to see how he could help his brothers, he was appalled at Goliath's words against his people; he wanted to do something about it. But before David could fight against the giant, he had to overcome the accusations of his own brother Eliab.

"When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, 'Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.'

'Now what have I done?' said David. 'Can't I even speak?' He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter" (1 Samuel 17:28-30).

When I read the title of this chapter to my son Cole, he very kindly informed me that I was incorrect. "No, Mom," he said, "it's David and Goliath!" We have all read or heard about the story of David killing the giant Goliath, but shortly before he killed the giant, his brother attacked him verbally. And before David could face off with Goliath, he had to overcome the heated accusation of his oldest brother Eliab.

David trusted in God's power, but his brother did not. Eliab thought the doubts he had about David's character were really wisdom. He misunderstood the accusations in his heart toward David to be a gift of discernment into his brother's life. He thought he understood his youngest brother. He had known David his whole life; he had probably helped to raise him, but could not see David's heart for what it was.

Eliab misinterpreted David's confidence in God to be arrogance and conceit. He thought David was just "talking big" for the boys, and it angered him. He had lived with David his whole life and just saw a little brother who was only good enough to tend the sheep in their father's pasture. Eliab did not know that while David was in the position of the lowly shepherd boy, God was training him to be a giant killer.

"But David said to Saul, 'Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine'" (1 Samuel 17:34-37).

While no one was paying attention to David, God was training him to be a mighty man of faith--someone who would not rely on his own strength or wisdom, but on God's. God taught David how to fight His way and not the ways of other men. God taught David to use faith and a sling. When the fighting men of the day tried to train David to fight with armor and a sword, it was uncomfortable for him because he was not used to it (see 1 Samuel 17:39).

God Wants to Train Us

If we are willing, God Himself will teach us and train us to walk in His ways. Many times God uses the experiences of other men to train us, but there comes a time when He desires to get one-on-one with us (see John 16:13). He desires to take us through our trials Himself, step by step, and the more we learn from Him, the greater our capacity to be taught by Him.

Eliab fashioned himself after the warriors of the day, and I am sure in their eyes he ranked very high. He was certain that he knew what it took to fight; he was sure David did not have what it took. After all, Eliab was the one that Samuel thought would be God's choice for the next king of Israel. The Lord told Samuel to disregard Eliab's appearance and his height, because He'd rejected him. "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks after the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).

Eliab was furious with David for even thinking he, a shepherd, could fight the giant Goliath. Eliab thought David was conceited for talking with such great faith. Eliab reasoned that since he, the oldest and biggest of his brothers, would not even consider fighting with Goliath, how could his "baby brother" have the gall to think he could fight him. He was positive that David's talk was just conceit and that his intentions were wicked. Eliab was focusing on Goliath and thought he was too big for anyone to fight, but David's focus was on his God. Eliab thought that David was thinking too highly of himself, but actually it was Eliab who thought too little of God.

Turn Away from the Accuser

Have you ever been in David's position? Your intentions are honorable and your heart is pure, but those around you misinterpret your actions. They point at your confidence in God and assume it is pride, so they decide that they need to remind you of your smallness, as Eliab did when he reminded David he was only a shepherd. "And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert?" (1 Samuel 17:28).

People like Eliab allow their mouths to be used by doubt and unbelief. They will point out to every reason--why you could not possibly fulfill the call of God on your life. They are positive you could never have the things God has promised to you. Eliab felt he knew David, and he was sure there was nothing special about him. However, Eliab was not there in the fields with the sheep when God was fashioning David's heart after His own and building up his faith in Him. It was at this time that David made one of the most important decisions of his life: he turned away from Eliab and started talking to someone else.

The enemy will find those people in our lives that regard us as inferior and unsuitable for ministry, and speak through them to devour our destiny. He will use them to point out our inadequacies and remind us of all the reasons why we could not possibly do anything of significance.

But God also has a voice! He can see into our future and the motives of our heart. We need to tune our ears into Him and He will encourage us to do all that He asks us to do. He wants us to break free from the person we have previously been and see ourselves walking in our destiny in God.

You Are a Giant Killer

Beloved, God sees you as a giant killer. He sees you as victorious; He pushes you to try. Close your ears to the enemy's lies and see yourself as God sees you. God wishes to use your uniqueness to enrich the body of Christ.

God has been trying to convince you that your destiny is very great, indeed. But at the same time, those around you see you as insignificant. They may view you as anointed, but cannot possibly envision what God has planned for you. It simply is not possible for them to see your destiny. Don't expect them to; it is between you and God. He desires it to be that way until He releases you into your destiny in Him.

If David had listened to his brother Eliab, he would not have killed the giant, and he may never have become king. While anticipating the birth of our destiny, we must endeavor to turn away from the opinions of man and heed the voice of God. God promised David the crown of Israel, but he was virtually unknown until he fought and killed Goliath. It was through this step of faith that God made his name known. God gave him a platform by which he would eventually be made king and fulfill his destiny. Every step of faith and every act of obedience to God will get us one step closer to our destiny in Him. If David had not stepped out in faith here, he might not have sat on the throne of Israel.

What is the Goliath in your life today? What is God asking you to do? No matter what it is, be ready for the voice of the accuser to say you cannot do it. He wants to stop your destiny. Don't let him do it! When the enemy tries to discourage you, be encouraged by it. He would not waste his time trying to discourage you unless he actually thought you would fulfill your destiny in God.

Please pray this with me: "Dear Father, help me to hear Your voice and not the voice of the accuser. Change my vision. Help me see myself the way You do. Allow me to see others in light of Your grace, and help me see Your destiny in people everywhere I look!"

Victoria Boyson
Speaking Life Ministries
victoria@boyson.org

Reprinted with permission of:
ElijahList Publications
310 2nd Ave SE
Albany, OR 97321
www.elijahlist.com
info@elijahlist.net

 

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David vs. Goliath

Last week I flew across country, and one of the films on the flight was Elizabeth: The Golden Age. I was tempted to watch it, but really I don't like watching movies on planes (unless I'm taking a 24-hour flight and ready to jump out the window halfway through it).  The screens are too small, too close (in the seat back in front of you) or too far away (halfway down the aisle), the sound is too scratchy, etc. etc. 

So I decided to wait to watch Elizabeth: The Golden Age...which I did last night on DVD. 

It was well worth the wait, and I highly recommend it.  This is the second film about Queen Elizabeth I in a series starring Cate Blanchett, and this one covers her later years with an emphasis on the defeat of the Spanish Armada. 

The costumes, lighting, sets, scenery, music, and acting were all spectacular, but nothing compared with the tension as England's out-numbered, out-trained, and out-supplied navy faced the overwhelming superiority of Spain's armada. 

Even though I knew how the story ends (you will, too, if you paid attention during high school history class), I was on the edge of my chair.

It's a classic David vs. Goliath story.  If you're looking at overwhelming odds in your own life (say, for example, you're trying to write a book to help end child trafficking), rent the DVD and be inspired.

And be sure to read the 2nd post I'm blogging right now--about David versus another adversary.

 

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A Lot of Work

I'm constantly struck by how difficult the writing process is.

I used to think that writers were the only creative types who struggled with their craft.  I assumed that artists, for example, would paint their paintings right the first time.  Poets would jot a few notes on a page, and voila, a poem. Sculptors would know exactly where to tap the stone and a few days later would end up with a stunning work of art.

Then I became friends with 3 artists (who were members of my first creative group), and I saw that painting is hard work.  They plan; they sketch; they wrestle; they visualize; they research; they start all over again; they work; they work, and they work some more.

Why would I think that's any different from writing?  Because when we see a painting in a museum or hear a fantastic piece of music on the radio, we have no clue about the blood, sweat, and tears that went into producing it.

If you want to write something that's going to last a long time (and who doesn't?),  you have to be prepared for a lot of work.  A lot more than you're thinking about right now.  You will get up early.  You will go to bed late.  You will miss TV shows.  You will hibernate from your friends and family.  You will offend some of them.  You will devote time to learning what you don't know. 

You will think you are going crazy.

There is no way around that process. But if you know it ahead of time, you won't be surprised by how much work is required--and you won't be tempted to stop or be put off by the process.

I'm currently working on the children's books for the "Not For Sale" campaign to stop child trafficking, and I'm going through all that and more.  I'm on the third rewrite of one of the books, and frankly I wish it were finished. 

And it could have been, but my writer's group won't let me stop rewriting.  They know there's a lot more potential in the pages, and they're pushing me to make it the best it can be.  I guess I'm grateful. :-)

One of the tools that's helped our writer's group as we're working to finish our various writing projects is Blockbuster Plots, a book-and-DVD set that gives amazingly helpful information about structuring plots.  As I've followed the advice of author and writer's coach Martha Alderson, it's been more work (and more left-brained work) than I care to think about--but it's also been helpful and well worth the time and effort.

There's no way around it.  Writing is hard work.  But like childbirth, once you hold your "baby" in your hands--your own book with your own name on the cover--you'll forget the pain.  It will all be worth it.  You'll see.

Cause for Celebration

One year ago today marked the very first post on this blog.  Thanks for sticking with me (especially during those weeks when I've been mono-tasking and didn't post a single word).

In honor of this momentous occasion, I want to share a super-cool, super-techie, oh-so-2008 way to publish your book--for a mere $20.

I just learned about it via an article in this week's BusinessWeek magazine called "So You Want to Publish That Novel," by BW technology columnist Stephen Wildstrom. 

It's called Blurb.   

In recent years, mega-leaps in technology have allowed writers to publish their own books via print-on-demand.  Blurb goes one step further (and is even cheaper).  With Blurb's free software (which you can download for either Windows or Mac), you can actually design your own book yourself, one page at a time. You choose the layout and drop in your glowing text.

When you finish, click the "submit" button, and a few days later a copy of your very own book will arrive in your very own mailbox.  It's a real, live printed paperback or hardback book complete with shiny bound cover, just like you'd find in a bookstore (so it's more than a "photo book" like you would print on Snapfish, Shutterfly, and other sites, although you can add photos and illustrations if you want). 

Your copy of your book will be the only copy in the entire universe, of course (what do you expect for $19.95, or $29.95 for hardcover?), but you can order more at volume prices.  You can even sell your book on Blurb's website, where friends, family, and others can buy it.

Caveat:  Self-designed and printed books will never replace books designed by professionals--such as my good friends Cathleen Kwas of CLicK Services, a graphic designer who's designed all my Adventures With PawPaw books, and Brian and Kathy Banashak at Evergreen Press, who've designed and published many of the books that I've edited and ghost-written. 

But if you want to quickly and cheaply get a single copy of your own book in your own two hands, Blurb sounds like a great idea.

Of course, you know what I always say:  "You can't publish a book you haven't written."  Blurb is great, but it won't write your book for you.  Only you can do that.

So, will 2008 be the year that you not only write but also publish your own book?

 

To comment on this blog post, click "comments" below (or if you subscribe to this post, just go to my blog site  and click on "comments" at the end of this post). 

And the Winner Is...

This week, the American Library Association announced the winners of the best children's books of the past year.

The 2008 Newbery Medal for the most outstanding children's book went to Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village, written by Laura Amy Schlitz (Candlewick).

There were also 3 Newbery Honor books: Elijah of Buxton, by Christopher Paul Curtis (Scholastic), The Wednesday Wars, by Gary D. Schmidt (Clarion), and Feathers, by Jacqueline Woodson (Putnam).

The 2008 Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished picture book for children went to The Invention of Hugo Cabret, illustrated by Brian Selznick (Scholastic).

There were also 4 Caldecott Honor books: Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad, illustrated by Kadir Nelson and written by Ellen Levine (Scholastic), First the Egg, illustrated and written by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Roaring Brook/Neal Porter), The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain, illustrated and written by Peter Sis (Farrar/Frances Foster), and Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity, illustrated and written by Mo Willems (Hyperion).

The book links above, by the way, are for Books-A-Million rather than Amazon.  Books-A-Million is my favorite box bookstore because each store has an entire section in their children's department for Caldecott and Newberry medal winners--so I like to support them for supporting good children's literature. If you're a Books-A-Million "Millionaire's Club" member ($15 a year), you save about 50% online.

I love reading fiction, and a few years ago I got tired of reading adult fiction, which seemed to have more trash in it than I cared to endure  So I started reading Newbery award winners.  I haven't read them all yet, but some of the titles I really enjoyed are A Single Shard (one of my all-time favorite books of any genre), Crispin: The Cross of Lead, and Because of Winn-Dixie.

I started reading Newbery winners because I hope to write one someday.  And a Caldecott.  So watch this space. 

Five Reasons Why You Can't Be a Writer

That headline got your attention, didn't it?  You're probably thinking, "Yup, one of those reasons is for me.  Probably all five.  Maybe six or seven." 

That's the title of an article in a free e-zine I subscribe to (info in a moment)--and you have to read the subtitle to understand what it's about:  "Five Reasons Why You Can't Be a Writer:  And why none of them are true." 

Ignoring the possible grammatical mistake (most editors would say it should be "why none of them is true"), this is a great article, and continues my theme of a few days ago to encourage you to get started writing the book that's in you. 

You can read the article in today's issue of Children's Writing Update (scroll down to item #7).  Now, if you're not a children's writer, don't use that as a reason not to read the article!  All five reasons apply to writers of all genres.

To subscribe to Children's Writing Update (it's free), click here.  The same website has lots more resources to jumpstart your writing, including a fee-based monthly e-letter, Children's Book Insider, along with many helpful books and DVDs.  (Now through December 15, they're all 25% off--www.write4kids.com.) My writer's group has faithfully studied Blockbuster Plots, and it's made a huge impact on our writing.  I had no idea what "scene" and "summary" were, nor that most of my fiction writing was "summary" (bad, very bad).   

So read the article, drop that dust cloth (you'll understand when you read the first paragraph), and start writing.  I can't wait to read what you write.

    

To comment on this blog post, click "comments" below (or if you subscribe to this post, just go to my blog site and click on "comments" at the end of this post).

Six Weeks to Go

So how's that book coming along?  If you promised yourself back in January that 2007 was the year you were going to write your book, there's still time to get started--6 weeks to be exact.

One of the reasons that people put off writing a book is because they think it needs to be perfect.  If it's not perfect, they reason, they shouldn't write it.  And since they can't achieve perfection, they don't even try.

Here's an excerpt from a book I'd like to read, Art and Fear, by David Bayles and Ted Orland (Image Continuum Press).  It speaks to our unachievable desire to create the perfect work of art:

The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups.  All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the "quantity" of work they produced, all those on the right, solely on the "quality" of the work.

He procedure was simple:  fifty pounds of pots rated an "A," forty pounds a "B," and so on.  Those being graded on "quality," however, needed to produce only one pot--albeit a perfect one--to get an "A."

Which group do you think got the higher grade?  I figured it was the group being graded on quality.  After all, they had to produce only one pot, and had all the time in the world to do it.  But read what happened:

Came grading time and a curious fact emerged.  The works of the highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for "quantity."  It seemed that the "quality" group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

To require perfection is to invite paralysis.  The pattern is predictable: as you see error in what you have done, you steer your work toward what you imagine you can do perfectly.  You cling ever more tightly to what you already know you can do--away from risk and exploration, and possibly further from the work of your heart.  You find reasons to procrastinate, since to not work is to not make mistakes. 

Believing that artwork should be perfect, you gradually become convinced that you cannot do what you are trying to do; so you quit.  And in one of the perverse little ironies of life, only the pattern itself achieves perfection--a perfect death spiral; you misdirect your work; you stall; you quit. 

If you've been waiting until you can write the perfect book, you'll have to wait a long time.  More important than writing the perfect book is writing the first word.  Take a risk and just dive in.  You can do it.  (If you need help, my e-book How to Write a Book can help.)

I'll check back with you in 6 weeks to see how you're doing.

Mono-Tasking

Where, oh where, has Diana been?

Mono-tasking.

God gave me many gifts, but multi-tasking isn't one of them.  I think I've figured out His plan, because not being a multi-tasker means I can spend all my time on one project and not go crazy.

And so for the past three months since you've heard from me, I've been glued to my laptop working on the "Not For Sale" children's books--all part of the child-trafficking awareness campaign that PawPaw's Pals launched earlier this year.  A number of people thought I moved, died, or became a recluse--but I was simply mono-tasking.

The manuscript for the first book is now "marinating"--step 7 of my 7-step How to Write a Book blueprint.  (I hope that means I'm nearing completion.)  I'm taking a breather to let it marinate while I work on some other projects--including writing this blog.

I have to say I'm enjoying the break!  Two weekends ago, I flew up to New York to see family and foliage. (Both were wonderful!)  Last weekend, Urban Think, an independent bookstore in Orlando, held a fundraiser for "Not For Sale."  It was loads of fun, and kids as well as adults came. 

PawPaw made his own appearance and tried to upstage artist/illustrator Leah Wiedemer and me, but what can we do?  PawPaw loves to hog the limelight.  He now has lots of new pals, so he's pretty happy.

Next week while I let the manuscript marinate a little more, I'll head to Jordan to write an article for Charisma magazine.  (I've had two articles in recent issues of the magazine--both on Israel:  "Journey of a Lifetime" and "Top 10 Destinations.")  Jordan will be country #41 in my passport.  I'll blog while I'm there, so look for photos, especially of beautiful Petra.

By the time I get home, the manuscript should have properly marinated and I'll be ready for the next rewrite.

So for those of you who've googled my name hoping against hope that it didn't pop up in an obituary, please know I'm alive and well.  Thanks for sticking with me.

Journey to Israel

My feature story on Israel is in this month's issue of Charisma magazine.  You can read it by clicking here. 

If you're reading this blog on my website, click the photo (to the left) of the adorable little boy standing against the turquoise door, and you'll see some of my photos of kids in Israel.  This particular little boy was on the Via Dolorosa in the old city in Jerusalem.  (If you receive this blog as an email, you can still see the photos by going to www.dianascimone.com and clicking on the photo.)

The Writer's Workshop: More on the Hero's Journey

Exactly 3 months ago, I posted a blog from Thailand about one of the books I'm writing for the "Not For Sale" child-trafficking awareness project.  In that blog, I mentioned the incredibly helpful "hero's journey" model for fiction writing.  (To read that blog, go to www.dianascimone.com and look at February 16.)

Since then, two things have happened:  First, I've read The Writer's Journey, by Christopher Vogel, which details the step-by-step model for the hero's journey.  I highly recommend Vogel's book, especially if you are panicked about writing fiction (as I was).  Vogel's book is based on the model that Joseph Campbell wrote about in his book, The Hero With a Thousand Faces. If the hero's journey model helped George Lucas write Star Wars, it can help you and me write our own blockbusters.

Second, using the hero's journey model, I've been writing the books that will make up the "Not For Sale" project.  They include a picture book (for kids and adults), a chapter book, and a companion curriculum.  The goal of all 3 books is to make kids and parents aware of the dangers of child trafficking.  We'll test the books in Thailand, where trafficking is a huge problem, then make them available to other countries where trafficking is also a crisis.

If you'd like more information on the "Not For Sale" child-trafficking awareness project, just visit our website: www.notforsale.info

To comment on this blog post, click "comments" below (or if you subscribe to this post, just go to my blog site and click on "comments" at the end of this post).

 

A Trunk Full of Scraps

To be honest, I’ve never had more than a casual interest in quiltmaking—until I learned about an art exhibit called Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt. The quilts made by women in the rural town of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, are spectacular, modern, and geometric works of art. (Take a moment to click on the link to see what I mean.)

Today I saw about 50 of the breathtaking Gee's Bend quilts at the Orlando Museum of Art, watched a riveting video about the ladies who made them, and met 3 women from Eatonville, Florida, who have about 200 years of quiltmaking experience among them (some of it on display in the Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of FIne Arts).

For 3 hours, we listened, watched, and inhaled their creativity. It was quite an experience. Can I share with you 10 things I learned from them about the creative process and life?

1.  “However the needle goes, I go.” Sometimes we have to break the creative rules and just see where the needle takes us.

2. “I don’t buy fabric; whatever I have is what I use.” Having or not having the resources shouldn’t keep us from creating.

3. “I never bought a book of patterns. I just put my own scraps together. The more I’d quilt, the better I got.”  Don’t stop; keep going.

4. “Alone.” That was the answer the local ladies gave to the question, “Do you quilt in groups or alone?” I belong to two writer’s groups and have many creative family members, friends, and colleagues, but when it comes down to it, the actual creative work has to be done alone.

5. “We just quilted.” Five generations of ladies in Gee’s Bend “just quilted.” They sold their work for $5—until someone discovered them, and now their work hangs in museums and galleries around the country and sells for $30,000 per quilt. It may take generations for someone to discover your creativity, but keep working at it.

6. “You cannot beat out the creativity that is in you.” The first quilter in Gee’s Bend was a teenage girl named Dinah who arrived in 1859—to be a slave on a cotton plantation. Today, more than 20 of her descendants are quiltmakers in Gee’s Bend, including her great-great-granddaughter, whose work is included in the exhibit.

7. “We didn’t buy nothin’ because we didn’t have nothin’ to buy nothin' with.” Poverty, slavery, and injustice cannot stop the creative process.

8. “I make quilts from a trunk full of scraps.” You may not have anything but a trunk full of scraps, but you can use it to create something beautiful that will bless you and generations to come.

9. “We didn’t have the education you have today, but God spoke to us through wisdom and understanding.” If you need wisdom and understanding on your own creative project, who better to ask than the Creator?

10. “I asked the Lord what He wanted me to do in His vineyard.” He took her art and showcased it to the world.

So, what's in your trunk full of scraps?  I can't wait to see what you create with it.

The Writer's Workshop: Help!

If you're a writer, you've no doubt uttered the word, "Help!" in the past 24 hours.  Or maybe the past 24 seconds.

There are a few things that help me through those "Help!" moments.

First is my writer's group.  We meet regularly--about every 3 weeks.  Knowing a meeting is coming up keeps us writing, and after all the hardest part of writing is...writing.  No one wants to come to a meeting and miss the opportunity to share what they've written and get valuable feedback, so there's always a mad scramble of creativity the week before we get together.

One of our unwritten rules is the "sandwich" critique  We're all taking a big step to share our "babies" even among trusted colleagues, and we have to know it's a safe place where no one will tell us not to quit our day job. 

So after someone has shared a portion of the latest edit of their masterpiece, we start by piling on as much encouragement and enthusiasm as we can.  (You can always find something positive to say.)  Next we give our critiques.  And then we finish with another bit of encouragement.  It's a sandwich of two pieces of nice fluffy white bread surrounded by some meat, and is a nice way for fragile artists to share their creative work and feel encouraged, not discouraged, by the process.

Here are more guidelines from Don't Forget to Write!, a book published by the 6' Ferret Writers' Group about building and maintaining a writer's group. (Book information is on their site, www.6ftferrets.com.)  If you google "writer's groups," you'll find lots more information.  (As with anything on the web, chew the meat and spit out the bones.)

We meet in person, although there are many groups that meet by internet.  My group has just 3 writers in it, which I find is the perfect number.  Two is too few, and more than 3 means there's not enough time to cover everyone's work.  (We probably devote an excessive amount of time to eating at our meetings, so I suppose if you cut out the food, there would be more time for critique, but food is critical to the creative process!)

We've also found that 3 weeks is a good length of time between meetings.  Two weeks is not enough time, and 4 weeks is too long.

So, find 2 friends who also want to improve their writing skills, and set a time for your first meeting.  Even if you think you don't know anything about writing your own work, never mind helping someone else improve theirs, you'll be surprised at how much you can help each other.  During the time between meetings, study up on your craft, and you'll have even more to share at your next get-together.

You may say, "I'd love to join a writer's group, or start one, but I'm not a writer yet."

My response is, "Have you ever written even one word? A phone message?  A grocery list?  Then you're a writer."  Being published doesn't make you a writer.  It just makes you a published writer.  Years ago, long before I was ever published, I caught myself saying, "I want to be a writer" one too many times.  I started saying, "I'm a writer."  Because I was.  You are too.

In the next post, I'll share another help for those "Help!" moments.  Meanwhile, if you belong to a writer's group and have some tips about what works (or doesn't) for your meetings, feel free to post a comment and share it with the rest of us.

Yes, I'm Alive

Enough people have written to inquire if I am dead or alive that I realize I better post something soon before someone calls the authorities.

Yes, I arrived home safe and sound from Thailand.  Yes, it was a very productive trip.  Yes, my eye has healed almost completely.  I went to numerous doctors when I got home, who all gave my eye a good report.  And yes, I am busy writing the "Not For Sale" children's book and curriculum--which is why you haven't heard from me.  Multi-tasking is not one of my strong suits (hey, it allows me to focus all my attention on one project, like a book, and not go crazy).

The trip was excellent, and all the interviews, meetings, and visits to safe houses and shelters really helped me focus "Not For Sale" even more clearly than it was before.  I learned there is already a child-trafficking awareness curriculum and companion DVD in the schools, and that all Thai children are required to read/watch it.  As a result, the rate of trafficking has gone down dramatically--though among ethnic Thais, not among children who are members of minority groups who do not necessarily go to school.  The rate of trafficking among those kids is still high. So they are the ones we are now focused on reaching with a soon-to-be completed children's book and companion curriculum--all to warn kids about trafficking and give them other options no matter what they face. Once we test the book and curriculum in Thailand, we'll translate everything for other countries that also have a trafficking crisis.

The person (me) who was panicked about writing fiction ("I'm a journalist, I'm a journalist!") now can't stop writing this children's book.  I'm following my own advice and working my way through all 7 steps in How to Write a Book--and each day the book grows longer and longer.

I'll tell you more in future posts.  (Please don't make me multi-task.)

Meanwhile, I'm putting together a team to travel to northern Thailand this fall.  Many of you have asked, "What can I do to help stop child trafficking?"  This trip will help you answer that question.  If you'd like more information, just email me at diana@pawpawspals.org.  (Write "Thailand trip" in the subject line.)

Thanks for following my travels while I was in Thailand.  Don't forget to look at the photos--I've added more.  Click on the picture to the left of PawPaw in the the red "songtaow" (taxi bus), or if you receive these updates by email, just click on www.dianascimone.com to view the photos.  And as always thank you for being one of PawPaw's best pals.

The Writer's Workshop: Hero's Journey

(posted from northern Thailand) 

"I can't write fiction."

That's what I've always said.  In fact, I said it so much, I began to believe it.  But here I am in Thailand working on a picture book for children, and it's got to have a plot.  What to do?

The first thing was to stop telling myself I couldn't write fiction! 

The second was remembering a writing tool that my friend and fellow writer Cindy MacDonald told me about--called the "Hero's Journey."  This is a classic story structure popularized by Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero With a Thousand Faces.

You can find some variation of the Hero's Journey in just about any adventure book or film--Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Wizard of Oz, Star Wars, Chronicles of Narnia, Charlotte's Web, and more.

When I started applying the 12 steps of the Hero's Journey to my own picture book, within an hour I had a plot.  I've been tweaking it for the past 5 days as I study the Hero's Journey model, adding more conflict, drama, and details to each of the steps.

If you're faced with (and panicked by) writing fiction, the Hero's Journey might help you, too.

Here briefly are the 12 steps; below I'll give you links where you can find more information:

1.  The Ordinary World:  The hero's normal world before the story begins.  It's what he's familiar with--his life up til now.

2.  Call to Adventure:  The hero is presented with a problem or challenge, an event that forces him out, the call.

3.  Refusal of the Call:  The hero refuses the challenge or journey; he's scared, full of doubts, etc.

4.  Meeting with the Mentor:  The hero meets a mentor to gain advice, encouragement, wisdom, and direction for the adventure.

5.  Crossing the First Threshold:  The hero leaves the Ordinary World and goes into the Special World; he takes the first step.

6.  Tests, Allies, and Enemies:  The hero faces tests, meets allies, encounters enemies, and learns the rules of the Special World.  This step shows him who his enemies and friends are.

7.  Approach:  The hero has hit setbacks during the tests, and may need to adjust his approach.

8.  Ordeal:  He faces the biggest life or death crisis.

9.  Seizing the Reward:  The hero has survived death, overcome his fears, and now reaches the goal.

10.  The Road Back:  The hero must return to the Ordinary World to tell others.

11.  Resurrection Hero:  Another test, the final threshold, where the hero faces death on the road back.  He must use everything he's learned to survive this final battle.  There is a transformation in him.

12.  Return with the Elixir:  The hero returns to the Ordinary World from the journey with the lessons learned, and uses them to help everyone in the Ordinary World.  He is able to go back and help his people with what he's learned.

Here are some websites with more information: 

The Hero's Journey
The Classic Hero video notes
A worksheet to help you spot the Hero's Journey in various movies

Let me know what you think.  You can post a comment on this blog by clicking the link below.

A big "thank you" to the many people who wrote offering encouragement, prayers, and just plain ol' sympathy after my last post about my black eye.  I'm doing fine, and my eye is no longer black--just a lovely shade of red mixed with yellow.  All is going well here in Thailand, and I'm making progress on our child-trafficking project, including the picture book.  Tomorrow PawPaw and I visit a children's home. He's very excited (and brushing up on his Thai, although he'll have an interpreter).

Thanks for being PawPaw's best pals--and mine.

The Best Rejection Letter I Ever Received

    I promised to keep in touch with all those writers who dutifully read my now-retired  Writer's Workshop e-letter (and actually noticed when I stopped writing it).  Yesterday one of my writing mentors passed away.  I didn't realize that humor columnist Art Buchwald had been one of my mentors until I watched Tom Brokaw's interview with him last night and actually got teary-eyed.

    Years ago when I was preparing to head to college in Washington, D.C., one of my baby-sitting clients who happened to be editor of our hometown paper in Dayton, Ohio, gave me some advice:  "Subscribe to The Washington Post."  He had no idea I would later become a writer, and neither did I.  All I knew is I wanted to travel the world, and the best way to do that, it seemed, was to major in French (I was 17 years old; what did I know?).

    When I got to Washington, I followed Mr. Alexander's advice, and was probably the only person in my dorm at Catholic University who had the newspaper delivered to her door.  I read it, I followed the political happenings in my new hometown, I learned about what was playing at the brand-new Kennedy Center, I cut out recipes, and I started reading the humor column by some guy named Art Buchwald.

    Later when I graduated and started working in D.C. in the news department of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (right across the street from the White House), I continued reading Buchwald's column.  I can probably still recite excerpts from his famous column on the first Thanksgiving, which the Post would reprint every November.  I'd insist my family put up with me reading it year after year, and I probably have a yellowed copy of it in a box somewhere.

    Also in a box is the very best rejection letter I ever received, and it has to do with Art Buchwald.  One of the first things I ever wrote was a humor piece about Christmas, and how the intricate bureaucracy of the government dealt with Santa Claus.  My friends loved it, so I dutifully sent it off to The Washington Post. (I've never had a problem with thinking big.) 

    A few weeks later, I received a rejection letter in the mail.  I was shocked--and not just because someone rejected my work.  This was actually a real live personal letter, not a form letter like most rejection letters, and it was from one of the editors of the Post.  He thanked me for my submission and said he would not be able to publish it.  Then he added a line that has remained with me for more than 30 years   "We have a lot of writers who have to be kept busy this time of year, including one by the name of Buchwald."

    Wow, to be mentioned in the same sentence as Art Buchwald!  I hardly noticed that I had been rejected.

    I went on with my writing career and later developed the world's largest collection of rejection letters--but none as memorable as that one.

    In Buchwald's final column, which appears in today's Washington Post, he writes:

I know it's very egocentric to believe that someone is put on Earth for a reason. In my case, I like to think I was. And after this column appears in the paper following my passing, I would like to think it will either wind up on a cereal box top or be repeated every Thanksgiving Day.

    I guess I wasn't the only one who read his Pilgrim column every Thanksgiving.

    I have to agree with him that we are put on Earth for a reason (although I don't believe it's egocentric).  If your reason is to write, or to write about your reason for being here, please keep writing and don't deny the rest of us the pleasure of reading what you write.

    So for all of you writers who think you have the world's largest collection of rejection letters, keep writing, keep thinking big, keep sending out those submissions, keep developing your own collection of rejection letters (you have a long way to go to catch up with me), and most importantly, keep laughing.