LIFE INSPIRED FITNESS: Chasing Waves with Amy Waeschle
Today’s Life Inspired Fitness guest is author Amy Waeschle. She is a perfect example of a woman who stays healthy and fit by doing what she loves. I first met Amy at the Pacific Northwest Writer’s Conference when she was working on her memoir Chasing Waves: A Surfer’s Tale Of Obsessive Wandering. I was struck by her love of surfing, as it echoed my feelings about basketball. Chasing Waves is a collection of stories based on Amy’s surfing adventures. After traveling from Morocco to Fiji to Canada, Amy’s exposure to diverse cultures and experiences expanded her love of surfing as well as her view of life. Amy published the memoir in 2009 and since then, has written seven more books. She is the author of the #1 Amazon Bestselling mystery series featuring Dr. Cassidy Kincaid and the novels Going Over the Falls and Feeding the Fire. The final book of her Cassidy Kincaid Mystery series, Cassidy’s Crusade, was just released and can be purchased at AMYWAESCHLE.COM, where you can also get a free copy of her novel Rescuing Reeve.
Amy, who inspires you?
As an athlete? Probably my high school rowing coach, Eleanor McElvaine. She was the one who sparked the fire inside me to work hard and have big dreams. Before rowing, I was kind of a couch potato, but rowing with her as my mentor changed all of that. As a writer I’ve been inspired by a lot of influences, from teachers to authors, and it’s changing all the time. My husband was my inspiration to try surfing, and that experience really motivated me to become a writer. He’s been my number one fan from the start.
When did you first learn to surf and what was it like?
My first experience was in Mexico. My husband (at […]
PEN TO PAPER: Writing To Save My Life
Several years ago I wrote an article about how writing literally saved my life after my fiancé was killed and I felt as if life wasn’t worth living. I never published the piece, but I hand it out when I speak to grief support groups, hoping that my experience with recovery will inspire others who are struggling. And now, I hope that by sharing it here, it will find it’s way to those in need…
“Writing to Save My Life”
Sonya G. Elliott
I wouldn’t have thought it could happen. Getting hit by a train and losing my fiancé just days before our wedding for one, but actually recovering from such a thing seems altogether unbelievable, even a miracle. And, of course, the fact that I survived was a miracle to my family and friends, but for me it was a death sentence that left me alone and struggling to go on with life. Had it not been for my journal, my writing, I may never have found my way.
I had played basketball for the Eastern Washington University Screamin’ Eagles from 1984 to 1988, then after graduating I moved to Seattle where I began working as a fashion model. Not the typical career choice for an athlete and honor student, but I had been a walking contradiction since I was a child, when I sat alone in the tall grass picking clovers and then quietly pushed myself to a stand and began walking for the first time. In high school I was the jock that sang solos in choir and did my homework. (I thought of myself as a well-rounded person, my classmates called me a nerd.) When I met Mark, I was still living a life of contradiction. I’d spend afternoons sashaying down the runway with my long blond hair piled high […]
PEN TO PAPER: Be Specific
Putting down on paper exactly what you want to share, being specific, is an easy way to bring more depth or color to your writing. Instead of tree, tell the reader what kind of tree. Instead of flower, give the reader a rose, a carnation, a lily. The reader will see, and smell and feel the difference. What kind of dog? Boxer, bulldog, jack russel terrier, shar pei or mutt. Show them. Let the reader see the furniture; chaise lounge, broken wooden stool, over-stuffed sofa. There are times when a basic word is all you need, but think about how you are painting a picture for the reader.
Let me show you what I’m talking about. Let’s start with a basic sentence:
The dog ran across the grass to the woman under the tree.
You could make a simple change to:
The beagle sprinted across the grass to Elizabeth who was standing under the pine tree.
Or you might try:
The white poodle skittered across the tight green grass to her owner who was sitting in a pale pink tennis skirt under the shade of a giant oak.
Or maybe:
The bullmastiff lumbered across the dry grass and up to a frail woman who was sitting on a wooden bench. He nuzzled her hand with his muzzle, and leaving her raincoat wet with drool, waddled over and peed on the stump of an old cedar.
These aren’t perfect, but I hope you can see how being more specific can draw a totally different picture?
For today’s writing prompts, let’s give it a try…
WRITING PROMPT 1: Use the example above, the dog ran across the grass to the woman under the tree, and write one or two examples of your own being specific.
WRITING PROMPT 2: Choose your own basic sentence to expand upon.
WRITING PROMPT 3: Samantha was learning to be more […]
PEN TO PAPER: Picture Not-So-Perfect Writing
I like to free-write from a picture. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just something that inspires you to sit down and put your thoughts on the page. The picture might send you down a personal path, bring back memories of the time you and your brother built mud houses for hours in the back yard or it might jump start your new novel. You never know. Just take a look at this picture or grab one of your own and get to work!
WRITING PROMPT: Use this photo or one of your own, set a timer and write!
Meet Sonya
Meet Sonya
Sonya Elliott’s memoir, Back on the Court: A Young Woman’s Triumphant Return to Life, Love & Basketball, is her story of finding hope in the wake of tragedy after she and her fiancé were hit by a train. She blogs about writing, basketball, and life and is currently working on a Young Adult Novel and a Non-Fiction Coaching book. Stories of her career as a fashion model are woven through her memoir, as both the Soloflex and Easy Spirit Shoes commercials were filmed during that time period, and this unique and intriguing business continues to be a part of her life.
Sonya played basketball at Eastern Washington University and was a starter for the Big Sky Champion team that went to the 1987 NCAA tournament. She coached for almost 25 years and was voted Seattle Times Coach of the Year, Seattle Officials Women’s Basketball Association Coach of the Year, and twice voted Metro League Coach of the Year. She loves the game of basketball and is thankful, not only for her husband and kids but for her ability to continue to get back on the court.
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PEN TO PAPER: A Method to the Madness
I finished the first draft of my young adult novel this month. I have a long way to go but the bones are there, and it feels good. This first draft is quite different compared to the first draft of my memoir, Back on the Court, mainly because a majority of that draft was written by hand. It seems crazy now, but I did like putting actual pen to paper.
I couldn’t cut and paste and adjust words, thoughts and paragraphs with ease like I can on a computer, but I could pick up the papers and feel them and then spread them on the floor, look at them, and move them around until they fit where they belonged. I liked seeing and organizing the madness. Recently, I found pictures from that time, so many years ago, when I escaped to a cabin on the Washington coast and gathered all the […]
PEN TO PAPER: Phone Frenzy
We all have cell phones these days. Phones that we almost never use to make phone calls. They probably shouldn’t even be called cell phones or mobile phones; they should be called mini mobile computers, since that’s what they are.
I try not to use mine often. But with emails and Instagram, I spend more time on it than I’d like. Sometimes I wonder how much more I would get done if I just turned it off all day. But then I think, what if my kids call? What if my parents call? And of course, I leave it on. It’s hard to imagine that twenty-two years ago when I was pregnant with my son, I packed up my Volkswagen Vanagon with my two-and-a-half year old daughter and boxer dog and drove more than 2500 miles to southern California and back (only broke down twice) with no cell phone.
And I survived. […]
PEN TO PAPER: Sleep Sagas
Sleep has been on my mind a lot lately. Mainly because I’m having a hard time doing it. I suppose that I’m not the only one, life in general has been a bit stressful over the last year. I thought I might sleep better after the election and once I was vaccinated, however, it doesn’t seem to be the case.
I’ve watched the Master Class on sleep, read books and listened to podcasts. I’ve adjusted my diet, continued with exercise, I get out into the light in the morning, occasionally I work on breathing techniques and yoga (this is a tough on for me to stick with). I am consistant with the time I head to bed and the time I roll out of bed in the morning, yet good sleep still seems illusive to me, until last night.
Now the pressure is on. What did I do yesterday that was so […]
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