Monday’s Pen to Paper: Big Magic
Last week I had the pleasure of seeing Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, speak at Benaroya Hall. It is alway helpful to hear that I’m not alone when it comes to the struggles of getting work done and when this information is followed up with thoughts on how to move forward in the writing journey, I am inspired and itching for my pen.
Ms. Gilbert’s idea of creativity and fear being a package deal makes sense. I have written a book and I know I can do it, but there is always this little something that works to drag me down in the process of writing another one, this fear perhaps that it can’t possibly happen again. It takes a lot of work to pull thousands of words together in a way that makes sense and that meets one’s fancy. So knowing that fear is common place, a part of the deal, helps to remind me that it is normal and that I can simply move along, and in time, with work, my new book will come together.
I can’t wait to dive into Big Magic and read other tidbits that can help me to bring my story together, although I know that nothing can do that better than sitting my butt in a chair, grabbing my pen, and getting to work. Write on!
WRITING PROMPT#1: What are you afraid of?
WRITING PROMPT#2:Candice bent low, ducked her head and entered the darkness…
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Get Ready for Basketball Season!
Basketball season is around the corner and for the first time in a long while I’m not preparing to coach, but instead preparing to watch. Simply watching is bound to keep me busy as I will be supporting my son and the boys basketball team, and of course I will be cheering on the high school girls team that I used to coach, and though I will miss being a part of their season as their coach, not coaching will also allow me to travel and watch my daughter who is playing basketball in college. I can’t wait!
If you’re a fan, parent, coach, or a player, here are some great basketball books to get you pumped up and ready for the season!
In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle (Memoir) by Madeleine Blais
Brief Garland (Memoir) by Harold Keith
Back on the Court : a young woman’s triumphant return to life, love & basketball (Memoir) by Sonya G. Elliott
Counting Coup: A True Story of Basketball and Honor on the Little Big Horn by Larry Colton (Memoir)
Standing Tall: A Memoir of Tragedy and Triumph (Memoir/Coaching) by C. Vivian Stringer
Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior (Memoir/Coaching) by Phil Jackson
They Call Me Coach (Coaching) by John Wooden
[…]Monday’s Pen to Paper: Guns – Know More. No More! – Be Heard
I was fortunate that my husband told me about the Umpqua College shootings last week (my daughter goes to college in Oregon), he saved me the moment of panic that he went through when he first got word that there had been another massacre at a college campus. What is happening in this country? Can we not see that loosing so many lives in this way is crazy?
The United States has more gun murders than other developed countries.
The United States has the highest rate of gun murders in a developed country and has had more mass shootings than days in 2015. These are frightening statistics. Of course I understand that there are many pieces of the puzzle, many issues involved when a person chooses to take another human beings life, let alone several, but the biggest piece of that damn puzzle has a gun on it, and it needs to be put in place. Controlled.
I normally stay away from ranting and raving and politics, yet at the same time isn’t that the reason that writer’s put words on paper, is for their opinions to be heard? Well, this is one of those moments. We as a nation have to make a change. Does there have to be such a line between Democrat and Republican? Can’t we come together and say LET’S SAVE LIVES? My Facebook newsfeed has been blowing up. And there are definitely two strong opinions out there but in the end how can we not agree that there are too many guns out in this world. Too many lives being lost.
I worry about my husband when he rides his motorcycle and a worry about my son when he plays football, but […]
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Peace
Yesterday my yoga instructor invited the class to choose an Intention for the day. I breathed in, my body and mind was tight, it has seemed that way for some time. Into my mind came the word PEACE. I thought, “How corny. Really? Peace is what you come up with Sonya?” But I closed my eyes, and again it was Peace that resonated for me. Peace that I needed.
As we all know, life is busy. I don’t think my life is any busier than anyone else’s, but I haven’t been able to find the peace and calm that is so important to me, especially in the midst of chaos. I write, model, chauffeur kids (well, now down to one), fix and manage rental houses and over the past twenty plus years I’ve been coaching as well. And during my last few years as a head coach, not only did amazing things happen, but a lot of negative energy was thrown in my direction by a group of parents and it made finding peace a little more difficult.
This part of my time coaching is not something I write about very often because I do my best to keep out the bad energy, but it comes up for me from time to time since I live in the neighborhood, and attend events at the high school where I coached, so I often see these parents. It’s not easy to forgive and forget.
The old sticks and stones will break my bones but words can never hurt me, is only partially true. The recent Mindful Magazine article The Stickiness of Misinformation, explains that once a lie has been told, it sticks in the mind, and if continually repeated is seen as […]
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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PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Court Dreams
Basketball has been a part of my life since I was a kid, and at forty-nine years old, I still can’t seem to get enough. Whether I’m playing, coaching or watching the game, when I’m near a ball, a court, or I hear the squeak of shoes on the hardwood, I feel at home.
The game has given me good times and bad times. It’s kept me in shape, it’s taught me life lessons, and once it even gave me a reason to live (read more about how basketball helped save my life after I lost my fiancé and was nearly killed, in Court Dreams: A Life Worth Living, at the Awesome Sports Project).
Find time to do the things that you love. Enjoy this life, it is truly worth living.
Book Reading: “Meet The Authors” @ Morgan Junction Community Festival in West Seattle
I’m excited to be a part of the Morgan Junction Community Festival in West Seattle this weekend, where local authors will be reading from their work!
“Meet the Authors”
Saturday, June 18, 2016
10 am to 5 pm
Morgan Junction, West Seattle
Northwest Corner of California Ave. SW and SW Beveridge Pl.
(Author booth located in Zeek’s Pizza parking lot)
Morgan Junction Community Festival Welcomes Local Authors
Where can you find Greek Gods, homicide detectives, and wanton boys all sharing one tent? This summer, they will be gathering under an awning at the Morgan Junction Community Festival. These are just a few of the dynamic characters that West Seattle authors bring to life in their novels and memoirs for your reading pleasure in genres as diverse as fantasy, young […]
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Stop Gun Violence!
All I could think about today when I sat down to write was NOT AGAIN! Not another mass shooting. I felt compelled to write about the Orlando mass shooting, but I wondered would it help? Does it matter? My answer came to me just as it did last fall with the Umpqua College shootings. It can’t hurt.
Last fall I wrote about the Umpqua College shootings in my blog, Guns – Know More. No More! – Be Heard. I wrote about needing to make changes to control guns and help reduce gun violence. In 1996, 35 people were killed and 23 wounded during one of the worlds deadliest massacres in Port Arthor, Australia and they introduced strict gun control laws and formulated the National Firearms Programme Implementation Act 1996, restricting the private ownership of semi-automatic rifles, semi-automatic shotguns and pump-action shotguns as well as introducing uniform firearms licensing. And […]
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