Monday’s Pen to Paper: Encourage Creativity
I’m considering taking a year-long writing course. It would be a big commitment with my schedule, but I also know it would help me to keep some focus on my writing, which is not alway easy as coaching basketball seems to consume a majority of my time and energy. I love basketball, but I also love to write, so sometimes I have to take extra steps to make that happen…set some goals…establish some deadlines. A class is one way to do that.
What are some ways that you can encourage your creativity?
WRITING PROMPT: Robert wasn’t the type to set goals but times had changed…
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Sometimes Finding the Good in Life Means Picking the Right Cup
I didn’t have the best day yesterday.
I suppose it should have been, as it was my 20th Wedding Anniversary and the Seahawks won. But I was feeling kind of melancholy. My husband was meeting friends from out-of-town to watch the football game, my national commercial call back was cancelled (the chance for a BIG job, gone), a scheduled open gym for my basketball team (with colleges coaches in attendance,) also cancelled. And I’d spent much of the day picking up the house and buying food and drinks for guests that were to roll in after midnight.
But it could have been worse. I know, I’ve had worse.
Still, as my kids headed to bed and I sat down alone on the living room couch, sadness crept in on me (and a couple of tears.) But it didn’t last. Sometimes that’s all I need, to acknowledge the sadness. Then it’s time to brew tea, grab a book, curl up on the couch and listen to Bruno and Sassy’s soft snoring. To feel the good around me and remind myself that my family is healthy and we have a roof over our heads. That I’m lucky enough to be married to my best friend and that, life is beautiful.
And it doesn’t hurt to pick the right cup.
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Surround Yourself with Inspiration
I have to buy The Plot Thickens (St. Martins Press, 2002)by Noah Lukeman. My daughter checked it out from the library a couple of week ago, but it is now five days late, because I found it in her room and stole it. I started into the first chapter on characterization, and decided that it was a book that I have to have. The First Five Pages (Simon & Schuster, 1999), also by Mr. Lukeman, sits on the bookshelf next to my desk. I pull it out for inspiration from time to time. The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life, also needs to be sitting close by.
Surround yourself with books that inspire!
WRITING PROMPT (Based on a section in The Plot Thickens – Characterization: The Outer Life – A Crowed Room) Developing a character:
You have set your friend up on a blind date. He goes to the bar where he is to meet this date, but there are over two hundred women that fit your description of her. He calls you to learn more, what else can you tell him?
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Do What You Love
I love to hike. This summer I had planned to go on a few hikes with my kids and our dogs, but all throughout the summer stuff got in the way.
In August my athletic director “friended” me on Facebook and then whenever I checked Facebook, there was a picture of him standing on a mountain top. “Damn,” I’d think to myself, “I want to be there too.”
Finally I’d had enough. Yesterday morning at 5:30 am, I grabbed the dogs and hit the road. I could easily get to the top of Tiger Mountain and return in time to pick up the house before company arrived in the afternoon.
I stepped onto the trail feeling alive and inspired.
I’m like my dad that way. He is a hiker. He grew up in Austria traversing the hilltops in his back yard. I grew up hiking with him and admiring his spirit to climb. When he turned 40 years old he summited Mt Rainer, at 60 years old it was Mt Baker, and there were many peeks before and after. (though this year, at 75 years old, he decided to change it up with a bike ride from Spokane, Washington to the Idaho border).
The key is getting out and doing what you love.
I started up the three-mile Tiger Mountain path with gusto but quickly realized that nursing a bad hamstring for the last couple of months had left me in less than tip-top condition. Still I used my “never give up” basketball background as well as two energetic boxers pulling at the leash, to keep a good pace and reach the top.
And it was worth it. Though there was no view, because of the fog that sat in the valley, there was […]
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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Monday’s Pen to Paper: Change Is Life
There have been a lot of changes going on in my life, and though basketball and writing are still priorities for me, it’s been, and will continue to be, a challenge to settle into a new path.
Last spring I left my position as head basketball coach at the high school in my neighborhood and started closing out my PeaceLoveBasketball business because I was ready for a change. I decided to focus on my writing and put energy back into modeling (and catch up on projects that I had let go over the last 5 years). Then summer hit and so did even more change. The usual sports camps and family vacations took place of course, but then my daughter had heart surgery, our dog had two surgeries, and I lost my grandmother just as my daughter was headed off to college.
A lot of […]
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Time For A Date?
This summer I haven’t had many dates. Not with my husband or with my writing, and that’s a bummer. Fortunately I have my Thursday writing date with my friend Jenny. Those have been consistent every week (though not always on Thursday since it’s summertime), but beyond that it has been difficult to fit writing time in. The “must do’s” often sneak ahead of my writing, but one way I find time is by making a date with myself, putting it on the calendar and then escaping to a coffee shop or the beach, like a real date. Maybe I should try the same with my husband.
WRITING PROMPT #1: Where is your favorite place to write? Why?
WRITING PROMPT #2: Kendra peered out from behind the curtain as her date made his way to her front door…
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Good For Your Body & Soul
Sonya Elliott
Morning hike to Ollalie Lake
My recreational basketball team took the summer off so I’m using it as an opportunity to get in better shape for when we start again in the fall. Over the last couple of years I have lost a lot of strength and flexibility. My wind is still okay, but on the court it’s been tougher to rebound and play defense when I can’t hold my ground like I used to.
But not for much longer. I have been mixing it up with beach volleyball, weights, yoga, hiking and conditioning boot camps every day. And this morning, as my daughter and I hiked down from Ollalie Lake, it was nice to be sore again, not the sore that keeps me from bending down and weeding the yard or taking the plates out of the […]
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