Monday’s Pen to Paper: Blog Hop
Recently I was asked by friend and blogger, Jenny McGlothern to join her in a Blog Hop. The idea behind a blog hop is to expose readers to new writers and to share information about their writing life. I jumped right in.
I met Jenny seven years ago. A mutual friend realized we were both writing books and said we HAD to meet. We have been writing together on Thursday mornings ever since. Jenny inspires me by keeping me accountable with my writing, but also with her fearless ability to express what needs to be out there. She blogs from the heart in her www.heartwriter.com blog every Monday. And she encourages mothers, and others, to “refill their cup” in her www.mamaneedsarefill.com blog. She is a life coach, retreat leader, writer, teacher at Seattle Life Coach Training and mother of two, and is a passionate, funny and inspiring writer. Check her out.
BLOG HOP QUESTIONS ON MY WRITING LIFE:
What am I currently working on?
My heart is in YA right now and my current novel is a story of a young woman’s journey through a post-apocalyptic world.
“Dylan wakes in a post-apocalyptic world where a majority of the human species have died. With no friends or family left alive in her small town in central Washington, Dylan embarks on a challenging journey across the state in search of her sister, her strength and ultimately her future.”
How does my work differ from others of its genre?
Often post-apocalyptic titles take place quite some time following the event that has changed the landscape and political structure of the world, my novel bridges that gap between the two and carries with it the memories and the […]
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Team Camps
I took my high school basketball girls to a team camp this week. It was a lot of fun and I really saw improvement individually and as a team.
It’s interesting how team camps have changed over the years. When I went with my teammates back in the 80’s, camp was filled with drills and skills, and coaches didn’t participate (a college player from the camp coached our team). Now team camps are more like tournaments. Teams play a lot of games and coaches coach their teams. It would be nice if we could meet in the middle, more skills and drills for the players and games that coaches could be a part of, but either way these camps give the opportunity for growth for players, coaches and teams.
At camp this week our overall focus was on being more patient. If we didn’t have the fast break (BTW we won first place in the camp’s fast break league), we wanted our point guard to bring the ball up top and set up our offense. We also had a specific focus for each game; blocking out, catching in triple threat and bumping the cutter, for example. The camp was a success because as the days progressed players improved their individual skills, I learned some new drills during clinic times (and enjoyed being back on campus where I played college basketball 30 years ago), and most important, as a team we played harder, smarter and with patience, and after working through some bumps in the road, we became an even closer team.
Consider going to team camp to grow as a player and as a team.
Monday’s Pen to Paper: You
Take a moment for yourself today.
WRITING PROMPT: Write about a time that you were self-indulgent…
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Getting Older
I had my first (and hopefully last), root canal this morning at 7:00am. I was hoping maybe it was all a mistake. My tooth wasn’t really hurting all that bad. But with X-rays and sensitivity tests it was decided that yes, a root canal was in order.
When the doc started working she reconfirmed that it would have been a matter of time, things already looked pretty inflamed. She made note of the fact that I must be pretty tough. I liked this. (This in itself is a blog all its own.)
To me, getting a root canal is a sign of getting old. This, I didn’t like.
My dad said to me once, “Sonya, you’re only as old as you feel.” This morning I feel old. But as the numbness in my mouth fades so will my melancholy mood, and I’ll be glad my tooth ache is gone, glad for modern medicine and glad that I’m still healthy and happy and have a quiet afternoon to write.
What makes you feel old? How do you keep yourself young at heart?
WRITING PROMPT #1: Write about getting older…
WRITING PROMPT #2: Stella sat in the dentist’s waiting room…
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: Perfect Input
I just sent in ten pages of my Young Adult Novel to my instructor to be critiqued. I’ve been taking a year-long course from her at the Hugo House and I’m looking forward to her critique. My book is slowly coming together and with time it will get there, and I truly respect her input.
Though it’s not alway easy to hear input on your work, it can help to move it forward. And depending on where the input comes from, you may need to just nod and smile and in the end, do your own thing. For me when advice came from my 15-year-old son, I tried not to be defensive (he didn’t give his opinion thoughtfully, he just gave it) but I listened, because he is my audience. “Why wouldn’t the cars work? Wouldn’t they just barricade themselves in the […]
Monday’s Pen to Paper: New Inspiration
My daughter has been working on writing a novel for a while. I often joke with her that her book will get published before mine. (Though with her work ethic and love of writing it may actually end up being true.) She is a senior in high school and will be graduating soon, so she’s busy with school and sports and activities, which has cut into her writing time, but over Easter weekend my brother was in town and with him he brought inspiration.
Not the Godly kind that one might expect at Easter, but quite the opposite. My brother is a former Army Airborne Ranger and my daughter is working on a young adult dystopian novel, so she was looking for information on guns and knives and warfare. Not only did my brother have plenty of information to give […]
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Do You Hear Me?
I heard basketballs bouncing outside when I was writing this week. Kids were shooting baskets in our front yard. (Not my kids, but not an uncommon occurrence since we put a basketball hoop in our front yard two years ago). I heard my husband say, “You should be using your left hand on the left side,” before he walked in the house on his way home from work.
I gave him a kiss and then headed to the door. I couldn’t let it go. (No longer a high school coach, but always a coach.) I lined up all three boys on a seam in the concrete. “Ok, pretend you’ve got a string attached from your left knee up to your elbow.” I lifted my arm and brought up my knee. “Like a puppet.” I explained some more. I had them do it with me […]
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