It's the first Wednesday
of the month ~
the day when members of the
Insecure Writer's Support Group
share their writing struggles
and offer their encouragement
and support to other members.
To visit the IWSG website, click here.
To become a member of the IWSG, click here.
Our wonderful co-hosts who are stepping up to help
IWSG founder Alex J. Cavanaugh are: L. G. Keltner, Denise Covey, Sheri Larsen, J. Q. Rose, Chemist Ken and Michelle Wallace.
Visit them and thank them for co-hosting.
I'm sure they would appreciate an encouraging comment!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Happy New Year, Everyone!
How exhilarating it is to look forward
and contemplate the possibilities 2016 brings!
I am grateful to be alive, healthy, happy,
and blessed with good fortune.
Visiting in Breckenridge During Christmas Week
Colorado, USA
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rghts Reserved
I'm anticipating many good and hopeful things,
and the struggle with writing is one of them:
That stare-at-the-blank-page,
tearing my hair out,
coffee, ginger, and chocolate fueled
fight to wrestle the right words onto the page.
It can be agony, but it makes me feel so alive!
I am excited about where my memoir
and it's research will take me this year.
Just before Christmas, when I was writing out Christmas cards,
I was also sorting through a collection of old letters and cards.
I came across one written by Father Ouimet.
Father Ouimet is a key figure in my memoir.
Father Ouimet with My Father, Don MacBeath
Lansdowne House, Northern Ontario, Canada
Fall 1960
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rghts Reserved
running my fingers across "With Love, Maurice."
I felt such peace, love, and support flooding my heart,
as if Father Ouimet were with me
telling me I'm doing the right thing
to persist with this maddening memoir of mine.
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rghts Reserved
So far this journey has been a chaos of difficult emotions.
I still have them, but they are bound up with peace and love.
It's a weird and wonderful development that is carrying me forward.
A Path and a Way Forward
Burro Trail, Breckenridge, Colorado, USA
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rghts Reserved
So this is where I am with my writing as I move into 2016.
My goal is to have a complete first draft by the end of November.
I would enjoy hearing what your thoughts are
about your writing plans for the year!
Certainly I am looking forward to visiting
as many of your posts as I can!
I wish each of you, fellow IWSG members,
a fulfilling writing journey this year!
With Thanks to My Ever-Patient Terry
Who Stands by Me and Supports Me Every Step of the Way
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rghts Reserved
That was definitely a sign. Keep working on that book.
ReplyDeletePictures are beautiful. Wish we had that kind of snow.
Thanks, Alex! It felt like a sign to me as well! All the best with your writing this year!
DeleteGood luck with your writing this year!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Debra! Wishing you and your Rare One the best of years!
DeleteHi Louise! Your ears must have been itching recently. Alain's father brought him a ton of family photos/letters/old passports/etc. We went through it one night while he told me stories, identified people, translated the letters for me. I told him about your journey and attempt to write a memoir and told him he should do the same thing. Unlike me, Alain is an amazing writer. I'm going to keep pushing him because I think it's all pretty amazing and deserves to be written. I think 2016 will be a big year for you and your writing and I look forward to hearing all about it! Breckenridge is one of those places I long to go so I really enjoyed your photos. What I wouldn't give to be around some serious snow like that!!! :-) XOXO, Audrey
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to see you, Audrey! I was thinking about you over the holidays a lot. I'm so glad that Alain received the wonderful letters and photos from his father. I definitely encourage him to write things down now before those with the memories are gone. Even if he doesn't feel like tackling a memoir just yet, getting the info preserved is so important. thanks for your encouraging thoughts about my writing. I keep crawling forward! All the best to you, Alain, and the girls! XOXO!
Deletekeep on going indeed, November sounds like a very doable goal. I have 3 novels done, 6 kids books done and blog posts done until almost november lol I say my goals are fine.
ReplyDeleteLOL! You are the master of getting it done! You are an inspiration!
DeleteKeep it up, Louise, your book will be great! I love the way you write and the way you express yourself.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Linda! It's encouragement like yours that keeps me going! Hugs!
DeleteWhat a powerful moment you had! Definitely keep working on your project. Love the pictures from Colorado. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Diane! It was a powerful moment, one I'm not likely to forget. Thank you for visiting and your kind words of encouragement!
DeleteI lived in Utah for 27 years, Louise, and so I really appreciated your pictures of mountains and snow (two things which are not plentiful in Kentucky). How wonderful to find those mementos.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I do when confronted with the blank page is start writing how angry it makes me, and almost 'talk to' the blank page (Yeah, but I'm weird that way). Usually by the time the clog is out of my brain, something of worth will come through!
Hi LuAnn! Utah is such a beautiful state. I have never lived there, but I have spent many happy days there, especially in the SE region. I laughed when I read your technique for defeating the blank page. I've been angry sometimes, but I never thought confront the page! I'll have to give it a go! I used to tell my second and third graders to write anything on that empty page: I am writing, I am writing, whatever. Even, "Hi! My name is Louise. I am writing about ..." ~ So long as that didn't turn up in their final draft. And you're right; something of worth eventually breaks out! Thanks for visiting, and have a good one!
DeleteHi LuAnn, here's to you completing your ms by November. Please keep us posted. I'm working on the same one I started in 2013, and I'm still not finished. Why I'm struggling with this one, who knows. But I'll get it down, eventually. Keep me posted on your progress, please! I need the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteHi Joylene! Thanks for the encouragement about completing my manuscript draft by November! I've been floundering around with this a long time, but it was a process I had to work through. You will get it down! Thanks for your inspiration!
DeleteWhat a sweet and encouraging memento, that letter from your dear family friend. Here's to a good fight with plenty of the right fuel! Coffee and ginger and chocolate should definitely do the trick.
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking of you often lately, Louise - I'm reading the selected journals of L.M. Montgomery (research for a magazine article commission, as it happens!) and your family name pops up in it here and there. Her brief description of the "northern wilds of Ontario" as seen from a train is pungent and funny. There's also a very brief mention of a Lansdowne something - whether House or Hotel I can't remember - which made me sit up and think immediately of your dad.
Beautiful photos as always. Happy New Year to you and the EP. :)
OMG! L. M. Montgomery was a second cousin to my grandmother, Myrtle Jane (Pratt) MacBeath! I have never read her selected journals, but I must look into them. I have, however, read "Anne of Green Gables" to quite a few of my classes over the years. Congrats on a magazine commission! Way to go! Happy new year to you and Mr. Micawber!
DeleteWhat a lovely way to start the new year.
ReplyDeleteWishing you many happy, productive days.
Thank you, Sandra! I am very excited about this new year! all the best to you!
DeleteLouise, I missed you again - I was away over the holidays (though we came back Christmas Day). One of these times, we must walk together. Good Luck with the writing. I completed a NaNoWriMo challenge in November and managed 50,000 words, but I shall never do it again. (Unless I'm crazy and/or feel inspired...) Happy 2016!
ReplyDeleteYes, we must walk, Barb! That would be wonderful! I didn't remember that you had tried the NaNoWriMo challenge last November. Good for you. I've never done it; but I might have to if I don't have that first draft done! I'd love to be at that point and then edit 50,000 words in November. We shall see! Happy New Year!
DeleteHi Everyone! I have limited access to the internet for the next while. I'll be back as soon as I can.
ReplyDeletehttps://sallysbookshelf.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-way-to-stay-in-destiny.html?showComment=1452257275251#c3039640286436287045
ReplyDeleteFind Any Deals You can get 70% off on site wide. In marketing, a coupon is a ticket or document that can be redeemed for a financial discount or rebate when purchasing a product. Our aim is to provide 100% genuine deals to our customers.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.findanydeals.com/