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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:
Joylene Novell Butler, Jen Chandler, Mary Aalgaard, Lisa Buie Collard, Tamara Narayan, Tyrean Martinson, and Christine Rains.
I hope you have a chance to visit them and thank them for co-hosting.
I'm sure they would appreciate an encouraging comment!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Happy IWSG Day to everyone making the rounds!
I'm on the move again!
We drove from Las Vegas to Laughlin this morning,
and I have internet access for the next few hours
(for the first time in almost a week).
So I'm cobbling together a quick post
and planning to visit as many IWSG members as I can.
Photographing at 75 mph
Laughlin Highway, Nevada
November 2, 2016
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Writing went well for me in Victoria, British Columbia
and for the eight or night days I was home,
before we hit the road again.
I worked on my memoir and wrote a short story for the IWSG contest,
so I felt the best I have about my writing in a long time.
Entering the IWSG anthology contest made me feel like a real writer.
I hadn't written a short story in way too long,
and it was a project I could complete in two or three weeks,
unlike my memoir which is a metastasizing monster!
Of course, I'd love to earn a spot in the IWSG fantasy anthology,
but if I don't, I'm still a winner because of the creative boost the process gave me.
Beautiful Dreamy Victoria
British Columbia, Canada
The Perfect Place to Write a Fantasy!
October 5, 2016
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Along the Edge of Beacon Hill Park
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
October 7, 2016
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
that should provide some interesting reading:
What is your favorite aspect of being a writer?
What is your favorite aspect of being a writer?
Absolutely my favorite aspect of being a writer
is the rush I get, when whatever I'm writing takes over,
and I become nothing more than a recorder,
with words flying from my fingers to my keyboard.
I can be flailing around,
trying to pull together a non-fiction piece, on say,
explaining tax policy for a newspaper article,
and suddenly things gel,
and out flows the article in ways I didn't imagine.
Or, I can be writing fiction,
and suddenly the characters take over,
and out flow their words and actions
taking me in unexpected directions.
The process is a mystery to me,
and it must be something at work in my subconscious,
but the exhilaration I experience at such times is unlike nothing else!
Thunderbird Park
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
October 7, 2016
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
I have no idea where I'll be or what I'll be doing in the next few weeks.
We're trying to decide if we want to move, and if so, where.
Meanwhile, I'll keep writing as I have a chance
and hopping on the internet whenever I have an onramp.
I'm trying to let go and let things work out,
but it's so hard for someone who likes to be in control.
If I could only do in my life like I do in my writing!
Meanwhile, for the next few days at least,
I'm going to continue enjoying the Las Vegas madness!
Happy writing in November!
Halloween Parade on Fremont Street
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
October 29, 2016
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Some great photos!
ReplyDeleteReally glad you were able to enter the contest.
Thanks, Alex! I appreciate your kind words about my photos! I enjoy playing with photos almost as much as writing! have a good one!
DeleteLook at that parade!!! And moving? where to is the question we ask ourselves as well. Not too big, not too small, just right,like Goldilocks, but where? Enjoy your time away, and when the time comes, the right place will be turning on all the welcome signs.At least, that is what I believe.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouragement about moving, Jean! We're in Laughlin tonight because renting a place fell through, our Air B&B place fell through, and a big conference in Las Vegas left us without a room downtown for one night! LOL! I feel like a hobo carrying my belongings around on a stick. But all will be well, and I'm having fun. Things generally work out for the best! I'm wishing you and Hugh lots of good luck as you sort through where you're going to end up. The Goldilocks sweet spot is what we're looking for too! Sending you both love and hugs! Take care!
DeleteThe pictures are great. So glad you took a chance and wrote a short story for the anthology. You are a winner because you did it!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Diane! You are always so supportive in your comments! I'm glad that you enjoyed my photos ~ Taking them and sharing them gives me so much pleasure! Have a good one!
DeleteLovely photos, Louise, and I love the reflections in your seagull photo!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Linda! I loved those reflections too! Terry and I were sharing a bowl of seafood chowder on a wharf in Victoria, and I couldn't resist playing with my camera. There is something about seagulls!
DeleteI've been frustrated because it's really hard to find free Wifi in downtown Las Vegas, unless you want to risk a sketchy, unknown free spot or pay $10 bucks a day for really slow, bad service. I'm hopping over to you next! Thanks for your supportive comments, always!
Such gorgeous pictures. Additionally, thank you for the insight. I hope you enjoy NaNoWriMo. I'd participate this year but I'm already elbow deep in a novel. haha
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words about my photos, Robert! I get tremendous pleasure from taking and sharing my photos. Good luck with your writing ~ I'm always excited to hear when someone is engrossed in his or her writing! Take care!
DeleteHow fun; I'm in Arizona this week :) Wish I would have made it to Vegas for that parade, looks like it was fun. Congrats on getting your IWSG story wrote and submitted. I'm sure it was a lot different than working on a memoir. Wow, what a lot of work that must be.
ReplyDeleteGood like with all your writing, and be safe traveling. Lots of wind in the Vegas area right now.
Hi, Donna! I just left your post, and then found your comment here! It's challenging to be traveling and trying to honor ones IWSG commitments! The parade was a blast, lots of hearses and spooky characters. I was across the street from the Container Park, and it's giant preying mantis was shooting flames into the air throughout the parade. It's really windy down here in Laughlin, even more so than when we left Vegas today. Enjoy your travels too! Who knows, maybe we'll meet in the anthology!!!
DeleteHi Fundy, thanks for your note on my site. I'm so interested in you! Your nickname caused me to think you were a bluenoser (i.e. from Nova Scotia like me) or maybe New Brunswick. Then I saw you were on the move. And you take good photos! I already know you care about writing, so, all and all you're my kinda pal! Tell me about your one day in Labrador. Have fun in Las Vegas and did you go to the Grand Canyon?
ReplyDeleteHi, Jan! How wonderful to hear from a fellow bluenoser! I was born in Wolfville, graduated from Acadia, lived from one end of the province to another, family in Digby area for centuries! And yes, I love the Bay of Fundy! I emigrated to the US decades ago, and I've been all over the southwest and to the Grand Canyon several times. Labrador ~ I wanted to go there all my life and finally took a ferry over from St. Barbe with my husband and two of my sisters. We drove to Red Bay and back between ferries. My fellow travelers were not as entranced as I (black flies) and mostly hid in the car. Here's a link to a post I did on that day, if you're interested: http://selkiegrey4.blogspot.com/2012/11/iceberg-alley-labrador.html Thanks for your kind words about my writing and photography! Happy travels.
DeleteGood luck with your short story entry! And wishing you lots of fun out on the road. That should give you lots of writing inspiration. Be safe and have a lovely time.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Nicola! I'm very connected to landscapes, and they inspire me in my writing, so I love road trips. I am hopeful about my short story, but there are a lot of talented writers in our IWSG group. The challenge for me was to write it and submit it, my first fantasy writing ever; so win or not, I'm very happy about the experience. Happy writing in November!
DeleteWriters rush is real!
ReplyDeleteIt's the best high of all, Tony! Have a good one!
DeleteHi Louise, finally found your blog. Thanks for visiting mine today. It's the rush that we all like, right? And the role of being only a recorder - for the story decides to whom it will manifest itself. Love your poetic post. Keep writing!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ruchi! I'm sorry you had to hunt for my blog. I keep forgetting to leave a link! You are so right about the story being in control! I always think of Tolkien writing LOTR. He got the hobbits to Bree in the first book, and out of nowhere this character Strider appears and insists on entering the story. Strider turned out to be Aragon, a character fundamental to the story, and Tolkien said he came out of the compost heap in his mind, unknown. I haven't described Tolkien's process nearly as well as he did, but I never forgot his recounting, and I try to put a lot of things into my compost heap and see what appears! thanks for your kind words about my post! Happy writing to you too!
DeleteI love your use of the language. Cobbling up a story, metastasizing monster... such usage is what only a native language speaker can produce. All the best for your memoir. have a happy journey!
ReplyDeleteWhen the fingers fly that is great indeed. Sure on the go as you remain all hobo lol awesome you entered too with a short story.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on submitting an entry for the anthology and for all the traveling and writing! You rock.
ReplyDeleteIWSG co-host Mary at Play off the Page
Love Victoria! My older sister and brother were born there while our dad served in the Navy. It's such a pretty place. Glad you're back online. Don't you just hate it when you can't connect. Happy Moving.
ReplyDeleteI miss Victoria! Lovely shots. Thank you for sharing. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing these wonderful photos and good luck on your move!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun time! I hope you have the most amazing journey. It's definitely a rush when the words and story just come. Awesome stuff.
ReplyDelete