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Joy of Finding a New Character!

carolyncordon

I was lunching with a friend recently, and was absolutely thrilled to find a person walk along the street, and then into the cafe where we were sitting. As soon as I saw this woman, my brain began working on ways I could put her into my novel, or if not in the immediate one, which is first in a series, then in books that follow.

So I’ve decided how this new character connects with someone in my town of Talloola, where the action for my Cosy Murder Mystery books are set, and I’ve made up some decisions about this woman, her name, and some details about her ‘interesting’ ideas of what she considers to be suitable clothing for a small and mostly quite staid country town.

It was lots of fun to chat with my friend about it, as we sat there, as I spoke the ideas that went through my head about it all. Fun times, and I hope I can bring it all together in good ways! This new character (Prudence – she doesn’t mind being called Pru, but don’t ever call her Prude, she may spit at you!), she knew one of the characters, Steph, who has the hairdressers in Talloola, when they were both living in Sydney.

There are still some details to get organised, but that’s part of the fun about writing a novel, lots of people, and lots of plot to get happening, and all fitting together! If anyone is out in the real world, looking unusual, or doing odd things, and I see you, you may end up in one of my books too!

Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

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Working On My Comedy Act

carolyncordon

I was given a ‘write a new poem a day for 8 days’ challenge the other day. I was to write the poem and then invite another poet I know to take part in the challenge too. A new poem and another new poet to invite. I thought about it, a fair bit actually, and began writing my first poem. Then I thought about it some more, and about what I had planned for the next eight days, and decided not to do it.

I had a fair bit planned for the next week or so, and while I certainly was expecting to write some new poetry, I didn’t want the fuss and bother of posting it to Facebook, and thinking about who might be the poets I would invite to take part.

Some people love these challenges, other loathe them, others are in between – love them sometimes, and hate them other times. I’m a bit like that. So anyway, I have actually written two new poems these past couple of days. The first one didn’t thrill me, so I gave up on it for now. The other one though, the other one I actually like quite a bit.

Being a writer of any kind, you are your own first critic, and when you love a new piece of work, it can feel strange, especially if you usually can see all of the flaws in your work and are more likely not to like it, than like it. This new poem though, I can see only good things in it, at the moment.

I’m planning to read this new poem at a poetry event I’m attending next Sunday, and I hope the poem gets a good reaction from the audience, with lots of smiles, if not open laughter. This poem talks about a possible comedy act, and doing a comedy act has been something I’ve thought I’d like to do some time. I just don’t know if I can do that, whether I’m funny enough for it, and so on.

Anyway, here is that poem:

Speaking of Tools …

Job done, and done well

At least as far as I can tell

Two hand rails, to help if needed

Not right now, but previous times heeded

I’m very impressed with this man’s work 

Got on with the job, didn’t shirk

One thing though after he’d gone

A tool left behind, silly, John!

This device is one I don’t require

Do it yourself? I don’t aspire

To do it myself, I’d rather pay

And get a better job done, that way

But this tool could work in a comedy act

I’m thinking now, as a matter of fact.

Comic talk of older lasses

Planning on catching tight young asses.

Those football playing younger chaps

Looking for ‘an experienced lady’ perhaps?

Mismatch you think? Maybe not

Those sheilas really know what’s what! 

My comedy act, will concentrate

On older women, on the prowl, out late

Wanting to catch a fine young beau

To train in the arts of … well, you know!

So the yellow tool that man left behind

Will be great for the act I have in mind –

“Desperate woman wanting a ‘grinder'”

Just what they need, their own stud finder!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tell me what you think, do you think it’s funny? I do, and I’ll do my best to ‘perform’ the poem, rather than simply read out the words, with expressions, and hand movements. Hmm, I’d better print it out and get practicing!

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A Writer’s Work …

carolyncordon

Today I have been well aware of the novel I am wanting to write. The book is sitting in a part of my brain, waiting to leap into action, as soon as I settle down to write it. I want to write the book, I feel very fond of my characters, and am keen to have the book finished, and move onto the next book in the series.

But instead of writing that novel, I have instead spent time today doing other things. Some of those things are the things that we all must do, eating, household things, exercise. We must do these things to be a member of the household we live in.

Another of the things I have done today is definitely related to being a writer, but it is not writing that book, or any other new poem or short story. Today I have worked on putting together a flyer for myself as a Speaker and Presenter.

This is a very important part of my Writer’s life. If I can speak or present workshops to people, I will have the opportunity, perhaps, to sell copies of my own books, as well as perhaps getting payment for these presentations.

Some people have a fear of public speaking, I most definitely don’t! I may have been shy as a child and teenager, but I’ve certainly made up for that ever since I grew up!

So that has been my day so far. Other aspects of my writing related life over involvement with my writing group, editing a monthly community newsletter, and getting out and about, living a life and gain inspiration from my life and from Nature, too.

Being involved takes away time to write, but it can add much to my writing, to anyone’s writing. The more a person knows about things, the greater range of interesting things they can write about.

xxxxx

Back again, I’ve just been out to the backyard, and watered the plants out there that need it, as requested by my husband. He’s been busy doing other things around the yard, it would have been churlish of me to refuse to do anything. I may have a disability, but there are still many things I’m easily able to do!

Our garden in the backyard is a place of inspiration to me too, after all!

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Public Speaker, Workshop Presenter …

carolyncordon

I have been a poet and writer of prose, as well as a blogger for quite some years now, but the life of being a Public Speaker, in any big way, has long eluded me. But now, oh now, I feel that is all about to change.

I have a disability, Multiple Sclerosis, OH how sad, right? Not really, it’s under control with medication and lifestyle actions, from diet, to exercise, as well as working to live as stress-free and positive life as I can. It seems to be working, I haven’t had a relapse for quite some time. I know, though, that one could hit me at any time.

I was diagnosed with MS back in 2010, ten years ago, so it’s something I know quite a bit about. I’ve also been interested in dogs, in a few different ways, dogs as pets, showing dogs, breeding purebred dogs, doing obedience training too, in a minor way. And writing about dogs, in both serious, and amusing ways, with three books so far, about a dog who lives in my mind, named Buster the Dog!

Not Buster the Dog, but our Dog, Missy, with her little friend Herman the German.

Gardening is an interesting thing in my life too, and I’m currently getting assistance to get my place made safer for me, and with better quality of life. This is paid for by the government, via the NDIS, and I am grateful for that, or I will be once it is all finished.

I also have lived experience of child sexual and other sexual abuse, fortunately from a much earlier time in my life, my life now is much happier. I have a poetry collection I put together when I was in the healing process of becoming more settled in my life over the things that had happened to me, victim to survivor, and now I can say I am thriving.

So my way of getting through life has relied very much on using my words to heal myself, to entertain others, to explore my life, and the lives of others. And I love to speak to people! Sitting down in small groups and chatting, standing up with a microphone and speaking to a crowd, I love it!

So now, I have a support worker, paid for by NDIS, and she and I are looking to find speaking engagements for me. I give her possible groups I could speak to, and she is working toward getting gigs booked. She will assist me too, once I actually get engagements, by carrying my books I will bring, for possible sales, and book signing, fun times!

And soon, the writing group I’m involved with will be holding its monthly writing workshop, and poetry reading, and I am going to be one of the two workshop presenters, hooray! I will be talking about some forms of poetry, the other presenter another one and some tips of getting small poetry forms published in a particular magazine she has been published in, an Australian one.

I definitely feel like my life, even in these awful Covid times, is heading in a good direction.

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Life, the same, but very, very different too …

carolyncordon

I suspect this blog post is likely to have a bit of a Stoic angle to it, but that’s OK, in fact it’s a good thing. Looking at life from a Stoic angle, when things are looking pear-shaped is probably the best way to look at life, in troubling times. And these certainly are troubling times.

Writing about it here, on my writing blog makes sense though, because, well, this is where I have the most followers, and I’m hoping what I write will be worth reading for others. And a note to any newcomers to Stoic Thought – being a Stoic does not mean one must live a boring, life, with no emotional actions happening. It simply means one will accept the good, and the bad things too, and deal with them in the best way you can.

And that ‘best way you can’, doesn’t just mean best for you, it means best for you, your family and friends, your community and the entire world. So obviously, being a good Stoic is a big thing, if you’re doing it all well. I don’t imagine I will ever have a huge impact on the entire world, but if the call goes out for me, I’ll be there, doing my Stoic best!

Is writing a Stoic thing? Being a poet and writer, fiction and non fiction, books, a community newsletter, blogging. Some of it is at the more flippant end of things, some more serious. I have had lots of fun times with family and friends in my life, but I have had some terrible things happen too. Such is the way of our lives. Good and bad, and yes, if we wish to live our best possible life, we must find ways to handle all of it, and do it well.

One of my blogs talks about sexual abuse, and another of them talks of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Both of these things have been in my life. The sexual abuse happened when I was a child and teen, the MS has been with me since I was diagnosed with it in 2010, and unless there is a cure found, it will be with me forever.

I have thought long about these things, and written about them in my creative writing, firstly with the poetry collection, https://damagedchildrenpreciousgems.wordpress.com/ and more recently, https://mickjaneandme.wordpress.com/ These two books have been great and therapeutic for me, allowing me to examine things in ways where I control what is happening, and looking from a variety of different points of view. I am a firm believer in these therapeutic possibilities from creative writing. I know that other people have found help in these books, and I am glad of that.

In fact, one of my best life things to do, I suspect, would be to assist others to travel from victim to survivor, and then further, to being one who is thriving in life. This is a possible thing, I am living proof of it. I have good family and friends who love and care about me, I have a safe and secure home, with enough money available to go on living here, easily and well.

I am not held back by my Chronic Illness, and for that, I can thank both my excellent medication, and the lifestyle choices I have adopted – reduce stress, increase healthy eating, get some exercise into my life, and go on thinking about my life in positive, rather than negative ways. There are bad things in life, yes, but I am going well, and helping others to do the same, when and if I can.

So this year, 2020, was going to be the year of Great things, with the whole 2020 Vision vibe of life, but then Covid-19 came along. Did I let that make me close down, and hide away from the virus? NO! I decided what I might be able to do, to help others think about how they were doing, and how things may be improved, perhaps.

Before the year was half over, I had put out a call for submissions in response to Covid-19, and very soon I had collected a goodly number of works from around the world. I was thrilled with what I had collected, and I was encouraged to forward this ‘anthology’ to a publisher that I know, to have the anthology professionally published, if possible. I’m currently waiting to hear back from the publisher, and whether they accept this book or not, I intend to launch the anthology at the Gawler and Adelaide Plains Festival of Words, in late July 2021.

This has been my first adventure in being the editor of a big collection, and I have enjoyed it very much. There’s no telling whether or not I will take this kind of thing any further, I have certainly considered the idea of setting up as a Publisher. We’ll see what happens with this anthology first …

This ‘seeing what happens’ attitude is my Stoicism shining through. Taking advantage of opportunities, knuckling down and working when I have to. Knowing what I can do, and doing that, but also stretching myself further, to try do more. These are definitely good ways for me, and for others, to look at their own lives. It’s the old “When life gives you lemons” thing. You don’t sit back and curse, because you wanted a sweeter fruit, instead you get on with doing great things with those lemons you’ve been given!

So, overall, life in many ways is the same for us all, but oh, dangerously different, for those living where the Covid-19 virus is at loose in their community. I feel for those people, and hope that soon, scientists and other medical people can find a vaccine, or other way to finally kill the virus, for us all. It only takes one person, to spread the virus to another, and so it could go again.

Working on Climate Change, tied with action of Covid-19 seems to be how the whole world needs to go, as soon as we possibly can, for all of us!