Tag: dogs and writers

inspiration

Write For What’s Right!

carolyncordon

I am a writer, I write for a number of reasons, but I’m thinking right now, I can use my writing skills for assisting good things to happen. Not good things for me, but for my community, my country, and for the world!

I am the editor of a monthly newsletter, that goes out to my local community, and beyond. I have hundreds of people who read that newsletter, the Mallala Crossroad Chronicle. As editor, I have complete control over what gets printed and distributed, and I feel like this avenue is a fine one to assist me in helping good things happen.

I often slip in little items of interest, random thoughts and ideas, so from now on, some of these items may begin to get a lot more serious. The country is burning, and my passion for doing what I can to help is also burning. We all can do something to help, whether by growing trees with Trees for Life, getting involved with a community group that helps other people in various ways, or something else that truly speaks to you.

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I’m looking for the good in all, in the hope others will want me to see it in them too! That’s my take on life, especially right now, thinking about the way our country is burning, people, property, animals, habitat, dying … But there are wonderful people doing wonderful things, both big things and small, and in this way, Australia can keep on going, doing the best we can.

As a writer, I will use my way with words for good, sharing good being done, finding good within myself, and in others, sharing the good news, and spreading hope and help however I can. I suggest that I’m not the only person out there, there are many writers with a much wider audience than I have, and I welcome anyone in this position top do whatever they can do too!

If you have a voice in the community, use it to speak good things, spread good news stories, engender hope, and together we can be forces for good!

Writing

Being Happy as a Writer

carolyncordon

I’m happy with my writing life. I’m not a widely read writer, or a rich one, or a writer who is speaking to hundreds of people about my books or writing. But I am a happy person, a happy writer, who has written about many things in my life, and things I’ve ‘made up’.

Life is what I write about, life in its many forms, from sad to happy and many things in between. I (obviously) would love to sell more copies of my books. I would love to talk about my books, and about the things I know about and am interested in, a lot more.

But this year, I have begun thinking about what the Stoic life is like, and it is helping me to think about what I really want in life, and what I have. And further to that, I’ve been thinking about bad things that could have happened to me, but didn’t, and that kind of consideration makes me grateful for all I have. I have a great life. IMAG0579.jpg

Sure, others have big publishers wanting to publish their books, and have thousands of fans, who write them fan mail. They have thousands of dollars in royalties, and get constant requests for interviews. I don’t have any of that. I am a self-published poet, editor of a community newsletter, writer of a self-published series of humour books.

Oh, and blogger, of course. I am a blogger with fewer followers than I’d like, but there are at least some people following my various blogs, including this one.

But I’m particularly enjoying my most recent blog, one about Stoicism, where I explore various aspects of life, my life in particular, from the point of view of a Stoic. This is my most recent post from that Blog – if you’d like a simple look at what being a Stoic might entail, take a look at how I’m doing it!

And just a couple of minutes ago, in the previous paragraph, I wrote something that got my brain ticking over, with a brand new idea for another new book, and isn’t that a great thing? I certainly think it is, always! The possible new book would be another book in the Buster the Dog Series. 20190505_114825

I am definitely going to do another book, the fourth one, for this ‘Buster the Dog’ series, and it is planned to be launched about this time next year. That one will possibly be called “Dog Says, Cat Says”. But the book I had the idea for as I was writing this blog post, was to look at Stoicism as a dog might see it … I’ll have to consult with Buster the Dog, on that one. He’s the dog who lives in my head and who I wrote the books with, in the photo above.

He’s not a terribly stoic dog, I don’t think. He’s more of a bark first, contemplate results after kind of creature … As I said, I’ll have to consult with Buster the Dog.  (He’s not a real dog in my head, he’s a figment of my imagination. I know that. I’m not sure if Buster knows it though.) Imagination is such a wonderful thing to have!

The dog in the first photo, right up the top of this, that’s Missy and she is a real dog. She lives in my house and in my yard, and is a lovely dog. Some of what Buster the Dog does in his books comes in part from things his ‘father’ used to do. Buster is based on a schnauzer and a pharaoh hound, which were the two breeds of dog we had when I, well, Buster the Dog and I, wrote our first book, the one about gardening.

The fourth book is going to be something new for me, I’m going to write it with a friend, and she will be doing the cat part, bringing in McTavish the Cat. Having friends who also write, that’s an important thing to, to be with people who are also interested in something that interests you.

Living with Missy also helps make my writers life a happy one – a dog will always remind you about the important things in life. Eat, go outside, enjoy yourself! If you have a dog that reminds you about these things, and other, leave a comment, I’d love to read it!