Tea at Niceville Library 2/17 @ 10 AM

For More Information Click HERE.

Vicki Hinze, appearances, author tea, chat session, Forget Me Not, February events, writers, readers, books, novels

Contest Entry

This Week's Feature at Chapter 1 Zone: Alan Wyler's DEADLY ERROR

This week's feature at Chapter 1 Zone is Alan Wyler's DEADLY ERROR. You can read the first chapter at: chapter1zone.com

Chapter 1 Zone Launch

Today, I've launched a new Special Project, CHAPTER 1 ZONE. The purpose is to provide a forum where authors and readers can connect through the first chapter of the author's novel. A chapter will be featured for a week. The first feature is James Rollins' ALTER OF EDEN.

Additionally, there will be a weekly drawing for a free novel contest for those who choose to enter.

Read more about the CHAPTER 1 ZONE Special Project HERE.


Or skip straight to the reading and figure it out as you go by clicking HERE.

I hope authors and readers will connect and readers will find authors whose work they love!

Blessings,

Vicki

VICKI HINZE
www.vickihinze.com
www.chapter1zone.com

readers, books, writers, authors, chapter 1 zone, sample chapters, James Rollins, ALTER OF EDEN, vicki hinze, special projects, writers zone, read, new in books

When You’re Up, You’re up and When You’re Down, You’re Down

There are patterns in life, and one of them I’ve tagged the Cluster Factor. I’m sure some scholar has tagged it something else, but my observation is merely an observation, not a theological or academic study. That doesn’t make it more or less true or real, just based on different criteria.

The first evidence of the cluster factor I noted was in writing ideas and pertains to thinking patterns. I don’t typically think a book, I think a series of books. Often, ideas come to me in threes. When I first noted this, I noted it but didn’t really deem it significant. Cluster novel ideas was just the way my mind worked.

Then, during a conversation with a relative who informed me there’d been a death in the extended family mentioned “deaths always come in threes.” Sure enough, two more deaths followed within a matter of a few months--and looking back, I noted that this had also been the case when my brother had died years earlier.

Intrigued, I talked to a few friends about the cluster factor and discovered that...
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Survey Time!

TAKE MY SURVEY
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2008
WARNING: This is a no-edit zone....

I want to know what you think. Please pause a moment to take my survey.
READ MORE


Tag: survey, books, readers, writers, authors, novelists, writing, vicki hinze, booksellers, libraries

Stork Alert!

The stork has landed...

I'll be out a few days. :)

Blessings,
Vicki

Important Notice

Effective today, I will be posting my blogs on my website as follows:

Writing: Craft, Art, Business and Life: My Kitchen Table

Spirituality: Faith Zone


The "Vicki Hinze on Writing" blog will be incorporated into the MY KITCHEN TABLE blog.

The website url, should you have link challenges or desire to paste into your browser is:

http://www.vickihinze.com

Blessings,

Vicki

P.S. If you're viewing this via reader, you'll need to visit the www.vickihinze.com website to view any updates.

I apologize for any inconvenience, but I'm paddling as hard as I can, and I just can't keep up, so I'm having to consolidate where and when possible. Appreciate your understanding.

Vicki Hinze
www.vickihinze.com


TAGS: Vicki Hinze, hinze blog, CREATIVE WRITING, feature article, writing craft, books, novels, readers, authors, emerald coast writers, novelists, booksellers, book reviewers, everyday woman radio, romance writers, thriller writers, suspense writers

F O C U S

WARNING: This is a no-edit zone...

If technology saves us time, then why are we busier than ever?

One of my writing students raised this question to me earlier today, and my first reaction was to say, “Amen! No kidding.” But my second reaction--”Yeah, why is that?” lingered and lingered. So I thought on the matter. Here are a few reasons I wholeheartedly agree:

1. Our world has expanded. Gone are the days of waiting for the mailman to bring a letter someone wrote a week or a month ago. Now it’s minutes or less via email. Last week, my computer went into the computer hospital for three days. When it returned, I had over 800 emails waiting. I don’t recall ever getting 800 letters stuffed in my mailbox after a three-day hiatus.

So while our world has expanded, and much good comes from that, more demands on us and our time come with that good.

2. Because of technological advances, we’re capable of doing things ourselves that we once had others do for us--and delays in waiting for them to get to it. For example, many do their own web work now. Their own research. Their own tax returns. Their own marketing and promotion and newsletters and mailings and maintain their own data bases and do their own . . . well, you get the picture.

There was a time when you had to know html and own complex software programs to do many of these things. And rather than spend the time and money buying the programs and learning to use them (which was a career in itself!), you paid someone else to do those things for you.

If, like me, you were prone to getting lost in research because it was so very interesting, you paid someone to do it because you couldn’t afford the time you knew you’d spend sidetracked. This was especially true when the babies were with me. They had priority and other time was scarce, so it was imperative to compress and get as much as possible done in what other time I had. If I’d done my own research then, I’d have been blessed to get a book done in year and I was on a three-books per year schedule. Sandie, my devoted and dedicated assistant, saved me from myself. :)

I’ll admit though, I miss the days of getting lost in the library, following threads. Oh, I enjoyed that time. Now, rather than routine, that’s a special treat.

3. Not only have we expanded what we do for ourselves, we’ve expanded on what we do for others. We’re aware of more and involved in more, and each of those involvements (worthy though they surely are) take time and effort and energy. A few years ago, it wasn’t uncommon to have two or three major areas where we concentrated our efforts outside of family/home and work. Now it’s common to be involved in a dozen--any of which has a major project going on seemingly all the time.

4. Because of increased exposure and broadened interests we’re finding ourselves pulled in so many different directions at once that at times we feel just overwhelmed. When that happens, often the first reaction is to pull back and do nothing. It’s like when you go to the store and there are three items to choose from, you pick one. But if there are thirty, you’re bombarded with the “which is the best one for me to get to do what I’m interested in doing?” And when that happens, you often leave the store with none because you feel the need to do more research to make the best buying decision.

That same rascal is at work in us when we’re tugged in too many directions at once, or when our focus is too slivered. No one thing gets sufficient focus to accomplish anything because our energy and effort is too diffused.

This can happen to us, but it can also happen to our works. Ideas come easily to most writers. They aren’t in short supply, but abundant, and we must sift through them to determine which we want to invest in writing.

Well, it never fails that when you’re neck-deep in one project is exactly when you’ll get a dozen great ideas for other projects. And they nag you and won’t leave you alone. In other words, they steal your focus.

That can create challenges and errors in work upon which you’re attempting to focus. You lose that honed vision. Sometimes you can get it back, sometimes you can’t. So it becomes important to have a means available to you to deal with the challenge.

One that works for me:

I have an idea file. Often ideas come in clusters. But they’re not necessarily related clusters--or if they are related, I don’t see how they’re related at the time. So I keep a file folder for “IDEAS.” When a nagging idea hits me, I create a file, tag it with a couple keywords, and drag it into the Idea Folder, then return as quickly as possible to the work in-progress.

This way, the idea is logged in and I can get it off my mind. It’s taken care of. I won’t forget it. I won’t worry about forgetting it. And my mind rests easy on the matter so I can focus intently on the current work--the one I should be focusing on.

One cool thing happens when you jot ideas down in an idea file like this. Your subconscious mind has taken the ideas in, and it will connect them and work through the logistics so that those connections are logical and rationale. And your brain does this while you’re otherwise occupied.

You might not realize it’s even happened. But you’ll be puttering along and suddenly the idea springs to mind and you realize it’s perfect for what you’re doing. And quite often, you’ll look back and see that the foundation for including it is already in place. I love it when that happens.

So the bottom line is that we do more now than we used to do because we have ways and the means to do more. We have access and interest. These are good things--assets--unless we take on so much that we drive ourselves into the ground. We really are human and we really do need downtime, too. And we need focus.

Being too busy is distracting. It wears us down and then out. So we must guard against taking on more than we should and remember that to accomplish our goals, we must focus.

Blessings,

Vicki


Tags: authors, writers, novelists, readers, writers, books, focus, creative writing, research, time management, writers' library, vicki hinze

INTERNATIONAL THRILLER WRITERS ANNOUNCE AWARD FINALISTS

The list is out!

My most sincere congratulations to all of the Finalists, and my gratitude to the Judges!

To see the Finalists and read the press release, click HERE.

Blessings,

Vicki

Vicki Hinze
www.vickihnze.com
Blog: My Kitchen Table
Blog: Faith Zone
Writers' Library

CAREER PATH: KNOWERS, FALLERS & DABBLERS

Some people, it seems, come out of the womb knowing what they want to be and how they’re going to become it.

Others have no clue what they want but fall into something that for one reason or another enchants them, and they make a life’s work of it.

Still others dabble in this then that and then something else and either dabble their entire lives or eventually light on something that intrigues them enough to stick around.

It doesn’t matter which you are. Any--the knowers, the fallers, or the dabblers--can make good writers.

I address this because a very upset writer emailed me recently on this topic. She was told she wouldn’t be a good writer because all of her experience was in one thing.

That comment just begs to be challenged, doesn’t it?

First of all, no one over a year old is experienced in only one thing. Ask a 2-year old to turn off the TV. Most know which button to push. One of my angels is 18 months and loves Dora movies. She knows how to load them into the player and which button to push to make them run. The four year old taught me that rewinding the VCR isn’t necessary. It’ll do it on its own. She also taught me how to play her Leapster--an educational game at which I was a novice, but she’s a pro. (Beat me on every game, too.)

Kids interact with other kids.
They learn language skills: “Don’t, no, stop, please and thank you.” They learn tones--and react to them appropriately. They learn expressions. I’ll never forget the day my eldest angel learned to frown. And, boy, do they read body language.

I used very, very young children to illustrate my point because learning many things begins very, very early. We get the basic skills then (all of which translate to writing, by the way) and then as we grow and mature, we add to them. We build on what’s there--the foundation.

So, in my humble opinion, no one has experience in only one thing--unless you dump everything under the “life” umbrella.

Secondly, even one whose primary area of expertise is in one field is not left void in all other fields. On the way from novice to expert, we develop other skills through related incidentals and experiences that fall outside our specific area of expertise. Most fields incorporates skill sets from other fields.

For years, John Grisham wrote legal thrillers. He is an attorney; that’s his one field. But good attorneys are usually good orators. They have a good grasp on body language, on human emotion, on values and judgments. On reasoning and clear communication. Quick on the uptake and flexible in mind. Those are essential skills to being a good attorney.

But John is also a writer: a related skill set. But does that mean he can only write legal thrillers? No, of course not. Because many of his skills transcend those perimeters and life has added many more. Hobbies and other interests, other experiences have added even more to that more.

So while some might have thought he had one area of expertise, and that imposed limits. We know from experience that his abilities and skills, many of which are directly related to that area of expertise, have exceeded it.

Skills acquired can be adapted and altered to fit the needs of other areas of expertise. That’s my point. You learn to balance to ride a bike. But you also use balance for a thousand other things. Your skill isn’t restricted to that for which you learned it. It translates. And that’s worth remembering.

As writers, we can draw on anything and everything, and we do. Regardless of what your personal experience is now, within the confines of logic, you can use it all and gain what you need along the way to write what you want to write.

The beauty of our flexibility in this is that we don’t have to gain this experience or skill firsthand to be able to write convincingly about it. For example: how many mystery authors have murdered? Not many, if any at all. Yet they convincingly portray the act in books regularly. How? Observation of others acquired skills and expertise. Not firsthand experience. See my point?

Knower, Faller or Dabbler: any can make good writers.

Another recent question has to do with career-building. An author specifically asked about Career Tracks and wisdom. Which way of going about building a career is best?

CAREER TRACKS

1.STRAIGHT AND NARROW: Develop a course that is straight and narrow, meaning write one kind of book and focus intently on building a reputation and a reader base for it.
2.SCENIC ROUTE: Write different kinds of books through a career.
3.DIVERGENT PATHS: Write two types of books and divide effort and interest between them.

Each of those choices has advantages and disadvantages.

The straight and narrow is probably the most preferred path because it naturally places the author in a position to build an easily identifiable reader base that knows what to expect from the author and his/her books. Focus is the key word in this type career. Name recognition, reader identification and expectation, and bookseller identification and expectation are all pluses. The negative? The author can get really weary of writing the same type of book over and again. Most who do find creative ways to keep the work fresh and to stay enthused. Those who don’t, run into long-term trouble.

The scenic route. As an agent once said, “When I get a book from you, I never know what to expect, but I know I’m going to love it.” That sounds like a big bonus, doesn’t it? And it can be. The market cycles and if you’re a flexible writer, then you can flex with it. That’s a perk on the longevity table. However, it’s not easy to build a career that rises to the stratosphere on the scenic route. Readers don’t know what to expect. Booksellers don’t know what to expect. Your books can be shelved in different areas in bookstores and that all makes finding the books more difficult--and it much more likely the author will get lost in the shuffle. Still, some authors choose this path and some have successful careers. Promotion is, in my humble opinion, essential to cue everyone other than the author (and that includes those in the publishing house) what is at the core of each book. Remember, we are creatures of association. We associate this author with this type book. That’s natural to us. So if you’re writing multiple types of books, you need to find an effective way to let others know it and know what you’ve written--every time.

Divergent paths. More and more authors are choosing the divergent path career strategy. They’ll write two types of books, essentially building two separate careers, which at some point usually merge on the marketing front. For example. Nora Roberts build a career in series romance. Then she expanded her romance books into the single title market. Still romance, but now reaching a broader base of readers. She continued her series romances and added her single title romances. Staying well established in series, she became well established in single title romance, and then took the divergent path. Under J.D. Robb, she began a separate career for futuristic mysteries.
After a number of J.D. Robb books were out and she was established in that career path, she marketed that Nora Roberts and J.D. Robb were one and the same. Crossover sales ensued. And her divergent path career strategy was an enormous success. So much so that she’s commonly considered her own brand.

For some authors, one path takes off and the other stills. A year or two later, they can reverse. The still one becomes hot and the hot one cools. Again, markets cycle. So this can be a perk for the author, too. Provided the author writes fast enough to get a book a year out in both careers, this can be a good choice with a lot of advantages and not so many challenges as the other two paths.

Of course, it really depends on the author and what s/he means to achieve. Purpose and personal goals are paramount and whatever yours are, they lend themselves best to one of the chosen paths. So before choosing your career path, it’s imperative (and you increase the odds of not disappointing yourself) by addressing specifically what you want from your career.

Take into consideration your production rates and promotion investments and skills, too. Look at the big picture of you, the author, and you, the person. These are not small things when it comes to deciding where you want to be a year from now or five or twenty-five years from now. Consider it all.

Make a three column list. Ask every question you can think of to ask--about you, about writing, about goals and dreams and desires and abilities. Compare each question to each path. See where the weight adds up.

Then you’ll be building not only a career, but one that has a better chance of working successfully for you.

And remember, you can change paths at any time. If you’re on one and it just isn’t working for you, do the above exercise. Find another. When a door closes, a window opens, right?

Right. And miraculously it does so repeatedly!

Blessings,

Vicki

Tags: career paths, skills, success, authors, writers, novelists, books, readers, goals, abilities, skills, accomplishments, choices, writing, vicki hinze, writer's library

Feature Article Posted

EACH DAY YOU CHOOSE...

ARE YOU A PERSON OF CHARACTER
OR A CHARACTER LACKING HUMANITY?

Read the new feature article

Writers, Medical Issues & the Key to the Door You Can't Open...

WARNING

THIS BLOG IS A NO-EDIT ZONE...


When I blog, I write whatever is on my mind. I don’t pre-plan or edit. Often, though not always, it’s writing related. Most often, it’s life related through my point of view. My wish? In sharing, may you gain some good.




One doesn’t typically think of writers being subject to health challenges due to their work. But writers are prone to several medical challenges that are writing-related, or work-related. A few of the more dominate challenges follow:

1. Carpel Tunnel. Like anyone else who spends a lot of time at the keyboard, writers are inclined to suffer from carpel tunnel challenges. There are a lot of excellent web resources on this, so I won’t go into detail here, but I will mention that many writers have found it helpful to wear wrist braces while working. They’ve also heralded the benefits of taking regular breaks to rotate and rest the wrists. 


2.Lower Back Strain. This is due to long hours of staying seated, too often without breaks for stretching, and poor posture. We do tend to hunch over the keyboard which causes a misalignment of the spine. So do take regular breaks to stretch and strive for good posture. There are specific exercises that will strengthen these muscles. Consult your doctor and check out lower back strain on www.webmd.com.


3.Eye Strain. Everyone in this business seems to suffer from eye strain. I suppose it’s inevitable, considering how many hours each day writers stare at screens or at manuscript pages. But we should take regular breaks often, and focus on distant objects. This helps the muscles. Be sure to have your eyes examined annually. This is one thing you don’t put off and let get out of hand.


4.Repetitive Stress Syndrome. Most think of this as something that challenges the fingers and wrists, but it can also strongly impact the neck and shoulders. As I write this, two writing friends are on mandatory rest from computer activity. One gets baseball-sized knots on the back near the shoulder blade. The other can’t turn her head due to stressed neck muscles. When working, if your muscles tense, stop and exercise them--and if your doc says stay off the computer, that doesn’t mean it’s okay to check email or watch videos. It means stay off the computer. Heeding medical instructions is wise. It can spare you long-term injury, not to mention pain and suffering.


Preventatives/Recommendations suggested to me by my docs:

I’m sharing this not to dispense medical advice but so you can see typical challenge recommendations.

1. Make your workstation ergo-friendly. Is your keyboard at the right height and distance from you? Is the screen positioned properly so it doesn’t strain your neck or your eyes? For guidelines, visit this link: ERGONOMIC WORK STATION


2.Exercise. Back, tummy and chest muscles are particularly vulnerable. When we sit and slouch, which most of us do, we strain the lower back and push the tummy outward. For exercises you can do at your desk, visit this link: DESK EXERCISES


A couple of personal tips from the trenches:

Walk. Long-term sitting can cause circulation challenges, particularly to the legs. Take breaks and walk.

Drinks. It’s easy to get on coffee or soft drink kicks. Limit coffee and opt for water instead. Your kidneys will love you. Your skin, the body’s largest organ, will, too. I love coffee, so I know this one can be challenging. But when you’re lost in la-la land, in create-mode, a cup of hot water works, and seriously, I don’t consciously note the difference.

Fiber. If you walk and drink lots of water, great. If you eat well balanced meals and get enough fiber, great. Odds are, with so many foods being refined, you’re not. Monitor what you eat and run it by your doc. I thought I was getting sufficient fiber and discovered I wasn’t.

Alcohol. I don’t use it at all, but many speak of the benefits of 4 ounces per day of red wine. What I do know is that I’ve read many reports speaking to too many writers becoming alcoholics. I don’t know if this is due to the challenges or the demands of the creative nature trying to successfully merge into bottom-line business or something else entirely, but when you’re on notice that many in your chosen field are vulnerable, it’s common-sense wise to be cautious.

While I’m a doc in philosophy, I’m not a medical doc, so keep in mind these aren’t professional recommendations. These are tips from one writer to another, sharing. Do check with your doctor for professional recommendations.

Now, to the above, I want to add something I’ve been meaning to blog on for a long time. To give you the key to the door that can’t be opened...


THE KEY TO THE DOOR THAT CAN’T BE OPENED

“You can’t do it.”

“Why not?”

“You’re not smart enough or strong enough or rich enough or wise enough or pretty enough or cool enough or talented enough or ....”

Choose what you’ve been told you can’t do.

Write it down. Title this: “Things I can’t do List.” Set it aside for a second and consider...

Who told you that you couldn’t? Why did they tell you that? Why did you believe it?

Clear on all that? Great. Now answer this--and take your time. Think about it before you answer...

Do you still believe it? Why?

Enlightening little exercise, isn’t it? Challenging things we’ve accepted on autopilot--sometimes for most of our lives?

Understand that we’re all vulnerable to “negative old tapes” playing in our minds. Whether they originated with parents or peers or others in our lives who played a mentor or a respected friend, it doesn’t matter. The point is they’ve programmed us to believe certain things about ourselves that have become true because we’ve taken those messages in and convinced ourselves that they’re fact.

The fact is they’ve become true because we’ve chosen to make them true. Remember being told that you couldn’t do this or that, that you’re too weak to do “x” or you’d be foolish to become a “x” or that you’ll never amount to anything?

Everyone has negative old tapes. And because some of them start when we’re so young, we tend to take them in at face value and believe them. Our belief in them sets our expectations--and, in the case of negative tapes, sets our limitations.

Here’s the thing. Regardless of how long these tapes have been playing in our heads, we can choose to assess them and reassess them at any time. As adults, we might realize the reason that person of authority in our lives said what they did. It’s a reflection of their expectations and the limitations they’ve set. They’ve simply extended those things to us. It’s up to us whether or not we receive them.

They give. We receive. If we embrace, then we create these circumstances by virtue of expectations and limitations. But we can refuse. We can say, you know, that might be true for that person, they might believe this about us, but what they believe is insignificant. What we believe is critical.

We are souls in a mortal body and if one thing has stood the test of time it’s the irrepressible nature of the human spirit. People do the seemingly impossible. Overcome amazing odds to accomplish wonderful things. We consider it extraordinary but that’s because of the nature of the accomplishment not because it happens infrequently. People move mountains that others said couldn’t be moved all the time. They do it because they first believed that they could and then took action to do it.

So when those negative old tapes start playing in our minds, we need to remember that. We believe we can, then we take action to make it happen. That’s the key to the door you’ve been told can’t be opened.

Now, for the final part in this exercise...

Pick up a pencil. Flip it end for end, like you have your thoughts on those negative tapes. Retrieve the “can’t do” list you created earlier. Now, letter by letter, erase everything on the list that you were told you can’t do. All of it.

Now flip your pencil again. Lead down, write: “I choose, I act, I accomplish.”

I once heard this type exercise referenced as “dumping your hard drive” (your mind) and “reformatting your disc.”

Isn’t that just totally appropriate for writers? We create something from nothing routinely. When then shouldn’t we get rid of negative old tapes and reformat our discs to include those things which encourage us to create and manifest the best in us?

Many say that the physical condition of a person is the manifestation of the emotional and spiritual condition of a person. I believe they’re three parts that comprise the whole; how can one not impact the other two? Balance. Harmony. These aren’t just concepts, they’re important elements in our health and well being.

To do our best, we need to work to be our best on all fronts. None of it comes without effort or attention and that requires our time. I hear the groans. Time-crunched already, that’s the last thing one wants to hear. But here’s the thing: neglect one of the three and the whole suffers.

These three parts of us are not separable but merged like a drop of water is ocean. The ocean is in every drop, inseparable from the whole. We need to take care of us--all of us--so that our droplet of water stays merged... and healthy.

Blessings,

Vicki

©2008, Vicki Hinze


Tags: writers, authors, novelists, books, readers, medical, issues, behavior, reprogram, health, work, condition, exercise, lifestyle

Authors, Agents, Publishers: BEWARE

There’s currently an enormous buzz about copyright infringement and book piracy--and it appears that a significant number of authors are victims, which makes agents and publishers victims, too.

Reports are coming in about websites allowing uploads of entire books. Some are very cooperative on taking them down once they’re notified that the work is copyrighted. Some are not. They do not include a search feature from the home page that one can access without becoming a member. And there are reports of of some hiding the work behind adult sites. If you want to search to see if your work is on the site, you must buy a lifetime membership to the adult porn site.

Suggestions I’ve seen on checking to see if your work is affected include running a search on Google, Yahoo or another major search engine. Search the author’s name. But also search the book title. And be aware that there are also reports of the author’s name/title being corrupted. i..e., Jane@Doe or Jane&Doe or Jane-Doe or Jane.Doe.

It’s troublesome to me, and I’m sure to other authors, agents and publishers who all have a vested interest in this, that the copyright of our works isn’t being protected. That these uncooperative sites are deliberately infringing and taking subversive actions to do so.

Unless we come together and collectively protest this, we’re all going to suffer the consequences.

If laws need to be changed, then we need to encourage our writing organizations to work to change them. Everyone in the process--authors, agents, publishers--needs to be diligent about reporting these sites so that we collectively can act against the theft of our works. Authors need to invest the time to check their works, see if they’re being stolen/pirated.

Waiting and allowing this to go unchecked is not in our best interests.

Also, authors who write articles, short stories, non-fiction: check your work. Some of that is also being discussed.

Ask your writing organization or group to spearhead an offensive to this theft. The longer we wait, the greater the challenge.

Blessings,

Vicki

©2008, Vicki Hinze


Labels/Tags: book piracy, copyright infringement, authors, novels, books, readers, writers, writing, readers, RWA, ITW, MWA, AG, NINC, Writer's Library, Vicki Hinze, illegal copying, stolen books

LIFE TURNS ON A DIME

Life, they say, is what happens while you’re otherwise occupied.

I’m not sure if I believe that, but I do believe that you can miss life by being occupied. We can get caught up in crisis living and miss the turns on our personal paths that are most meaningful.

What do I mean?

Honestly, I’m grappling with what exactly I mean, so we’ll just talk it through together, since the matter is very much on my mind this morning due to two significant events.

The two events. I guess that’s a good place to start.

Event #1: a neighbor died. He and his wife had one child, a son. He was college-age, a smart guy with character and tons of potential. A few years ago, he was crossing a bridge and a car veered into his lane and hit him head-on. He had nowhere to go, and was killed. His parents suffered the heartache of losing their child and now his father has passed, and my heart aches for his widow. She’s buried her child and will now bury her husband, and she’s left to cope with the loss alone. I find myself asking how will she bear it, and praying she’s a woman of faith because, I’ll tell you, I watched my mother bury two sons and then my father and I know that her faith is what got her through it intact.

Event #2: all the tornadoes that hit in the last two days, and all the lives cut short because they did. Each of those people had lives and hopes and dreams and aspirations. I’m sure many had enormous potential and mile-long to-do lists, too. Things that just couldn’t wait, so they put their lives on hold--the things important to them personally--to do those “can’t wait,” or crisis-living things. Yet in the span of mere minutes, all of those things became insignificant. Every bit of them did, because in that twinkling, they lost their lives. All that potential and those hopes and dreams and aspirations went with them, too.

I can’t shake thoughts of them in those last minutes. When they knew what was coming and they couldn’t avoid it. What were they thinking then? When the realization hit them that they were going to die, what were their thoughts?

I’m sure there was fear. I’m sure there was anger and cries of, “But it’s too soon. I’m not ready yet.” And I’m sure there were regrets. Things done that they wished could be undone. Things left unsaid that now would remain unsaid. Self-recrimination on priorities and perspectives of what most mattered now shifting.

I’m not sure of the nature of those regrets, but I wonder... Were any of them thinking of the crisis-living things they simply had to do before the storm?

We all have duties, responsibilities and obligations. Often so many of them that we keep pushing aside high-priority personal items. It’s those things I wonder how these people felt about at that twinkling moment.

I know that during crisis moments we often see most clearly. Our focus becomes laser sharp, intense on the matter at hand and we give everything--our all--to whatever is on our minds at that moment in time.

I know that on the other side of crises, people who have experienced those moments and survived often make a sharp turn in their lives. They consider the crisis a wake-up call and redefine their lives. They take a look at their priority list and turn it on its ear. They shun crisis-living and adopt personal priority living. And often that personal priority living has to do with dreams they’ve carried with them for a lifetime, or maybe hints of that dream that in that moment of intense clarity came sharply into focus.

This has me calling the question: Can we reach that twinkling moment, that point in time where we have laser focus and gain that clarity without experiencing a personal, life-threatening crisis?

We can. It isn’t hard to mentally place ourselves in the positions of others who have been there and done that. And if we do, then we have the opportunity to learn from their experience. We might not share all of the emotional impact that they endure, but we can grasp and project and imagine, and gain deeper insight and understanding. We can awaken and seek wisdom in this way.

There is always merit in seeking wisdom. In looking at our own crisis-living items and personal priority items and weighing what we’re doing. There’s wisdom in evaluating these things when we aren’t in crisis because we still have an opportunity to change them.

For some, they’ll choose the status quo. Life’s comfortable and they don’t want it any different. That’s their choice, and I’m sure there’s comfort in having weighed the matter and made the call. The peace that comes with knowing you’ve considered it and you’re doing what’s right for you.

Some will redefine aspects of their lives. Of those who do, some will stick with those new changes and some will slide back into the old. Their choice. Again, better because it’s come as a result of deep thought and not of apathy.

Some will challenge every single thing that has been a part of their lives and make significant changes. Life-altering, life-defining changes. Of these, some will be reborn into a life very different from the one they’ve been living, and they’ll thump themselves for waiting so long. Some will wonder what they were thinking to do this at this point in their lives, in their careers. Regardless, they will choose from a broader, more insightful perspective.

You know, I don’t think what’s significant is the path one takes so much as that one takes it with a deeper awareness of life. Taking it deliberately. Intent on taking it. That is a good thing.

Whether that awareness brings a person to a point on their journey where they move straight ahead or turn on a dime, veering sharply in a totally different direction, well that’s a choice. But the awareness, and all it brings to the person, well that’s a gift.

A gift?

Yes. Absolutely, a gift. It’s one of those gems of wisdom that is home to solace and comfort and peace.

Now I know what I mean. And I’m going to reassess from this perspective. Will I stay on the current road or change directions on a dime? I don’t know. But I will know soon. Will you?

Blessings,

Vicki

©2008, Vicki Hinze


Tags: life, crisis, death, grief, change, choice, career, path, journey, wisdom, perspective, assessment, decisions, direction, awareness, authors, writers, novels, books, readers, Vicki Hinze, writer's library

INTERNAL COMPASS

We all have an internal compass.

It comes to us as flashes of intuition, gut instinct. Sometimes, when danger threatens, it raises the hair on our necks and arms. At others, it comes to us as a gentle knowing.

Some say we absorb signals subconsciously and instinct is nothing more than us becoming consciously aware.

Some say we suffer sensory input overload and it triggers the sum of our experience and knowledge and wisdom which makes value judgments and signals our internal compass to alert us.

Some say we are the sum of our experience and our reactions are solely learned. (i.e. touch a hot stove, get burned, never forget it and always associate touching a hot stove with getting burned.)

Others say these nudges are divine intervention, in the case of warnings, or of divine assurance, in the case of affirmations.

I believe our internal compass is all of that and more. And the more we trust it, the more aware we become and the easier it is for that compass to get our attention. It’s like muscles. Those you exercise perform better and more easily than those you don’t. The more we exercise our internal compass, the stronger, wiser and more honed it becomes.

Take reading. When you were learning how to read, you first struggled over the letters that formed the words. Then you struggled over the words. But as you practiced and learned to recognize them, the reading became easier, faster, and your comprehension of what you were reading grew.

When you were learning to type, you weren’t familiar with the keyboard and you had to look at the keys to verify their position to be certain of the outcome. You push P and get P. You don’t push P and get Q. Soon, you develop a bond of trust between your mind and fingertips and the keyboard. You know that when you push P that’s what you’re going to get.

If your internal compass warns that danger is afoot, and danger comes, then the next time that compass signals you of danger, you give the warning more credence. The more it proves accurate, the more weight you give it.

Our internal compasses give us insights not only on danger but on those gentler knowings. Where someone tells us something and innately we recognize it as truth. We don’t need hard evidence. We don’t need character witnesses or for verifiable events to affirm or to vindicate. We just know.

Most people acknowledge their internal compass. Many respect it, and some rely on it in all things. Writers typically fall into the last category, or grow into it. Why?

Because dealing with people, their motivations and conflicts, is ordinary business for writers. We couldn’t write a paragraph, much less a story, otherwise. So this routine work gives our compass-muscles a lot of exercise. It becomes honed and we naturally take that honed skill into other areas of our lives. Sometimes knowingly, sometimes as innate, normal reactions.

What does that mean to the writer when it comes to the work?

It means that writers usually craft characters with strong internal compasses, too. And that those characters use them.

Some characters, depending on their story role, might not heed their compass, but the protagonists, being admirable people readers respect and want to emulate, do. It’s odd for a worthy villain not to rely heavily on his internal compass, too.

These acknowledgements of and affinity with their internal compasses means the attuned writer instinctively creates 3-dimensional characters. Ones with depth and real-life qualities. Complex characters that aren’t just reflections of their story role but ones that give birth to their story roles. It is what it is because they are who they are. The result? Highly individualized characters and stories.

Characters intuit. Relate. Deliberately heed or dispute their compasses’ findings. They don’t ignore or disregard the compass; it’s too much a part of them to be ignored.

What can the internal compass do for characters (or people)?

In bogus situations, it signals the wisdom in skepticism and doubt. Have you ever had someone tell you something and even as they spoke, you knew it was a lie? That’s your internal compass at work.

Have you been in a situation where things were not as they seemed? No one told you they weren’t, but you knew all the same. How did you know? Say you detected an experience or event was staged. How did you innately know it wasn’t genuine? Your internal compass.

What about the person who says I’m sorry, but you know they’re not. That their apology is a machination or a manipulation to achieve a goal and not sincere? Or the person/character who deliberately undermines relationships because it serves their own interests--or they believe it does?
And you know it without evidence. All of it. Again, that’s your internal compass at work.

Everyone has an internal compass. It tells us right from wrong. It is the keeper of our conscience---and the guilt that parks there when we cross lines we shouldn’t cross. It signals our lines in the sand, our values being trampled or exalted, our judgments being confirmed or refuted. Our compass does all that and more, which is why it is critical to not neglect the internal compasses in our characters.

Characters emulate real people. Without an internal compass, the best character can only be a shadow of all s/he could be and should be. Seated in the compass is an integral part of our humanity.

We’ve all heard about the person about to take a flight getting a feeling s/he shouldn’t. S/he doesn’t fly, and the plane crashes.

We’ve all heard about the person who sensed an attack and either was or spared him/herself as a direct result of the warning.

We’ve all heard about the people who knew xyz was lying or cheating or having an affair and later was proven right.

Characters should have these experiences, too.

A common technique in fiction: when the female protagonist hears something and goes to investigate, and the reader (of the book) or the viewer (of the movie) is virtually shouting at the protagonist not to go down those stairs, not to go outside. We know danger is waiting. Sometimes the protagonist does, sometimes s/he doesn’t.

The character is ignoring his/her internal compass, but we’re heeding ours. That’s why we’re virtually shouting--and the conflict creates suspense that engages the reader.

We do exercise caution with this. We want the conflict and the suspense. We don’t want the reader to think our protagonist or antagonist is too stupid to live.







Remember in SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY when Julia Robert’s character returns home from the midnight picnic and senses someone’s been in the house? She innately knows it. But she still goes inside, finds the towels on the rack straightened (after she’d deliberately scrunched them) and the canned goods in the cabinet all in perfect order--not as she’d left them. Those things signaled every viewer that the abusive ex she’d fled was in the house. And every viewer feared what he would do to her.

If you look at that example, it shows multiple uses of the character’s internal compass. Intuited and learned.

The compass works that way for us and for our characters, and the more we trust it, the stronger it becomes.

And the stronger it becomes, the more deft we become as writers inserting it into our works.❧

Blessings,

Vicki



©2008, Vicki Hinze


Tags: internal compass, guidance, direction, standards, characters, authors, writers, writing, readers, books, novels, storytelling, stories

BLOG DAY: THE LIAR'S DIARY BY PATRY FRANCIS

Patry Francis is an International Thriller Writers member with a new release, THE LIAR'S DIARY, and is unable to interact with readers at this time, as she is healing from cancer.

There is an in-depth article on my website: www.vickihinze.com in the blog, which has an extensive amount of information on this inspiring woman, her book, as well as links to outlets where we can support her by purchasing her book.














I hope that you'll drop by and take a look, visit her site and wish her well!

You'll also find a listing of the 300 authors who are blogging on her behalf today. I'm privileged to be among them.

Blessings,

Vicki Hinze


Tags: The Liar's Diary, Patry Francis, authors, books, writers, novelists, readers, writing, Vicki Hinze

Take a Step...

Creating Characters: Working the Clay

My husband is a multi-medium artist. One medium is pottery. I enjoy watching him work with the clay and have since he was working with Raku one day and I was helping him quench the pots.

You take these red-hot pots out of the kiln and put each one into a small metal garbage can that’s got shredded newspaper in it. The pot sets the paper on fire. You get this burst of flame, and cram the lid on the can. Then you wait.

At the duly appointed time, you use long tongs to remove the pot and use water to quench it. Only then do you know what you’ve actually got.

He says Raku is like Christmas. You don’t know what’s inside the package until you open it.

Interestingly enough, people are the same way. Only in getting to know them do you expose their layers--some would say, their true colors. Like the Raku, as you process these layers, you see changes and differences that alter your perception and your reaction to what is and what’s revealed.

What you thought and what you come to know is often two entirely different things.

And in that, there’s merit for writers, particularly in creating characters.

We learn the nature of people through observation and revelation. What they want us to see, and what they can’t avoid revealing. And with each new insight, we observers place a value on that aspect of their character. Our opinions, judgments, values become measuring sticks for others.

Don’t bother saying, “I don’t judge.” We all judge and measure.

Most people (and therefore characters) are a blend of “good and bad” in our eyes. Whether they fall on the overall good or bad list depends on how they stack up as an entity. An example...

We meet x and admire his open attitude. He’s friendly and fun.
But as we watch x interact, we see that it’s an act. He isn’t genuine.

This changes our perception of him. We saw attributes that are now liabilities. Who wants to interact with someone who isn’t genuine?

But then y tells us that x is shy and he really has to force himself to be open to others. It’s very hard for him, yet he’s working on it.

This changes our perception of x again. We admire the effort. We relate to the struggle. Who among us hasn’t struggled to overcome something difficult for us?

And so it goes. With each new revelation, our perception can alter in ways we gauge to be favorable or unfavorable.

And this is the key to creating complex characters.

There’s an article in my writers’ library on this site (www.vickihinze.com), CREATING UNFORGETTABLE CHARACTERS, that focuses intently on the how-to side of creation, so I won’t repeat that here. Instead, what’s on my mind this morning is the value of that complexity in characters.

In my life, I’ve met many people. Most, as I said, are a combination of good and bad traits (in my eyes). I explored these perceptions and how they influence us in REFLECTIONS, the fall feature article, also on my writing website. What I didn’t get into in any depth there was the ability of others to manipulate our reactions to them. That’s an important tool in fiction.

While manipulators and people who attempt to control us are not welcome in life, they are there, and most of us have to deal with them, or choose to not deal with them. That makes including them in our fiction favorable. After all, fiction is all about conflict.

Manipulators and control freaks make formidable fictional characters. Some people do these things--manipulate and control (or attempt to)--which are by and large considered negative, destructive and unwelcome traits, with the best intentions. They are attempting to be a positive and constructive influence. To encourage the best.

In your characters, these people would be those serving story roles as the interfering friend, the well-meaning parent or co-worker. Someone who is trying to “help.” The object of their manipulations and attempts to control might not want it, need it or ask for it. But in their eyes, they’re the object’s appointed savior, so to speak. Saving the object from dire consequences or even from him- or herself.

We (as readers) understand this, but we still don’t like what they’re doing. And typically, we don’t like them.

Then there are those who manipulate and attempt to control others for darker, self-serving reasons. They too make formidable characters. Typically, villains. While they still have positive and negative traits in their repertoire, their intentions are not to save the object of their machinations but to use, abuse, manipulate and control to serve their own interests. They are attempting through falsehoods to be a negative and destructive influence because it serves their goal.

Now these characters (again, typically villains), don’t see themselves or what they’re doing as bad. They might even see what they’re doing as noble and just. It isn’t, and readers and other characters see the truth, but the villain typically does not. Usually because s/he’s hiding behind someone or something else. (i.e., many psychotics hide behind God. Claiming their methods are insignificant because they’re doing His will.) Bizarre to rational people, but to the psychotic, this makes total sense. And we (as readers) understand this. We don’t agree, but we do understand. We might even admire the mental acuity in it, but we’re never going to accept this twisted rendition as normal, rational, or acceptable. Yet understanding is enough. And it is there where the villain obtains his strength.

If you create a black-hearted bastard as a villain--a character who is all bad and has no redeeming qualities--then you and the reader know exactly what to expect. He will give his all to doing his worst. Why? Because that’s what people do. So when he does his worst, he’s only living up to expectations. The outcome of his actions and the consequences are foretold. Anticipated. No surprise. And that equates to no suspense. And to little interest.

It also robs the villain of his humanity. No one is all bad (though admittedly some try hard to be). The bottom line is that this villain is boring, dull and flat. No matter how horrific his actions are, or how twisted his mind is, he can’t surprise or stun or shock us. He’s stripped of that ability by his lack of redeeming qualities. And just like a person with those qualities, that sum makes him weak and ineffective.

But what if this blackhearted bastard is a normal man. Good and bad, soft and hard, tolerant and intolerant? What if he’s clever? Twisted to those who dig deeply enough to see his core, but normal to others who don’t, or who haven’t?

This villain has strength and constantly surprises because we don’t know what to expect, we are not signaling ahead on his actions or reactions, and we don’t know what buttons must be pushed for him to do his worst. We don’t know his worst. More interesting? Definitely. Stronger? Absolutely.

And because he is, he can carry more story weight.

Complex characters are all about character, yes. But they’re about motivations and internal conflicts, too.

In the past two decades, I’ve created a lot of characters, a lot of villains. And the ones that chill readers’ blood are the ones who successful fool most into believing they’re rational, reasonable and normal at the onset. As the story progresses, and their true colors are exposed, (revealing in bits their inner conflicts and motivations), they become greater obstacles until such time as the protagonist vanquishes them.

That exposure elevates the worthiness of the protagonist to be the protagonist. (If a villain is weak, it doesn’t take much of a protagonist to put him in his place. If he’s strong, it takes more. If he’s even stronger, it takes even more.) And that satisfies the reader’s need to see justice.

Often in life, we don’t see justice. In stories reader’s want it, and being aware of it, authors usually give it to them.

This doesn’t just apply to villains. The reverse is also true. We meet a character we think is a bad person and discover through the story events that they’re a good person. And sometimes we create characters that are an intricate blend and even the author isn’t sure whether or not a character is a hero or a villain until the very end of the book.

If you think that can’t happen, I’m telling you it can--and has happened to me. There was a secondary character in one of my military thrillers that seemed good, then bad, then good, then bad and then I just didn’t know whether he was honorable or the worst kind of bastard. I had to completely write the book to find out.

The secret was revealed in his motivations. In his internal conflict. And here’s the part that makes this worth sharing...

When I went back and looked at just his character in relation to the novel, I saw what spurred each and every twist in perception. His motivations, goals and conflicts were intact and in place. Subtle strokes I hadn’t deliberately inserted were there, too. I thought, at the end of the book when I discovered which he was, I’d have to extensively rewrite to make him credible and consistent. I didn’t have to change one word. Not about him.

Why?

I would guess that it’s because I got to know him as a person before I started writing him, and when subconsciously he nudged me in a direction other than the one I intended, I followed.

That doesn’t sound logical, I’m sure, to non-writers, but writers know exactly what I mean. If the writer is prepared (knows the character’s story function and gives him/her traits, attributes and skills to perform it), early on in a story, the characters take over. And sometimes they know where they’re going and who they are even if the writer consciously doesn’t know.

Anyway, creating characters is like slinging pottery. That’s what I wanted to say. The artist has some control, but in the end, there are surprises. Some are pleasant, some aren’t. But as it is when dealing with people and revealing those layers or true colors, even those who aren’t pleasant are usually interesting.

Blessings,

Vicki

Vicki Hinze
©2008


Tags: character, thriller writers, authors, novelists, books, readers, manipulators, control freaks, pottery, Vicki Hinze, Writer's Library

WELCOME 2008!

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

ACCEPTANCE

ATTITUDE

ASPIRATIONS



A new year. A chance for a new beginning, a new direction--a fresh start.

Some changes we make will be so welcome, we’ll open our arms and embrace them with enthusiasm and zeal and a “Oh, yes! Finally!”

We acknowledge them, accept them into our minds and hearts, and our attitude is, well, welcoming. We’re excited. We’ve wanted this and now we’re going to go for it. We’re determined. And we’re going to apply ourselves and exercise the discipline and devotion required to get it.

We believe in this change. We want and maybe even need it. And we have faith that it is good and right for us and that we have the skills and tools we need to embrace it. We aspire, and we believe.

And because we do acknowledge the change, what it is, why we want or need it, we know its place and its importance in our lives. Because we accept that it requires our effort to obtain this change. Because we have an open attitude and we’re ready to and willing to exercise application and aspire with the confidence that we can get it, we are worthy of having it, we sincerely choose to embrace it, the odds are very good that we will get it.

Guaranteed?

No. Of course not. Our view is limited to our perspective and, while we have all the elements in place to make wise choices, that limitation on our viewpoint prohibits us from seeing clearly our own big picture. The big picture that is the full view of the complete us. The big picture that knows something we think can be good and positive and constructive for us, isn’t. It somehow falls short of our greatest good.

Realizing this offers several critical insights:

1. Initiating change is a marvelous gift and, tested by us for its value and deemed good, we should go for it with everything we’ve got.
2.If we make the change, celebrate it. Consciously (our limited view) and subconsciously (our less limited view) the change was deemed good and we did it. That’s a good thing. A magnificent thing. Go us!
If we don’t make the change, before we condemn it (and ourselves for not making it) we need to examine the change closely.

A. Did we lose our determination? Our zeal? If so, we need to know why.
1. If we lacked discipline, then we need to work on that.
2. If we determined that the change wasn’t good for us after all, then we need to celebrate our grasping of that insight--and we need to know why the change wasn’t good for us.
a. If the change proves that it would have been just plain bad, then we should celebrate that we didn’t change. We didn’t get off track because we realized it soon enough to save ourselves from ourselves. We were spared the agony and consequences of bad choices. Celebrate being spared. Celebrate the wisdom gained--we won’t make that bad choice for that reason again!
b. If the change doesn’t prove it would have been bad or good--it appears good, it appears it would have been great, then we need to examine why we didn’t do it.
i. If we didn’t embrace the change because we were afraid of it for whatever reason, then we should celebrate recognizing the fear and determine why we were afraid. Eventually, we will work our way around to grasping that fear is a thief. It will steal all from us that we let it. And so we must choose to stare into fear’s face and do what we must do anyway, or to stare ourselves in the face and admit that we didn’t stand up to the fear. We chose to let it win. The first speaks of courage--not the absence of fear, but doing what we must do in spite of it--the second of cowardice--giving fear total control and power. We choose which, courage or cowardice, we embrace.
ii. If we didn’t embrace the change because we intuitively knew that, while it appeared good, something was amiss and it wasn’t just insecurity or fear holding us back, then we should celebrate. We often subconsciously work through things and note challenges that take much longer for us to realize on a conscious level. We trusted our instincts, and that means we’re working in harmony with our entire selves and that’s growth--and success. We celebrate growth and success.

There are occasions and situations when we can’t see down roads we don’t take. There are times when we can’t project whether or not a change would have been detrimental or constructive and all we have is the knowledge that we did or did not embrace the change.

It is those times that are most difficult on us because we tend to gnaw on whatever decision we made, fearing we made the wrong one and we’ll pay the price for being wrong forever.

Sometimes, that’s inevitable. Life’s lessons don’t come easily. They smack us hard to get and keep our attention. But even then, is that a bad thing? Only if we choose to let it be. We take hard lessons in deep, and often, because we do, we’re spared even harder lessons. There’s merit in that. Good comes from it.

Too often we’re programmed to see the good in good and to avoid all bad. But bad experiences have value--and they can have very good outcomes. They can prepare and season us. If, for example, you went to pitch in a world series, only you’d never played ball, the experience couldn’t be a good one. But what if you’d nearly been born playing baseball? What if you’d suffered your share of sore arms, broken fingers, bruised elbows, and strained shoulders all along the way? Sports injuries that cost you dearly. Precluded you from playing in key games, the regional tournament. One cost you a scholarship. You really, really wanted that scholarship. You needed that scholarship. And you didn’t get it.

Now back when these injuries occurred, you would have believed with all your heart that these were bad experiences. Awful, painful ones that frustrated and upset you for their injustice.

But now you’re headed to the world series. And you’re put into a position where you can do xyz. You want to do xyz; the temptation is strong. But because you had that strained shoulder in high school and blew the pass that would have gotten you that coveted scholarship, you knew better now. You recognized unstated risks and decided they were too high to pay again. This time, you chose not to act. And because you didn’t, you walk into the world series uninjured.

So did the “bad” high school experience have value? It sucked when it happened, but that didn’t deem it worthless. Wisdom was gained. At a price, but wisdom worth having isn’t cheap. Now that wisdom spared your bacon. Now that’s something to celebrate, too, eh?

So here’s the question: When’s the last time you celebrated (or saw the good in) a bad experience?

Tough one, I know. I battle it all the time. It’s hard to be grateful for the “bad” and that’s the simple truth. But there are often gems in them. Gems in disguise.

And there are those times when we just don’t know why change or something we want desperately doesn’t work out. It is these times that are especially trying because they hit us on every level--physical, emotional and spiritual. What affects the body or the emotions can be difficult. But what tries the soul is hands down the worst.

Yet if we’ve done all we can to make wise choices and to examine and understand, then we’ve done all we can do. We know it, and we must have faith in ourselves--we’ve done our part to earn our trust--and be at peace. What we need to know will come to us. Awake or asleep. Because we seek it, or because it finds us.

In believing that, there is comfort.

In knowing that, there is contentment.

So happy 2008. My wish for you is this:

May you have trust and faith. May you find comfort in change, or in its absence. May wisdom be your gift and guide, and celebration your constant companion. And most of all, in all you do, I wish you contentment.

Blessings,

Vicki


Vicki Hinze
©2008


Resolutions, authors, writers, novelists, readers, books, purpose, balance, change, celebration