A to Z II - L is for Loneliness

Welcome to yet another day in my own personal A to Z Challenge. Today's letter is the letter l. L stands for loneliness.

Joe is an incredibly lonely person. Despite his relationships with Claudette and Pete, Joe still feels very much alone in the world.

Alone because he and Claudette can't truly have it all.

Alone because Pete has a life and family all his own.

Alone because he has one of the most difficult jobs in the world, works insane hours, and is rarely home. Thus he really doesn't have time for much of a social life.

Alone because his father died when he was a kid.

Alone because his mother is gone now, too.

Alone because his sister is a junkie, and can't get her life in order.

Alone because he basically has no family left.

Alone because he keeps to himself. It's safer and easier that way.

Joe is lonely. Partially due to his circumstances. Partially due to his choices. L is for loneliness.

A to Z Challenge - L is for Love

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

It's time for another A to Z Challenge! This year, I want to tell you about a story that is currently a WIP (work in progress). It's the story I'm writing in honor of my baby lovebird, Robert. It's a fantasy story, but it's really a story about emotional healing. So let's examine it by going through the alphabet!

L is for Love, our word of the day.

Love doesn't just mean romance. You can have a love story without being a romance novel.

I am writing this story out of my love for Robert.

Robert loves Emmalee, and Emmalee loves Robert.

Robert loves all of his crew mates, and even the other captives of Tyler, the bad guy.

Robert even loves Tyler in a way (the only way to understand this will be to read it. So stay tuned. I'll let you know when it hits the presses. ;)  ).

Love is a wonderful emotional and connection that we share with family and friends. That kind of love is translated throughout the story of The Good Pirate, Robert.

Check back tomorrow for the letter m!

2015 A to Z Challenge: Pianissimo - Day 12 (L)

For the third consecutive year, I am participating in the A to Z blog challenge.
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

This year, we're going to go through my latest full-length novel, Pianissimo.

On the 12th day of the A to Z challenge, my true love gave to me the letter L. L is for Love.

Pianissimo is a story that is full of love. There is the love between Corinne and Darryl. Love between Corinne, Millie, and Mollie. A friendship of love develops between Corinne and Rich. A kind of love even develops between Corinne, Agnes and Margaret. Last, but not least, there is the love between Agnes and Margaret.

Pianissimo examines all forms of love and relationships. It challenges us to really consider those in our lives and how we love them. It helps us to redefine love. It shows us the beauty and love in all the facets of life.

So, if you love a good love story, Pianissimo is the book for you!

http://www.amazon.com/Pianissimo-Lauren-Shiro-ebook/dp/B00OEOTZMC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1420832795&sr=8-2&keywords=lauren+shiro

A to Z '14 - Listening

For this year's A to Z Challenge, I am honoring my grandfather who passed away on April 3, 2013.



L is for Listening.


We were given two ears to listen and only one mouth to speak.



My grandfather taught me the value of being a good listener in a few ways.

First off, the man deserves sainthood for listening to me for the 33 years I was in his life (or he was in mine). I was an avid talker from a young age. God knows how much he had to listen to me ramble, but he did. And he never complained about it.

Simply teaching by example, he showed me that we needed to not just hear the words that were being said to us, but to listen. To fully comprehend the person, the emotions, the language. By watching him, I learned to listen.


On the flip side of that, I would listen to him all day if I could. I was the child who actually loved to listen to her grandfather's stories. I would sit and listen and converse and ask questions and soak it all in. Listening to him was simply the greatest.


Listening is so important. We need to listen to our spouses, our children, our co-workers and bosses. So often we just hear other people. Like Charlie Brown's teachers, we hear noise, not words. But that needs to change. We need to fully engage ourselves in our conversations. We need to listen and pay attention. We need to be respectful of those we talk with. Note that I said with and not to. We need to talk WITH people, not TO them.


Listening is a skill we can learn at any age and need to practice at every age.


L is for Listening.

L: Love

Love is the driving force behind any creative endeavor. If you didn’t love color and the process of creating a picture, you wouldn’t paint. It is not for ego that we create. We create because we need to and we love that need.

Everyone has some kind of outlet. Whether it’s sports or the arts, we all blow off steam and center ourselves through something. There is a need. There is a need to feel and then to move forward from those feelings. From that need arises creativity.

Everyone’s creativity is different. I write. I’m not the only writer out there, but I am the only writer with my voice and my perspective. I write not because I think I am the best writer. I don’t even necessarily write for a specific audience. I write because I need to express myself and I love writing and the writing process.

Artists don’t become artists for the money. Artists become artists because they love and need art.
At the end of the day, it’s not about a royalty check. It’s about creating something. Getting emotional satisfaction from the creative process.

Art, like everything in life, really, is all about love.