A to Z II - M is for Michael

Good morning! We have reached yet another day in my personal A to Z challenge. We are up to day #13, which means we are half way through the alphabet! Crazy, huh?

 It also means that we are at the letter M. M is for Michael.

Now, if you've read the original Trajectory, you know that Michael is nowhere to be found. It's true. Trajectory started out as a NaNoWriMo challenge. In that original manuscript, there was a male love interest for Joe. As things changed, and Trajectory became a short story instead of a novel, I cut out his bisexuality and his boyfriend.

Since we're back to reviving Trajectory into the full-length story it was meant to be, I am bringing back Joe's true identity. As well, I am bringing in a male to gain Joe's attention.

Michael is an interesting fellow. He is awkward and lonely. He reaches out to Joe just to try to make a friend. He moved to Detroit for a guy, only to have his heart broken. When Joe confides his bisexuality, Michael feels as though he has met a kindred spirit.

As time goes on, Michael finds himself wanting more of Joe. Joe sends him mixed messages, which Michael tightly grasps. He becomes obsessed. When Joe finally informs him that he is not interested in Michael romantically, Michael doesn't take it well. Things take a very unexpected turn for the worse.

Michael is from the past, but he's also a completely new character - a man all his own. He's a very unique man. Unlike the original male love interest, he's dark and complex. He brings a very interesting element to the new Trajectory.

A to Z Challenge - M is for Miracles

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!

The letter m is for miracles!

The real Robert performed miracles, whether he knew it or not. He survived an "unpleasant encounter" with a dog that should have killed him. But it didn't. He came back stronger than ever.

Though developmentally slower than his siblings because of the brain damage suffered as a result of said encounter, he always ate well, he pushed himself to learn to climb and perch. Every day, he did a little more. Every little thing he did was a miracle.

The fictitious Robert is a miracle worker as well. He reminds Emmalee of her past. He shows her wonderful things in the magic of Locreya, as well as in his wisdom. He teaches her emotional healing.

He might have been a small bird, but he did some spectacular things in his all too brief life. Robert created miracles because he was a miracle.

Don't forget to come back tomorrow. We are wrapping up the week with the letter n. See you then!

2015 A to Z Challenge: Pianissimo - Day 13 (M)

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.

M's the word - uhhh...letter. And M is for Margaret.

Margaret is an interesting character. She's quiet in comparison to Agnes, yet she was bold enough to confess her love to Agnes. Music is her escape, yet it draws everyone to her.

Margaret is a good daughter, a wonderful friend, and an amazing companion. She embraces all that Agnes is and does. She shares similar passions with Agnes without ever losing her own identity.

Margaret is kind, compassionate, gentle, loving, strong, talented, unique, funny, passionate, and nothing short of wonderful.

Come get to know Margaret. She may be the best person you never meet (in person).

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 - Morals

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


M is for Morals.

I am so very grateful for having my grandfather be such an influential person in my life. Raised with the influences of the 1950s to the 1970s, I was taught valuable lessons about respecting your elders and teachers, the importance of honesty, and the value of being a good person (rather than the value of a good manicure).



Thanks to my grandfather, I am respectful, professional, polite, grateful...I have morals.


Morals are so important. They guide us, they help us to discern right from wrong. Most of the time, that's fairly simple to do. But when you're suddenly caught in one of those strange situations where the line is clouded, morals are what we need and use to make the best decision - the right decision.



It seems that the younger generations have lost the real sense of morals. Instead of living in a world where we live with other people, most people today can only think of themselves. Getting what they want is far more important than giving to others. Getting things now far surpasses time spent with family. We focus on material things now. Money rules. Which I find rather comical since you can't take it with you, but that's an entirely different blog.


Morals help us all to be better people. To be kinder, wiser, more compassionate. Morals don't necessarily come from a specific religion. They really come from a place of love and respect. If we love and respect others, we will not hurt them. That is an example of morals in the simplest, most basic form.


It can be easy to fall into the endless cycle of thinking, "Oh poor, pitiful me." But we need to stop and think. How blessed we really are to have all that we do and the people that love us. Let us not lose our morals. Instead, let us use them as they can only enrich and enhance our lives and relationships.

M is for Morals.

M: Money

Do we create for money or do we create simply for the pleasure of creating?



It has been said that money is the root of all evil. An artist will tell you that is absolutely the truth.



We create not for financial gain, but for the love of the creative process. We enjoy painting, we are fulfilled when we see our final product. For us, there is no real price tag for each of our creations is our child. Each piece bears a piece of our soul. How can you put a price on that?



But people do. Society does. The outsiders tell us which art is good and which is bad and they suddenly slap a numeric figure (good or bad) on our creation.



As artists, this concept is foreign to us. As people living in today's economy, we need money. So, we're really caught. Stuck in the middle of an unanswerable question: art or money.


Both, please. It is a difficult balance. It is difficult to find money in art. I for one make no bones about the fact that I have a day job because writing, as much as I love it, does not pay the bills. I hate that, but at least for right now, it is my reality.



So I write for the love of writing. That gives both you and me a blessing. It gives me the blessing of doing what I love for the right reasons. And that gives you the blessing of reading work that truly comes from my heart.


I hate money, I really do. But it is a necessary part of my life as a modern American. Ideally, I would live with my wife and a heard of animals in a log cabin in the woods and all I would do is write.
But, we live in a suburb of a smaller city in upstate New York and we both work. We love our home, but a log cabin it is not.


It often seems that reality and idealism are polar opposites and ne'er the 'twain shall meet. That's not necessarily so. The two need not conflict. Instead, there is a happy medium. My situation works for me. I know other writers, artists, creatives who find a balance that works for them as well. The trick to money is not letting it drive your art nor letting it drive you away from you art. It is simply a facet of our lives, not the end all.