Fear

Happy Thursday, gang!

Today, I want to talk about something that affects us all: fear.



What are your fears? Are you afraid of the dark? Afraid of dogs? Afraid of failure?



My fear is economic. That I am money-driven by any means. I'm not. That's why I'm a writer and a vet tech. Money has never been important to me. I do what I love, not what pays the best.


For me, there is familiarity there. I have known veterinary medicine for ages. I have been writing since childhood. There is great passion there. But I am also holding myself back.


I am holding myself from being a full-time writer. I have wonderful excuses as to why I don't quit my job (which I am more than happy to complain about at any given moment). I have a family to support: a wife and pets to feed and care for; vehicles to maintain, bills to pay. You name it. I have to be responsible. It sounds good. It IS good.


Why on Earth am I talking about all this? For a few reasons.


First and foremost, it is a constant topic in The Artist's Way, a program that I am working with several wonderful and amazingly creative women.


I was just introduced to The Failure Club as well. I LOVE the idea and highly recommend it. Check it out here: http://screen.yahoo.com/episode-1-welcome-to-failure-club-27284740.html


On a personal level, a family member is going through a very scary time right now. A major medical issue has come up unexpectedly. Though the doctors are hopeful, it's not a guarantee. I love my family and would do anything for them. Some people at my job have been wonderfully understanding. Others not so much.




I have been through enough in my life time to know that when I am on my death bed, I will not regret having not worked more. What I would regret would be time lost with loved ones. I refuse to live with that kind of regret. So when this news hit and I got a reaction that was less than stellar, I knew the time to move on was coming.


The only reason I have not quit is the fact that I have nothing lined up. I have several writing "gigs," but none bring a weekly or bi-weekly check. A differet day job simply does not exist for me currently, and it is not for a lack of trying.



What I see, though, is that this fear is holding me back creatively, emotionally, physiclly and even spiritually. I m not fulfilled. I am not satisfied emotionally. I am worn out. I view my job as a hinderance rather than a joy.


Change is coming. And change is good. What I have to do is have faith. Have faith that even though I don't see that safety net, I must believe - I must KNOW - that it is there. Have faith that a higher power, the universe, God will catch me and is in control. Have faith that what is meant to be will be and it will all happen in perfect time. I have to have faith and not fear.


That is far easier said than done, but I am trying. I try daily to not allow my fear to destroy me or to slow down my progression; to never stop working towards my goals. I try because I know that what I want and what I am capable of are far greater than my current situiation.


My message to you would be to try to conquer your fears as well. Go after that dream. Do what you want to do. Live the kind of life you want to live. Don't let fears hold you back. Don't live with regrets because of fear. We only get one shot at this thing called life, don't sell yourself short.


With all that being said, I bid you adieu and will go write some more so that the big scary monster known as fear can be seen in its true, rather small proportions. ;)


Happy reading!

On Education

My wife is an educator. More specifically, she teaches learning disabled and emotionally disturbed children. Over the years, her students have run the gamut from autism to anger issues. Last night, we were discussing the state of the educational system.


In New York state, there is standardized testing. Which sounds harmless until you consider the fact that the results of her students' test scores are added in with other students' scores and then we get the state average. How can one of her students, who might be severely learning disabled be compared to a non-LD student?! We all know that they can't. It's not balanced - it's not a fair fight.



Unfortunately, in the end, the students - the children - will be the ones who lose. Neither the average student nor the LD student will get the full education that they need and they will then be thrust into the real world, forced to struggle unequipped.



What does any of thids have to do with writing?


For me, even as a child, education was of the utmost importance. You had better believe that English class was a top priority. I knew the differences between there, their and they're a long time ago. It saddens (and even frustrates) me that my peers - my colleagues - do not know those differences. I look on Facebook and just see such horrible grammar. When I do so, I am appalled.



Now, I am not trying to pass judgment on people. Maybe they didn't pay attention in English. Maybe they had a crappy teacher. Who knows? The point is, they were not properly prepared for "the real world."


You may be asking yourself, "what difference does it make if they use there instead of their?" The differences are: (a) we are not the only English speaking country in the world. The British know their language pretty darn well. I can guarantee you, they just checked to make sure I used the proper "their." (b)As an aside to (a), we look like idiots on the global stage. We are not looked at in a good light by other countries. The fact that we cannot master our own language makes us the laughing stock of the world. (c) Isn't it important to know how to balance a check book? It's a part of our daily lives, right? We speak constantly, right? Words are also a part of our daily lives. Ergo, proper use of our words should also be not just a part of our daily lives, but an important part of our daily lives.



It is for those reasons that I proudly call myself a grammar nazi. I refuse to appear ignorant and inarticulate. I refuse to fall into the stereotype of the ugly, uneducated American. This is our language, but sadly, I have met many people for whom English is their second language and they have mastered it far better than we (the native speakers) have. I have tremendous respect for those people and their native tongues. I also have tremendous respect for my own language.


What's sad is that a key part of this linguistic issue is that teachers aren't able to teach proper grammar because they are overworked, underpaid and forced to follow curriculums set by the government. They have to cram ridiculous amounts of information into shorter time spans. They do not get the opportunity to teach the way they want to teach. They want to teach proper grammar as much as I want to see and hear it. Sadly, they just can't due to these regulations.


We need to master our language and we need to improve our educational system. Both are in a very sad state. I think that if we were able to improve both, we as a nation, would improve. Our global image would improve and our culture would improve as well.


So, here's to better education and better grammar for us all!

Inspiration and Aspiration

Good Thursday morningm y'all! 'Tis almost the weekend!!!! ;)

So this morning may be a bit of a repeat of an older blog, but it's still gonna be a good one. I promise. :)



Writers teach and inspire each other simply by our work. Different voices, various perspectives all help us to grow and improve our craft. I can list numerous writers that have inspired me and who have helped me to grow and improve as a writer.



There is one, however, who created the highest level to which I aspire. That writer is Grant Nieporte.

Mr. Nieporte wrote a movie which I consider one of the most well written stories ever, Seven Pounds.




Seven Pounds is so original, so beautiful, so powerful. It is cerebral, emotional, cathartic. In my humble opinion, it is the perfect story.



Nieporte met someone who inspired him to write the story. He met someone he called, "one of the saddest people I've ever met in my life". He did not give a name, but he described this person's eyes, their aura, their body language. This person was involved in a horrible accident which left seven people dead.



Nieporte then takes that and uses that as inspiration to write Seven Pounds. What he does is create a new story from this one person's true story. He weaves new characters, new emotions, new actions and a new ending. What he crafted was a true masterpiece.



That's what I want to create. I want to write stories that touch people. I want to craft a story that is realistic, unqiue, beautiful, inspirational, emotional.



I think it's important for all of us to aspire to new things in our various ventures in life. Stagnancy is never a good thing. So, we set goals for ourselves and we work towards them. Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we exceed even our own expectations and yes, sometimes we miss the mark. But as long as we move forward, we never truly fail.



This is me continuing to work and write in the hopes that one day I can craft a story that will touch you in the same way Seven Pounds touched me.

Happy reading, everyone!!! :)

Love is Blind Blog-A-Thon

I am of mixed race. I don’t necessarily look it, but my heritage includes white, black and indigenous. I grew up in a major metropolis, going to school with children of all races, colors and religions. So, when I began writing my two-set story (Imperfect and Impeccable), I had no idea what I was getting into when I joined a black woman with a white woman.
I have friends in interracial relationships, and I myself have had friends and lovers of all backgrounds and races. The thought of an interracial relationship was (and still is) normal to me. It didn’t faze me. I really didn’t think it was an issue. I just thought I was writing another love story.
Then, the story began to write itself. Suddenly, I was seeing the world through black and white glasses. People were suddenly defined by their skin color, not by their character. It was a very eye-opening experience to write about prejudices that were completely foreign to me. I actually learned a lot by writing this story.
I learned what it was like to see people from a different perspective. I started to see the labels: black, white, gay, straight. Now, I am not justifying the categorization of people. It’s just that some of my characters labeled other people and I wrote words and dialogue that you would never hear me say.
Being the colorblind person I am, I made sure to counter that with words and dialogue that were my own. Words that showed our humanity. Words that expressed acceptance, not just tolerance. Words that would help my prejudiced characters – and potentially even readers – see people for WHO they are rather than WHAT they are.
My tag line is, “stories of love without boundaries.” For me, love knows no gender, no color, no religion. Love is love. It is a connection between two people. It is the connection between their souls, not their skin. When I write, I write stories about people. What they look like has nothing to do with who they are. They are simply people in love.
I love writing about love. And honestly, I love writing about people from all walks of life. I love diversity, I love humanity. I will continue to write stories about people: white, black, Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern – you name it! It doesn’t matter to me what my characters or my readers look like because in the end, we are all simply human.

For more information about Imperfect and Impeccable, as well as my other works, please visit the following pages:
Website: www.leharvey.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/leharvey77
Twitter: @leharvey77
Please feel free to e-mail me at: leharvey77@gmail.com

One lucky reader/commenter will be chosen at random to receive a FREE e-book copy of both Imperfect and Impeccable! Leave a comment and you may just get chosen! ;) Good luck and happy reading!

A Visual Feast in Words

I am a visual person. Don't tell me to go south on Main Street. Tell me when I reach the old church, turn left. A 22 gauge need has a blue cap, a 25 gauge needle has a red cap. I do so much by sight. I even write based on images.

Images help me to describe. Describe a face, a location and even an emotion. The dark, dank, dusty old antiquated building elicits a different emotion than the bright, light-yellow colored dining room with windows that stretched from the depths of the ground to the heights of the clouds. How did I do that? By looking at an image and selecting certain features in order to emote.

I have always had certain actors or actresses in mind to play the characters in my books should they ever be turned into movies. Often, I would study their faces and then create my own little twists so that the characters were indeed their own entity. But again, I used an image to help me.



Writing has been called "painting with words." I love that. Seriously, I simply adore the idea of putting words on a page that will help you to paint an image (and even an emotion) in your mind's eye. I do take painting with words somewhat seriously.

Lately, I have been using google images to search for my current WIP as well as the prequels to Loving Her (that's right, LH fans! You asked for more of these women, you're getting them! Hopefully this year, if I can get them all done!). I have been discovering actors and actresses that I hadn't heard of before, but they would be perfect for these characters. It's a lot of fun, honestly. I look at faces and narrow them down until I have the "one." And then I will look at lots of pictures of them. It's so exciting to put another face to the face that is in my mind. And as I study, I write. Like an artist or sculpter looking back and forth between their canvas and the model, I go between the images and my writing.



I can't describe why, but it gives me such excitement and joy. I just have so much fun writing this way. It makes it that much more enjoyable.

I hope that my writing elicits wonderful paintings in your mind and that my joy is detectable as you read.

Happy reading! :)