A to Z II - H is for Hope

Welcome back for another installment of my personal A to Z challenge. In contrast to yesterday's letter g for gravity, today's letter is h, which stands for hope.

For as much gravity and darkness as there is in Trajectory, there is also a lot of hope.

Though his job is scary and stressful, there are times when it ends peacefully.

Though Joe's relationship with Claudette is strained, it isn't over.

Though his relationship with Michael reaches an unfathomable apex, Joe gains an incredible good support from his SWAT team teammates from it.

Though Pete's story is tragic, there is that hope in that his legacy will be carried on by his son.

Yes, there is a lot of gravity in this story. There is a lot of hope, as well.

A to Z Challenge - H is for Hatched

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!

Today's letter is h, which is for hatched.

Robert and his siblings were an unexpected clutch. Their parents, CJ and Sparky, had laid eggs before, but it had been 3 years since their last clutch. We certainly had no intention of encouraging them to have any more babies. With 3 dogs and 4 birds as it was, ours was an already full house.

Then CJ began laying eggs unexpectedly. She laid 7 eggs, which is a good sized clutch. 4 of the eggs were viable, meaning they actually had babies developing in them.

After they hatched, we had 4 more little mouths to feed. CJ wasn't all that interested in feeding them. Sparky helped somewhat, and we began syringe feeding the babies immediately.

They hatched...literally.

After Robert passed away, something else hatched. His story. Almost immediately. Never before had I felt such an urge to write a story right after losing a loved one, and to honor them. It was within 24 hours of his passing that his story began to crack open out of its shell.

It's interesting how things happen. In a case like this, the only way Robert's story came to life was by it hatching out of my heart and love for the little guy.

See you on Monday for more A to Z hatchlings!

2015 A to Z Challenge: Pianissimo - Day 8 (H)

 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.

Hi! Here's how hauntings heal hurt hearts!

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Today's letter is H, obviously.

H is for hauntings, but also more than that.

The hauntings are a big part of the Pianissimo story. The house is haunted, and the piano is haunted. Corinne sees, hears, and experiences things she never could have imagined. She dealt with some crazy haunted stuff!

The hauntings also helped her, though. The more she learned about the house and piano, the more she learned about herself. At first, she felt isolated and alone as she dealt with the hauntings. As time went on, she realized she wasn't alone. 

The hauntings and discoveries Corinne makes all help her to heal. They help her to become a stronger person. They help her to learn new things - to become brave. As much as they help Corinne to heal, there's also a part of it where it helps the souls of Agnes and Margaret to heal as well.

Hauntings aren't always a bad thing. Sometimes they really help us to grow.

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 - Honesty

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


H is for Honesty.


My grandfather always told us to be honest. He was a man of his word, and he was a great role model for it. He taught us the importance of honesty and integrity. He always told me to be a person of my word and to have a good handshake. For me, those are both so tightly intertwined. A good handshake is the mark of an honest person.

Honesty is so important. For me, I have to wonder about people who lie (whether patholoically or not). Now, I'm not saying I'm perfect. I've lied. For whatever reasons, I have. But I have met some people whose entire lives were based on lies. Or they had huge lies within their marriages (a lack of fidelity, for example). That's the kind of stuff that I don't understand. How can you live with yourself? How can you keep your stories straight? How can anyone ever truly believe you?



I don't know and I don't want to know. At the end of the day, we are the ones who have to live with ourselves, our decisions and our actions. Honesty is important - it's a tremendous indicator of character.



I choose to be honest, because the greatest man I have ever known was.

H is for honesty.

H: Hands

Hands are special. Hands are unique. Hands tell the world all about us without saying a word.



I remember when I was 14 and a piece I had written received honorable mention in a youth literary magazine, I read (or at least looked at) the pieces that one. One piece was titled, "My Mother Has Ugly Hands." I was appalled at that title. If I read the piece, I don't remember a word of it. I just remember hating that sentiment.


Personally, I am obssessed with my own hands. They are small and scarred. Yet I work diligently to try to keep them looking healthy and beautiful. Why? I don't know, but not a day goes by that I am not looking at and working on my hands.



What does this have to do with creativity?

Everything.

Think about it. We create with our hands. Our hands type out the words that swirl around in our minds. Our hands hold the tools to carefully and delicately sculpt the clay. Our hands guide the brush to create that amazing painting.



As creatives and creators, our hands are everything.


We need to be good to our hands so that they can be good to us. Let no creative ever doubt the importance of their hands.


Yes, we have all seen those remarkable images of paraplegics and quadraplegics painting with their feet or mouths. That is creativity at its finest. For those of us fortunate to have one or both of our hands, let us be grateful. In that spirit of gratitude, look at, appreciate and treat your hands well.

You never know what they will create next!