NEW BEGINNINGS

Ever feel like you want to scrap everything and start over? It is actually not that hard, although what I did yesterday was a total waste of time. Or was it?

Yesterday afternoon I decided to start another website and use it to create an entirely different image of myself--new name, new email, new me. I spent a couple of hours on this, changing my name to Airmid and adding another google email which is now on my phone. Want to reach me? earthgoddesswriting@gmail.com. (also my instagram handle) Within this new paradigm I decided to write about topics that I hoped would be interesting to my readers. And when I'd chosen a wix template and written four blog posts, I realized...I have a lot invested in this website and my blog. To do another would require an outlay of money and marketing...oh yes--the marketing bit. Because you can start a website on wix for no money, but if you want it found, it has to go further than that--and this costs. To retrieve this new site, which I thought would be easy, I had to go back into my history...the name of it didn't really exist--at least in our rarified internet world. SEO? Didn't really work without a www in front of the name.

My original thought had been to write my blog and a new book under a pen name...but again, how to be found? I would have to start anew. And then I realized I can start fresh from where I am. In the end I copied and pasted what I'd written on the other blog into this one.

So I do have a new beginning but in the comforting bubble of the old. Now I can write about things other than my own books, do reviews and snippets of writing advice that I've gleaned along the many (too many to count) years I've been at this thing called writing. So please tune into my new/old blog and enjoy the new me! And if you feel you need a new beginning, wait before you jump in with both feet. Think about the implications of scrapping the past--because even if you want to shove it into a black hole and never look at it again, the past is part of the present. Everything that brought us to this point in time is valuable. And we can say goodbye to it and walk out into the sunshine of our newness knowing that it's a part of us--always.

Thanks for reading.

A Review

3 out of 4 stars for Cauldstane by Linda Gillard

This is a book about ghosts and haunting but it is also a story about love, loss and what it means to be a part of something, whether a home or a family. It takes place mostly in the Highlands of Scotland in an old castle that is not in good repair. The main protagonist is a woman, a 'ghost writer'. And the themes are about her and about the ghost who has taken over the lives of the people who live in the castle. Jenny Ryan has come to the castle to ghost write the owner's memoirs, a former traveler who is world renowned. What happens during her time there is the gist of the story. It is a page turner, interesting until the end. I did enjoy it but...for some reason I am only giving it three stars. Why is that? I think possibly it's because it's a slow starter. I can't give every book I enjoy four stars, can I? The ones that I give four stars are those that captivate me and are unusual and strange, like The Invisible LIfe of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab. So, I've given myself away as to my preferences! In any case, if you like a good ghost story you will enjoy this book.

The Art of Writing

So, you want to write...

You sit in front of your computer as blank as the page you're facing. 'What now?' You ask.

It doesn't have to be erudite, witty or funny. It doesn't have to be anything. The most wonderful thing about writing is: it is yours and only yours to create. 'So how do I do it?' you ask for the second time.

Rule number 1

Don't think. Write. Just start punching keys. (or tapping) It can be nonsense, the same word over and over, a nursery rhyme. All you need is the impetus to continue. Because if you let the words pour out you will find that they begin to make sense. You might have an image in your mind that you want to describe, or a conversation that is going on in the background of your brain. It might be that you look out the window and see a bird and that bird leads you to think of something else and something else.

TRY THIS PROMPT:

"I was planning to..."

or this:

The bang brought me up and out of sleep...

Or use these words in a paragraph and see where they lead:

Catastrophic, carousel, stripes, handsome

Do you see how easy it is? When I was in high school my favorite time in English class was when the teacher gave us a short uncompleted sentence and asked us to write for fifteen minutes. Oh, the thrill of it!!!!!

Tune in here for more of this...I will be sitting here waiting for you.