motivational – Story Catcher Publishing

THOUGHTFUL THURSDAY: You Can Be THAT Kind of Writer

February 21, 2019February 17, 2019Donna L

There are many movies made from books coming out these days. Movies portraying characters first born in the mind of a writer. A few years ago I went to see TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE. This book turned movie was based on a true story about the life of Solomon Northup. In 1841 he was a free black man living in the northern United States. Through certain circumstances, he ended up spending the next twelve years of his life as a slave in the deep south. I got wrapped up in the portrayal of this one man and even had tears well up during certain scenes. But as I walked out of the theater and stepped back into reality I began to wonder what was it exactly about the movie that moved me so?

Was it the fact one of my favorite actors, Brad Pitt was in it? Although he played a lovely Canadian, I don’t think so. Was it because the movie covered a dark part of US history I will NEVER understand? Even the time frame wasn’t responsible for my being drawn into what was happening on the screen in front of me.

Then it hit me.

It was the words. I should have known. Those beautiful, mesmerizing, gut-wrenching words created by someone reaching out to the universe through the power of the written word. Blood, sweat, and tears dripping across the page to leave their mark on someone 160 years into their future. How did the author telling Soloman’s story know exactly which words to write?

Honestly? I don’t think they did. I think they must have tried and failed and tried and failed until the combination of thoughts were perfect. I think Solomon’s writer had a wish to share his story with others and a hope it would leave it’s mark on the heart of history. I think they would have been astounded to discover the changes in the world today and the lives they have touched with their words.

I want to be that kind of writer. YOU can be that kind of writer! The kind of writer who motivates through their words. The kind who inspires with their stories. Someone who weaves their magic to skip across the page and entice readers to join the dance. No matter the genre, no matter the day and age, there will always be writers to take us on that journey of discovering the deeper side of ourselves.

So I wonder…what kind of writer are you?

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donna

International best selling, award-winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection. Donna’s latest book, LUNADAR: Homeward Bound (a YA fantasy), is now available in ebook and print form from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, and other online retailers

THOUGHTFUL THURSDAY: Take Pride In Your Pride

August 9, 2018August 6, 2018Donna L

It’s human nature to want to belong to the pack. Practically hardcoded in our DNA to seek out social interaction from the day we are born. Animals feel it too. The urge to become part of a larger group, even when it results in a pecking order. Lions are known to live and hunt in groups called prides. Guided by the wisest alpha male, these prides of lions can maintain generations of family members through tight bonds and familiar relationships. This writing community is like that pride of lions.

We take care of the new cub writers and help them assimilate into the larger group. Through nature and nurture we welcome our newest members into the community. We smile at their first hesitant steps because we well remember our own first steps on this path to publication. We nudge and encourage until one day we see those new writers begin to grow into their writer’s voice.

Wisdom comes with time and lessons are learned along the way. Soon those newbies aren’t cubs anymore, but young authors who carve their own path in the writing wilderness. Sometimes they challenge the leaders of the day with various outcomes, but it is done for the greater good of the group and leaders can change with the seasons.

I look around this writing community and realize I am no longer that newborn cub who gazes in wonder around her. I am a member of a pride of writers who are fiercely loyal to their own. I am still young on this journey and have much still to learn. I am comforted by the knowledge others are watching over me. Ready and willing to lend a helping hand and offer words of support as I grow into the writer I was meant to be. Take pride in your pride for nowhere else will you find a family quite like this one.

Run with the pack and enjoy the ride…unless, of course, you are that lone wolf with something to howl about…

lunadar

(Available now as ebook on Am

azon)

Ruler by day, a reluctant pirate by night, 18-year-old Princess Ariana fights for her subjects in the waterfall city of Lunadar. In a kingdom surrounded by fairies and mermaids, and ravaged by deadly Drundles, only a chosen few are trusted to guard her daughter, Candra, as the secret heir to the throne.

But it only takes one ill-fated meeting for Ariana to suddenly be plunged into an escalating web of secrets found in her father’s journal, a deadly kidnapping, and an ever-weakening resolve to turn her back on the call of the merman’s song.

With Ariana’s world falling apart and the future of Lunadar at stake, how will she bring her father’s murderer to justice and fulfill a deathbed promise to protect Lunadar’s legacy?

International best selling, award winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection. Donna’s latest book, LUNADAR: Homeward Bound (a YA fantasy), ebook edition, is now available from Amazon.

THOUGHTFUL THURSDAY: Dreaming Big

August 2, 2018August 2, 2018Donna L

When I was little, I had little dreams. Dreams about getting my first bicycle. Dreams about getting a puppy. But as I got bigger, my dreams got bigger. Dreams about becoming a writer. Dreams about seeing my name on the cover of a book.

No matter how big the dream might have been, I knew if I can dream it I can do it.

Eighteen years ago I walked into a martial arts school. I had a little dream of maybe learning a little martial arts. I worked hard even though I was scared I might not be able to get it right. I even managed to break my little toe the first week I started my training when my toe turned one way and the rest of my body turned the other.

But still I kept the dream.

After my first belt testing came along and I didn’t die from fright, my dream got a little bit bigger. Maybe I can make it all the way to first level black belt.

If I can dream it, I can do it.

The years passed, my training continued, and I discovered every time I replaced my belt with a new one, the dream continued to grow. I wasn’t held back by the confines of my limitations. Instead, the challenges to overcome my “disabilities” only served to feed my passion until I received my Four Star Fourth Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo. My dream stayed big enough to carry me to a place I almost didn’t believe I could reach until I actually did it.

Story Catcher Publishing is like that black belt to me. A dream that means the world to me. Something bigger than I ever thought possible. But if I dream it, I can do it. And there is nothing wrong with a little dreaming…

lunadar

(Buy at Amazon)

With Ariana’s world falling apart and the future of Lunadar at stake, how will she bring her father’s murderer to justice and fulfill a deathbed promise to protect Lunadar’s legacy?

THOUGHTFUL THURSDAY: How Do You See Yourself?

July 19, 2018July 19, 2018Donna L

I enjoy watching the surprise on a toddler’s face when they first discover a mirror. My boss’ daughter came into the school when she was younger and walked up to the mirror like it was a magic portal. I wonder what she saw on the other side? Hunched over with hands on hips, she would sashay in front of that mirror as if fascinated with who she saw staring back at her. It made me wonder, as a writer, who I would see if I looked into that mirror?

When I was younger, I didn’t look into the mirror much. I thought I already knew the person I would become. I had big dreams and set my course on a path I thought I wanted. What I did in my day job wasn’t as important to me as my writing and I thought it was enough to simply write every day. I wasn’t focused on bettering my skills and it reflected in the things I wrote.

But writing was something I thought I couldn’t live without. Writing gave a voice to my feelings when I thought I was alone in the world. Writing was the barrier between the incredibly shy teenager I was and the confident woman I wanted to become and so I wrote. I realized I wasn’t quite like other people. I was content with a solitary life as long as I had my pen and paper. But sometimes life throws you a curveball.

The ego can be a fragile thing and I listened to those closest to me who said I couldn’t write. That my words didn’t matter. That I didn’t matter. And I believed them because I lacked the confidence at the time to think otherwise. I put aside my writing. I pursued other dreams…dreams that were important to me, but not nearly as important as my writing. But I discovered if a person is meant to be a writer, the cosmos finds a way to make it happen. At least that’s what happened to me. I returned to my writing a more confident person who sees I have a talent for this dream I follow now. My words matter, even if just to myself and sometimes that is enough.

What do YOU see when you look in the mirror today? Do you see the amazing person you can become one day? I do! Do you hold on with both hands to the dream you have of making a difference in the world around you with your words? Writers have a power no one else may have. The right word can lift a spirit. The right word can change a life. The right word can alter the course of history and leave your stamp upon mankind like nothing else can. You decide which path you will choose whenever you look in the mirror…

THOUGHTFUL THURSDAY: Enabler or Encourager?

June 28, 2018June 25, 2018Donna L

Sometimes people think they are watching out for your best interests, but what they really are doing is just holding you back. If I am struggling with an exercise program, I don’t need someone telling me it’s okay to skip a day…I need someone to kick my butt into gear. If I am dealing with doubts about whether I should keep writing or not, I don’t need someone saying I really didn’t have a chance of becoming a published author anyway so I might as well give up…I need someone reminding me why I started writing in the first place.

Enablers like to hold back, hold down, and hold off.

They hold back when they place obstacles in the way of someone else’s vision. They hold down when they shower words of doubt on an already beaten spirit. And sometimes they hold off honest praise for the effort made because they wish it were themselves pursuing that dream.

Encouragers, on the other hand, hold up, hold out, and hold on.

They hold up someone who might be having a bad day and remind them of prior accomplishments. They hold out a helping hand, offer words of support, and guidance to keep someone on the right track. And they hold on to the dream as well so they may be there at the finish line to join in the celebration.

Which are you?

When I began to fully focus professionally on my writing career , I decided not only to surround myself with Encouragers who would fill my world with positive energy, but to be an Encourager myself with this blog so others may be held up in their time of need. With that kind of attitude, there is only one direction for all of us to go…

donna