Welcome to Week Seventeen of Flashback Fridays where the old and new collide on everything from books to movies to first loves to favorite vacations.
THE WINNER OF THE PERSONAL DEMONS ARC IS: Sarah N Fisk!!!!
You can email me at kra79@comcast.net with your details. Thanks to everyone who entered the contest and to all of our new followers. We appreciate your support!!!
If you didn't win, make sure you still pick up a copy of Personal Demons because I highly recommend it! It certainly delivers!!!
And thanks to Randomlinepicker for helping us find a winner!
This week on Flashback Friday is a hodge podge of sorts. I hate to start off another Flashback Friday being harried and stressed, but most writers understand that feeling on some level. Most of us have families and full-time jobs on top of squeezing in that coveted writing time.
Anyway, my life took an interesting turn this week. I had planned on not teaching this year to pursue Freelance Writing opportunities. I was all gung-ho until school started back(my county starts August 1...yes, it is heinous!), and I missed my students and my teacher buddies. And then I got a call to interview in a county an hour away from home. The principal, the department head, and the teachers all made me feel so welcome and appreciated that I just had to take the job. Bright and early on Monday morning I will begin a new step in my life teaching 12th grade British Literature!
So, that brings me to the real point of the post. It's like a flashbackapoolooza when unpacking my room. I see little notes and gifts students have given me over the years or treasured knick-knacks, posters, and photos. I'm one of those teachers whose room looks like a home away from home complete with curtains and lamps! Another factor is this will be my 10th year teaching, so I've acquired quite a bit of stuff over the years.
Anyway, I came across some mini-posters while going through things. I say mini-posters when they're actually pages that I tore out of an inspirational book and laminated. I wanted to share a few of them because they truly relate to writing as well as life in general. The publishing biz can be dream-crushing, soul-stomping, scream like a banshee frustrating, alienating of friends, family, and pets. And frankly, it doesn't matter what stretch of the writing journey you're in be it unagented, agented, or on submission. Here are some inspiring quotes to get us through.
"Hope is the thing with feathers--
That perches in the soul--
And sings the tune without the words--
And never stops--at all--
Emily Dickinson
"Sometimes our fate resembles a fruit tree in winter.
Who would think that those branches would turn green again and blossom,
but we hope it, we know it."
Johann Wolfgang Goethe
"Sometimes when we've run out of hope,
what we've really run out of is patience"
Emilie Barnes
"Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark,
in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not quite-yet, the not-at-all.
Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach.
Check your road and the nature of your battle.
The world you desired can be won.
It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours."
Ayn Rand
"Expect to have hope rekindled.
Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways.
The dry seasons in life do not last.
The spring rains will come again."
Sarah Ban Breathnach
Next week on the Arcs of August, we'll be giving away Nightshade by Andrea Cremer!!!
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7 comments:
Ayn Rand FTW!
Ohhh, I really want that book. I'll be keeping an eye out. BTW, I make my own inspirational pick-me-ups. It may sound insane, but when I write, I like to keep some photos that represent my characters, locations, etc that I can look through when feeling blocked. You know, like an actor that resembles my main character or a scenic shot of the city or town in which the story takes place. I take those photos, add inspirational quotes and make them my laptop background, that way every time I open the computer, there's my character or setting looking back at me with a quote about persistence or success, or whatever I need at the time. Right now, it's a photo of a dilapidated Oklahoma barn that says "When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." --FDR. It seems to work for me.
love the quote from Emile Barnes. I mean, I like them all, but that one somehow seems to apply to so many things in life. Thank you for sharing and best of luck to you in your new teaching endeavor! I have been on child care leave for the past 4 years to raise my children and sometimes I really miss that world. Especially the new year, new classroom set up and meeting your new students.
Not entering, but I love that you announce the winner of PERSONAL DEMONS in the same post as you put my fabulous critique partners book up for grabs. My name's in that one too (acknowledgements) =)
Just wondering... who are the Madlibs Contest winners? If I'm not mistaken, the winners are to be announced on August 14th, which is today, right?
Great quotes, Krista! :D
Awesome quotes, Krista. Love your Flashback Fridays!!!
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