Story Land Jamboree

Greetings to the Tribe!  I hope everyone is enjoying a great holiday season. (I'm sorry if holiday greetings sound trite or overused to some people, BUT kiss my fanny, I really mean it, anyway!)  In my local area, a few years ago, I used to have a weekly humorist-style column in the local newspaper that became rather popular. It was known as "The Story Hour." I have decided to get in my often amusing stories about my family -- and/or my own self-involved neuroses -- right here at the Storyland Jamboree blog. So .... if ya'll are game, then so am I. Today I may post more than one just to get us started. This blog started off as a writing inspiration blog and now I have decided that the best way to get myself writing is to do what comes most natural to me -- making fun of myself and those that I love.  To get us started, let me introduce you to my husband, Keith. See Keith? This IS his happy face, by the way.  I told the following story on Facebook a few mon

With little or no preamble this evening, I thought I would just let go with a stream of consciousness rant I penned earlier today.  I have found that silence has a unique presence. We all need daily doses of it to inoculate ourselves from being afraid of it. We crave sound these days because it is a distraction. We don't want to think and feel, or act upon, all the crap we see going on around us. If we spend some time in silence each day, we just might begin to loosen the cogs in our cognitive functions -- we might start THINKING for ourselves and awaken from our mind-numbing routines of work, home, sleep, eat, gossip, passive entertainments -- usually of the frivolous sort -- and DO something important. The simple act of reading a book, or taking a walk, or visiting a friend and having a real conversation, has become overwhelming for so many of us. I think the thing that frustrates me the most about humanity these days (and I speak for myself, as well) is the spectacular was

Greetings to The Tribe! I hope you all enjoyed your Halloween festivities and have made a smooth transition to November as we journey toward winter. Lately, I have taken up exercising on a regular basis for perhaps the first time in my life since before forced to take physical education in school. I have been told that the best way to ensure that you will adapt exercise regularly to your lifestyle is to make sure it is something you enjoy. That's funny. To me, "exercise" and "enjoyment" are mutually exclusive. Much to my surprise, I found that there is a form of exercise that I actually -- GASP -- enjoy. I have taken up swimming. I have found that, in the pool, I am graceful. In the pool, I am at least 30 years younger and the boundaries aging has forced upon me no longer exist. So, I thought ... well, now I am exercising my body - why not my mind, as well? My little sister, Betty Jo, gave me a book recently called, Do The Work by Steven Pressfield. My

She was a just a baby herself. In love, and looking to get away from a domineering mother, she saw her future in marriage at the age of 16. She had her first child -- a daughter (me) -- at the age of 18. Three more daughters followed later. My mother is an extraordinary woman. She is far more extraordinary than she knows. She has always had self-esteem issues. (Sometimes I see a lot of myself in her, in that regard.) She constantly underestimates her value in the eyes of those who love her. She gave up her youth for her girls. However, she did not give up her dreams. She was intelligent and had a love of medicine and science. When I was in high school, she got a grant to go to school to be a nurse. I remember when she got the news of her grant. She stood in our small kitchen area and told us the news with tears in her eyes. It was the fulfillment of a dream and the beginning of a fabulous nursing career. Even though she is now retired, I still run into people who recognize her name

Good afternoon! I hope all members of The Tribe are enjoying their Labor Day weekend. Well, Dear Readers, I am in the middle of a HUGE lifestyle change and at times it is so hard! I have had a weight problem for a long time -- and it's been worse since I have gotten off steroids for my illness. I am 47 years old. I like to think I eat well ... but I do like too much junk. I have tried different diets. Heck, I've been on a diet most of my adult life. It never really lasts more than a couple days or so before I'm absolutely stark raving mad from hunger and deprivation and then I pretty much eat everything in sight. It is then that I give up and just eat what I want until I feel I have the emotional strength to try another diet. I had given up hope. Until now. I am proud to say that I am on Day 7 of a healthier eating plan -- a plan that is slow carb, gluten free, and a general whole foods approach -- and have begun exercising. I have an illness that is degenerative an

Okay ... here we go ... we are looking for some funny redneck haiku poems for Bubbaku, Too: He's Bigger, He's Badder, He's Bubba! If you are interested in purchasing a copy of the original Bubbaku which has tickled the funny bones of so many people already, then go to the store online at albanlake.com. Check it out ... then try your hand at penning a few of those hilarious redneck haiku! It pays $2 per poem, if your work is accepted. Allow plenty of time for a response ... I am just getting started going through submissions. The publication date for this collection is still TBA depending on the submission response we get. The original Bubbaku is selling like hotcakes so we thought another collection was warranted! We will also accept haibun and other similar forms as long as it fits the theme. (**A Haibun is a very short story that is punctuated by a haiku. Again, see the original Bubbaku . There are two haibun published in that collection. One is by myself and the

So ... I've been hearing all about Stephen King's "Under the Dome." I also had read the ebook on Kindle. I'm excited about his telling of the tale, BUT his idea is not entirely new. I had a short story accepted for publication back in 2003 ... it was published online in Twilight Times. My writing has VASTLY improved (so, if you go read the story, then please accept my humble apologies for errors in grammar) ... but the story was pretty good I think. You can still find the story online (under my old name), it's called "City Limits." Check it out if you're interested: http://www.twilighttimes.com/jan03/la_StoryHoury19.html Just sayin'.  I eventually want to turn my City Limits idea into a novel ...  Have a happy Independence Day!!!  Hugs to you all,  L.A.

Well, hello again, Dear Writer,  We really have to stop meeting like this. People are going to talk. Oh, well, I'll throw caution to the wind ... We need our time together and I really, really like spending time with you. After all, we have a lot in common, don't we? Recently, I had ANOTHER vampire poem accepted for publication. The poem is called, "Lily." It's been so long since I have had so much accepted so close together that I am just about ready to turn cartwheels. (Whoa! THAT would be a sight!) This thought led me to an important question that someone once asked me regarding my writing.  "What is YOUR definition of writing success?"  This is so personal for each writer and it can change from one season of a writer's life to another. I am living proof of that. When I was in my twenties, I completely imagined myself as a female version of Stephen King. Um ... that was until I realized that I do NOT write like he does. I was in my thirtie

Hello, Dear Reader ... (or Dear Writer -- whichever is the case),  Before I launch into my latest writing sermon, please let me make an announcement! All this preaching I have done about sitting down and WRITING has paid off! It has been YEARS since I finished such a volume of work and recently I have submitted a short story and it was accepted for publication last week!! The story is called, "The Longest Season," and you will find it this summer in Alban Lake Publishing's "Outposts of Beyond 2013." The editor, Mr. Lake, will also be publishing my poem, "Cap'n Jones," as a reprint in that same publication.  Then ... THIS week ... I had another poem accepted for publication! It was a vampire poem called, "Forever" and it will be published in "Moonshadow: A Collection of Vampire Poetry." I also submitted a second poem, but I do not know if he will accept that one yet.  Needless to say, I am more motivated than EVER to get so

So, I struggle every single day with the strong desire to be lazy. Every. Single. Day. I have all these delusions of grandeur in which I am the star in my own Successful Author Nationally Televised Interview fantasy. (It's one of my favorites.) I am interviewed about where I get my ideas and how did I get so brilliant ... and so on. (**Pauses here to indulge in the fantasy because now it's on my mind.)  Where was I? Oh, yeah. Laziness. Okay, to be fair, I am really quite hard-working BUT my hard work is usually motivated by things such as when someone is paying me, when I am being chased by zombies (or rabid political activists - no matter whether they come running at me from the left or the right), when being forced out of guilt, OR by a deadline.  Passive activities are usually my activities of choice if left to my own devices. There are things in which I love the end results, but do not like the work involved to get there. These "things" include exercising and

Good Evening all members of the Tribe (those of us of the Creative Mind), I know I have fallen far short of my goal to use this blog to help document the agonies of producing my literary endeavors. In a way, the long periods of silence have serve to truly illustrate where so many of us fall short -- discipline! I was thinking about this recently. I have written several poems in the past few weeks, but have not produced the short stories or the progress on my novel as I wanted. I know a handful of writers that I KNOW to be brilliant. Why are they not famous? Well, I think determination (combined with luck) is what separates the men from the boys (so to speak). We all get in our own way! I get home from work and my mind and body are drained and it is hard to stay motivated to do much of anything. This has to change. They say that the strong survive. I am not sure who "they" are, but They have a lot to say, apparently. We all get in our own way. How badly do we want to s