Wednesday, July 31, 2013

The Rhino with Glue-On Shoes

Admittedly, I have a heart for animals. Regardless of its appearance and attitude, I want to learn about it. In The Rhino with Glue-On Shoes, I did just that and more. It’s a collaboration of short stories about zoo vets and their patients; and all true.

Learning about a fawn white-tailed deer, a black bear cub whose bones were dissolving, a rhino with a hoofing condition, a camel in the Gobi desert, and the menstrual cycle of a panda were among my favorites. I found it astounding the similarities between the medicine we use for ourselves and the animals that are treated. Lucy H. Spelman and Ted Y. Mashima are co-editors and brought this book to life, an great read for those of us who love animals but aren't given the chance to be so hands-on and personal with all of them.

It’s the type of first-hand book that takes you behind the scenes of modern medicine and the behavior of animals, touching briefly on biology, ecology, and zoology. If it sounds like it’s up your alley, check it out!

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

When You Write?

     Where is it does a writer find themselves when the mood strikes them? Is it at work, before they go to bed or perhaps at anytime during the day? I have discovered that writing does not follow a time piece but rather flows whenever the mood strikes. It is when this creative architecture takes place as it bows down and releases words for the writer to grasp then write in such a loving manner.

     Writing is not always sporadic or indecisive. I can continuously move along in such a way that the writer themselves does not have an apparent reason why characters, plot, or meaning is the way it is. Accept it and write at night, during the day, or in the morning. I myself write anytime I feel like it. Writing is one of those wonderful insights that comes and goes and when it comes, be prepared to exhaust your brain.

     The morning hours are usually best for writers just after a morning walk. It inspires the mind to take hold of ideas that had been stirring within. A good jog loosens many good stories ready to leap from the writer's hands. Exercise in the morning wakens the mind and prepares it to write what simmered during the night. Early writing is blurted out so the writer can move forward with their day to do whatever is waiting for them after the words have flowed.

     Day writing can be very soothing too. During the day, the morning is through and the children have gone to school so there is no excuse not to write unless you have a job to attend to. This time can be set aside for you, your mind, and your creativity. Let to move outward where words can distinguish themselves from what transpired during the morning. Release them! Don't hold back. I find that I can receive a headache if I do not write.

     Night writing is especially grand. Many writers are without distractions and feel their outward movement clutch their minds. Write your heart out and do so with integrity and honor. Allow this time to spew your sentences of the day. Sometimes we come up with great concepts for future books and can rehash what we thought about. The main premise is to write, write, write!

~ Author Candy O'Donnell

http://authorcandyodonnell.blogspot.com/

Monday, July 22, 2013

The Heart of the Writer


Writing can be compulsive, complicated and overall exasperating, and if performed according to ones specks, it can be very rewarding. A writer does not just sit down and begin writing each day without a predetermined thought; thought must grow over time and accumulate what it is the writer intends to flow from their minds. Each thought does not blossom upon command; no never at the spur of the moment does an entire novel spout out quickly.

It takes time for a writer to hone their endeavors ever so carefully and with much thought. The reader is always in mind, and whenever a writer does decide a thought is worth revealing they sit quietly and ever so quickly let go of that particular thought, no matter if it is short or long.

Writers work in different ways. Some categorize their characters, situations, and even their minute thoughts. To discuss how a writer operates, it varies from person to person. Writing can become a religion for one human while it has become tedious for another. It was so often assumed that writing always comes from the heart; it can flow from the mind too.

In-depth writing that conforms to the human heart takes time and meticulous thought that must come from inside where no key has ever unlocked it unless the writer grants accessibility. Some of the greatest stories have been pulled from inside the heart and the writer has finally decided to release it. What a tremendous thing to have happen. Profound stories can sometimes cause the writer’s tears to flow along with their words.

That beating organ in the center of our chest is what drags the writer along the path of pebbles, sorrows, and blood-red anger that encourages words to be cast out. Is it natural? At times it is completely natural for a writer to produce extravagant settings from fiction to non-fiction that cause such a rukus that even the reader must pause before continuing. That is what makes a great writer.

All writers contain thoughts that twist and turn within, and sometimes they spew them outward for the world to read. Then there are those writers that covet their work like a charmed amulet and refuse to allow outside eyes to see it. This is sad to hear of—when so many distinguished writers are not fee to show their work because feelings play a lot into a writer and their ability to be open with it.

Please, please, please, be free with your work and show it to others so it can be appreciated. Writing never should be judged or scorned, it comes from the heart and when someone informs a writer that they do not appreciate it, are they really saying they do not appreciate the writer? What a concept to ingest. Our writer friends need to feel free enough to allow for criticisms as well. Everyone has an opinion and it may not reflect the character of the writer. Take it as a learning experience and move on to the next piece simmering beneath.

~Author Candy O’Donnell

http://authorcandyodonnell.blogspot.com/