How to Find Your Voice in Writing...

I love writing. I love the way words can work together to make ordinary everyday things sparkle, spark, ignite. How you can say something without being exact. Or being so exact it's too much to read. And that's when feeling, emotion starts to pour from our words.

Here are some examples of my favorite writing from my novel Waiting for Paint to Dry. Everyone's writing is different. We all have our own voice. And I love that. I love my writing voice.

If you haven't found your voice yet, start writing. No rules. No critics. No barriers. Just write from the heat of the moment, let it all pour out. I found my voice shortly after reading Stephen King's "On Writing" in which he states, and I'm paraphrasing here, but it's perfect:

"This isn't Church. This is writing....Tell the truth."

Oh, and share. I love to share my writing, hence I do some freelance, this blog other blogs, song writing, poems and my novel. My baby. And I'm making it a priority this year to go big with my creativity, my voice, so hopefully soon I'll be done with this one and onto the next! ;)

In no particular order (no spoiler alert needed), here are some swatches from Waiting for Paint to Dry...
....

As the evening sun sinks behind the ocean, warm indoor lights illuminate the room and slow songs echo in from outside. Yet, party on everyone does. I try to excuse myself a handful of times to get some breathing room, grab a plate of food or two to go with my wine. Only El won’t let me out of her sight. She strong arms me, however elegantly, to meet more and more people. Soon, the introductions start to mount on the side of excessive and I start to feel like an expensive piece of jewelry she just has to show off to everyone she knows.

....

I was careful to not get any paint on the floor thanks to the left behind paint cloth, but as for myself, I’m decorated head to toe in all hues of turquoise and beige.
....

The sound of the door slamming behind me doesn’t quite hit the right note, the right amount of force, loudness, deafening roar I need to hear. I want to crash. To out run this insanity. I almost trip on the leg of a pair of jeans dangling from my arms. I take two seconds to repack, re-stuff, and then I’m off. Down the steps. Toward the beach.

Anywhere but here.

Reading While Writing...Cheap Cabernet, a Memoir

When I read, I read for enjoyment and the craft of writing. In my "Reading While Writing" blog posts, I list and discuss the lessons I feel each book contained for me. Feel free to follow along and add your own lessons learned :)

If your looking for a book that will stay alive in your memory for weeks, months, years to come, "Cheap Cabernet" is the perfect memoir for you.

The cover art is what caught my eye at first. Burgundy wineglass stains over the photo of two friends, as though you left your glass on the book after reading it last night...

Then I saw Iris Rainer Dart, author of "Beaches" was quoted on the cover also. That got me excited that "Cheap Cab" would be a good read, yet it also made me wary. Would "Cheap Cabernet" be a wonderfully, painful story too? But Cathie Beck didn't write a fictional novel. She wrote a memoir. Was I willing to read a wonderfully, painful TRUE LIFE story?

Although I'm a la la land purist by nature - I only go for sweet, happy endings - I decided to give "Cheap Cab" a try. An engrossing, page turning read, I'm glad I did.

Cheap Cabernet opens up with the placement of an newspaper advertisement for WOW - Women On the Way. Cathie Beck's unique idea to find friendship fast. I can't believe she had the thought/guts to do something so out of the ordinary, but thankfully, for Denise - her soon to be best friend - Cathie did.

What has stayed with me the most about this memoir wasn't so much Beck's history, past struggles, life. Although an insight into the woman Cathie became and just as interesting as any of our own journey's, what made "Cheap Cabernet" so powerful was the way in which the two women came into each others lives and how their friendship took hold at just the right moment. I agree with Beck when she writes, had it been at any other time in either of their lives, what they needed from each other - the magic - wouldn't have been there.

And what was needed was instinctual. Cathie needed a friend, someone she could hang out and cut loose with. Denise needed a friend, someone who didn't want to do anything but. Denise knew her expiration date was soon approaching. And instead of sitting around wasting away, she wanted to live it up as best she could while she still could. Cathie came along at just the right time.

Everyone deserves someone they can count on, especially in the thick dirt of life. Not everyone finds that someone.

For those lesser reviews that gave "Cheap Cabernet" one or two stars because, and I quote..."the characters weren't believable"... This is a Memoir, not a fictional story of two people in a fairy tale land. This is real life. Was. Is. However you want to look at it. This book is about two real women and their brief lives together. What makes Denise and Cathie seem "unbelievable" was that they lived it up to the limit at times when lesser people would have been much more practical and passed up the opportunity.

If you wonder what Cuba, hot tubs, and blenders have to do with living it up Denise and Cathie style, grab a copy and a glass of wine. A $6 Cabernet preferably.