By Kendra Leah, @Writing2Day

work with a young gal who’s majoring in creative writing.  Poetry is her muse of choice and I’d just like to share her work with you.  The poem she wrote for her mother is truly beautiful.

View Poetry on Beth’s Blog

By Kendra Leah, @Writing2Day

So, I’m having a new friend over for coffee this morning for the first time. We’ve known each other for years now but just recently have discovered that we have something more in common – a passion for writing. A fellow Indie writer, in my small little town in the cornfields, who knew! We actually got to talking at the store where I work and she emailed me some free writers tools. It was this email that prompted me to start writing again on my novel.

Coffee and sharing of a paragraph is on the agenda this morning along with bagels and cream cheese. I’ve gone out on a limb and suggested that maybe she bring along more than a paragraph. I am sure that once we get over the initial sharing block we will want to read more of what each other has written. Seems she has agreed and will come armed with more to read.

She out right told me that she doesn’t let too many people in (we’re talking making friends here), to which I replied, “Neither do I.” This could be interesting. At least she is much more talkative than I am so that will help. I’m on the shy side (extremely) and have become a master at getting people to talk about themselves. I don’t consider myself very good with chitchat, but I am good at help you to chitchat along through leading questions. The only time this strategy doesn’t work is when I run in to someone just like me who gives me one word answers instead of expounding a little bit. This soon becomes quite awkward!

I’m wondering if all writers, at least at first, have a hard time sharing what they have written? I know the point for most of us is to get our work published for thousands to read. So why is it so hard for me to share a little bit with someone I know. I think it’s because my writing is such a personal thing that comes from the heart and I’m afraid others won’t like what they read.

Seems to boils down to the fear of rejection. I would imagine this is not just about the book but comes from a personal fear, as well. I am curious if any of you other Indie’s out there have struggled with sharing your work and what you have done to overcome this fear? I would love to hear any comments or tips.

By Kendra Leah, @Writing2Day

The sun is coming up and a cool, crisp breeze is wafting in the house windows. Both my boys (husband & son) are still asleep but they went to bed last night knowing that I would be waking them up early. I am probably the most dedicated fisherman in the family. Ever since I was a little girl, I would sit by the lake for hours even if the fish weren’t biting.

Morning time at the lake is always so peaceful.  We are usually the only ones there when we arrive early enough. No boaters are around to stir things up and it is a great time to sit back with a cup of coffee and take it all in. This is the best time of day to see the pelicans and grebes floating by in all their glory. I will never tire of them suddenly emerging from the mist that hangs over the lake. At this hour, they seem to accept you as part of their world and do not startle, but leisurely continue their swim up the shore.

As an adult, I have found that when I am sitting beside a lake any problems I might be stewing over simply go away. I’m not quite sure how this works.  It’s not a conscious decision not to sit there and mull over problems. For some reason this is the spot where I am just able to relax in the moment (usually hours). This is the true enjoyment I get from fishing. If I happen to feel that sudden yank on my line, it’s just a bonus.

By Kendra Leah, @Writing2Day

It’s 5:15 on Saturday morning and I feel a cold, wet nuzzle on my hand that’s dangling over the edge of the bed. Does she wake anyone else in the family? Does she even try? No! She knows it will get her no where. We seem to have an unspoken language whereupon I am her Beck & Call Door Lady. This is my role and I do not let her down for I know it is fruitless. She will pester me without saying a word (whine, whimper, or the dreaded toenails click, click, clicking on the wood floor) until I relent.

My daughter is her go to for any type of human food. It is really quite comical to see her stand beside her and put her nose mere millimeters from Arielle’s plate and turn those big, brown eyes up at her. How can she resist? She usually doesn’t for long. It works and Jazz knows this! She also somehow instinctively knows it will not work on me.

Then there is the boy. The boy named Hudson used to be feared with all of his crashing of cars and other loud noises. She ran and hid the day we brought Hudson home from the hospital and he let out his first cry for her ears! Now the boy has discovered popcorn for an afternoon snack and suddenly Jazz has found she can overcome that fear and snuggle up right next to him hoping for a kernel to be tossed (or dropped) her way. A new friendship has been born.

My husband is her personal easy chair. This may be because his is the only lap big enough to actually hold her. Jazz is a full grown golden retriever so as you might imagine she is no longer really a lapdog…but don’t tell her that! He is also the truly delegated popcorn feeder because he will actually share the whole bowl with her instead of just tossing a kernel here and there.

So I ask, has your dog delegated certain roles to each member of your family?

By Kendra Leah, @Writing2Day

Ok, so I’ve been asking myself why I started blogging?  The short answer, to make a commitment to myself to write something every day.  When I was in highschool I had a dream to become a novelist.  I’ve always loved to read and writing just seemed to follow.  I’m the type of person who tells myself a story every night while lying in bed waiting for sleep to come.

Some nights I don’t get very far in the story.  And, I might think of that same story for weeks or even months.  The point is, there have always been stories floating around in my brain.  In my early twenties, I plugged along on my first novel quite diligently.  Talk about feeling like you’re from the stone age.  I started that novel on a typewriter style word processor and saved it to floppy disks.  I thought I was in heaven with that word processor!  I made it through nine chapters (actually finished that 9th chapter the night before my daughter was born).  Therein lies the problem.  My daughter is now twenty years old and those nine chapters have sat all this time.

Maybe it’s a midlife crisis but somehow those chapters started calling my name again.  I live in a very small town in the middle of a bunch of cornfields and I’ve been trying to think of some new career direction to take.  There aren’t many job opportunities here and the skills I have as an ecommerce store owner and web designer are not highly in demand in rural America.  As I was surfing the web looking for opportunities, my dusty, old novel popped into my head and I started thinking about it.  Then, as fate would have it, another aspiring writer came into the variety store where I work.  We struck up a conversation about our writing and she emailed me some free programs for writers.  That was all it took to light the fire under smoldering twigs in my brain.

So now I am busy retyping my novel so that I can get back into the story better.  I am hoping this blog will help me keep that commitment to writing every day, no matter how long or short.  And, get me used to expressing my thoughts in words again.  I think we can definitely fall out of practice but that need and talent for self expression through the written word never leaves us.  I am glad that the dream has never left me, either.

By Kendra Leah, @Writing2Day

It’s a sad day.  I just found out Fox has cancelled “Human Target.”  Now I realize this show was not earth shattering or totally awesome, but it was just downright fun tv.  I thought it was a really good mix of action, humor, and a little romance brewing.  Both my husband and I thought it was a really enjoyable show.  On a personal note, what woman wouldn’t enjoy watching Christopher Chance (played by Mark Valley) for an hour?  I have to wonder what new reality show will replace it.  If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m sick and tired of all the reality tv copycats.  Let’s get back to some good tv writing, whether it’s drama, comedy or action.  Here’s hoping Fox changes their mind or another network picks up the series.