Coffee Talk with Kimberly: Summer is here! June weddings....BEWARE!

Coffee Talk with Kimberly: Summer is here! June weddings....BEWARE!: Aaahhhh.....the month of June in Texas.....you can just feel the warm...no...HOT, HOT air and humidity, as you run as fast as you can to you...

Summer is here! June weddings....BEWARE!

Aaahhhh.....the month of June in Texas.....you can just feel the warm...no...HOT, HOT air and humidity, as you run as fast as you can to your car and crank up the air conditioner full blast!! June carries many memories for me. As a child, I always traveled to New Mexico for the summer to visit my dad and my grandparents. I got away from the heat and humidity of southeast Texas and traded it for dry sunny days and cool desert nights in southeast New Mexico. When I said yes to get married to my husband, I remember everyone talking about a June wedding. How June was THE month for a gorgeous wedding. So, I chose June 23, 1990, in a little church on the east side of town. I thought everything would be fine. It was an indoor wedding with an indoor reception. The church was filled to capacity, each one wearing their Sunday best - men in suits and ties and women wearig PANTY HOSE! I arrived at the church an hour in advance to change into my white bridal gown. The wedding planner informed me something was wrong! "Wrong? What could be wrong?" I asked in a panic. "The air conditioning. It's not cooling the church sanctuary!" she said. "WHAT! What's wrong with it? Didn't someone turn it on last night?" "Yes, but overnight, fire ants got into the compressor and now it's not working," she informed. I remember during the ceremony, as I walked down the aisle, everyone fanning themselves in the stuffy church. As I looked into my groom's eyes at the altar, he had sweat dripping down his forehead. I reached up and wiped it off and as I did, I heard the crowd say, "Aaaaaahhhhh." I guess it looked romantic. I had beads of sweat dripping down the front of my dress. Oh, June, what a beautiful month for a wedding. Soon after the minister pronounced us husband and wife, we quickly took photos in the sanctuary before heading to the cool reception area. No matter how much time is involved in planning a wedding, it seems that at least one thing will go wrong to try and ruin a memorable day. Did you have something happen at your wedding that made it especially memorable in a bad sort of way? Leave a comment and tell about it.

End of Year Story Deadlines

If you already have something in the works and would like to submit it by December 31st, here are some publications excepting submissions. If you need a website, message me and I will send it to you. Chicken Soup for the Soul pays $200 if your piece is excepted for one of their books. Just email it to them before midnight on December 31st.

Writing Opportunity from Dena Dyer - 500 words stories of God healing women in any way

SouthWest Writers 6th Bi-MonthlyWriting Contest - a poem about the southwest

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive for Kids - nonfiction stories up to 1200 words

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Finding My Faith - nonfiction stories up to 1200 words

Catch a Star Theatrical Players Contest - one-act playwriting competition

Kansas Writers Association 2011 Prose & Poetry Contest - fiction, nonfiction, & poetry

Magnolia: A Journal of Women's Literature - fiction, nonfiction, and poetry by women

Wine, Cheese and Chocolate Contest - for poetry, prose & photography

Little Red Tree International Poetry Prize - any subject, length, or style

Cream City Review Contests - for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry

SPS Studios Poetry Card Contest - free poetry contest

Franklin-Christoph Poetry Prize - free poetry contest for up to 2 poems up to 100 lines

Angels & Devils Poetry Competition - poems up to 30 lines about family relationships

I wish you the best!

Where do you get your inspiration to write?

As writers, we get our inspiration from various sources. It could be our life experiences, observations of others' experiences, a movie or a photograph.

I have found some quotes that describe the way I feel about writing. I am thrilled to know that I am not the only one who has ever felt this way.

Read what Anaïs Nin says about the role of a writer:

"The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say."

Joel Chandler Harris says: "Write about what you know and care deeply about. When one puts one's self on paper — that is what is called good writing."

I have put myself on paper. It is scary. But, it is so liberating. When you are afraid of being rejected, it is real scary.

In 2012, I want to continue to write, even with all of the obstacles. I have many; my full-time job, my time at home with family, my audience or the lack of one and my own thoughts of failure. The following quotes are to encourage me and other writers.

"Anyone can become a writer. The trick is staying a writer." ~Harlan Ellison

You must keep sending work out; you must never let a
manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer.
You send that work out again and again, while you're
working on another one. If you have talent, you will
receive some measure of success - but only if you persist.
~Isaac Asimov (1920 - 1992)

"Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.
(William Strunk, Jr.)

I encourage you to write in the coming year. Even if it is a journal of your own day-to-day life. One day you are going to want to remember what happened today and you won't be able to. You think that you don't want to remember, but one day, you will think back and wonder....what was I doing at the end of 2011? And you will want to remember, believe me.

So, write what you know. You don't have to make up some fantasy world, like Avatar. Just write about your experiences, your thoughts, your ideas and see what happens. It can be very therapeutic, if anything.

So, what gives you inspiration to write?

Coffee Talk with Kimberly: I Just Published My First Story on Amazon KINDLE! ...

Coffee Talk with Kimberly: I Just Published My First Story on Amazon KINDLE! ...: I have been meaning to self-publish in the past few months, but I couldn't finish my novel in time for Christmas. About a month ago, I submi...

I Just Published My First Story on Amazon KINDLE! And it feels good!!

I have been meaning to self-publish in the past few months, but I couldn't finish my novel in time for Christmas. About a month ago, I submitted an article to the New York Times' Modern Love column. It was rejected. I didn't want it to go to waste, sitting in a file, so I uploaded it to Amazon Kindle and published it. It's a short story of 1,900 words for only .99 cents. It's a true story about me and my Dad and includes a few pictures. It's a story of the effects of divorce on a child, how a daughter needs her daddy, rejection and forgiveness.

If you would like to search for it on Amazon.com or on your Kindle Fire, it's called "Every Girl Needs Her Daddy." Once I uploaded it, then I was asked to choose where I wanted to sell it. I chose six countries, the U.S., the U.K., Denmark, Italy, France and Spain! This is an experiment to see what will happen in the coming months.

I will receive a 35% royalty from each sale, so, if I sell 1,000 copies, I will hopefully receive about $350. Just think if I sold a million! Maybe I won't sell a million copies of this article, but I'm looking forward to publishing more articles and books in the near future.

Please look at it over the weekend or the upcoming week, buy a copy and then write a review of it on the Amazon website. Leave me a comment on this blog, as well. Thank you! Have a great weekend!

Wordless Wednesday