What do you do when the words won't come? by Nancy M Bell

Click on the cover to learn more about Wild Horse Rescue and Nancy's other books.

Writer's block is without a doubt one of the most frustrating things a writer of any type of material can encounter. Whether you're wracking your brain to produce commercial text, a poet with no words spinning into rhymes, or a fiction author chasing their absent Muse, writer's block is not a welcome visitor. If you're in the midst of just such a crisis, take some comfort from the knowledge you are not alone. Being at a loss for words is an issue every writer deals with at some point in their career. So rather than beating your head on the keyboard or re-booting the blank screen with your shoe, let's explore some solutions.

Keep in mind every person is different and what works like a charm for some will fail miserably for others. For myself, staring at the screen or out the window rarely works. I have found that taking a break works well for me. I take the dogs for a walk (I once came home with a poem singing in my head that come to me while walking the mutts), doing something mindless like watching a soap opera will take my mind off my recalcitrant characters and Muse. Reading a new book or a new author is another method I use. Often re-reading a book I have enjoyed in the past frees up the jammed cogs in my brain.

When I return to the computer and look at the either blank screen or the flood of unfinished thoughts often the characters will shake themselves awake and obligingly continue to tell me their stories so I can share them with others. Alas, sometimes they stubbornly refuse to even look at me from their suddenly two dimensional flatland and nothing will coerce them to join me in the story I'm trying to tell. This usually calls for drastic measures, especially if there is a deadline involved. Eeek! The dreaded deadline combined with writer's block will raise any author's blood pressure and produce a doozy of a headache. Deadlines actually tend to help spur me on to conquer writer's block, for others it is the final nail in the coffin.

One method to break the block is to sit down at an appointed time every day, which ever time of day seems best for you. Write anything that comes to mind, don't judge, turn off your internal editor and internal critic. Just write anything no matter how trivial. Set yourself an attainable goal of how many words you will produce. For some that will be 200 words for others 3,000, it doesn't matter how many or how few, or how many your writing partners or other friends are producing. It's not a contest.

I often find sitting quietly by the garden (in the warmer weather) and just letting my mind drift will often find my characters tugging at the fringes of my thoughts and offering up snippets of their previously withheld stories. Doing something you love that you find relaxing often allows your mind to unwind and the words to break free. I often go and spend time with my horses, brushing them and just being with them helps to loosen the log jam in my head.

Music will help, not head banging stuff (at least not for me, but maybe for some), songs from when I was young, songs with memories attached (both happy and sad depending on what I'm working on), classical music. As an aside, I used to play classical music in my hen house and the hens always laid better than if I played other types of music.

Exercise will help empty and reset your brain. If you're a gym person, go and have a hard workout. A run or a walk will work just as well for those less physically inclined. I like to walk where I'm close to nature, walking barefoot under trees, or just leaning against a tree, will often do the trick. For more urban folks, walking through your neighbourhood or familiar places works. Even a walk through the local mall can be cathartic.

Make a list of keywords which you can use as prompts to jump start your creative juices.

Look at art that inspires you, or even random images brought up in an internet search can be helpful.

There are tons of self-help books and articles on the internet, but honestly, there is no miracle cure for writer's block and we each have to fight our own way through to the other side where our Muse awaits us tapping his or her foot and asking what took us so long.

I hope this helps a bit. Good luck with your writing and above all else --keep writing!

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Eyeballs without auto-correct, by J.C. Kavanagh

VOTED Best Young Adult Book 2018 by Critters Readers Poll

My partner Ian and I decided that 2019 was a great year to embrace the idea of a joint new years resolution. We're not as young as we'd like to be. Or think we are. I mean, how many times can you be '39' again? So, we decided to pay more attention to what we eat and to review more thoroughly the ingredient labels on all store-bought items.

At the grocery store, we trudge to the 'healthy' aisle. That's where the old eyeballs come in - oh if only we could read what's written on the packages. We check every label, comparing products that look tasty and healthy. Many of them look like cardboard that's been flavored with salt and more cardboard. The selection becomes harder and harder. Why? It's tough reading the ingredients without the use of an electron microscope. Could the print be any smaller?

I discover a new type of cracker made solely from vegetables, mostly beets.

"This looks interesting," I suggest to Ian, holding up the box. "And they're garlic-flavoured."

Ian squints and turns the box over. He holds the box away from his body until his arm won't extend any more and begins to read the ingredients out loud.

"Potato flour," he says hesitantly.

"Spinach starch with germs removed," he adds. I cock an eyebrow. That doesn't sound right.

"Beetroot something-or-other. And ball sac vinegar."

I look at Ian with alarm. "What kind of vinegar?"

He squints some more and tries to focus, holding the box as far from his eyes as possible. His arm is going through the shelf and into the next aisle.

As he tries to focus, I suddenly get it. What he's trying to read. Balsamic vinegar.

Oh - my sides! I begin to laugh and laugh and I just can't stop.

Ah. Fun times with Ian even when the eyeballs dim.

Update on the Kavanagh clan that made my 1889 church pew
Sorry - research still not complete... will keep you posted!

GREAT NEWS!

Book 2 of my Twisted Climb series, The Twisted Climb - Darkness Descends, was just voted Best Young Adult Book 2018 by the Critters Readers Poll. I am beyond thrilled! If you like action, adventure, drama and a dash of paranormal, you will love my books. Check them out and please leave a review on Amazon or Chapters or your favourite book site.

J.C. Kavanagh

The Twisted Climb - Darkness Descends (Book 2)

voted BEST Young Adult Book 2018, Critters Readers Poll

AND

The Twisted Climb,

voted BEST Young Adult Book 2016, P&E Readers Poll

Novels for teens, young adults and adults young at heart

Email: author.j.c.kavanagh@gmail.com

www.facebook.com/J.C.Kavanagh

www.amazon.com/author/jckavanagh

Twitter @JCKavanagh1 (Author J.C. Kavanagh)

A Visit to Stone Mountain Park

My son and I had the privilege of visiting Stone Mountain Park last year, as part of my research for my book, Karma Nation. Upon arrival at the park’s headquarters, we were warmly greeted by the head of the park’s publicity department, a very helpful young lady, who offered us free tickets for the day.

Stone Mountain Park is located in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. Its’ attractions draw visitors from around the world: a collection of antebellum homes, imported from various places in Georgia and beautifully restored, trails through the woods, a barnyard containing a petting zoo, boat-rides on the lake and a concert hall. The place was charming—the landscape was picturesque and a feeling of serenity pervaded the place.

Despite these, it has always been famous for one thing: the enormous bas-relief carving of three Confederate leaders of the sheer rock face of Stone Mountain. The sculpture that defines the park. Covering an area of 6,400 square meters, the portrait of Jefferson Davis. Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, riding their horses, towers over the landscape.

Karma Nation

I was interested in the park’s history; especially its connection to the Ku Klux Klan. The Klan’s first iteration, meant to roll back the newly-gained benefits to Black Americans, came into existence right after the Civil War. It unleashed a campaign of terror against freedmen and white Republicans. Within a few years, the Union government introduced laws to prosecute and suppress Klan activity. However, the main reasons for its failure were its unorganized nature and lack of political support, even among Democrat politicians.

In 1915, a group of fifteen men, led by William Simmons, met at the base of Stone Mountain and reconstituted the KKK. They then climbed to the top of the mountain where they burned a cross. This time, the Klan was much more successful in spreading its’ message. Simmons provided an organizational structure and, with large enrolments, came political support. At its peak in the mid-1920’s the Klan’s membership numbered about 4-5 million men, roughly 15% of the American population. This second iteration finally passed away in the 1940’s, weakened by internal division, criminal activities by its’ leaders and external political opposition.

Thus, it is understandable that in the minds of many, including African Americans, Stone Mountain Park would remain identified by this divisive history. In fact, my purpose in visiting was to gauge people’s sentiments. Certainly, the park lovingly preserved the bones of a lost society. Opposition to the grand sculpture of Confederate leaders was noticeable: what was the need to continue glorification of the men who waged war against the Union and whose society supported the institution of slavery?

But the day of our visit held no such discord. Families, many of them African-American, gathered at the park for no other reason but to enjoy the day. Children played in the water park, picnicked on the spacious lawns or rode the cable cars to the mountain top. Music sounded in the air and boats plied the lake. The great sculpture, though controversial, had become part of the landscape, a relic of the past, to be gawked at and sometimes discussed, but not to be fought over.  Visitors—whites, blacks and even foreigners, crowed the place. Time had moved on, and we followed the others’ example: we enjoyed our day.

Mohan Ashtakala is the author of Karma Nation. Please visit his website www.mohanashtakala.com

He is published by Books We Love, LLC. Boos We Love, LLC