Category Archives: Fun Stuff

What Color Should Your Writing Room Be?

Guest post and Book giveaway by Cat Larose

WinThis Book!

Color has a profound psychological impact on our lives. It’s used every day to stimulate our senses, excite us, calm us and, yes, induce us to buy products. Each color family has its own set of characteristics that trigger certain responses in us. With that in mind we should tread carefully when adding color to our space, especially our writing space.

There are trend colors, those colors du jour that we fall “in like” with. Be careful here because this relationship is a bit like infatuation. Color fatigue sets in quickly with trend colors. And before your know it, it’s time to move on to something else.

Then there are colors that last a lifetime – those are your favorite colors, the colors your intuition chooses. These are the colors that you feel close to and comfortable with. These are the colors that already appear in your closet and in the most comfortable rooms of your house.

When it comes to choosing color for any room, keep in mind that you don’t have to have an all red or all green room. Sometimes a dash of color is just enough to stimulate your creativity or get you in writing mode.

What follows is my take as a color marketer on color and how it can affect us as writers. Keep in mind that if you’re seriously engaged in the writing process, your focused and so you don’t see any color – it’s actually the absence of color, i.e. black type on a white page.

Red is a very stimulating color; it is the color of heat, passion and warning. It’s used a lot in fast food restaurants to move people in and out quickly.  Use a dash of red to jump start your project.

Purple is a mystical color. It promotes healing and meditation. Leonardo da Vinci said that the color purple can increase meditative powers tenfold.  A purple room is good for contemplating plot and structure.

Blue is a very relaxing and calming color. If you’ve put yourself under the pressure of deadlines, then blue is the color for you.

Green is Mother Nature’s favorite color. And just look how creative she is.

Yellow is a high-energy color that stimulates the mental process of thinking and activates memory. If you’re writing a memory a little yellow will go a long way.

Orange is a color you either love or hate. It’s also a high-energy color and encourages socialization. It might be a good color to use in a room where writers convene to discuss their work.

Whatever color you choose for your writing room it should be a color that enhances and promotes your personal well-being – as you feel it. Color like everything else in a room should disappear after a while as you engross yourself in your story. At that point your story’s own color will jump off of the page.

Cat is eager to chat with you and hopes you’ll have lots of questions for her!

One lucky commenter can win her book! But, post TWICE and you can win a whole Book Club Prize Pack!!

See details below…

On Monday,December 19 at the end of her WOW Blog Tour, Cat Larose will be awarding a special Book Club Prize ! The prize includes 10 copies of her memoir Any Color But Beige, a guide on how your book club can enjoy Any Color But Beige, a virtual visit from Cat Larose, and several other surprises. If you want to enter this contest just leave a comment after this post with the words “Book Club Contest” in the message. You can enter to win both the individual contest for one copy of Any Color But Beige and the Book Club Contest but you have to leave two different comments. Don’t forget to tell everyone who belongs to your Book Club to enter the contest!

For more about Any Color But Beige, and more chances to win, follow the rest of her tour!

Friday, December 9 @ Kritter’s Ramblings

Learn more about yourself and color with a fun quiz from color guru Cat Larose. You can also enter to win a copy of Cat’s memoir about embracing a colorful life: Any Color But Beige.

http://www.krittersramblings.com

Monday, December 12 @ From the TBR Pile

Are you brave enough to bare all? Your soul that is…to write memoir! Cat Larose writes about baring all and gives away a copy of her memoir Any Color But Beige.

www.fromthetbrpile.blogspot.com

Cat Larose

About the Author:

 

Catherine is one part hot blooded Latin and one part wild eyed Celt. She’s the oldest of seven children raised in a large Irish/Italian family – Catholic, of course. But family and friends think of her as the gypsy. She’s spent her life studying, living, and working all over the place.  Cat is forever destined to wander incessantly as a person currently without country(CWC), or with no fixed address(NFA). Blessing or curse? Grandma V had her pegged long before she ever left Clevleand, Ohio when she gave her red-headed Italian granddaughter this advice , “All you need is a place to hang your hat.”

As she was traveling the world, Cat managed to acquire a husband. A rather beige husband. Not a good match considering the fact that Cat sells color for a living. What does that mean? When you go to a home improvement store  and to choose a paint color, those little color chips are made by Cat’s company. They produce color chips for the automotive industry, cosmetic industry and of course your local Home Depot.  While in Paris on business, Cat decided that life was too short to be beige. Her memoir is a record of her escape from the beige tinge of her marriage to the wild colors of singlehood.

 

Author’s Websites:                                                  

Catherine Larose’s book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9vh0IkE3YU&feature=related

Catherine Larose’s blog:

http://cafegirlchronicles.wordpress.com

Cat also has two fun videos you can check out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9vh0IkE3YU

http://vimeo.com/31352868

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Filed under Advice, books, Fun Stuff, Give Aways

Tuesday Museday

How about non-writing related images, sounds and experiences that lend to our writer’s muse?

First up, a young (14 yr-old!) student of mine, Melissa S. has written her own song (music and lyrics!) and sings and plays the piano in her YouTube debut. I think the chorus is mesmerizing and the lyrics inspire ideas for my teenage heartbroken protagonists. What do you think? Leave her a comment of encouragement!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1B45OgDHrc&feature=channel_video_title

A party for your tastebuds! Have you tried Honeycrisp apples? OMG – yum! The tangy yet sweet crunchy goodness floods my mind with images of autumn: Golden and crimson leaves, deep blue-gray skies, fattened squirrels and bunnies readying for hibernation, creepy time via Halloween

 And the ordinary becomes extraordinary… “Flipping ” through my digital photos via Kodak EasyShare, I found a number of interesting images my 12-year-old son, David captured with my camera. His artistic eye caught usual images in unusual shadows, light and context.  Try looking through your pictures for the unique. Or better, hand your camera off to child who will capture magic for your muse!

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Watch the pendulum…you are getting sleepy…you are clicking SUBSCRIBE…you are gleefully under my spell..you are sending chocolate and pumpkin spice lattes to me…

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Filed under Believe, emotion, Fun Stuff, Inspiration, writing inspiration, Young Adults

someone’s got a case of the mondays…

  I’m working on getting past that Sunday night panic, dread, despair feeling.

But, until then, we must remember…

“The most wasted of all days is that on which one has not laughed.” Nicolas Chamfort
1741-1794, Writer

 

So in the spirit of laughter, here is a joke my 7-year-old son told me this weekend (warning: he is a boy and boys like gross things)

Q:  What is invisible and smells like bananas?

A:  A monkey fart!

 

hee-hee! Happy Monday!

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Persistence, Not Luck

“When I thought I couldn’t go on, I forced myself to keep going. My success is based on persistence, not luck.”

Estee Lauder ~ 1906-2004, Entrepreneur

 

 

{photo courtesy of http://spri.uno.edu/}

I don’t ever play the Lotto, even the Scratch-off. Maybe because I don’t like to gamble. Maybe because I find it difficult to pass over hard-earned dollars for a card that MAY or may not hold the answer to all my problems.

 

I don’t believe is there is one answer. There are a lot of little answers, the way I answer the call of the early a.m. alarm to workout; the way I answer to my 7-year-old’s storytime vs. Facebook time; the way I answer the nagging questions about plot and character developement in my novel.

Little answers = little steps + continued momentum forward = SUCCESS

How about you – Are you pushing through with persistence?

This week, I plan to:

  • Complete 4 exercises in Writing the Breakout Novel workbook.
  • Send welcome packet to Summer Studio students
  • Resistance train 4 x (2 upper, 2 lower)

Share your climb with us!

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Filed under Believe, Fun Stuff, goals

“You never know what you can do…”

 

… until you have to do it.”

 

Betty Ford ~1918-2011, Former First Lady and Founder of the Betty Ford Center

{Image courtesy of ohyesthisisish.tumblr.com}

Are you in awe of others’ accomplishments or their grace under fire? Maybe they’ve written a controversal essay. Perhaps they stood up to the bossy parent on the PTA.  Maybe they’ve let their teenager make his/her own poor choices without stepping in.

What about you – Do you ever wow yourself?

I feel living in the present and stretching myself to grow, try new things, say “yes” to experiences that scare me, all contribute to my authentic self. Sometimes, situations present themselves that are out of our control. Yet, we have to push through. We dig deep to find the courage or compassion or skill we didn’t think we possessed. Until today.

What have you done lately that you didn’t think you could do? If it’s been a while since you impressed yourself – plan an adventure this week. Do something that scares you! (In a good way, of course. I’m not condoning holding up a convenient store or picking up a hitchhiker.)

This week, I plan to:

  • Do 2 workouts a day (a.m. and p.m.) and commit to resistance training 4x (2 days upper body, 2 days lower body)
  • Get purple highlights in my hair – I’ll post a pic when it’s done!
  • Start looking for my dream cottage

Share your adventure – past or present – with us!

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Blog subscriptions make you look thinner! Don’t believe me? Subscribe to mine today!

 

 

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Filed under Believe, Fun Stuff, goals

5 prompt Friday

         Here we go again…

  1. The empty feeling in my stomach spread to my chest and head, threatening to pull me inside out.
  2. How do I say this to you?
  3. On her wrist was a bracelet made from multi-colored paperclips.
  4. His voice crackled through the walkie-talkie, “The Eagle Has Landed.”
  5. Are you ready to do this?

Have a story or prompt to share? Post it here : ) Happy writing!


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Filed under 5 Prompt Friday, Advice, Author Interviews, Believe, books, characters, Commit to 3, contests, Creative Essays, Deadlines, Education, emotion, Events, Fiction, Friday Finds, Fun Stuff, Get Published, Give Aways, goals, Inspiration, Little Things, Lost Things, Markets, NaNoWriMo, Non Fiction, Novels, Organization, Perseverance, Platform/Marketing, procrastination, Queries, Reader Wednesdays, Rest, teaching, Thankful Thursday, The Motherhood Muse, Uncategorized, Voice, writer markets, writers, writers block, writing inspiration, Writing prompts, Writing Space, Young Adults

Thankful Thursday: Laugh a little

In stark contrast to yesterday’s post…

 

“I live by this credo: Have a little laugh at life and look around you for happiness instead of sadness. Laughter has always brought me out of unhappy situations. Even in your darkest moment, you usually can find something to laugh about if you try hard enough.”

Red Skelton ~ 1913-1997, Comedian

Today, I am thankful for silly things, people, phrases, movies, situations, inside jokes that make me laugh and bring me out of the doldrums, even if only for minutes.

Find your smile today…

Things that tickle me:

 

 

How does this relate to writing? Story ideas can be born, character traits can be crafted, plot lines can be grown. If anything, laughing can put us in a different frame of our creative mind and inspire whole new worlds.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A laugh a day? Maybe. Find out and subscribe! You won’t miss a thing if new posts fly to your inbox on autopilot ; )

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Filed under emotion, Fun Stuff, writing inspiration

Friday Finds: Finding your target market & sites for kids & Teachers!

These Friday Finds brought to you by Twitter, the source for *almost* everything groovy ; )

Six Steps  to Finding Your Target Market

50 Summer Sites for Kids and Teachers

I have a whole slew of links stored up from last week, however it is saved on another computer. So, check back next Friday for some MEGA finds.

Happy weekend! Happy Writing!

Won’t you be…won’t you be…Please won’t you be…a Subscriber? Click the link at the top of the page and receive updates every time I update.

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Filed under Education, Fun Stuff, teaching

Help for Hump Day

Mid week

Mind-numbing

Ulcer-burning

Stomach churning

To Do List lingering

M  y    m  i  n  d     h  a  s    l  o  s  t    i  t  s     f  i  n  g  e  r  i  n  g

Focus blurred

Hope stirred

Deep breaths

Downward Dog

Read Blogs

Reconnect

Recollect

TGIF

Need something to tide you over to the weekend? Here are some fun posts to bring you back to center:

 Interview w/Kate Hanley, Author of The Anywhere, Anytime Chill Guide: 77 Simple Strategies for Serenity.

“…the best and worst, the quietest and loudest, the most beautiful and the ugliest things about our world and the human race.” http://tinyurl.com/242y34x

 What’s Your Dream? http://tinyurl.com/2ajdnjq

 Unwind with the kiddies, be a FUN Parent: http://thefunparent.blogspot.com/ 

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Filed under emotion, Fun Stuff, Inspiration, Rest

3 Must-Have Online Tools for Fiction Writers

Guest post: Anna Miller

It’s a good time to be a writer; what with people’s interest in reading being kindled (pun unintended) again thanks to swanky e-readers like Kindle and the iPad, you stand a better chance of selling your book and earning quite a bit if you know how to weave a compelling story. But besides your skill and creativity, there are a few tools that you could add to your arsenal to further your success:

  • Dropbox: If you’ve ever lost all your saved work because you lost your laptop or forgot to take adequate backup measures, then Dropbox is just the magic application you need. All you need to do is download this free software (you can pay a nominal amount if you need more than 2GB of storage) to your computer, save your files to a folder named Dropbox, and your data is stored online automatically. It’s cloud computing at its best because you don’t have to explicitly upload your files each time you update or change them – Dropbox does all the updating if you’re connected to the Internet. Also, you don’t have to tote around your portable storage media when you travel – all you need to do is download Dropbox to any computer you’re using, and you can access your data from the cloud using your username and password.
  • WhiteSmoke T Gen: There are times when even the best writers make mistakes in both spelling and grammar because they’re pressed for time or because they’re so caught up in the story that they neglect the basics. This tool (click the link for a free demo) allows you to check spelling and grammar in both your documents and your emails. It also includes a thesaurus that suggests alternative words based on the context (an intelligent thesaurus) and features tools to enhance your style. The only drawback is that it’s not free.
  • Google Docs: Anything from the house of Google is certainly good if you’re looking for quality, and Google Docs does not disappoint. It allows you to collaborate on projects, send story transcripts to friends, editors and reviewers for their opinions and suggested changes, make changes from anywhere as long as you have an Internet connection, share changes in real time, and store and upload documents from your notebook or PC. It’s a free application that works as long as you have a valid Gmail account, and it accepts most popular file formats including DOC, XLS, PPT, ODT, ODS, RTF and CSV.

There are various other online tools for fiction writers, but these are the ones you’ll use most often and also find most useful.

By-line:

This guest post is contributed by Anna Miller, who writes on the topic of degrees online . She welcomes your comments at her email id: anna.miller009@gmail.com

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Filed under Advice, Fiction, Fun Stuff, Organization, writers