Best of Holiday Wishes

Somewhere around 22 years ago, I wrote my first Christmas story card called "The Christmas Quilt" for my sister, Priscilla, after she showed me a quilt top she had gotten at an auction. I wasn't a quilter, but when she said "I wonder about the person who made this -- who they were and what they did", well, I was hooked because I am the creator of those unknown  characters and worlds.

The next year, I wrote another short story, this one about a ghost who only appears on Christmas eve at an old antebellum mansion. And then came year three, and four and so on. Many times, I would brave the after Christmas Sales and find boxes of cards that I liked, or whose pictures immediately made me think of a story. Sometimes I even designed my own cards. I would print the story in booklet format to fit inside the card, thus making it a "story card." When I had written ten stories for family and friends, I asked my publisher about putting them all together, and with her help, we brought out Christmas Quilt Anthology. 

One of the stories in the original anthology is about a little coal mining town called Snow. The town captured my imagination, and I later wrote a short story based there which is included in a new anthology of romantic short stories called "Before Tomorrow Comes". I even designed a website for this fictitious town, giving it a history, store fronts, festivals, and "real" people. You can "visit" SNOW with the click of the mouse. 

And then, because I live in the wonderful world of writers where anything is possible, I began telling the residents' stories. "Always Believe", about 10-year-old Emma and her father when they settle in Snow, is a full length mainstream novel about friendship, miracles, and a search for Santa.  Check out this title and "IF Wishes Were Magic", my two holiday books on my Amazon author page. You can find other great romance there also!

Now for your Christmas present. "Before Tomorrow Comes" is an Amazon Exclusive and is being offered for FREE to kindle unlimited members. Not you? Well, it is being offered for FREE to EVERYONE on the next 3 Thursdays. That's December 13, 20, and 27!

Happiest of holidays to you and yours! Best Wishes, Barb

Being Thankful

                Reconnaissant

                Agradecido

                Kansha shite iru

                Buíoch

                Every language has a word for “thankful.” Since it’s November, I automatically thought to write about Thanksgiving, but realized not everyone celebrates that specific holiday. And when you stop to think about it, why do we celebrate being thankful on only one particular day of the year? It should be an everyday occurrence.

                Many of you are already nodding your head, because we do give thanks every single day. We’re thankful for our families, our jobs, our homes, our health. But have you ever thought about all the  totally unique, out of the ordinary things? Let me give you an example.

                I had the opportunity to travel to Paris this summer for a writing workshop and we visited Versailles one evening. While walking back up the path to the seating by the fountain, I bent over to catch my breath. (This is not a blog about how out of shape I am!) I saw a cell phone lying on the gravel. Since it was night time and the phone was black, I’m surprised I noticed it at all. I picked it up and tried to open it, hoping to call someone and tell them I had found a phone with their contact but the phone was either locked or the battery was dead. I would simply have to turn it in and hope someone checked with security. (Since my son had once left his phone on a restaurant table, I realized how hopeful someone was that this would be returned to them.)

                With a bright flash, the phone rang. I quickly swiped it and answered with a cherry “hello” only to have someone start chattering in French, of which I know “bonjour”.  I quickly gave it to our workshop director, who spoke fluent French. The end result was we left the phone with a security agent at a place the owner could easily find. No doubt that person was thankful for our help, but I was just as thankful that I had been able to help, just as someone had once done for my son.

                Out of the ordinary, uncommon things to be thankful for, and yet just as wonderful as the roof over my head. Every time I drive up to the house from a trip, and especially if it’s dark, I thank my parents and two sisters for watching over me and getting me home safely.

                As an author, I am thankful for the ability to put words together in such a way as to create a story. That may sound simple, but believe me, some days the words do not want to play together nicely! A completed novel leads to being very thankful to readers because your interest and reviews give my publisher faith in me and my next novel. So much so that my newest release featured here, “Prelude and Promises” is my 20^th full length novel!

                And speaking of, a huge thank you to Books We Love, who is having a BOGO until December 25^th. The link is http://bookswelove.net/bwl-holiday-special-free-books/ and it’s as simple as submitting a purchase receipt for a book from Books We Love.  

I challenge you to come up with the unusual for your daily thankful-ness. And if you want to share thankfulness with a stranger, next time you’re in a drive-through (Starbucks, McDonald's, etc), pay the bill for the person behind you. They won’t track you down but believe me, they will be thankful.           

Pebbles in a Shell

When I decided to enter the “Writing Contest: You are Enough” hosted by Positive Writer, I looked first at the essays about writing that I had created over the years. But I wanted something different. 

The glorious thing about being a creative writer is I can be as diverse as I want; go in any direction I like; and follow my dreams no matter where they lead. People read my writing and they may like it or they may not, but they can’t tell me that I’m wrong. Because I own it and that is enough. With that in mind, I offer you the following poem and observations.

Each wave comes, gently washing pebbles into a shell.

A heartbeat, and the water recedes,

 taking some pebbles but leaving others in their place.

These are the bits and pieces of our lives.

Some so fleeting as to be nothing more than grains of sand.

Yet each has been a part of us.

Each made a momentary stop to fill our hearts and souls with wonder.

The waves, like our lives, are ever changing, yet the shell holds steady.

Still gently cradling the pebbles within.

The times – the people – the events.

            Heartache and sadness; happiness and joy.

Excitement, achievement; setbacks and failings.

            Love, acceptance, trust and forgiveness --

     Ever open, the shell gathers pebbles that drift by,

whether they remain for a heartbeat or a lifetime.

And always there is room for more.

How does the above relate to writing?

Your creative efforts can be as small as a grain of sand, such as journaling or jotting down simple affirmations. You don’t have to start your writing career with a 400-page tome or an Oscar winning screen play. Maybe even a full length novel is more than you can handle right now. Don’t panic. If you put enough grains of sand together with a little heat and effort, you can make glass.

For example, the above started with the picture, taken at Provincetown, RI one summer. The picture led to writing the poem. The poem led to a full length novel called “Pebbles in a Shell”.

I have written several short stories for various anthologies which are now out of print so my rights were returned. Reviewing them one day, I decided to see if I could create full length fiction from some of them. One story became the basis of “A Game of Love” and another was the basis for “An Interlude”, just published this March. The others are being combined into a short story collection to be published in December. So what started out as small things became much larger things.

Looking at the above poem from the perspective of the shell, any of the pebbles in your life can be the start of a poem or story. Inspiration is everywhere. It can be a song, a road sign, a single word. For me, the simple act of sitting in a car wash or going through the drive-through at Starbucks both led to 3-page scenes in my current WIP.

Good creative writing doesn’t happen overnight and is by no means instantaneous. It’s a collection process, and like the pebbles, some of your writing will stay with you, some will be discarded, and more will come on the next wave. I started writing Christmas short-shorts over ten years ago. I made them into story cards for friends and family. When I had written ten of them (one a year), I asked my publisher if we could put them into a book. (Christmas Quilt Anthology.) If you collect enough pebbles, they can become something more. The most important thing to remember is that:

You don’t have to be a boulder.

You don’t even have to be a rock.
Being a pebble is enough…

By Barbara Baldwin

www.authorsden.com/barbarajbaldwin
Author of numerous short stories and poems, 20 novels, and a documentary on state history.