The Writing Garden

A place created for great ideas, and thoughts to grow

Hey,

Once again my book is free! Today and tomorrow. If you have any friends who want a fun easy read, go for it. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fallen-Andrew-Quest-Orions-ebook/dp/B005PYXCT2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1338572417&sr=8-2Get my Free fantasy book on Amazon




                    To those who shared my book on their twitter and Facebook pages. Thank you! Thank you! I had over 3,000 downloads last time!
  
                                Guess what? I got a proof copy of my book, The Canvas War in the mail today. It was pretty exciting. It's a lot fatter than the last book, and it doesn't have the illustrations in it yet. So it will be pretty fatty once I'm done with it.
           So what does getting a proof copy of my book mean?  Well it means I've still got a lot of work to do. A proof copy really helps me get the kinks out. I'm still editing, and fixing technical issues---and trying to coordinate how the next books fit into the picture. But it is getting closer. I can feel it.........................

                        I don't know if I have unveiled the cover for THE CANVAS WAR  "officially" so I'm doing it now.

                         How do you like it? I might change a few things. The proof copy is a bit too dark. So I'll work with that, and see if I can get it a bit lighter.


My sister found some super funny videos! We watched all the episodes in one sitting---well almost. I laughed so hard I cried. Just watch the first video, and you'll be hooked.
Hope you enjoyed them as much as I did.
 


The Eclipse

(Note) The first part of this post is about two weeks old. The second installment is new.

  (The eclipse) Do yo see that purplish crescent shadow underneath it? So neat!!




Hello again. How have you been? I haven't heard from you in a while. What's new in your life?

For me, as of this moment, I feel sad. Yes, sad and melancholy.  Outside my window, I can see the ditch full of water that farmers use to irrigate their fields.  It flows in a smooth line, always moving and sure of where it's going. 

 The crab apple tree outside my window, where it was once wearing a gown of pink is now covered in green leaves. Its blossoms have  blown away. I can also see my sister's horse in its corral. She brought it back from collage last night, and it looks better for the journey. She took a class in horsemanship, and I believe both horse and sister are better friends than when they first met.

Beyond the corral, the field of beautiful green grain is starting to head. Everywhere is green, and beautiful. I wish the green would stay forever. I wish the flowers could linger longer.
I wish that I could hold things that I love in my hand, and keep them close.

Yet, beautiful moments are like beautiful  butterflies. They are most often times rare, they land only but for a short time. And when they do, you must hold very still, and notice, for they will quickly flutter away.

Outside it has grown cold. Cold and windy, again. I think the earth can't decide if it really want's summer. It's as if it's holding on to winter, holding onto it for some reason, not letting the spring and summer thaw its cold heart. I sympathies with its reluctance. Sometimes I have a hard time letting go of seasons of my life as well, even things as cold as winter.

It's as if the windy weather has blown into my life, taking me for a  turbulent ride. I don''t like the wind to toss me where it will, just because it feels that I need to do this or that. I despise it.I hate how it gives no warning where it will blow, and what it will break. Instead I want to use those currents of wind to fly, and glide, and soar.This windy weather of life makes me feel  rebellious. Ill tempered, and a bit like a rock. A rock that wants to be solid, sure, and anchored.

I just came from a viewing. The person in the casket was my dear friend's mother. I'm at a loss for words right now. My friend is devastated beyond words. She lay over her mother's body, weeping.  Her father, and little brother are both so very sad. It is a sad time.  Sad for many reasons. Sad because my fiend's mother still had a family to raise. Sad because her family needs her so very much. Sad because it was so sudden.
My inner critic whom I call "Olga,"  keeps on beating me up. She keeps on telling me that I was partially to blame for this. That, had I done something more, this sad thing might not have happened.
Last Sunday,  my friend called me, asking me what to do for a high fever her mother had. I, and my mom, supposing that her mother had the same nasty flu we had just gotten over,  gave her the usual advice----cool cloth, warm blankets, rest, and wait until it the fever breaks. After I told her that, I asked her to call me if her mother got any worse.
She didn't call.
On Wednesday I found out her mother died. I was shocked. My whole family was shocked.
My inner critic "Olga" was having a hay day calling me horrible things. Like worst friend in the world. You should have gone over to check. You really are never there for people when it counts....

As you can tell Olga likes to beat me up. She is judge jury, and executioner. She never is pleased at what I do, and she is a compulsive perfectionist. Someone whom is not very good company. My mom says that "Olga" is wrong. That my friend called other people and they gave her the same advice. That it wasn't just the fever..

Still, I have this overriding feeling of....what if? What if I had taken my friend more seriously. I had no idea that my friend's mother was that sick. There's always the what ifs. I could write a zillion page novel filled with "What if's of life." But it doesn't do any good to dwell on them. I suppose God takes the what ifs and turns them into what can be. He has this amazing ability to use every little thing in our lives for some ultimate reason, and purpose.

We just don't always know what the reason or purpose is.

It's Sunday again. A week since the phone call. A week. One moment, alive, happy and laughing. The next....gone. It's so weird. It's hard for my mind to grasp. 

My sister and I were talking about now nice it would be if people had expiration dates. So that you would know when they would be making their way to heaven----so we could tell them that we love them, treat them kinder, be there for them. I guess, as nice as it would be, perhaps God doesn't want us to know for that reason. He wants us to live in the now. He wants us to rejoice in being alive. He wants us to treat ourselves and each other with love, and care, right now.

Right now is all we have.
That is why I believe following your heart, wherever it leads you, is so vital. Every day is a gift. Life is short, precious and powerful. The things you can do, the words you can write, the love you can give, is powerful. Your life matters. Even if you don't think it does.
Don't waste your time. Live your dream.
It is your life. Live it.

I am tired. The sun has gone down, and my fingers say they want a rest. So I will continue this post in the morning. 


-----------------------------------------------------------
Sunday the 20, 2012
Hmmmm.......Hi again. Well I guess I lied. I didn't get this blog posted in the morning. Nor the next day, or the next.  It's been another week. Or maybe two, yes I guess it has been two. Wow, I can't keep track of the time. It feels like someone has put time on blur. Where does the time all go? The warmer it gets, the faster time speeds up. It's like there's a time vacuum, and I have no idea where it all goes.  I still haven't got this post up----Obvious statement.  So I'll just add to it. I'm not sure why I keep putting off writing this post. Maybe I'm just cantankerous?

This week, the mood is very much changed. The weather is warm and balmy. I am feeling happy, and hopeful. 
My book is coming along, and I'm excited to share it.

I just watched the eclipse with my family. Well... maybe watched isn't the right word. We tried to watch it. But you can't really watch the sun. 

I tried my hand at making a pinpoint projector thingy. It was stupid. So I scratched that, and took pictures of the sun with my camera. My camera isn't that powerful, so it didn't really look all that fantastic. But when I got it onto my computer, I was amazed. You can see the sun, and then you can see this odd shadow below the sun. It's so neat!!!!I enanced the pictures of the sun just tad so you can see it better. 

My sister got out my dad's welding helmet and we took turns peeking through it to see the eclipse. It looked pretty cool!  But what looked even cooler were the shadows. At first you couldn't tell that there wasn't anything out of the ordinary going on. But towards 7:30 P.M the magic started to happen ever so slowly. But you had to pay attention, or you'd miss it. 

 The air was nice and cool, and the sky a warm yellow blue. Yet it was the shadows that told the world that the sun was taking some shut eye.  The shadows told all, with their subtle curves, and soft edges.  There was a sea of circular shadows, and little half moon shadows dancing on the backside of buildings, and anything that had a smooth white surface. The sky became subdued, dim, yet striking. The feeling was magical, like being between the realm of sleep and wakefulness. Evening, yet not. The crickets were chirruping in a loud chorus, and the mosquitoes were having a feast day on those who decided to linger.

 Yes it was a magical evening. One that lasted only for a short while. Yet a space in which you could make a wish and somehow, you knew that it would be granted, even for just a moment.

This is the time in which my family and I had fun making shadows of our own. The sun's curved light made the shadows of our hands soft, and shaded, and a weird kind of curvy----probably something that won't happen for another 20 or so years. 

This eclipse got me to thinking about the shadows in our own lives. The rare moments in life that the sun slowly hides its face, and we wonder what's going on. 

Last Sunday me and my  family spent the afternoon baking food for my friend's family who lost her mother. (The same one I wrote about) When the food was ready, we took it over to her house, and visited for a while. We talked about trivial things, things that really don't matter, but matter a great deal at the same time---things like clothes, and boys, things that make you forget pain for a short time.

When we made our way to go back home. There we were, all in a circle, my friend who lost her mother, her grandma, my mom, my sister, and another friend of the family.  The topic changed to serious things. To those now gone. The Grandma told us that her husband died about a year ago.
My mom, feeling her pain gave her a great big hug, and told her that her husband had left her, and she understood her pain.  It was a moment of truth. We all  looked at each other differently, with new eyes. It was a rare moment. A moment in time I shall always remember. All us in the room, all feeling loss at some level. All united by pain, and comforting each other as best as we could. 
 
Sometimes we don't know why bad things happen. They just happen. But when those bad things happen, its good to remember that you are not alone in your pain. Your boss, or your friend, or the stranger behind you are all hurting in some way. For some reason, at least to me, that thought helps me to look at people with kinder eyes. To remember that we are all human, and we all hurt. We all want to be loved, and to be understood. 
And to give understanding to someone else is a powerful gift. It is like giving air to someone who hasn't had it.

We all have eclipse in life, where the dark shadow covers our sun. When that happens, I don't know about you, but when it does, I usually feel alone, and even afraid. I don't know if things will ever be the same, or if the sun will ever come out. 

When the sun does come out again, we see everything differently. We are changed, and hopefully for the better. Maybe, just maybe, eclipses are a good thing. They shape us into different people, and help us to see the world with new eyes. So that when other people's lives are overshadowed by darkness, we are able hold up a light and take them through the shadow-lands into the sun.

I don't know why bad things happen. Perhaps God will tell us all the reasons why when we are ready. I do know that without the shadows, there would be no contrast, and with no contrast we would have no character, no depth. We would be a flat painting, with no light or no dark.

Maybe pain is what gives our lives shading, color, and real meaning. It brings us together and causes us to re-remember that the most important things in life are not things, or a destination.  It is how we live. It is how we paint our lives. We move on from color to color, trying to artfully deal with each new challenge, adding each new color to our picture, without having it overtake our canvas. 

So, if you're going through something hard right now. If an eclipse is blocking out your view. Try to see the magic in the shadows, the beauty in the changing light. Don't let it wholly absorb you. Let it add to your canvas, so that when others look at you, and your beautiful masterpiece, they too can gain courage to look towards the light.


Sorry for rambling so long. I do that....a lot.....
 
The pictures below are off the eclipse. Mostly of the neat shadows. 






                       This is some old carpet hanging by our dismantled trampoline---a perfect projector for awesome shadows. .
                       this is a wall in a old building in my back yard. Pretty cool.



 













,

 Aloha! 


I'm giving away my fantasy book free! I started the giveaway yesterday, and it's ending at 12:00 tonight. So far, I've given away over a 1000 copies. And It's #4 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Children's eBooks > Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror > Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic
 
Pretty spiffy. I'm super pleased. 

So don't miss out. If you have friends who like fantasy, you can gift it to them as well. At least I think you can. I've actually never done it. But it's a cool idea anyway. 

As far as the second book coming out, I'm working on it! It was over 700 pgs long. But I'm brutally chopping it down, and making it flow together better.  I'm not sure what the final word count will be. But I'm excited for you all to read it. 
 
Anywayz, I'm thinking I'm going to get some time and really get a long blog post going. Maybe on Sunday. We will see what happens. 


Take care
Thank you so much for your support! 


http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Andrew-Quest-Orions-ebook/dp/B005PYXCT2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1336228417&sr=8-2Get your free copy of my YA Fantasy book FREE

Follow Your Passion!



Hi everybody! I know I said I was going to give you all a little synopsis into my life the next time I posted, but you'll have to wait a little bit longer. Until then, I came across this video and thought it was very inspiring. It states many of  my thoughts on following your passion. 


If I don't accomplish anything else in these posts, but give you a little hint of hope that living your passion is possible, then I feel that this blog has been a success. I want people to look at me and my life and say, "She did it, so maybe, just maybe I can do it too."


By living your dreams you give permission for others to do the same. You give your children hope. And that is all we really need to have when we start out on something new. Hope. Your hope will turn into action, and action into passion, and passion into enthusiasm. I read in the book, The artist way,  that enthusiasm stems from the Greek word, To be filled with God. 

To be filled with God is a wonderful thing---I think. He is the master creator, and he is the one who wants us to use the creative gifts he has given us. 

 I want to be filled with enthusiasm and passion. I want to be in love with what I spend my time doing. I want to have joy in the now.

You have my permission to do the same. 

In the words of Ray Bradbury, "you've been put in the world to love the act of being alive." 

Until next time,
Steph
 



Greetings from the windy city of salt, grit, and grassy fields.
But mostly it's wind, wind, wind and more wind. Okay, we've had day or two of not so much wind, and some days with zero wind. But where I come from, wind is what we get most of the time, which is kind not so fun. But a while ago, about Easter time, we had great fun with the wind. I took a video of  my sisters hair, in the updraft just above our door. It was so funny! I had to put the video on youtube to share a couple laughs.


Also my mom made nice wind kites out of plastic cups, and  bags(Yes cups) they catch the wind quite nicely when you attach strings to them, and the kids really enjoy flying them.The only drawback is that the kids usually let go of them and we had an abundance of plastic bags trapped in our trees, and plastic cups on our roof. Happy days of cleaning up. Seriously.


Well, this ittle bitty post is all I have time for, as I am trying to squeeze in writing time for my book. I'll post some more soon. I have so much to write about. I have no idea why I wait to squeeze it all into one huge post. But you know me. I'm random, and like it that way for the most part. :)


Hope all is well in your life. I've missed chatting with you.


Talk to you soonest and sooner


Cheers
Steph


Hello again. I hope all is well with you. So this last big snowstorm left some awesome pictures for the taking.
Take for instance these cool tracks.
I'm guessing that they are cat tracks, but they look more like a weird tread of a tire.

If I was in the right mood, I might write something thoughtful, perhaps a poem to go along with the cat track picture.
But I'm not in that mood. So I'll let you form your own poem in your head about the tracks in the snow.

Oh, and take a peek at the cute pictures of my baby goats. Seven baby goats were born a few weeks ago! And they are all so cute. I'll have to take some more pictures now that the snow's melted, and spring
is here---I hope!


It's a windy day here in the backwoods. I can hear the winds loud rushing throb out my window like the sound of ocean. The crab apple blossoms sway in the wind, their branches are starting to swell with buds. Beyond the trees, I can see the field that surrounds our house. Spring has worked its magic and the wheat that had been planted over the winter is now greener than anything in the valley. I'm glad of it. Winter has been here too long. The days are becoming longer, and the birds are back. Oh, how happy am I to have the birds back. When they are gone, the world seems so much more dreary. But now that they have returned, everything seems more full of life.

Even the starling that worked very hard to build a nest under the rain gutter above our front door last ye
ar is back, and busy cleaning out old leaves.

I love spring, the earths way of reminding us of renewal---that even in the coldest of winters, spring can come again.

With spring, I'm starting to feel like myself again. I've been sick for almost a month. I still don't have my full voice back, so my sister and I haven't been able to work on recording songs for the music CD we hope to have out in the near future. But I am glad to be counted among the living again, glad to work on my projects that have long lay dormant, glad for the changing seasons, and glad to write. It makes me happy. Makes me not feel so lonely. Yes. Even I get lonely. Sometimes I can be lonely in a crowd of people. You'd think in a small town
people would be more closely knit. But even here, people are busy being busy. I don't really know my neighbors like I should, like I would like too. I find out about peoples lives on facebook, and in church I might say hi. But we really don't know each other. Not in the way that I wish we did.

I would like to live in a town, where if someone died, or moved away, everyone would care, and when I say care, I mean, more than just say. "Oh, gosh. I heard so and s
o moved. Too bad."
Not that I don't like my town. I do. There are good people in it.
I just think in today's
world we kind of get sucked up in a vortex of being chronically busy, and absorbed into the machine---the matrix. We are exhausted, and disconnected, and have a yearning for connection. To really know others, and for others to really know us.

But it's impossible to get to know others when we are too busy to even known our own selves.


I like to see the people behind the pomp and circumstance. I like to know that they too are human. I like for people to know that I'm human as well. I like to let people know when things make me feel uncomfortable, or happy. It's a horrible thing to feel like you can never make a mistake because someone thinks you are perfect.
And that's a heck of a lot of pressure. And nobody is perfect. So take a chill pill. Don't be afraid to be you.

So now I'll get off my preaching. Mostly It's to reassure myself. Most of my writing is to put down my thoughts and to make sense of my experiences. Call it my way of making sense of life.

So switching topics. I have to tell you a funny story. It's about our toilet. You are probably really thinking I've lost it. A toilet is the last thing you want to read about, right?

Wrong. This toilet is special.
You see. In my house we have two bathrooms. The old bathroom, that was in part of the house that my parents originally bough
t, and the new bathroom that really doesn't look all that new, but it is newer than the old one. The old bathroom is a very interesting place. For some reason the bathtub has never really been used. Instead it is home to potted plants, and random objects that nobody cares about. Spiders like to crawl up through the pipes in the tub, and live among the plants, and crawl on the walls. It's very irritating, because no matter what we do, no matter how well we clean it, the bugs come back. It's a fascinating place for peoples who like to collect all sorts of bugs, stinkbugs, beetles, ugly spiders, moths, sand spiders, and even scorpions.

I don't know why they like that bathroom. Sometimes I find a spider on my toothbrush, not cool especially if you're not looking, or a spider hidden in a towel, not cool if you are washing your face.
You also don't want to leave your clothes in that bathroom overnight. If you do, you better make sure to shake out your clothes before you put them back on.

So you get the picture. The 'old' bathroom is quite a interesting place. It's something I imagine the amazon to be like, full of plants, and bugs.

So going a few years back into the past, my sister was using the old bathroom. It was nighttime, everyone was making the usual bedtime preparations. I was walking down the hallway, when I heard my sister flush the toilet.
There was a loud, freakish, howling cry, like a baby crying.

The bathroom door flew open, and my sister rushed over to me, and grabbed me in a tight hug! Her face was white, and she looked like she'd seen a ghost. "Somethings
in the bathroom! Someone's crying! It sounds like a baby outside the window, or one in the toilet!"

It was pretty spooky.

My sister was petrified. I was a little scared as well. We peered
out the bathroom window. It was dark. No baby. We peered in the toilet. It wasn't dark. But no baby. There was a weird hum coming from the toilet, thought.

A few toilet flushes later confirmed what had happened. The toilet had problems, and wanted to be an opera singer. Seriously, I don't know what was wrong with it, but it scared us out of our wits. When you flushed it, there was this whining loud howl, and a moaning cry. It was terrible, especially when you had to visit the toilet in the middle of the night, and when you flushed it, it would wake up everybody in the house. I mean, whose toilet does that? No toilet should tell the world tha
t it's just been flushed. No toilet should wake up anyone.

I'm not sure why the toilet liked to howl and sing, but as with all household fix it problems, we soon adapted. As with cobwebs, odd junks that find their way into houses, and uneven picture frames, the howler toilet just became apart of the household noises. Even when it wasn't being flushed it hummed an
d gurgled and sloshed, like a growling stomach. But we had grown accustom to its oddness.

Looking back, I feel rather bad for visitors. I don't think we ever bothered to explain. Seriously not a good idea for those who want to potty train their kids. :)
Their kids would probably not get potty trained. I can just see it now, 10 years old and going to therapy for Toilet phobia because they got frightened from our howling bathroom. Ha. Oh. The things that frighten us.

I remember being really scared of flushing toilets in my grandma's house because it would always flood over.

This year, I'm happy to report that the howler toilet is finally back to normal. We fixed it, with some genius, and a five dollar part. I a
lmost miss the slosh. But not really. It now flushes like normal toilets do.


So now that I got that story off my chest, I've decided to do some show and tell, and share a little bit of the highlights of my past two months. Please note, that these are highlights, so do not compare yourself to me and my highly exciting life. (in which I write about household fixtures such as toilets) Okay. Now that we have that out of the way. Here's my show and tell. In no real order.

This picture is of our biggest snowstorm, right before we all got sick for the third time. It was beautiful. It was morning, and the clouds were rising off the mountains. It felt like going into a ench
anted land.











This Second picture is what me and my sis built with the snow. Dragons and rabbits---a strange combination. As you can see, it melted fast. We were sad to see it melt. Just think what we could do with lots and lots of snow!









This picture is also my snow rabbits. Aren't they cute?














This picture is of the sky a few days ago. Chem trails strike again. Full of poison, but so kind of pretty until they spread out and cover the sun.







This is a picture of the strangest phenomenon that happened to me last week. So I like to think of myself as a person who likes to be healthy. I have this goal to grow my hair out really long. My sister Holly has super long, thick hair that grows down past her hips. It's so awesome. I haven't been able to accomplish that. My sister takes barley green powder almost everyday for as long as I can remember. So I decided to try it. Some health person says barely green helps build strong nails and hair, so I judging by my sister's hair I'm pretty sure that theory is right. So I've been taking barely green powder mixed up in some water since January, along with Msm (super good for you stuff as well) some cherry juice, um...what else? Cranberry powder, along with calcium/mag powder, and whatever I can mix up in my cauldron. I have to say that all mixed together makes for a boggy pod of slime. It doesn't taste too good either. But my hair is growing, so I'm not going to complain.
Back to the the picture. I was mixing up my potions, (really mixing) trying to get all the gross lumps out. I must have stirred pretty hard because the next thing I know my lap is all wet, and all the liquid in my cup is on the floor. "I was like what the?"
The bottom of my cup broke out in a perfect circle. Very strange. I'm still scratching my head how it happened. Perhaps I stirred two hard?

This picture is a nifty hairdo my mom did on my sister. My mom is fantastic at braids. She got this idea of of Pintrist. They didn't give any directions, so she just did it by guessing. I thought she did a good job.




















This pic is also of my sis. She did a awesome job re-carpeting our stairs. I love new carpet. It's so fun to step on! My sis knows how to do so many neat things.














Since I'm in the show and tell mood. I did it! I finally managed to successfully cook an angel food cake from scratch. A cake that is fluffy and beautiful. It took me several tries.

The trick is to make sure the egg whites are warm, and you stir the eggs until you feel like your hand are going to fall off. And when the recipe says to fold in the flour, use a spatula and fold it in. No using the mixer. Very bad idea. And another good tip. When you take it out of the oven be sure to tip it upside down, so gravity doesn't make it flat.
I've got addicted to make these cakes now. It's so fun to watch the egg whites go from this pasty goo to fluffy clouds.



I'm sounding my trump, and showing off my good deed.
This picture is of my last week adventure. My sister and I started noticing how much trash was accumulating on the side of the road by our hose where we go on our walks. We live on a road that people often take to go to the dump, so a lot of trash blows out onto the side of the road.

So we decided to do something about it. We gathered the trash into piles, and then later that day me and my mom came back with the truck and trash bags. We filled up the back of our trucks, and I counted an estimated total of 150 plus beer cans/bottles. Very gross. I think those were intentionally thrown out. Very not nice. Yep. So pick up your trash peeps. It's nasty.

This is a braid my mom made up on the spot. It's my hair. I'm proud of my mom's skill. Perhaps someday I'll learn.



















So I was vacuuming the other day, and decided to clean out the filter. Whilst I was I was doing just that, I found this magnetic word amongst the dust. For some reason it seemed very fitting. Never underestimate the power of words. This gave me a good laugh.




Last but not least, I post this picture because it made me laugh.

I live pretty close to the railroad tracks, and you wouldn't believe the weird things that I see go by. The other day I saw a line of windmill parts go past. It was quite interesting. This time I don't know quite was going past, but I thought it looked interesting.

What do you think they are? They look like star war huts.

Well I think I've finished my show and tell. This is like ten posts all meshed up into one. I'm thinking I'm going to go to bed now. It's dark outside my window now, and I can see flecks of frost accumulating. Perhaps spring has gone back into hiding. Drat.

Well, talk to you soon. For those of you who are waiting for my second book, please be patient. It is coming. I have illustrations to finish, and many pages to edit and re-edit. I have to keep on telling myself that life is a proses. So if you have a big goal you're working on. Don't be discouraged. Keep on doing what you can. Take breaks. Give yourself time. Enjoy the ride. Life is short. Love what you do. Notice the extraordinary in the ordinary, and your life will be richer.

Until we chat again,
Night, ya all. Thank you for letting me share a little bit of my world with you.
Steph



Wake up America!

So I've noticed a hot topic in America today is aid to Israel, our being in Iraqi and other counties. So, in response, I post this, and let you form your own opinion.

My heart feels sick for a world and a Nation that puts money and power as its God. Why can't we all live in peace? Why, throughout history must one race of people believe that they are better than anyone else?
Why must we force the world to do what we wish?

Aren't we all God's children?

I'm sorry about all the political posts. I'd much rather post something lighthearted and funny. As it is, so much is happening in the world today that you can't really be passive anymore. I guess you could never be passive. If you are, you are helping the powers that be. As you sleep, your liberties and the liberties of others are being threatened. You can't turn a blind eye. It's against human nature to stand by when you see injustice. Not only that, I believe that America is more responsible for her actions because we have been doubly blessed.
We the people should never think that our voices don't matter. They do.
Your voice matters.

We must go back to the constitution! We must do as the founding fathers of our country did. Liberty---your right to choose is the most important commodity you hold. Without it, everything else doesn't matter.



This video is about Israel, the media, and a bunch of other things I wasn't fully aware of. It's quite long. But very worth it. You can come back and watch it when you have time.

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This below video is long, and very informative. If you don't have time to watch it now, save it for future viewing. It now appears that lemonade stands are now illegal in America. How twisted is that?


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The video below is powerful, short, quick, and to the point. But be warned, there are graphic images---mostly for the first half. I wouldn't share it unless I thought it was important. IF you don't wish to see the images, just listen to the video.


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The below video is something every mom and dad should watch. Your rights as a parent are being taken away!!! You can now have your kid taken away if he doesn't want to go to church, and you make him go against his will.



P.S.

I'll post more later. As of today I have again found myself the victim of another terrible flu bug. How did I get so lucky? I have no idea.

Exciting! I just finished the trailer for my second book, The Canvas War. Thanks to all those who helped me (Actors and such) I had a lot of fun putting it together. Took me a while to get it right. But all in all, I think it turned out pretty spiffy. I'm sharpening my skills at taking short video clips. So that's good.
Hope you like it.

P.S. you might need to turn up the volume so you can hear my creepy voice at the beginning. Sorry about the website music, you might want to shut that off as well.
I've been wondering if it is annoying to anyone. I personally don't mind it. So I'm sorry if you may get irritated at having to turn it off when watching videos.

Why I Endorse Ron Paul For President of the United States of America
Why I Endorse Ron Paul


It's funny how much controversy has been had over this election. I heard on the radio that during this election campaign, more people have become enemies than any other campaign.

People believe whoever they're supporting so much that they get violently angry, because they threatened by another idea.


I think this election is so vital, and so involved because America is hanging by a thread. We have reached a point in time where there can't be any fence sitters.
You must choose. You have a choice. You decide. Who do you choose?

I like the fact that whenever Ron Paul is attacked on a debate, he never gets really personal. He never attacks a person---only ideas. I think that is a very Christian way of dealing with someone who is ridiculing you.

Truth is, Gingrich, Romney, Santorum, supporters all believe they're right in supporting their candidate for various reasons.

Truth is, I believe people will vote for people whom they are most alike, in values, and character. And they'll get pretty upset---because now it's personal.
The truth is, every candidate, except for Ron Paul, is just like Obama. Truth is, we vote for who sounds the nicest, who looks the prettiest, who lies the most, and who doesn't believe in the constitution, because its convenient. We don't have to live up for much. These candidates say what we want to hear.
We as a people, are frightened to death of making our own choices. We want the government to take care of us.


It's funny, people are afraid that if Ron Paul gets to be president he'll allow drugs to be legal. " Ohhh. That's bad," they say.
The truth is, Ron Paul isn't for drugs. He IS for liberty. He IS for personal freedom. The right to choose.
What happens is, you give people knowledge---drugs are bad. Then let them govern themselves.
But what about marriage, shouldn't there be laws about that too?
No. NO! NO! Once the government gets control, there's no limit to what it can make you do. It's very dangerous!

The Government is not suppose to regulate the people. The people are suppose to regulate the government.
Any institution that infringes on personal liberty is evil. Even if it tries to get you to do good.
Good becomes evil if it is forced. That's a sure fire way to know if something is evil. Does it try to make you be good? Do you have a choice? Can you choose?

One of the most basic, inherit rights we as human beings have is the right to choose. If we loose that freedom---- we are cooked. Nothing else will matter. We will just become robots. Our choice is already made by someone else. The government. Look at history, all evil powers have tried to clamp down on the people's right to choose.

Many people laugh at Ron Paul's Foreign policy--- We need to get our troops out of Iraqi. They laugh because they think that the big bad guys are going to attack us. That we need to be the policeman of the whole world.
The truth is----the threat isn't out there. It's right here in our own country. Our freedoms are being taken away under the guise of security. That is the greatest threat we are facing.
Why can't people get that? Nothing is more toxic to our nation than the government taking control, and throwing away our constitution. Do you know now that you can be taken by the government, and imprisoned without a trial?
Do you know now that our government can hold martial law?
Do you know that the Government can do pretty much anything it dang well pleases?
Do you know that the patriot act---- (Very unconstitutional) was implemented because of 9 11?
The government wants us to be afraid as a people. If it can get us to fear the "Bad guys" it can seize control. Which is it's aim.
Do you know that the government can print it's own money, causing inflation to rise.
In a nutshell, paper money stood for silver. Paper money was never worth anything to begin with. It has nothing---no items of value to back its value, so it's worth less the more you print.

Gosh. I'm so irritated. Can you tell?
I just can't believe that nobody can see it.
We are going to be in bondage----and still say, "God Bless America" because we are happy being droids.

Did you know that more active duty troops have donated to Ron Paul's campaign than any other candidate? Why don't we listen to our own troops?

My own sister's husband chose not to reenlist, after going to Iraqi.
The troops know what's going on.

What does defend liberty mean to you?
Does it mean go out an fight a war that was undeclared?
Does it mean letting the government take more of our personal liberties?

Or does it mean defend liberty here, on our own soil, by defending our constitution.

Our freedoms are being threatened people, and what do we do? Give the government more of our liberties without even batting an eyelash.
It's crazy! It's insane! We say that America is free. But it's not. Wake up. Look around you. America is on its last leg, and if we don't get Ron Paul in, America will fall. That's it. Period. I'm not sugar coating it.
If you don't believe me, it doesn't really matter. It's the truth. And the truth is----America has forgotten her fathers, and her founders. We have forgotten our heritage, and we have forgotten what freedom is.

Defending liberty doesn't mean putting a bumper sticker on your car, saying, "We support our troops."
It isn't holding your hand over your heart when you see a flag, or wiping a tear when you hear the national anthem sung by movie stars, who could care less.

But it has everything to do with what's in your heart.
It's what you will do.
How you act.
Who you vote for. Because it does matter. A vote for the right matters. Period.
Don't vote for someone because they can win. Vote for the right person because it is the right thing to do. Period.

What does Ron Paul want to do?

He want's to end an unjust war, bring our troops home.
He values individual rights and personal liberty.
He's against taxing the people.
He believes in leaving marriage up to the states.
He believes in leaving abortion up to the states. (Read the article ten reason's to vote For Ron Paul for in depth explanation)
He doesn't want to control people.
He want's to end the fed.
He values life.
He is honest.
He is real.
He has always voted in accordance to what he says.
He believes in the constitution.

I could go on, but don't take my word for it, go digging yourself.
http://www.blazingtruth.com/vote-ron-paul/
Ron Paul's Statement of Faith http://www.ronpaul2012.com/the-issues/statement-of-faith/


I've complied a list of videos that I believe are the most inspiring, most awesome Ron Paul videos.
Please take a min to watch them. You won't be disappointed.














The journey of a book.

The journey of a book.
Flowers don't tell, they show. That's the way books should be too.

"Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures."--- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hi my name is Stephanie Skeem "aka" Ivory Autumn

I've published two books, with many more on the way.

Rise of the Fallen, Andrew and the Quest of Orion's Belt, is a great read for kids or young adults, or anybody who likes fantasy. Get a copy on kindle or paperback here at my website: http://www.wix.com/ivoryautumn/thequestoforionsbelt

Or Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fallen-Andrew-Quest-Orions/dp/1453749721/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326155550&sr=8-1




My first book Flotsam is a great read aloud for kids. If you want to buy a copy, kindle or hardback, go here :
Flotsam (Kids chapter book)
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Flotsam-1-Stephanie-Skeem/dp/1453748970/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289253350&sr=8-1







"Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it." C. S. Lewis

What every writer should memorize.


"Genius is only the power of making continuous efforts. The line between failure and success is so fine that we scarcely know when we pass it...how many a man has thrown up his hands at a time when a little effort, a little more patience, would have achieved success? As the tide goes out, so it comes in...a little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn into success. There is no failure except from within, no really insurmountable barrier save our own inherent weakness of hope."---Elbert Hubard.

'What I like in a good author isn't what he says, but what he whispers.' - Logan Pearsall Smith

'What I like in a good author isn't what he says, but what he whispers.' - Logan Pearsall Smith

On Writing

"Remember if you write, write, write, you can never be wrong."---Stephanie Skeem

Water your words with care.

Water your words with care.

What happens when literary agents request a full manuscript.

What happens when literary agents request a full manuscript.
*Angel rays*

What happens when a literary agent rejects a manuscript.

What happens when a literary agent rejects a manuscript.
Weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.
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Sprouts

About Me

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I am the author of soon-to-be, #1 New York Times Best Seller novels. If you're interested in learning more about my books, visit my book blog at: http: //www.readaroundtheglobe .blogspot.com/ My sister, Holly Remkeys, has already succeeded in getting her book nicely rooted. You can visit her site at: http://www.gunnysackman.com/ Like my sister, I am a story grower. I grow big stories. Small stories. Long, vertical stories. Round stories. Fat stories. Thin stories. Stories that make you shiver. Stories that make you laugh. Stories that are light. Stories that are dark. Stories that are as squeezable as teddy bears, and stories for rainy days. I grow stories when I'm lonely, sad or angry. I grow stories when I'm happy and amused. I grow stories that giggle, and stories that scream and shout. I grow stories out of memory boxes deep inside my head. I grow stories while I'm dreaming, sleeping in my bed.

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