Precy Larkins--YA Author: Inspiration Meme

Inspiration Meme

Hiya folks! Yes, I'm alive and well, thank you for asking. I've been hunkering down in my ~~bat~~ writing cave, furiously working on my WIP everyday to meet my goal. As of today, I'm 88% done with my first draft. Yippee! And while I'm internally cringing at some of my paragraphs, I have to squelch my inner editor and save it for the editing round.

Of course it's not all roses and sunshine. My ever fickle MUSE a.k.a. the BRAIN has decided to wrestle with me, writing down scenes WHICH ARE NOT INCLUDED IN MY PLOT OUTLINE WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!? Needless to say, it has slowed down my writing momentum and I'm spending more time thinking than actual writing. GAH! Has this ever happened to you?

So. I apologize for not blogging, not reading your awesome blogs, not commenting (though this is partially BLOGGER'S FAULT--my comments kept getting eaten by the great cyberspace monster CHOMP CHOMP), not tweeting much or of being virtually MIA (Missing in Action) these past few days. My WIP will have to thank you for your patience. :D

This Inspiration Meme is long overdue, and since I'm taking a teensy break from the world of HIDDEN to take a breather, I thought this was perfect timing. What better way to pin down the muse, right? Give her doses of inspiration and maybe she'll start cranking the brain gears again.

The beautiful Ashley Nixon (she's such a sweetheart! If you don't know her yet, go check her blog out. This chicka always makes me smile!) tagged me in this meme of her own creation.

Here are the rules:

1. Acknowledge who tagged you on your blog.

2. List 5 things that inspire you. It can be pictures, a video, anything! :D

3. I'm thinking the limit can range from 1-10. So tag within this range, anyone who inspires you! We want to spread this creativity and inspiration, don't we? YES!!!
4. And of course, tell those wonderful inspiring people who they are!

So, here we go:

1. My family. All of them inspire me everyday. My hubby is wonderfully supportive and loving. He balances me out and keeps me grounded when life overwhelms me. My two beautiful kids fill my heart with unbounding joy. Even when they resemble Wild Things at certain moments. Their warm hugs and sloppy kisses never fail to make everything right again.

My mother lives thousands of miles away from me, but our connection has gotten stronger through the years, especially when I had my kids. She's a strong, resilient woman, who'd raised us to be good people. I'll always be grateful for her love and example.

2. Books. I'm a reader too, and reading was my first love before I started penning down my own stories. I can't give you ONE BOOK that has inspired me the most because the reality is, I'm constantly finding new books to love. I do have to mention a couple:

Brooklyn, Burning by Steve Brezenoff is one of my latest reads, and I was simply in awe of the beauty of the story and the writing itself.

Who doesn't love The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, right? I bawled like a baby after reading this book, to the surprise and concerned look of my hubby who didn't know why I was suddenly dripping like a leaky water pipe. "It's just this book...it made me cry. It's so so...WAAAHHH!" :D

3. Art. Yes, I love ART. I love the calm and peace it brings to me. Sometimes it's other people's brilliant works. Sometimes, I make my own--nothing spectacular, just mostly plain pencil sketches. It's the process and focus of making lines resemble something that brings about this inner peace. There's just me and the paper and my drawing tool. And in a way, it's similar to writing, only we are drawing with words instead of making pictures.

4. Nature. I grew up in a tropical country with beautiful views of untouched beaches, glorious sleeping volcanoes, and an exotic selection of flora and fauna. Later, I would come to live in Hawai'i, and running by the beach early in the morning with the sound of waves lapping on the shore, before people would overtake the endless strip of bleached, golden sand...it's serenity.

Photo by Dee Q8

Now I live in a valley, surrounded by majestic mountains. No oceans here, but I am in love with the changing of the seasons. Fall is my favorite time of the year when the leaves turn into wondrous colors of yellows, oranges, and reds, fluttering in the breeze and falling like golden raindrops.

5. People. This means YOU. You guys are amazing, wonderful people. You wake up each day with hope brimming in your hearts and ideas stewing in your noggins, and you walk the tightrope of life. Balancing your dreams with real life. Finding time to read, write, learn, love, and reach out to others. So THANK YOU for inspiring me.

I won't tag because I don't have time to check out who hasn't done the meme yet. If you feel like this is something you'd like to talk about in your blog, go ahead and do the meme. Tell us what inspires you. We would love to know!

Have a great weekend, everyone! <3

13 comments:

julie fedderson said...: Congrats on the massive productivity streak!! I envy your outlining capability. And I love your art--was one of the first things I looked at on your blog! My kids inspire me too--they see life in such a completely different way. Reminds me to stop and remember how amazing things like birds, garbage trucks, and the ability to curl your tongue really are.; September 30, 2011 at 11:08 AM
Sarah Tokeley said...: No need to apologise for writing over blogging - it's a good place to be :-); September 30, 2011 at 11:33 AM
i'm erin. said...: Wow I wish I was that productive. By the way, I'm in love with your blog layout. Lovely. I'm just stopping in. But I'll be back. A lot.; September 30, 2011 at 11:35 AM
Peggy Eddleman said...: I am so with you on the inspirations! And congrats on getting so close on your WIP! Everything else drops off the face of the earth is a sign that your WIP is being awesome! I'm so excited for you!; September 30, 2011 at 1:12 PM
Bkloss said...: What a beautiful blog you have!

Oh, it's SO hard turning off that inner editor. If I don't force it to shut up, I'll never get ANYTHING done. And yes, sometimes I scream at my characters...WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? THAT WASN'T IN THE OUTLINE! And most of the time I drag them bag, kicking and screaming. Then they usually ignore me for a few days.

I love all your inspirations and way to go, 88%!; September 30, 2011 at 4:11 PM
Precy Larkins said...: @Julie: So true! My 3-year-old notices every little thing. My 7-year-old has always lots of stories to tell. It's such a joy and a pleasure to experience the world through their eyes. ;)

@Sarah: You are so sweet! Thank you. I needed to be reminded that it's okay.

@Erin: Thank you so much! I'm glad you like my blog. Your photography is beautiful, btw.

@Peggy: Bless you, my dear. Right now, I'm in the "I-don't-know-what-I'm-doing-with-you-WIP", but hopefully I'll get over the trickier scenes and feel the love once more. ;D

@Barbara: You are wonderful! Thanks for following my blog. I'm working hard on kicking the internal editor to the curb. Else,like you said, I'll never finish. <3 ;D; September 30, 2011 at 9:07 PM
Kim said...: Good luck on finishing your draft -
I too loved The Book Thief - but how couldn't you?; September 30, 2011 at 11:50 PM
Unknown said...: AWW!! You have wonderful inspirations, Cherie! And you are an inspiration! :D <3; October 1, 2011 at 8:16 AM
Jessie Humphries said...: Sooo close. I'm Soooo jealous.; October 1, 2011 at 3:06 PM
Krista said...: Yea! Congrats on getting so much writing done! I am just resurfacing to blogging too - but my reason for being away was not writing. Sadly.

Again - great job on getting so much done!; October 1, 2011 at 5:03 PM
Jennie Bennett said...: I would dare so this becasue you've summed it up so well! Keep the editor inside, it will get it's chance to feast :) <3 you back!; October 1, 2011 at 5:10 PM
Bethany Crandell said...: Mmm...this is some good stuff, baby. I love that you're so close w/your mama. I am, too. Mine lives less than a mile away and works across the parking lot from me--we talk every night and I STILL can't get enough of her ;)

love you.; October 1, 2011 at 6:05 PM
Unknown said...: Hey sweets! And yes. I've totally done this. Don't worry. Write those scenes...sometimes Brain needs to make us see things about our characters that we didn't know existed. Brain is all-knowing LOL. Ultimately, it's you that decides whether to use a scene, but look at those unplanned scenes closely...what do they reveal about your characters? If nothing, and they don't further plot, slash 'em later in re-writes. My first draft was nearly 200,000 words. I can't tell you how much my novel changed after I started going back through it, it was change of epic proportions. But all those useless scenes made me figure out what I did and didn't want my characters/plot/novel to be. Best of luck...Glad you're slaying this thing!! XOXO; October 2, 2011 at 6:49 AM