Quotes To Usher In 2012

Welcome 2012, I'm happily awaiting your arrival.
Just to start things off, I've compiled a few quotes that appealed to me.

Quote about life:

“Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quote about change:

“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” –Life’s Little Instruction Book

Quote about talent:


“Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There's plenty of movement, but you never know if it's going to be forward, backwards, or sideways.”-- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Quote about motivation:


“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”-- Winston Churchill



Quote about writing:


Reading usually precedes writing and the impulse to write is almost always fired by reading. Reading, the love of reading, is what makes you dream of becoming a writer.--Susan Sontag




Celebrate Life. Celebrate Love.
Michelle Monkou

Catching Up And Wrapping Up: Good-Bye 2011

Since my last post in May, I had launched a weight management overhaul between diet and exercise. Happy to report that both were and still are successful with over 55 pounds gone. That final target is closer and I can actually see the finish line in the not so distant future.

My writing mojo, on the other hand, was like a road twisting and winding over steep mountain terrain. At times, my GPS was spot on and I could navigate and enjoy the ride.  Other times, it felt as if I was driving at night, through a lunar eclipse, and my car was bumping against the guard rails like a freakish moment in a bump-a-car carnival. And yet, here I am still surviving and revving up for 2012.

Traveling has also been near and dear to my heart. I'm not a happy person unless I get to see a bit of the world outside of my usual stomping grounds. With less financial wiggle room, I curtailed my trekking, but still managed to see New York City (twice), Rochester, NY and Barbados.

I also suffered through an earthquake tremor, not my first, but definitely, the most memorable. My life didn't flash before my eyes. If I recall correctly, a string of curse words popped up like neon flashes in my mind. I thought it was unfair that I should end my days in the IRS office (a.k.a. hell on earth).

Somehow I still managed to complete two writing projects: If I Had You, March 2012 release and another book (untitled), December 2012 release.

Finally, happy to say that I received the rights for my first two releases: Open Your Heart and Finders Keepers.  I am working on Open Your Heart at this very moment for an e-book launch with fresh editing (I did write it back in 2000). The book will be re-titled (TBA) with a brand new cover THAT I PICK (that's reason enough for me to celebrate). Projected timeframe is end of December. Stay tuned for the announcement of the e-launch.

So 2011 didn't start and definitely didn't end to my specifications, but what year ever has--LOL!  I will continue to count my blessings, enjoy the warm friendships, and appreciate my new fans, along with those who have been at my side from the beginning.

Celebrate life. Celebrate love.
Michelle Monkou

On The Road (Again) To Healthy Living

While I progress with my current day/night/weekend job as writer, I'm also working on a new career as a fitness instructor. Training is rigorous with culminating written and performance exams. The major reason for pursuing this profession is my long-time interest as a fitness enthusiast before life, family and daily grind of life took over. What better way to get restarted on a road of healthy living by becoming a certified fitness instructor where the training and practice regimen, along with a diet plan, can burn the fat and keep my body operating at premium level.

I work out daily for 60 minutes of intense cardio, conditioning and weight training. On the weekends, I may double the workout. If my muscles are sore, I use ice-packs and heating pad; but more importantly, I rest.

I take certain vitamins and Omega 3 (I make no conclusive statements about the benefits of supplements, nor do I recommend taking them.). I also drink a lot of water. The exericse regimen results in massive water loss, so I spend the remainder of the day rehydrating.

As for a diet plan, I've used many of the popular ones like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig. For a variety of personal reasons, these programs only have short-term success for me. Realizing that my diet is the significant part of the weight-loss equation, I continued researching different programs. I followed up on a recommendation to try the 17 Day Diet.

This program works. There's nothing difficult about it. Nothing complicated to remember. The diet plan was created by a doctor who structures the fast weight loss around four-17 day cycles. I rarely eat out because most of my food I cook or the food is natural and unprocessed (that is, lots of fruits and vegetables).

Happily the weight is coming off, muscles are more defined, and some of those older clothes are being worn again. It took hard work, but I love the results and will keep on shedding those pounds.

My Stargate Moment - The Portal Is Open

This weekend at Washington Romance Writer's chapter meeting, I must have had that Stargate moment when the portal was open and ready to receive the lesson. A message, a person, an event may come into your life and if you're not in the receptive mood, then there is minimal impact.

Author Sherry Lewis spent an entire day talking about building the foundation of a novel. She highlighted developing conflicts, having the proper motivation, creating strong scenes, etc. Not only did she lecture, but she provided an open, honest introspection on her life and writing career that showed what grit and determination can do.

As an author with advance skills (note, I didn't say expert), finding a workshop that meets my needs can be difficult. It's much easier to deliver the basics on writing a novel. But when their is an audience with 5+ years under their belts, instructing on how to tweak that writing to the next level is challenging. This is where I have to rave about Sherry's abilities. Geat handouts, too.

There have been other workshops that I've attended that have been excellent.

Right now, however, I really needed the motivation to strike the match and ignite the flame. Re-framing my mindset and accepting that I have to roll up my sleeves and get down and dirty with my works-in-progress were the happy result of my day spent with Sherry.

Don't be afraid of the work to get that story told.

As a follow up, today I pulled out my RWA national conference CDs--for the first time, and am listening. I'm not taking notes. I'm simply listening, keeping that portal open and taking in the messages.

I will need to fill the reserves with the fuel to keep that flame going.

BTW, Sherry's link: http://sherrylewisbooks.com/

Ready. Set. Go. -- Writing Marathon Here I Come

Passion for writing seems to have waned of late. Everything in life has its ups and downs, its ebbs and flows, so I'm not panicked. I just need to get that umph back under me.

November 2002, my first book was published. It's now May 2011 with 15 books and 3 books pending in the pipeline. I'm ready to look forward, look beyond what I can see, stretch over the obstacles and leap to new heights for a different view.

How to limber up and warm up for this marathon?

When I think about what I will be doing or what I have to do, the rules of the game don't change. Read a lot. Write a lot.

Now, I'll add for my sake - write whatever you want.

I'm not thinking about what's selling; who's hot; finding my niche. It's all about whatever I want as I'm writing that particular story in that particular time. Another week, it's whatever I want at that time.

There's a certain freedom with this direction. There's a certain amount of risk. But my entire writing journey has been a roller coaster ride, anyway. Seems as if I've already been in training for wherever I aim.

So, the marathon--however long, however arduous, however stomach-churning--is about to begin.

Ready.

Set.

Celebrating Love - i carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me
by e. e. cummings

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

Celebrating Love - Phenomenal Woman

February is the month dedicated to celebrating love. Whether you believe in Valentine's Day or not, there is always time to reflect on this emotion that I believe is vital to being, acting, living human. Through this month, I will feature a sample of "love" poetry.

Phenomenal Woman (excerpt) - Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them
They think I'm telling lies
I say
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips
The stride of my step
The curl of my lips
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.