Category Archives: writing

A Mom’s Counting Primer [A Poetic Parody]

Posted in momisms, wanderings in the world & web, writing by

blocks 123

So, a couple of weeks ago I had these nagging words in my head that needed to be written down.

It really started as a kid’s book.  Some sort of humorous counting primer.

It didn’t stay a kid’s book long.

It became a poem for moms who know what it’s like to count.  You know, the you’d-better-do-what-I-told-you-to-do-before-I-get-to-three type of counting.

But the mom in the poem is nice.  She goes up to ten.  (Kind of.)

I recently joined Wattpad, so I posted the poem there.  Grab a glass of wine and head on over to check it out (seriously, I think the whole thing is shorter than this blog post).  Then please share it with all the moms you know that could use a little “time out.”  ;)

Here’s the poem:

A Mom’s Counting Primer [A Poetic Parody]

Enjoy!

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Enough to Read

Posted in quotes, writing by

I was reading some reviews on GoodReads the other day, and I came across the profile for B.J. Novak.  On his page there were some questions people had asked him and as I browsed through them, I came across this:

(Feel free to ignore the random stuff in quotes since that refers to a previous commenter.)

novak

Wow.  Ain’t that the truth.

People DO have enough to read.  MORE than enough.

So why do it?  It kind of goes back to what I wrote last year in my post Why I Write.  I have to write.  It’s not really a choice for me (if I want to stay sane).  Writing is hard, but (not including being a mom, of course) it’s the only thing I really want to do and the only thing that makes me feel truly alive and fulfilled.

People don’t really need more books.  Even if you’ve got the most unique voice to ever hit the planet and your mind is overflowing with the next dozen Great American Novels.  People just don’t NEED it.  They’ve got enough to read.

So if you want to write, you have to do it first and foremost for yourself [myself].  Because you [I] want to.  Even if you [I] have to force yourself [myself] some days.

The end result is worth it.

And, on that note, I absolutely LOVE Neil Gaiman’s advice on how to easily become a writer.  Especially the part about Fox in Socks.  Because if your kids are like mine, as soon as you hit the last page and are silently praying thanks that you’ve survived it without your head exploding, your kids will request that you immediately reread it.

And that right there takes some REAL talent.

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A History of Noms de Plume

Posted in musings, writing by

I just had to share this infographic!

This stuff is fascinating.  Obviously I knew some of these facts – but I still learned SO much by reading this.

And – I’ll have it known – I’m seriously considering changing my pen name to Secretary to the Emperor of the Moon.

Printerinks-Whodunit

I’d love to hear any stories of pen names that you’d like to share!

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(photo credit:  http://www.printerinks.com/a-history-of-noms-de-plume-infographic.html)

This Day I’ll Live {a poem}

Posted in musings, writing by

This Day I'll Live: a New Year's Resolution poem at RoamingRosie.com

It may be a little late, but this is my New Year’s Resolution post.

I resolve to live this year.

Fully and completely.

Despite pain, despite heartache, I will be happy.  I will overcome and I will rejoice.

I will live.

……. and write more poetry.  Apparently.

Here’s my tribute to the New Year:

This day I’ll Live

a new dawn lashes
out i fight i won’t
let go let go let go

let go

i fight the fall
but fully freely fiercely hard
a broken shard to pierce
the sky and rain down stars
hard

so lightly on this earth
so deeply dancing dreaming

awake

i fight i climb i break i win
i live

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Hello Sun {eBook}

Posted in books & book reviews, my books, writing by

Hello Sun Picture Book by Rosemary Lynn

Hello Sun is my newest picture book, and I’m so excited to share it with you!

This is a simple text with words that flow and rhyme as you journey from the morning to the night.  With your Little Ones on your lap, you can greet the morning sun, the flowers and bugs and birds, and the stars and moon together.

It’s a great book for bedtime because of the soothing rhythmic text and the bold, striking illustrations.  It’s something I enjoy sharing with my toddler and preschooler, and it’s fun for them, too.  They can interact with the text {like by waving goodnight to the sun} but it’s meant to be read slowly, to help induce a calm before bedtime.  It’s also great to read to babies, who will especially appreciate the bold colors.

I had some fun with paper textures while making the artwork, and the words themselves were inspired by my kids.  My 4yo and 2yo always greet the moon and sun {“Hello, Moon!!!”}, and so this was a story that mimics our own daily paths through life.

You can get the ebook on Amazon and you can see all of my picture books there, too.

I’ve also posted about my picture book Alice’s African Alphabet Adventure.

Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook for updates on my books, but also to see our latest glitter-covered crafts and sprinkle-covered food!  :)

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Is It NaNoWriMo Already??

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IS It NaNoWriMo Already??

My heavens – it snuck sneaked snuck up on me!

I mean, it’s not like I officially signed up or joined the club or anything, but I HAD hoped to put out a seriously amount of writing this month.

Grab the proverbial bull by the horns as the internet explodes with the enthusiasm of my fellow wordsmiths.  That sort of thing.

Not that I expected to hit 50,000 words.  It may be National Novel Writing Month, but I already knew I wasn’t going to write a novel.

Not right now anyway.

My focus at present are my children’s books.  I did post a couple on Amazon, but there are so many more than need tweaking.  And rewriting.  And starting.

Writing 50,000 words worth of kids books in a month would be akin to a miracle.  But maybe as I reach for the stars I’ll, you know, trip over my own feet and land with my nose smack dab in my notebook while my pen jabs itself into my ear and bellows, “Write something, dammit!”

Or something like that.

Either way, I figured some motivation might help.  I recently made a post about You Should Be Writing memes, but they’re … well … they’re distracting.

So here’s one that’s a little more serious:

You Should Be Writing. Misery

What d’ya think?  Help your motivation any?

What do you plan to write this November??  Share, please!  :)

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You Should Be Writing

Posted in wanderings in the world & web, writing by

You Should Be Writing

This is a reminder I constantly need.

Luckily, I’m not the only person who gets distracted.

Or, should I say, the only fangirl who gets distracted.

So I’ve put together this collection of posters for motivation.

You’re welcome.  :)

You Should Be Writing

You Should Be Writing

You Should Be Writing

 

You Should Be Writing

 

You Should Be Writing

You Should Be Writing

You Should Be Writing

You Should Be Writing

You Should Be Writing

You Should Be Writing

You Should Be Writing

You Should Be Writing

You Should Be Writing

You Should Be Writing

You Should Be Writing

You Should Be Writing

You Should Be Writing

I hope you’ve found some inspiration amidst the gorgeous distractions.

But seriously:  shouldn’t you be writing?

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Why I Write {a work forever in progress}

Posted in musings, writing by

snoopy writing at typewriter

Just a few days ago I found myself sitting across from a man that helps people find suitable career paths for a living.

He asked me:  “If you could do anything, what would it be?”

“I’d be a writer,” I said, without even the slightest hesitation.

Because that has ALWAYS been the goal.

When I was about ten, I began writing a, ahem, novel.  It was probably a dozen pages long.  But it was a start.  And I promised myself – promised – that I would have my first novel published by the time I turned eighteen.

Yeah… and then, sometime in my twenties, when I still hadn’t managed to finish any of the novels I’d started, I extended that deadline to my thirtieth birthday.

Which came and went years ago.

So what the hell happened?  I mean, I’ve never completely stopped writing:  I wrote a ton of poems and short stories in college (NONE of which were ever accepted to any of the literary magazines to which I submitted them – yea for motivation…), but I just don’t seem to be on track with my goals.  Why?  What’s happened that’s gotten in my way of pursuing the one thing I believe I was put on this earth to do?

For starters, I don’t write enough.

That’s really one of the big reasons I started this blog.  Sure, I love, love, love posting about recipes and crafts and kid toys (no, really, I do), but if nothing else, it forces me to sit at a keyboard and put words together.

But sometimes that’s easier said then done.

Boromir: One simply does not start writing without coffee.

For example, coffee is very important.

If there’s not enough coffee surging through my veins, then I don’t really function.  But that can also pose a problem since I get my best writing done at two in the morning.

Well, that and having to get up with my kids when the sun rises.

So, why do I bother?

Why do I keep trying?

you write because you need to write quote

I keep trying because I have to.

And I know I’m not alone.  If the advent of internet memes has taught me nothing, it has taught me this:  I am not alone in my literary torment.

The procrastination gene goes hand in hand with the writing gene.

So, at this point, I haven’t given myself a deadline for completing (or publishing) my next novel.  Mostly in an effort to avoid sobbing fits of devastation.

Instead, I have promised myself to write every day.

I mean, I’m aware that some days there will be very little or no writing done because I will be too busy controlling the beautiful but consuming tornado that is my toddler and preschooler, but I still promised myself I would try.

It’s kind of like a New Year’s Resolution – but for the rest of my life.

How hard could that be…

There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. Ernest Hemingway quote.

I know I can, I know I can, I know I can.

Because I have to.  I don’t have a choice.

It’s who I am.

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(sources: Boromir pic; Hemingway quote)

Beautiful Words

Posted in books & book reviews, musings, writing by

beautiful words

I love words.

I love what they represent, but, more than that, I love them for what they are.

Words are beautiful.  Amazing.  Mismatched stings of letters that describe and determine everything that does or could exist, even if these things exist only within the words themselves.

It’s why I love books so much.  An entire world within my hands, within the pages, within the words.

And it’s not just fiction that has the potential to be beautiful.  Life itself is such a wonderful gift, but so many people use words to make it miserable and wrenching and  desolate.

It shouldn’t be that way.

Oh – I’m not perfect.  I’ve said my share of horrible things over the years.  We all have.  But we all have the gift of free will:  the potential to better ourselves.

Sometimes it’s hard, but we truly won’t see the blessings that surround us every day unless we look for them.  Unless we open our eyes and we smile.

Unless we make the choice to be happy.  And to share that happiness.

And words are there, waiting to help us share it.  Because every time you put words together you have the opportunity to make something beautiful.  Something happy.

You have the choice of bringing forth happiness into this world, or bringing forth despair.

What a powerful choice that is.

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My BuzzFeed Adventure and The (Disturbingly) Popular Ants

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I recently decided to join BuzzFeed.

I read their stuff all the time – why not try my hand at writing a few posts?  (As it mentions in my About page, this blog isn’t my first foray into the online world.)

So… why not?

I started with food, something with which I am intimately familiar:

25 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Cook On A Waffle Iron

That’s actually something I’ve been wanting to write about for awhile.  Instead, I turned it into a visual post for BuzzFeed.

Then, I did a couple of posts about cute animals.  Mostly because the pics all make me happy:

The 25 Cutest Animal Kisses

15 Animals That Are More Excited About The Snow Than You

I wasn’t really sure what to write about next.

Then this video popped up in my Facebook feed.  What is this thing about ants and anthills and art?  I watched the video.

DUDE.

Dude:  they were pouring molten aluminum into ant hills, digging it up, and calling it art.

Art has long been controversial.  I get that.  I’m an artist, but I’ve still found myself disgusted by what some people will try to pass off as artistic expression.

But I couldn’t take my eyes off of these sculptures.

They were disturbing.  A little nauseating.  But… striking and organic and fluid and mystifying.

And disturbing.  Did I mention disturbing?  Just in case, let me mention it again:  disturbing.

I had to share these images.  They were amazing, astounding, filled with the beauty of the earth.  (And disturbing.)  I thought people should see them.  So I wrote a picture-heavy post on BuzzFeed.

And then I was surprised, because BuzzFeed featured my post.  Within eight hours of its publication, it had 20,000 views.  The next day:  79,000.

Seventy-nine THOUSAND.  In just over 24 hours.

That’s not exactly the amount of traffic I’m accustomed to with my other blogs, Squidoo lenses, etc.

Some of the comments were not terribly happy.  There was talk of ecosystem destruction and all those “poor” ants.  Of course, I’m a Floridian, and I’ve been bitten by fire ants before.

It’s a traumatic experience.

So I have very little sympathy for what appears to be an abandoned colony.  Besides, as one commenter pointed out, tons of chemicals are poured into the earth in an attempt to kill ants, so, really, how bad is a little aluminum in a probably-abandoned hole?  Not great, but not as bad as buckets of pesticides.  And waaaaaaaaaaay better than ants.

Anyway, check out the video and artwork at 6 Anthill Art Sculptures That Will Blow Your Mind and let me know what you think.  Is it art?  Is it disturbing?

Is it both?