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  1. Win a Book – or Just Have a Little Fun

    April 15, 2013 by admin

    Exercise a bit of creativity for your chance to win a copy of my book, Tough Love: A Wyoming Childhood – or just have a little fun with the creative process.9781932636956-Cover

    Either way you look at it, it’s sort of a win-win deal.

    http://www.writingstrides.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/4.png

    Image courtesy of www.writingstrides.com.

    Today, in celebration of the launch of her new writing business, Writing Strides, a dear friend of mine is asking readers and writers and creative gurus to help her write a story. She’s got the first paragraph already down. (And she warns, it’s a bit dramatic.)

    Your job, should you choose to accept it, is to read the continuing story (posted by other readers in the “Comments” section below the post) and add to it. Participants will be entered to win a free copy of my book (a work which Johnson knows well, as she played a crucial role in critiquing and editing the chapters from the ground up).

    I am so privileged to call Johnson a fellow writer and a close friend. Her work has been published in The Wall Street Journal, Mountain Gazette and Green Woman Magazine, among others, and she has won awards from the Colorado Press Association and Funds for Writers. Her mission is to help people take their writing farther, via writing classes, one-on-one coaching and writing prompts. She is full of inspiration and compassion, and I am so excited to share in the beginning of this journey with her.

    So whether you’re ready to start something, need a creative writing prompt or just want to be a bit silly and let loose, head to the Writing Strides blog for some fun and ambition. You won’t regret it!

    Category Books, Creativity, Ideas, Inspiration, News, Social Media, Writing, Writing Life, Writing Process | Tags: ,,,,,,,,, | No Comments

  2. The Biggest Investment You Can Make

    April 4, 2013 by admin

    Lately I’ve been zeroing in on the power of investing in relationships.

    Investing in people is something I feel called to do, as a writer, as a Christian, and simply as a person. I count myself lucky that my life as a full time writer and mom allow me so many opportunities to connect with people – both people I know well and people I don’t.leaves on missouri.omaha.oct09 007

    As humans, we are relational beings. Communication is key to understanding ourselves and understanding others. You’ve heard me say it before, that at its very base, writing is about communication. But another way of looking at communication? It’s simply an act of reaching out.

    When I started writing my book, Tough Love: A Wyoming Childhood, this is what I knew: 1) I wanted to write for a living; 2) I had a few stories about my childhood that I had to get out on paper; and 3) Maybe someone would find the stories interesting.

    But what was I doing? I had no idea, really. I didn’t exactly set out to write a book. I did want to compile the stories in my head into some sort of order – and I wanted the stories to be artfully written – but why? Back then, I couldn’t have told you.

    But now (albeit a little late), I am starting to get it. Now, I realize that both the acts of writing and publishing Tough Love had a far broader purpose. My book is a way to connect with people (readers, writers, only children, Wyomingites, pick your label) who may have experienced even a sliver of what I did or wanted to understand something entirely new. In other words, by writing my story I set out to communicate and develop trusting relationships with those who would care about it.

    “Sharing goes to the core of what you do, and why it’s worth doing in the first place,” a fellow writer and friend of mine once observed.

    Hence my motto as a writer: “Bridging people through stories and expression.”Spring Mill 026

    “You want to find the people whose lives will be impacted by your work, your art,” writes social media consultant Dan Blank. And, he points out, it takes time to develop meaningful relationships and trust with others.

    What is your dream, really? I suppose it’s true that some writers simply aim for getting their name in print. But Blank nails the bigger dream of most artists:  “not just having a book with their name on it, but a true connection to readers whose lives you have shaped.”

    That’s it, right there. And whether I am developing a true connection via the written word or the spoken word – a phone call, a “How are you?” at the local library – I know that as a person, I am living out my true calling: to genuinely connect with others.

    Caring about other people will always matter, no matter what you do with your life.

     

    Category Books, Inspiration, Life, Life Stories, Motherhood, Parenting, Social Media, Writing | Tags: ,,,,,, | 3 Comments

  3. Disconnected (On Not Being a Slave to the Screen)

    May 1, 2012 by katemeadows

    I missed a lot yesterday.

    I missed writing a blog post. (I was waking up to cheap coffee, a shower and a hearty pillow fight with my husband and son in a hotel room.)

    I missed checking and responding to email. (Instead I was taking pictures: Little Man watching a baby giraffe, Little Man and his dad looking for snakes in glass cages, Little Man and his Grandma eating hot dogs and mimicking peacock noises.)

    Copyright 2012, Kate Meadows, San Diego, CA.

    I missed a noon conference call for a class I’m taking. (We were watching an elephant get a pedicure.)

    I missed the traditional weekend.

    My mother-in-law was in town all week, and my husband had to work on Saturday. You bet he took a day off to spend at least a few quality hours with his Mama. That day was yesterday. We did a spontaneous overnighter in San Diego to visit the San Diego Zoo yesterday.

    I am both blessed and cursed by the flexibility I have as a full time mom and writer. Without an 8-to-5 work schedule, it is easy to accommodate my “off time” (with writing, I mean, not with mothering, ha) with my husband’s. But that balance between being assertive with sticking to my own work and taking time off when my husband can finally catch a break is tricky.

    What I mean is, when you are tied to your vocation 24/7 and not bound by a work schedule that is imposed by someone from the outside, it can just be dang hard to let go sometimes.

    Take yesterday, for instance.

    At first, I was stressed about missing some important work hours – tending to the blog, participating in that conference call, the simple act of writing itself. No email. No Facebook. No blogosphere.

    But then I started thinking, Am I really that addicted to screen time? Is the world going to be any different if I post a blog entry on Tuesday rather than Monday this week?

    I know I can pre-plan these things, stock-pile blog posts for times such as this, etc. But that’s not really the point. The point is, how do we remain proactive in our art and daily interactions without becoming a slave to them?

    Copyright 2012, Kate Meadows, San Diego, CA.

    It took some mental work, but yesterday I was able to just let go. (I realized this in the middle of watching that elephant, Smitty, get her pedicure. It was 12:10 when I checked my watch. The conference call had been going for 10 minutes. I hadn’t thought twice about that call all morning.)  To not worry about what I was “missing,” but to instead focus on what I was gaining by having a complete day devoted entirely to family.

    Often those family days happen on Saturday. But that wasn’t possible this week. So we just shifted some things around a bit. Bryan worked, and so did I. How nice it was to wake up to each other yesterday morning and say, “Hello,” and start the day off with a pillow fight.

    When was the last time you completely let go of your work? When was the last time you disconnected from the technological world? Do you feel like you’re a slave to some of these things that are meant to keep us conveniently connected – Facebook, Twitter, blogs?

    If so, take heart and know all of these things will still be there thrumming away tomorrow. The world, for a day, will not notice that you’re gone.

    And if it does, well, you are pretty important. But you can still just give it a wink and promise you will return again, soon.

    Category Creativity, Family, Motherhood, Outdoors, Parenting, Social Media, Technology, Writing, Writing Life, Writing Process | Tags: ,, | 8 Comments