Motivate THIS!

Are you happy? I mean, are you truly happy? 

Last April I participated in the A-Z Challenge, blogging the whole month about finding happiness. But today I'm not interested in happiness. I'm interested in JOY.

Image courtesy of Koolente

Specifically, I'm talking joy that comes from hard labor after the day's work is done. Is there anything so satisfying as sitting back, seeing something you've worked to create, and feeling like you did good? Or better yet, that you did great?

How about after ten years of pounding at the same book? I feel like the smithy who's developed all the right muscles from forging several weapons, but one specific masterpiece that required me to lovingly fold the metal again, and again and again to build character, strength, and an enduring legacy. It's been such an amazing journey thus far, and I feel privileged to share the final product with all of you. 

What is it you're working on? Do you have any projects you've put your sweat, guts and tears into? 

And now on to the blog tour...

Special Event: 

Mystery Sentence Game: Unravel the mystery of the Moonless night! Gather all 8 hidden words from the excerpts and figure out the sentence to win a free copy of Moonless. Send your mystery sentence to crystal (AT) crystal-collier.com with the subject MYSTERY SENTENCE before December 10, 2013, and you will be entered to win one of 10 copies of MOONLESS—just in time for Christmas. Happy hunting!

Truth or Lie Game: It's Writerly Wednesday on STERIODS! (Minus the Wednesdays...and the steroids.) You have 6 chances to guess the lie and win a copy of MOONLESS. Each post has different truths and lies, so here's a chance to really test your human lie detector skills. Winners will be announced here December 11th. Are you a human lie detector?

Today:

Natalie Aguirre asks every question about anything, ever. No, but seriously, she hosts a wallop of an interview. If you've ever considered writing historical fiction, this is a must read. Oh, and let's not forget it's a giveaway.

What kinds of crazy things did you do as a kid? Gwen Gardner hosts the first Truth or Lie giveaway.

Out of the fire, characters are born. Come read all about it with Laurel Garver. 

Carrie Butler is trying to decide which high adventure story is a lie. Help a girl out, eh? 

Okay friends, what have you been working on?

Oh, and ENTER TO WIN! (Because you know deep down you are a winner.)

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Laurel Garver's Professional Poetry

A quick welcome to my guest today, Laurel Garver! I recently had the opportunity to read her collection of poetry that's releasing NOW. 

One word: awesome. 

And so, I invited her here to find a little more about her writing. Who doesn't love getting to the core of what motivates a writer, eh? A quick bio:

Laurel Garver is a magazine editor, poet, and writer of faith-based fiction.  She enjoys quirky independent films, British TV, and geeking out about Harry Potter and Dr. Who. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and daughter.

Welcome, Laurel! Have some cheese, eh? First off, how did you get started writing poetry? 

In my angst-filled teen years, poetry was a way of channeling negative feelings. But once I began to really study poetry in AP English, I was struck by how it can succinctly communicate the most moving and profound ideas. Poems are too powerful to waste on wallowing—that’s what a journal is for. 

I completely agree. Poetry is awesome! So, where do you find inspiration? 

I’m drawn to the weird and off-kilter—things not usually thought of as poetry fodder, like derelict factories, evil chickens, Goth girls, leash-trained gerbils, pica. There is a certain beauty in weirdness, and it has the power to break through our ordinary ways of thinking and being. I also like to explore those small, pivotal moments when we have glimpses of grace or divine presence acting behind the scenes.

LOL! In high school my friends and I considered "weird" a compliment. ;) So, along those lines, can you tell us the back story behind one of the pieces in your collection?

“Sixth Story” is a piece jam-packed with the beauty of the weird. It’s about an actual suicide attempt on a Christian college campus where I was a student. An attendee had a psychotic episode and was threatening throw herself out an upper floor window to escape snakes she saw pouring out of the walls, bidden forth by demons that resided in the hallway. One group after another tried to talk her down, to no avail. Her rescuer, a sort of Christ-figure in the story, played along with her delusion, saying he’d locked up the snakes in handcuffs and she was now safe. The incident epitomized for me how religious communities often deal poorly with mental illness when what’s most needed is simple loving compassion—a core value religion is supposed to embody.

Now that's a story. And now, every writer is influenced by someone else. Who has had the strongest influence on your writing?

Madeleine L’Engle’s work has been the most influential in helping me discover and trust my own voice, and to boldly keep my faith at the center of what I create.

She is amazing. For fun, you’re stranded on a deserted island. What 3 things would you take?

A Swiss Army knife, a water filter and a Bible. I’m sure I could figure out how to write on palm fronds if I weren’t starving and dehydrated (thus the first two tools). And if forced to be a hermit, I’d want to be equipped to get the most spiritual benefit from the experience.

That's entirely too practical. I'd be taking a magical cheese producing machine. (The scientists in my basement are hard at work on that one.) And speaking of cheese, if you could only have one type of cheese for the rest of your life, which one would it be?

It’d be content with an extra-sharp English-made cheddar (though I’d pine for Cotswold).

Mm... Now I'm hungry. Thanks for joining us today, Laurel, and here's wishing you all the success in the world with your wonderful poetry!

About Muddy-Fingered Midnights: 

This thirty-poem collection is an eclectic mix of light and dark, playful and spiritual, lyric and narrative free verse. In an intricate dance of sound play, it explores how our perceptions shape our interactions with the world. Here child heroes emerge on playgrounds and in chicken coops, teens grapple with grief and taste first love, adults waver between isolation and engaged connection. It is a book about creative life, our capacity to wound and heal, and the unlikely places we find love, beauty, and grace.

Check out her book here. 

And how about you? What cheese would you choose if you could ONLY have one for the rest of your life?