This story ... propells me to do my best!

November 3rd, 2009 by Maryjo Morgan

Tonight I could not sleep.† So I thought I would just read a chapter or two.† I ended up finishing the book!† I read through to the last page, including all the authors' acknowledgements.† Well, as a writer myself, I always read those anyway.† But† these "thank you's" fairly shout with genuine gratitude. I'm so excited, I had to tell somebody!† So here I am.

If you are discouraged with the economy, read this book.

If you are wondering if you are on the right path, read this book.

If you are discouraged about anything, read this book.

These 273 pages sent my heart and resolve soaring!† The dialog sings with authenticity, and this story grabs you as it did me, William Kamkwamba's words will make you look around - at every one and every thing - and see with new eyes.

Go to William's blog and see the 5 minute video of him speaking at the 2009 TED Good Ideas Worth Spreading conference.† When I saw this short video, I Facebooked it, then immediately requested our local library get a copy of the book.† Today on William's blog I see Tweets saying The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer has been chosen as one of Amazon's Top 10 Best Books of the Year and Publishers Weekly's best book of the year.† Moving Windmills is a documentary of this young man's jaw-dropping feat.

Every once in a while I am touched deeply by a book.† I find myself thinking about it even when I am otherwise engaged.† This is one of those books.† The kind of book I am grateful was written, the kind of book I recommend to everyone I meet for several months.† The kind that I will read every few years just to re-live the amazing journey again.

From William I learned:† If you want to make it, all† you have to do is try.


Post Halloween

November 1st, 2009 by Maryjo Morgan

Yesterday I awoke and realized I was not ready!† I had no candy!† I wanted to greet our little visitors. You know, oooh and aaah over their costumes, give Trick-or-Treaters compliments on their creativity, make their parents smile with pride.† The usual stuff.

Secondly, I didn't want to temp fate and the eggings that might result.† Our van was egged a couple of years ago - ruined the paint on that door because it was parked on the street and we didn't notice the egg/shell bits baking onto the door that faced west.

Maryjo loves these skeleton earrings!

Maryjo loves these skeleton earrings!

So I hustled off to the store so I'd be home with Treats by noon.† With such nice weather after all the snow and cold earlier this week, I was certain the treat-seeking ghouls and gobblins would be out in the afternoon, taking advantage of sun and dry sidewalks.† So I decked out our entryway with purple bat lights and set a festive Halloween bowl filled with candy atop a tall stool by the door.† I made sure to dress all in black, wearing my fun Candy Corn necklace and jointed skeleton earrings.

And I waited.† And waited.† Finally, at 7:30pm the doorbell rang!† Four costumed youngsters stood at the door, their parents waiting in the driveway.† Pirouetting for me to see their outfits and ducking their heads in to see my bat lights, they politely thanked me for their Treats and left.

That was it!† Not one more "ding-dong" was heard.† No giggles coming up the walk.† No rowdy teens gawfing and teasing.† No opportunity to see how neighbor kids have grown since last year, or meet new neighbors.

Maybe it is just as well - safer for the kids to Trick-or-Treat at shopping malls.† Glad I had a ball when I was a kid, though.

Today I'm going to see Laurie Zukerman's presentation (1:00 pm) at the Loveland Museum/Gallery.† Her memorial art is simply amazing!† My favorite in this exhibit is "Red Scare" and the items she includes in this exhibit are astounding.† The items evoke strong memories for me, and it was fun to see things I had - play ironing board and iron, fringed "Indian" vest, picture books, games, etc.† How she sees potential these items as she collects them, and then arranges them in such organized profusion is simply amazing.† Laurie was scheduled to speak last Thursday, but got snowed out.

I hope the turnout today is good.† This artist deserves the kudo of attendance!† She'll have my presence as a thank you present for the gift she gave our community in this exhibit.† Sure hope she comes back again!

Today things are buzzing ...

October 22nd, 2009 by Maryjo Morgan

Today, under the Cuckoo Clock there is a lot of buzz!† We are thrilled to have a forum ... a place to put our ideas "out there" and share.

First of all, THANKS, Fred!† We appreciate this awesome, fabulous, wonderful website.† We respect your expertise and are grateful you have shared it with us.

We look forward to learning how to navigate through what technology† is new to us, sharing with others what tricks and insights we've discovered here, and in general moving our careers forward.

Already we are having vivid discussions about what to post here! We are wildly enthusiastic*† about having our very own forum here.

* just so you know, Mj is the wild one. 🙂

These meetings under the cuckoo clock of ours ...

October 19th, 2009 by Maryjo Morgan

Our mission:† Work together to build an unbeatable network of support, and succeed in our writing careers!

Sounds simple.† Meet weekly - same place, same time.† Show up.† Be accountable.† Participate in the writing prompt.† Bring work to be critiqued.† And so we have.† In November we celebrate five years of meeting weekly to hone our writing craft.† I'm Mj and I host Weekly Writers' Workshop.† I started this group because I wanted to surround myself with like-minded writers who are serious about being published.† After five years of listening to my well-traveled German cuckoo clock, we've somehow begun to refer to meetings as taking place around my table "under the cuckoo clock."

That's just in case you were wondering.

One esteemed member of our ranks even mentioned the camaraderie and synergy we share in the intro to her book.† Check out "Wild Ink - How To WRITE FICTION for Young Adults" by Victoria Hanley. One member vividly chronicles her decidedly dramatic life as the parent of a child with a disability who spends way too much time with her great team at Children's Hospital. Another has a strong (87,700+ hits!) blog of her own; don't miss the Midlife Crises Queen!

We're trying out this blog as a forum for our WWW members to test ideas, share thoughts, and keep up our practice of writing.† No more, no less.

As for me, I am thrilled to be living a life deeply enriched by these working writers. Each writer has unique skills, personality, and insight. † When each of these amazing Word Wenches is added to the mix that is "Weekly Writers' Workshop," the sum of the parts totally, far and away, exceeds the whole.

I'm no math wiz, but I know magic when I experience it.† And this is MAGIC!