Kim’s Thoughts

Honoring What Inspires You

In our travels west, after spending Christmas in Maryland with Ben’s family, we’re served by countless members of wait staff, clerks, hotel staff, and other people in the service industry. And it’s easy to let them all just blur into a faceless mob as we’re rapidly heading west.

But this evening, I had the great pleasure to be able to give to inspiration. We stopped for the night and the only available restaurant was a chain – NOT our favorite. The wait staff all seemed really harried and hurried – even though the place was only about half full. It took over 40 minutes just to get our food.

When we were at the counter paying, I asked if they were short staffed in the kitchen because it had taken so long to get our food. The rather hassled looking young woman answered that about an hour before we got there, the fire suppression system had gone off in the kitchen – soaking EVERYTHING and creating a complete system restart. I instantly had a different view of the wait! (And why everybody was looking so stressed.)

As Ben was finishing his credit card transaction, the manager swooped in and cancelled it – saying that 40 minutes was outrageous and dinner was on her. Wow! (I really hadn’t been fishing for a discount; just an answer!)

Are you honoring what inspires you as 2015 comes to a close? Click To Tweet

But as she was cancelling the transaction, and we were thanking her, I said that I did want to tip the waitress, Brittany, who had done a fabulous job taking care of us. Both Brittany and the manager looked shocked that I still wanted to tip.

What I was doing was honoring an inspiring young woman (she was all of about 17) who kept her cool, her smile, and her composure as she was clearly feeling so stressed.

In these last weeks of the year (and in the next few weeks) you’ll see dozens of articles about setting goals for 2016. I encourage you to read them. But instead of spending all this time in reflection and planning, I invite you to do something else:

Reach out to somebody who inspires you.
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25 Gifts For Writers– 2015 Edition

I have to tell you, this is my FAVORITE post to write each year! I keep hoping that some of these goodies will show up under MY Christmas tree…

And because I’m sooooo on top of it in 2015 (tongue in cheek!) I’m writing this post before Black Friday/Cyber Monday so hopefully you can get some great ideas before you start your gift-buying in earnest!

If you’re anything like me, I always get the best shopping ideas from the gift buying lists! Here’s a list of gifts for writers that that are sure to thrill any writer on your list. Or maybe you’ll pick up a gift or two for yourself!

And to make your shopping for the perfect writer’s gift a bit easier, just click on the name of the item to be taken directly to where you can purchase it! (It may or may not be an affiliate link, depending on if the retailer offers that option)

Great gifts for #writers! Click To Tweet

This is the third year I’ve done this post. Some are repeats (’cause they’re just that good!) and others have been bumped off the list.

And be sure to share this post with folks who will be shopping for writers! There are tweets sprinkled throughout and shares on Facebook or Pinterest are ALWAYS great too!

So here’s the 2015 Gifts For Writer’s Guide:

 

Magnetic Poetry Kit

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Do me a favor, buy several different word kits! A great gift is to include these with a cookie sheet (double check the magnets stick) so your fav writer doesn’t even have to leave the desk!

 

Coffee Joulies

112415-CoffeeJouliesOMG! Somebody PLEASE buy these for me! My tea… I mean COFFEE is always getting cold. This is a stunningly gorgeous metal “bean” that keeps your hot drink at the perfect drinking temperature of 140 for HOURS. It’s one bean per 4 ounces of liquid.

If you hate being in the middle of something amazing and needing to stop to nuke your coffee (or tea!) this is for you!

 

Fingerless Gloves with Book Quotes

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Available in a variety of literary patterns, these gloves just look so cool! (Yes, they’re on my Christmas list!) My office gets chilly for a pair of fingerless gloves is a MUST so I can keep typing away  – without having to turn on the furnace for the whole house!

And if you must wear fingerless gloves… Then THESE are the gloves to wear!

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Rant: When People Want Your Book For Free

062315-GrrrrLast month, I released an anthology that I edited. 44 authors (myself included) came together to create the book. While I don’t know how much time each author put it, I know that my time alone was somewhere pushing 100 hours.

Not to mention the time, money, and effort involved to fly from Arizona to Maryland to release the book at a live event with 3,000 people in attendance.

And when I got home, I had to mail out a copy of the book to each and every contributor. While SOME of these costs were covered, most weren’t.

But it’s been all worth it to see picture after picture appear in the last week on Facebook as authors received their contributor copies. For nearly 40 of them, this was their first-ever publication AND their first book.

Pretty huge stuff, right?

The authors have been tagging me when they are showing off the book so I get to revel in their successes and share their joy.

And then this…

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What happens when you write something really vulnerable?

Vulnerable. It’s a buzz word in the expert industry. Something that you do – on purpose – to show you’re human. To help people relate to you. Experts talk about when they shared their vulnerabilities with their prospects or clients, amazing things happened.

And I pretty much dismissed it as a marketing ploy.

033115-DelicateGrassSure, I love to hear about the trials and triumphs in someone’s life and business. It taps into that part of my brain that also loves gossip and looking at tabloid photos while I’m waiting in the grocery store checkout line.

But true vulnerability? That piece of a soul that is too delicate to be touched, but that still could be shared. There was a part of me that scoffed. Who really wants to put all that out on the Internet for everybody to read? Who wants to read it? What’s the REAL purpose?

But can I tell you something? When you get really vulnerable – the type that makes you squirm a bit – BIG stuff happens.

However – and this is a big caveat – it can’t be for an ulterior motive! If you’re getting “vulnerable” for the “Look at me! Look at me!” part of your personality that isn’t real vulnerability. That’s narcissism.

And because I have strong feelings about the line between private and public, I’ve never gotten really vulnerable in a public forum. (If you’re subscribed to my newsletter, you get more back story but it’s never been really raw.)

Until last week.

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Can one story change a life?

Can I tell you a secret?

You story matters. You are the only person on the whole planet who is the unique sum of your experiences, feelings, knowledge, and opinions. All that comes together into your own world-view.

Sure you might catalog and classify your opinions through the lenses of your life like:

  • Political party
  • Religion (or lack thereof)
  • Where you live
  • Ethnicity
  • Culture
  • Gender

Or what you think about marriage, guns, equality, feminism, or the importance of bananas in smoothies.

The point I’m trying to make is that you’re so much than just your labels! There are things you care about – passionately, deeply – that you know you are meant to share with the world.

THIS is your story.

It is the information that only you can share. And it matters.

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How to feed your soul and your writing: Have an adventure

Pssst… Can I tell you a secret?

Adventures feed your creativity.
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More than reading, more than exercise, more than practicing writing, ADVENTURES feed your creativity and makes your writing sparkle.

There’s a REASON I’m always off having adventures – hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, camping, geocaching. It’s not just because it’s fun (although it is) but it’s because it feeds my creativity.

Adventures give ideas.
Adventures expand your soul.
Adventures make it easier to sit at the keyboard, day after day, and write.

Just so we’re crystal clear, I’m not only talking about the type of adventures I have where you get dirty, sweaty, and rattled at by snakes. (Don’t get me wrong, this is what works for me!)

But any type of adventure will do.

Maybe that’s exploring a new city.
Or trying a new food.
Or taking a quantum leap.

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How a Personal Rant Can Engage Your Readers

I have a confession to make: I love to rant.

I love to really get on a tear and get it all out. I love to give voice to everything that is making me crazy – raise my blood pressure, turn the air purple, be irrational (right, but irrational) and get really loud.

The only people who get to hear these012015-Rant rants, however, are my three awesome dogs, fantastic man, and best friend. (And if I’m being really honest, my long-suffering parents get to ‘appreciate’ them as well.)

There’s just something so liberating about letting it all out. Getting it OFF my chest, into the air, where it can blow away. And yes, I do sometimes worry that the negativity of ranting just breeds more things to rant about. I’m more positive than I am rantful. (I know that isn’t a word – it should be!)

I think it’s those rants that allow me to blow up and then let it go.

I’d love to be that type of person who can just smile and let it roll off her back. Truth is, I’m not. I take it personally, I get offended, I think about it – and I rant. Let’s just say that stuff DOES roll off my back but that I just have to jump up and down, stomp my feet, and maybe yell a bit to help it along.

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