Category Archives: Publishing

Leadership Traits for Writers

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“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” ~ Leo Tolstoy

rising to victoryIt came as no surprise to me that Major General Louis W Prentiss, Jr., the author who was the subject of yesterday’s blog has written about his life in the Army and had it published independently.  Many of the leadership qualities that served the Major General well in his military career are nearly identical to what it takes to become an independently published author.

If you anticipate publishing, be honest with yourself for a successful outcome.  Do you possess these leadership traits?

  • Dedication
  • Stamina
  • Energy
  • Fierce Determination
  • No Excuses Attitude
  • Self-Motivation
  • Tenacity

“Ok,” you say, with unwaivering confidence, “I’ve got the right stuff. I can do this!”

Move ahead then with confidence and the understanding that at some time or another you may get writers block. You may also face unavoidable challenges that are all part of the time element involved in writing and publishing. If you are realistic in your understanding of what it takes to be successful in your efforts, you will not let the rough times defeat you.

Tip: Speak positively of your progress. No matter how long it takes to tackle the project don’t be too harsh on yourself.  Continually move ahead reminding yourself you have what it takes and you’ll get yourself through the project.

This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard,  the award-winning author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul.

Giving Oneself Permission

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“By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be the boss and work twelve hours a day.” ~ Robert Frost

Some people  need a boss behind them cracking the whip, helping them to stay on task and motivated. Having the corporate structure behind them saying “Your workday begins promptly at 9am and ends at 5pm, with a half an hour for lunch,” is what they relate to best.

Guess what, I worked under those conditions for most of my life. Now I’ve gotten a raise! “Twelve hours a day, hmmm, Mr. Frost?” Tell me, how does a writer, who is also essentially an entrepreneur, limit oneself to that?

Sometimes I find it hard to give myself permission to “lay off, let it go and call it a day.” It’s a challenge to remember the person in charge of me is myself!

Believe me, I am not complaining!  Sure, there are self-chosen lifestyle sacrifices that come with with “using own’s own creativity” but, I get to define for myself what it means to live a fulfilling life. I’m fortunate to have that.

 

paint a path

Are you painting your own path through life? What helps you find a good balance between work and play?

This blog is brought to you by the author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul.

 

O’Keefe in Everyday Life

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“To create one’s world in any of the arts takes courage.”  ― Georgia O’Keeffe

I’d always been interested in the art of Georgia O’Keefe. Any artist who paints flowers so magnificently, is alright by me!

Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Georgia O’Keefe Museum in Santa Fe, NM. The art was beautiful, as expected but, what I enjoyed seeing, through black and white photos, was the life of this woman outside of her studio. According to a short film I watched and from reading other literature, O’Keefe found much pleasure in simple tasks of daily living. Images of O’Keefe walking her dogs, hanging out the wash, sitting on the roof of her adobe house and cooking outside over an open fire all acquainted me with her on another level.

She painted much more than flowers. She lived, painted and exhibited in New York City. What a surprise! I’d always thought her entire life was spent in New Mexico. After she married Alfred Stieglitz, America’s first advocate of modern art in America, New York is where she and other modern artists began to proliferate. Her summers were spent in Lake George, NY.

From her great success as an artist,  I would never have considered that she was anything but a person who had all she needed right inside of herself from the start. But according to this quote, not so! “I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing that I wanted to do.” ― Georgia O’Keeffe

I love that! And I look forward to reading more about this woman of extreme talent who had traits of self-doubt that each artist struggles with, from time to time, going about the days of fulfilling oneself in the world of art.IMG_20150221_153831_642

Above: Photo of Georgia O’Keefe taking a car ride.

IMG_20150221_154346_188Above: Replication of O’Keefe’s studio inside the Museum. The photo is the view from her studio window in NM. These are her art supplies, with a work in progress on her easel. Her studio and home in Albiquiu is also open for touring.  That has been put on my “For Another Day List.”

Okeefe church

Above: Non-floral O’Keefe painting.

IMG_20150221_155447_610Above:   Black Hollyhawk & Blue Larkspur (middle painting – my favorite in the Museum).

Below: The Georgia O’Keefe Museum Gift Shop has a wonderful selection of books, DVDs, notecards and other products with the “signature” Georgia O’Keefe art licensing trademark.

Georgia Okeefe books

Georgia Okeefe DVDS

See you tomorrow! We will be talking about an art form that I saw in my travels that I had never witnessed live before until my visit to Santa Fe, NM last week. It was thrilling and fun!

This blog is brought to you by the award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard.

Fulfilling Things in a Memory Box

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“Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul; the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.” — Napoleon Hill.


I am so grateful that we have a historian among my college girlfriends. She’s saved everything from those years, right down to swizzle sticks and paper cocktail napkins from our favorite haunts.

It gives me great pleasure to go visit her because that’s when all the memorabilia from those years come out. We have a heyday recalling the stories that go with each of the tokens she’s stashed away in her memory box.  Having souvenirs of the past are a great way to trigger those memories we had forgotten about.

Admittedly, I’m not that much of a saver of things. I have a rule on clothing. If I don’t wear it after two or three years, it gets passed along. Why? Because I don’t like to move things that I don’t actively use. I try to keep my accumulations to a minimum, as hard as that is.

Although I do have a few boxes of things of sentimental value that I cling to, and will never give away,  memoir writing allows me hold dear to memories that are special without having to amass boxes of “things.”

As we age, baby boomers, it is important to write things down before those memories disappear forever.

Do you have a memory box or have you ever thought about making a memory box? Here are just a few photos that I keep in mine.

collage of family pics from when marc was young 25% enlarged

This blog is brought to you by the  author Sue Batton Leonard, who has won three awards for her award-winning memoir, an anthology of short stories.

The Writing Life

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How many times have we heard a person say “I am a writer.”

“What are you writing?” is the natural lead up question.

“Nothing, right now.” A valid response. At that present moment that person is not penning anything. They are communicating verbally – with you. True?

If you’re an artist in any medium and have a real passion for something, practice is never ending. The most successful people in this country’s history were not made overnight. Malcolm Gladwell shares his insight on the 10,000 hour principle.

Even if you’ve gone to school to learn a craft, the education is not over! The process of perfecting a craft is lifelong. Ask any artist who has risen to the top of their field – creating is on-going, never ending. I look at master painter Richard Schmid, one of the most celebrated artists in the country. He paints constantly even though he has been painting an entire lifetime and recently blew out the candles on his 80th birthday cake!

As an author, even though I recently published two books,  I feel as if my work has just begun. I literally work at it every day through blogging and then….there are my other writing projects.

keep-calm-and-love-writing-with-all-your-heart

This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, award-winning author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart and Soul.

The Power of Hope

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What would we do in a world without hope? Hope is what keeps us afloat.

But, did you know that hope has a partner? It’s called action. They are a powerful team, and one without the other is not complete.  Hope needs action otherwise you’ve only got pipe dreams. Action needs hope otherwise what’s the point – there is no lasting power to keep us moving forward.

If you have writing and publishing in your future – make sure both hope and action are in it together equally. The sum of the two parts will see you through the project.

Hope

This blog is brought to you by the award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard. For more information on her publications.

Closing out the Week Happy

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On All Things Fulfilling we are closing out the week with a song guaranteed to put a smile on your face. A simple, snappy and oh so sunny alternative to reading entertainment!

As Winston Churchill once said “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”

Do return on Monday, and have a weekend filled with finding the simple pleasures.

This blog is brought to you by the award-winning author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul. For information on Sue Batton Leonard’s publication, please visit http://www.allthingsfulfilling.com/about-the-book/.

 

Talking Hurtles and Hoops

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“When faced with a challenge, look for a way, not a way out.” David Weatherford

Today, let’s talk hurtles and hoops as it relates to yesterday’s blog about exploring creative ways of making a living. Only others who have been through it can relate to the kinds of challenges that come with successfully writing and publishing a book in this digital age.

The most fulfilling end result despite all hurtles and hoops, is knowing the sense of accomplishment that comes with reaching the goal of what you’ve been dreaming about.

Today, I’d like to say thank you to my son, Marc, who beside my husband has been my biggest supporter. Every time I questioned myself or got discouraged, he reminded me in his own very soft, kind and compassionate ways that “the only thing to fear is fear itself.” And he has been my tech support person in crucial moments. Best of all, he’s encouraged me many, many times to step beyond my self-imposed boundaries of growing up in the “etch-a-sketch era” to advancing into the “i-pad age”  and to figure things out myself! Talk about a gift in my life.

Ahh…… youth, as Samuel Ullman once said “Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.”

2-piece-mother-son-heart-dangle-charm-beadSomeday maybe we will have a story to tell together. I’ve gotten it started in the award-winning memoir Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul. For more information, please visit http://www.allthingsfulfilling.com/about-the-book/.

P.S. The jewelry is available through http://www.pandora.net.

Little Things Remembered

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Last fall after I did a book signing in my hometown of Towson, Maryland. My life-long friend, Chris, handed me a handwritten missive that was so meaningful. To get a hand-penned letter in this digital age is something special to begin with. The letter contained her memories of our times spent together as children. I couldn’t believe the little things that she remembered, many were the very same memories I’d retained all those decades since my childhood.

However, there was one event that I didn’t recall at all. Here is what she said:

IMG_20141013_132510_495

“A surprise birthday party I gave YOU?” I questioned Chris after reading her words in the letter. “I don’t remember it!” My sister doesn’t either.

“What!!” said Chris, in amazement. “You’ve got to be kidding! You went to all kinds of extremes to lure me over to your parent’s house that day so you could surprise me!”

“Nope, I have no recollection at all,” I said. Obviously, the surprise birthday meant a lot more to her than it did to me.

people remembering how you made them feelThe point of this blog today is that we never know if an event or person in our lives will take up residence in our hearts and never leave us. S0, try hard to be nice to others because you never know the impact a friendship might have on your life.

This blog is brought to you  by the award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard. For more information on Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul, visit http://www.allthingsfulfilling.com/about-the-book/.

 

 

 

Twin Telepathy

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My thoughts are free to go anywhere, but it’s surprising how often they head in your direction. ~Author Unknown

Sue & Jan Mt Werner

A few days before Christmas I filled the teapot with water, set it on the stove to heat, picked up the phone and dialed my sister’s phone number. I turned the burner up to HI just as my sister picked up the receiver on the other end and immediately said “Hello! Hold on a minute will ya, Sue, I want to put my tea kettle on.”

“Yep,” I thought as I waited, “we’ve still got it – that twin telepathy thing.”

When she returned to the phone I said, “What a coincidence. Just this minute I put water on to heat for a cuppa, too.”

Mind you, I am in Colorado and she is in Maryland. Although in two different time zones, we were both ready for a cup of tea at the same exact time.

It often turns out that we call each other simultaneously, both feeling  like we need to have a good long visit.

“I wanted to speak with you before real the holiday confusion sets in. I have been in touch with some blasts from the past.”

“Like who? Who have you been in touch with?” Jan asked, sounding very curious, and as if she had missed out on something.

“Oh some people we knew in high school. I’ve connected through social media.”

I began to name them off. We had a great time recalling the good old days and people neither of us have been in touch with for nearly four decades!

Do you have people you would like to be back in touch with? Did you know reconnecting with old friends is good for your health? Here’s an article that will be of interest. http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/wellness/staying-connected-to-the-past

What better New Year’s gift could you give a long lost friend or relative than the gift of your voice? I’ve tried to do that through a different kind of medium  – in my memoir writing!

Reconnect to a long-lost friend or acquaintence before another year goes by and you delay it. Wishing you a fulfilling year ahead with good health and lots of renewed friendships! Happy 2015!

This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul and the award-winning memoir Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected. For more information, go to http://www.allthingsfulfilling.com/about-the-book/.