“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?”

― Martin Luther King Jr.

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.”

― Martin Luther King Jr.

“Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.”

― Martin Luther King Jr.

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”

― Martin Luther King Jr.

“Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.”

― Martin Luther King Jr.

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

― Martin Luther King Jr.

“Lightning makes no sound until it strikes.”

― Martin Luther King Jr., Why We Can’t Wait

“We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes, but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers.”

― Martin Luther King Jr.

Sucked you in with that title, didn’t I? Well, this may not be what you thought it was about.

As writers, we often have to take risks. We have to be open enough to let our creativity go where it may, even if that is to a private part of our mind.  It’s from there that we may really inspire our art.

And it’s my belief that we can’t be good writers without being honest and raw about life. We usually take those truths and show them in different ways like humorous or maybe magical, but it always goes back to what is human. In my opinion.

Any artist, no matter what the medium, knows that it’s terribly intimidating to expose ourselves through art. Even if the story or the piece of art has nothing to do with our real lives, it’s still a part of us. It came from that private place. For any artist to share that, they have to be brave. They have to be strong and prepared for criticism. And it’s instinct to crave a connection to others with our art, no matter how hard it is to show what came from our deepest self. Otherwise, it might as well stay locked up inside — only for us.

The same can be said about opening up to people in general. Many times it can be scary. It might seem easier to keep our thoughts or feelings locked in a box rather than share them with the person. Writing a letter and expressing yourself can be just as frightening as posting a short story or displaying a canvas.

So consider these things the next time you are criticizing someone’s art. Of course we all have our own opinions on what is good and what is not, but don’t be purposely hurtful. The same goes for people in your life who are trying to express their feelings. You may not agree with what they have to say and you may not even understand it, but treat it with respect and consider that it may of come from that private part of themselves that is very hard to expose. Just because they willingly share it…doesn’t mean it wasn’t hard as hell.

Hello.

Vlog Hello Again from reganleigh on Vimeo.

Beth (@plaidearthworm) was the winner for the Strange and Deadly giveaway. Congrats Beth and thanks to all who participated!

Music in the Vlog…

I’ve been so busy I haven’t even been able to do a proper giveaway. As in, I forgot to make a set deadline, remembered I needed to and then forgot again.

Soooo….you have until tomorrow (Monday) at Midnight to enter. Pretty simple. Win Susan Dennard’s debut paranormal romance release from HarperCollins! Go read about her -http://tinyurl.com/cdald2q – and promote to win.

Why did I cry in Barnes and Noble tonight? I saw THIS on the shelf.

It’s Susan Dennard’s book Something Strange and Deadly. So? Well, she is a friend from my high school who is living the dream.

I think it was the end of 2010 when I happened upon a fellow writer’s twitter page. I did what any good writer would do and followed her. Then I looked more closely. I immediately emailed my friend Amanda and asked if she knew this Susan chick. Was I wrong or didn’t we go to high school with her? (And yes, Amanda is also a fellow writer that attended my high school. We have an odd story, too. We pretty much started writing at the same time and later confessed our dirty little secret to each other over Facebook.)

ANYWAY. Susan had been this pretty and tiny girl with a beautiful voice. We weren’t close, but knew each other. And here she was on Twitter. As an author. With an incredible book deal, a lovely marriage in a foreign country and she was more beautiful than ever. Evil woman, right?

I was happy to find out that she was also just as sweet as ever. I was lucky enough to read the early version of this book and chat writing over wine and coffee. It has been inspiring to watch Susan’s career and more than a little emotional.

So when I saw her book in the bookstore? I cried. This is a woman who deserves the best. She has a kind heart and her talent is huge. She is amazing and so is her book. She makes me feel like I can one day experience the same thing of seeing my book on a shelf in Barnes and Noble. That inspiration and encouragement? Priceless.

I want you all to have her book, but since I’m not rich…I’ll only give away one. The rest of you better go buy it!

How can you win this free and amazing book?

Promote her book. Like her Facebook page HERE. Watch her book trailer HERE. And then Facebook…or Tweet to promote her book and include @ReganWrites.

BUT REMEMBER TO LEAVE A COMMENT HERE TELLING ME HOW YOU PROMOTED HER BOOK SO YOU WILL GO IN THE DRAWING TO WIN!

You can also check out her website HERE. And you can buy her book HERE.

Have I mentioned how excited I am for her?

Cole Alpaugh — my writing partner and dear friend — has a new book out.

Yep, he has another one published. Because he’s awesome. And he has a third coming soon as well. Because, again, he’s awesome.

I’m not recognizing and recommending The Turtle-Girl from East Pukapuka just because Alpaugh is like family to me. I truly believe he is talented and inspiring. His writing has always stood out, that’s why I chose to write with him. There is a truth to his words, a raw sense of life and perception that catches you off guard and yet feels familiar and comforting.

The review I posted on Amazon:

Alpaugh writes with grace and simplicity when he says, “Bigness swallowed them all.”  The Turtle-Girl from East Pukapuka begins with a tsunami headed straight for a beach of hand holding natives, enveloping the reader in quite a ride of suspense, humor and sadness.

When an author writes this well, you may have trouble pulling out of his world before doing odd things like looking behind you for island cannibals. The Turtle-Girl from East Pukapuka is a story of homecoming, whether it be for a young girl named Butter clinging to hope and the shell of a sea turtle, or a wounded ski racer longing to return to an island he has never visited. Alpaugh reminds us of how home can be both a wonderful and bitter thing.

Alpaugh’s words really do dance in the mind and tug on the heart.

Go read about it and order it today.

Feeling stuck? Need inspiration for your writing? Try one of these as a prompt.

If you’re a writer, you already know where I’m going with this…

• No sleep. You wonder if you ever fully sleep what with all those moments of popping out of to write down an idea. Or how about the nights where you sit down for an hour and then look up at the clock to see you’ve written for four? Maybe you’re a daytime writer — you rare breed — and you keep sleeping in small, weird nap times instead.

• Your skin is…pale white and ice cold. Yes, that is a Twilight vamp quote. Wrong creature, huh? But the same rule applies. You’re a writer, lucky to spend time in the sun because you sit for hours in a dim room by the sickly light of a computer screen. Think of Tom Hanks in Joe Versus the Volcano. The lack of movement makes your extremities quite chilly. Your fingers might even get numb.

• Things seem to be falling apart. But instead of your body parts falling off in diseased ways, it’s your house that suffers. Your laundry is tall enough to dance with you and you just had to use a wine glass to drink juice in the morning. (No, never happened to me. Why do you ask?? )

• You’ll eat almost anything when you manage to eat at all. There are times where you’re so busy that you forget to eat. Then there are other times where you have to consume whatever you find. And it’s usually something raw or that takes little cook time because dammit you have to get back to your WIP and nothing should stop you! *You then grab all snack foods and hoard them at your desk, god forbid you get hungry again.*

• Drive and determination. Just like zombies have an unquenchable hunger for brains and flesh, writers have a similar obsessive mindset. Instead of thinking BRAINSBRAINSBRAINS, writers fixate on their book. We think about our story and characters ALL THE TIME until we get it out on paper. In the shower or at the movies? Our minds are stuck on one thing.
• Disheveled look. It only makes sense that a lack of sleep, activity and housework will cause a writer to look quite slovenly at times. A wrinkled shirt here and a missing sock there, it’s a good think you always know where your laptop cord happens to be…
• Paranoia. I don’t know if zombies are truly paranoid, but they sure do act like it! They’re jumpy, rigid, and they’ll attack whatever they encounter. Writers are paranoid of many things. What do you mean my story idea has already been done? Did that agent just say that the industry is no longer looking for books about rabid bunnies with an overbite and social anxiety? Crap! Now what do I write? (Can you tell I’m tired? It’s late, moving on.)

• Loners. Do you ever see zombies just chillin’? Having a beer while chatting about the old days as humans? Noooo…because zombies are loners and so are writers. The life of a writer is a pretty solitary one, mixed in with friends and writing partners reading your stuff, but even then it’s mostly done via the internet. Who needs friends when you have so many people in your stories trying to talk to you??

What other ways are writers like zombies? I ask this as it approaches 1:30 am and my eyes are gluing themselves to my contacts. I think my zombie night is taking full effect. Time for sleep. If I can.

Song of the day: You knew it was coming…The Cranberries – Zombie

I have a deep heart that always gets me in trouble and makes me careful as to who I let invade it. It makes me either a very loyal or very bad friend, depending.  I am raw and sensitive from my roller coaster ride. Maybe even a little nauseous. So I need characters that have these elements. Passionate…and yet kind of sea sick from life.

Song of the day: The Decemberists – Down By The Water

I haven’t done a post in a while because I haven’t had much to say.

No, I take that back. I have a crap load of things to say. My head is churning with so many thoughts that I can’t get them straight. I’m just not ready to put them on paper yet. And I mean, yet.

Instead, I picked through quotes and saved the ones that struck a chord with me. I’m pasting them below. Take that SOPA. And thanks for reading my random post.

“A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.”

― Steve Martin

“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”

― Albert Einstein

“You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.”

― C.S. Lewis

“It is our choices, Harry, that show us what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

“Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn’t it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up.”

― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”

― Maya Angelou

“Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”

― Shel Silverstein

“Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. “Pooh?” he whispered.

“Yes, Piglet?”

“Nothing,” said Piglet, taking Pooh’s hand. “I just wanted to be sure of you.”

― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

“I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.”

― Friedrich Nietzsche

“You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.”

― Madeleine L’Engle

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

― Confucius

“There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.”

― Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

― Mahatma Gandhi

“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.”

― Gloria Steinem

“Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant filled with odd little waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don’t always like.”

― Lemony Snicket

“It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.”

― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club

“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent”

― Victor Hugo

“Life is pain, highness. Anyone who tells you differently is selling something.”

― William Goldman, The Princess Bride

“I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then. ”

― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland