Finding Hope in Relationships

By Kathryn Lang


The dark place captured me and threatened to drag me down into a deep pit. I clung to the edges of hope, but my grip weakened with each moment. I looked around for something, anything. I was alone.

I had followed the rules. I had marched along in stride down the well-trodden path. I had listened to the steps that they provided. And yet, the more I tried and the more I did and the more I followed, the darker it became. My hope slipped more with each passing day.

Words from another writing friend managed to re-kindle my flame. “You can.” The words were not prophetic. They offered no magic beans. They were not even that fancy – especially for a writer. They had the spark of inspiration simply because they were sent from someone that genuinely cared about me.

We had a relationship.

I thought long and hard about how those words managed to give me the light that nothing else could provide. I looked through my notes and ideas. I even reviewed something that my hubby had said to me just a few months back. I discovered that the place from where she had offered the words was the common thread to all that I had accumulated.

It is all about relationships.

I dove into connections in a way I had never attempted before. I am a naked writer (and I do not mean that I have to keep my shades shut to keep the neighbors from getting nosey). I write without much of a filter, and I hope that my raw words will be an inspiration or revelation to others. But, I never expected anyone to write back.

Now, I am attempting to engage my readers and make them companions in the journey. So, “Won’t you be my . . . companion?” Tell me how you engage your readers – on your website or even through your books or other writings. Share with me how you felt about the words I shared. Visit my website and link to my articles from your website. Connect with me.

Because all of it – writing, business, and especially life – is about relationships.

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Kathryn C. Lang lives and works as a wordsmith – sharing inspiration and encouragement through words that are written, spoken and drawn. Visit her website, www.kathrynlang.com, to learn more about her and to join her in her journey.

Why Am I Afraid to Tell You Who I Am?

By Lisa Lickel

That biography—scares a lot of us new writers. Yet it's a vital part of your craft. Think about it: you fiction writers create characters all the time, but when it comes to using words to describe you panic. "I'm boring," I heard at a class I recently taught. "What if I don't have any publishing credits?" "Why does anyone care if I have any interesting hobbies?"

Let's visit the situation.

I'm a mystery lover and just dying to feed my passion this weekend. At the book store and I have $12.73 with me. Read the back of the potential book cover with me:

In one hand I have Bats In the Belfry, a cozy by Saint Gail; it's new to me, but book 2 in the Manse Murder Mysteries. Saint Gail was the daughter of a pastor, is married to one, and the mother of another. She has a master's degree in Momhood and likes to race stock cars on the weekend. Visit her website for More Momhood Racecar stories and sign up for her newsletter which is full of tips on how to murder someone without leaving a clue.

In the other hand I have Everybody Hated Roger, a cozy by Cec the Curmudgeon. I've never heard of him either, but I like the cover and it's the right length book and price. Cec the Curmudgeon is a stay-at-home househusband who only drives his Rabbit hatchback to church on Sundays. He pecks out his stories on his Royal Underwood by day and dreams up stories in Technicolor by night. He plans on getting e-mail someday so he can interact with his fans.

Um—not really a choice there for me. Saint Gail is going to have the more interesting story because she lives an interesting life. But the only thing she didn't have control over was being born a pastor's daughter. We all start somewhere, usually at ground zero. Putting yourself out there for the public is scary—there's just no getting around that, but authordom is show business, folks!  "I'm nobody - a PTA, mini-van driving soccer mom." Yeah, so? Bet you got a zillion stories of back seat and sideline humor. Pick a couple and focus on your momhood qualities. "There's no way my life is interesting. I drive semi-loads of shopping carts from one side of the country to another." (Quick hit: how many shopping carts to a semi-load? 500. Ask me how I know.) Well, golly-gee – there's another zillion stories about angels on your shoulder, traffic tales, dictating your books on tape. Pick something: "Semi driver Royal Underwood got his writing career off to a start while driving cross country, listening to stories of fellow travelers in untold diners, watching other long-haul goodbuddies deal with the loneliness on the road and meeting his future wife at a monster truck rally in Omaha." Now, that's interesting.

Anybody can be interesting. One of my favorite authors writes about his life in rural Wisconsin. How boring can a short bald guy who married late, lives on a run-down farm and is not-mechanically inclined, be? Here's the beginning of his bio: Raised on a small dairy farm, Perry equates his writing career to cleaning calf pens – just keep shoveling, and eventually you’ve got a pile so big, someone will notice. Perry further prepared for the writing life by reading every Louis L’Amour cowboy book he could get his hands on – most of them twice.

Yep – it's Michael Perry, author of several books; the first one was his take on moving back home and being an EMT.

Maybe you can't do better, but you can be just as good.

Me? Why, Lisa Lickel is a Wisconsin writer who lives with her husband in a hundred and sixty-year-old house built by a Great Lakes ship captain. Surrounded by books and dragons, she writes inspiring fiction. Her novels include mystery and romance, all with a twist of grace. She has penned dozens of feature newspaper stories, short stories, magazine articles and radio theater. She is the editor in chief of Creative Wisconsin Magazine and loves to encourage new authors. Find her at LisaLickel.com.

I didn't start out this way – took me a while to get there, and I'm still growing.

How about you?