So, how do you like my new header? I was looking for something spiffy, sauve and sparkling that communicated my passion for the written word. Whaddya think?
A quick heads up on some upcoming posts:
– Anyone Have a Spare Tylenol?
– A review of No Ordinary Day by Deborah Ellis
– How do You Know? (if you’re a real writer)
– ‘Just Do It’ (what to do when you hit a blogging wall)
– So I Decided to Give Up.
Lots more. Thanks for joining me, and stay tuned!
It’s here! The hiccups have (finally) been taken care of and the “hitches” in the get-along have been smoothed out. The inaugural issue of Wreal 8 newsletter, “Where writers & readers relate,” has just flown the coop!
Designed to be a dialogue rather than a lecture, Wreal 8 invites readers to send in links to their writing-related blogs, story, winning writing contest entry, or favorite new book. Also features an author interview, writer-friendly Tips & Tidbits, Resources & Recommends, and links to How to Write a Book When You’re Really, Really Busy and 10 Ways To Get More Facebook Fans This Week.
I’m old enough to remember Sunday nights with Walt. Remember the old Wonderful World of Color series? Hosted by Walt Disney, it came on right after Lassie.
What if I told you some folks had written a book about capturing the Disney magic every day of your life? Would you dash out and pick up a copy? Well, here’s your chance!
The following is an interview with writer, researcher, word fan, editor and wordsmith Peggy Matthews-Rose. Read more about her part in the fascinating “How to Be Like” series, particularly her role in How to Be Like Walt: Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life.
First things first:
*Tell us about your book (title, publisher, publication date, etc.)
Our book is called How to Be Like Walt: Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life. The authors are Pat Williams (Orlando Magic SVP) and Jim Denney. The book was published by HCI in 2004 and continues to sell well and inspire readers everywhere. It is part of a Williams/HCI “How to Be Like” series that profiles leaders like Michael Jordan, Amway founder Rich DeVos, baseball legend Jackie Robinson, Coach John Wooden, and even Jesus. My role in the book was that of researcher, contact-maker, and editing assistant, based on my longtime involvement with The Walt Disney Company. You won’t see my name on the cover, but I am listed on the dedication page and in the acknowledgments.
*Tell us about yourself. (Where are you from, what is your background, how long have you been writing or anything we might find interesting about you.)
While not a prolific writer, I’ve definitely been a word fan since childhood. Excelled at creative writing projects and began focusing on journalism classes in junior high. Continued with communications as an emphasis in college though my degree was ultimately in English literature. I found that reading great writing helped me improve my own. Grew up and still live on Orange County, California. My friends like to introduce me as, “This is Peg. She used to be Peter Pan at Disneyland.” So I guess that must be the most interesting thing about me! That debut was followed by many Disney years, about half of which were in communications roles. Today I freelance as a collaborative writer, editor, and general, all-around wordsmith.
Why did you write this book? My involvement in this book is what I call a “God-thing” and way too long a story for this blog. Suffice it to say that I met Pat Williams at a book show, he told me about this book he was writing about Walt, I told him I had every book written about Walt (at that time) as well as contact with many people who knew or were inspired by Walt – and the rest was publishing history. We wrote the book as a tribute to Walt and to further inspire readers as Walt inspired so many who knew him. Walt was a one-of-a-kind, a true American original. No one can be Walt. Be we can all be like Walt by studying what drove the man. We can all keep his light in our window.
What obstacles did you encounter in getting this book published? How did you overcome them? Since the book was already under contract when I got involved, there were no real obstacles. We did encounter some curious resistance from some of the folks we interviewed and then, of course, minor issues when the publishers decided there was “too much soap in the box.” How do you cut anything from a book about Walt Disney? But we did.
How did you know you wanted to be a writer? How did you get started? As I hinted earlier, I knew I wanted to write the first time a grade school teacher read one of my stories out loud. I think that was first or second grade. My professional start came when I interned for a staff writer job at Disneyland and was hired fulltime shortly after that. I edited the “cast” newsletter and an internal magazine for several years, as well as at Walt Disney Studios later on. A number of years later, I returned and worked in similar roles. When I left, I decided it was time to see if I could do this writing thing on my own. Answer: yes and no. I’m fortunate to no need a full-time employer, but I definitely need partners.
Did you learn anything from writing and publishing this book? What? Where do I begin? This book was the launch of what I could easily call some of my greatest life adventures. Always a Waltphile, I learned more about the depth of this man’s soul than I ever could have in any other way. I reconnected with people I’d lost contact with, made new friends, and generally enriched my life in many ways. Beyond what I learned about Walt, I learned the ins and outs of the publishing world in working with Pat and Jim and HCI editors. In the process of working with Pat and Jim, I learned about the wonderful world of collaborative writing. Since this book’s publication, I’ve personally written five books with Pat and several with other collaborators. And beyond all that, this book brought me a great couple of friendships with Pat Williams and Jim Denney. Pat is an inspiration to everyone who knows him: a consummate sports professional, motivational speaker, father of nineteen, and now a cancer survivor. Whatever hurdle life throws in his way, Pat continues to knock it down and keep going. I am so grateful for his friendship and patient support over the years. Jim has likewise been an encouraging, wise, and helpful mentor. May blessings overflow to them both.
If you were doing it all over again, what would you do differently? Not in any way, except for maybe starting earlier. But I always was slow on the uptake.
What types of books do you like to read? Who are your favorite authors? Why? I’ve always lived in Fantasyland, literarily. Love children’s classics (especially Peter Pan J), C. S. Lewis’s Narnia books, Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. These authors knew how to grab hearts and imaginations. They didn’t write down to the child but well understood and spoke to the child inside us all.
What other books have you written? With Pat Williams, I’ve written Read for Your Life: 11 Ways to Transform Your Life with Books (HCI 2007); Lincoln Speaks to Leaders: 20 Powerful Lessons for Today’s Leaders from America’s 16th President (with Gene Griessman, Elevate Books 2009); The Take Away: 20 Unforgettable Life Lessons Every Father Should Pass On to His Child (with Karyn Williams, HCI 2009); Nail It: 10 Secrets for Winning the Job Interview (Advantage 2010); and Daly Wisdom: Life Lessons from Dream Team Coach and Hall of Famer Chuck Daly (Advantage 2010). With Saddleback Church pastor Erik Rees, I’ve assisted with S.H.A.P.E.: Finding and Fulfilling Your Purpose for Life (Zondervan 2006) and co-written Only You Can Be You: 21 Days to Making Your Life Count (Howard 2009). I’ve also co-written a children’s picture book with ministry partner Sandra Maddox called Tiffany and the Talking Frog in The Search for the Crown of Rye Chestnuts. This latter title was self-published by Ms. Maddox in 2008. The book and characters were inspired by her daughter, Tiffany, who was tragically killed in an automobile accident in 2003 at the age of 24.
Are you working on something now? What? Got a couple irons in the fire. Not ready to share just yet. Always have a possible book of my own in the back of my mind, been there since my college days (just last year J), my own fantasyland tale. It seems to get stuck there, however. Who knows? It may resurface one day or always remain my book in a box somewhere.
What is the best advice you could give other writers about writing or publishing? 1) If you believe in your book and believe your message deserves to be heard, be ready and willing to do what it takes to self-publish. Besides the fact that the traditional publishing world isn’t kind to unknown writers, those who self-publish always stand to profit more from this avenue than any other. 2) Unless you are a highly skilled and confident communications professional, hire a wordsmith or editor! I see way too many self-published books (reading one right now) that have so much potential but are riddled with misspelled words, poor punctuation, badly constructed sentences, etc. These “little” details scream “unprofessional.” No matter how you seek publication, getting it right in manuscript is critical. Can’t emphasize that enough.
Where can readers learn more about you and your book?
http://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Like-Walt-Capturing/dp/0757302319/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334687850&sr=8-1. You can also find me on Facebook and/or LinkedIn (Peggy Matthews Rose).
Anything else to add? If you love to write, just do it. Writing really is its own reward. If you must have an audience, read to your friends, your kids or self-publish. Writers groups are hugely helpful. Can’t find one? Start one. Just make sure you’re all there to help one another. But if you want to sell what you’ve written, be ready to do a lot of work promoting it. Someone once wisely said, “Nobody loves your baby as much as you do.” Finally, I’d like to say thank you so much and forever to Pat Williams and Jim Denney. At this writing, I have no idea whether or not I’ll ever do another book. But for the time I’ve had so far, it’s been a real E-Ticket attraction.
“Africa hot,” she muttered, mopping her sweaty brow. Morning was barely out of bed and the thermometer was already doh-si-doh-ing around ninety degrees. Having lived in Kenya for twenty years, Stella knew what she was talking about when she described summer in Texas, when one scorching month melts into another like butter over a blow torch.
I sighed, brushed a strand of damp hair out of my eyes and wondered how my family and I wound up in the baking heat of the Texas Hill Country. How long could we last?
***
Excerpted from Lone Star Summer, a memoir. Stay tuned for more.
I’m taking a break from blogging for the next month to spend more time with the fam. Happy New Year and see you in February!
Splendid, soul-stirring Christmas music from Michael W. Smith. With lyrics. Just over 4 minutes. A treat:
Everyone has a story. What’s yours? Roads Diverged is still accepting submissions to our first-ever Holiday Story Showcase!
Here are the basic rules:
– Each submission must be your original work. Please include at the top of your submission (email only): 1) Your name; 2) A word count; 3) “Holiday Story Showcase” in the subject line, followed by your title.
– Length: between 300 and 1,500 words
– Any genre. Stories may be inspirational, fiction, non-fiction, memoir, or humorous. Just make sure they’re G-rated. (I reserve the right to reject any submission, for any reason.)
– I’m looking for clean, uplifting, family-friendly stories that have been thoroughly proof-read.
– First-person narratives are preferred, but not mandatory.
– Stories can be on any winter holiday.
– You may submit more than one story.
– Posting is up to the sole discretion of the blog owner (yours truly), and there is no monetary remuneration for any submission. This is simply an opportunity to share your gifts and stories with the rest of our loyal readers!
– No anonymous submissions. Please include your name.
So, pour yourself a steaming mug of hot apple cider, plop in a cinnamon stick or two and let your creative juices go to work! Be sure the spread the word about our Holiday Story Showcase. The more stories, the merrier!
Please send submissions in the body of an email (NOT as an attachment) to: HolidayStoryShowcase@gmail.com. Last day to submit is December 10.
The Last Summer of the Death Warriors
By Francisco X. Stork
Seventeen year-old Pancho is one tough hombre. And he’s royally ticked. With a deceased mother, his father recently killed in a work-related accident, and his mentally challenged sister, Rosa, dead, he lands in a New Mexico orphanage mad at the world and aiming to make the world pay. Detectives say Rosa’s death was due to “natural causes,” but Pancho suspects foul play. He formulates a plan to identify Rosa’s killer and wreak his revenge.
Pancho encounters an unexpected wrinkle when he meets D.Q. (Daniel Quentin) at the orphanage. D.Q. has authored “The Death Warrior Manifesto.” (“Rule number one: No whining.”) Impish, intellectually buoyant and devilishly mischievous in spite of a cancer diagnosis, D.Q. pegs Pancho to be a fellow “death warrior.” The Panda (priest) who runs the place assigns Pancho as D.Q.’s helper for the summer, a prospect that thrills Pancho about as much as a cat in cold bath water. Will he choose death and revenge or the way of the “death warriors” – fighting for every last shred of life and love as long as they last?
Francisco Stork’s young adult novel is gutsy. It asks tough questions and avoids patty-cake, trite answers. It engages quickly, combining elements of both a murder mystery and a romance story as main characters battle doubt, disease, abandonment, despair and their own inner demons. The novel is artfully written with realistic, three-dimensional characters and crisp dialogue (may be too gritty for gentle readers). A unique story with some unusual plot twists, Last Summer is worth a look.
The Huckleberry Creek Trail to Forest Lake Camp may be one of the best kept secrets in Washington State’s Mount Rainier National Park. That’s because you have to be part mountain goat to hike out. Yep, the return trip is almost entirely uphill. Think Empire State Building without an elevator. But this is one trail that’s worth every grunt, groan and creaking knee.
You’d never guess that a world-class wildflower meadow, gurgling creek and glassy tarn are tucked into the conifer-clad valley below Sourdough Ridge at Sunrise on the eastern flank of Mount Rainier. Their secrets are revealed only to the truly intrepid or utterly clueless. Consequently, we had the entire hike to ourselves on a beautiful Thursday in late September, save for one other couple from Holland. And they were lost. See? Everyone with brains headed toward Frozen Lake or Mount Fremont. We, on the other hand, opted for “the road less travelled” and were rewarded with one of the most beautiful alpine settings in the park. And aching knees. But I digress.
Dog-legging off Sourdough Ridge, the Huckleberry Creek trail narrows and turns treacherous as it juts into Huckleberry Basin, especially through a rock-strewn avalanche chute below the basin. Past the chute, the trail slims further to ribbon-width as you dip into a riotous romp of Renoir pastels cleverly disguised as a serene alpine meadow. While the wildflowers aren’t as plentiful on this higher, more exposed side of the Mountain as they are in Paradise, they still paint the landscape in rich floral hues where yellow mountain daisies, purple aster, lupine, fire-engine red Indian paintbrush and white-tufted bear grass splash the landscape like a Louvre-worthy canvas.
Huckleberry Creek winds through tall, thick grass and plays hide and seek with the trail as it skips around gentle knolls and ridges bristling with evergreens. Once you’ve reached the valley, cross a couple split-log foot bridges and elbow the creek on your left. It’s a short walk to Forest Lake Camp.
While its shores are lined with the sun-bleached bones of fallen trees, Forest Lake is as still as the Sphinx. If you’re part polar bear, go for a swim. We lunched at the camp for about an hour, listening to warbling wrens and varied thrushes. Chipmunks scurried nearby as gray jays, those shameless panhandlers, thought we were opening a traveling cafeteria. We left reluctantly as afternoon faded and snow-scrubbed breezes began whining off the Emmons Glacier.
As for the return hike, well, be sure to fuel up the after-burners. Both creek and camp are well worth the hamstring-hollerin’ climb out. Just don’t tell anyone.
Pages & Paws 