Sunday, December 30, 2007

ON INTENTIONS




It is not good enough for things to be planned - they still have to be done; for the intention to become a reality, energy has to be launched into operation.”
--Walt Kelly


”Our intention creates our reality.”
--Wayne Dyer

”All that counts in life is intention.”
--Andrea Bocelli

"Before you agree to do anything that might add even the smallest amount of stress to your life, ask yourself: What is my truest intention? Give yourself time to let a yes resound within you. When it's right, I guarantee that your entire body will feel it.”

--Oprah Winfrey

So--we know you've been thinking about it--what are your resolutions for 2000 gulp 8?

ROBERTA: I hereby resolve to leave enough time that isn't filled with busywork so if an idea comes up, I might notice it!

JAN: I hereby resolve to FINISH my latest book this MONTH and to STOP wasting so much time on the Internet. I also hereby resolve for my next project to find a story that desperately needs to be told.

HANK: I hereby resolve to stop worrying and just do it, whatever it is. And to figure out what to do with all my collection of sloganed tshirts so they're not just stacked to the ceiling on the shelf of the guest room closet. (Okay, it;s a silly resolution. But there are a lot of tshirts.) And to answer emails faster, not just read them all for the instant gratification, then mark them to answer later which then leaves me with an impossibly long to-do list. And to continue to remember how lucky I am.

HALLIE: I hereby resolve to strike a balance between 1) reading, writing, teaching, and promoting the book I have coming out in '08 (1001 Books for Every Mood)...and 2) enjoying life and the people I love. Sappy, I know, but there you are.

RO: Will someone please remind me of this resolution in March when I'm tearing out my hair? I hereby resolve to stay focused on wrapping up book two and not let myself volunteer for anything else until it's done. (I've already committed to spending a week in El Salvador with Habitat for Humanity so that doesn't count, but that's it. Nothing else. I mean it.)

HANK: Ro, your hair is gorgeous and you would never tear it out.

ROBERTA, HANK, HALLIE, JAN AND ROSEMARY: Happy New Year to all! And let us know your resolutions, okay? We promise NOT to remind you of them later!

11 comments:

  1. I seem to be in an Irish mood this morning, so...

    Ni bhionn an rath, ach mara mbionn an smacht. Which means, there is no prosperity without discipline.

    So I'm going to get organized this year!

    Happy New Year to you all. I'm looking forward to many more great words from you in 2008.

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  2. And you, too, Sheila!

    Let us know when your book comes out! Next time you're back here, just tuck in the title, ok?

    We hereby resolve to make sure all faithful Jungle Red Writers pals get to enjoy some guilt-free BSP here at JR this year! We want to hear it.

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  3. I resolve to celebrate the book deal, work it, and not sweat it.

    Also to teach one of my littler dogs how to scent infection -- she seems to have an aptitude for it.

    I also resolve to read at least one book by each one of you, if I haven't already!

    (What's a 'B'SP? I'm guessing SP is Shameless Plug, but the 'B' -- Basically? Or am I off all 'round?)

    -=Susannah

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  4. Susannah: Blatant self promotion! You were very close.

    And tell us more--about your deal and your dogs.

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  5. I have a little crippled female Pom, who came to me when a good friend died of cancer, who seems to have a very acute sense of smell. She will air scent beside Puzzle in the back yard (the sight picture's charming -- the taller Golden beside the tiny, chunky Pom with her nose straight up), but she also seems to orient frequently to injuries on the other dogs, the cats, or on humans. She can smell bruising, going right to the bruised area through the cloth of my shirt or through the fur of another dog, and she goes through all the shifts of demeanor that my search dog does: interest, indication, alert. She seems able to find internal infection as well, hovering around a sick dog and orienting to the area of the body with the problem. I want to work more with her on this, reward the successful find of infection, teach her to show me on command. She's a funny little dog and seems keen to work despite her crippled back legs. When I retire working SAR, I hope to train dogs for medical discernment (cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, etc.), so Misty's natural interest in doing this is provocative! I think she'll teach me a lot. Certainly Puzzle the search dog does.

    The book is Scent of the Missing: A Handler's Journey Beside a Search and Rescue Dog -- hybrid memoir/immersion journalism -- sold to Houghton Mifflin in late November this year, for 2009 release. I am extremely fortunate in terms of publisher, editor and agent. Hallie once said to me the perfect agent "fit" was about ready to come along, and six weeks after she said that, he did. The agent said the perfect publisher fit was about to come along, and three days later, it did. Woot and moreover, Yowza.

    But I resolve to not stress about the book deal. I look to the JR authors and author-respondents here to show me how to do that. Also the yoga instructors. Ohm. }:>

    Here's the nosey little Pom lying beside her equally-nose-driven sister, Puzzle, who sends wags and kisses. Please pretend my grass was mowed when this shot was taken.
    http://iws.ccccd.edu/ccharleson/\images/sistersinsun.jpg

    Happy 2008 to the fine souls of Jungle Red! I look forward to a year of good reads.

    -=Susannah

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  6. Susannah,
    That book sounds awesome! Stress? You must be riding a cloud!
    happy 2008!

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  7. Susannah, that's fantastic! we're so excited for you!

    wishing all of you the very best in the new year...

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  8. Happy New Year to you all!

    Lovely to see Gaelic written, Sheila. My father was fluent, but, alas, all I know are swear words.

    Resolutions...
    Ah, yes, getting organized.

    And not getting stressed about everything. As my mother would always say, "It's nothing to a ship going down at sea." Kind of puts things into perspective.

    Of course on my list is getting an agent for my contemporary and finishing the historical I'm working on. (At least one of those I can make happen!)

    Congratulations on the book, Susannah! That's terrific news. And what a special little dog you have with a future of wonderful possibilities. It was great to see Puzzle again!

    BTW, I've posted my 7 facts over at:
    http://catherinecairns.com/blog/
    It was fun!

    -Cathy

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  9. My resolution this year is "Baby steps." I keep setting myself up for failure with goals that are too grand, even though they seem reasonable. Example: 1000 words a day or one page a day. Seems doable, but when it's not, I get discouraged. Goal for 2008: One paragraph. Every day. I can scribbled it on an old envelope in the car at a stop light or on a piece of pocket trash right before I go to bed, if I have to. Most days, I should exceed the goal. No reason, except being in a coma, that I should not make it.

    Happy new year to all!

    Mo
    http://momentary-lapses.blogspot.com

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  10. Making good on my resolutions, I have Roberta's Preaching to the Corpse in hand and books by the rest of you on order, where release has made it possible.

    I may have to re-read the Peter Zak canon (this would be my third trip through the series) to round out the year.

    I think (?) I mentioned this at CrimeBake 2006 when Puz and I were presenting, but I commonly take mystery/thrillers into hiding with me when I'm a volunteer victim for new search-dogs-in-training. (Somewhere I have a photo of myself reading Lee Child's One Shot in a ventilation duct -- taken by a fellow victim with a cell phone camera.) I remember I finished Hallie's Guilt in the bottom of an elevator shaft.

    So this year ye'll get read in some really weird places! And your books will likely be slurped by a search dog or two.

    I look forward to reading your work.

    Happy New Year!

    -=Susannah

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  11. OK, Susannah, that's my new resolution: To be slurped by a search dog in 2009. Or write a book that is.

    Mo

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