Magical Monday - Medicine

I had started this on Monday, then my daughter needed the computer. I had lots of fascinating things to say--things that would have kept you on the edge of your seat, gasping in amazement--however, I lost my train of thought once I had to sign off. Nevertheless, here's the gist of it...

Fake surgery works as well as real surgery. (See the book "The Biology of Belief" by Bruce Lipton)

Placebos work as well as "real" medicine. (See just about any medical publication)

Fake acupuncture works the same as real acupuncture. See the following article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070924/ap_on_he_me/back_pain_acupuncture

Perhaps our thoughts are the most powerful medicine we can use.

I get by with a little help from my friends...

Thanks to the fabulous Edie Ramer, I was inspired to put two new progress bars on my blog in an effort to keep myself on track. (We'll see how well that goes - I hold the gold metal for rationalizing my way out of anything.) :)

Now that I see I'm 33.2% finished with a story I was going to submit to Ellora's Cave, I'm motivated to get back to work on that puppy. Not a bad idea since the deadline for that particular line is 11/15, meaning it will need to be finished and polished by the end of October.

(If watching progress bars interests you, scroll down to nearly the bottom of the page and it's there on the left.)

One of my CP's from AZ and I were both published within a few months of one another last year, and while I haven't finished anything since, she's gone on to have four more books published. While I am thrilled for her, and she deserved it, I stopped and asked myself last night, what is holding me back? The only answer is: me.

So, here's to a good swift kick in the pants. It's time to get busy. Time to let that nagging little blue scroll bar and my friend's success spur me to work a little harder.

Are there any tricks or tips you'd like to share about how you motivate yourself? Please note, if you're one of those sickeningly organized people who never procrastinate, I don't want to hear from you. ;) Just kidding - I'd love to know how you do it.

Holy Mackeral!

It just occurred to me that Nanowrimo is upon us again. Can a year have passed already? I was saddened to see that it was time for the Golden Heart entries again, too - I had told myself last year that I would have something to enter. Gracious, time does fly and, as usual, I'm unprepared.

Oh, well. How are the rest of you doing with your goals from this past year? There are only have a couple of months left of 2007 - still not over, but time to get on the stick if you haven't done so already!

Just Had to Share

I was doing a bit of research for something I wanted to blog about and came across these great articles. Though they are written for screenwriters, they apply to any type of fiction. I considered doing a breakdown of each, but they can explain it so much more eloquently than I, so go... read them. You'll be glad you did.

On writing great love stories: http://www.writersstore.com/article.php?articles_id=11

On using the mind to create success (a Magical Monday on Saturday:) http://www.writersstore.com/article.php?articles_id=847

On creating great characters: http://www.writersstore.com/article.php?articles_id=8