Alice Orr's Blog

Talk Truth and Hope for Help. My mother was mentally ill. Her dis-ease displayed itself in many ways. Rage and violence at one end of her emotional spectrum. Fear and brooding at the other. Everyone could see her tortured extremes. No one said a word about them.

I Overheard our Family Physician Counsel my Father. Doctor Benny could be harsh at times, but that day he was a gentle mentor. He told Dad my mother needed help and what kind it must be. Psychological help. My father flew into a rage of his own and sent Doctor Benny away.

People Like Us Don’t Go to Psychiatrists. My dad shouted that out in our empty family room. I shrunk deeper into my stairwell eavesdropping spot. I had no idea who “people like us” might be. Meanwhile, the door closed on Doctor Benny, and upon the rest of us as well.

The Family Secret was Saved but My Mother was not. She remained imprisoned in the fearful darkness of her affliction. She was shut away from possible relief as surely as if she had been locked up in a backroom with the key thrown away. Our family remained imprisoned with her, afflicted by secrets and silence. We denied the truth we saw, right there, in front of our eyes.

Openness would have Released Us from Our Prison. Openness would have invited hope into our mutually occupied backroom. Instead, we suffered there. Our mouths had been sealed by shame. Our hearts were clutched by fear. Secrets held us captive – my mother most mercilessly of all. What a gift it would have been if someone had spoken the merciful truth.

Jonathan and I Choose an Open Road. We make no secret of his dementia. Our families know. Our friends know. We know. Now, you also know. There are no secrets here. No locked rooms. No silence. No shame or embarrassment or even sheepishness. We have freed ourselves from all of that. Jonathan most fully of all. Talk Truth and Hope for Help

Not Everyone is Comfortable with Openness. When the subject of dementia arises, some people quickly change the subject. They are discomforted. Sometimes they fawn over Jonathan as if he were a wounded bird. Sometimes they turn away. Sometimes they disappear altogether.

Those who Turn Away are Themselves Afflicted. They are afflicted by fear. They are afflicted by the images broadcast on television. Images designed to create panic and sell outrageously expensive, inadequately tested pharmaceuticals. Those who turn away are more comfortable with the secret. Jonathan and I struggle to be more comfortable with the light.

I Remember that My Mother Almost Never Smiled. I hardly ever saw the smile in the above photo – not that I can recall. I think about how alone and lonely the mother I did see must have been. I remember how alone and lonely we all were. We were isolated in the dark backroom closet of our silence and shame. Never once did we Talk Truth and Hope for Help.

The Antidote for Darkness is Light. In the light we experience dawn. In the light a smile breaks through our fears. In the light love shines and can free us all. In the light my mother might have embraced the dawn – regained her smile – experienced at least a bit more freedom.

Lesson Learned. Let there be light.

A Moment of Shame. Was there a time in your family when a relative was the cause for embarrassment? Did this ever happen during your growing-up years? How did your parents and relatives respond to that situation? How did you respond?The Choice of Silence. What was the most closely guarded secret in your family? Were you told about it directly, or did you find it out for yourself? Were you urged to keep silent about this secret? Did you do so? Or, did you challenge that expectation? Why?The Fear of Exposure. Did you dread the consequences of family secrets coming to light? Did such revelations ever happen? What were the actual consequences? Do you think openness might have been a better choice, or not? Why do you think that?

Meanwhile Jonathan and I Face a Challenge. A wise friend gives two words of advice. Get help!! A family member offers financial aid. We are grateful for that but know we require hands-on allies. None appear – until an offer arrives from the other side of the continent. In that moment, with that possibility, our westward odyssey begins. Talk Truth and Hope for Help.

You possess storytelling magic. Keep on writing whatever may occur. AliceOrr   http://www.aliceorrbooks.com

Alice Orr. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells.

Read Alice’s Memoir. Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness. At the beating heart of this moving story a woman fights to survive. All her life she has taken care of herself. Now she faces an adversary too formidable to battle alone. Available HERE.

Praise for Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness. “I was lifted. I highly recommend this book as a can’t-put-down roadmap for anyone.” “Very, very well written. Alice Orr is an amazing author.” “Honest, funny, and consoling.” “I have read other books by Ms. Orr and am glad I haven’t missed this one.” “Couldn’t put it down.”

Thrill Yourself with Alice’s Suspense Novel Series. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. Five intense stories of love, death and intrigue. Available HERE.

Praise for Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. “Romance and suspense at its best.” “I highly recommend this page-turner series.” “Twists and turns, strong characters, suspense and passionate love.” “The writing is exquisite.”

Follow Alice on Substack. https://aliceorr.substack.com/

Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know about telling your own real-life stories? Ask your questions as a Comment following this post.

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http://twitter.com/AliceOrrBooks/

https://bsky.app/profile/aliceorr.bsky.social/
http://goodreads.com/aliceorr/
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Speaking Falsehoods to Power. My husband is a charming man. I had no intention of remarrying before I met him. Been there. Done that. Was miserable. My late Grandma’s wisdom told me “Not for you!” I always listened to Grandma. Then I met Jonathan. The rest is a fifty-three-year story that began with his charming smile in 1972.

Nobody Wants a Dementia Diagnosis. Any of us would most likely use just about any means necessary to avoid hearing those words or reading those test results or facing those prospects. Jonathan’s means of avoidance was his charm.

My Wife Says I Forget Things. Do you know a single wife who does not contend that her husband forgets things? “My wife says I forget things.” That is what Jonathan told his young doctor. Then he smiled. Then they shared a chuckle.

We Needed a Referral for Testing. Jonathan’s charm target was our gateway to a world class neurology staff a half-dozen blocks from our home. We already had strong connections there. Jon would be treated as an individual instead of a case file.

Early Detection was Crucial. The faster the professionals identify a disease the better it is for the patient. This is definitely true of dementia. Brain scan. Blood tests. Whatever is in the diagnostic kitbag as ASAP as possible. Too bad Jon’s lifelong characteristic deployment of the dimples succeeded. His doc deemed no follow-up necessary. Bye-bye to ASAP at our nearby facility.

Finding a New Facility was Crucial. We lived across the East River from Manhattan. I would have to search there. Lots of world class places. Huge. Formidable. Complex. I was duly intimidated. I waded in anyway. Across the river and into the medical bureaucracy. Speaking Falsehoods to Power.

Getting their Attention was Crucial. I faced a wall that seemed impregnable to me. A cheek-by-jowl array of massive structures like any major medical facility anywhere. These were the adversaries I was about to confront. I stared at that wall and felt myself shrink in significance by the second. Would they even notice me, much less hear my story?

Frustration Multiplied My Mettle. It took hard-fought months to get into one of those massive Manhattan facilities. On appointment day a waiting line overflowed the reception area into the lobby. It took nerve racking hours to get a brain scan scheduled. Too bad they could not fit us in for several weeks more. We needed a reroute to the human dimensions of our neighborhood.

Sling Shot Time Had Arrived. I knew I was no match for the powerful arm of the medical establishment. I could all but see the fist at the end of that arm clenched above me. I could easily imagine that fist pounding my tiny self and our predicament to bits. Like David, I had a single sling and some small stones to wield against Goliath. I had my determination and my words.

I Began to Obfuscate. I cannot say I lied because Grandma is listening. See her in that photo? She would rise from her resting place and rebuke me for a lie. Obfuscate is a safer description of what I did from then on with almost every gatekeeper I encountered. I made sure those encounters were never in person. They could not see my trembling limbs or my terrified eyes while I was Speaking Falsehoods to Power.

I Began to Obfuscate More Creatively. First, I only faked a doctor referral – or maybe two. They believed me!! Next, I pretended to be a doctor’s assistant. Changed my voice to sound medical. They believed me!! It occurred to me that these ruses might be most effective at the end of the day when folks were tired. I did what I believed I had to do and that worked also. My husband Jonathan’s brain scan happened where we needed it to happen. A half-dozen blocks from home.

I Never Got Over Being Terrified of Goliath. Surely the powers that always be would discover what I was doing. I told myself my motives were both right and righteous. My beloved needed help as fast as we could make it happen. Nothing must stop that. Not my own trepidation. Certainly not the possibility of sanctions by my bureaucratic betters.

Lessons Learned. Get your loved ones what they need and deserve. Remember David. Find yourself a sling. Drop your desperation into it. Steady your knocking knees. Take your shot.

The Moment of Need: Was there ever a time in your life when you or someone you love needed, perhaps even desperately, something that was blocked from ready access by powerful forces?The Fear of Shattering: In that moment, did you dread, understandably, that speaking up to those powerful forces might shatter any possibility of alleviating the crisis for you or your loved one? Or, that you could make the situation even worse?If You Could Do Anything: If you could return now to that crucial moment, and if you could do anything at all to de-escalate that crisis, what would that something be?

Jonathan’s Brain Scan Diagnosed Dementia. Treatment began and has proceeded positively so far. We focus on the hopefulness of that. Meanwhile, Grandma has not risen from her resting place. If she ever does, I suspect she might kiss me on top of the head like she did the day our long-ago picture was taken. I also suspect she might understand why – when necessary – I will be Speaking Falsehoods to Power.

You Possess Storytelling Magic. Keep on Writing whatever may occur. Alice Orr. http://www.aliceorrbooks.com

Alice Orr. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells.

Read Alice’s Memoir. Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness. At the beating heart of this moving story a woman fights to survive. All her life she has taken care of herself. Now she faces an adversary too formidable to battle alone. Available HERE.

Praise for Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness. “I was lifted. I highly recommend this book as a can’t-put-down roadmap for anyone.” “Very, very well written. Alice Orr is an amazing author.” “Honest, funny, and consoling.” “I have read other books by Ms. Orr and am glad I haven’t missed this one.” “Couldn’t put it down.”

Experience Alice’s Suspense Novel Series. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. Five intense stories of love, death and intrigue. Available HERE.

Praise for Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. “Romance and suspense at its best.” “I highly recommend this page-turner series.” “Twists and turns, strong characters, suspense and passionate love.” “The writing is exquisite.”

Follow Alice on Substack. https://aliceorr.substack.com/

Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know about telling your own real-life stories? Ask your question(s) as a Comment following this post.

http://facebook.com/aliceorrwriter/
http://twitter.com/AliceOrrBooks/

https://bsky.app/profile/aliceorr.bsky.social/
http://goodreads.com/aliceorr/
http://pinterest.com/aliceorrwriter/

 

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Oh No! I’m a Caregiver. Grandma and Grandpa go west. Here’s how our journey actually began. I have written and taught and talked about how others can discover the best stories they have to tell. Stories from the center of their beating hearts. Now I have such a story myself.

A Cautionary Tale and an Important One. Why cautionary? Because it is about dementia, among other things. Dementia is a reality none of us wants to face, but face it we must. Why important? Because this story is also about long life, living well, and never too late. Each very important indeed.

My First Inkling Something Terrible was Happening? I know it was long before the day my husband Jonathan walked blithely out the door to what should have been a beneficial medical appointment. I also now know I should have questioned his insistence on going alone. Oh No! I’m a Caregiver

I had Sensed a Terrible Thing Looming. Maybe for as long as a year before that day. A quirk in the corner of my awareness. A ping of the antenna that usually urges me to pay attention to details. Unfortunately, my full attention would not become engaged until later. Not until the quirk turned into an alert. Not until the ping intensified into the screech of trouble careening toward us.

 I Cannot Tell You Exactly What to Look For. One small signal. Then another. Then another. My signals emerged from the experience of fifty-plus years with Jonathan. Not an easy passage – though I have never broadcast that before. I have portrayed us and our marriage as very easy indeed.

Couple Number One. Somebody declared us that once as we swept into some social event or other. Dolled up and delightful was our habit in those days. Scripted to present the intended image. A friend said. “… the kind of relationship I would have liked to have.” Our intention had been achieved.

The Intention Here is to be Authentic. The story of a real dilemma confronting real humans with real human problems. Most dementia stories focus on the details of the disease, not the details of the flawed lives the disease generally interrupts. Jonathan and I are flawed. Most humans are flawed.

Back to First inklings. Moments of confusion I brushed aside. Contemporary life can be confusing. Sometimes I find it difficult to discern what is up from what is down myself. Then, Jonathan’s memory lapses became more frequent. My inner alarm started pinging too insistently to ignore. Oh No! I’m a Caregiver

Let’s Find Out about This. I repeated that plea several times. The response was always the same. A sneer. A scoff. A burst of outrage. I backed off each time. I had veered too close to Jonathan’s anxiety triggers before and was not about to risk the result again. Not yet anyway.

I also Have a Temper – Fierce and Angry – Then Gone. Jonathan’s temper is usually repressed. Rageful when released. Building from the floor of him in a rush to explosion with shrapnel flying everywhere. Better not to be in that blast zone. Best not to trigger an explosion in the first place.

But I Had to Do Something. Jonathan’s annual primary care physician checkup was pending. I made my plea more specific. “Talk to her about your memory problems. Please. Get a referral to a neurologist.” He agreed. I should have remembered he does that when he wants to shut me up. Oh No! I’m a Caregiver

I Long to Recall the Exact Details of Jon’s Return Home. Where I stood. The quality of light in our apartment that afternoon. A vivid image to record in my journal. A picture peg upon which to hang the statement that signaled the first battle of the war to come that I would have to wage.

I Told Her My Wife Thinks I Forget Things. Jonathan smirked as he said that to me. It wasn’t difficult to imagine his winsome smile as he said it to his young doctor. Jonathan can be a charmer when that suits his purpose. Had he not charmed me into marrying him all those years before? Oh No! I’m a Caregiver

Lessons Learned. Feel free to benefit from them yourself.

Never Underestimate the Power of Denial. Nobody wants dementia. Not for yourself. Not for someone you love. It is a truth we do not wish to admit. Now or ever. Not to anyone.Never Underestimate the Power of Self-Deception. First inclination is refusal to admit dementia exists in your life. To be blind to its presence and believe your blindness is light.Never Underestimate the Absolutely Crucial Advantage of Early Detection. This is the real reason to see and recognize and admit the possibility of dementia where you wish and hope and pray it is not. Your quality of life depends on it.

All Wives Think their husbands Forget Things. That assumption closed the door to further testing at our conveniently local medical facility. Jonathan’s gatekeeper physician did not take me seriously.  Which plummeted me into a chasm of conflict with the medical system. Oh No! I’m a Caregiver

You Possess Storytelling Magic. Keep on Writing whatever may occur. Alice Orr. http://www.aliceorrbooks.com

 Alice Orr. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells.

 Read Alice’s Memoir. Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness. At the beating heart of this moving story a woman fights to survive. All her life she has taken care of herself. Now she faces an adversary too formidable to battle alone. Available HERE.

 Praise for Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness. “I was lifted. I highly recommend this book as a can’t-put-down roadmap for anyone.” “Very, very well written. Alice Orr is an amazing author.” “Honest, funny, and consoling.” “I have read other books by Ms. Orr and am glad I haven’t missed this one.” “Couldn’t put it down.”

 Experience Alice’s Suspense Novel Series. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. Five intense stories of love, death and intrigue. Available HERE.

 Praise for Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. “Romance and suspense at its best.” “I highly recommend this page-turner series.” “Twists and turns, strong characters, suspense and passionate love.” “The writing is exquisite.”

 Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know about telling your own real-life stories? Ask your question(s) as a Comment following this post.

http://facebook.com/aliceorrwriter/
http://twitter.com/AliceOrrBooks/

https://bsky.app/profile/aliceorr.bsky.social/
http://goodreads.com/aliceorr/
http://pinterest.com/aliceorrwriter/

 

 

The post Oh No! I’m a Caregiver appeared first on Alice Orr Books.

Have You Lost Your Mind? Not another argument. Please. Raised voices. Angry faces. Nothing gained. We have been here before. My husband Jonathan and me, toe to toe, like the roosters in the painting that flared from our living room wall before we boxed up everything we own to move west.

The Enterprise we were Contemplating was Absurd. Relocation from New York City, where we had first relocated forty-five years before, to the west coast. At our age? Jonathan was seventy-six. I was about to turn eighty-five. What were we thinking?

“Have You Lost Your Mind? Why are You Doing This?” Many of our friends had come close to asking the same thing. This one didn’t bother being subtle about it. “Because it will be good for Jonathan,” I answered. Jonathan had been diagnosed with dementia, an early stage of the disease, but nonetheless an arbiter of our future life trajectory.

“What Do I Do?” After the diagnosis, I asked this of another friend who had gone through something similar with her partner. Her response was immediate and adamant. “Get help!” This particular woman is not given to overstatement. I understood that and began my search the next day.

I Found No Help in our Immediate Vicinity. Folks were caring and concerned and compassionate. I deeply appreciated that. But, no one said what I needed to hear. No one offered day-to-day, active, physical assistance. That was what I would require as Jonathan’s condition progressed.

I Explored Public Program Possibilities. I assumed there would be some form of practical relief available there, Instead, I was told we’d have to be reduced to $2500 in assets before we qualified for help. In other words, we would have to be pretty much destitute to be eligible.

 The Assets We Did Possess Were Insufficient. We would eventually need to hire home healthcare aides. We could not afford to do that very often for very long. We had fallen into the crack all of us of average means dread. The pressure stressed us both to distraction. Have You Lost Your Mind?

Then – A Miracle Happened. I consider it a miracle anyway. Another friend piped up from the opposite side of the continent. “Come out here,” she said. “I can help.” Our turn toward possibility began with those words. I will not pretend it has been an easy passage – especially for me.

New York City Became my Dream Town when I was Fifteen. That dream had not diminished in wattage since it first captured my imagination all those years past. I had lived elsewhere but was never similarly enraptured. I was a New Yorker to my core.

This was Less True for Jonathan. He envisioned the west as an opportunity to be productive again for as long as was feasible. Retirement had been a mixed bag for him. Lots of leisure, but not enough structure, not enough purpose. Not enough challenged him where we were. He wanted to move on.

Still – for Both of Us – There was the Immensity of the Thing. Uprooting from our comfortable apartment in Astoria, New York. Plopped down into a land far far away. My granddaughter has told me that saying “OMG” is as juvenile as using three exclamation points. All the same – “OMG!!!”

Many Toe-to-Toe ShoutUps Ensued. The move was off. The move was on. Our worst duster was about my motivation. I said would go only because it was good for Jonathan. He could not accept that. We were now a week short of our planned departure. Somebody’s acceptance was imperative.

For a New York Minute I Considered a Solo Sayonara. I could take off on my own into the whirl of the universe. Throw my hands up and walk away from the argument. Ignore my responsibility to fifty-three years of marriage? Others have done so, haven’t they? I could escape.

Except for One Thing. All those fifty-three years ago I had fallen in love with Jonathan. I am still singing that song. No real choice existed for me, last-minute or any time. Land far far away, here we come. . But the question persists. Have You Lost Your Mind?

Tell Your Own Mind-Loss Story. Have you ever done something someone else considered crazy? What was their argument for the insanity of your intention? What was your response? When and where did this happen? Describe your adversary. Why did this person care so much about what you might do?

What, specifically, occurred in this situation? How did you feel back then, while it was happening? How do you feel about it now? Write your story. All of it. Straight from your heart.

Tell Your Brave Leap Story. Recall actually taking this bold risk. What prompted you to do such a thing? What did you need/want to get away from? What did you hope to find elsewhere? How, specifically, did you muster the courage to go through with it? You are the hero of your life story.  Write it that way. But tell me – Have You Lost Your Mind?

You Possess Storytelling Magic. Keep on Writing whatever may occur. Alice Orr. http://www.aliceorrbooks.com

Alice Orr. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells.

Read Alice’s Memoir. Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness. At the beating heart of this moving story a woman fights to survive. All her life she has taken care of herself. Now she faces an adversary too formidable to battle alone. Available HERE.

Praise for Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness. “I was lifted. I highly recommend this book as a can’t-put-down roadmap for anyone.” “Very, very well written. Alice Orr is an amazing author.” “Honest, funny, and consoling.” “I have read other books by Ms. Orr and am glad I haven’t missed this one.” “Couldn’t put it down.”

Experience Alice’s Suspense Novel Series. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. Five intense stories of love, death and intrigue. Available HERE.

Praise for Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. “Romance and suspense at its best.” “I highly recommend this page-turner series.” “Twists and turns, strong characters, suspense and passionate love.” “The writing is exquisite.”

Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know about telling your own real-life stories? Ask your question(s) as a Comment following this post.

http://facebook.com/aliceorrwriter/
http://twitter.com/AliceOrrBooks/

https://bsky.app/profile/aliceorr.bsky.social/
http://goodreads.com/aliceorr/
http://pinterest.com/aliceorrwriter/

 

 

The post Have You Lost Your Mind? appeared first on Alice Orr Books.

Welcome to “Grandma and Grandpa Go West” – My Name is Alice. In 1854, Horace Greeley said, “Go west, young man, and grow up with the country.” In 2025, my husband Jonathan and I heard, “Go west, decidedly mature couple, and see what happens.”

Going On Two Years Ago, Jonathan was Diagnosed with Dementia. He is at an early stage of the disease. Even so, it was a shock to say the least. We were living in New York City at the time – Astoria, Queens to be exact. We understood right off that this home place might not work for our new circumstances. We needed to make a move. But where would that move be?

Back in the Aughts We Went West to Help Raise Our Grandkids. We stayed for ten years on Vashon Island in Washington State. We loved it there but never intended that relocation to be permanent. We were New Yorkers after all, which is a state of mind as well as a state of place.

Now We Were Searching for a New Place. This time, that venue would most likely be permanent. Our first thought was of Vashon. Unfortunately, the island has become quite pricey, with few housing opportunities at any expense level. A knotty dilemma indeed – especially for me, the caregiver.

“Go West, You Two” was Lodged in Our Imaginations. To be totally honest, I was worried. We needed a specific destination – soon. When the possibility of an Idaho venue arose, we agreed, even though it was not our dream place. Welcome to “Grandma and Grandpa Go West” – My Name is Alice.

Then, a Mini-Miracle Occurred. Actually a maxi-miracle for us. A long-time Vashon friend invited us to share her house – a charming blue cottage in need of an upgrade. The perfect project for Jonathan, the upgrade king. She has also been increasingly isolated since her husband passed. This arrangement could work out well for all of us.

So – Here I am, Sharing Our Story. For many years, I have encouraged and taught others to share their real-life stories. To conjure them up and write it all down. Now I shall attempt to take my own advice. Welcome to “Grandma and Grandpa Go West” – My Name is Alice.

Tell Your Own Life Challenge Story. Have you ever confronted a situation that required making a risky change in your life? What was the toughest part of that challenge? When and where did it happen? Who was involved? What, specifically, occurred? How did you feel then? How do you feel about it now? Write your story. Straight from your heart.

Tell Your Own Heroic Story. Recall a time when you turned a dark moment to light in your life. What was the darkness? How did you bring light to the situation? Take pride in your accomplishment. You are the hero of this inspiring story. Portray yourself as such.

You are the Hero of Your Life Story. You experience difficulties. You persevere. You try your best to shield yourself and those you care about from harm. That is heroic. How does it feel to think of yourself as a hero in your life? Share those feelings in a response to this post. We would love to hear from you. Keep on Writing whatever may occur. Alice Orr. http://www.aliceorrbooks.com

Alice Orr. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells.

Read Alice’s Memoir. Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness. At the beating heart of this moving story a woman fights to survive. All her life she has taken care of herself. Now she faces an adversary too formidable to battle alone. Available HERE.

Praise for Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness: “I was lifted. I highly recommend this book as a can’t-put-down roadmap for anyone.” “Very, very well written. Alice Orr is an amazing author.” “Honest, funny, and consoling.” “I have read other books by Ms. Orr and am glad I haven’t missed this one.” “Couldn’t put it down.”

Experience Alice’s Suspense Novel Series. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. Five intense stories of love, death and intrigue. Available HERE.

Praise for Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. “Romance and suspense at its best.” “I highly recommend this page-turner series.” “Twists and turns, strong characters, suspense and passionate love.” “The writing is exquisite.”

Follow Alice on Substack — https://aliceorr.substack.com/

Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know about telling your own real-life stories? Ask your question(s) as a Comment following this post.

http://facebook.com/aliceorrwriter/
http://twitter.com/AliceOrrBooks/

https://bsky.app/profile/aliceorr.bsky.social/
http://goodreads.com/aliceorr/
http://pinterest.com/aliceorrwriter/

 

The post appeared first on Alice Orr Books.

You Are the Hero of Your Writer’s Life Story. Stories give shape and form to life. Stories lend wholeness to your imperfect vision of your experience. Telling your writer’s life story will do all of that for you. The tale of your emotional writing journey deserves to be told – first to yourself.

Begin Your Writer’s Life Story. Get started now. Open a new document. Title it “My Writer’ s Life Story.” Write the first sentence. The rest will follow. We are each of us butterflies with a single wing until we become whole by embracing ourselves – and our stories.

A Powerful Story Begins with a Character We Care About. The character we care about in your writer’s life story is You. This is your personal writer’s narrative. Whatever your challenges may have been – in your writing life and beyond – you are the major reason you are still here and still creating today.

You Struggled to Hang On to Your Creativity. You battled to overcome your challenges. Sometimes you needed help. We all do. Sometimes you got the help you required. But mostly your champion was You. What does that mean? It means You Are the Hero of Your Writer’s Life Story.

Joy Write. What is the toughest challenge you ever faced as a writer? What was the worst part of it? When and where? Who was involved? What happened? How did it make you feel? Write it back to life in your writer’s journal. Emotions may arise. Keep on writing. Straight from your heart.

You May Not Think of Yourself as a Hero. You must change your mind about that. Upgrade your attitude. Tell your writer’s life story. The story with you at its center as your main character. You are the prime mover of your creative destiny.

You May Not Think of Yourself as Luminous. But you are the person in your life – especially your writer’s life – who kindled the spark that set your imagination on fire. That fire blazes still because You did not allow it to die. You are definitely your hero. And this is your heroic writer’s journey.

What Does It Mean to Say You Are Heroic? It means you persevere. Despite the difficulties of your writer’s life – and we all have them – you try your best to shield your creative spark from the storm. Those storms may overwhelm you at times. We all experience that.

What is Your Writer’s Struggle and Triumph Truth? You struggle to beat back the tempest. Sometimes you succeed. Sometimes not. But you keep on trying. You keep on feeding the flame. That is your triumph. Share snippets of your hero’s tale on social media. Use the hashtag #MyWritersStory.

You are a Human Hero Not a Superhero. You would just as soon let the struggles pass on by. But something must be done or your precious writer’s life could be lost. Your creative blaze could be extinguished. So – you respond to the challenge you face. You step up. You act. You employ as much strength as you can muster.

You Do the Best You Can in Your Circumstances. You defend your dream. There is emotional power in that. There is emotional power in writer’s stories. Whatever your outcome may be – You Are the Hero of Your Writer’s Life Story. Say it out loud and proud. Mean it with all your heart.

My Writer’s Life Story is Sometimes a Screwball Comedy. I am the screwball hero. Take for example the time I turned down one of the best literary agents in New York City. She offered to represent me and my entire psyche spun into panic mode. I longed to run away.

Even the Imagined Proximity of Success Terrified Me. “I’m not ready!” I told Ms. Super Agent this at a fancy lunch in a fancy midtown Manhattan restaurant. My sushi went warm while I floundered through a writing identity crisis. Too long later I realized what a fool I was. I had even paid for the lunch.

Yet – I am Still a Writer. Which often bewilders me. The only explanation I can come up with is the grace of God. I staggered from midtown that day to our stoop on West 50th Street and hunkered down there in defeat. Then – Suddenly…. Any anecdote worth telling must have a Suddenly moment.

Suddenly Something Wonderful Happened. He sprinkled grace over me and somehow it turned to resilience. The next morning I got up and continued writing. This is a writer’s redemption story. That next morning – after ignominious defeat – I became the hero of my writer’s life story.

Joy Write. Ignominious means deserving of or causing shame. Have you ever cringed through an embarrassing incident in your writer’s life? Share your story in the Comments section of this post or contact me at aliceorrbooks@gmail.com. Do not forget to include how this episode proves that You Are the Hero of Your Writer’s Life Story

You are the Prime Subject of Your Creative History. Virginia Woolf agrees. “Every secret of a writer’s mind, every experience of her life, every quality of her being, is written large in her heart.” Every experience of our storytelling life is written in your heart and mine and the heart of every writer.

Immortalize Those Scenes on the Page. Make them vivid. The secrets of your adventure in creativity are ready to be revealed. Stop seeing yourself as “just a writer.” You are the main character of an epic adventure. Write with that in mind. You Are the Hero of Your Writer’s Life Story.

Tell Your Writer’s Life Story is a Four-Part Series. This post is Part I – You Are the Hero of Your Writer’s Life Story. Part II – Explode Into Your Writer’s Life Story. Part III – Cast Your Writer’s Life Story. Part IV – Structure Your Writer’s Life Story. Stay Tuned.

FYI – More Joy Write Prompts for You as Hero of Your Writer’s Life Story.

Imagine you are being awarded a commendation for reaching this heroic moment of your writer’s life. Write the speech the presenter will give. Make clear that you deserve this award. Describe specifically how you earned it. Consider writing a short story that dramatizes this event. Feel free to fictionalize if you are inspired to do so.The first Joy Write prompt in the above article was about the toughest challenge you have encountered in your writer’s life story. You persevered beyond that challenge. Tell your writer’s journal what you gained from that perseverance.Recall a time when you turned a dark moment to light in your writer’s life. What was the nature of the darkness? How, specifically, did you bring light to the situation? Write an article that tells this inspiring story. Submit the article to an online writer’s publication or your local writer’s group newsletter. Your writer colleagues need to read such hopeful tales.How does it feel to think of yourself as a hero in your writer’s life? Share those feelings with me in an email to aliceorrbooks@gmail.com . I would love to know about your emotional experience with adopting this empowered point of view. I look forward to hearing from you.Share this post with a writer friend. Encourage her to think of herself as the hero of her writer’s life story. Document your conversation as an audio or video recording. Share that recording with your critique partners or another writers’ group.What wisdom have you gained by recognizing yourself as the hero of your writer’s life story? Brainstorm ways to share that wisdom with other writers and creative people. Which option most appeals to you. Act on it. Email aliceorrbooks@gmail.com . Tell me what happens.

Keep on Writing whatever may occur. Alice Orr. http://www.aliceorrbooks.com

Alice Orr. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells.

Joy Write with Alice. http://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

Visit Alice’s Substack Page.

Read Alice’s Novel. A Time of Fear & Loving. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 5. Available HERE.

Praise for A Time of Fear & Loving. “Alice Orr is the queen of ramped-up stakes and page-turning suspense.” “Warning. Don’t read before bed. You won’t want to sleep.” “The tension in this novel is through the roof.” “I never want an Alice Orr book to end.” “Budding romance sizzles in the background until it ignites with passion.” “The best one yet!”

Experience Alice’s Suspense Novel Series. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. Five intense stories of love and death and intrigue. Available HERE.

Praise for Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. “Romance and suspense at its best.” “I highly recommend this page-turner series.” “Twists and turns, strong characters, suspense and passionate love.” “The writing is exquisite.”

Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know? About your writer experience. About telling your stories. Ask your question as a comment following this post.

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The post You Are the Hero of Your Writer’s Life Story appeared first on Alice Orr Books.

What My Mentor Taught Me. The first thing my mentor taught me was to show up. Jean Rikhoff was my writing mentor. “Ninety percent of success is showing up,” she told me. Figure out how to do what needs to be done in your life to get where you want to go. Then show up and do it. Jean talked the talk. But when it came to creative discipline – she was a woman of action first and foremost.

My Mentor Taught Me to Walk the Walk. Jean was a young mother when she began her writing commitment. Home was too hectic to permit the writing consistency she required. So she drove to a local supermarket parking lot very early every morning and wrote her first novel there.

My Mentor Taught Me to Figure Out What I Need. Jean showed up. She did what had to be done – for herself and her dream. Do the same for yourself. What is the biggest challenge that keeps you from showing up for your writing? Share this post with a writer or creative person who needs to hear about the power of showing up consistently for their work.

Joy Write. Who was your first writing mentor? The person who most inspired and encouraged you early in your creativity life. What did they teach you? What was the best piece of advice they ever gave you?

My Mentor Taught Me to Write Regularly. What does it take to show up for your writing every day? Create a writing routine that works. Adopt strong writing habits. No matter what else is going on in your life – develop a writer’s discipline. One page or one hour a day minimum. That was Jean’s rule. Make it yours.

My Mentor Taught Me about My Need to Write. Train your writer psyche to feel out of balance without a daily dose of writing routine. One page or one hour minimum. Make creativity a positive addiction. Set yourself up to crave another dose. Schedule writing time on your calendar for the next week. Make that schedule a vow to your writer self.

My Mentor Taught Me to Mark My Territory. How do you set up your very own writing space at home? Carve out a place for yourself. A writer’s workspace for your writing practice. Virginia Woolf advocated “a room of your own.” Crowded or chaotic circumstances may preclude that – like they did for my mentor. What My Mentor Taught Me.

My Mentor Taught Me that Any Space can be My Territory. Jean wrote her novel in the front seat of a car. Any private corner can suffice.  Gather your precious writing tools. Notebooks. Laptop. Files. Pens. Give them a home in your writer’s workspace. A home for whatever you require to pursue your dream. Write in that home space every day.

Joy Write. Describe your ideal writing and creative space? Have you created that place for yourself yet? If not, why not. Write it into detailed existence on the page.

My Mentor Taught Me to Get Good Gear. What writing equipment do you need? Prepare yourself well to pursue your writer motivation. Buy quality equipment. Cut back spending on other things when necessary. Do you have qualms about doing that? Leave those doubts behind. 

My Mentor Taught Me this Mantra. You deserve what you need to succeed. Make this your mantra from this moment on. Believe every word with all your heart. Repeat it often and enthusiastically. Pledge yourself to show up for yourself. Commit to honoring that vow. List your writing gear essentials. Acquire them asap.

My Mentor Taught Me to Value My Time. How do you find time to work within your busy schedule? Practice writing time management. Control your commitments. Ask yourself. “Can someone else do this? Does it have to be me?” Examine carefully each new request for your valuable time and already overtaxed energy.

My Mentor Taught Me My Creative Work is Crucial. When someone or something asks for your time and energy – ask yourself the following in return. “Will this be the best use of my precious life?” Show up for yourself by prioritizing yourself. Your creative work is crucial. Make time to create. Protect your writing time.

Joy Write. Make a list of your current commitments. Choose one that somebody else could do well enough. Write a scene of yourself backing away from that commitment.

My Mentor Taught Me to Train My Tribe. How do you begin to command respect from others for your writing time? Post your writing work hours. The refrigerator door is a good place in most households. Insist on no interruptions at those times. Tell family and friends how important your writing is to you.

My Mentor Taught Me to Be Open About My Dream. Reveal your creative desires to the people in your life. They may not understand. Make them hear you. Do not back down. They will come around. If they do not – keep on writing whatever may occur. Continue your creative work. Show up and stand up for what you need. Pursue your dream. What My Mentor Taught Me.

My Mentor Taught Me to Train Myself. How do you begin to command respect for your writing time from yourself? Identify your personal time-burners. These activities contribute little to what you really want to accomplish in your creative life. Never ever indulge these activities during your best brain time. You can do better.

My Mentor Taught Me to Use My Online Time Wisely. Limit online play to your dim-bulb hours. Social media activities do not require your best creative abilities. But – you can optimize your online time all the same. Use it to build your public platform visibility. Use it to share your writing work with the world.

Joy Write. What are your peak creativity hours of the day? Write about them, especially what your energy feels like during those times.

My Mentor Taught Me to Show Up for My Story. What will carry you deeper into your writing and keep you there? John Gardner called that deep-down center of your story “the dream of the book.” The true joy of writing happens when you enter that dream and inhabit it completely.

My Mentor Taught Me to Show Up for My Imagination. Move beneath the surface of your mind. Dive into the mysterious and mesmerizing depths of your imagination. Your very best stories await you there. This is the place where the burning heart of your story resides. Go there. Write from there. What My Mentor Taught Me.

My Mentor Taught Me to Show Up for Myself. Life stress can stop you in your tracks. Life stress can kill creativity. Give yourself a break. Give your story a boost. Utilize your stress. That stress is intense. Powerful stories are also intense. Transport your personal stress intensity into your writing work. Feel it. Adapt it. You are the creator. Create.

Joy Write. How do you manage to write regularly no matter what? Write about a current stressor in your life. Transform that reality into a stressful situation for a fictional character, maybe from a story you are now writing. Bring it to life on the page as an intense, dramatic, powerful scene.

My Mentor Taught Me to Show Up for My Writing Tribe. Build a writing tribe that supports you. Support that tribe yourself. Embrace your writer family. Help your writer colleagues. Look around your writing community. You will know where you are needed and by whom. You feel it. Somebody is down. Show up. Lift them up. Let your generosity shine.

Joy Write. Write a dialogue between yourself and your wise mentor, whether that is a real person or one you create for this exercise. What do you most need to hear right now?

My Mentor Taught Me to Be My Own Mentor. Figure out how to make your writing happen. Show up where your creativity needs you to be. My mentors made their creativity happen. Be inspired to do the same. You have what you need. Show up and use it all for your creative self. Become your own mentor in your writer’s life story.

My Mentor Became My Friend. The photo is Jean and me at a writer’s conference long after our relationship began. By then I was a published author, workshop leader and literary agent. She was the wise woman she had always been. Her wisdom brightened my beginnings and lit my path. I am forever grateful for What My Mentor Taught Me.

FYI – Writing Prompts Your Mentor Self Would Like You to Follow.

Someone in your life who was not a writer taught you something crucial about discipline and persistence that has positively influenced your creativity. Tell your writer’s journal about this person and what they did for you. Share your own mentor story as a Comment on this post.Commit to writing a minimum of one page daily for a week. At the end of the week, reflect in your writer’s journal about how this practice affected your relationship with writing.In your writer’s journal, list all of the reasons you use for not writing. Rewrite each excuse as a problem to solve and propose a way to solve it.Track how you spend one day. Ferret out where writing time was hiding in that day, even if it was only a brief period. Record the results in your writer’s journal.Identify what is at the burning heart of a story you are writing, or a story you want to write. Describe that emotional core in vivid detail in your writer’s journal.What is your favorite writing tool? A pen or your laptop or a notebook or whatever. Write about why this particular thing means so much to you. How does it help you and encourage you to create.Make a list of other writers in your life who have lifted you up when you were down or when you were discouraged about your writing. What do you remember most about each of those experiences?Make a list of other writers in your life whom you have lifted up when they were down or discouraged about their writing. What did you give to each of them? What did you receive in return?At the end of every week, note in your writer’s journal how you showed up for yourself during the past seven days. Congratulate yourself for doing so.Remember who you were as a writer before you learned that you should show up for yourself. In your writer’s journal, compare that former you with your current writer self.

Keep on Writing whatever may occur. Alice Orr. http://www.aliceorrbooks.com

Alice Orr. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells.

Partake of Alice’s Joy Writing Wisdom. http://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

Read Alice’s Novel. A Time of Fear & Loving. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 5. Available HERE.

Praise for A Time of Fear & Loving. “Alice Orr is the queen of ramped-up stakes and page-turning suspense.” “Warning. Don’t read before bed. You won’t want to sleep.” “The tension in this novel is through the roof.” “I never want an Alice Orr book to end.” “Budding romance sizzles in the background until it ignites with passion.” “The best one yet!”

Experience Alice’s Suspense Novel Series. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. Five intense stories of love and death and intrigue. Available HERE.

Praise for Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. “Romance and suspense at its best.” “I highly recommend this page-turner series.” “Twists and turns, strong characters, suspense and passionate love.” “The writing is exquisite.”

Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know? About your writer experience. About telling your stories. Ask your question as a comment following this post.

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The post What My Mentor Taught Me appeared first on Alice Orr Books.

Write It Right About Anger – Joy Writing with Alice Orr. Anger is a tricky topic for many people. Anger is a tricky emotion. Writing anger is tricky too. Sometimes damned if you do. Sometimes damned if you don’t. Let’s face off about anger.

When Mornings Start with Emotion. Some days I wake up feeling Anger. I may not remember exactly why. I do remember how it feels to carry that state of mind inside me and may want to erase it immediately. But there are other considerations to consider. Especially for a writer.

Ann Lamott on the Value of Anger. In Grace (Eventually) Ann Lamott says. “It’s fine to know but not to say that anger is good. A bad attitude is excellent and the medicinal powers of shouting and complaining cannot be underestimated.”

The Value of Anger for a Writer. Ann Lamott gets it right – especially the part about it not being fine to express anger. She encourages Writing About Anger. So do I. Not everyone agrees. Not everyone makes it comfortable for the rest of us to agree.

Why We Hide Our Anger. When we are hurting our natural anger is often squelched. Our emotional discomfort meets with disapproval from those around us. Their disapproval admonishes us for Expressing Anger – even in our writing.

The Pressure to Stay Positive. Injured individuals are told they must be upbeat and hopeful at all times. They are told they invite trouble and bad outcomes by allowing their anxiety to show. This kind of repression causes more Emotional Discomfort – including for the characters we create.

Permission to Feel is Legitimately Positive. We must let ourselves and others feel whatever we need to feel. Which sometimes includes a dose of being pissed off. Embracing all emotions is key to embracing emotional health and embodying a healthy brain.

Harness Your Disgruntled Energy. Sometimes an outburst of pissed off energy is exactly the fuel that is needed to get you and your characters through a prickly patch or a bad day. You are Coping with Anger in Difficult Times by putting it to productive use of your own time.

Joy Write. Write about a situation where anger gave you the energy or motivation to get through a difficult experience. What were you able to accomplish with the help of that anger energy?

The Virtues of Positivity are Endlessly Espoused. Cliches abound. Keep your sunny side up. Look for the silver lining. Whistle a happy tune. We all spout versions of them. In my Workshops for Writers I say “Attitude isn’t everything but it affects everything.” Less rainbow-tinted wording but still basically “sunny side” “silver lining” “happy tune.”

Positivity versus Authenticity. Attitude may affect everything. But what about when your smile is a lie? What about when you shine your smile because others like your face better that way? What about when you smile because you feel you have to? Write It Right About Anger – Joy Writing with Alice Orr.

Joy Write. Recall a time when you felt pressured to hide your anger or “keep your sunny side up.” How did that affect you? Did you comply or rebel. Tell the story.

The Challenge of Maintaining Cheerfulness. Anger can gain its own momentum and feed itself. Cheerfulness is harder. You wake up in a good mood that drifts away. You try to keep it going but the effort is too difficult to sustain. Sometimes we sulk however that may be received. We choose between Emotional Discomfort and Disapproval.

Joy Write. Write about a morning when you woke up angry for no clear reason. How did that feeling shape your day? What did you notice about yourself and your interactions with other people? How did they react to your disgruntled self?

Facing Life’s Challenges and Challengers. Somebody says “Let me be perfectly honest with you.” My advice? Head for the hills. I wager they have not brought welcome news. Do not stop running until you are a far distance from unwelcome unsolicited challenges. How properly polite we are to call such presumption a “challenge” in the first place.

Writing as Release. A compensating truth. We are writers. We let it all hang out on the page – including our journal pages. We tell our stories however angry or disgruntled or prickly they may be. We are Expressing Anger in Writing. We are Writing Truthfully about Emotions.

Joy Write. Consider how language shapes our experience. How words like “challenged” and “upset” dilute the true intensity of feeling angry. Write an emotional scene using vivid, technicolor language to recreate the anger your character feels.

A Truth about Our Current World. Life has become a slog for many folks for many reasons. Pretending otherwise disrespects all of us who Live with the Anger. We dance with the devil. We struggle to keep in step. Are you Letting Yourself Feel Anger?

Choose What to Do with Your Truth. Tell your Truth in Writing. Publish your truth tales. Or hide them behind a toilet bowl. Or save that choice for another day. Do not be angry with yourself for your anger. Do not forget that there is Hope After Anger.

The Shifting Circle of Support. Anger and Relationships. Some support may drift away. They may need to nurse their own anger. They may need to rest from anger fatigue. Others will remain stolidly in place. There is hope in that. There is strength in that.

Joy Write. Reflect on the people who have stayed with you through the tough, angry times in your life. Make a list of those people. Choose one and write the story of that person’s support and loyalty to you.

Find Hope in Your Honesty. No matter what – you are still here and you are still you. There is hope in that. There is triumph in that. Keep on Writing Your Truth whatever may occur. Write It Right About Anger – Joy Writing with Alice Orr.

FYI – More Writing Prompts and Exercises that Write It Right About Anger.

List the physical sensations, thoughts and behaviors a person experiences when angry. Write a paragraph using these details in the behavior of a fictional character. Write a paragraph using these details for your own behavior in a memoir piece.Choose a cliché about positivity (e.g. look for the silver lining). Rewrite it from the perspective and attitude of someone who is experiencing a moment or a period of anger. How do the phrase and its meaning change?Write a conversation between two characters. One is angry. The other insists on remaining positive. Let the tension between them play out in their dialogue.Set a timer for ten minutes. Write nonstop about a time you felt that your anger was not allowed or was being dismissed as inappropriate or irrelevant. Do not edit or judge. Just let the words come and write them down.Write two sentences. In one sentence a character tries to suppress their anger. In the other sentence the same character openly expresses their anger. Compare and contrast the two sentences.Describe anger using metaphors and/or similes. A metaphor example – Anger is a storm brewing behind my eyes. A simile example – Anger is like a storm brewing behind my eyes. Let your imagination fly. Do not judge or edit. Just write.Write a letter you will never send to someone or something that made you angry at some time in your life. Let the feelings flow. Do not censor your emotions.Start a Writing Habit. Set aside ten minutes a day to write about whatever emotion is strongest for you at the time – anger or hope or anything in between.

Keep on Writing whatever may occur. Alice Orr. http://www.aliceorrbooks.com

Alice Orr. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells.

Partake of Alice’s Joy Writing Wisdom at her Blog. http://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

Follow Alice on Substack — https://aliceorr.substack.com/

Read Alice’s Novel. She writes it right about anger in A Time of Fear & Loving. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 5. Available HERE.

Praise for A Time of Fear & Loving. “Alice Orr is the queen of ramped-up stakes and page-turning suspense.” “Warning. Don’t read before bed. You won’t want to sleep.” “The tension in this novel is through the roof.” “I never want an Alice Orr book to end.” “Budding romance sizzles in the background until it ignites with passion.” “The best one yet!”

Experience Alice’s Suspense Novel Series. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. Five intense stories of love and death and intrigue. Available HERE.

Praise for Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. “Romance and suspense at its best.” “I highly recommend this page-turner series.” “Twists and turns, strong characters, suspense and passionate love.” “The writing is exquisite.”

Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know? About your writer experience. About telling your stories. Ask your question as a comment following this post.

http://facebook.com/aliceorrwriter/
http://twitter.com/AliceOrrBooks/

https://bsky.app/profile/aliceorr.bsky.social/
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The post Write It Right About Anger – Joy Writing with Alice Orr appeared first on Alice Orr Books.

Seashells to Story Pages – Joy Writing. Make Summertime Writing Time. Summer is collecting season. We collect sea shells at the seashore. We collect bargains at yard sales. We collect flowers in golden fields.

We also Collect Experiences. Each summer experience has a story at its center. Collect summer experiences. Collect Your Summer Stories.

Summer Up Your Imagination. Try this Creative Writing Inspiration. Describe a perfect summer day – sunrise to sunset. Gift your current story hero with this perfect day. She will love you for it.

Brainstorm Ways to Turn her Very Right Day Very Wrong. Struggling heroes make your readers worry about what will happen in your story. Strong storytelling is all about trouble and struggle. Make your hero struggle.

Embrace Your Sultry Summer Side. Summer Storytelling Ideas languish all around you. Sharpen your awareness. Keep Yourself Creative. Keep your stories steamy. Here is a Sultry Summer Creative Writing Exercise.

A Slow, Deep River Slides toward Roaring Rapids. Wild weather threatens. A treacherous storm approaches. Our pulses quicken. We hear the thunder crash. We watch lightning split the darkened sky. Strong storytelling is all about danger.

This Tumult is an Unwelcome Surprise for Your Hero. Her sunny summer mood tangles into dread as the wind thrashes. Her day is drenched and drowned by the downpour and whipped into frenzy by powerful gusts. Like Sally Field in Places in the Heart.

Suddenly Your Hero is in Real Peril. To make matters worse her enemy appears. They clash in their own stormy confrontation. Your hero must save herself. Write a Startling Summer Scene about this confrontation.

Supersize Your  Summer Story Energy. Be resourceful. Turn up the temperature. Then turn it up some more. Give everything a bolder boost. Strong storytelling is all about plunging your hero into hot water.

Her Life Drama is Intensified by Danger. Whatever happens in your hero’s life vaults her threat voltage to maximum amps. What specific events and shocks set her summer simmer blazing?  Seashells to Story Pages – Joy Writing.

Immerse Yourself in Summer Sensations. The sights. The sounds. The scents. This is Writer’s Inspiration Season. Inspire yourself. Splurge your senses. Bring your hero’s most vital self to its most heightened life. Like Scarlett in Gone with the Wind.

Transport Your Hero to a Secret Summer Spot. Something magical happens there. Or something horrible happens there. Kindle your Storytelling Imagination. The flames of story heat mount higher. Write what their glow illuminates for you.

Story Up Some Simple Summer Pleasures. An unexpected event occurs at a summer fair or festival or on what your hero thought would be a quiet day. Her heroic quest in your story is impeded by this event – drastically so.

Maybe Your Hero is Walking along a Deserted Shoreline. She finds a mysterious message in a bottle. What does it say? What does it compel her to do? What peril does it propel her into? You are Collecting Summer Experiences. Collect hers.

Celebrate Your Summer Memories. Summon forth Summer Journal Ideas from your personal past. Luxuriate in Summer Nostalgia Writing. Resurrect a summer friendship that changed your life. How did it begin? Where did it lead?

Lend Your Summer Friendship Memory to Your Story’s Hero. Let it change her life like it changed yours. Or – revisit the most unforgettable thing that ever happened to you in summertime. Visit it upon your hero. She will not forget it either.

Summertime is Company Time – Good Company. Who was your happy summer company? The person you would most like to spend your summer with?

Summertime is Company Time – Bad Company. What was the worst summer encounter you ever endured? Why specifically was it so terrible? Introduce these good and bad visitors to each other.

Your Favorite Summer Friend Becomes Your Story Hero. She meets your terrible summer encounter person. Make this an electrified clash of characters. Capture their powered-up collision in an intense  scene.

Suss Out Some Summer Secrets. Strangers possess strange secrets. Sit yourself down in an outdoor café. Set yourself in nosey parker mode. Ask yourself whom among these people is hiding a sinister secret. What is that secret? What makes it sinister?

Send Your Wicked Imagination Soaring. Observe what happens and Record it in your Writer’s Journal. It’s okay for writers to eavesdrop. You are not being rude. You are Studying People for Your Stories. This is Your Writing Work.

Sizzle Up a Summer Romance. You are still in a public place. Still Observing and Recording. Ask yourself whom among all of this humanity would your story hero fall in love with. Imagine them as summer lovers.

Make Sparks Fly Between Them. Why are they drawn to each other? What could drive them apart? How will they reunite – or not? Summer Romance Writing. Satisfy yourself superbly. You will love writing about love.

Make Summer Writing Your Storytelling Sunshine Time. Some think of summer as a lazy interlude. But you have done good work here. Your imagination has flown and flourished. You have set your story pages on fire with summer heat.

Your Writer’s Journal is Full and Flush. Lots of strong material for future storytelling. You have gathered Summer Story Starters. You have added to your Summer Collection of Story Ideas. You have fed Your Writer Self a fine picnic.

Meanwhile Enjoy the Season. Find a yard sale. Seek out the sea shore. Pick yourself some posies. Relax on a lakeside evening. But never neglect your Storyteller’s Journey. Make summertime writing time. Seashells to Story Pages – Joy Writing.

FYI – More Summer Writing Prompts and Exercises.

Imagine a summer tradition for your hero’s fictional family. An annual gathering event. How does it bring them closer together? How does it drive them apart?Your hero is spending the summer in an unfamiliar place. How does the change affect her? What happens to her there? How does she react to those events?A summer road trip goes terribly wrong, for your hero and others. What challenges do these travelers face? How do they overcome these challenges – or not?Your hero has a summer job or assignment that she hates. What happens? What does she learn from this experience? How does this experience change her life in your story?A summer heat wave leads to unexpected adventures for your hero. What are they? How do they affect her? How do they affect your story?It is a hot, humid summer night, and your hero cannot sleep. When she gets up to seek some relief, something dramatic happens. Tell the story of that happening.Your heroine jumps into cold water on a very hot day. When she does that, something startling happens. What is this startling occurrence? What happens to her after that?Your hero attends an elegant and special summer meal. What makes this meal so special? What food is served? Who is there? How does your hero interact with the other guests?Invent a legend or ghost story. Have your hero tell it on a stormy summer night. What happens after that? How does what happens relate to the story your hero told?Create a summer writing prompt or exercise of your own. Send it to me in the Comments section following this post. I cannot wait to read it, write it, share it.

Keep on Writing Whatever May Occur.  http://www.aliceorrbooks.com

Alice Orr. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells.

Experience Joy Writing. Alice shows you how at http://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

Follow Alice’s Substack at https://aliceorr.substack.com/

Experience Joy Reading. Alice’s Summer Novel. A Year of Summer Shadows. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 2. Available HERE.

Praise for A Year of Summer Shadows. “A must-read for lovers of romantic suspense.”
“Alice keeps you wanting to read faster, then when you finish the last page, you want more.” “Another fast-paced Alice Orr thriller involving murder, family secrets, friendships and plot twists against the backdrop of a slow-building yet intense love story.” “Orr’s characters come alive on the page.” “A Year of Summer Shadows is of my favorite books.”

Alice’s Suspense Novel Series. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. Five intense stories of love and death and intrigue. Available HERE.

Praise for Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. “Romance and suspense at its best.” “I highly recommend this page-turner series.” “Twists and turns, strong characters, suspense and passionate love.” “The writing is exquisite.”

Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know? About your writer experience. About telling your stories. Ask your question as a comment following this post.

http://facebook.com/aliceorrwriter/
http://twitter.com/AliceOrrBooks/

https://bsky.app/profile/aliceorr.bsky.social/
http://goodreads.com/aliceorr/
http://pinterest.com/aliceorrwriter/

 

The post Seashells to Story Pages – Joy Writing appeared first on Alice Orr Books.

Seashells to Story Pages – Make Summertime Writing Time. Summer is collecting season. We collect sea shells at the seashore. We collect bargains at yard sales. We collect flowers in golden fields.

We also Collect Experiences. Each summer experience has a story at its center. Collect summer experiences. Collect Your Summer Stories.

Summer Up Your Imagination. Try this Creative Writing Inspiration. Describe a perfect summer day – sunrise to sunset. Gift your current story hero with this perfect day. She will love you for it.

Brainstorm Ways to Turn her Very Right Day Very Wrong. Struggling heroes make your readers worry about what will happen in your story. Strong storytelling is all about trouble and struggle. Make your hero struggle.

Embrace Your Sultry Summer Side. Summer Storytelling Ideas languish all around you. Sharpen your awareness. Keep Yourself Creative. Keep your stories steamy. Here is a Sultry Summer Creative Writing Exercise.

A Slow, Deep River Slides toward Roaring Rapids. Wild weather threatens. A treacherous storm approaches. Our pulses quicken. We hear the thunder crash. We watch lightning split the darkened sky. Stong storytelling is all about danger.

This Tumult is an Unwelcome Surprise for Your Hero. Her sunny summer mood tangles into dread as the wind thrashes. Her day is drenched and drowned by the downpour and whipped into frenzy by powerful gusts. Like Sally Field in Places in the Heart.

Suddenly Your Hero is in Real Peril. To make matters worse her enemy appears. They clash in their own stormy confrontation. Your hero must save herself. Write a Startling Summer Scene about this confrontation.

Supersize Your  Summer Story Energy. Be resourceful. Turn up the temperature. Then turn it up some more. Give everything a bolder boost. Strong storytelling is all about plunging your hero into hot water.

Her Life Drama is Intensified by Danger. Whatever happens in your hero’s life vaults her threat voltage to maximum amps. What specific events and shocks set her summer simmer blazing?  Seashells to Story Pages – Make Summertime Writing Time.

Immerse Yourself in Summer Sensations. The sights. The sounds. The scents. This is Writer’s Inspiration Season. Inspire yourself. Splurge your senses. Bring your hero’s most vital self to its most heightened life. Like Scarlett in Gone with the Wind.

Transport Your Hero to a Secret Summer Spot. Something magical happens there. Or something horrible happens there. Kindle your Storytelling Imagination. The flames of story heat mount higher. Write what their glow illuminates for you.

Story Up Some Simple Summer Pleasures. An unexpected event occurs at a summer fair or festival or on what your hero thought would be a quiet day. Her heroic quest in your story is impeded by this event – drastically so.

Maybe Your Hero is Walking along a Deserted Shoreline. She finds a mysterious message in a bottle. What does it say? What does it compel her to do? What peril does it propel her into? You are Collecting Summer Experiences. Collect hers.

Celebrate Your Summer Memories. Summon forth Summer Journal Ideas from your personal past. Luxuriate in Summer Nostalgia Writing. Resurrect a summer friendship that changed your life. How did it begin? Where did it lead?

Lend Your Summer Friendship Memory to Your Story’s Hero. Let it change her life like it changed yours. Or – revisit the most unforgettable thing that ever happened to you in summertime. Visit it upon your hero. She will not forget it either.

Summertime is Company Time – Good Company. Who was your happy summer company? The person you would you most like to spend your summer with?

Summertime is Company Time – Bad Company. What was the worst summer encounter you ever endured? Why specifically was it so terrible? Introduce these good and bad visitors to each other.

Your Favorite Summer Friend Becomes Your Story Hero. She meets your terrible summer encounter person. Make this an electrified clash of characters. Capture their powered-up collision in an intense  scene.

Suss Out Some Summer Secrets. Strangers possess strange secrets. Sit yourself down in an outdoor café. Set yourself in nosey parker mode. Ask yourself whom among these people is hiding a sinister secret. What is that secret? What makes it sinister?

Send Your Wicked Imagination Soaring. Observe what happens and Record it in your Writer’s Journal. It’s okay for writers to eavesdrop. You are not being rude. You are Studying People for Your Stories. This is Your Writing Work.

Sizzle Up a Summer Romance. You are still in a public place. Still Observing and Recording. Ask yourself whom among all of this humanity would your story hero fall in love with. Imagine them as summer lovers.

Make Sparks Fly Between Them. Why are they drawn to each other? What could drive them apart? How will they reunite – or not? Summer Romance Writing. Satisfy yourself superbly. You will love writing about love.

Make Summer Writing Your Storytelling Sunshine Time. Some think of summer as a lazy interlude. But you have done good work. Your imagination has flown and flourished. You have set your story pages on fire with summer heat.

Your Writer’s Journal is Full and Flush. Lots of strong material for future storytelling. You have gathered Summer Story Starters. You have added to your Summer Collection of Story Ideas. You have fed Your Writer Self a fine picnic.

Meanwhile Enjoy the Season. Find a yard sale. Seek out the sea shore. Pick yourself some posies. Relax on a lakeside evening. But never neglect your Storyteller’s Journey. Seashells to Story Pages – Make Summertime Writing Time.

FYI – More Summer Writing Prompts and Exercises.

Imagine a summer tradition for your hero’s fictional family. An annual gathering event. How does it bring them closer together? How does it drive them apart?Your hero is spending the summer in an unfamiliar place. How does the change affect her? What happens to her there? How does she react to those events?A summer road trip goes terribly wrong, for your hero and others. What challenges do these travelers face? How do they overcome these challenges – or not?Your hero has a summer job or assignment that she hates. What happens? What does she learn from this experience? How does this experience change her life in your story?A summer heat wave leads to unexpected adventures for your heroine. What are they? How do they affect her? How do they affect your story?It is a hot, humid summer night, and your hero cannot sleep. When she gets up to seek some relief, something dramatic happens. Tell the story of that happening.Your heroine jumps into cold water on a very hot day. When she does that, something startling happens. What is this startling occurrence? What happens to her after that?Your hero attends an elegant and special summer meal. What makes this meal so special? What food is served? Who is there? How does your hero interact with the other guests?Invent a legend or ghost story. Have your hero tell it on a stormy summer night. What happens after that? How does what happens relate to the story your hero told?Create a summer writing prompt or exercise of your own. Send it to me in the Comments section following this post. I cannot wait to read it, write it, share it.

You possess storytelling magic. Keep on writing whatever may occur.  Alice Orr. http://www.aliceorrbooks.com

Alice Orr. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells. Follow Alice’s Joy Writing blog at http://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

Alice’s Summer Novel. A Year of Summer Shadows. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 2. Experience Joy Reading. Available HERE.

Praise for A Year of Summer Shadows. “A must-read for lovers of romantic suspense.”
“Alice keeps you wanting to read faster, then when you finish the last page, you want more.” “Another fast-paced Alice Orr thriller involving murder, family secrets, friendships and plot twists against the backdrop of a slow-building yet intense love story.” “Orr’s characters come alive on the page.” “A Year of Summer Shadows is of my favorite books.”

Alice’s Suspense Novel Series. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. Five intense stories of love and death and intrigue. Available HERE.

Praise for Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. “Romance and suspense at its best.” “I highly recommend this page-turner series.” “Twists and turns, strong characters, suspense and passionate love.” “The writing is exquisite.”

Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know? About your writer experience. About telling your stories. Ask your question as a comment following this post.

http://facebook.com/aliceorrwriter/
http://twitter.com/AliceOrrBooks/

https://bsky.app/profile/aliceorr.bsky.social/
http://goodreads.com/aliceorr/
http://pinterest.com/aliceorrwriter/

 

The post Seashells to Story Pages – Make Summertime Writing Time appeared first on Alice Orr Books.