I am Groot.
In this Edition:
Quote.
Update.
Motivate: We are Groot.
Book Talk: What I’m reading.
Christmas gifts for the writers and readers in your life.
Final thoughts.
Update:
The new novel is going well. Not done yet, but getting there! I’m loving these characters. And I can’t wait for the ending scene. I keep imagining it, but I can’t seem to get there! Too many other words in the way. But I will!
My short story is narrated! I still have to edit it, which I plan to do this week. Be on the lookout for audio announcement here and on social media.
Usually narrating takes me forever, and I make tons of mistakes. But reading my own writing was SO much easier! It only took me two hours. Editing will take another 2+. The final audio version will result in about a 1.5hr listening experience.
I knew this would happen, but when I narrated, I found a few typos. It is incredibly hard to catch all the typos when you’re writing long! I had 4 people read this new version, and still typos got through! They will remain for now though.
In case you missed it last week, here’s how you can get the written version of my novelette here:
Motivate:
On Saturday, I took my daughter to a birthday party. At this gymnastics place, there was a gift shop. Inside this gift shop was a little stuffed Groot from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Guardians of the Galaxy). Well, this Groot is a baby one, so it’s not technically from GotG, but I’m not yet that well-versed in Marvel.
(This is why my quote at the beginning of the newsletter is what it is.)
Stephen and I have been slowly watching through all the movies. When we first started Guardians Of The Galaxy, I was skeptical. I didn’t think I was going to like it, but I gave it a chance and fell in love with Groot, the walking, talking tree creature. (I love trees.)
Anyway, Aerie and I were in this shop, she pointed this toy because she knew of my love for Groot.
I bought the toy…for myself, to keep by my desk. It was odd. Odd in that I bought a toy for myself because it made me happy. Odd because I didn’t buy a toy for anyone else. Odd because I found it so odd that I bought myself something.
I’ll come back to that. I thought about the end of Guardians of the Galaxy. Spoilers: if you haven’t seen the movie, you’ll want to skip this part.
At the end, Groot makes the ultimate sacrifice, he gives his life to save his friends. I knew I liked him when he skewered a bunch of enemies with his branches, beat them senseless in a semi-violent rage, and then turned and smiled. (That moment was perfection.) But I got teary when he protected those he cared about.
My kids have been bickering lately about going first or getting to do something that the other doesn’t get to do. “I want to go first! No, I want to go first!” Or “I want to crack the eggs! But I wanted to crack the eggs!” On Sunday, the three of us were making pies. Amorette wanted to pour in the oil, but Aerie had already said she was doing it. Amorette started whining/crying.
I’d had enough. I raised my voice and told her she was being selfish, that they both were (they’d each done many things like this throughout the whole recipe). I told them they should be thinking about others more than themselves, that that’s what good people do.
That stopped her. She looked like she was considering, and then, with some regret, said okay and stopped throwing her little fit.
I hadn’t planned to say it, the words came out of my mouth before I’d really thought about them. I think it was Groot’s influence from earlier in the day.
The idea of putting others above yourself—actually watching someone else do it—is remarkable. It gives me a warm feeling inside.
Also this week, I watched a “how to” video on Instagram. I follow a guy who teaches you how to “do Instagram.” He said, “If you’re trying to get people to follow you, you’re doing it wrong, you need to think about what you can do to serve others, then the followers will come to you.” He grew his following with this approach to over 200,000 and growing.
(I’m not sure I buy this one because I’m out there on Instagram giving people quality hilarity, and getting, at max, 2,500 views (with a rare 10K+ viewing) and hardly any new followers. I’m kidding. I’m having selfish fun on Instagram, which is probably why I’m not growing.)
It may sound like I’m all over the place here, but all of these instances this past week got me thinking about the impact of putting others above myself. It’s an extremely powerful practice. But in most cases, it’s not easy. As humans, I think it’s in our nature to preserve self first.
I mentioned the fact that I bought the Groot for myself because sometimes in order to care for others, you have to care for yourself. (The Groot purchase might not fully encapsulate this.)
The real message: I don’t have to see myself as garbage to sacrifice for others. That also doesn’t mean I’m willing to endure abuse. But when we value yourselves AND we value others, sometimes we accomplish and/or gain a lot more by sacrificing. Such an interesting concept:
Gaining when you give-up something.
Book Talk: What I’m reading.
No book review this week because I’ve attempted a few and switched reads.
I’m in a book-club-for-2 with a new Canadian book friend. We met through Instagram, ironically. And we’ve been tearing though the books. She’s a women’s fiction & romance writer as well, so we’ve been discussing women’s fiction and romances.
We both started reading Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match. This story: A scientist is trying to make a name for himself by bringing dead people back to life, but doing so by combining superior parts of different people. His sister, Angelika, goes to the morgue, picks out her perfect guy, and by the power of science and human collage, un-deads him. I got 20% in before I decided it wasn’t for me. I couldn’t get past the medical stuff that clearly could never happen. I’m not a fantasy lover. Outrageous coincidences in real life are fine, but there’s a limit to what I enjoy, and this was it. The main character was also lacking for me, instantly calling her creation “My love.”
Then I tried Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan. Well regarded. I could’ve kept reading because I think the prose is lovely, but there’s too much ambling description without a clear plot to hold my interest. I read some reviews though that were absolutely glowing, like “Best romance I’ve ever read!” High praise.
I’ve moved onto The Hating Game by Sally Thorne (Same author of Angelika Frankenstein.) because my book club friend recommended I try it. I’m 16% in, and it’s good, better than the others lately, but it’s not stellar for me either.
So there you have my reads for this week.
Holiday gifts for writers & readers:
Wearable heating pad:
I own one of these and LOVE it when I’m at my desk. It’s another heated product, like the electric throw blanket, but this one is a little more practical.
They don’t sell the one I have on Amazon anymore, but this one is similar and has good ratings. If I didn’t have one, I’d love it as a gift.
Here’s the amazon link.
Fancy Notebooks and pens:
If you know someone who journals or plots their novels in a notebook or captures story ideas in a notebook, then consider gifting a nice pen and a fancy notebook to them this year.
I received a few notebooks from my nephew last Christmas, and I can’t tell you the joy it brings to put my novel notes inside it. I would’ve never purchased it for myself.
Here are some Amazon search results for “Fancy Notebooks”
I also received erasable pens from a friend and LOVED them! Here’s a link to Amazon results for erasable pens.
But any fun pen is a great gift for an author and for a reader who likes to annotate (make notes and pictures in their books).
Final thoughts:
Have a great week!
We are Groot.
Until next week, much glitter,
Melissa
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