Author: Ninagracia

Hello there. Just in case you’re wondering how I got here, well, that makes the two of us. I’ve been trying to figure it out myself too, but all I can think of is that my deepest desire to write and share my experiences with everyone is what brought me here. It was a childhood dream, and I am still chasing it. I indulge myself in daydreaming immensely. Who doesn’t? I feel better hopping into my fantasy world and be the person I wished I was and be in a place where nobody had been before. It sounds crazy, but that’s where I derived my intense feeling of wanting or wishing for something. Most of the time, they are all stored away in the corner of my mind. I wrote my first poem when I was fifteen which I submitted to our school competition. It took second place and was later published. It was hard to describe the feeling of seeing my name in print, and I believed this was what inspired me to keep on writing. I did not read a lot of books when I started. I just went ahead and wrote endlessly. My writing is always inspired by decades of experience as a woman, a wife, a mother, and a friend. After years of simultaneously studying and working, I got married and had two children. Since then, I did a lot of catching up with my writing. I’m older now, but I haven’t stopped chasing my dream. I wrote my first romance novel in 2008 but hesitated to let anybody read my book. It wasn’t good enough, I thought. I was quite embarrassed to tell anybody about it. I hid my manuscript at the bottom of my drawer for so many years. I love a good romance, but I also love watching action-packed mysteries. It keeps me at the edge of my seat. I experimented with various forms of writing such as poetry, short story, and novel. I love collecting inspirational and motivational quotations too. I even wrote my own quotes. Don’t worry, I will let you read some of them. My latest work is writing for young children. I completed this book and is now ready for everyone to read. I write under the name Ninagracia. I am also proud of my involvement with my community as a volunteer tutor. Remember the novel that I kept in the bottom of my drawer? I don’t know what got me to do it, but I finally took it out, dusted it, and I am now ready to put my heart and soul into this project. No other job will make me happy except becoming a published author, writing nothing but novels and see my debut romance novel out there ready for everyone to read.

The Power of Pictures: “The Not So Camera-Shy Pup”

by Ninagracia, posted in Once, Briefly, Writing

We are surrounded every day with countless photos of events surrounding our lives. Having easy access to cameras nowadays, taking photographs is a thing of the past.

We take photos of everything we see, our families, our friends, our children, the food we eat, the people on the streets, places, and even animals.

To snap a photograph of your pet with your mobile phone is hard enough, let alone make him sit still and pose for a picture.

But here is Waffle. See what he does in front of the camera.

Get set … Ready …

Say CHEESE!

Oh, Yummy!


Write something about the photos.

This is your writing prompt number 3


A visual writing prompt helps you to think about and develop a topic to write.

Visual images such as this, can stimulate your imaginations and sometimes capture your emotions.

Looking at the photographs help you to dig deeper to come up with a new story.

This is more helpful if you are writing a children’s book.

When you respond to picture prompts, it encourages you to think and interpret the photographs creatively.

Think about applying humour in your writing. It will be fun.

Feel free to share what you came up with using these photos. Send them in. It will be fun to read them all.

Till next time, say Woof, Woof!!



Cheers!


Ninagracia

One-Size-Fits-All: Is it True in Writing?

by Ninagracia, posted in In the Margins, Writing

There is no “one-size-fits-all” answer to writing.

Writing is not the same as shopping for clothes, where one-size-fits-all would fit anyone.

Clothes may look so good on the rack, but most of the time, not on our bodies.

The same thing is true with writing.

We all come in different packages, and we are unique in our own way.

What we write reflects who we are – our strengths, talents, and style.

There would be areas in our lives that our level of expertise, experience, and skills would be the same as the others. Still, it is very unusual that two people would come out with the same materials. Multiple factors would normally affect the outcome of our work.

Even our education and our age, all contribute to how we write.

More often, we get the same advice over and over again from established authors on how to do things properly.

We followed everything up to the very smallest detail, hoping that it would lead us to the same path that made them successful.

Other writers can give us advice on the writing process or what worked for them. In many cases, we would never achieve the same result.

Their advice is precious gems that should not be ignored or discarded. They are valuable pieces of information that has been tested and tried by those successful authors.

Learn from that advice. Take the ones you can use and leave out the ones that don’t work for you.

Remember, those rules and advice should only serve you as guidelines and not a template. All the rest should come from you – your style, tone, and voice.

Pave the way and create your own path to success. It may take longer, but determination, perseverance and hard work would take you there.

Till next time, dream big and make it happen.



Cheers!



Ninagracia

Images by: https://www.nicepng.com/

20 Funny Quotes

by Ninagracia, posted in From Other Voices, Inspiration

Our lives today are unfolding in unpredictable ways where there are global pressures and urgency to try to stay on top of the situations we are all in now.

We desire for fast solutions because we worry about our own and our family’s health, work, and finances.

We crave for some good news or good stories to listen to, but they seem so hard to come by these days now.

Sometimes quotes can provide us with a burst of inspiration, motivation, and strength to help us get by for the day or for weeks to come.

Here are some of the funny quotes that I have collected over the years that could bring a big smile on your face.

“The first time I sang in the church choir, two hundred people changed their religion.”

-FRED ALLEN
American Comedian
Fred Allen was an American Comedian. His radio program The Fred Allen Show made him one of the most popular and forward-looking humorists in the Golden Age of American radio.
Born:  May 31, 1894, Massachusetts, USA
Died:  March 17, 1956, New York, USA
Education: Boston University

“I am not afraid of death. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”

–WOODY ALLEN
American Screenwriter/Director/Actor
Woody Allen is an American Screenwriter, Director, Actor, Comedian, Author, Playwright, and Musician whose career spans over 50 years.
Born: December 1, 1935, The Bronx, New York, USA

“Laugh and the world laughs with you. Snore, and you sleep alone.”

-ANTHONY BURGESS
English Writer
John Anthony Burgess Wilson, FRSL–who published under the pen name
Anthony Burgess was an English Writer.
Born: February 25, 1917, Greater Manchester, U.K.
Died: November 22, 1993, St John’s Wood, U.K.

“Weather forecast for tonight: dark.”

-GEORGE CARLIN
American Stand-up Comedian
George Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, social
critic, satirist, actor, and writer/author who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums.
Born: May 12, 1937, New York, United States
Died: June 22, 2008, Santa Monica,California, United States

“If you have a secret, people will sit a little bit closer.”

-ROB CORDDRY
American Actor/Comedian
Robert William “Rob” Corddry is an American Actor and Comedian. He is known for his work as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and for his starring role in the comedy film Hot Tub Time Machine.
Born: February 4, 1971, Massachusetts, United States

“I haven’t spoken to my wife in years. I didn’t want to interrupt her.”

-RODNEY DANGERFIELD
American Comedian/Actor
Rodney Dangerfield was an American Comedian and Actor; known for the catchphrase “I don’t get no respect!” and his monologues on that theme. He is also remembered for his 1980s film roles, especially in Easy Money, Caddy Shack, and Back to School
Born: November 22, 1921, New York, United States
Died: October 5, 2004, Los Angeles, California, USA

“My wife has a slight impediment in her speech. Every now and then she stops to breathe.”

-JIMMY DURANTE
American Singer
James Francis “Jimmy” Durante was an American Singer, Pianist, Comedian, and Actor. His distinctive speech, comic language butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and large nose helped make him one of America’s most familiar and famous personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s. His jokes about his nose included referring to it as a Schnozzola, and the word became his nickname.
Born: February 10, 1893, Brooklyn, New York, United States
Died: January 29, 1980, Santa Monica, California, United States

“I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.”

–W. C. FIELDS
American Comedian
William Claude Dukenfield, also known as W. C. Fields, was an American Comedian, Actor, Juggler, and Writer
Born: January 29, 1880, Darby, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: December 25, 1946, Pasadena, California, United States

“As a child, my family’s menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it.”

-BUDDY HACKETT
American Comedian/Actor
Buddy Hackett was an American Comedian and Actor.
Born: August 31, 1924, Brooklyn, New York, United States
Died: June 30, 2003, Malibu, California, United States

“My fake plants died because I did not pretend to water them.”

-MITCH HEDBERG
American Stand-up Comedian
Mitchell Lee “Mitch” Hedberg was an American Stand-up Comedian known for his humour and unconventional comedic delivery. His comedy featured short, sometimes one-line jokes mixed with absurd elements.
Born: February 24, 1968, Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States
Died: March 30, 2005, Livingston, New Jersey, United States

“A woman’s mind is cleaner than a man’s: She changes it more often.”

-OLIVER HERFORD
English Writer/Artist/Illustrator
Oliver Herford was an English Writer, Artist, and Illustrator. As a frequent contributor to The Mentor, Life, and Ladies’ Home Journal, he sometimes signed his artwork as “O Herford”.
Born: December 2, 1863, Sheffield, United Kingdom
Died: July 5, 1935, New York, USA

“Older people shouldn’t eat health food; they need all the preservatives they can get.”

-ROBERT ORBEN
American Comedy Writer
Robert Orben is best known as an American professional comedy writer. However, he also worked as a speechwriter for Gerald R. Ford and as a magician.
Born: March 4, 1927, United States of America

“If men knew how women pass the time when they are alone, they’d never marry.”

-WILLIAM SYDNEY PORTER
(Pen Name: O. Henry)
American Writer
William Sydney Porter, known by his pen name O. Henry was an American Writer. O. Henry’s short stories are known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization, and clever twist endings.
Born: September 11, 1862, North Carolina, United States
Died: June 5, 1910, Asheville, North Carolina, United States

“Recession is when a neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours.”

-RONALD REAGAN
40th President of United States of America
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States. Before that, he was the 33rd Governor of California, and a radio, film, and television actor.
Born: February 6, 1911, Tampico, Illinois, United States
Died: June 5, 2004, Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California, United States
Presidential term: January 20, 1981–January 20, 1989

 “When I eventually met Mr Right, I had no idea that his first name was Always.”

-RITA RUDNER
American Comedian/Writer/Actor
Rita Rudner is an American Comedian, Writer, and Actress.
Born: September 17, 1953, Miami, Florida, United States

“It’s amazing that the amount of news that happens in the world every day always just exactly fits the newspaper.”

-JERRY SEINFELD
American Stand-up Comedian
Jerome Allen “Jerry” Seinfeld is an American Stand-up Comedian, Actor, Writer, and Television/film Producer, known for playing a semi-fictional a version of himself in the sitcom Seinfeld.
Born: April 29, 1954, Brooklyn, New York, United States

“Well, if I called the wrong number, why did you answer    the phone?”

-JAMES THURBER
Author
James Grover Thurber was an American author and cartoonist. Thurber was best known for his cartoons and short stories, published mainly in The New Yorker magazine.
Born: December 8, 1894, Ohio, United States
Died: November 2, 1961, New York, United States
Awards: Special Tony Award

“I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.”

-LILY TOMLIN
American Actress
Mary Jean “Lily” Tomlin is an American Actress, Comedian, Writer, and Producer. Tomlin has been a significant force in American comedy since the late 1960s when she began a career as a stand-up comedian.
Born: September 1, 1939, Detroit, Michigan, United States

“When we talk to God, we’re praying. When God talks to us, we’re schizophrenic.”

-JANE WAGNER
American Writer/Director/Producer
Jane Wagner is an American writer, director, and producer. Wagner is Lily Tomlin’s comedy writer, collaborator, and life partner.
Born: February 26, 1935, Morristown, Tennessee, United States
Partner: Lily Tomlin (1971–)
Education: School of Visual Arts, Morristown High School
Awards: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Special, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Program, Primetime Emmy Award for Best Writing in Comedy Variety, Variety or Music, and more.

“If women ran the world, we wouldn’t have wars, just        intense negotiations every 28 days.”

-ROBIN WILLIAMS
American Actor and Comedian
Robin McLaurin Williams was one of the best comedians of all time. He was known for his skills and the wide variety of memorable voices he created. He performed in San Francisco and Los Angeles during the mid-1970s. He rose to fame for playing the alien Mork in the sitcom Mork & Mindy in 1978–1982
Born: July 21, 1951, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Died: August 11, 2014, in Paradise Cay, California


Till next time. Cheers!

Ninagracia



Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
https://www.brainyquote.com/

In Conversation with the Poem: Giving

by Ninagracia, posted in In Conversation with the Poems, Reading and Watching

When we hear the word “giving”, the first thing we think about is a GIFT.

We give gifts to establish or strengthen our relationships with our friends and family.

“Giving” means different thing to some people. It is an emotion we feel towards other people or even to our self.

Poetry is a gift that a writer can give to their readers to help them understand themselves and even make them think.

Here is a poem from The Little Book of Love Poems.

“GIVING” is written by Nora B. Cunningham. It is concise but direct, and it makes you think.

Take special note on the last line.

First, here is a snapshot of Nora B. Cunningham. From the information I gathered, here’s a little bit of who she was.

Nora Belle Cunningham was an American poet. She was born in Kansas on July 23, 1887.

Her first poem was published in “Youth’s Companion” in 1920, and her career continued for the next 55 years.

Her poems were published in magazines such as “Commonweal”, “Lyric”, “The Harp”, “Poetry”, and in newspapers such as “New York Times”, and “Kansas City Star”.

She never married and devoted her life caring for her invalid mother and a sister who became disabled by arthritis.

She died on September 28, 1975. Her papers and correspondence are archived in the collection at Wichita State University.

Meaning of the poem:

Giving is a short poem that conveys a powerful message that the author wanted to get across to her readers.

Her words were sharp and clear, that made it easy for her to connect to her readers.

The author spoke about self-love.

What she was saying was that giving was not all about love, care, and help, but it is also about helping the person you care the most to appreciate herself and her worth.

It is about liberating and giving herself a daily priority and a stamp of approval to become the person she wanted to be.

In this poem, I could only visualise what was going on the author’s mind. It made me connect with her like her desire to be a strong and independent person.

So, there you go. Feel free to send in your comment and views on this poem. I love to hear your opinion on this one.

Till next time, cheers!

Ninagracia

Sources:
https://allpoetry.com/Nora-B-Cunningham
http://specialcollections.wichita.edu/Collections/ms/79-03/79-3-A.HTML
The Little Book of Love Poems. (2002 ed.) Giving: Nora B Cunningham (late 19th  Century)

Prompts and Cues: First Kiss

by Ninagracia, posted in Once, Briefly, Writing

Do you remember your first kiss? How did your first kiss go?

Our life is filled with so many “first” – first job, a first pay cheque, first boyfriend, and the first kiss, which is only one part of our journey.

The first time you kissed someone, or someone kissed you, it becomes one of the most memorable moments of your life.

Kissing is a romantic gesture and an expression of affection. You could probably still remember who you were with, where you were, and who initiated the kiss.

Whether the kiss lasted a second or two, it would stay in your memory as the best and most passionate kiss you ever had.

Perhaps, even up to this time you still remember every detail of that kiss you had, whether it was adorable, an okay one, or awkwardly hilarious.

So, let’s find out.

My first kiss went a little like this . . .

Finish this story.

This is your Writing Prompt Number 2.

Writing practice helps us get better in writing.

Using writing prompts will help us improve our creative writing process.

You’ll never know, once you filled up your treasure chest of all the things you wrote in response to these writing prompts, you may end up with a brand-new story, or it could give you some fresh ideas for another project you are already working on.

Now, let me share with you mine.

Here’s an excerpt from the romance novel I am currently working on.

Well, I used a few imaginations I picked from here and there and from…you know what.


A gentle wind blew her hair and face, sending a chilling sensation to her whole body. The cold breeze that was creeping through her skin gave her a sudden rush of desire for his touch-those warm and strong hands touching her and loving her. She waited with anticipation to kiss him and feel the warmth of his breath on her lips, but she could only dream about it.

He touched her cheek with the back of his fingers, and her pulse throbbed rapidly. She closed her eyes, but the warmth of his eyes was overflowing with desire and passion. She looked into his eyes, and she fell into a trap. She could not breathe, but she could not let go of him. Like a captive prisoner, she pushed him away, but he pulled her back even closer. He lifted her chin and bent down to kiss her forehead. His kisses were like rose petals softly brushing her eyes, her nose, and her cheek. She could no longer take it. Her body became limp surrendering to his powerful arms, but only his strong hands on her waist were keeping her aground while she held onto him, and the warmth of his breath on her face captured her lips in a long deep kiss that lasted for an eternity.

There you go. Now it’s your turn. I couldn’t imagine what your story is like. Feel free to share it here.

Till next time. Enjoy all your “first”.

Cheers!

Ninagracia

Read-view: The Alchemist

by Ninagracia, posted in Reading and Watching, Shush! We're Reading

The Alchemist
25th Anniversary Edition
By: Paulo Coelho

I took a deep breath, and when I looked at the clock, it was already 5:00 a.m.

I couldn’t believe that I did not sleep the entire night because I was reading a book.

What was unusual about this book that kept me reading the whole night? Why couldn’t I put it down?

Here’s what I can tell you about it. It’s everything!

When I finally put it down to grab at least a couple of hours of sleep, I looked at the cover of the book once again and sighed, WOW!

WOW, for one extraordinary reason that it was breathtaking and engaging.

The story has two parts.

  • Part One is all about the boy’s desire to travel and to know the world. It is what he always wanted to accomplish. It is his Personal Legend.
  • It is also about the recurring dream that set him on a journey to go to the Pyramids of Egypt to find the treasure that will make him very rich.
  • In Part Two, the boy met the Alchemist who taught him lessons about life, people, the Soul of the World, and about following his dream.

This post is not a book review, but only my interpretation of the story and what brought me to react towards certain things and everything around me.

The entire story contains messages that are so broad, intense, and meaningful. It is vibrant and truthful because we all have lived through it in our lifetime. It made me rethink our approach towards life, people, and loving someone, and how some of us abandoned our strong desire to achieve our dream.

The story took me to another part of the world – my world, and my journey.

Here are some passages that I got particularly connected with:

          “Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.”

Come to think of it, it is true.

You and I have probably experienced this one time, or more often in our lives. Some people seem to know what is best for you and what is not. They push to you their own opinion about how you should live your life without regard to your feelings or your situation in life. They want you to be the person they think you should be. They seem to know who you should be. And if you didn’t listen to them, they get angry, and they believe you deserve the life you currently living now.

But the truth is, we all have the ability to choose our path and how we want to lead our lives. No one could do that for you, nor could know this except you – because your heart knows what is best for you.

The boy in the story knew that. He traveled to different places, met new people, and become friends with them but he doesn’t need to spend so much time with them because he has to move around again. That is why travelling appealed to him.

       “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

Some of us have chosen to abandon our dream. We allowed those negative feelings and beliefs prevent us from fulfilling our strong desire to see the reality of our vision.

Sometimes, we embraced the idea to dream about our dream because we have already got used to the way things are. We are afraid of change – to change our ways of life, our environment, or who we are.

Some are only afraid that they may not realise their dream. And that there is nothing left for them except concede defeat and give in to disappointments.

But there was a boy, the boy in the story had decided to follow his dream-his Personal Legend and find the treasure. He would travel to Egypt, and from there, he would look for the treasure.

Everything that had happened to the boy occurred between sunrise and sunset. He was a shepherd that morning when he left the fields of Andalusia. He crossed the sea to another continent. By the time the sun began to set, he was already in another country, a stranger in an unfamiliar place, no money and no longer a shepherd.

He understood that the chain of events that happened were all linked together to help him achieve his dream.

In conclusion, the boy didn’t realise that he was already living his dream. He achieved his goal to travel and to know the world simply because of his desire to find the treasures.

He met different people along the way. He made new friends and learned from them. He walked the Sahara Desert, felt the wind on his face, and discovered that even the sun, the wind, and the desert have their limitations on what they can do.

He found out that the treasures he was searching for that would make him a wealthy man were right where he came from because they were just within him all those times.

The treasures were material symbolism. I believe that the true meaning of this is that the treasures were all about the wisdom and experiences he learned on his travel. These are gems that he can share with other people to help them understand everything about life, people, and the world itself.

So, what do think? Feel free to send in your comment. I love to hear it.

Till next time.

Cheers!

Ninagracia

Writing Can Be Brilliant – Let’s Celebrate

by Ninagracia, posted in In the Margins, Writing

I had several pieces of paper tucked away somewhere where no one could find them. Why? They were my little notes or letters I wrote to myself mainly when I was upset, angry or feeling unhappy. At a very young age, I had been accustomed to doing this over some time.

I wrote a short poem on a piece of cardboard of a tissue box when I was feeling down or confused. I wrote myself a letter on a page of my mum’s grocery list because the boy in my class liked another girl. I also wrote myself a letter on the lining of my school bag when I lost my dog. And, I also wrote a letter to Santa to give me a new puppy for Christmas. Big and small events in my life were all written down and hidden away from everybody. It wasn’t a diary. Most of them were accounts of sad, angry, or unhappy feelings.

And, I found it easy to write because these outpour of feelings and emotions were all meaningful imaginations and impressions of real events.

If you notice, some stories will pierce the very core of our hearts because beneath the surface of that imagined event lies a part of the author’s dramatic revelations of their life and experiences that were partly truthful and colourful.

Because writing can be brilliant.

It is a way of sharing our experiences, describing our feelings, and even communicating more complex ideas effectively.

But writing doesn’t have to be all about sadness and unhappiness.

Just because you are unhappy doesn’t mean you can write a beautiful story or a good poem.

Our life is an unfinished novel on its own. Each chapter tells what we have actually lived through.

And our life story will go on a chapter by chapter for many years to come until the writer of our life story writes the final chapter.

There are so many things that are making sense to me now because I got older and that life should be celebrated every single day.

So, do you have a celebratory song? I particularly love the song “I Can See Clearly Now” by Jimmy Cliff. It is a song that I couldn’t wait to play on my MP3 while lying in bed to celebrate a tiny happy event in my life. It was not all about writing, but every event that I think should be celebrated.

I played this song when I finished a chapter on the story I am currently working on.

I listened to this song when we adopted a puppy and when we got a new guinea pig.

I also played this song when I lost 200 grams after weeks of dieting. Well, try to understand, dieting is so HARD, that’s why it’s a celebration. (No food. I just listened to my favourite song. Honestly!).

Let’s celebrate.

If you want to hear this song, just click the button and feel free to sing along with this if you know the lyrics.

Song: I Can See Clearly Now
Artist: Jimmy Cliff
Album: I Can See Clearly Now
Writer: Johnny Nash


Here’s just a few I celebrated . . .

  • ninagracia.com

 So here we go. Find the song that you can play or listen to celebrate.

Till next time. Dream big and make it happen.

Cheers!

Ninagracia

Sources:

For educational purposes only and no copyright infringement intended…https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/122723158574245427/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCduvhGdi7jqx5NlgJyqjfUg

https://www.nicepng.com/ourpic/u2e6r5e6u2a9t4a9_transparent-background-wine-glasses/

 

Sharpen Your Tools

by Ninagracia, posted in In the Margins, Writing

“Hey, do you want to marry me?”

          I almost peed on my pants when I heard that question. It was not something I’ve been waiting to hear, but it was unexpected and decidedly unromantic. Believe me! All I did was share a bag of popcorn with him at the cinema, and now I have to marry this guy?

          “Why?” I asked.

          “Ha! Ha! You’re so funny. Come on, let’s get married. Don’t you want to marry me?”

Okay, let’s stop it there for a moment.

      Do you want to know my answer?

Or, you can FINISH MY STORY …

This is your writing prompt.

It is hard to start writing when you are staring at that white screen on your computer, and nothing is coming out of your head.

Writing prompts are guides to help you jumpstart your writing.

It can help you stimulate your creativity and help you spark new ideas for your work. It enables you to generate a new topic to write about.

Writing prompts may be a simple sentence or a question, or a topic you could elaborate further. It can also be a scenario or a picture you can write about.

Let me give you an example. I used a television commercial for a brand of coffee when I was writing a scene on a marriage proposal. This is the romance novel that I am currently working on. 

So here it is, take a look at it.

NicePng_black-mug-png_4071569

          On some occasions, Jonie would spend the weekend with Philip at his apartment. She particularly loves the breathtaking view of the waterfront from Philip’s bedroom window. She daydreams about the freshness of the seashells and the water from the marina. Her daydreaming was interrupted for a few moments when Philip poured steaming water in her cup.

        “Sugar?” he asked. Jonie nodded without saying a word, and then quickly reached for the bowl of sugar that Philip placed on the table. While still looking out at the window and watching the waves, she scooped one teaspoon into her cup, followed by a second one when an object with a loud metallic sound fell in her cup. It caught her  attention, and she quickly stirred the cup and scooped the object out.

                   “Oh, Philip,” her eyes bulged out with surprise.

          Philip took the object from the teaspoon. He went down on his knees and carefully placed it on her left ring finger.

            “Jonie, there are not enough words to describe how much love I  have for you, and I couldn’t think of the best way to do this except to ask you to marry me. Would you marry me, Miss Jonie Riviera?”

So, here you go. The above scenario was an imagined event that was generated from something so simple as a television commercial.

Writing prompts are straightforward to use, and they come very useful when you are searching for something to write.

In any field of expertise like artists, performers, or even authors like us, need to hone our craft to get better at what we are doing.

The only way to improve our writing is to continually write and have the willingness to learn to grow as better authors.

Let start filling in our treasure chest with bits of prompts like photos, a sentence, a question, a word, a scenario we saw on the TV, and anything we come across. All these are little gems that will come handy one day.

Who knows, you might finish a whole new story only using your responses to these prompts you kept in your treasure chest.

Perfection requires practice. Our imaginations are our tools to make writing more natural and less complicated. Sharpening our imaginations by regularly writing will make us better writers.

Now, think about the time when that special someone in your life proposed to you and asked for your hand in marriage. What about you guys, planning that important event in your life and dreaming of a perfect time and place to ask that lovely lady for her hand in marriage.

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It is a good place to start. You’ll never know. Once you start writing you may end up finishing a whole story.

Good luck.

Dream big and make it happen.

Cheers!

Ninagracia

 

In Conversation with the Poems: The Look

by Ninagracia, posted in In Conversation with the Poems, Reading and Watching

I dare you, try saying this word – sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia.

I know, I know! It’s a mouthful, isn’t it? It is already hurting my brains.

But anyway, that word, (I dare not say) is the scientific name for Brain Freeze.

We get this from eating or drinking something very, very cold.

I don’t want to go very scientific with this one, but personally, I associate brain freeze when my brain is telling me to stop, take a break or take it easy.

Writing can sometimes take away our energy. We hit a roadblock. We stop thinking, and we get distracted very easily.

We feel tired, very sleepy, and unproductive.

It is okay to rest and re-invigorate our body because our imaginations are dried up. No matter what we do, nothing comes out of our head.

So, have you tried poetry yet?

Poetry is another form of literature that we use to express our imagination.

Some people find poetry boring.

But here’s a thing: It doesn’t take long to read a poem.

Reading short passages of poetry is relaxing. It teaches us to be imaginative, most especially when interpreting the significance of every word the author was trying to convey to his readers.

When the writing becomes tight and the days seems too long, I have with me my constant companion to help me relax and help me think of new ideas for my writing.

Here are my two favourite little books of poetry.

I have these books for so many years and never parted with them. They are both versatile books and easy to read. A perfect companion when you want to relax.

Let me show you one of my favourite poems from the Little Book of Love Poems.

The Look was written by Sara Teasdale. From the information I gathered, here’s a bit of who she was:

Sara Trevor Teasdale was born on August 8, 1884, to a wealthy family at St Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.

She was an American poet. Her work was characterised for its simplicity and clarity. Her poems are classical in style, passionate and romantic.

At a young age, she grew acquainted with Harriet Monroe and became part of Harriet Monroe’s literary circle Poetry.

In 1918, she won the first Columbia Poetry Prize, which is now known as the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

Her marriage to Ernst Filsinger in 1914 ended in divorce in 1929, and after that, she lived a life of a semi-invalid. After a painful bout of pneumonia, she took her own life with an overdose of barbiturates in 1933.

Sara Teasdale wrote seven books in her lifetime. Her collections of poetry include:

  • Her first volume published in 1907: Sonnets to Duse, and Other Poems
  • Her second collection published in 1911: Helen of Troy, and Other Poems
  • Her third collection published in 1915: Rivers to the Sea

Her last collection of poems in Strange Victory was later published after her death in 1933.

The Look is a very short poem, easy to read and full of passion from the author’s perspective.

In here, I can only visualise the author’s emotion, passion, and her strong desire and longing for that kiss.  Also, this poem could trigger some old feelings and sentiments to the readers that somebody has felt the same way before.

So, come on. Try reading one or two short poems every now and then. It will jazz up your mood, helps you think, and improve your creative expression.

Just remember rhythm and rhymes, and rhythm and beats. If you can easily get lost in music and songs, poetry will immerse you deep into the meaning of each word, because poetry is intoxicating, delirious, and captivating.

It is just simply lovely.

Till next time, feel free to share your favourite poem.

Cheers!

Ninagracia

Sources:

https://poets.org/poet/sara-teasdale
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sara-Teasdale
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/sara-teasdale
The Little Book of Love Poems. (2002 ed.) The Look: Sara Teasdale (1884-1933

Trust Your Tomatoes

by Ninagracia, posted in In the Margins, Writing

I have a weird relationship with tomatoes.

Here’s why.

“Tomatoes will make your cheeks rosy”. Mum always whispered that to me at the dinner table.

Then she would say, while pointing at the TV, “Look at that girl on the TV. She has rosy cheeks because she eats lots of tomatoes. Isn’t she pretty?”

Before I was able to say anything, she had already handed me a bowl of sliced red tomatoes sprinkled with a little bit of salt. “Eat this so you’ll have rosy cheeks too.”

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I hate tomatoes. I would have liked to say that to Mum, but I knew very well what would happen if I complained. She will fill my bowl with more tomatoes.

I wished there was a quicker way to eat those tomatoes. I could pick them one by one to prolong my agony, or I could shove them all in my mouth and quickly swallow them all.

I chose the second one. The faster I did it, the better. I simply want to get it done and over in a flash.

Days and weeks had passed, but I never noticed any change on my cheeks. It never turned rosy. I pinched my cheeks to make it rosy. But it still went back to its original skin tone.

I complained to Mum, but all she told me was that I did not eat enough tomatoes to make is rosy. Believe me, that was a big mistake. My ordeal began by having a bowl of red tomatoes again, followed by another bowl, and some more on a regular basis.

As a young girl, my desire to look beautiful like those girls on the television prompted me to eat more tomatoes. I feasted on tomatoes every day. One big red tomato for breakfast. Another one for lunch, and occasionally, for snacks instead of lollies.

Another surprise from my Mum came when she cooked me bitter melon with boiled rice for dinner. According to her, it would keep me healthy and would make my blood bright red. What? It made me wonder what the point was when my blood is already red. Her defence was, it will be good for my blood, and I will never get sick again. Yep! That was according to her.

bitter melon resized

For the record, she was not even a doctor, nor a nutritionist.

Honestly, I don’t understand her fascination with colours, especially RED.

I ate it. There was no point in complaining. That horrible green, the wrinkly vegetable was so bitter. I crumpled my face as I swallowed a mouthful of bitter melon with rice. A glass of water was not enough to rid that bitter taste in my mouth. I wished lollies were hanging around at the time, but all I could see were tomatoes here and there. (Grrrr…!)

She ate a spoonful of bitter melon without the rice to show me that it wasn’t so bad, just to convince me that it tastes delicious.

I gave in. So, I ate some more again, until I finished my dinner ultimately. Huh, what a night, I thought.

My Mum introduced me one time to the veggies that she bought at the market. One, in particular, was the broccoli.

 

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I didn’t realise that broccoli was a vegetable on its own. I had this crazy idea that broccoli was a cluster of premature baby trees all bunched up together because they failed to grow as individual trees.

Oh, so now she wanted me to eat trees as well. Oh gosh!

  • So, what was this story means?

It was all about TRUST.

Trust – not because she was my mother, but because she knew what she was talking about. (I really hope so).

I trusted her because she knew so much about vegetables, what they were for and why they were good for me.

I trusted her because she was an excellent cook, as well.

I was barely a teenager when I consumed so many tomatoes and bitter melon and all those sorts of vegetables I never knew existed in this world. It was all because my Mum wanted me to like and eat vegetables.

Our house looked like a jungle with so many green veggies lying around in the kitchen. She even put some bok choy in a jar instead of flowers.

Her bid to teach me to eat vegetables was her desire to keep me from getting sick all the time.

If during that time, Google was already part of our life, I could have quickly asked Google for information. But Google was still years away.

I believed her. I trusted her for a very simple reason that she knew what I wanted – to have rosy cheeks.

Mum provided me with information that will fulfil my expectation, so, she introduced tomatoes to me, that it is suitable for my skin. I was delighted that I would look like those stars on the TV.

At the same time, my Mum accomplished her desire to teach me to eat vegetables. (I found out later that tomatoes are not even vegetables but fruits.) Indeed, it would make her very happy if she found out about that. Two birds in one stone. It made her job more manageable.

My Mum knew what I need, and that is to be strong and healthy and not to get sick frequently. So, she made sure that she can help me with it.

In other words, she delivered her promise.

  • What does this story mean for you and me?

For new authors like us, the way to build trust between us, the authors, and our readers is to stay true to our objectives and convictions.

We cannot establish trust if we were not honest to ourselves. If we promise something, we have to make sure we follow through.

My Mum promised to keep me healthy, and she followed it through by telling me the benefits I will reap from eating those vegetables.

To us authors, our promise to our readers is to give them an exciting adventure when they pick up our book from the shelf and read it.

When we established trust, we also create a bond, an emotional connection with our readers.

They trust us that we will meet what they expect from us.

They expect to learn from us.  Our readers expect that what we tell in our story will broaden their perspective in life.

They expect to be inspired, to take them on a journey, and they expect a happy ending.

But most of all, they want to be entertained.

Being entertained was the primary reason why they read our book. Our readers can sense our personality through our stories. The words we used, how we portray our characters, and how we make them feel when they read our book, even after they have already finished reading it.

Building connections and establishing trust with our readers will take some time.

But always remember, be clear about what they can expect from our work. That’s where trust begins.

Finally, let us not forget we have a dream to pursue. Let’s put our hands together and work towards our vision.

Let’s make it happen.

Till next “vine”.

Cheers!

Ninagracia