To all my current and future #DCSPeeps (DECIDE, COMMIT, SUCCEED), welcome to my new series in my continuing effort to inspire, amuse, and entertain you! Each Monday I will select a new word to analyze how it might apply to our writing lives and also give you a peek into my childhood growing up in the swamps of southern Louisiana, so kick back, put your feet up, and check out my story about TODAY'S WORD:
HACK
One of the houses I lived in as a child had a rather large area at the back of the house filled with tall bamboo trees, giving it (at first glance) a rather Zen feel to that corner of yard. I could stand next to those trees towering over me and dream myself away to some far away land where anything was possible.
My mother, on the other hand, lived a very practical existence and all those trees meant to her was another back breaking chore to be done by HACKING the branches back into some resemblance of order instead of the wild array of branches they typically displayed.
The only problem with trimming those wild trees, is the fact we never knew of the multitudes of hornets who called those plants their home.
That is, until the day Mother decided to HACK into their nest and unleash their outraged fury on my poor head and shoulders. I remember there was a lot of screaming on my part and numerous lumps left all over my head on the part of the hornets.
While the pain subsided eventually and the bumps finally healed, the memory of that horrible day is etched into my soul forever. Even to this day, if any winged creature ventures too close to my head, I will still do the dance of the deranged to try to escape another possible attack.
I don't think HACKING is such a good thing for a writer either. A few years ago my own computer was HACKED by a gentleman out of South Africa, posing as an author trying to be a part of my WRITERLY WISDOM series at the time. While I chose not to allow him to participate, he decided to HACK into my yahoo email account at the time, as well as my Facebook account, and delete two years of detailed research I had been doing for a project I was working on at the time.
My computer was very old and really didn't allow much back up capabilities. There was nothing I could do to recover from being HACKED.
Sometimes things happen to our writing that devastates us. The pain to our writerly spirit is as real as the pain caused by those hornets so long ago.
But we have to remember it's not the end of the world. Some of our work may no longer be around, but the spark that chose to take on a particular project is still there...deep within us...leading us to even bigger dreams than we might have first imagined. I know, because my latest book is a dream come true...
ARE YOU THE MISSING PIECE? is now available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble Bookstore, and other fine retailers. It was a #1 bestseller in Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US earlier this month.
Children's book author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a 'ninja' writer of children’s picture books, chapter books and young adult novels by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books. She is also a book reviewer for Harper Collins, and a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators. Donna is a lover of dark chocolate, time at the beach, and good stories.
"dance of the deranged"--I like that. Mother got stung on her lip and I called her Beakface until the bump went down. With her permission, of course. I'm glad Pat and Robert weren't out there with you two hornet hunters.
ReplyDeleteI thought you might like that visual, Janet. I don't remember where you were at the time, but glad you weren't stung too...
DeleteThanks for stopping by and come back any time!