Guest Post: Finding Inspiration

by Sarah Brooks

At various times in our lives, and for an assortment of reasons, we seek inspiration to help us move forward. Sometimes external forces provide us with the spark we are looking for, but more often than not, inspiration comes from somewhere inside us.

Whether you are stuck in a rut, looking for ways to elevate yourself, or simply striding forward through life; inspiration is at the center of your ability to succeed.  Beauty, charity, selflessness, natural sensory experiences, and a host of other external influences inspire us to feel and do things we might never touch-on otherwise.  But inspiration from within is highly personal; custom fitted to our individual wants and needs.

Finding your true inspiration starts with inward reflection; tapping passion, faith, strengths and even weaknesses.


Inner Passion Inspires

Whatever motivates you without requiring you to think about it, or moves you into action, without a second thought, is probably one of your passions.  Athletes, for example, crazy about their sports, pick up bats and balls and racquets; ever eager to hit the court or field to improve themselves.  Writers take pen to paper or rattle keyboards in search of perfect expression, or poetic passages.  Animal-lovers take-in wounded strays, fending for creatures unable to do it for themselves.  Activists for causes work the streets promoting better health, fairness, political outcomes and range of other missions held dear.  Passion - all of it.

Individual inspiration and passion are so closely linked as to be almost inseparable.  They form two-way streets within each of us, practically begging to be acknowledged and validated by tangible actions.  The closer you get to your inner passions, the better your ability to harness inspiration to apply to everything you do.

Inspirational Strengths

Your personal strengths naturally foster inspiration, prompting you to stay true to yourself by growing in areas where you already excel.  People who are good at math, for instance, challenge themselves with difficult equations - inspired to test their limits.  Empathetic individuals tuned-in to the plight and feelings of others are inspired to lend their ears to friends; hoping to help them when they need it most. Through trial and error, at times, we all find our strengths. And with each revelation we draw inspiration from the things we are good at; always striving to elevate our strengths.

What about Weaknesses?

On the other side of the coin, we sometimes draw inspiration from perceived weaknesses.  Call it motivation, desire to succeed, impetus or whatever captures the notion best for you; but the desire to cancel-out our weaknesses inspires us to behave in certain ways.  Individual failure, or whatever we perceive it to be, is a strong inspirational force, prompting us to redirect our efforts toward the things we want to do better.  Like the Little Engine That Could, we are ever-inspired by inner voices prompting us to turn weaknesses into strengths - especially when the odds are stacked against us.

Faith

Perhaps the strongest force within many of us; faith inspires in far-reaching ways.  Whether religious in nature, or simply driven by a personal belief that things will work out in positive ways; faith furnishes inspiration we can bank on.  Knowing we may fail or stumble, yet continuing forward just the same shows strong inspirational faith, which can be applied to almost every situation we encounter during our lives.

True inspiration takes many forms, but it stems from things we already hold inside:  Strength, passion, weakness and faith.

Author Bio:

This is a guest post by Sarah Brooks from Freepeoplesearch.org. She is a Houston based freelance writer and blogger. Questions and comments can be sent to brooks.sarah23 @ gmail.com.

Blog Tour: Golden Daughter {Excerpt}

About the author:

Anne Elisabeth Stengl is the author of the award-winning Tales of Goldstone Wood series, adventure fantasies told in the classic Fairy Tale style. Her books include Christy Award-winning Heartless and Veiled Rose, and Clive Staples Award-winning Starflower. She makes her home in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband, Rohan, a passel of cats, and one long-suffering dog. When she's not writing, she enjoys Shakespeare, opera, and tea, and practices piano, painting, and pastry baking. She studied illustration and English literature at Grace College and Campbell University.

Scene from Chapter Three:

Sairu made her way from Princess Safiya’s chambers out to the walkways of the encircling gardens. The Masayi, abode of the Golden Daughters, was an intricate complex of buildings linked by blossom-shrouded walkways, calm with fountains and clear, lotus-filled pools where herons strutted and spotted fish swam.

Here she had lived all the life she could remember.


The Masayi was but a small part of Manusbau Palace, which comprised the whole of Sairu’s existence. She had never stepped beyond the palace walls. To do so would be to step into a world of corruption, corruption to which a Golden Daughter would not be impervious until she was safely chartered to a master and her life’s work was affixed in her heart and mind. Meanwhile, she must live securely embalmed in this tomb, waiting for life to begin.

Sairu’s mouth curved gently at the corners, and she took small steps as she had been trained—slow, dainty steps that disguised the swiftness with which she could move at need. Even in private she must maintain the illusion, even here within the Masayi.

A cat sat on the doorstep of her own building, grooming itself in the sunlight. She stepped around it and proceeded into the red-hung halls of the Daughter’s quarters and on to her private chambers. There she must gather what few things she would take with her—fewer things even than Jen-ling would take on her journey to Aja. For Jen-ling would be the wife of a prince, and she must give every impression of a bride on her wedding journey.

I wonder who my master will be? Sairu thought as she slid back the rattan door to her chamber and entered the quiet simplicity within. She removed her elaborate costume and exchanged it for a robe of simple red without embellishments. She washed the serving girl cosmetics from her face and painted on the daily mask she and her sisters wore—white with black spots beneath each eye and a red stripe down her chin. It was elegant and simple, and to the common eye it made her indistinguishable from her sisters.

The curtain moved behind her. She did not startle but turned quietly to see the same cat slipping into her room. Cats abounded throughout Manusbau Palace, kept on purpose near the storehouses to manage the vermin. But they did not often enter private chambers.

Sairu, kneeling near her window with her paint pots around her, watched the cat as it moved silkily across the room, stepped onto her sleeping cushions, and began kneading the soft fabric, purring all the while. Its claws pulled at the delicate threads. But it was a cat. As far as it was concerned, it had every right to enjoy or destroy what it willed.

At last it seemed to notice Sairu watching it. It turned sleepy eyes to her and blinked.

Sairu smiled. In a voice as sweet as honey, she asked, “Who are you?”

The cat twitched its tail softly and went on purring.

The next moment, Sairu was across the room, her hand latched onto the cat’s scruff. She pushed it down into the cushions and held it there as it yowled and snarled, trying to catch at her with its claws.

“Who are you?” she demanded, her voice fierce this time. “What are you? Are you an evil spirit sent to haunt me?”

“No, dragons eat it! I mean, rrrraww! Mreeeow! Yeeeowrl!”

The cat twisted and managed to lash out at her with its back feet, its claws catching in the fabric of her sleeve. One claw scratched her wrist, startling her just enough that she loosened her hold. The cat took advantage of the opportunity and, hissing like a fire demon, leapt free. It sprang across the room, knocking over several of her paint pots, and spun about, back-arched and snarling. Every hair stood on end, and its ears lay flat to its skull.

Sairu drew a dagger from her sleeve and crouched, prepared for anything. The smile lingered on her mouth, but her eyes flashed. “Who sent you?” she demanded. “Why have you come to me now? You know of my assignment, don’t you.”

“Meeeeowrl,” the cat said stubbornly and showed its fangs in another hiss.

“I see it in your face,” Sairu said, moving carefully to shift her weight and prepare to spring. “You are no animal. Who is your master, devil?”

The cat dodged her spring easily enough, which surprised her. Sairu was quick and rarely missed a target. Her knife sank into the floor and stuck there, but she released it and whipped another from the opposite sleeve even as she whirled about.

Any self-respecting cat would have made for the window or the door. This one sprang back onto the cushions and crouched there, tail lashing. Its eyes were all too sentient, but it said only “Meeeeow,” as though trying to convince itself.

Sairu chewed the inside of her cheek. Then, in a voice as smooth as butter, she said, “We have ways of dealing with devils in this country. Do you know what they are, demon-cat?”

The cat’s ears came up. “Prreeowl?” it said.

“Allow me to enlighten you.”

And Sairu put her free hand to her mouth and uttered a long, piercing whistle. The household erupted with the voices of a dozen and more lion dogs.

The little beasts, slipping and sliding and crashing into walls, their claws clicking and clattering on the tiles, careened down the corridor and poured into Sairu’s room. Fluffy tails wagging, pushed-in noses twitching, they roared like the lions they believed themselves to be and fell upon the cat with rapacious joy.

The cat uttered one long wail and the next moment vanished out the window. Sairu, dogs milling at her feet, leapt up and hurried to look out after it, expecting to see a tawny tail slipping from sight. But she saw nothing.
The devil was gone. For the moment at least.

Sairu sank down on her cushions, and her lap was soon filled with wriggling, snuffling hunters eager for praise. She petted them absently, but her mind was awhirl. She had heard of devils taking the form of animals and speaking with the tongues of men. But she had never before seen it. She couldn’t honestly say she’d even believed it.

“What danger is my new master in?” she wondered. “From what must I protect him?”

Book Tour: Golden Daughter {Cover Reveal + Giveaway!}

Golden Daughter by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
A novel of Goldstone Wood

Beyond the Realm of Dreams is a World She Never Imagined

Masayi Sairu was raised to be dainty, delicate, demure . . . and deadly. She is one of the emperor’s Golden Daughters, as much a legend as she is a commodity. One day, Sairu will be contracted in marriage to a patron, whom she will secretly guard for the rest of her life.

But when she learns that a sacred Dream Walker of the temple seeks the protection of a Golden Daughter, Sairu forgoes marriage in favor of this role. Her skills are stretched to the limit, for assassins hunt in the shadows, and phantoms haunt in dreams. With only a mysterious Faerie cat and a handsome slave—possessed of his own strange abilities—to help her, can Sairu shield her new mistress from evils she can neither see nor touch?

For the Dragon is building an army of fire. And soon the heavens will burn.


From the author:

The cover illustration was done by Julia Popova. Visit her website, http://www.forestgirl.ru/, to learn more about her and her fantastic work!

If you’d like to learn more about Golden Daughter, visit the book page for interesting articles, illustrations, and more!

Illustration from the book:

Giveaway!

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Come back tomorrow for a sneak peek at Golden Daughter!

What Focus Means to Me

FOCUS means saying no. It means giving up the things that eat my time but no longer -- or maybe never did -- seem worth it to me. It means giving up something I'd like to do for something I'd love to do -- or, yes, something that just has to be done. It means logging off LibraryThing forever so I can spend my time on sites I like better (or even offline entirely.) It means turning down a book review offer, no matter how great the book, because I already have a stack of unread tomes on my nightstand.

FOCUS means living now. I will focus on what the pastor is saying, not on my Sunday afternoon to-do list. I will hear what my friends are saying and not formulate my response before they're halfway through a sentence. I will log off the computer before my blog post is complete to play a board game with my brothers. I will attempt to slow down and actually enjoy the novel. “In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.” (Mortimer J. Adler)

FOCUS means knowing my priorities. It means my devotions come before Literature homework and the research paper. It means the research paper's notes come before the next scene in my latest novel. It means said novel comes before fanfiction or my blog. It means fanfiction or my blog come before Facebook surfing. And sometimes, it means dropping everything with neither warning nor complaint to spend the weekend with my family for the few months I'm still a high school kid.

FOCUS means saying yes. Yes, I'll log off the computer to play Life with Nicholas. Yes, I'll put down the book to help Mom bake all day. Yes, I'll finish my homework tonight, even though the latest episode of my favorite television show expires from Hulu Free. Yes, I'll set aside my craft project to go on a last-minute family weekend errand run.

Basically, FOCUS means ouch. Because it will take work. It's not how I'm used to living. But when your friends barely know you and your whole family just knows you as "the girl behind the computer"...

Was that really living, anyway?

Beginner's Guide to Sponsored Blog Posts

I received this email from a friend the other day:


A company has approached me about sponsoring them on my blog. I've never done anything like that before, and I know you have. How do you decide if the company is right for you? And how do you not compromise your blog's integrity for money?

After I sent my response, she and I agreed it would make a great blog post. So for any other bloggers wondering, here's what I told her!

Hey there! First of all: as a minor, I have never been able to be sponsored for actual money. (I'm an adult now! Still not sponsored for money, though.) I've been sponsored with free products, books, services etc. to review/promote, but never straight money. I do, however, have a close friend who blogs and is sponsored this way regularly. So I can combine my knowledge of personal and her experience.

Personally, I don't think accepting a sponsor compromises integrity. Now, it may depend on the sponsor.

How to Decide If a Company Is Right For You: If it's a movie you wouldn't watch, a book you'd never read, a store you don't like shopping at, etc. then just say no. (I've made exception to this once, to help an indie author I was friends with who needed hosts for a blog tour. I pointed out to my readers that it wasn't my usual stuff, but she's a friend, now let's give her our attention! If you ever reach this point, you'll have to decide for yourself how far you'll go.) However, if you have no clear objections to the sponsor and have at least a little interest, I don't see any reason to say no.

Example: I was offered a blogging opportunity to promote a paranormal romance movie that was releasing a few weeks later, on Valentine's Day, I think. The swag was worth a lot of money, and it was a well-known movie. But I knew I wouldn't watch that movie, wouldn't like that movie, wouldn't approve of stuff in the movie. So I said no. On the other hand, Grammar.ly once contacted me requesting a swap - I get a special free trial of their program, and in exchange, promote their site/discuss my opinions of their service. I'm a writer, with school essays and personal fiction alike to be edited. So I gave a resounding yes.

How to Not Compromise: Part of not compromising is in the above -- not accepting sponsorship from a company you wouldn't endorse outside of payment. Ask yourself, "If I were a normal customer, not a paid influencer, would I still say/do the same things?" Your answer should be yes, or your actions and words need to change to reflect that honest opinion of the company.

Now, this is where things get tricky. I don't know how the actual sponsoring deals work outside the ones I've done. I know some authors of books I've reviewed, and possibly some small companies, have not been thrilled with my negative comments. I can be known on Amazon as a bit snarky. But I always want to be honest. Never mean -- but never dishonest. I tend to say everything I can think of on a topic; most other bloggers I follow either say one or two gently-worded things about what they didn't like, or just don't talk about stuff they don't like. I just kind of... blurt. I'm working on that.

What This Means: If you don't like something about a book/website/movie/product/service/company, then either say you don't like it or don't mention that bit at all. I do the former, most people do the latter. Entirely up to you. If you do like something, then say so! If we're talking reviews, a sponsored review should be no different from a regular review (except for the disclaimer, which we'll get to in a sec.) If we're talking posts in general -- like where you write about one thing, and tie in a related sponsor -- then, well, by this point you know you like the company and approve of them. So it shouldn't feel wrong, dishonest, or compromising at all to praise and promote that company.

Disclaimer: By law, you have to put a disclaimer stating that a review or post was sponsored. From a book reviewing program that taught me this:

"Q: Why do I need to post a disclaimer that I received the book for free in exchange for a review?

A: As of December 1, 2009, new FTC Guidelines state that bloggers receiving any kind of compensation should disclose that information on their blog when posting a review of the product. As you are responsible for complying with the FTC Guidelines, we recommend that you review them, available at http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx03/16cfr25503.html."

An example of my usual disclaimer: "I received a [free copy of this book/free trial of this website/insert product or service here] through [company/publisher] in exchange for [an honest review/a promotional post/whatever you promised them]. All opinions expressed are entirely my own."

Book Review: The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Free Kindle version
Amazon Page for the version I read

This review was originally written as a school report, so it will differ in style to my other reviews.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne discloses the tale of a woman, living in an early American Puritan settlement, whose pregnancy reveals her sin of adultery, but who refuses to share the name of her partner in sin. Opening with Hester's walk of shame from prison to the punishment scaffold, readers then follow both Hester and other villagers important to her tale through seven years of humiliation, remorse, fame, and infamy.

Hester Prynne is made to walk, with her infant child, through the streets of her town and stand for several hours on the scaffold, as punishment for her sin. The titular punishment given is that of the scarlet letter A on the breast of her gown, worn at all times. Upon the scaffold, before all the townspeople, the young minister Dimmesdale urges Hester to make known the father of her child, that he may accept his punishment and therefore begin his path back to mercy and forgiveness.  Hester stoutly refuses and stands firm before her punishment.


(The following is whited out to prevent spoilers. If you want to read my in-depth exposition of the plot, highlight the text and read on. If you want to avoid spoilers, skip past this whited-out portion.)

After her stand on the scaffold, Hester and her infant return to the prison. An elderly physician, Roger Chillingworth, has just arrived in town; he visits Hester and her child. Through their private conversation, Chillingworth is revealed to be Hester's husband. Their plan was for him to follow Hester to New England, but when years passed without news of him, the town presumed him lost at sea. Chillingworth presses Hester into a promise to conceal his true relation to her, as she has concealed that of her adulterous partner. He vows to discover who this man is for himself, and work his own personal revenge.

A little cottage stands at the outskirts of the town, partly hidden from view.  It is there that Hester and her daughter, Pearl, begin their new lives under the shadow of the scarlet letter. Despite the townspeople's cruelty and shamefulness towards her, Hester becomes a vital member of the community. She is known throughout the settlement as the woman most skilled at needlework; this becomes her daily career. Births, deaths, public ceremonies, minister's clothing, and military uniforms all require Hester's handiwork. Only the pure wedding-garments for the town are without her needle's touch.

Little Pearl, as she begins to develop from infant to child, displays a wild and passionate nature. Her reckless, untrainable heart and beautiful but mischievous features, combined with her intricant, lavish attire, bring the townspeople to believe either that Pearl embodies the sin of passion that gave her being, or that she is of the Devil. Townspeople begin to wonder if it be best that Pearl be removed from under Hester's care, and given into more suitable upbringing. Such thoughts are made known to Hester by the former governor when she brings a pair of gloves to his home, where she discovers Chillingworth, Minister Dimmesdale, an elderly minister, and the governor discussing her child's fate.

The elderly minister attempts to test Pearl's knowledge of spiritual matters, but Pearl's flighty nature brings her to tell tales rather than answer truthfully. The governor concludes that this settles the matter, and Pearl must be taken. Hester cannot live on without her little Pearl, and pleads with the governor. As he will not sway, she turns to Minister Dimmesdale for aid. With passion and a trembling hand over his heart, the minister makes Hester's case plain, and convinces the other gentlemen that it is indeed best that child and mother not be separated. Pearl caresses the minister's hand before she and her mother return home.

Minister Dimmesdale is weak and frail physically, a fact visible to all. The townspeople adore their pastor and agree of the great joy in Roger Chillingworth living with the minister. Chillingworth is determined to worm out the secret which the minister buries within his heart, that the people are unaware of but which Chillingworth has seen hints of in the minister's speech and manner. The physician thus pours all his energy into this task, while the minister is left unaware of his close friend's ulterior motives. One night, however, Chillingworth bares the sleeping minister's chest to reveal something which gives Chillingworth a devilish delight.

The minister's secret eats at his conscience. Despite his many secret penances, he cannot be rid of guilt. In an attempt to shake his agony, Dimmesdale goes out at night to the public punishment scaffold. The elderly minister passes by without noticing. Hester and Pearl then begin to pass by; Dimmesdale calls them up to the scaffold with him. The three of them stand hand in hand. Pearl asks the minister to stand with them thus at noon, but twice he refuses. Just as he tells her daylight will not see the three of them standing together, a meteor lights up the sky, and the letter A in red crosses the heavens. At this moment, the minister becomes aware of Chillingworth, standing before the scaffold and watching the trio there.

Chillingworth, playing the friendly physician as ever, takes Dimmesdale back home with talk of sleepwalking. Hester and Pearl return home, as well. Later, Hester meets with Chillingworth in a garden. They speak openly of Dimmesdale's agony; Hester declares that, no matter what Chillingworth threatens to do in return, she will reveal his true identity to the minister. She and Pearl then return home, with Pearl interrogating her mother on the meaning of the scarlet letter and why the minister covers his heart with his hand.

Dimmesdale visits John Eliot and, upon his return through the forest, meets with Hester. She explains Chillingworth is her husband. They have a moment of peace and happiness together, and make plans to leave the settlement to build a new life back in England. The minister returns to town a changed man. Three days later, a great ceremony with a processional and Election Sermon celebrates the inauguration of the newly elected governor. The minister, as well as other church figures and military men, march through the town. Dimmesdale gives a passionate sermon as always. Upon the procession away from the church, however, Dimmesdale grows weaker and weaker; it becomes clear that he is dying.

The minister stops by the scaffold, beside which Hester and Pearl stand watching the parade. Disregarding Chillingworth's reprimands, he calls woman and child to him, and they help him climb up to the scaffold with them. There, with loving Hester and Pearl, and hateful Chillingworth beside him, he cries out to all the crowd his secret. He tears off his ministerial shirt to reveal what many later claimed was a scarlet letter A on his chest. He collapses, and after begging the forgiveness and love of Pearl and Hester, passes on into death.

Less then a year later, Chillingworth dies as well. Hester and Pearl leave the settlement. Years later, Hester returns alone to the cottage, still bearing the scarlet letter on her breast. She becomes a counselor and friend to many of the townspeople, who rather look up to her by this time. The many wealthy articles that come to Hester's cottage, and the fancifully stitched baby garments that she sends away, suggest that Pearl is happily married and mother of her own sweet child at home in England. Eventually two graves, separate but sharing a tombstone, lay in the settlement graveyard, with the epigraph that speaks of the letter A in red.

On the surface, this story appears to be a cautionary Puritan tale of the evils of sin. It deals specifically with sins of passion - both the passion of adultery, and that of hatred and vengeance. However, the nearly satirical or critical tone often found in passages speaking of Puritan tradition carries a more subtle lesson against pride and hypocrisy. Hawthorne seems to to be pointing out, as the Puritans had forgotten, that all sins are equally grave in God's sight. The Lord cares little for laws, such as the town leaders upheld, or outward appearances of righteousness, such as defined the minister Dimmesdale's life. Rather, He values the condition of a man's heart. As Dimmesdale's life and words taught, truth is above all else.


Flowery language and symbolism, as was typical of the time, can be found at nearly any point in this novel. However, the plot is not dry, abrupt, or disappointing, as can sometimes be true of the fiction of that time. The Scarlet Letter is not a happy tale tied off with a bow such as modern readers enjoy; neither does it focus entirely on moral lessons or harsh reality. Instead, Hawthorne strikes a balance between skilled storytelling and moral application, making his lessons all the more powerful as the readers can appreciate the medium through which they are taught.

The Inevitable Post for an Annual Day of Hideously Pink Cards and Chalk-like Candy {Giveaway!}

I'm back, my lovely readers! And just in time for Valentine's Day. I already did the whole blogger-waxes-philosophical-on-consumerism bit last year. So, today, I'm going to just share a conglomeration of things I'm loving this Valentine's Day. Have fun with it, and don't forget to enter the giveaway at the end! :)

P.S. All movie clips are likely to contain spoilers. Watch at your own risk!

P.P.S. I make no promises about the photos or art, either. Basically this entire post is probably spoilers.

P.P.P.S. All videos stolen from YouTube and all images from Pinterest. Nothing here is mine.

How can you not love that?!

On a side note: why do all the great classic romances have two proposal scenes?

Is it bad that I ship both of these? Personally I think Molly's the more likely option, but the bridesmaid is more suited to Sherlock's personality.

That photo actually inspired a scene in Sixteen.

I cannot wait for this movie.

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