inspiration – Susan Spann, Adventure, Mystery, and Mountains

Mountain Outtakes: Sharidake

Susan Spann Blog, Hikes July 26, 2023July 26, 2023inspiration, Japan, mountains, photography, Sharidake

I shot this image in 2018, on the descent from Sharidake (1,547m), a stratovolcano in Hokkaido’s Daisetsuzan National Park. It’s interesting to look back on it now, because at the time the section of trail in this photo (which is quite a bit steeper than it appears, but clearly not a difficult descent) felt really scary. At that point, I’d climbed fewer than 30 mountains, all of them in the five months leading up to this ascent. I still didn’t really know what I was doing–personally or on the trail. The key is, I did it anyway, and as a

My Journey to Becoming a Writer – a Guest Post from Gina Venturini

Admin Uncategorized August 16, 2016Gina Venturini, inspiration, Poetry, The Color of my Heart is You, writing

Please welcome talented poet and author (and my friend), Gina Venturini, author of Calling Love Home (2015) and the newly-released The Color of My Heart is You. Gina grew up in Nebraska, where she studied opera. After college Gina moved to the hotbed of Minneapolis and ended up singing backup vocals for an Elvis / Neil Diamond Impersonator. Wanting more she left with a suit case and took a train to Memphis, where she connected with a Marriott circuit band that toured all over the east coast and Wisconsin. Then, she was drawn to California for personal reasons and continued to pursue music. In

Spotlight on Magellan

Admin Uncategorized January 12, 2016H. erectus, inspiration, Magellan, seahorses

I’ve owned a few seahorses over the years, and all of them are special-needs pets, but none is quite as special (or as needy) as Magellan. When my seahorses arrived from the breeder early last December, I didn’t notice right away that one of them was different. Seahorses often eat poorly the day they arrive from the breeder, and since three of the four had similar snakeskin patterns it was hard to keep them straight that first afternoon. By morning, however, it was clear that one of the baby seahorses wasn’t “normal.” Unlike the others, who snicked up food as quickly as I

A Journey of a Thousand Miles Sometimes Takes a Decade

Admin Uncategorized May 15, 2015inspiration, journey to publication, maintaining the dream, writing

Twenty-six years ago this month, I completed my first full-length manuscript (for a fantasy novel which will absolutely NEVER see the light of day). Fifteen years ago, in August, I attended my first writers’ conference. My then-current manuscript, a historical novel based on a wife of Genghis Khan, placed in the finals, and I believed my lifelong dream of becoming a published writer was on the horizon. Fourteen years ago this month, I realized that novel would not sell. Ten years ago this month, I made a commitment to treat my writing as more than just a hobby. I decided to write a book

Monday Blog Game: Writing as Craft

Admin Uncategorized January 21, 2013craft, inspiration, Monday blog game, writing

I didn’t originally realize that writing was a craft. I thought writing meant “telling stories.” My first completed manuscript attempted to tell a story I made up – the fictional history of Borte Ujin, senior wife of Genghis Khan. The agents who read the manuscript offered nearly identical feedback: great idea, solid pacing, interesting voice – but the characters are flat and uninspired. I wrote another book, adding dialogue tags and descriptive adverbs galore. And once again, I was told my characters seemed merely two-dimensional. It wasn’t until much later – years down the line – that I recognized the