Oh, that magic!

I'm pleased to have fellow Canadian author Sarah Butland as my guest on Magic of the Muses. After reading her post about the magic of writing, you'll understand how she got her reputation as a mystical, lyrical writer.

Authors Are As Magical As Readers

Sarah Butland

Worlds are created with the stroke of a pen or the press of a letter on a keyboard. Worlds that many enter without bumping into anyone they know but inhabited by characters that welcome them all the same. These characters, created from the power of the mind, are always the beginning of something great though not always in a positive way.

Many of these characters are much like our neighbours, spouses and kids but with a dash of something more. The setting, the plot, the timing of everything the character does may seem familiar but adds a flair to our otherwise boring or too challenging life.

Authors aren't necessarily witches just as readers are not always their toads but both can easily turn into a prince or turn the page into a welcoming castle. Magic is not always cloaks, daggers and rabbits and potions, each book discovered, whether fictional or non, has a mystique all its own and it's up to each of us to embrace it and volunteer to be mystified.

It's easy to fall in love with some books and want more after it concludes just as easy as it is for some authors to want to give more, to listen more attentively and to ensure their readers are swept away in their creations.

Readers are magical as they put their trust in a stranger, purchase a book with the click of a button or the swipe of plastic and carry home worlds in their bags with promises to visit them momentarily. These same readers, authors and non-writers alike, hold the power of success in their hands each and every day by choosing to purchase, write a review or share the book with a friend. A simple task that doesn't require eye of newt or a cauldron, a top hat or a trick, can make the day of the writer who holds many worlds between their eyes, back of head and their fingertips.

So as you rush your children off to school, as you prepare the classroom to teach your pupils, or feel the crisp change in the are I ask you to embrace your own world for a moment and realize how good it feels to receive a gift from a friend or stranger. A gift such as a smile while you walk by, an attentive ear or a watchful eye, a written poem or a simple card can be magical in that it makes a bad day seem silly.

Discovering a new to you author, enjoying their creation and telling them so continues the miracle that is positivity and makes more magic – something we need more of today.

While you read this I, like many authors, are struggling to get noticed, to get downloads and sales but not necessarily to make money (I'm sure you heard, it's not a lot). Most authors do this to pass on the magic of literacy by ensuring everyone can find something they enjoy reading. By supporting and independent author or any author in fact, and sharing your thoughts you, too, can spread the worth of literacy every time you have the chance.

Write a review and spread the word – the god of the book you just read deserves that much!

Thanks for reading,

Sarah Butland

author of SENDING YOU SAMMY , BRAIN TALES - VOLUME ONE and ARM FARM

Please visit me at www.SarahButland.com to support myself and many other authors.  This month as everyone heads back to school, the leaves start changing colour and the air brings a chill I am bringing you lots of reading material in hopes you'll find something you love to read. While I am putting forth a huge effort to bring awareness to my own books I understand that everyone wants something different to read. Please show a huge welcome to all my guests by commenting and checking out their books.

Sarah Butland was born in Ontario, the year was 1982. She was moved to New Brunswick for over 15 years and now resides at home in Nova Scotia, Canada. Butland has been married to her high school sweetheart and has a superstar son named William, and a cat named Russ who all make her house a home.

After  many stories, attempts at novels and thousands of ideas later, Butland created BananaBoy and the Adventures of Sammy was born. SENDING YOU SAMMY is her first published children’s book. Then came BRAIN TALES - VOLUME ONE --a collection of short stories and finally ARM FARM, her current literary pride and joy.

Enter Sarah's contest! 

Great Prizes!

 $25 Amazon Gift Card and MORE!

a Rafflecopter giveaway Rafflecopter - Giveaway :) www.rafflecopter.com Oh, that magic! was brought to you by THE TRAZ

"They draw her into the dark world of drugs, murder & lawlessness..."

"Exciting, powerful, & tragic. Young adult book for all ages"

 "The whole thing ends on a knife edge..."

The Circle of Time

This is my 44th consecutive smoke-free day. As my life as a smoker draws to a close, my career as a writer opens wide.

Life is a fabric woven from segments like these--intertwined memories and expectations, beginnings and endings, past, present, future--self and the universe. I am the pattern that emerges from this tapestry of choices and fate, traumas and celebrations, failures and triumphs. As it is with the universe, this pattern that is me is ever changing, ever renewing, ever becoming.

Most writers blog about the use of the semicolon, the proper format for a query letter, the upcoming release of their newest book, the source of inspiration, etc. Likewise, I intended to use "Magic of the Muses" to showcase my skill as a writer, promote the novels I've written, find the agent/publisher I'm seeking. My blog, however, evolved into an intimate diary of my quest to quit smoking.

Between the hours involved in blogging about this quest, and the time spent pacing and eating--distracted by cravings and pain--my writing career seemed to be going nowhere. Yet, in my inbox an email from an agent appeared, requesting a copy of my novel, "Noraebang" to review. Next came a tweet from an American scientist, interested in my tweeted and blogged campaign to quit.

As my nicotine cravings gradually fade along with the need to write about them, my time becomes increasing devoted to cultivating the interest in my writing sparked by "Magic of the Muses".

I am diligently pursuing an agent, preparing queries and answering responses. I'll keep you posted. Perhaps my next blog will be entitled, "Me and my Agent".

Eileen Schuh,
Canadian writer
http://www.eileenschuh.com/

Read a preview and excerpt from my novel
"Noraebang"
http://www.eileenschuh.com/noraebang/

On a Cyberspace presence

About a month ago (July 9th to be exact) I posted my very first blog on 'Magic of the Muses'. I promised brilliance, smiles, warm hearts, and friendship. I'm hoping I've given you at least some of that. My other promise was that the blog would be the story of a writer's obsessive pursuit of her life-long dream of becoming a published novelist. So, how am I doing and where am I at?

The first chapter in that story (underwritten by my able publicist, Cheryl Kaye Tardiff) is about increasing my cyberspace presence. With the creation of 'Magic of the Muses', completion of my fantastic website, and acquisition of numerous Facebook friends, that first step is nearing completion.

Has it helped my career? If measured by publishing contracts or calls from agents, the honest answer would be 'no.' However, it's been my experience that few efforts in life produce immediate rewards. Something worth having, is worth working for.

In the writing and publishing industry, there are opposing views on the usefulness of cyberspace as a marketing tool. It's been said that publishers and editors are not carousing the web looking for talent. That is probably true. It is also true, however, that as in any profession, networking is a prelude to success.

The old adage, 'It's not what you know, but who you know,' still holds true in today's high-tech world. Any kind of networking not only establishes contacts, but is also a rich source of information, opinion, and feedback.

As well, by promoting myself in cyberspace, I'm cultivating a potential readership base to which I can market my books when that time arrives--a fact that will undoubtedly appeal to agents and publishers. I'm advertising, displaying my talent, arousing curiosity, getting my name out there. I am no longer a closet writer with lonely dreams. I am now a personable someone with a smile who has cool stories to tell (and sell)to the world. I'm arousing curiosity, displaying my talent, inviting the world to share my dream.

While a cyberspace presence may never totally replace personal networking, it's a valuable resource for connecting with many more people than even the most seasoned traveller could hope to meet.

I have found my cyberspace friends to be a great source of friendship, information, and inspiration. And, sometimes, they are also very well connected.

Eileen Schuh,
Canadian writer
www.eileenschuh.com

On Magic...

For those of you patiently waiting for my promised followup to my blog on muses...here it is, and it's all about magic. Forget David Copperfield, Kreskin, Houdini--mere illusionists. Once you know how their tricks are done, the magic vanishes. Harry Potter--fictional.

I'm talking about REAL magic. The kind of magic that, the more you know about it, the deeper is your wonder.

Consider the carrot seed.* Have you ever seen one? Dried up, tiny--almost microscopic. Lifeless, it would seem. Yet that seed takes the sunshine, earth, and rain and turns itself into a delicious, colourful, healthy, crunchy carrot. In that dried up speck is not only all the information needed to grow a carrot, but all the labour needed to make it happen.

A carrot--enabling you to imbibe the sunshine, taste the rain, and become a part of the vibrant world in which you live. Can it get much more magical than that?

Consider the elusive origins of your thoughts and inspiration. Magic.

Contemplate your night dreams. How is it possible to be surprised by your own dreams? How it is that you don't know what will happen next, what's behind the closed door, what words will next be spoken? How is it that you don't know how your own dream will end?

From where do the characters in your dreams come? Complete with bodies and faces and voices and personalities. Strangers--doing things you've never seen done, asking questions you've never asked, giving answers you did not know. Magic.

Wonder about rainbows, and sunlight, radio waves, and love. Cherish your own origin.

Believe in magic...

Eileen Schuh,
Canadian writer

*When the heroine in my Back Tracker series, a young genius and an atheist, is dealt a tragic blow, she finds solace in her memory of Grandma Buckhold's lesson on the magical carrot seed. More info on this series is posted on my website. The Back Tracker Series


www.eileenschuh.com

On Magic and Muses. . .

Muses are spirits or goddesses worshipped by the ancient Greeks as the source of creative inspiration. From the muses comes 'mus-ic', 'a-muse-ment', 'mus-ing', 'be-mused', etc.

As cultures through the ages learned to identify the muses' presence, their names, powers, personalities, and numbers evolved. I thus feel entitled to ascribe my own characteristics to the muses which haunt me.

My main muse sits on my shoulder, just under my right ear, and whispers. If I ignore its whispering for too long, it gets agitated and begins to shout. My muse sometimes bears the wings of an angel but more often, it sports the forked tail of a demon.

My main muse has been known to dictate entire novels, and to stubbornly argue with me about characters and plots (and inevitably prevail). My muse often awakens me at odd hours of the night and never apologizes for keeping me up until dawn brightens the horizon. My muse hates my husband, despises my children, and is generally outright antagonistic toward anything or anybody that keeps me from my keyboard.

My muse is totally uninterested in the mundane matters of love, money, and publishing contracts. It abruptly vacates my shoulder the moment I peck my husband's cheek, ponder cents-paid-per-word. . .or begin a query letter.

I believe muses are a wonderful personification of the mysterious nature of creativity. Although my belief in their actual existence waivers, my belief in the reality of magic is much firmer. But that's an entirely new blog....

Eileen Schuh,
Canadian writer
http://www.eileenschuh.com/
(I invite you to visit again to read my future posting on the mysteries of magic.)