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Read More >I had no idea I would ever write books. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and had trouble reading as a child, but when I discovered writing, specifically storytelling, everything changed. The act of writing planted the seed of a life-long passion and awakened something deep inside me—the need to connect with others through words. I believe that writing is a way of sharing something that comes from us but is also greater than us. (And forever humbling). For me, storytelling has become a form of fellowship.
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Happy Spring from Holly Payne & Skywriter Books #constantcontact http://t.co/rPJwp7bq
Skywriter
In 2008, when I finished Kingdom of Simplicity, I sought a different kind of publishing experience. I saw the need to help myself and other ... Read More >
Recent Blog Post
Thank you, Paul Simon, for the Rewrite
I usually don’t write about writing or motherhood. But lately, life is asking me to do a lot of what I thought I’d never do: change my course whether I want to or not.
I share all this from the perspective of an endurance athlete, because I’ve come to understand that the requirements for writing and motherhood demand just that — a deep reservoir of patience and stamina that I had little understanding of prior to the birth of my daughter. But my body, my spirit, and my entire brain have undergone intense rewiring ever since, and it’s taken me a full 24 months to adjust to, and accept, the more permanent changes within.
One thing that has changed is my awareness of the need to let go in the presence of my child. If only my mind could fully cooperate. Remember to email so-and-so about such-and-such. Take out this from the scene in chapter X. Get new sponges. Finish business plan. Thaw fish. And the zinger: organize baby clothes. Uh, when? I’m nowhere near mastering this kind of presence and don’t know if I ever will, but singing “Wheels on the Bus” between meals certainly helps deter the whirring To-Do list.
Here’s what I haven’t yet done since my daughter was born: put the baby photos in an album. It’s been two years and I still haven’t stopped to fill a photo album, even though the Shutterfly box with all 700 of them calls to me every day. I also haven’t made a baby scrap book yet, but I have a box of things she’ll no doubt love to see some day. I haven’t even made her handprints or footprints, but it’s too late for that. At two, she would rather hold a worm than plunge her fingers into paint, so maybe she’ll gently let me off the hook for this.
While raising my daughter, I have also been working on a new book, and this year, working on the rewrite. When I first heard Paul Simon’s song, “Rewrite” from the album So Beautiful or So What, I busted up laughing. My husband had introduced it to me on his I-Pod and told me he loved the ‘swing’ in the song:
“I’ve been working on my rewrite, that’s right I’m gonna change the ending Gonna throw away my title And toss it in the trash Every minute after midnight All the time I’m spending It’s just for working on my... Read More >