Lara D. Elliott - Inspirations

In a book I'm reading, the characters mention the God moments in their life. Little ways that God has shown himself. I've mentioned several of my moments in previous posts. Here's another. Yesterday, on the way home from work, the Christian radio station I usually listen to was playing the same song yet again. I just wasn't in the mood. I flipped to the other Christian radio station on my presets and they were also playing something I didn't want to listen to. I have Christian CDs in my car and I just wasn't in the mood to listen to those same songs again. I changed the station to pop music. I used to listen to it a lot. I used to sing along to the worldly songs (leaving out the bad words cause I've always been a goody two shoes). I used to laugh at the DJs and their inappropriate jokes. The first pop song I heard yesterday was really good. A slow duet about love. The next one was awful. Dirty lyrics and not even a good beat or melody. The next one ...

I firmly believe that God called me to be a writer. He has made it clear time and again that I must write and I must tell the story He has given me. And yet I question Him. Why would God tell me to write a book, but not give me the talent to do it well? Why would God choose me when He could have chosen someone far more qualified to tell His story? I am reminded of the movie Amadeus wherein the composer Salieri constantly compares himself to the genius of Mozart. God gave Salieri the desire to be a composer, but did not give him the talent that Mozart had. Salieri had a good career, but never achieved the greatness of Mozart. So why did God give me the task to write but not the talent? Well, maybe He did. God gave me the task to be a writer. It is my calling. But God never told me I would be an overnight success. Writing is a long process. Getting good at writing is a longer process. Maybe I'm in the exact place God intended me to be at this moment. Maybe I'm not done ...

Here is the last of my magazine entries that didn't get accepted. Saved it for the season. This one was written for the 100 words or less challenge. Enjoy! “What is that?” Pauline shed her coat and pointed at the green monstrosity by the front window. Dave’s face scrunched. “What? The Christmas tree?” “I mean the mangled mess of wire and green plastic. You can’t have my parents over with that sitting in the living room.” “There’s nothing wrong with my tree. I’ve had that since college. It’s a tradition to put it up after the Turkey Bowl.” Dave lovingly stroked one of the branches. Several needles fluttered to the floor. “Dummy. My dad is a Christmas tree farmer. He will be insulted and appalled.” “Oh.” The doorbell rang. Did you check out my other magazine rejections? Read them here and here .

NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month. Write a 50,000 word novel in the thirty days of November. And I won. Sorta. Last year's Nano project was started early too, but I only wrote a few thousand words in November. And then I kept writing for months. Over a year later, I finally had 50,000 words, but I was stumped on how to end it. After a couple critique partners read some chapters, I realized I had spent a year writing 50,000 words worth of crap. There were some good scenes in there. There was some good writing. But the plot lacked cohesion. Lacked motivation. I finally decided to give it up. Work on something else for a while. One project I started working on had actually started as a couple of scenes I jotted down many years ago. Even before I really became a serious "writer." I had an epiphany what direction I could take the story and I started outlining. It felt good to have some structure thought out. Then one day in October, I had a really crushing mom...

How does God speak to you? Are you listening? I’m not one of those people who pray and then hear God’s voice. Like literally. With my ears. Maybe some people do. They did in the Bible. But nowadays, most people receive God’s message through other means. Mine is through music. I’ve posted before about how music has been the vehicle to answer a prayer. This week it happened again. I had been hopeful, but knew that a couple of quasi-rejections were on their way. And I was right.   Wednesday, I learned that I was not a finalist in a contest that critiqued the first five pages of a manuscript. I entered two manuscripts. Neither was accepted. I’d only had a shred of hope left anyway, but the news still hit hard. I’d found out just before leaving work, so getting in the car for the ride home, I was sure the tears were going to come. But on the way home I heard the song that had encouraged me once before. They were the perfect words to express what I was feeling. ...

I'm in debate with a friend over whether it is therapeutic to write depressing fiction when one is depressed. Said friend had been writing a novel when she was depressed. The novel was going to end with the character's suicide. Friend has since gotten past the dark times and has abandoned the book. If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you may already know that I've been dealing with depression for the past year. I'm to the point where I'm considering going to the doctor about it. I've had a couple of tests for things that could be related to depression, but they have come back negative. Anyhoo, in the meantime I've taken to writing to deal with it. I've written blog posts, poetry, flash fiction, tweets. But just recently, I've started a novel. The novel reminded me of my friend's so I told her about it. She said stop. It's dangerous. But here's the thing. My novel doesn't end in suicide. My novel has a happy ending. M...

As Lee is bartending at the club on the chilly last night of winter, he glances in the mirror over the liquor cabinet and sees behind him a beautiful girl with jet black hair and bright red lipstick which pops in contrast to her white off-the-shoulder sweater. She seems to be part of a whole group of girls, eight in all, but luckily she is not the one wearing the “bride-to-be” sash. She’s taller than the rest, a bit quieter, and absolutely the most beautiful. She’s consoling the one with the grumpy face, probably upset that she’s not the one getting married. Lee serves drinks, but keeps his eye on the girl in white. She makes her way around to everyone in the entourage, laughs with the one who has a toothy smile, rolls her eyes at the blonde with the dopey look in her eyes, dances with the one he recognizes as a nurse from his doctor’s office. She introduces the shy one to a guy, offers a tissue to the one with allergies, and steals keys from the bride who has had so ...