(Faithgirlz!/From Sadie's Sketchbook #3) for a guest post and giveaway:
Perks of the Writer’s Life
by Naomi Kinsman
People
often dream about what they’d choose to do if they could have another
life. As a writer, I’m realizing that one of the many perks is that I
get to explore those imagined lives. Characters need all sorts of life
experiences, and the more unique, the better: bee-keeping, glass
blowing, drag racing, scuba diving... In order to collect story ideas,
then, I’m required to be an explorer in my own world, take on new
challenges, try new things.
Sometimes
the experiences are once in a lifetime, not likely to be repeated
events. But other times, the experiences seep over into my real life.
When this happens, I end up with a new habit that once belonged to a
character. Sadie, of my From Sadie’s Sketchbook series, gave me
one of her habits. She taught me to keep a sketchbook. At first when I
started writing the series, I picked up drawing as a hobby to tap into
how Sadie would feel as she learned to see, to make shapes on the page.
As
the writing progressed, I learned from Sadie how much insight was to be
found in images. As an artist sketches and then begins to refine and
layer an image, the concentration and focus leads to new thoughts, new
discoveries. Whether I’m drawing an idea from my mind or drawing
something I’m looking at directly, the rest of my mental chatter falls
away and new ideas pop up. Sometimes it’s a creative idea such as I should draw this next, or write that next. More times than not, it’s a personal discovery. Ah. I need to spend more time on x or stop doing y.
My
life is richer because of what I learned from Sadie. Maybe this is one
reason that I encourage all people, even those who don’t aspire to be
writers professionally, to write every once in a while. Even if you’re
not writing fiction, write about your own life. Capture the details.
Writing is thinking made visible, so when you write, you can’t help but
make new discoveries. Who knows? Your writing might might lead you to a
vacation, a new hobby, or a new friend. On the flip side, be an
adventurous reader, too. Explore some of those dream lives on the pages
of books. Stories take us to wonderful places, and often, they change
our lives.
About the author 
Author, From Sadie’s Sketchbook Series
It's Going to Be a Bear
of a Year Sadie thought she'd have a perfect fresh start when she moved
to Owl Creek, Michigan, but finding her place in her new school proves
harder than she expected. In this divided town, Sadie's father's job
mediating between bear hunters and researchers doesn't help her social
life. Sadie's art instructor encourages her to explore her beliefs and
express herself through her sketchbook, and things improve after Sadie
befriends a kind girl from school and a researcher's son---but she can't
stop worrying about the bears. As everything swirls around her, Sadie
must learn what it means to have faith when you don't have all the
answers.
I've been lucky enough to read one of her books, Waves of Light as an ARC, go check out my review here
I've been lucky enough to read one of her books, Waves of Light as an ARC, go check out my review here
GIVEAWAY
2 copies of Shades of Truth
or click here
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