friends

Stick to Your Dreams!

Leave a Comment / Finding Hope in a Bad Haircut During a Winter Freeze /

Every profession has its hazards, and hairstyling is no exception. Although not as death-defying as a skyscraper window washer in New York City, working with the public can be challenging.

Some client issues seem simple and merely unpleasant to others, yet these
concerns can have a lasting effect on one’s morale.

On Tuesday, I was needled the entire day by a painful problem that was ignited after my first client, Lois. Lois is a long-time, loyal patron.

Although always well overdue for a haircut, she generously brings me homemade soups, always praises my work, and shares genuine conversation, which usually touches my heart. Her hair carpets her head in luscious waves so thick it seems impossible to penetrate to the scalp with shampoo.

Lois’s eight-week appointment was like any other. With such longstanding devotion, I take extra time talking. We shared our happenings, both happy and sad, while I was trimming away. After Lois left, there was enough remnants on the floor to make
a shag rug which I swept away. Unfortunately, she had left me with something else. Lois had speared me with an unbearable problem. No matter what I did to forget her, she had burdened me with a constant stabbing reminder that would not be resolved until the day was over. I was stuck with Lois all day.

Sticking to something can be good unless it is Lois doing the sticking. Take for example, Liberty Cunningham, who can stick on a horse like glue even if
she is dangling from the side or flipping on the backs of two galloping steeds.

Here I am with , Liberty Cunningham, Pro Rodeo Trick Rider,
Roman Rider, Liberty Horse

Liberty has been riding since she could walk. But her real dream was trick riding. Now as a mere teen, through her determination, she is a national sensation. She navigates several horses in jaw-dropping performances. Thoughts of Liberty are cemented with me as I work on an article about her amazing feats. Please check out Liberty at the Equine Affaire in Ohio just two weeks away, and savor her fascinating show.

How about a friendship that sticks for decades. Take Lucy and Ethel. True friends are always there with a helping hand no matter the physical distance that sets them apart. They stick like Liberty to a horse.

Please join me at The Ohio Equine Affaire, April 11 and 12, where equine and non-equine friends stick together. I invite you to visit me at booth 113, The Plaid Horse Magazine and pick up an April issue, free!

I will be graciously sharing The Plaid Horse booth with Fran Severn Levy, author of Riders of a Certain Age. Come witness Liberty Cunningham, other incredible stars, and, of course, the breathtaking horses. This is an event that will stick in your mind forever!

As for my client Lois, she was still clinging to me when I arrived home on Tuesday night. I frantically stripped in the hope of ripping her away. One of the dangers of hairdressing is actually hair. When hair is cut in small sections they transform into an armory of terrorizing weapons know as hair splinters. (Certainly a form of torture in medieval times.). Some people have fine, soft hair, others coarse or unruly, but no matter the texture, when hair is cut the individual strand becomes a needle splintering into your clothes and your skin. Call it a job hazard.

Lois was nestled in my shoes, in my socks, in my pants, in my shirt, in my bra and other undergarments. She was jabbing me like steel pins. Lois’s hair splinters were roosted against me the entire day and quite annoying. But seeing Lois every eight weeks is worth the poke.

The lasting memories of clients like Lois far out outweigh the pain and will stick with me for a lifetime. Sticking to the dream is what life is all about!

A good book can stick with you, too. That was my hope when writing the Silver Cowgirls, which is based on four women who reconnect after three decades. That friendship is rekindled in The Silver Cowgirls Ride Again. And perhaps the Silver Cowgirls will gallop into a Golden trilogy?

Join me on a renewed writing journey and enjoy my latest series.
Your support means the world—happy reading!


Order your copy today:
TabortonBooks
Amazon

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Angels On My Shoulders

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This past week my mentor Demi Steven’s http://yotbpress.com/ wrote,  “My hope this week for you is that you can identify someone in your universe who shines in that way, and reach out to them and let them know how much you value having them around.”  These words pierced my heart. After a tough year of losing two very special guiding lights (my beloved mother and her sister -my dear aunt), followed by some other earth-shattering changes, my universe of wing-men (in this case women) seems to have diminished. A life without valued individuals who have had your back no matter your age is scary.

I found a book on my Aunt’s nightstand after she died, God and the Afterlife, by Jeffery Long M.D. with Paul Perry.  Fortunately, I felt compelled to open the pages.  The book is an extensive study on people who have died and returned. I encourage everyone who questions life after death to read this book. Although I have always believed, sometimes I do wonder if life after death is really possible.  This book retained a sense of relief that I will indeed see them again and will experience an overwhelming sense of love like never before.

So my stars are illuminating in a different way. I truly believe the two are winged-women on my shoulders, flashlights in hand, directing my journey. One that is getting closer to them everyday! Yes, reach out and find your stars!

 

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A Beautiful Snowstorm

Leave a Comment / Author, Beauty, Celebrate, Determination, enduranceHardship endurance women history, Finding Hope in a Bad Haircut During a Winter Freeze, freedom, Humor, Inspirational, Journey, Miracle, passion, Publish /

A few years back, I hated snow days. I loathed that crack in the sidewalk. The one I hit every time I shoveled. The shovel would come to a sudden stop and the metal handle would slam into my belly with such force I coughed up a few choice swear words. The day was all about extra work and a loss of income; shoveling, plowing, and most of all rescheduling my clients. But my priorities have changed since I published my first novel. A snow day is a perfect day to write. No more excuses after a year of hard knocks.

My second novel is ready. A novel about an over-the-hill hairdresser.  But, I hit a snowstorm. A crack in the sidewalk. The majority of agents I researched today are young and wrinkle free, not to mention calling for teen fiction. Really? What about us second-time-around writers and readers. Dried up?

I don’t think so. Today, I completed two short stories and a novel. As life moves along,  so must I. Never give up. It’s only a crack in the walk. It’s a beautiful day!

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The Write Village

1 Comment / Author, Determination, enduranceHardship endurance women history, hairdresser, Inspirational, Journey, Mentor, passion, Publish, thought provoking /

 

The African proverb, “It Takes a Village,” speaks to many aspects of our lives—the writing life included.  I discovered building alone was not easy. We need neighbors. Before I erected my own village, my journals were locked behind doors—suffering from rejection and fear.

I began to see constructive patterns of those who boldly paved roads around me. They had a similar foundation. So, I began the literary journey to build a village I call Write.

My mother laid the first stone. In Write, my mother lives on Main Street, adjacent to the church. Her door is always open to fill me with homemade pie… and red wine to energize my body. But when I must rekindle my soul, she points to the steeple and advises, “Every village needs a church. It’s neighbors and faith that will send you angels to guide you.”

My village of Write has a school with teachers, from the very first professor who red lined my every word to doctors and nurses who rebuild my creations today. The library houses lots of books with advice including, 101 Ways to Get Published, Writer’s Market, and Writing with Soft Hands. The shelves are lined in classics by Atwood and Twain to awaken the soul… and Harlequin romances to stir the bones.

At the village conference center, the best authors and mentors come to speak. I have autographed copies of their books, signed with encouragement like “Never give up,” or “Persist at all cost.” I visit the Write Salon after days of edits. My stylist conditions, massaging my creative brains. At the Writing Gym on Mondays I exercise with my aspiring peeps and ponder all the ways to pen “his chiseled jaw,” or “her beating heart.”The village newspaper employs agents and publishers who read my queries… and if I get lucky send one-word critiques.

My church is growing, with new angels every day, like Demi Stevens; her Year of the Book process was a road map to success that introduced me to an inspirational woman, Debbie Herbert, best-selling author, and 2017 RITA finalist, who shrouded me in incentive.

“It takes a village.” We share a path, and our community builds me up when I am adverb-tired, genre-lost, or POV perplexed. Together we survive.

This is a partial version of my story, The Write Village. I hope it inspires you.

Alicia Stephens Martin author of Spurred to Justice to be released summer, 2018.

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