Category Archives: writing

fiction, inspiration, short stories, story series, Uncategorized, writing

Being Faustina

November 2, 2018 emmapalova 1 Comment

Fuel and finish your writing projects plus excerpt from “Being Faustina”

By Emma Palova

Lowell, MI- Like most writers, I struggle to finish my writing projects. They seem insurmountable as I stare into the blank screen with the blinking cursor in front of me. Procrastination is my best and worst friend.

Yesterday, I found out about the National Novel Writing Month (NANoWriMo) creative project. Without checking too many details, I knew it would be a great tool to finish my “writings.” So, I set up an easy account with a book title and a book cover. My title is “Secrets.” (c) 2018 Emma Palova.

Right from the get go, the goal is to write 50,000 words by November 30 in any genre. When I am in the writing mode, regardless whether fiction or non-fiction, I write on average seven plus pages.

I find the accountability of the project very motivating with goal and word trackers.

I had to dig deep into my writer’s toolbox for inspiration, even though NaNoWriMo has inspiration tools as well. I like to rely on my own experience.

“Get out of the office and look for a story,” said former publisher and editor Alan long time ago. “Don’t wait for a story to walk in here, because it won’t.”

This morning, I got out of my comfort zone (studio) and drove to St. Pat’s for All Souls Day mass. And the inspiration came from a kid, who said his favorite saint was Saint Faustina. All Saints Day was yesterday.

After taking photos of the Celtic cross at the cemetery I drove home and penned second story in the book “Secrets”- Being Faustina.

I logged in 1,820 words.

For more info about #nanowrimo go to : https://nanowrimo.org

Here is an excerpt:

Being Faustina

Faustina entered the church cautiously. She always did. But, today more than ever, she watched around her for souls who haven’t passed to the other side. In layman’s terms those were ghosts.

She made sure to sit in the second pew on the left side of the nave facing the shrine made of photographs of the dead. As she knelt, Faustina realized she forgot to sign the Book of the Dead placed by the entrance. It was big leather-bound book with hundreds of signatures.

The Book of the Dead was annually on display during the month of November; wide open for more signatures. It was chilly in the church, and Faustina shivered. She did not know if it was from the cold or from her eternal sorrow.

On this day only, she still wore black: a black dress with a black slip under and black undies and a bra, black pantyhose, black shoes, black shawl, black coat and a black hat. Faustina purchased the complete black attire 14 years ago when she found out Willy was going to die.

By then, she was ready. Together they went through the roller coaster of high hopes of healing and lows of despair. The highs became just as exasperating as the lows. In the final days of Willy’s life, the doctor team gave him one month to live a life free of pain numbed by morphine and Oxycontin opioids.

When Willy finally ceased to be in pain, he was so high that at times he didn’t recognize Faustina, the love of his life. They were high school sweethearts who met at a Valentine’s dance.

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November: National Writing Month

November 1, 2018 emmapalova 1 Comment

It’s time to write

By Emma Palova

EW Emma’s Writings

Lowell, MI – This month was made for writing: no sun, no grilling, no walks to the Franciscan Sisters and no more kayaking. The temperatures have dipped below acceptable and the overall weather is not conducive to anything but writing.

So, the designation as the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and its adopted sister National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) by BlogHer, is very appropriate.

I participated in the NaBloPoMo post a day challenge in November of 2015.

By searching for NaBloPoMo details, I actually found out about the

Face of gossip — Book cover to “Secrets” (c) 2018 Emma Palova

novel-writing project that was first. The goal is to write literature of any genre in 50,000 words by the end of November.

Considering that it’s nasty outside and I have to drive twice a week far out into the fields, why not use that time to record speech notes on my phone. The app transcribes speech to script, so I can talk forever.

At the basis, stands the fact, that I love a new challenge and I need to put a project together. Today I put together the long time in the making short story “Chief” and uploaded it to my Novel Writing account tallying in at 1,907 words.

What any writing challenge does is that it keeps you accountable.

You have to write every day and that way you get it done.

For more info go to: https://nanowrimo.org

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40th Wedding Anniversary

October 7, 2018 emmapalova Leave a comment

As Ludek and I celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary on Oct. 7th, I think about all those years spent with one man. We were both born in former Czechoslovakia.

In 1978, that seemed unimaginable to an 18-year-old girl still in the Zlin Gymnasium Prep School with university years of studying ahead of me.

“You’re going to spend the rest of your life with one man?” classmate Zdenek asked me. “I can’t even fathom that.”

Yes, indeed. I spent all those years with one man.

“Boring,” said an acquaintance jokingly some time ago. She herself had been married to one man for a long time.

Just like in everything, there were some great times and some rough times over the four decades. Some of them, I consider historical moments.

Following are some highlights that really stand out:

The birth of our daughter Emma in April of 1979, my graduation from the University of Brno in 1986, the birth of our son Jake in 1987 and the move to the United States of America in 1989. My book Shifting Sands Short Stories came out in 2017. I became an American citizen in 1999. Ludek will have his naturalization ceremony this year.

Our hometown Zlin in Czech Republic.

In between were big, medium and little things; all those elements that make up marriage.

“For better or for worse,” as we said our wows.

Among the big things were: Weddings of our kids. Emma got married in Montrachet, Burgundy, France and Jake in Parnell, MI.

Another big shebang , I consider our celebration of the millennium at Stafford’s Perry Hotel, where Hemingway once stayed. Since, I love history, I love to stay on historical properties.

To celebrate our 40th anniversary, we will be staying in the historical Murray Hotel on Mackinac Island. I find inspiration in history, because it has a tendency to repeat itself. You can predict things based on the past.

We were surfing rough waters when the recession hit in 2007 through 2009, and Ludek lost his job. Ludek had to leave the state of Michigan to work in Prarie-du-Chien, Wisconsin. I stayed in Lowell because we didn’t want to lose the house. Our friends have lost theirs.

He commuted 500 miles to work and he came home for the weekends. When I wrote about it back at the peak of the depression in 2008, I got a response from a publication:

“That’s normal, that’s not a story.”

Yes, maybe for them it wasn’t. But for us it was a big story, as well as for millions of other Americans. I compensated the horror of separation and living by myself with a dog in the country by writing a screenplay. I bought Final Draft software and wrote about the assassination on liberal candidates.

We got through it with scars and hurts. Sometimes, it still hurts.

We still adhere to Czech traditions and customs, but we also have taken on new American traditions. It makes life interesting sharing two different cultures.

People ask me what do I miss the most about the old country?

“Definitely friends, since most of the family members have passed,” I answer.

But, always having a positive outlook, writing and innovation helped us through the good and the bad. Of course there was more good than the bad. It depends on the perspective and interpretation.

The good prevailed in love, passion and belief in each other.

And like talk show host Ripa said on TV, “It always boils down to respect of each other.”

The values we have established have carried us through; first comes our family, then passion for our work and innovation. This philosophy has always worked well throughout the years.

With well wishes for many more years.

Love always, Emma.

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arts, author events, book signing, consulting, events, inspiration, Uncategorized, writing

Author’s Events & Creative Endeavor

August 4, 2018 emmapalova 1 Comment

Join me this afternoon at@LowellArts gallery from 1 to 3 pm. I will be signing copies of my book “Shifting Sands Short Stories” during the Captured photo exhibit. Come and chat about your writing projects. We are experiencing renaissance in literature. It’s a great time to be a part of this movement.

While touring with my book around West Michigan, we have discovered the “Creative Endeavor”project at the Michigan News Agency (MNA)in Kalamazoo. In order to keep authors writing, MNA does not keep any profit from the local author book sales.

I will be writing more about this initiative. My son discovered this while looking for the Grand Rapids Magazine.

“To encourage our Creative Endeavor Project Writers, we will sell your books as a pass through and return all of the money to you, the authors. The News hopes this will encourage our writing communities to strive to do your work.”

For more info about this Creative Endeavor project go to:

http://www.michigannews.biz

author events, local author, local authors, Michigan authors, Uncategorized, writing

Join Motown Literacy Writers’ network

Quote July 31, 2018 emmapalova Leave a comment

Set yourself apart, be unique and bold

By Emma Palova

EW Emma’s Writings

I find the Motown Writers Network full of great tips and writing advise. What really caught my eye was the post about author branding.

As I step into the role of an author, I realize more and more how branding is important. What kind of author am I? What is my target audience? How will my title “Shifting Sands Short Stories” stand out among millions of book titles? What does it have in common with my other work?

As a journalist, I ask this question quite often, “What sets you apart from others in your industry?”

Yes, writing is a business. So, it has to be branded.

“Just like me going to work every day,” said #WGVU morning show host Shelley Irwin in last week’s interview.

Regardless the trade, many people struggle with the answer to this question including the campaigning politicians.

As of today, I can say that the following sets me apart from other authors and other titles: I am a Czech-born author who was naturalized as a US citizen on Aug. 19, 1999 at the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids.

At the time I was featured on the front page of the Ionia Sentinel-Standard in the article “U.S. citizenship a ‘natural’ step for Lowell woman. I was a reporter for the paper, and I received hundreds of congratulatory phone calls. The Associated Press syndicated the naturalization story.

I collected and put together the short stories that I have written over a span of more than two decades. So, I call that also a “history preservation” project. I wrote the first stories from the immigration circle of stories on my Smith Corona word processor in Montreal, Canada in the early 1990s.

History is my other love besides writing. Naturally, I plan to include a historical fiction piece in the sequel to Shifting Sands Stories.

I consider the Greenwich Meridian memoir about our family immigration saga from former Czechoslovakia partly a historical piece., although not fictional.

With my passion for languages, I also teach ESL. I am learning Spanish, so I can visit Hemingway’s Finca Vigia in Cuba.

I’ve already visited the Hemingway House in Key West. The descendents of his six-toed cats are there. His writing studio was connected by a catwalk to the main house.

Author branding

I see myself as a romantic author with Hemingway’s hardiness. I portray every day characters in their struggles; whether in love, disease, aging, under duress or in pursuit of perfection.

Some of the characters like Vadim in “The Death Song” are macho men, totally immersed into themselves.

The struggle for perfection is best portrayed in the character of math professor Martin in “The Temptation of Martin Duggan.” His own son is his only imperfection. Everything else in his life is perfect, otherwise he wouldn’t survive.

As in real life, the endings are not always happy. See “The Death Song” or “Honey Azrael.”

Authors (left to right) Jeanie Mortensen and Emma Palova of Lowell share a giggle.

Following is part of Hemingway’s acceptance speech sent to Stockholm, since he couldn’t travel to accept the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. I find it inspiring.

“Writing, at its best, is a lonely life. Organizations for writers palliate the writer’s loneliness but I doubt if they improve his writing. He grows in public stature as he sheds his loneliness and often his work deteriorates. For he does his work alone and if he is good enough of a writer he must face eternity, or the lack of it, each day.”

I’ve also written a screenplay registered with Writers Guild of America, West. Personally, I consider screenwriting easier than writing novels. I write a short story first and based on that I write the screenplay. Writing has to be very visual.

Join our local LowellArts group #lowellwrites. Contact Debra Dunning Duiven at 897-8545.

To join the Motown network click below.

via Join

#MotownWriters Article: The Basics of Author Branding

Source of quote:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway

For info on LowellArts go to https://www.lowellartsmi.org

Link to #WGVU interview:

http://www.wgvunews.org/post/shifting-sands

My author’s events:

Aug. 4 th 1-3 p.m. Emma’s book signing at #LowellArts

Aug. 6th 7 to 9 p.m. LowellArts panel discussion with poet Ian Haight

Sept. 16 & 17 Fallasburg Village Bazaar 1- to 3 p.m. at the one-room schoolhouse.

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author events, book marketing, book signing, events, fiction, inspiration, local author, Shifting Sands Short Stories, short stories, Uncategorized, WGVU Morning Show, writing

Emma’s author events

July 19, 2018 emmapalova 1 Comment

Lowell author expands events this summer

Lowell, MI – Lowell author Emma Palova will be featured live on WGVU Morning Show with host Shelley Irwin on July 26 at 10 a.m. WGVU is a service of the Grand Valley State University, a PBS member.

Palova will be talking with Irwin about her book “Shifting Sands Short Stories.” Palova, a former reporter for the Lowell Ledger, penned the collection of 13 short stories for more than two decades.

The stories are based on her immigration experience from former Czechoslovakia, journalistic and retail experience in the USA.

Author Emma Palova

Most recently, Palova was featured in the Grand Rapids Magazine City Guide 2018-2019 in the life & style section, Reading Room: The long road to resilience.

“I know it might sound cheesy, but even though not all the stories have happy endings, that doesn’t mean that everything that happens to us is either good or bad. It isn’t always that clear,” she said. “The real art is in discerning it.”

This Saturday, July 21st, Palova can be found at the Ludington Writer’s Rendezvous along with 28 Michigan authors. The event runs from 10 to 3 p.m., at the Ludington Center for Arts. It is free to the public.

She will be at the Lowell Arts Gallery on July 28^th& Aug. 4^th from 1 to 3 p.m. to sign books and offer writing and publishing tips during the new “Captured: A Photography Exhibition.”

Palova is a member of the newly-formed LowellArts Writer’s Group which meets every Monday evening from 7 to 9 p.m. Contact Debra Dunning for more information at 897-8545.

Palova is currently working on a sequel to “Shifting Sands” and a memoir about the family immigration saga spanning three generations. Palova has also written a screenplay “Riddleyville Clowns”@Emma Palova.

Shifting Sands Short Stories is available on Amazon, Schuler Books in GR and Lansing and at the Kent District Library branches.

Palova is looking for a publisher for her first novel “Fire on Water” based on her experience from former communist Czechoslovakia.

For more info on the WGVU morning show go to: wgvunews.org.

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author events, Greenwich Meridian memoir, inspiration, memoir, Uncategorized, writing

Taurus daily info overload

July 12, 2018 emmapalova 2 Comments

How to fuse ideas into writing projects

By Emma Palova

My Taurus horoscope is 99 percent on target. I truly am on informational overload from all sides: Work, family, nature and summer.

I overwhelm myself and others with infinite ideas, feelings and emotions.

According to my horoscope, I should organize a flow chart. It would be more like the river Mississippi with its sandy bluffs.

Heck, I don’t even use a calendar unless I have to. I’ve never used a watch in my entire life; yet I am always on time.

The fact of the matter is that I am afraid of time; not of aging. I am afraid of time as a physical quantity.

Our Lowell Area Chamber director Liz uses a linear calendar for the entire year.

It drives me nuts to see all those days in a row.

However, I do use outlines for complex writing projects like the memoir Greenwich Meridian: Where East meets West, that I am trying to finish.

I have re-worked the outline several times. I have involved my mother Ella in it.

I use journals, both digital and paper. I use apps like One Note to improve my productivity. I have formed a writer’s group on Facebook Writers Loop and joined Lowell Writes.

The most difficult times are when the project ideas fuse together in my head.

Then, I do a drive around to pull it all together and I meditate near a body of water.

“Look deep into nature and then you will understand everything better.”

Albert Einstein

Don’t forget to pick up the July print issue of The Grand Rapids Magazine and my book “Shifting Sands Short Stories” @Schuler Books in GR and Lansing.

I will have another series of author’s events in the West Michigan region and @LowellArts.

For more info on LowellArts go to https://www.lowellartsmi.org

https://m.tarot.com/daily-horoscope/taurus

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entertainment, history, non-fiction, script, Uncategorized, writing

Guardians of History script

June 8, 2018 emmapalova 1 Comment

I have just finished scripting the video “Guardians of History ” for the Fallasburg Historical Society.

We’re shooting tomorrow on location at the Fallasburg pioneer village.

I am very excited about this.

Stay tuned for the release.

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Daily Post prompt, Greenwich Meridian memoir, immigration, inspiration, memoir, non-fiction, prompts, relationships, Uncategorized, writing

Taurus clarifies content & goals

May 21, 2018 emmapalova Leave a comment

Parents get involved in memoir to move it along

By Emma Palova

EW Emma’s Writings

I am supposed to consolidate my position and clarify my goals, according to today’s horoscope for the determined Taurus.

I especially like the quote from Bruce Lee: “Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.”

That’s a pretty heavy quote that has inspired this entire post. To answer the last part of it; I am refining the content of the Greenwich Meridian memoir about our family immigration saga.

Inspired by Stephen and Owen King’s cooperation on the latest “Sleeping Beauties: A Novel”, I asked my mom Ella to write two chapters for the memoir. I would not be able to write them, because during mom’s second time around in the USA, I wasn’t with her. I was still back in Czechoslovakia.

I wrongfully called Chapter 13, “First years in America.” And surely mom struggled with that, because it was her second time around from 1980 to present. After more than an hour on the phone, we clarified that.

During mom’s writing process, dad discovered a precious document; his bio when he was applying for jobs. It was stored away in old luggage in the basement, where I would have never found it.

This document, probably from the 1970s, and my parents’ involvement will help move the memoir along. For months, I struggled with it. I got stuck halfway through the manuscript.

Actually, my mom’s Narcissism and my own, sidetracked me, that I completely forgot about dad.

“He started the whole immigration,” she said. “I didn’t even know what the word meant before 1968.”

For me, this is a huge lesson that I have learned.; clarify, consolidate and cooperate on your writing projects.

http://www.tarot.com/daily-horoscope/taurus

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author events, blogging, fiction, Inspiring Women, publishing, Shifting Sands Short Stories, Uncategorized, women's, WordPress, writer's conference, writing

Voices 2018

April 20, 2018 emmapalova Leave a comment

Let your voice be heard

“It struck me that as writers, we have a unique opportunity – a responsibility, even- to voice our own truth and to help others do the same.”

Writer’s Digest editor-in-chief Tyler Moss

By Emma Palova

EW Emma’s Writings

Lowell, MI -I got an e-mail today from the BlogHer 18 Creators Summit seeking nominations for Voices of the Year. The deadline to nominate an inspiring woman influencer is May 31. The tradition of celebrating women’s voices has been around for 11 years in the ever-changing world of blogging.

Just a few minutes ago, I happily removed the metal stakes designating the driveway for snowplowing and stored away the snow shovel. Only our famous blade for the Jeep reminds me of a winter gone by. It’s too heavy for me to lift it.

I picked up my Fleet Street Missy spring coat yesterday at J.C. Penney in Greenville. I hope I won’t need it until late fall.

I ran into a fisherman at my favorite hideaway at the tip of the horseshoe-shaped lake three miles away.

“I am just poking for bass and pike before I get my boat out,” he said.

“Yes, it’s a very nice lake that gets really busy on weekends,” I said.

“Sure, that’s why I come out on weekday mornings,” the fisherman said.

Me too; I always come out to the lake in the morning seeking inspiration in its calm waters. Today, I also discovered my Lenten Rose poking its purple head out of the thawing ground.

Earlier in the week, I had an interesting interview with a writer for the Grand Rapids Magazine about me and my new book Shifting Sands Short Stories. My husband Ludek wished me good luck, as I assured him that I am equally comfortable on both sides of the interview.

I absolutely loved the question that Lauren had asked me during the interview at Jamnbean Coffee Co. in Ada.

“How do you want your readers to feel after they are done reading the book?” she asked.

I had to get to the right answer with a lot of prelude. Finally, I responded.

“Transformed and maybe bewildered,” I said, “because that’s how I feel when I am done writing them.”

The article will come out in the print version of the Grand Rapids Magazine in July.

The interview was also an opportunity to list my forthcoming author’s events. I realized I wasn’t a great planner, by not being able to look that far ahead.

But, after reading “Roar,” a profile of emerging and groundbreaking authors in the Writer’s Digest, I realized something very important. And I quote:

“It struck me that as writers, we have a unique opportunity – a responsibility, even- to voice our own truth and to help others do the same.”

Editor-in-Chief Tyler Moss

Don’t Fret your own voice. It will shape your destiny.

As an author, blogger, screenwriter, journalist, short story writer and a novelist, I really have a unique opportunity to “Seize the day” or “Carpe Diem.”

Book me for your events in the physical world or on the web today. Don’t wait another 100 years.

Following are the topics that I will be addressing in the upcoming months:

Creating an author’s platform & following

How to create your author’s platform using WordPress blog/website plus social media.

Writing your life story/memoir

Memoir writing does require an outline or a timeline with important milestones pertaining to your story. It should be chronological, but you can open each chapter with the most interesting episode/scene.

For example: When daughters write about mothers, their complex relationship does not necessarily end with the parent’s death.

When writing about a business that has been handed down from generation to generation, start with the generation that has made the most profound impact or the generation that has pulled the business through a major crisis or to new heights.

When capturing a segment of your life, focus on how has a certain experience changed you and why.

Researching your roots, ancestry. Why does it matter and to whom?

Getting audio/visual

Book trailers, video productions and podcasts are a must in an increasingly visual society. Always script everything you’re going to say. Create an audio version of your book.

Publicity

How to write an effective press release to get media interviews and publicity.

Have an email list of useful contacts. Inform your contacts on regular basis about your progress in a newsletter.

From idea to final

How to take the initial inspiration on a journey to the final product; whether it be a book, a screenplay, a movie or a video production.

You find yourself one lovely afternoon struck by a fast-fleeting thought that will soon disappear along with others into the imagination swamp.

How do you make it stay or how do you rescue your idea from the swamp?

Test and explore your inspiration.

What genre to pick, and what format to use?

Depending on your topic and how you treat it, it will land you with a certain format within a genre.

This may be a novel, novella, a short story, a play or a screenplay.

Don’t just go by what’s big now, because it could be little tomorrow.