Have you ever come across a blog that caught your eye, and fed the inquisitive mind?  A Blog that wiped away the wrinkled tension across your brow after a long day of work.  One that makes you stop and think about the way you approach your writing and indeed your life.  That says it’s okay to take it slow, to enjoy the journey, be yourself, all the while encouraging the best of you, offering advice, tips and order so you can achieve what you set out to do.  Best of all it inspires, gives food for thought, and nurtures the seeds of creativity within us all, as writers.  .  Only a few months old in the world of blogging, this writer is quickly making a name for herself in the cyber world with her delightful, thought-provoking and inspiring posts. Liberally dotted with appropriate thoughtful pictures to amuse, spark creativity, or stand you on your head.  I am pleased to be able to invite you to come walk with me on the write track, with Donna Martin.

Donna kindly agreed to answer a few questions and have some fun, first up…

Q1.. You mentioned you hadn’t written anything in over 20 years can you tell us a bit about how you came to start-up again?

A1..  When I say I haven’t written anything in over 20 years, I mean on a personal, creative level.  In every one of my jobs, whenever it was discovered that I could “write” I would be put to work writing on a business level…the latest being all the freelance articles I write for my TaeKwonDo school.  But about a year ago my son (who is now 23) decided it was time to move out of the nest.  Instead of being one of those moms who suffered from the “empty nest syndrome”, I started having dreams of writing children’s books.  In fact, my dreams were so detailed and in such color that once I woke up I was forced to write them down quickly just to get them out of my head!  After about three weeks of dreaming children’s stories every night I finally decided it was time to return to my writing…and here I am to stay!

Q2..  With a number of works in progress and work, do you have any set times of the day set out for your writing or networking?

A2..  My job at the school is very demanding…I’m usually there from around 9 a.m. in the morning and get home around 9 p.m. each night so I have to be creative with my “spare” time.  I set my alarm for 6 a.m. on the weekdays and write/network until I leave the house and then I do the same thing when I get home until about midnight.  Saturdays I take my disabled sister on any errands she might need or spend some time with my son but by 5 pm at the latest I am back to writing/networking.  On Sunday I try not to have ANY other obligations except to be able to write and network.  My life right now may seem “boring” to some people but I have been waiting over 40 YEARS to be able to do this and I am quite happy with the way things are going right now!

Q3..  Your blog is a haven of daily inspiration for aspiring and published writers how and where do you find your inspirational writing for these posts?

A3..  When it comes to my blog, I am a very visual writer.  By that I mean if I see something for think up a picture of something then it can spark an idea or theme for a blog post.  I read a lot of other blogs and if they have pictures on them I will sometimes come up with a post that way.  I also have a file labeled “blog pics” that I store interesting pictures and inspiring sayings that I can pull from if I don’t have an immediate idea ready.  Some of them simply come from having lived a life with many challenges and many blessing coming my way that I want to pass on a little bit of the “inspiration” or “wisdom” to others…must be the Mommy in me…;0)

Q4..  How do you relax after a day of work?

A4..  I know this is going to sound corny but I relax by reading!  But I also love listening to all kinds of music, or playing with my cat, or going to the mountains ( I live about 30 miles from the Smoky Mountains ), or watching a good movie, or taking a little nap, or window shopping…the list goes on and on.  I have discovered that my free time is so precious to me that I prefer the very simple things in life instead of the drama…

Q5..  Like me you’re a perpetual dreamer – do you ever find yourself in them and what’s your most memorable dream?

A5..  Oh, I daydream ALL THE TIME!  I am in the middle of writing a YA novel right now (had to put it on hold as I tackle the Madness 2012 poetry challenge and the 12 X 12 challenge) but my daydreams lately have been a particular scene in that story and where my main character is going to go from there.  I sometimes become that character and see myself acting in a way different from I would normally do or saying things I wouldn’t normally say and it surprises me.  A well written story really does have a life of its own and it fascinates me to think about what my characters will come up with next!

How cool!  I often find myself in my dreams, sometimes looking on.  Now for a bit of fun…..    Finish this story in a couple of sentences telling us where the shoes are…

“Hurry, find your new red shoes” calls Donna’s mother from the kitchen waiting anxiously,

looking out at the waiting school bus.

“I can’t find them” wailed Donna, flinging herself over the bed in her desperate attempt to

try to find them.  But alas!  they were nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, Donna remembered her little sister, Molly loved the color red.

Racing down the hall to Molly’s room, Donna flung open the door.

Stumbling around in shoes too big for her, Molly looked up at her big sister

and said, “Don’t I look just like Dorothy?”

(Sorry, right now that was the best I could do for an ending…I wanted to come up with something more creative but I think my brain is too tired at the moment…been away since about 4 this morning and it’s almost 4 pm right now…lol)

That’s alright Donna, with long working days that you put in one can understand.  The ending was very cute.  Thankyou for playing along.

A children’s Festival of Reading is coming to Donna’s  hometown on the 19th May and Donna will be there with her own booth showcasing published authors books.  So if you have any new books out and want to send some autographed ones along, check out her blog  here  to read and find out more about it.

In finishing I want to thank Donna so much for coming on to be my guest here today.  Also I want to take this opportunity to share with you the lovely huge box of goodies I received  the other week from Donna when I was the lucky winner on her blog. It was awesome and I have been reading up large here as you can imagine.  Big, Big Thankyou Donna!