Julia Mozingo Author

November has been a month for lots of new happenings. 

I learned many new things.  I learned how to maneuver around GoDaddy and set up my hosting account.  I took an online webpage class and learned basic HTML, how to read the code in a barebones webpage, sizing images, and a little about CSS.  I learned how to work the basics of WordPress.  I learned how to upgrade installed programs on my hosting account. 

Learning how to do these things as babysteps adds to my confidence and courage to try new things outside my comfort zone.  This also helps with writing, because an author learns these basic skills to help stretch the writing muscles, to keep the new work fresh, and to progress as a writer.

And I was on the go.  I traveled to the Arkansas Crater of Diamonds and visited the Oklahoma Runestone near Heavener.  I went to Oklahoma City and Wichita Falls, Texas.  I spent Thanksgiving with family and friends, shopped a little, watched the OU/OSU football game and parts of the Missouri/Kansas game, because it was on while I volunteered as Santa’s helper.  I toured the Christmas lights display at Ardmore, OK, where the lights are visible to motorists on I-35.

It’s so much fun to view the holiday season through the eyes of children, as if one is seeing the sights for the very first time — Christmas lights, Christmas displays, Christmas movies.  Remember those first times.  Recapture the joy, the awe, the excitement … the miracles of life and the always changing seasons. 

Give thanks for the little things, so many others have much less.  Find happiness and contentment in what you have.  Gratitude. 

Have you written today?  Think you have nothing to say or nothing to write?  Try making lists.  Select a topic.  List twenty-five items or more in five minutes or less.  How many lists can you create?

I decided to call this category “Travel and Adventure.”  The term would more aptly describe my writings in this area.  I don’t necessarily travel much, but I travel some.  In addition, I’ve been known to find adventure outside my own backdoor that spurs my muse to new wondering, new connections, and new ideas. 

A few places to which I’ve traveled — in no particular order — include Hawaii, New York City, Minneapolis, Dallas/Ft. Worth, the Ozarks, South Carolina, the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico’s Riviera Maya, the Caribbean, Canada, the southern United States, Niagra Falls — to name a few.

As I have time I post pictures and share the adventures.

For a writer, all your experiences can be considered as fodder for your writing.  Place your character in that location, create a situation, and see what happens — how the character acts and reacts, in respect to the character’s personality and traits.  You might find some writing surprises along the way.  Gotta go.  The dryer’s buzzing.