Guest blogger Anne Underhill

My guest today is Anne Underhill. Anne loves to write, sing, and act. She is currently unpublished, but working on a book while concurrently writing poetry. She loves reading, and enjoys reading indie authors and exploring the world of indie publishing.

Find her on Twitter: @1I7M7IV6

Writing With Passion

Aristotle said the law must be free from passion. And its important the law is free from passion. Passion is powerful, and the emotions it unleashes can cloud judgement, create bias, and blind people from the truth. Which is really why all lawyers should be robots. But I digress. Nothing in this world is ever completely free from passion. It is in how and when it is unleashed, by which it carves its design.

Passion must be writing's most intimate bedfellow.  They must know one another and move together as if they were one body. If not, the unfolding chapters will not be pleasant ones. To begin, you need to believe what you're writing has a legitimate place in this world. If you don't, no one else will. In a world built on a system of rejection, its essential your belief is stout. There is no way to avoid rejection of some kind, so you need to find a way to conquer it. To be frank, rejection isn't really the problem here at all, rejection happens to all of us many times in our lives. It's the fear or rejection, and really, fear itself, that is the enemy. Fear is consuming, crippling, disabling, and can crush our spirits. Fear will swallow passion alive. Defeating fear takes a passion rooted within the soul.  You need to write about something that infuriates you, brings you to ecstatic joy, numb sorrow, or something that might nearly drive you mad. The topic isn't important, what's important is how pissed off, excited, sad or insane you become while you're writing about it. The key is having the passion be so alive that writing becomes like breathing. The words cascade like water off of Niagra. To write, is to be. 

"Writers block" is another way of saying "I have no passion right now."  If writers block begins to become a regular occurrence, its important to ask the question "is it the topic that's passionless or is it me?" Maybe that's harsh. Well, the world is harsh. Its also beautiful. You need to seek out what inspires you. Maybe turn on the news and watch five minutes. Odds are there will be something on to piss you the hell off. Good. Write. Get frustrated, angry, happy, sad, anything. What's important is finding something that burns a passion within you so bright the darkest night cannot douse the light. 

Enjoy some of Anne's poetry...

The temples we build for our cars

Living museums,

Bathed in moments of joy, anger, love and rage...

Seething with a twisted underbelly of oil, gas and combustion

Sometimes stealing moments forever...

Bright, shiny, new and perfect,

Until used,

Soiled with the grime of thousands before...

Clean again, the scars remain

What's inside?

Trash, filth, the black stamp of footprints

Engrained for life

Scrubbed a thousand times

The stench remains

Devalued, hackled and bought

At what price?

Worth, value, purpose.

None remains

Torn apart, sold, discarded

The temples we build for our cars. 

Guest Blogger Anne Underhill

Welcome back Anne Underhill!I  Anne is an aspiring author who is working on her first book.  We look forward to her up and coming career as a writer.  Thank you Anne for being our guest this week.  

Running, Anne Underhill

I've never been an avid runner.  I definitely would not call myself a "die-hard" runner or a "running junkie."  Forgive me if those are terms that don't apply to serious runners, as I am obviously not a serious runner, and I'm not deeply acquainted with the slang for those who are serious...Anyways, although I'm not an avid runner, I'm not a complete stranger to the activity, and have on many occasions found myself mounting the treadmill and running a fair distance. 

My feet mounted the apparatus and my hands mechanically set the treadmill to my normal resistance and incline.  I began running, and the familiar feelings and sensations began flooding back.  At some point during the run, I'm not sure how far I've gone, when my body begins to feel as if its been mauled by a piece of farm equipment, I begin questioning what in the hell possessed me to get on the bloody treadmill in the first place.  Shortly after this not-so-pleasant feeling comes the heavenly release I've been expecting and yearning for since I climbed upon the treadmill seemingly hours ago. My mind and body have reached a sort of twilight; pain is gone, fear is gone, and my mind has somehow transformed into a time machine.

My thoughts shift and my emotions surge.  My haunted past, my confusing present, and a mysterious future swirl in front of me.  What have I done with my time that's been worthwhile? Does the path I am on have purpose? The realization the choices I make directly affect the outcome of where I end up hits me like a wall.  I cannot go on a journey without a compass, I will end up where I started, going nowhere.  I must choose to take a straight path.  One that leads me forward, toward my dreams, toward meaning, and toward peace.  My feet slowed to a jog and I stopped. As I stood there I came to a realization.  I may have been running nowhere that day, but I knew I would find my way home.  

Interview with aspiring author Anne Underhill

Please welcome aspiring author Anne Underhill!  Anne is learning the art of self promotion before publication.  Please give her a warm Warrior Princess shout out!

What is your favorite thing about being a writer?

      My favorite thing about being a writer is when I am writing I, am in a completely different world.  I am totally submersed in whatever I'm writing, whether it be a history paper for school, or a story about being in prison.  Those words on the page are burned into my mind, and nothing else exists, at least in the moments I'm writing. 

How long have you been a writer? 

       I've been writing since I could pick up a pen and write.  The first style I really began to find a niche in was poetry.  Undoubtedly because I fell in love with how beautiful and profound poems can be when written well. 

What other careers have you had?

      Wow.  Other careers.  Great question since I've made no money as a writer...yet.  I've taught small children, worked as a computer programmer, and I am currently working with people with Special Needs.  Which, I must say, is a unique job, with daily rewards and triumphs, and is wonderfully challenging in a way no other job yet has presented itself to be. 

Are any of your characters based on real people or events?

        Yes.  There's a story I am working on right now that's based on a real event. 

What’s something fans would find fascinating about you?

        I do the majority of my writing on my phone.  Most of my ideas come randomly or at night while I'm in bed with insomnia or just thinking, so I do the majority of my writing on the Word Processor on my phone.  In fact, it's where I typed up this interview. 

Here is a little more about Anne

I was born in Wichita, KS, but by no means call it home.  I live in Nebraska, but find real solitude and peace in the mountains.  I atttended and will finish my degree in English and Education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  I believe education doesn't begin or end in the classroom, it begins with life and ends with death.


Connect with Anne on her journey into publicatoin:

1i7m7iv6.wordpress.com

@1I7M7IV6 --twitter handle

Thank you, Anne, for joining us today.  Please join us on Thursday when Anne shares with us as our guest blogger.