creative

I find it amusing that today's word of the day (from the Merriam-Webster daily email) is "luftmensch" (pronounced LOOFT-mensh). It means "an impractical contemplative person having no definite business or income."

In other words, me.

I especially find it amusing considering my blog topic for today.

Inspired by Debbie at Goodthoughts, who shares a little bit of her creative process, I started a discussion on Intersection about the creative process, especially the beginnings.

Why not share with each other how we get started, what brings brush to canvas, words to page, fingers to piano?

For Christmas, my mom gave me this handy-dandy froth maker. It's a small hand tool that whips milk into shape.

In other words, it makes ordinary coffee into a celebration.

When did we stop making our own froth? When did we come to depend on Starbucks?

You must realize by now that I'm not just talking java. I'm talking imagination.

When did we depend on others to imagine for us? When did we stop singing songs and writing poetry and sketching landscapes?

Where you can find samples of my work:

Fiction

"Matt and Marnie Sittin' in the Tree Or Something Like That" in Infuze Magazine

"Mumbai Baby" in Mused Literary Review

"The Audition" in Relief Journal

"Dies Irae" in Generate Magazine

Short Films/Plays

"The Office Pharisee" for Christ Church Plano

"Mumbai Baby" for DVX Film Fest 2009: Loss

"The Adventures of Don and Cho" for DVX Film Fest 2009: Quest

Nonfiction

"Art in the Time of Holocaust" in The Curator Magazine

"A Literary Analysis on the Book of Ruth" at bible.org

"Israel: Understanding the Setting of the Bible" at bible.org

"The Cause of the Orphan" in Kindred Spirit online

"My Scarlet Letter" in Three One Six: A Journal of Christian Thinking

"Spiritual Disciplines: Practicing Daily Scales" in Just Between Us

"'Tis the Season" in Fwd Magazine

In The High Calling: 

"God's Secret to Contentment at Work"

"Tuning Your Ear to God's Perfect Pitch"

"Working with Kryptonite"

"On Earth as It Is in Heaven"

"Of Loaves and Fish"

In The Small Group Exchange by BluefishTV

"Getting Beyond Curriculum--Using Art and Pop Culture in Your Small Group" 

"It Was the Best of Times; It Was the Worst of Times: The Art of Storytelling" 

I also regularly write book reviews and summaries at Solomon Summaries, have a column at The Tapestry Blog, and am a Fiction and Poetry Channel editor at Blog Nosh.

Awards

Finalist, Spring 2007 Glimmer Train New Writer's Award

Winner, Genesis 2008 (Women's Fiction) sponsored by ACFW