H: Herbal Medicines

My theme for the A to Z Blogging Challenge this year is a mishmash of books, movies, writers and

TV shows that have in one way or another taught me something about writing and helped me be a better writer. Some inspired my own stories and a few taught me what not to do. Each post is a one minute lesson on writing. Also visit the IWSG blog and enjoy some inspiration for A to Z writers.

Even though I recently lost both my fantasy publishers due to their closing, I consider myself a writer of epic fantasy. Epic fantasy nearly always takes place in medieval settings. Think Game of Thrones like living conditions. During those times, many medical treatments involved the use of herbal medicines. To infuse my novels with elements of realism, I often use The Complete Guide to Herbal Medicines by Charles Fetrow and Juan R. Avila. I've had this book on my desk for years and refer to it often. During medieval times, many health remedies involved the use of herbal medicines, often served as teas. Some herbal teas were imbibed daily for good health and the same is true today. This comprehensive book lists over 300 herbal remedies.

Under each listing is a short history of where it was first used, a list of what people use it for, how they use it the the dosage, possible side effects, other names for the listing and what actual scientific research says about it. Many of the listings give warnings of the danger of using that herb or plant. So if your novel includes a poisoning, Herbal Medicines would give you some ideas. And one of my favorite parts of this book is the index. I can look up an ailment such as fever or rash and it will give me a list of herbs to check out to treat that illness. Quick and easy reference. I highly recommend this book if you're writing anything that involves herbal cures and potions.

Lesson: Use reference books to add realism to your writing. Don't make things up. Lots of people use herbal teas and treatments. Someone will spot your mistakes.

If you have questions or just want to shout out what a great time you're having on A to Z, you can stop by Twitter today from 1-2 pm or 8-9 pm and join the conversation at #azchat or #atozchallenge.

I hope it's finally safe to mention the weather.

"Snow and adolescence are the only problems that disappear if you ignore them long enough." Earl Wilson (not sure I agree with ignoring adolescence but it is a little funny)

Do you use any herbal remedies or drink any herbal tea? Do you have remedies passed down from your grandparents? Ever spot a mistake a writer made that could have been avoided by using a little research? Think Wilson's quote is good parenting advice?

Making Sport of Writing

Those of you who know me well, know about the Gourley family and sports. Gourleys play sports, live sports, coach sports and support all the sports they don’t play or coach. Athletics are great family activities though as often or not we’re miles apart on different fields supporting one family member or another and updating each other by cell phone.


This time of year is often a lull between seasons unless one of our teams makes the playoffs. My daughter’s field hockey team almost always makes the post season. This week they’re defending their state title from last year. It should be exciting.

Being a writer I can’t help but make comparisons between sports and a career as an author. It takes lots of practice to be good at them. You improve quicker if you have experts and those with more experience giving you direction. The encouragement of your colleagues and support persons helps you keep going when you get discouraged. You can’t succeed if you don’t try your best all the time.

Sometimes you’re so tired from the other demands in your life you want to slack on your commitment but you have to find the will to keep going. You have to take risks and be daring. You have to take criticism and use it to help you improve. There are some rules you must follow but there’s also room to show off your own talent and style. There will be painful failures and joyful successes. Sometimes you will be the best player but you won’t necessarily win. Occasionally you may not think it was fair or you’ll get a bad piece of luck. At the end of the day the best team or writer doesn’t always win.

But the successful athlete or writer only goes that much harder when the going gets tough. Don’t give up the dream. Work harder. Turn the frustration and tears into determination and sweat. The time will come when you’re the expert, coaching the inexperienced and finding more pride and joy in their growth. So keep working and give back when you’ve ‘made’ it.

What are some ways you help other writers? Do you have family or writing friends who provide support for you?

Juggling Isn't Only for the Circus

My dear mother turned eighty-five last week. You can guess by her age she grew up during the depression. She’s never used a computer, never searched for anything online and is the only person in our family who doesn’t like to read. But she has always supported her family in their reading and now me in my writing.


We didn’t have a local library in the small town where I grew up. We relied on the school for pleasure reading material. When I was a teenager I had an aunt who started sharing her romance novels with my sisters and me. I was introduced to The Hobbit in a ninth grade English class and my love of fantasy was born.

I called my mother to wish her a Happy Birthday and she asked as usual how my writing was going. She always puzzles over where I get my ideas, that infamous unanswerable question. She knew I had some edits to do last week and asked me if I’d finished them. When I explained that I had and was now working on setting up promotion, writing a short story and hoping to get back to the new manuscript I’d put aside to do edits, she became totally confused. I’m not sure I ever realized myself how much of writing is juggling various projects.

When I first started writing, I worked on one manuscript. When I finished and polished it, I started submitting it to agents. While I waited to hear back on my submissions, I took the advice of all my writing buddies and began work on the next book and then the next. Once I sold that first book, I began establishing my ‘web presence’ with social networking and building a website. By that time I was already submitting the second book, and then the third, doing edits on the first, doing promotion, and keeping up with the blogs and all those other promotion gambits.

All this is familiar territory for experienced writers but I remember the stress it caused me the first few times I had to put aside a WIP because I had to edit an older book especially if the new one was really flowing. I still long for those days when I could concentrate on one project at a time though I’m thrilled I’ve had enough success to have so many things demanding my attention. And on days when I’m ‘stuck’ on a certain scene or plot twist, I still feel as if I’ve accomplished something if I’ve updated my blog or made some new contacts on other social networking sites.

I’ve learned to juggle and most days avoid the stress inherent in it. How about you? Are you ever so busy with multiple deadlines, various projects and responsibilities it nearly overwhelms you? Have you ever missed a deadline or otherwise dropped one of those balls you juggle every day?

Weak Week

I'm not getting much done on my writing this week, but I did get that wallpaper removed last week as I promised myself I would. And it was even worse than I'd feared. Twenty hours of frustrating work revealed a wall that should never have been exposed to the light of day. Read more about how that experience related to my writing life at this blog post. Fortunately, my husband does commercial and residential painting. Using a many step process, he somehow made those walls look like a new room. Still with all the help I've been giving him, I haven't done much writing. I'm about 10K into rewrites on Tiger's Mate, but I'm so tired in the evenings I can't seem to get much done.
And (my next excuse) my children's softball and baseball seasons are coming to a close and taking up a lot of time. They have been exciting games though.
I'm using the same excuse for not getting my website updated. I did work out though. My daughter helps me keep at that as she works out in anticipation of the fall field hockey season.
Vacation plans are looking more and more unlikely to come together as the summer progresses. If you want to know how the state budge impasse affects people like, I have two sons in college this fall and their tuition is going up. No one knows how much yet, but Penn State isn't getting any money apparently and it could be up to a 10% increase in tuition. There goes summer vacation for us. The college has to send their bills out this week at the latest so they're guessing how much they need to increase since they don't know what they're getting from the state. They're guessing at the upper end of needed increase. No surprise.
So I better get back to writing. Even my little bit of writing income is needed to help this year. If only that movie deal would come through. LOL

Peer Pressure

I have twenty-four hectic hours to think about my goals for this week. Some are things I must do so there's extra incentive to get them done. A few depend on the weather so I might have to provide alternatives.
I like to put my writing goals first and all the other things second though that's not always the priority they fall realistically. By putting them first I can dream I'm a full time writer.

#1. I'm going to finish the artwork questionnaire for One Good Woman, Book Four in The Solonian Chronicles that I just contracted with New Concepts Publishing.
#2. I'm going to start work on Tiger's Mate, the second book I hope to contract with The Wild Rose Press. It follows the book I have with them, To Tame a Tiger.
#3. I'm going remove the wallpaper from my bedroom walls OR I'm going to put up two new sections of fence around my pool. Whichever the weather allows.
#4. I'm going to finish the cross stitch I've been working on over a year and take it to Michaels to get it framed.
#5. I'm going to vacuum and wash my car until it looks as good as it can look.

I love hearing how other writers set their goals. Add yours to my list and we'll help each other get them done.

Working out or Working it Out?

I blogged over at The Susquehanna Writers yesterday about my time management during the summer months and how it stinks. One thing I do manage better in the warm months is working out. I love to be outside. When I have to be on the treadmill instead of on the road or the track, I have to have music or the TV on to keep my going.
Not so outside. All I need is one sticky plot point. Today it took me fifty minutes to work it out. Not only did I figure out the dialogue, but I put some scenes in order in my head. Now I know exactly what happens next. So my heart and legs got maxed out and I'm ready to pound out more mileage on the keyboard.
Is there an activity you do when you're stuck? What mindless activity provides the distraction you need for your creative side to start producing?