life of a georgia Artist

Good Sunday Morning to you all! So our first interview is taking a little longer then we first thought while tackling this project. So I am sharing a Sunday Story with you. If you have been with me for awhile you may remember the Sunday series I used to run. I always tell you you can find me on Medium, but wanted to include one here too. So without further, well you know, here is one that is on Spillwords under Debbie Aruta.                               Photo by Ján Jakub Naništa on Unsplash                                         Horror House   She lived in that house at the end of the road. You know the one I am talking about. The one that you were told that if you go close enough to it, that it will eat yo...

With a recent writing prompt I went down a rabbit hole to Bali. I had a character who won a trip and first place that plopped into my head was Bali. Now I have never been and would love to go, but Bali? Not somewhere I went already, somewhere where I knew the place, people, customs, nope Bali. Photo by Omer Rana on Unsplash   I included the scenery in the story, the markets, the village, the house the character lived in and just about everything else I knew nothing about. My point is sometimes writing fiction is doing research. Sometime it is not the writing, but the writing with accuracy that matters. I love the lush landscape of the Bali countryside. The natural curves of the land are pure God's work. The being surrounded by water helps too.     Photo by Bernard Hermant on Unsplash   A house in Bali may have doors, but the house is pretty much open. The air is sweet to nap in, the temperature is perfect. The sun is not fierce to fry you, and...

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash Interview Sunday's will start this Sunday and run for at least 6 weeks if not more. This will be a place where we share our creative. We will share how we started, the hard work, the success or failures. We will encourage each other. Yes all my interviews are of women. I support women who are trying to make a name for themselves. They are struggling to be heard and this platform I hope will allow them to be seen by a wider base. These interviews are meant to be fun and lighthearted. So Im going to answer some of these questions about myself as a writer and get the ball rolling. The first real interview will be published Sunday. My name is Debbie and I come from New Jersey, but have moved all over the world and call Georgia my home. My creative gift is with a mixture of photography and words. I stir them together to form a cohesive story that I hope resonates with people's hearts. I hope I build characters that you root for or a...

Writing Rules & Breaking Them It has been said that there are only two story lines: a journey happens or a stranger appears. It has also been said that there is a formula that makes for a well written story. Your antagonist needs to do X, your protagonist needs to do Y. We are told good writing must have some conflict, someone learns something, someone solves something, and someone helps someone. In between X&Y there are five differentiating circumstances. Supposedly if you follow the formulas many websites, published authors, and editors agree upon then you will have a successful book, sell lots of copies, and have a hoard of happy readers praising you in life. I suggest throwing out the rules after you mastered them, abandon all inhibitions, and write from your heart and with whimsy and exuberance. It might not be an award winning story, but I guarantee you that it will include some really good threads that you can continue an amazing stor...

Writing is a Journey Photo by Clark Young on Unsplash   Sometimes the journey is the adventure and not the destination, writing is the adventure and being a published author is the destination. Writers have no choice but to write down what is in their head. We do not have the luxury of ignoring the voices in our heads and wishing them away. They bang longer, harder, louder when ignored. We must write them down. We must begin our adventure even if we do not want to write. We can fight it all we want, we can argue with ourselves, but in the end if we are made to write, we will write. There is no other choice. Being a writer is an adventure. We begin by writing for ourselves. We start to record memories, stories, items we have heard here or there, we stir them all together and we come up with amazing poems, short stories, fiction, and nonfiction. Finding our voice, differentiating it from everyone else’s, and writing our own style down is our journey. Little by ...

                                                     Photo by Hannah Jacobson on Unsplash People claim to be writers if they write one short story and call it a day. Being a writer is not  for the faint of heart.Being a writer means putting your heart on the page and leaving it wide open for others to judge it. It means thousands of hours poured onto the page, it means long stretches at the computer or notebook, it means opening yourself up to ridicule, loathing, and by all means stalkers, haters, and other mentally challenged people. Being a writer means being ready to write then be attacked for it! Writers are mothers, fathers, sisters, accountants, teachers (honestly they probably have some of the best stories aro...

Hey all, As most of you have followed along on Melanie and her witch journey, I wanted to share with you my links for Melanie's story and a collection of my short stories. Short Stories by Debbie Aruta This is a collection of all sorts of shorts I wrote. I thought it would be a great idea to put my favorites into one place. My Melanie Book with all the final edits can be found on Amazon.com  Melanie's Magical Woes Also if you want to keep up with more of my writings you can find me on Medium.com Medium _Debbie_Aruta I hope you are all well and this Sunday I will start my Sunday Stories back until Halloween. A Little Haunting story never hurt anyone. 95 here today so I do not believe it got the word about Autumn, but its coming!! Happy Haunting, xo Debbie

                                                                                                             Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash It is that time again, horror. Halloween is fast approaching. Those who have followed me along know that the genre of horror writing is not my thing, but at this time of year I dip my quill into the pot and see if any ink comes up. This year I have been inspired by Icelandic tales and try my hand at one. M...

                                    Photo by  Lonely Planet  on  Unsplash So after writing the post about journaling I thought perhaps we should delve a little deeper into that sea. A lot of you reading probably want to write but are not sure where to start. I have been doing my morning writing in my journal and have come to realize you might all be lost, so lets talk about what to write in first. As many authors have said you can write in whatever you want, but let me suggest a nice journal. I have an Italian leather one from Italy. Barnes & Noble sell them. I bought it for myself for a birthday one year because I thought even if I write crap it will be nice to put it in something beautiful. Now you can write on paper, three subject notebooks, or journals, but it is the writing that matters. I have a favorite cheap pen I use all the time and found that works best for me...

Good Morning, I come to share some words and thoughts with you lovelies. I have recently been reading, basically some GO GIRL type of works and it hit me how so mannnnnny people actually need to hear it. When did we as women stop believing in ourselves that we need someone to tell us we are enough, that we are blessed to have our kids, that we can do what we dream of doing? Now do not get me wrong, this lady saying it is smart and encouraging and a great cheerleader of women, but why do we as women no longer believe it on our own? Perhaps the world has once again shifted. Perhaps you have been through hell in your life and need to hear it again, perhaps your world has shrunk so far that it is just you in it, but whatever it is I am here to agree with this young lady and say you are enough. You do not need to have a man or women to validate how amazing you are. The world is no ones oyster. It is a collective space where we have to live with people we like and dislike who like a...