Continue reading for the significance.
10:30 pm and 75 degrees.
Thanks to BERNITA for the complimentary review of LOTTERY. It is always nerve-racking to send your baby out and I am so touched that he has been well received. Thank you.
I never thought much about Dragonflies before last summer. Early July. My friend Nodie was reading the manuscript of LOTTERY on a kayak trip on Kauai (say THAT three times fast). A large brilliant dragonfly hovered around her and then landed on my manuscript. It sat there for several moments.
She spoke about it later.
She said Dragonflies in Japan (and Hawaii) are considered good fortune. They symbolize success, victory, happiness, strength and courage.
A few weeks later I was offered representation by the William Morris Agency.
Months pass.
I am walking down the dock.
My novel LOTTERY had just gone out on submission that morning. I hear a faint buzzing. The sun is only just rising. A giant red dragonfly soars and circles me. The orange of the sun casts long shadows across the water. I stop. Around and around he wings. I reach out my hand. He almost lands but circles again and lifts away.
The next day I am told LOTTERY will go to auction.
I have to believe in Dragonflies.
I must.
They symbolize all that is good in books and in writing. But do I keep them to myself?
No.
I sent a paper one to my author friend Jacquelyn Mitchard. I gave a fused glass one to my editor Peternelle. Holly and I exchange them.
Dragonflies are to be shared.
Success is to be shared.
It can happen to all of us.
It grows exponentially when this is done. When you hesitate. When you stop short of giving another writer support you are not allowing the Dragonfly to land and luck will elude you.
When you offer your help you create the energy of Dragonflies and success will be yours.
After all.
Writing is what we all love.
What we all do.
We share in the power.
Of the Dragonfly.
Posts
18 comments:
Cool.
Pat,
Check out this link:
http://southwestdragonflies.net/SWGuide.html
Now, that's not geographically in your area, but there might be some overlap in species that are common to Hawaii and the Southwest states.
Linda
(P.S. I know the authors as they've spoken at my writers club meetings.)
That's really interesting because I've always loved dragonflies. I love to watch them fly. I love their colors. I really love that they eat mosquito larva!
It's a wonnerful, wonnerful book, Pat!Dragonflies are exquisite. My favourites have bronze and scarlet.
And like Kimber An says, they are soo beneficial!!
Pat, I should have a new car by now. Beautiful dragonflies landed on my car's antenna every day for like a year. I must be getting a really nice ride! :*) Hope so anyway...
So cool, huh?
Now Pat and I have matching iron dragonflies -- she uses hers to hold down loose pages of her WIP while writing on her boat in Hawaii; I use mine to hold down pages of my WIP from the drafty basement window over my desk :)
Writers writing with a little luck thrown in for good measure!
Fun stuff.
Lovely, really.
And how about this: I have a pair of stained glass dragonflies on the picture window just beyond my desk...
And a good friend just gave me a beautiful glass-and-lead one for my flower garden, as a birthday gift.
One of my birthday cards featured a prominent one.
I believe. :-)
That's so cool! Thank you for sharing.
Pat,
I love this commentary. It's a beautiful thought and I hope you know how much I appreciate the support you've given and continue to give to me. Thanks for the wonderful words.
Lisa
What a lovely way to put it.
Sharing dragonflies.
I think I'm going to use that phrase from now on. It just seems so right.
That's why I've decided to go to every author reading I can, and listen and learn, maybe ask a question, and then buy the book. I want to support writers!
Pat:
What a great piece. I've always loved dragonflies and think they are beautiful. I'm a "collector" so now I'll start a collection of dragonflies.
helen r
So consider hints and helpful advice little virtual dragonflies.
We send them flying to each other.
No jealousies.
No hurtful criticisms.
Just unconditional positive regard.
I confess I didn't know that dragonflies were considered lucky. One circled me just the other day.
I wonder who it went to bless next?
Sooo...what should I make of the time my cat peed on my laptop?
Yeah, I want to know about the kitty peepee too. Cause if that's considered lucky, then I'm swimming in it! ;)
Amazing creatures - and named after dragons - how can they not be cool?
Oh, that's so fun! I get to add a mini-eperience of my own. On Sunday I woke up with the most fabulous concept for a book. I had to drop everything (and I've got a lot of irons in the fire right noe, so that was a lot of dropping) and start on it RIGHT NOW!! . . . Well, after church.:)
My daughter had a lesson on insects in her little class and she came home with this big plastic dragonfly.
In the last five days I have written just shy of 20,000 words on this book and I am having to drag my twitching fingers away form the keyboard each night to get some sleep.
Hopefully the dragonfly will being me good fortune too. It's certainly worked so far.:)
BTW, Miss Snark totally <3 you.;)
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