Read Laura's Entry in the Edinburgh Literary Competition "Sunset Cruisers," then Join Her in Getting a Healthy New Year's Tune-up...
Plus, she shares pieces and parts of her journey as her road to traditional publishing continues...
IN THIS ISSUE OF MORE MILES TO GO...:
Laura’s Idle Chatter: A Few Words and a Sample Story From the Edinburgh Literary Competition
Shop Talk: Some Positive Writing Notes
Bodywork: Healthy Makeover with Dr. Andrew Weil
Letter from the Editor
LAURA’S IDLE CHATTER: A FEW WORDS AND A SAMPLE STORY FROM THE EDINBURGH LITERARY COMPETITION
As always, thank you for your readership and welcome to all my new subscribers! It’s been a few weeks since I’ve written, as I’ve gotten a bit sidetracked trying to put together an eBook for my brother about his life with spina bifida. The project took far longer than expected, and we hit a few roadblocks along the way, but his book Beyond the Bridge: 10 Lessons I’ve Learned from a Lifetime of Disability is at a good place for now and will hopefully be going to print by the New Year.
Over the summer, I was also able to undertake another major rewrite of my newest women’s fiction novel. I trimmed the book by 12,000 words upon the urging of my writer's group, and also had the book read by beta readers and have significantly tightened the prose. In all, it has taken about three years to write, and I am being quite particular about where I send my pitch letters. All that to say, I’m currently casting out my literary line, dear Universe, and hope you will send me good news soon!
In other matters, I am (still) trying to break into one of Woman’s World magazine’s short fiction columns. I promise you I will do this! With this in mind, I have branched out from writing short romances to including short, cozy mysteries. It’s been educational and fun to spread my literary wings a bit. Over the summer, I also had a few literary successes (see my positive writing notes below!) and entered the Edinburgh Festival Literary Competition. I didn’t win (tears!) but thought I would share one of my entries here.
This story is a short piece of microfiction, which, if you’ve been with me for a while, you know I love to write. Because the contest was in tandem with the Edinburgh International Book Festival, I created the story, inspired (very, if you know the book) loosely by Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy and movie A Place in the Sun. And with this, I give you:
Sunset Cruisers, by Laura Turner You promise the worn pockmarked Chris-Craft is a diamond in the rough. After polished wood, refurbished upholstery, and your tinkering under the red-leathered hood of the inboard, we make our maiden voyage. You press down the accelerator. The engine roars, echoes, we glide through coves. My hair flies back – wind at my face. We laugh, whizzing by smaller vessels. “Told you,” you say. I secure my sunglasses like Liz Taylor, you Montgomery Clift, in a classic black and white film. We take a sharp turn, the sun casts a crimson-tinged hue, and the wake washes up against the beach.
SHOP TALK: SOME POSITIVE WRITING NOTES
In the last update, I mentioned receiving notice that one of my short romantic stories, A Fresh Start, would be featured in a new online romance magazine, Micromance Magazine, out here on Substack. The editor invited me to be in their inaugural issue, and the piece ran on August 10. The editor also accepted and published a micro-fictional story of mine called Love Me Tinder. I cannot thank Gail Lynn and Micromance enough for taking an interest in my work!
As I've mentioned, I'm still knocking on the door of Woman’s World magazine’s short fiction. I recently penned a cozy mystery for them and hope this is the one! But if it's not, I'm working on yet another short romance targeted for one of their March editions. I hope you’ll see me on the shelves of your checkout counter at the grocery store soon!
BODYWORK: ONE HEALTH GURU AT A TIME. MY EXPERIENCE WITH 8 WEEKS TO OPTIMUM HEALTH WITH DR. ANDREW WEIL
In past issues of More Miles to Go, I’ve written about my personal health philosophy. That said, during my studies as a natural health practitioner and a medical student, I have amassed quite a health-related lending library. Dr. Weil has never been much on my radar, but I came across his book 8 Weeks to Optimum Health on my shelf and thought I might give it a go for a much-needed health tune-up.
The book is a tad dated, but I’m still going to give it a read again, make some necessary adjustments, and work through the highlights. Week one gives some sound advice that still holds (check with your doctor first before making changes, always):
Eat two servings of broccoli each week
Clean out your cabinets from anything partially hydrogenated and those items with a host of artificial ingredients (toss anything with long lists you can’t pronounce or anything with artificial colors)
Up your vitamin C intake to three to six grams a day
Walk at least 10 minutes a day, five days a week
Practice breath observation daily (I will include my own breathing exercises next time!).
This is all sound, evergreen health advice.
I’m going to spend the next months working through the book and will meet you back here with more highlights. If you’d like to follow along, you can find his book on Amazon. I like that he adds a spiritual component, too. So, this book will remain on my precious, healthy go-to shelf space.
A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:
Thank you again for subscribing to More Miles to Go... I appreciate your time and interest in my writing work and wellness philosophy. The comments are open. If you’d like to support me, please click on the little heart “like” button below, or feel free to leave me a comment. As always, I value your feedback as well as your precious time. See you down the road in the New Year; happy holidays, everybody!
Laugh and Be Well,
Laura
to see what the future has in store for you.