Winners

If you don't try, you don't win.

Go: Quiz

Dear Readers:

You've read the "Ready" and "Set" posts, and you are now "Go" with the quiz below.

Copy all the questions (below) into an email message and answer them. 

Send the email to me by 2pm CST, Friday, April 29, 2022: 

afarinrava@gmail.com

If all your answers are correct, you will receive a prize.

Please write the word QUIZ on the email subject line.

I look forward to your email.

Look for the post Winners on Saturday, April 30, 2022, on this blog.

QUIZ

1. What kind of poems did Afarin recite as a toddler?

2. In which country did Noosha first go to school?

3. In which language did Afarin correspond with her father?

4. What was Noosha's "gift"?

5. Why did Afarin meet President Jimmy Carter in person?

6. Which country was Malous from?

7. For which language did Noosha's dad hire a tutor?

8. Who helped Afarin with her compositions in high school?

9. How did Noosha fill the gap between her classes during her first year of university?

10. How did Afarin "kill" her boss?

11. Which part of learning Chinese did Afarin find the most challenging?

12. Why did Noosha focus on editing books and tutoring children?

13. How did Noosha start a chain of ESL classes in Orange County, California?

14. What made Noosha study German again in 2021?

15. Which language is Noosha learning now?

Motivation - Part Two: Gain

I had no motivation at all. I didn't feel like working on my book or on my cabin. I didn't even feel like getting out of bed, but I had to because I needed to take the dogs out and cook for them. There was also a little voice that kept telling me I was letting my writing buddy down. We shared our word count daily, and, for several days, all I could do was apologize for not having written anything. I finally told him exactly how I felt. "What's the point?" I wrote to him.

 
Writing words has a magical power. It made me think, really think, about what the point was... for me, for my dogs, for my friends, for anyone. We all have ups and downs, and we all learn that the downs are a part of life, and they make the ups look really good. I was just going through a down phase.

So many people were dying every day, but I was still alive. Why? Maybe I would live, and maybe I wouldn't, but if I gave up doing the things that make up my life, I would be killing myself, not whatever disease was causing the tightness in my chest.

So I wrote my thoughts down, picked up my tools, and went to work on the cabin. Once I focused on my work, I forgot about how sick I felt. I could feel the tightness in my chest, and I still had difficulty breathing, but I was still alive, and I didn't want to waste my time. I concentrated on my work and got closer to my goal just a tiny bit each day. Every bit of progress I made in my writing and my construction motivated me to do more. I learned that I had created my own motivation simply by writing down how I felt.

Motivation - Part One: Loss

In March 2020, I was writing my book when I got sick. I had chest pains and couldn't breathe but didn't have a fever, so I couldn't get tested because the COVID tests were for those who did have a fever. To this day, I still don't know if I had the virus or not, but I was sick, stressed, and depressed for months. 

At the time, my projects included writing my book and building my cabin, neither of which I had any motivation to work on... because I couldn't see the point in doing anything. My brain knew my sickness could be something else entirely, but my online searches didn't reveal any disease with my exact symptoms. 

After getting turned away from my local hospital - something the hospital now denies ever happened - because they weren't "equipped to deal with the virus" and my symptoms, cough and inability to breathe, I didn't know what to do. I realized no one would help me and I had to rely on myself to do the best I could to survive, so I searched online and followed all the instructions that made sense to me. A friend also recommended an oil, mostly made of eucalyptus, that would help with breathing, which I got. I made a list of natural remedies and followed that list religiously, and it helped me physically, but it didn't take away my stress or my depression.

I had no motivation whatsoever.

Motivation - Part Two: Gain (April 28)

Harriet Tubman

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
Harriet Tubman

L&LL

 

...said the editor

If you're thinking about writing a book, read the anthology ...said the editor, created by Ava Safran.