The Twelve Days of Christmas-Introvert Style: Day Twelve

On the twelfth day of Christmas

my true love gave to me
Twelve guests a-leaving
Batteries re-charging
One well a-filling
No public speaking
Close friends connecting
Plenty time for napping
Six hours a-plotting
One emp-ty house
Four ear plugs
Three note books
Two soothing drinks
And a nice quiet place to just be…

It’s over! You’ve done it! You’ve survived another holiday season—hopefully with your sanity in tact and not feeling like a wrung out dishrag by the end. Your friends and family have feasted, the perfect presents exchanged, and just enough snatched moments here and there that you remember why the holidays are such a magical time, even when you’re not a child.

One of the times I love most is the dead zone between Christmas and New Years. When I was a kid, Dec. 26 was the saddest day of the year. Not so much any more. It seems as if life kind of stops—or at least slows down. It’s a fallow, fertile time when we’ve just capped the year with a celebration and have yet to start the new year with all its resolutions, plans, and intentions. It’s a time for dreaming, reflecting, of reviewing and savoring. If you haven’t had a chance to refill your well or recharge your batteries, grab some time now, while everyone is in this lulled state.

And in order to dream big for next year, today's winner will receive a very cool, very writerly/readerly PaperBlanks 2009 purse size dayplanner! (It's the one on the bottom with all the writing on it.) And the final winner is--Number 20! Jenn Robinson! When you get a chance, Jenn, send me an email and I'll make my final trip to the post office. :-)

Thank you all so much for participating in the Introverted Writer's Twelve Days of Christmas! It's been so much fun. And thank you all for being a part of the Shrinking Violet community. We look forward to an inspiring, well-filling, battery-charging, 2009! (With maybe a teensy dash of public speaking thrown in.)

See you all next year!

Robin and Mary

The Twelve Days of Christmas-Introvert Style: Day Eleven

On the eleventh day of Christmas

my true love gave to me
Batteries re-charging
One well a-filling
No public speaking
Close friends connecting
Plenty time for napping
Six hours a-plotting
One emp-ty house
Four ear plugs
Three note books
Two soothing drinks
And a nice quiet place to just be…

And no, we don’t mean Duracell or Eveready! We really can’t state this one strongly enough. It’s something introverts have to be vigilant about during the best of time, but during the holidays, it is critical! Take the time to recharge your battery! Do not risk depleting your reserves! (Yes, that’s an order. Or maybe just a sternly worded warning: Whichever makes you most inclined to follow it!)

When my kids were small and I was stupid, in an effort to accommodate all the various factions of my family I (no lie) put on a Christmas Eve Dinner (14 guests) a Christmas Breakfast (only four guests) and a Christmas Dinner (12 guests). I did that for about five years and then I began getting deathly ill every Christmas. Coincidence? Clearly not. My body was stepping in and saying NO for me when I couldn’t. Don’t put yourself in that position.

And because reading is such a great way to recharge those batteries today’s winner will receive a box o’ books , including The Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, The 39 Clues: Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan, and The Case of the Left-Handed Lady by Nancy Springer. And the winner is Number 9--Yat Yee!

Email me Yat Yee and I will get those out to you!

The Twelve Days of Christmas-Introvert Style: Day Ten

On the tenth day of Christmas
my true love gave to me
One well a-filling
No public speaking
Close friends connecting
Plenty time for napping
Six hours a-plotting
One emp-ty house
Four ear plugs
Three note books
Two soothing drinks
And a nice quiet place to just be…

Of course its critically important to keep your batteries charged (and we’ll get to that tomorrow) but you also need to remember to fill you well; give your soul the food it needs to feel nurtured and aLivE, whether it’s your writing well or simply your personal well. While battery recharging brings us back up to functional levels, filling the well builds up a richness of reserves deep within us; it nourishes our creative spirit.

Is there something that says Christmas to you that no one else really cares for? A local production of The Nutcracker? Watching Love Actually (my favorite Christmas movie EVER), a certain collection of holiday music that makes everyone else groan when you put it on? Fill your holiday well by doing the things that make your holiday feel complete and yours. Remember, this is not self-indulgence, it’s self-preservation. It’s also a way to honor the spirit of the holidays in a way that has personal significance for you.

And today's winner is Number 71--Deborah K. White. In order to assist her in filling her well, she'll receive a copy of Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones, and a copy of Julia Cameron's Artist Date Book and an iTunes gift card! When you have a chance, Deborah, email me and I'll get your prize in the mail!

Here's wishing all your wells are filled to overflowing!

The Twelve Days of Christmas-Introvert Style: Day Nine

On the ninth day of Christmas
my true love gave to me
No public speaking
Close friends connecting
Plenty time for napping
Six hours a-plotting
One emp-ty house
Four ear plugs
Three note books
Two soothing drinks
And a nice quiet place to just be…

No public speaking doesn’t really need any explanation on a blog full of introverts. However, I’m going to put out a plea for all the introverted children out there in the world and make a couple of requests. One is the whole Santa thing that Mary alluded to a few days ago. For introverted children, having to get up in Santa’s lap and TALK to this perfect stranger, usually IN FRONT OF other perfect strangers can be the 6 year old equivalent of public speaking.

And secondly, the whole "let’s everybody watch each kids open their presents one gift at a time while twenty relatives watch" thing. I understand that this comes from the desire to not have four weeks worth of shopping and eight hours worth of wrapping over with in four minutes. I get that. But I also so clearly remember how painful it was. Oh the pressure! All those eyes on me! What if I didn’t have the right expression of gratitude on my face! What if it was something I hated—could I pretend well enough to fool everyone?

Surely you’re beginning to see the similarities between some of these traditions and public speaking…

And, because no introvert wants to win anything that has to do with public speaking, today’s winner wins a signed copy of Jane Porter’s Ms Perfect! (Jane is an SVP blog reader.) And the drumroll please . . . Number 100 – Julie Layne!

You know the drill, Julie. Email me and I’ll get your book in the mail!

The Twelve Days of Christmas-Introvert Style: Day Eight

On the eighth day of Christmas
my true love gave to me
Close friends connecting
Plenty time for napping
Six hours a-plotting
One emp-ty house
Four ear plugs
Three note books
Two soothing drinks
And a nice quiet place to just be…

Because really, isn’t that one of the best parts of the holiday? Seeing those you love, snatching a great heart-to-heart or catching up in the corner while everyone else is drinking too much eggnog or playing with the kids new wii? That’s one of the myths about introverts, that we’re anti-social beings. Not so! We love to connect in a meaningful way, which is why it’s so important to conserve our social energy—so we have enough left to give to those who are truly important in our lives!

Whichever holiday you celebrate be sure to schedule in some time to connect with those you hold dear.

Our prize today is three books written by three people we hold dear, Shrinking Violet interviewees Brent Hartinger, Cecil Castelluci, and Jacqueline Woodson. And the winner is . . . Number 48! Sabrina!

Email me Sabrina so I can get those out to you!

Wishing you all lots of warm and wonderful moments with those you love...

The Twelve Days of Christmas-Introvert Style: Day Seven

On the seventh day of Christmas
my true love gave to me
Plenty time for napping
Six hours a-plotting
One emp-ty house
Four ear plugs
Three note books
Two soothing drinks
And a nice quiet place to just be…

Do I really need to explain the benefits of napping? I thought not. Whether it be a long luxurious 2 hour nap where you sleep hard enough to get bed head, or quick refreshing pick-me-up of a 20 minute cat nap, we hope you find some time in the busy days ahead to allow yourself a luxury of a nap.

One of the greatest things about being a writer is that naps refresh the subconscious and allow it to make important breakthroughs in our writing. Which leads to one of the major perks of being a writer: Writer + nap = work. (Or at least, that’s what I’ve managed to convince my family.) What’s not to love about that?

And to ensure the ultimate napping experience, today’s winner--Number 12, Kimberly Lyn!--will receive a lavender candle and bath salts. Email me Kimberly Lyn, and I will get those right out to you.

Sweet Dreams!

The Twelve Days of Christmas-Introvert Style: Day Six

On the sixth day of Christmas

my true love gave to me
Six hours a-plotting
One emp-ty house
Four ear plugs
Three note books
Two soothing drinks
And a nice quiet place to just be…

Okay, so the plotting is probably a pipe dream, especially during the busy holiday season. But don’t forget there are other kinds of plotting; plotting for a few hours solitude, plotting for a quick escape, plotting to get everyone to leave early. . .

And today’s winner is Number 60 - acpaul! And just in case acpaul is superb at this sneaking in time for yourself routine, ac will receive a copy of The Plot Thickens by Noah Lukeman, President of Lukeman Literary Management. And, in case that is too left-brained for you, a copy of Take Joy, by writing maven, Jane Yolen.

Email me with your snail mail address, ac, and I will get your prize out to you.

Here's hoping all your plotting is productive!