Inspirations, the Stories Space Coffee House: If you're reading this it just might mean I'm back, sorta. If you're not reading this, well, congratulations.

Tough call between the kebabs and key lime tarts but I love key lime so I guess that's where I'll land.

Good morning. Still in a heat warning here. 33C with a humidex (how it feels with humidity factored in) around 40. Supposed to be rainy tomorrow and then cooler.

Toying with stories but progress is slow. Between work and life, writing gets short shrift much as I enjoy doing it.

Those bee cookies look pretty tasty Cora.

I have a cold, though it isn’t too bad. I was in bed most of yesterday, and while I will get up and around today, I’m still feeling a bit punk, as my Dad used to say.

Roland, I am so psyched about a female umpire! A female pitcher is next! In other baseball news, the Mets appear to suck yet again, and with the highest payroll in baseball. Heavy sigh.

Coffee please!

Good morning. We are well-endowed with goodies now that Cora is back. I will put on some Tobermory Grotto coffee to go with those. Maybe some David's Breakfast and Buddha's Blend for teas. Washed the pitchers and made fresh iced tea and lemonade. Sodas are stocked.

How goes it? Still steamy here and isn't improving much in the coming days, either.

Good morning, everyone!

I wanted to write a song the other day so I looked up songwriting to see if I could get tips. It differs from poetry, which is what I seem to gravitate towards. It's rather difficult and challenging. I think I'll put writing a song on the back burner and focus on other things. I can't pin down a memoir which is something I've wanted to write for a long while. So inspiration has yet to come to me for a story/flash fiction, which is what I'm best at. I'll think some more today. My mind is always running from one thing to another.

I hope everyone has a lovely day.

🌹Cora's Creations🌹 brings you these delicious treats

Sweet Beach Cookies

Mini Lemon Cheesecakes

Flower Sugar Cookies

Enjoy! 😊

Quote by Cora
It differs from poetry, which is what I seem to gravitate towards.

They are different but I think they also interact. Just look at my posts about Leonard Cohen in the poets poll thread. And it is not just him, other songwriters have also been published poets (the late Gord Downie of Canadian alt-rockers The Tragically Hip comes to mind). Most lyrics are poetry in form, but then also need to adapt to the flow of music, which is where the difference comes in. Great lyrics are usually also great poetry, and lyric poetry is a genre for a reason, but the reverse is not necessarily true.

And keep in mind that we often see ancient works as poems that were actually sung in their day. The Psalms come to mind. While there are hymns and other works that are settings of them, we often encounter many of them as readings, in spoken word rather than musical form. Greek lyric poetry is mostly like that, too.

I have contemplated songwriting as well but I am not sure how one writes lyrics without a tune and while I dearly love music, I am terrible at it from a performance standpoint. So I would likely have to take an existing melody and adapt to it unless I found someone more adept at music than I to write me a tune (though I have occasionally had tunes in my head for my poems). Someone else was musing about this in a thread somewhere on here recently as well.

Thank you, Mendalla, for your encouraging and detailed response. Leonard Cohen came to mind as I was writing how I wanted to write a song, reflecting back to yesterday on our chat over his work. You brought up some great points, a few I reflected over today.

You wrote you dearly love music. For me, music has been a large factor of my life for a long time. While I can play the acoustic guitar a little, I don't have the talent to put together a melody for a song.

Poetry and songwriting are similar, as you wrote. I did find a couple key differences in the art of songwriting, i.e. how the chorus relates to verses.

That said, I'm grateful for your help and advice, and the unique points you brought up.

Good morning, everyone.

Nothing interesting to say this morning. I woke up in a melancholic mood and can't get out of it. I think I may listen to a lot of music today. Maybe I'll get some writing done. I usually write when I'm not at my best.

I hope everyone has a lovely day.

🌹Cora's Creations🌹 brings you these delicious treats

Cinnamon Sugar Peach Upside Down Cake

Key Lime Pie Bars

Raspberry Streusel Bars

Enjoy! 😊

Quote by Cora
I think I may listen to a lot of music today.

Music is certainly what works for me a lot of the time. Probably not the same music that you listen to (unless you also happen to be a fan of Nightwish and Floor Jansen) but music nonetheless.

Some really yummy looking stuff up there. Raspberry streusel should go well with an afternoon tea (Yorkshire Gold).

Hope your day got better or at least that you got some writing going.

Good morning, everyone

Mendalla, you are correct about our music choices. I listen to a range of things, but Chili Peppers have been my favorite for about a decade. I saw them in concert.

Thanks for hoping my day got better. I got a few lines written for a song but then deleted them. I think I set a bar for myself to great songwriters and anything less should be scrapped, which is wrong. I think I forced myself out of that mentality last night, though.

You've mentioned you're busy at work. Not sure if you still are, but I hope things are going smoothly on your end. Did you get any gardening done this summer? I know you like that.

Awhile ago I mentioned how Inspirations goes through lulls with it not being as active like other times. It's nice chatting with you, but I hope more people join in again.

I hope everyone has a lovely day.

🌹Cora's Creations🌹 brings you these delectable treats

Peaches and Cream Pretzel Pie

Coffee and Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream topped with Cookie Dough and Chocolate Chips

Pecan Pie Bars

Enjoy 😊

On a break from work today. Didn't sleep well and have a migraine looming (or so it feels like). We're into the back half of the year an I haven't burned any sick days so I took one.

Oo, those pecan pie bars look lovely. Pecans are one of my favourite nuts and I love them in baking like pies and tarts.

Quote by Cora
listen to a range of things, but Chili Peppers have been my favorite for about a decade. I saw them in concert.

My music is all over the map these days, even if I tend to come across as a bit of a metalhead at times. Not really a fan of the Chilis music (listenable but not my first choice), but there's some incredible talent in that band (Flea is one of the best bassists alive).

That ice cream looks DELISH, Cora.

Enjoy playing hooky, Ape.

Me? Therapy at noon, school pickup for grandson at 3, and work on the last 4 chapters of this second draft in the off hours.

I have a jury duty call next week. Sigh. I kinda enjoyed my last jury summons, but I'm in the middle of a bunch of things now. I may have to act crazy (MORE crazy) so they won't pick me.

Coffee and ice cream please.

Mendalla, I hope you feel better. Migraines keep me in bed for days sometimes. I hope yours isn't too bad. I'm glad you took a sick day to hopefully relax.

verbal, good to see you around here! Sounds like life is really busy for you right now. Hope everything settles down. Because I have epilepsy I know I'll never get called for jury duty. Hopefully things will work in your favor and you won't get picked. I believe everything will work out as it's meant to and you'll be able to take care of it all.

Quote by verbal
I have a jury duty call next week.

My last call was weird. I was going to ask for a deferral (forget why just now) but then it got cancelled. No idea why.

Quote by verbal
I may have to act crazy (MORE crazy) so they won't pick me.

So kind of the courtroom version of Max Klinger? 😀

Good morning, everyone

I'm going to Morning Mass in a short while because it's a Holy Day of Obligation; The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Other than that, not sure what the day holds for me.

I hope everyone has a lovely day.

🌹Cora's Creations🌹 brings you these delectable treats

Raspberry Cream Napoleons

Ice Cream Sandwiches - Sprinkles or Plain

Maple Cinnamon Pecan Pie Bars

Enjoy! 😊

Yeesh, pecan bars were already fantastic. But adding maple and cinnamon to them? That's kind of like making my perfect dessert. scarfs two

Better today. Still a bit fatigued but that's normal after an attack. And losing a couple hours sleep the other night will be a factor, too. I find losing sleep takes a day or so to really hit me.

Weather is getting better, at least. Supposed to be down to the mid-twenties (24-26) by mid-week next week and even this weekend drops to 27 after one last gasp of the 30s today and tomorrow. All Celsius, of course. Mid-twenties Fahrenheit is a whole other issue and we won't get there until at least December.🙄😊

Happy Saturday and good morning, everyone!

I hope you are all doing well. My family wants to go to the Air and Water Show today or tomorrow. It might storm today and it's very hot. Tomorrow will still be hot, but not as hot. I used to like going to the show but I don't really have an interest anymore. We always do something together on weekends so I have no idea what the day holds for me. I hope everyone is having a beautiful weekend.

I hope you all have a lovely Saturday.

🌹Cora's Creations🌹 offers you these delectable treats

Chocolate Chip Cookie Warmed in a Skillet with Ice Cream and Chocolate Fudge

Donuts Galore

Butter Pecan Cookies

Enjoy! 😊

That cookies and ice cream in a skillet looks wonderful but butter pecan cookies are calling my name.

Hitting 30 here but the humidity has gone down so it's definitely better than the last few times we hit that mark.

Noisy next door. Lots of activity from the kids. I saw people going in with gift bags so I'm thinking there's a birthday party happening.

Good morning, everyone!

My family ended up going to the Air and Water Show. I stayed home. It was very hot, chance of storms, and no interest. Pinky, my miniature pinscher, stayed with me. She's too small for heat like that. It reached 105 degrees. Pinky is content when we're all together. If someone leaves the house or is even in another room she'll start crying and become very upset until we're all united in the same room.

We did get some bad storms and the power went out several times within 5 minutes. It was strange. I liked looking at the lightening and listening to the storms. Then my family and other dog, Rose, came home with leftover pizza from a famous Chicago pizza place. And we watched "Top Gun" with the late Val Kilmer. That's a great movie. On unquestionable authority, from a specialized Vietnam veteran, I've heard "Top Gun" is supposed to be one of the best and most accurately depicted films.

Mendalla, heat and humidity are pretty bad right now in Chicago as well as Canada. Hopefully temperatures will cool off by September. I'm looking forward to Autumn, even Winter as well.

I hope everyone enjoys a lovely Sunday!

🌹Cora's Creations🌹 offers you these delectable treats

Chocolate Raspberry Mini Tarts

Turtle Bars

Peach Pie Cruffins with Powdered Sugar

Enjoy! 😊

It's actually better here today. Less humid, temps are below 30, there's a breeze. This week is actually looking decent on the weather front. And we had a good rain last night so everything is well watered now.

Hard to choose amongst today's treats. Maybe the chocolate raspberry tarts.

I am working on a story that I come back to from time to time. As it stands, it can't go on here (too much "spice" as the romance crowd would say) but I am not sure what to do with it. If I keep going at the current rate, might end up novella length, which means I could seriously consider self-publishing. And it's basically a billionaire romance that might also head in a fantastical direction, so a billionaire romantasy, both of which are hot genres so might be marketable. Or I could nerf the spice down to R-rated levels for here. We'll see. Story is about a woman with a secret past getting shipwrecked on a playboy tech billionaire's private island and hitting it off with him. Then her past shows up.

Happy Monday, everyone!

Busy work days ahead for next few weeks. And still hot af.

I’ll take some sweets from equally sweet Cora.

Good morning, everyone!

If you think your story has potential for novella length, go for it. It seems like self-publishing is becoming increasingly popular, some friends and authors even advertising their works on SS. You could maybe do something like what Anna did; she published "The Nurses" and put the first several chapters on here. I think the biggest question you need to ask yourself is where do you want to publish? It's always fun publishing on here, but self-publishing can also be fun and exciting. This is given you will publish your story, which sounds very probable.

WriterGirl, nice seeing you! I hope you find calm and peace within the business of your workdays. 🤗

I hope everyone has a lovely day!

🌹Cora's Creations🌹 offers you these delectable treats

Chocolate Coconut Bars

Churros in Ice Cream with Carmel Topping

Baked Maple Pecan Donuts

Enjoy! 😊