TEN ZEN SECONGS BlogTour: WEEK THREE

Author, ERIC MAISEL will be visiting an interesting group of bloggers this week to speak about his breathing and mindfulness techniques in his new book, Ten Zen Seconds . How this applies to an artful life and those who write, how to apply mindfulness for creative focus and even enriching relationships with pets will be addressed. Here's this week's blog tour schedule.

• MONDAY, APRIL 30
Dani Greer
http://www.womenwritingthewest.com
Blog: http://www.squidoo.com/writeprompts
Flagler, Colorado

Dani is a professional artist and writer who recently began to blog and squidoo. She first heard about Blog Book Tours through a fellow Women Writing the West colleague and believes that in light of Peak Oil and Climate Change, the Blog Book Tour idea is brilliant and bound to be a much-used marketing technique by many writers in the near future. Dani is particularly interested in discovering what kind of interest she can generate for the concept in the Squidoo Community. (For more information about the Squidoo Community, visit them at http://www.squidoo.com)

Dani and Eric will chat about how to use each of the Ten Zen Second incantations as a daily writing prompts.

• TUESDAY, MAY 1
Mary Gordon
Blog: www.creativevoyage.blogspot.com
Edinburgh, Scotland
Mary Gordon is an Artists Way group facilitator, documentary maker, knitter and blogger.
Mary and Eric will be chatting about using Zen Ten Second techniques to help us determine what we authentically want to create.

• WEDNESDAY, MAY 2
Judith Nasse http://www.judithnasse.com
Blog: http://childrens-book-reviews.blogspot.com
Taos, NM, USA
Judith Nasse loves children's books, and deeply enjoys reviewing the books that come her way, no matter the genre or age level. She is in the process of creating her own picture books and young adult historical fiction. She has a passion for the creative process in the making of children's books especially finding joy in the long process of research, writing, and illustrating.

Judith and Eric will focus on the creative process of children's books, especially how to maintain daily creativity and a positive outlook in the face of the long process, rejections, the inevitable doubts, and the plethora of conflicting attitudes from society and the publishing world, as well as Ten Zen Second techniques for children.

• THURSDAY, MAY 3
Martha Garvey - My Dog’s World I Just Live In It
http://www.myfatdogbook.com
Blog: http://myfatcat.typepad.com/kindly_eccentric_middleag/
Hoboken, New Jersey
Martha Garvey was once a dog-fearing writer who in 2001 adopted Faith, a pit bull mix, from a Jersey City shelter. It changed her life big time. Since then, she has written two books, “My Fat Dog” and “My Fat Cat,” both subtitled “10 Simple Steps to Help Your Pet Lose Weight,” which is what she writes about on her blogs, along with more general issues around the challenges of pet ownership. Though her books don’t quite have “10 Zen Seconds,” they do offer “Five Fat Minutes,” quick and easy tips for improving pet health.

The focus of the blogtour day will be on applying the spirit and the letter of “Ten Zen Seconds” to responsible pet ownership—that is, encouraging people to use their creativity in small, manageable doses to enrich their relationships with their pets; and, just as importantly, to relax while they do it. Martha thinks that she may also ask Eric if dogs meditate, if she finds herself in the right mood.

• FRIDAY, MAY 4
Jan Allsopp
Blog: http://janallsopp.blogspot.com
Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia
Jan Allsopp is a visual artist with 20 years experience working in the mediums of painting, drawing and sculpture. About a year ago, Jan decided to turn her hand to sketching and journaling her travels and her everyday life. She was surprised at how challenging it was to work in this way, and how enjoyable and fulfilling. "...in my spare time" is the blog that came along for the ride. There Jan posts her sketches, journal entries and from time to time showcases her other work.

Jan and Eric will focus will be on everyday mindfulness for the visual artist.

• SATURDAY, MAY 5
Catherine
http://poetrychook.blogspot.com
Christchurch, New Zealand
Catherine is a poet, family historian and occasional quiltmaker who blogs about these topics in words and images, along with anything else that takes her fancy.

Catherine and Eric will chat about the use of mindfulness techniques for finding a creative focus - in particular for those whose energies are necessarily spread in several directions (day job, family, creative pursuits etc). How can mindfulness help with the energy needed to start or re-start our creative tasks, when competing demands require that these tasks must fit into small portions of our time?

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