Writing, authors, artists,
The squirrel outside my window gobbles up birdseed with the same eagerness and contentment today as he did yesterday. I imagine he will feel the same tomorrow, New Year’s Day. Eagerness and contentment. I had to think about those adjectives. But, I’ve been watching Starlight (that’s what I’ve named our squirrel), and those are the words that best describe him. I wonder if they are words I could use to […]
It’s Christmas Eve, for those of you who celebrate. But, it’s also Sunday Post Day for me. To begin, I am wishing you all a Merry…everything you celebrate, believe in, and/or value as a custom this time of year. A sincere Merry-Merry to you all! As for my writing advice, I’ve just tried something new below. I’m calling it a Glimpse: Take a memory from one of the characters in […]
Holidays can bring out unusual feelings. Hopeful, nostalgic, inspired, and joyful, yet also crazed, anxious, melancholy, or even hostile. I hope whatever you’re feeling today, just days before Christmas, you are able to sit down with paper and pen (or computer and keyboard) and write down your feelings. Write without guilt. If you are an artist— sketch, paint, create. Use this stirring opportunity as a ticket to express. Memories, Aspirations, Realities Write […]
Dear readers, I have a favor to ask. I am working on a special project involving adoption, and am looking for new (honest) perspectives in my research. Would you be willing to share? Of course, I have some writing advice at the end, as always. Currently, I am looking for thoughts on adoption from any angle… the adopter, the adoptee, the mother choosing adoption as her choice, or the […]
I have accomplished mountains of laundry and grading today. You were maybe thinking I had completed writing the outline for my second book, Dream Keepers, or made progress on my poetry project. I wish those writing feats were true. Although I wear many hats these days, and as writer-teacher-wife-mother-friend… my mother and teacher hats needed to be pulled out of the closet. However, I have some writing tips below to help with a […]
I didn’t do much this l-o-n-g Thanksgiving weekend. In fact, save for the ekphrastic poem I wrote for a writing group, I didn’t do any writing at all. I could have. I had time. But, I think with all the writing I knew I needed to do… book two manuscript, more queries for book one, poetry project… I just needed a few days of idle nothingness. To be honest, doubt […]
Working towards a goal takes time. It takes energy and effort. It takes sacrifice. Imagine working on and on and on, but never celebrating the small accomplishments along the way to your final destiny. Wouldn’t those smaller reminders of success be helpful in getting you across the finish line? I believe it is imperative to stop and celebrate the small steps. These are the steps in between that lead you […]
Possibilities ~ I love this word because it’s full of hope. Anticipation swells in my belly as the word rolls off my tongue. Possibility is defined as the state or fact of being possible. Possible is defined as that which may or can be, exist, happen, be done, be used, etc. When I think of possibilities I imagine tall skyscrapers in bustling cities, or massive mountains in landscape vistas. No […]
Hard-working; an adjective. How much effort do you need to put into your work to consider it hard? How is it measured? I will tell you with examples from my own life (because I am only an expert in my own life). And at the end, I have included a poem from writer friend, Melissa Steffy, because it fits perfectly with this message. My three children have all celebrated a […]
Goal setting is something I strive to do on a regular basis. It’s something many of us attempt either consciously or subconsciously at some point in our lives. Suddenly, we become serious about something we want and decide to make a change. For some this could be an annual event, for example a New Year’s resolution. For others, if could be an accomplishment deadline; recognition for a promotion at work, […]
Steps In Between 