May Poetry ~ A Masterpiece, A Dance, And A Little Fallen Rain Intrigued? Come visit my poetry page: https://stepsinbetween.com/poetry/ It’s the first Sunday of the month, so time to throw on the stage lights to the poetry side of my life. As you know I write all kinds of things, presently reworking my fiction novel. Though poetry is something I began writing seriously several years ago and once the floodgates […]
I celebrated National Poetry Month as a writer, teacher, and reader this year. What a thrilling April 2018 it has been. Between two of my own poems published in honor of this whimsical month, and my third-grade students blowing me away with their abilities for our “Poem in your Pocket” day at school, my heart was full. My poems are at the bottom, but first, I would love to share […]
I find that I grow as a writer by surrounding myself with writers. The problem is when I first recognized myself as a writer, I secluded myself. I told no one. I wrote in secret. Three years later (and after many self-sabotaging conversations with myself) I took a wild leap before I could change my mind. Bam! Now, I have this blog, I have joined several online writing groups, and […]
My ploy to staying focused in writing is to surround myself with projects. They keep me thinking, planning, scheming, and using other various parts of my brain essential to writing. I’ve read many articles about conquering writer’s block, and this tip has been mentioned in several of them. For me though, it’s more than just curbing the occasional writer’s block, it helps with my creativity as well as productivity. It […]
It’s the first Sunday in a new month, so that means I’m promoting my poetry page. https://stepsinbetween.com/poetry/ However, it’s also the first Sunday in April 2018, which means it’s Easter… and April Fool’s Day. What a day! April Fool’s Easter Is it not remarkable to spend this day, the day He is risen, on a day where doubt sneaks and creeps around corners and behind doors? Where pranks are […]
A Little Luck, Without the Salt, by Celaine Charles The old lore about spilled salt has its place in many cultures. A pinch of salt tossed over your left shoulder can rid you of bad luck, although be careful to use your right hand, and not your right shoulder, or you can bring upon bad luck. Regardless, you must still sweep up the floor. You might find a little Irish […]
The ebb and flow of writing momentum breathes in life through my lungs like a parasite. Dictionary.com defines a parasite as an organism that lives on or in an organism of another species, known as the host, from the body of which it obtains nutriment. I have the desire to write coursing through my veins. Due to that constant pulse, my heart is not my own. The space in […]
March has arrived, and with its freshness comes a new hope for growth and possibilities. Hope that’s stirred from under melting pools of winter ice and glowed from behind thinning veils of cloud cover. And it’s ready to burst. In honor of celebrating the new upcoming season, I want to share my poetry page. As you know, I am a writer of more than fiction, and more than journaling though all the steps in […]
I have learned to become a list-maker. If you find this news completely boring and overly organized… keep reading. As always, I have a fun piece of writing advice at the end. Writers (as well as non-writers) have many things to think about. These things might be about writing, and they might not… but they are there regardless, filling up our minds until we do something with them. Sometimes a […]
Second-Guessing Yourself? A Little Self-Help To The Rescue ~ You can tell the areas I need to work on in my own life by my blog topics. Well, I never claimed to have it all together… I have spent the last few days second-guessing myself as a writer. My head has been spinning in a million different directions lately, and I find myself spread thinner and thinner with my over-achiever-sized […]
In honor of the coming Valentine’s Day and creativity, what do you love? Be that you write, or paint, or toil at a trade, whatever you do that defines who you are… what do you love about it? What keeps you coming back to it? What keeps you committed (even during the dark times)? I love my characters. From my novel, Seam Keepers, Ashton and Mason are friends I wish […]
Time flies in a blink. This recurring message has been the alarm I’ve needed to stir from January’s slumber. A few usual occurrences unusually moved my focus from pause to start, and now I am awake, inspired. The sources were random, though I’m sure when you take notice of what inspires you, it may also feel just as unplanned. For starters, I binge-watched the current season of This Is Us on […]
You will find some “magnetic” writing advice at the end of this article, but for those who are striving to create in the world, this message will hopefully uplift. Do you want to be a writer? Do you want to create? Be a magnet. Be a magnet to everything you desire. I am sure you have heard the various sayings, you are a magnet to what you want to attract […]
“I think a person permeates a spot, and a lost presence makes the environment timeless to me, keeps an area alive.” ~Andrew Wyeth Over the holidays I visited the Seattle Art Museum, and was fortunate enough to take in “Andrew Wyeth In Retrospect.” This diverse collection celebrated the painter’s life over seventy-five years. Many of his pieces I knew, and they spoke to me, although there were a few that stirred my […]
Don’t resist the rest you need this time of year… use the time to think ahead. I have writing advice, as always, at the bottom. But let me start with a mental image about January… I am imagining a chrysalis wrapped in layers to protect a tiny caterpillar from aggravating weather; the wind, the rain, the cold. I imagine the hardships of her short past, good and bad, can be […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
Steps In Between 