Blog Feed: A Writing Life

My friend, Christi, posted on Facebook this amazing photo of a young boy reading in a bombed-out bookstore in WWII London. The powerful image stirred up a bit of emotion.I write and edit for a living. But on a day-to-day basis, I don’t appreciate t

Your Biography -- Courtesy of Google

Published on 2013-04-04 09:11:00

I saw a tweet from a publisher who warned writers that agents and publishers always Google prospective clients. I mean, they have to make sure you’re not a crazy-pants, raving lunatic or a highly opinionated person with cringe-worthy views on polit

Ditch the Expectations and Watch Out for the Good Stuff

Published on 2013-03-22 09:15:00

I recently watched a movie called The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. An exchange between two actors has stayed with me all week.Evelyn: Nothing here has worked out quite as I expected. Muriel: Most things don't. But sometimes what happens instead is the

Rescuing the "Self" from Selfish

Published on 2013-03-09 15:23:00

In late February, I spent more than 37 hours in the air or in an airport during an eight-day period. (One travel day was 17 hours because of snow delays.) I can’t even describe the exhaustion I felt upon my return. (Let’s just say there were tear

Easy is a Four-Letter Word

Published on 2013-02-17 14:24:00

I bought a beginner’s yoga DVD about two years ago. As of yesterday morning, it was still shrinkwrapped and unopened.

Fighting Extinction

Published on 2013-02-06 14:36:00

First the demise of the Twinkie and now this! Hasbro has eliminated the beloved iron token from the Monopoly set and replaced it with a cat.

The Delight is in the Details

Published on 2013-01-27 16:06:00

For some time, I’ve wanted to find out why there’s so much hub-bub about the British television series, Downton Abbey. Its fans are downright obsessive about it. So, the flu and I decided to spend Saturday watching … 11 STRAIGHT EPISODES. Yeah,

Forget the Timetable: We're Not a Swiss Train

Published on 2013-01-17 11:20:00

I’m pissed off. DO YOU HEAR ME, BLOGOSPHERE? PISSED OFF! Here’s why. I was on Twitter (yes, when I should’ve been writing) and ran across this tweet by the online editor at Writer’s Digest. If you can’t carve out at least a short portion

Was Grandma This Excited When TV Was Invented?

Published on 2013-01-13 18:31:00

I’ve joked to co-workers that I’m a social media dinosaur. With as much time as I spend on Facebook and Twitter, that’s not exactly true. I follow multiple blogs. I have Pinterest boards. I get most of my news online. I designed and update my o

Rekindling Creative Abandon

Published on 2013-01-07 17:21:00

My regular coffee dates with my friend Tracy always inspire me, or at the very least, give me some new insight to chew on. At the end of today’s coffee date, she said, “So…what’s up with your blog?”I had my excuses ready: no time, too much

Reading Beyond the Lines

Published on 2012-11-14 16:20:00

As a writer and storyteller, I love exploring how artists use different media to tell stories – books, poetry, music, painting, plays, movies. Each medium teases a different part of our brain. Some allow us to be more passive (movies) while others

Legalize Marjiuana? Maybe. But Ban Pinterest Stat.

Published on 2012-11-02 10:18:00

There are all sorts of addictions:

Take That, Writer's Block!

Published on 2012-08-24 09:22:00

It’s Insight Friday.A month ago, a lightning strike fried the circuitry in my double oven. It died and could not be resuscitated. We found a great deal on a replacement but it would be a number of weeks before it would arrive.Suddenly, I *had* to bake. No matter that I rarely used the oven during summer because of the heat in the house. I was adrift. I’d find new cookie recipes that couldn’t be tried. I’d stare at the browning bananas, knowing they couldn’t be transformed into banana b [..]

Resisting a Timetable for Our Lives

Published on 2012-08-01 11:11:00

Received an amusing (and important) email early this morning. Subject line: BlogMessage in the email:

Reading, Writing and Thanking

Published on 2012-06-15 16:31:00

I’m grateful today! The first thank-you goes to Betty McMahon. I don’t know Betty McMahon but she found my blog. And commented on an old post. And said she liked my blog and added it to her blogroll.But I’m thanking her not just for reading, but for giving me the push I needed to write a new blog post. It’s been MORE THAN THREE WEEKS.Granted, I was on business travel for a good portion of that time, but the rest of the time I was sulking around, complaining about how many extra hours I� [..]

Only Colin Firth Can Be Mr. Darcy

Published on 2012-05-21 18:15:00

When I’m reading a book, I get a very distinct picture of the characters in my mind. Sometimes a certain actor or actress will seem like the perfect fit. Often, the images are just

Writer's Voice Contest Edition!

Published on 2012-05-03 10:00:00

Hi readers!I'm entering a contest that asks me to post my query letter and first 250 words of my young adult novel, HANNAH'S HALF.Mandy QUERY18-year-old Hannah Spencer would give anything for a dead-free day. For most of her life, she’s ignored the Visitors who appear in her bedroom each morning. After all, they’re dead, they don’t speak and they rarely stay more than a few minutes.

Sing Your Song (Even If No One is Listening)

Published on 2012-04-25 15:26:00

Yikes! Where did April go? And how did I forget I had a blog? Oh yeah… I finished revising my third novel and began pitching it to literary agents. (Three have already asked to read it!) I developed and presented a writing workshop for Goodwill senior-level staff who are in a development program to become Goodwill CEOs one day. This was some of the most fulfilling work I’ve done in my almost eight years working for Goodwill’s national office.Because I don’t have time to develop anythin [..]

Throat Chakra: Strangle with Care

Published on 2012-03-30 14:32:00

Friendships between women are exhilarating, transformational, messy, necessary, life-giving and sometimes devastating. This past week, I made the decision to leave a friendship. Over the years, I felt less and less authentic. My emotional and physical health began to suffer – but I put myself second so I wouldn’t hurt her. Well, I did hurt her. But I’d hurt myself much more.In dealing with my decision, I found a very interesting passage online about the throat chakra:The throat chakra is t [..]

I'm Not Really an Extrovert, I Just Play One on TV

Published on 2012-03-12 15:39:00

I’ve taken several personality/work styles tests over the past 20 years, including the well-known Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Most recently, my employer had us take a test from Emergenetics. My results held no surprises for me:Low on the social and expressive scales (I prefer one-on-one time to big parties; I prefer to work in solitude)High on the structural and analytical (I meet and beat deadlines, I like lists and rules and order)Several co-workers said my scores had to be wrong. (“You� [..]

A Sussie a Day...

Published on 2012-02-29 15:32:00

My head is swimming from all the big ideas I picked up from speakers during my company’s annual meeting in mid-February. Themes from the talks are sure to come up in future blog posts but today I’m going to write about humor. (Mostly because I am in a humorless mood today!)I’m not talking about one’s ability to tell a good joke, or put on a lampshade and become the life of the party. I’m talking about one’s openness to joy, laughter and lightheartedness even when the world seems to b [..]

Busy Bee, Just Be

Published on 2012-02-13 17:10:00

I’m in that weird space between books – meaning I’ve finished writing one and don’t feel like starting another just yet. The manuscript is now out with a few beta readers and then the revision process will begin.I think this ebb and flow of energy and creativity is something we all experience. We put in time and effort toward a goal – all hands on deck, so to speak – and it’s natural to feel low energy when the goal is accomplished.It’s also natural to feel like we’re being laz [..]

Little Bites of Self-Care Easy to Swallow

Published on 2012-01-31 18:22:00

We writers – and I suspect all creative types – tend to get down on ourselves a lot. A couple (or a dozen) rejections arrive in the email box and it’s “I’m crap! How did I think I could write and sell a novel? Are my thighs getting bigger?”Back in December I blogged about showing ourselves some tenderness. And this blog has a similar theme: self-care. And more precisely, internal self-care.A good friend gave me a book titled The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being P [..]

Where Everybody Knows Your Name (and Your Business)

Published on 2012-01-13 16:08:00

I’ve been in Texas all week visiting my sister and her family. She lives in Glen Rose, a town of 2,100 people. It’s the kind of town where the pharmacist knows my sister by name; the kind of town that turns out in full force for the opening of the new school gymnasium; the kind of town where gift shop owners on the square encourage shoppers to visit their competition.Glen Rose is double the population of the town where I grew up; a town I dreamt of escaping my whole childhood. And boy, did I [..]

Try a Little Tenderness in 2012

Published on 2012-01-01 11:54:00

My goal in 2011 was to blog once a week. You can see from the posts listed at the left that I did not achieve that goal. I didn’t even make it to two posts in December. On this bright, sunny New Year’s Day morning, I have vowed to let it go. No guilt. No regret.Which brings me to the word of the year: compassion. Consider it my one resolution for 2012.A dear friend used to remind me that we seem to have a limitless capacity for compassion – but for others. We rarely have this level of co [..]

Nothing Like Memories to Send Sadness Packing

Published on 2011-12-19 09:00:00

During the holidays, I can get as giddy as a 9-year-old. I listen to Christmas music 24/7 (just the oldies like Bing, Perry and Burl) and watch my lit Christmas tree in a darkened room, and bake cookies to deliver to friends, and obsess over wrapping paper and ribbon and tags. I even think about renting a child so I can show up at the Santa pancake breakfast at McDonald’s.With a few pounds, I could be Mrs. Claus. In fact, I’ve thought about using Ancestry.com to determine if I have relatives [..]

Savor the 'Now' Like It's the Best Sandwich You've Ever Had

Published on 2011-11-30 16:26:00

It must be a function of aging that time seems to fly by at an astounding and alarming rate. December? Already? What happened to November and the six months prior to that?My (mostly unspoken) fear is that time flies by so quickly because I’m not fully awake; present and attentive to what I feel and do and say each and every day. Kind of like when you drive a familiar route and then, wham…you’re home and you don’t remember passing landmarks along the way. Just yesterday, I was 18. And tod [..]

Society's Idea of Beauty is Beastly

Published on 2011-11-17 12:47:00

My brain is noshing on the notion of beauty today – what it is, how it differs for each of us, how society shapes our ideas on what’s attractive or sexy.Tawna Fenske, a writer I follow online, recently posted a fun blog entry called “Not so hot boys who make me want to get naked.” She talked about men who have a certain charisma that transcends societal norms of attractiveness. Case in point: Lyle Lovett. (yummy)Then, last night, I had dinner with my dear friend, Joelle, who is dog-sitti [..]

When $35 Million Doesn't Equal Success

Published on 2011-10-30 15:32:00

Last night I stayed up until 11 p.m. (I know! Can you believe it?) to watch From the Sky Down, a documentary about my favorite band U2 and the production of their 1991 album Achtung Baby. The film chronicles the difficult recording period and the group's creative process.In April 1987, my friend, Christi, and I saw U2 at The Summit in Houston. Joshua Tree was an astounding album and a phenomenal tour. In fact, we had to stay up all night at IHOP, eating blueberry pancakes and discussing the expe [..]

On Growing Old and the Kindness of Strangers

Published on 2011-10-21 09:18:00

Last night as my husband and I were about to fall asleep, he said, “I can’t believe you’ll be 64 tomorrow.” Then, he backtracked furiously about having dyslexia and of course, he meant 46. I told him I feel awfully spry for a 64-year-old, or awfully rickety for a 46-year-old. Most days, I fall somewhere in-between. Just a couple of weeks ago, my sister visited me. It’s weird to realize how we’d both started worrying about our aging bodies at about the same time in our lives. Age spo [..]

An Ode to Dreams Come True

Published on 2011-09-23 10:14:00

I'm in awe of those writers who keep up their blogs. I'm either a procrastinator or time is now on supersonic speed and days fly by faster than ever before. (Probably a little of both?)So, today's post is an ode to dreams coming true.First, my awesome friend and college roommate, Christi, is inches away from being a REAL PUBLISHED AUTHOR. She signed a two-book deal some months ago and the first book debuts in early January. She's just released the cover to NIGHT SCHOOL -- which makes me all ting [..]

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Blog Feed: A Writing Life

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