Here is my Thanksgiving edition of the Friday Five: where each week I share four things I’ve learned and one fun photo. This post falls within the month of November, so I think it's still timely, plus, I ask, when is being thankful out of season? 1. Thankful hearts awaken kindness in others. Have you noticed that it’s pretty much impossible to be mean or harsh…
Today I'm pleased to introduce you to Stephanie Fuller, a lively, fun-loving woman I met on the Twitterverse. Stephanie demonstrated to me how much she enjoys life, right down to the tiny details. She's teaching me, by example, to look at my everyday routine with a certain degree of exuberance and delight, which is a valuable gift. Stephanie also knows how essential it is to have…
Welcome to the Friday Five where every week I share 4 life lessons/observations from my week and 1 fun photo. Do you ever have those weeks when all seven days seem to be about getting just ONE thing done? I’ve heard it’s better to strive for one objective than many, and this week has been one of those. My goal? Slash off the thousands of unnecessary…
Happy Friday! Writing has been steady but a little slow for me this week. My mind is going in a dozen places, and I anticipate it will stay this way for most of the month, but I’m hanging in there and trying to plan my work on a daily basis, rather than worrying about tomorrow. 1. Life is too short to spend it freaking out about…
Today I'm pleased to introduce you to my friend, Beth Maxey. I met Beth when we sat down at the same table in an Eastlake cafe and she smiled at me. Beth blesses people with a bright smile wherever she goes. I love that about her. In the writers' group that Beth and I share, we write out our work by hand for half an hour,…
The big news this week is that James' and my marriage turned four years old! 1. Sometimes your little actions are big to someone else. I spent fifteen minutes this week making faces at my little cousins, pretending to talk on the phone with a calculator, and imitating animal sounds. Nothing fancy, but this meant a lot to these kids’ parents, who needed to get stuff…
I'm very pleased to introduce you today to my friend and fellow author Terry Persun. Terry and I met through our publisher, and I was instantly amazed by his kindness and thoughtfulness as we talked about writing and the emotional struggles that get tangled up in it. You might remember him as one of my interviewers during my Google + video interview. Terry's newly released book…
Step 1: Collect the following ingredients: 4-6 passionate friends who get along and want to develop their creative goals House, cabin, or hotel, preferably beautiful and cheap (Ask your friends if they know someone who will offer it for free) Edibles to cover three days of meals for all Miscellaneous clothes Writing essentials (Laptop, notebook, pens, playlists, headphones) Step 2: Carefully mix the above ingredients, then…
I'm excited today to introduce you to my friend Kevin. I know Kevin from mutual participation in several writers' groups. We've also played a version of "Props" from Whose Line Is It Anyway? as well as swing danced together. Kevin's a great guy. He and I usually write about very different subjects, but have found common ground in the way we build our characters and the…
Today it is my great pleasure to introduce you to Natalie Soldano. Natalie and I met through our husbands, and we share an interesting commonality: Natalie and I are both English majors who married engineers. Her husband and my husband are close friends, and inevitably Natalie and I found plenty to talk, laugh, and cry about (all quite normal in the life of writers!). I love…