I have begun a new season in my life. On New Year’s Day this year (2022) I looked out over the panorama of the coming year and I could already see that it was going to be a year of change. Like a lot of change, big changes. What I didn’t know was that there…
I have boarded the dot/bullet journaling train. Let me explain. First, there is some argument about whether or not it is called dot journaling or bullet journaling and about whether or not those are the same thing. From what I can tell, they can be used interchangeably to refer to journaling in a blank book…
This afternoon I am doing a thing. I have been building up to it lately, though I might have been building up to it for years. There is a part of me, for the last several months, that has thought, “May, 2022. It’ll come soon enough.” Turns out it’s not soon enough. So this afternoon…
I quit NaNoWriMo. Gasp. Shock. Awe. I’m not only known for my lofty goals and ridiculous to-do lists, but also for my stick-to-it-iveness and my affirmation that being a writer takes great determination and longevity. So how can I stand here and just say it. I quit NaNoWriMo. On the third day, no less! For…
I have been having such a good time journaling, lately. Now, I have always been a journaler, which is not surprising, as a writer. I have also always been a doodler, which also isn’t surprising, as a visual artist. (I also love photography, which means, taken all together, that my family is going to have…
Many of the things we need to know and learn as writers (and/or publishers), we need to know and learn for life. I often find that something from my personal life applies to this blog because, let’s face it, maturity as people helps us toward maturity as writers. Of course, there are job-specific things to…
A few days ago, my nine year old daughter received a letter in the mail. It was from her last year’s teacher. Now, my children are in a smallish Montessori school, which means that they switch teachers and classrooms only every three years, and each of these transitions is somewhat of a big deal. Both…
When I was a kid, I was labeled “not sporty.” I was also never described as “adventurous,” that I can recall. Ideas of sporty and adventurous in my culture were limited to things like basketball and Lewis and Clark. As I got older, I realized a few things about that: one, sports are not limited…
Last fall, when my youngest kid went off to kindergarten, I went full-time (six hours a day during school days) as a writer and publisher. The year turned into three novels at different stages of production: one is in the later stages of editing, and two are half-written. Now that summer break has arrived, I…
Of course, my goal for January was to read as many of the self help books I have sitting unread on my book shelf, as I could. I never intended to post book reviews as I finished each book, since these are nowhere to be found on the “Best Books” list. That worked out fine,…
I am no stranger to the forced pause. I am a migraine patient (aka migraneur) and have been since I was five years old. I have what used to be called classic migraine, which means my symptoms include blindness or partial blindness, confusion, disrupted speech, etc. on top of the usual pain, nausea, sensitivity to…
Let’s be smart about this. I am all for intuition, as a writer. But the other day, I had a moment where my subconscious writing process made a leap to my consciousness, and that’s when one can all of a sudden share that process. We’ll call it a teachable moment. Whereas before what I was…
You know what overwhelms me? Yeah, well, plenty of things. But I am referring to my daily walks from the desk in the quiet room of the library to the restroom or drinking fountain. Book covers! There are just so many of them! There are so many great ones! And surely not all those books…
Have you managed any New Year’s Resolutions, yet? Are any of them writing-related? I, for example, have goals to write my business plan, to read and review more than 40 books, to publish two of my novels, edit another for Owl and Zebra, and win at NaNoWriMo 2014. Which brings up my first point of…
I have ADD. Or, more up-to-the-current terminology, I have ADHD, Inattentive Type, commonly known as Adult ADD. The reason I bring this up is this: I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about the generalization of being an artist, or the artistic temperament. I have suffered all my life from the same sort…
the starving artist 