Blog

This long holiday weekend is the un-official start of summer …which means movies, movies, movies. I go to the movies almost every weekend (all year long). I love the whole experience, from popcorn and Diet Coke to previews to the end credits. Rarely am I disappointed because, after all, I enjoyed my popcorn and Diet Coke. However, I noticed a thread on Twitter recently about movies that didn’t do justice to the books that inspired the film versions. My all-time favorite book is A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. The movie Simon Birch was based loosely on the... Read More0

We were taught at a very early age that “Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me.” I’m sure our parents meant well, but let’s face it…they lied. Words have a lot of power. To hurt. To heal. To inform. To deceive. To entertain. As a writer, I appreciate that words can do those things and more. As a human being, my feelings got hurt this morning when a jerk wrote the following about a one-page excerpt from one of my novels: If more than three people in the world buy this load of catflap,... Read More0

As I writer, I keep my eyes and ears open for interesting settings, unusual people, strange conversations at the coffee house. I jot down these details in case they’re a good fit for a novel or short story I’m working on. It may just be a germ of an idea that will take root later. For example, the other night my husband said he’d love to know the exact date and time of his death; that it’d make it easier to know how long to work, when to retire, when to take that trip he’s always wanted to take. I... Read More0

Yikes! Where did the month of April go? And shame on me for not blogging once. I found these two quotes recently and wanted to share: “The worst thing you write is better than the best thing you didn’t write.” “If you wait for inspiration to write, you’re not a writer. You’re a waiter.” I haven’t really figured out my latest bout with writer’s block (writer’s procrastination). At first, I blamed it on my day job creeping into my writing days. But who let that happen? Me, myself and I. In truth, it’s more about a funk I’ve dropped into... Read More0

One goal of The Artist’s Way course in creativity is finding ways to silence the destructive voices that derail when we try to follow our dreams. They warn us: 1. You can’t do that.2. You’re not good enough.3. People will laugh/talk/judge. I’ve completed The Artist’s Way once – and have revisited several chapters since then. And you know what? I’m still listening to those destructive voices. It takes almost a daily meditative practice to remind myself that those are old scripts that have no place in my life anymore. Last night I had dinner with a friend of mine whom... Read More0

Clear communication is as rare as unicorns. And it’s easy to understand why. Even when words are in black and white, we all read with a lens that is uniquely our own. That lens draws on the baggage, beliefs and assumptions we’ve accumulated over a lifetime. Let’s take e-mails as an example: Brief, to-the-point e-mails are often viewed as terse. E-mails with tons of exclamation points and emoticons can be construed as over-the-top or insincere. One supercharged word can alienate the reader from the get-go and the rest of the message is essentially lost. Long e-mails will be scanned by... Read More0

I hate rollercoasters. Yet, I’ve chosen a profession that makes me feel like I’m trapped on one. Whhhheeeeee! Manuscript finished and ready to send to beta-readers. Whoooaaaaaah! Revisions, twists, turns, can I actually make it up that incline? Yeeeeeeee! Literary agent is interested. Owwwwwww! Rejection – and I’m upside down with my heart in my throat and my lunch about to come up. Wheeeeeeee! Great idea for a new book. Can’t wait to get started! You get the picture. It’s a constant back-and-forth-up-and-down-full-speed-ahead-full-stop type of existence. It’s making me kind of crazy. (Husband would dispute “kind of.”) Some days, it’s... Read More0