On Writing
A Swift Kick in the Pants
Dear Ms. Schultz, I have always noticed the color of people’s eyes. Maybe it’s because vision is important to me (I’ve worn glasses since I was five years old), or maybe it’s the artist in me (getting just the right colors together for a drawing or cake decorating is especially important). But the myriad pigments…
Read MoreDoing Favors
Over the past five years, I’ve immersed myself in the writing world as much as I can. If I didn’t have kids and a day job (that doesn’t involve writing), I’m sure I’d be able to surround myself with even more of the writing life. But I do what I can. And part of that…
Read MoreHigher Plane
Back in December 2015, I wrote a post for Literary Mama’s After Page One Blog about writing and healing. I end the piece with, So I held to the singular goal of blogging each day. I put a few words down some days, many words other days, and as I did so, the weight of…
Read MoreLoosing Your Mind
I love Writer’s Digest. I really do. But sometimes, they come along with some real doozies. Several years ago now, I received the following email in my inbox: Don’t Loose Your Mind! – Live Webinar Thursday! My first thought? I hope I don’t loose my mind. Loosening my mind would be a very bad thing,…
Read MoreShe Who Hesitates Is Lost
My dad used to be a walking Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations. Really. I vividly remember him pulling out a quote when the time was appropriate (and sometimes not so appropriate). Instead of telling us something from the heart, he’d use a quote to convey his meaning. I’m not trying to be judgmental when I say that…
Read MoreFrom the Editor’s Desk
How difficult is it to send an email that says, No thank you? Very difficult, let me tell you. I’ve been on the receiving end of those emails many times. Go check my email, in the folder labeled Rejections, and you’ll see what I mean. The myriad ways editors and agents have said “Not for…
Read MoreHot Pursuit
I sat in the front office, grading papers. My colleague, Ken, walked in, the usual coffee cup in hand. “You write that Great American Novel yet?” Ken knows all about my “other” life as a writer. In fact, he’s been a great champion of the cause, since he himself dabbles in photography. Over the last…
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