-
Summer Reading Roundup Thus Far
Good morning, sunshines! I hope you’re enjoying your summer and getting to spend some time having fun with friends and family and sneaking in a little reading. Today, I’m going to review the books I’ve read so far this summer; each will be short and succinct. Fair warning, however—I’m a pretty gentle reviewer because I know what it takes to write a novel. When someone pours their whole heart and soul into their creative writing and it takes time to do so, I have a difficult time being overly critical, but I will share my overall feelings about the book. I recommend all of them. The Giver of Stars by…
-
Fiction Friday: How writers begin a new story-with something weird in their heads
Before I share this weird “thing” that’s in my head, allow me to explain. So…I’ve completed one novel and am presently shopping it out. I’m also 5,000+ words into writing my next one, a novella, which will only be 30,000 words. I’ve had this “hit the pause button thing” happen to me before with Inn Significant. With that novel, I had the bones of the story, but something was missing. While I worked on other novels, I continued to figure out where the plot of Inn Significant was going, and I finally pieced it all together. It took me a few years to figure out just what that missing ingredient…
-
Hold Fast to Dreams: An Update!
As I’ve promised you since the beginning of my blog and author journey, I’m s. As I previously mentioned, I’ve decided to shop out the new novel I’ve completed. So far, I’ve queried 8 agents. I got two quick rejections (in a matter of a day or two), and 1 request for the synopsis and full manuscript. As you can imagine, I screamed with delight at that particular positive email. And so, the novel and synopsis are in an agent’s hands right now. We will see soon what that outcome will be. That said, if you’ve had me as a professor, you know I’m a pretty practical person (alliteration intended).…
-
The Truth About Grandmothers
Yesterday, as I was scrolling through Facebook checking on my friends’ latest news, I noticed a post from a dear former student of mine. She wrote a very touching message about losing her 94-year-old grandmother. I read it, and her words resonated with me. So often as a writer, I’m asked what influences my stories and where the ideas come from. I suppose anyone who writes novels or nonfiction answers this the same way—the stories typically come from people we know or stories we have heard or read about in the news. There are people and personal acquaintances that influence our storytelling. And then there are grandmothers. If you’ve read…
-
Talking teaching, life lessons, writing, and fashion on FamilyApp.com
It was an honor to be able to share my creativity on a platform called FamilyApp.com today! One of the things I love most about teaching at the college level is watching my students go out into the world and seeing where they land. One of my star students is with this organization, and she asked me to be featured on their platform! Talk about things coming full-circle in life. Connections. They are everything. Making connections with people, staying in touch, and keeping your pulse on what they are up to is important. That said, I’m flattered to be alongside many other creative moms and dads out there just trying…
-
Indie Author Pride
How did I not know that today is Indie Author Pride Day? Thank goodness I saw my friend Colleen’s Instagram post or I may have missed it. The long and short of it is that I’m proud to be an indie author. Competition is tough out there, and sometimes we have to go it alone. Have no fear, indie authors. There are many who have gone before us who have self-published—think Charles Dickens and Virginia Woolf. Since 2012, I’ve independently published 5 books in addition to collaborating with my two favorite colleagues, Leeanne & Chip, on an event planning textbook published by Kendall-Hunt Publishing. All during this time, I’ve taught…
-
How Debbie Macomber Inspired Me
Last week, at the last minute, I signed up to join a Zoom call through the Baltimore County Public Library with author Debbie Macomber. It was the best thing I did for my writing career last week, and I’ll tell you why. If you don’t recognize the name Debbie Macomber, you may in a minute. She’s a bestselling author. Her genre is women’s fiction/romance. Her stories have been picked up by the Hallmark Channel (if you watched Cedar Cove, that’s Debbie’s brainchild, as are some of the Christmas movies on the network, including Trading Christmas, Mrs. Miracle, and Dashing Through the Snow). Her books can be found everywhere—at libraries, bookstores,…
-
Travel Writing: From Teaching It to Doing It
You’ll have to forgive me for just getting around to sharing this; my family and I were on vacation last week. This month, I had the opportunity to write for a travel publication called marylandroadtrips.com. After teaching feature writing at my university for many years (having formerly been an editor of a magazine) with aspects of travel writing incorporated into the course, I was thrilled at the opportunity to do some travel writing of my own. If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know that I often blog about my trips here, writing it in feature style, to use as a learning tool in the classroom. Writing for…
-
Cartwheels on the Beach
I’m sitting here on the sandy beach typing this blog post into my iPhone. I’m marveling at children doing cartwheels on the beach. In my present physical state of enduring back and hip problems, if I tried to do a cartwheel, I would either majorly embarrass myself or majorly hurt myself. In either case, the choice not to attempt one is best. Nevertheless, watching the energy of these girls as they twirl and tumble at the edge of the ocean has taken me back in time—to vacations with my own grandparents, aunts and uncles, and immediate family, and to twirling and tumbling myself. To throwing to football and riding bikes.…
-
Writing Away
I haven’t been as diligent about writing for my blog as I have been in the past. It makes me feel a little guilty, because I’ve always put so much energy and time into my blog. However, there are good reasons for my absence, so allow me to explain: The semester ended in mid-May. I can honestly say that after working in education throughout a pandemic and teaching a full load + of courses online, it was more challenging than normal. Obviously, we have all been affected by this situation and our work lives were altered quite a bit, but the energy it took to produce, deliver, and grade remotely…
-
Is the Power of Positive Thinking Real?
Remember the book called The Secret? It’s a book in the self-help genre written by Rhonda Byrne that basically states that the law of attraction is real—that positive thoughts or energy attracts other positive thoughts and energy. It goes further to express that the power of positive thinking can help you achieve what you want or imagine and will it into existence. Some may believe these things are possible; others may not. I am in the camp that believes it can happen. But then again, I’m a pretty positive person. I don’t think I could be a teacher if I were not. Earlier this year, and after many years of teaching…
-
The Way to a Character’s Heart
Confession: When I’m diving into characters and trying to get at the heart of them, I sometimes write poetry as my characters to get inside their heads. For example, if a character faces heartbreak or loss or a hardship, along with character sketches, I may write a little poem or two from various characters’ perspectives. It would be as if they would write the poem themselves. I’ve always written poetry for fun, and I enjoy writing poems that uncover emotion. And while I’ve only published one small collection of poems to date in The Postcard, I continue to write them and keep them to myself…just for these purposes. Today, I’m…
