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Delight in the Little Things
Today’s card is a very simple, yet poignant quote from Rudyard Kipling, British short-story writer, novelist, poet, journalist, probably best known for his collection of stories in The Jungle Book and his poem Gunga Din. The quote reads: Delight in the little things. – Rudyard Kipling I can’t help but harken back to my younger days, when I was a child growing up in Bowie, Maryland. We lived in our ranch on Pointer Ridge Drive until I was 13 years old. What we learn as children can often inform our lives as we grow and age and work and then retire. The truth is, compared to now, life was simpler…
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Living and Learning in the New Year
In 2023, I plan on sharing these quotes and writing impressions and thoughts about them, perhaps through a personal story or to provide inspiration. Anyway, that's the plan, readers. The first quote I pulled today is this one: Slow down and everything you are chasing will come around and catch you. - John De Paola
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It’s A Sad State of Affairs
I hate to end 2022 on a sort of melancholy note, but I can't help myself. Rarely, if ever, do I get preachy on my blog. Typically, I'm here to share news, light, personal stories, fictional writing, poetry, and my own uplifting insights. What will start on today's post as a downer, I hope will turn into something positive as we move forward into 2023.
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An End-of-Year Letter to Readers
Dear Readers, Today, I’m going to start with one of the highlights of the year, and it has been handwriting letters to readers. I’ve handwritten over 100 letters to readers thus far. Without a doubt, this has been one of the most fulfilling aspects of being an author, for without readers, we are lost. When I published The Letters in the Books in July, I knew I wanted to do a special promotion with an independent bookstore. (If you order through Amazon or B&N, there are no letters inside). As well, since the protagonist of my book, a bookstore owner, handwrites uplifting letters that she slips inside books, I wanted…
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I Believe the “New” Scrooge Would Adore this Collaboration
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The Irony & House of the Dragon
DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU ARE A FAN OF THE SHOW AND HAVEN’T WATCHED EPISODE 9 – I DON’T WANT TO SPOIL IT FOR YOU Princess Rhaenys is the heroine of Episode 9, but did she make a mistake? After being locked in her room while the Queen’s advisors secretly plot to have Aegon sit on the throne, throwing away the wishes of King Vicerys to have his daughter, Rhaenyra, named Queen and sit on the Iron Throne, Princess Rhaenys ascends her dragon and scares the living daylights of everyone during the coronation. But should she have done more? We all knew something was coming. You could feel it…
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Sorry, I Just Think It’s Weird—House of the Dragon, updates on a new book, a reunion & Italy
Thoughts on House of the Dragon’s Casting Last Sunday night on House of the Dragon, they replaced the two actresses who played Raenyra (Milly Alcock) and Alicent (Emily Carey) with two other actresses as ten years had passed between the previous episode and Sunday night’s. The switch was jarring—they didn’t look or act like the previous characters. I’m sorry, I just think it’s weird in today’s era of movie making that they would choose to do this—films age characters all the time. What’s even stranger is that Matt Smith who plays Daemon, continues in his role, looking no older than before despite the passage of 10 years. As well, Paddy…
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The Good Things (and people) That Come From Instagram
When I completed my MFA in Creative Writing in 2011, for years afterward I felt a void with regard to my writing and garnering input from fellow writers. I yearned to be in a writer’s group – a critique group – where likeminded authors shared their work and offered and received feedback. Two and a half years ago, I was invited into a group of fellow writers, people I’ve connected with through Instagram. I’ve been interacting with these women virtually since then, as we are writers from all over the United States, with one member in the United Kingdom. Not only are we all writers, but we are all published…
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Does Mystery Love Company? Let’s hope so…
I’ll be heading to the Eastern Shore and one of my favorite towns, Oxford, next Saturday to visit Mystery Loves Company for a book signing for The Letters in the Books from noon – 2 p.m. Oxford also happens to be the setting of my third novel, Inn Significant, and this will be my second time visiting Mystery Loves Company. I’ll have copies of that book, Little Milestones (which is set in Oxford and St. Michaels), and of course, copies of my newest release. And while my novel isn’t a mystery, it’s set in Annapolis, and there is one element of “surprise” or “mystery” to the book. Without spoiling it,…
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The Death of Cursive and the Repercussions
According to an article by Christopher Bergland in Psychology Today, “accumulating evidence suggests that not learning cursive handwriting may hinder the brain’s optimum potential to learn and remember.” Thank you for validating what we educators have been saying for years: students remember material better when they take longhand notes rather than type into a computer. I’ve preached it. If you had a me as a professor, you know that I’ve shared these findings with you. Mind you, I’m not discounting the importance and relevance of digital devices, I’m merely focused on retention of information via handwritten notes. In study after study, the results are in: there is a direct correlation…
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A Nutty Story as a Metaphor for Life
Two weeks ago, I couldn’t see straight, and I got tied up in knots about something. So let’s start at the beginning and make it really quick. Two years ago, in an effort to make our front lawn look as good as possible, we decided to have the lawn replaced and sodded. The sodding looked great, and it was refreshing to see a front lawn free of weeds and the dreaded nutsedge that had enveloped our lawn for several years. Nutsedge is a nuisance. If you don’t know what it is, it looks like long pieces of grass, but thicker, that grow above and beyond your normal grass. It sticks…
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The Annual Birthday Post: You Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks. Or Can You?
And so another birthday has landed on my doorstep. I’m sitting here staring at the empty page, trying to come up with something clever and snarky to write for my annual birthday blog post. The cursor blinks. I curse it. Wait. Something has come to me. A retrospective of sorts. Since last year’s birthday, a lot has happened. Let me attempt to recount the changes that have occurred in our lives over the past year without boring you to death. 1—I underwent hip replacement surgery two weeks after my birthday last year. It’s been a year-long road to recovery. Initially, while I was healing, my SI-joint went out of whack,…
