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Lollygagging
Greetings, friends. It’s been a while. I’ve been lollygagging as it relates to my blog, that’s for sure. I’m kind of embarrassed about it, and I’m kind of not. I’ve needed time to recalibrate. Besides, I just wanted to title a blog post “Lollygagging.” Ever since the film Bull Durham, “lollygag” has been one of my favorite words. If you don’t know the clip I’m talking about, I’ve got it for you below. The truth is, I’m balancing a lot of stuff and hardly lollygagging at all. I’ve really become a juggler. When I went part time to teach, I didn’t realize I’d be developing so many courses from scratch,…
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Book Reviews Are Coming In: Here’s what readers are saying
I can’t thank my friends, family, and readers enough for all the help you’ve given me to spread the word about The Letters in the Books. The two and a half years I’ve spent working on this novel is paying off for me personally, simply by seeing the support you have given me this past week. I’m touched, humbled, and so glad the book is now in your hands. Below, I’m sharing a little about the novel and some of the early reviews that have come in. Since people are always asking me how they can help, here are three ways you can help independent authors: 1- Talk the book…
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Thank You All!!!
Yesterday, I shared these videos on social media. We had a great book launch, and the novel reached number 9 in “hot new releases” on Amazon in the contemporary fiction category. I am just thrilled! Thank you to everyone who helped me launch this book, including my ARC readers and social media pals. My Facebook friends were tremendous! I’m so appreciative! Thank you for playing a part in getting The Letters in the Books into readers’ hands.
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How Brene Brown’s research influenced my novel
Over the last few years, I’ve become enamored with Brené Brown’s research, specifically with regard to empathy, vulnerability, and shame. On campus, I’ve executed workshops about Brown’s wonderful book, Dare to Lead. If you haven’t read this book, I strongly urge you hop to it. It’s a wonderful dissection about daring leadership, and what factors play into what kind of leaders we admire and what kind of leader we, ourselves, want to be. In the course of preparing to teach others about Brown’s findings, many of her assessments were illuminating, and as I began to figure out what my next novel was going to tackle, I landed on all three…
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Empty Nesters in Training
You know how it goes. You date, you marry, you have children, you raise them, they grow up and go to college or enter the workforce, and you find yourselves at home, twiddling your thumbs. So say some. We love our kids, don’t get me wrong. We dote on them and help them with anything they need. But they’re happy. They’re at college with their friends and significant others, and they’re having the time of their lives. So why shouldn’t we? Everyone loves to talk about empty-next syndrome (ENS) as if it’s a curse of sorts. I say, let freedom ring! Don’t you remember that feeling of being able to…
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We Need a Little Christmas, Especially This Year
We Still Need a Little Christmas…and we desperately need Charles Dickens’ reminder to be a good human being in 2021 and beyond. Living through this pandemic and seeing what I see daily on social media convinced me (do people really need to be so nasty to others, even if you disagree on things?????) that I needed to do what I could to help promote charity and goodwill. Additionally, I’ve weathered a hip replacement and continuing SI-Joint issues that leave me in pain, and honestly, I just needed to distract myself with something pleasant. So, all summer I wrote the continuation of Ebenezer Scrooge’s story called From Humbug to Humble: The…
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Join Me for Two Dickens Events this Holiday Season
It’s not often you get to attend Dickens-related events, but how wonderful to have two upcoming events within a week of each other! I’m certain these will put us in the Christmas spirit! (And the way the world is at the moment, we need a little Christmas!) My husband and I will be wearing our Dickens-era costumes, and we’re looking forward to meeting people who share our enthusiasm for the season. A DICKENS OF A CHRISTMAS, Sat, Dec 4 CHESTERTOWN, MD, In Chestertown where the slogan is Party like it’s 1843, I’ll be signing and selling books at “A Dickens of a Christmas” on Saturday, December 4, from 10 a.m.…
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A Pep Talk on How to Use NaNoWriMo to Your Advantage
Okay, listen up writers. I’m here to kick you into gear. I’m here to tell you it can be done. I’m here to tell you not to give up. November is here, and on this 5th day, let us remember that there are many more days in the month, and they shouldn’t go to waste if you are participating in NaNoWriMo, otherwise known as National Novel Writing Month. Established many years ago, NaNoWriMo was created to encourage writers to complete 50,000 words of a novel or work of nonfiction by November 30. The word count of 50,000 words constitutes a short novel, or approximately 1,660 words a day. I’m here…
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What the Dickens? Book Launch Next Week
Next week, my newest novella entitled FROM HUMBUG TO HUMBLE, will launch! I’m very excited to share this book with you. It was a true labor of love, and I think I’ve been in the Christmas Spirit since the summer when I began this undertaking. The truth is, I’ve loved Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol since I was a little girl. The story of a man being haunted by ghosts in order to warn him about his place among humanity and save him from his selfish ways is one of literature’s most renowned stories. That love of Ebenezer Scrooge and A Christmas Carol led me to fill in the blanks…
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Coming in November
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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…
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Hold Fast to Dreams: An Update!
We all dream of seeing our book go out into the world and having people enjoy reading it. I’m proud of the work I’ve accomplished as an indie author. And I will be proud of the work I produce going forward if I stay in this lane. It’s never easy, but there are tremendous rewards. Meeting people, seeing the support of your local community, and hearing from people who’ve enjoyed your books keep me motivated. My goal is to write books that offer hope and to write better and better books each time. To those of you who have followed along on my journey, THANK YOU. To those of you…
