The end of the year always makes me reflective, as you can probably tell from my last few posts. Today the subject came up on a podcast: what truths did you learn the hard way? Which made me think about that issue for myself. I’ve learned most things the hard way. I think that’s just part of life for nearly everyone, and these five things are probably not revelatory to […]
5 Lessons I Learned the Hard Way Read More »
As the year ends, I find myself in a time of transition. Some things are good. Great, even. On December 5th, which was the first anniversary of our first date, my boyfriend, Jimmy, and I had brunch at the same place we’d first met a year ago. He’d invited my mom and dad to join us. And after we’d eaten, he asked me to marry him. I said yes, of
Congratulations I’m Sorry Read More »
It’s amazing how you think you have yourself figured out, but then something will happen that makes you understand you had everything wrong. You didn’t know yourself, and that’s a little bit scary, but it can also fuel your own sense of wonder. If you maintain the capacity to surprise yourself, your life will never be boring. I had myself pegged and an easy-going free spirit. A real ‘go-with-the-flow’ type
Confessions of a Control Freak Read More »
I’ve had to get real about some bad habits I’ve developed. And it’s kind of funny that I’m posting this a few days after my social media post, but that’s probably also part of the problem. Basically, I’m on social media too much. I hesitate to call it an addiction, because I don’t know if it meets the same criteria as regards to what is actually going on in the
A note about something I’m struggling with Read More »
‘Four Thousand Weeks,’ which at first appears to be a time management book, but in actuality is about humanity’s entire relationship with time itself, blew my mind. It definitely made me think about how I’m using my time. It also made me realize I was stressing myself out way too much over things I cannot control and that don’t ultimately matter much to my overall happiness and the structure of
A Rant about what the f* I think I’m doing. Read More »
Last night, my friend Tammy presented to our writing group on the subject of ‘Embracing Authenticity and Personal Growth,’ and it was illuminating. One of the exercises we did helped us identify our core values. A lot of people wrote a long list, but I found that when I thought about it, there were four that really spoke to me. When asked to, I ranked them in that order, but
It’s been four years, almost exactly, since I devoted myself to writing full time. And, in many ways, it’s gone well, even if I am by no means a bestseller. I’ve written eight books in those four years, and released five of them, with two more to come out later this year. And I’ve learned some things along the way, mostly about how my process works (or doesn’t). So,
5 Things I’ve Learned About Writing Since Doing it Full Time Read More »
It’s been kind of a weird month. I’m back in the word mines, trying to write 2500 words a day, four days a week, plus a weekly blog post. The first week went well. I ended up with about 11,000 words plus the blog post, which felt like progress. This last week didn’t go so well, since we had several days of appointments, plus I am dealing with the return
There’s been a lot of hubbub lately both online and in the media about the new AI tools that have been created. It started out with art, and then moved into the realm of writing, with the coming of various tools that are supposed to be able to generate original content. Reactions have been varied. Some people have embraced these tools as the wave of the future. Others have drawn
To AI or not to AI Read More »
I’ve written before how hard the end of last year was for me. I’d accomplished a lot in 2022, but none of it seemed like it was going anywhere. Then I failed to place in a contest and, on the same day, got back some constructive criticism on my novella, and that was more than I could absorb at once. I realized something. There is an indefinable quality some people