Chasing the Writing Dream Through Rejection Valley and Beyond

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal 8 Comments

Have you ever had a dream that seemed so big, so impossible that you were almost afraid to admit you were thinking it? That’s how I was when I was a kid and first decided I wanted to be a writer. I had no idea how I was going to make that happen. I just knew I wanted it more …

The Value of Perseverance

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal 4 Comments

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other. –Walter Elliot (1888-1958), Scottish politician Sometimes when I give a talk about writing, I’m asked what characteristic is most valuable to a writer. I can’t really answer that for everybody, but for me it has to be perseverance, that stubborness in my will center that …

New Caption Game – Marbles, Anyone

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal 37 Comments

Our brains are built to benefit from play no matter what our age. ~Theresa A. Kestly It’s my birthday month so it’s time to have some fun and to give away some books. Of course, you can check out Last Sunday’s post, Mining Parenting Memories, and leave a comment on that post to be entered in a drawing for a …

What’s Your Question?

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal 8 Comments

What makes us human, I think, is an ability to ask questions, a consequence of our sophisticated spoken language.  ~Jane Goodall I invited you all to ask me a question about me or my writing last week. And a couple of you took me up on it. Whenever I give a talk about my books, the part I always like …

Talking to Kids about Writing

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal 8 Comments

Tomorrow I’m going to an elementary school to talk about writing to around three hundred kids. Would that strike fear in your heart? I can understand if you say yes. But the teachers won’t desert me, I’m sure. Almost sure. Pretty sure. No, actually I’m very sure. LOL. And it’s fun talking to kids about reading and writing. I’ll let …

Where Do You Find Happiness?

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal 17 Comments

Perfect happiness is a beautiful sunset, the giggle of a grandchild, the first snowfall. It’s the little things that make happy moments, not the grand events. Joy comes in sips, not gulps. ~Sharon Draper Do you have a place where you feel happy? A place that gives you happy moments? If you knew where such a place is, how often …

Angels at the Crossroads

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal 74 Comments

For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. Psalm 91:11-12 (NKJ) Fourteen years ago my first inspirational novel, Scent of Lilacs,  was published and readers were taking their first trips to my little town of Hollyhill that …