January is speeding along and I’m working on a new novel with a working title of Where the Bluebird Sings. That’s subject to change. At this point early in the writing process, everything is subject to change. Anyway, since I’ve set a goal of a certain number of pages to write each day to move me closer to my …
COURAGE – the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) “I’m frankly tired of marching. I’m tired of going to jail,” Martin Luther King, Jr. admitted in 1968. “Living every day under the threat of death, I feel discouraged every now and then and feel my work’s in vain, but then the …
If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is the significance of a clean desk? ~Dr. Laurence J. Peter A writer needs a little clutter going in her head. Got to pull those stories from somewhere. Certainly a swept clean mind is going to be no help at all. I first wrote about this in 2013, …
A first line of a story is the baited hook an author hopes will catch a reader’s interest so they will want to read the second line and on and on until the last line on the last page. Some readers will check out that first line before they decide if the book is one they want to read. I’ve …
“Your words have power. Speak words that are kind, loving, positive, uplifting, encouraging, and life-giving.” -Unknown Have you ever heard of the One Word Challenge? Several years ago, pre-pandemic years, picking one word for your year was all the rage. I’m sure it’s still out there floating around for some, but I haven’t heard as much about it as I …
Happy New Year! Here we are ready to start through the days of the gift of a new year. Seems not so long ago we were switching over to a new century at 2000 with worries that was going to somehow stop the country because all the computers would have headaches changing 1999 to 2000. We survived that slide into …
The last time always seems sad, but it isn’t really. The end of one thing is only the beginning of another. ~Laura Ingals Wilder, These Happy Golden Years Thanks to those of you who have dropped in here during the month of December when so much is sometimes going on with Christmas gatherings, special church services, and maybe new books …
I hope you all had a blessed and joyful Christmas Day. My family is coming tomorrow to celebrate and so you can imagine how I’ve been as busy as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. But it’s a good busy as I get ready to have all my children and grandchildren home for Christmas. While Christmas …
When we remember a special Christmas, it is not the presents that made it special, but the laughter, the feeling of love, and the togetherness of friends and family that made that Christmas special. ~Catherine Pulsifer Sunday we talked about Candlelight Services, and how much those of us who had been to one of those services liked that worship experience. …
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” …John 8:12 (NIV) I just got home for our little church’s yearly Candlelight Service. While most churches that have a Candlelight Service do so on Christmas Eve, we decided …