“The only way to start is just to start – take the plunge.” With these words, I started keeping a journal ten years ago this spring. I’d had a diary when I was a girl, one of those pink books with the gilt edges and cheap metal lock. But I […]
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Guest Blogpost on Write Brain Trust: How to Format Your Book for E-Publishing
This week I have a guest post on Write Brain Trust that discusses how I formatted my ebook Family Recipe. Write Brain Trust is a group of writers who help each other with creativity, publishing and marketing issues. We have been exploring the brave new world of e-publishing, and several of […]
Continue readingTasting Your Memories
Later this year my husband and I will celebrate our 35th anniversary. We started dating, got serious, and were married all in 1977, so I’ll be celebrating 35th anniversaries of major events in our relationship all year. Last month was the 35th anniversary of our first date. No one remembered […]
Continue reading“Family Recipe” anthology now available!
My book Family Recipe: Sweet and saucy stories, essays and poems about family life has now been published by Rickover Publishing. The paperback is available through CreateSpace Amazon And the ebook is available in two formats: Kindle (MOBI) Nook (EPUB) This book would make a wonderful accompaniment to an Easter basket […]
Continue readingAchieving our Dreams by Telling Our Stories . . . to Ourselves and Our Loved Ones
I’ve recently read two articles that made me think about the importance of telling our stories to ourselves and to our close family members. If we don’t talk about our dreams, how can our loved ones support us? The first article I saw was a blogpost by Mary Jo Asmus of […]
Continue readingFour Tips for Writing Scenes with Many Characters
On a LinkedIn writing group board recently, someone asked how to write a scene in a novel with many characters arguing about an emotional business decision. I’ve been in meetings like that, so I understood the problem both as a participant and as a writer. It is difficult to write […]
Continue readingTools for Writing Historical Fiction
Writing descriptions is not something that comes naturally to me. I much prefer writing dialogue. But when writing historical fiction, writing about place is critical. In my historical novels, I have to recreate a world that disappeared long before the lifetimes of my readers. How have I found information about […]
Continue readingStories Are the Heart and Soul of Communication
Heidi Cohen writes a good blog offering Practical Marketing Advice. Her February 13 post, 13 Ways Stories Support Social Media Marketing, contains good information for writers. Heidi says that stories are the heart and soul of social media, but I would argue stories are the heart and soul of any […]
Continue readingMy “Family Recipe” anthology coming soon!
My anthology of short stories, essays and poems will be published and available soon. Here is a sample essay, “Normally Dysfunctional,” which was first published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: All in the Family. I hope you enjoy it. Normally Dysfunctional “At least you’re not my real mother!” My daughter’s […]
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