I have a new friend where I live who also writes a blog. But she writes everyday - something, I'm sorry to say, I won't commit to. Plus she adds great illustrations, news topics, trivia questions, and a daily puzzle. This I must say is one fun blog even when she asks pointed questions about the new mask directives and discusses why she doesn't watch the Olympics. And it's not all that serious. She even recommended buying a pair of shoes like her latest ones. Yes, I'm going to buy a pair. Here's her blog address: Joyce@joyceswhatsupblog.com I hope you'll check it out! *** As for me, well, I'm like a broken record. I keep writing and writing about the same old thing - my moving and how I'm feeling about it. Though I hope this latest piece is a little more optimistic. Writing Group Prompt: Write about your comfortable space and what draws you to it or the reverse: Supposedly when I moved to my new apartment in Playa Vista I was moving to a more comfortable space. Leaving my big … [Read more...]
Becoming a blogger the journaling way
I have been a fervent journal writer for over thirty years and I love to hear about other's journaling experiences. Dr. Mona Balogh, also an avid journaler, writes little vignettes about her patients in her new book, How to Stay Out of My Emergency Room. And she has written a post for Choices about how she turned her journal entries into a blog. Please welcome Dr. Mona Balogh. My Failed Online Bookstore Turned Me into a Blogger by Dr. Mona Balogh I began blogging when my children were little, and I had an online bookstore called “Oasis Family Bookstore.” I sold homeschool books and wrote about “Homeschooling Made Easi-er,” implying that homeschooling is not easy. After the store and website failed, I learned how not to sell books online. But I was able to convincingly write about how to homeschool a family, and even help others homeschool their own children. I also attended many homeschool groups, conferences, get-togethers, park days, and co-schooled, hired teachers and … [Read more...]
Where did I go?
I apologize for my long absence from here. I spent from December 8 to January 9 working on five proposals over at the aerospace company I retired from in 2010. I've done a few gigs there before, but this one was especially grueling such that it gave me little time for myself, let alone to pursue any of my usual writing and reading projects. My new memoir sat dormant, my reading was almost nil - though I finally finished Toni Morrison's Sula in the first week of January. It literally took me over four weeks to read about one hundred and fifty pages. Also, I didn't write any poetry or my favorite small stones (little two-three line observations). And, needless to say, my review of my friend's six hundred page book stopped cold in its tracks. Even my daily gym workouts had to be curtailed. Though I thought I'd start right up again this past Friday - my first day off - I could barely keep my eyes open to do anything. All I wanted to do all day was sleep, and so I did. I also slept … [Read more...]
Finding love and Michael French
Today I'm participating in a group blogging! WOW! Women On Writing has gathered a group of blogging buddies to write about finding love in unimaginable places. Why this topic? We're celebrating the release of Michael French's twenty-fourth novel. Once Upon a Lie (Terra Nova Books) is an exploration of the secrets families keep, and the ways those secrets can tear a family apart. Visit The Muffin to read what Michael has to say on finding love in unexpected places and view the list of all my blogging buddies. Visit Michael's website to find out more about the author. We also have a review of the novel here (and a giveaway). So I've decided to post a couple of poems as my contribution to the topic of "finding love in unimaginable places." One is about the night my husband and I fell in love (it appears in my memoir Leaving the Hall Light On): Forty (plus) Years He folds her in his arms and looks down at her with his deep blue eyes and a small, closed-mouth smile that … [Read more...]
Writing work resolutions for 2015
I'm finally back to real work after a nice long new year's holiday rest. And it's about time. Of course I didn't stay exactly idle. I've thought long and hard about how to proceed with my writing life this year, and I've made a preliminary list. I'm sure I'll add more things in the weeks and months to come. Keep slugging away at my novel revisions. I'm about to start Chapter Six only Twenty-one chapters to go. In other words I'm on page forty-one of one hundred and seventy-nine single-spaces pages. It's going to be a long haul. Write blog pieces for Choices that are more about my writing work and writing advice for others. Write for other websites: Naturally Savvy, Aging Bodies, and Cate Russell-Cole's CommuniCATE Resources for Writers website. I feel so honored that she asked me help her out while she works on her own memoir. Write more poetry. In the last few months I've let my poetry writing go by the wayside in favor of working on my novel that's not good for my … [Read more...]
Blog hops – another way to introduce our fellow authors
I always love to participate in blog hops and tagging games, so I thank author David Berner, whose new memoir recently won the Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year award, for tagging me to play this week. David and I recently met (virtually) through our publisher Mike O'Mary at Dream of Things. I heartedly welcome David into our Dream of Things family. David's book due out this fall is Any Road will Take You There, the story of a father who sets out on a cross-country road trip, one he never had the guts to take as a young man. He hopes it will spark a new chapter in his life. But the once-delayed journey now takes on new meaning when he's forced to confront his family's unsettled past. Plus, this spring Dream of Things will publish David's collection of essays: There's a Hamster in the Dashboard. So here I am tagged IT and answering the: BLOG HOP AUTHOR QUESTIONS What am I working on? My list is long. I'm just about ready to get back to revising my novel based on four … [Read more...]
Company is coming
Tomorrow starts a series of guest blog appearances by author's touring through WOW Women on Writing. I'm so looking forward to you getting to know these authors and reading their books. Here's the line up for August: Elizabeth Maria Naranjo, author of her first novel, The Fourth Wall (August 4) Page Strickland, author of Akin to the Truth: A Memoir of Adoption and Identity (August 11) Lorraine Ash, author of Self and Soul: On Creating A Meaningful Life (August 20) Please come back tomorrow to read Elizabeth's post about the benefits of publishing with a small press. … [Read more...]
