First of all I want to thank all my friends who participated in the Choices Guest Post Festival from the end of August to mid September: Susan Weidener Deborah Kalan Viki Noe Ace Antonio Hall Meryl Hartstein Chanel Brenner Eleanor Vincent Jerry Waxler Sherrey Meyer Linda Joy Myers Karen Levy Kathy Pooler You all certainly raised the bar over here. During the last three and a half weeks the number of views more than doubled because of your contributions. So it's time for me to get back to work. I need to keep the momentum going by posting myself and hosting guests as much as possible. Please let me know if you'd like to share your writing story on Choices in the near future. On Wednesday, my guests will be Cami Ostman and Susan Tive who will share about their anthology, Beyond Belief: what happens when women of extreme … [Read more...]
Deborah Kalan says, “Just do it”
I'm so pleased to have Deborah Kalan back here at Choices. Since we met in a Pilates class about a year and a half ago, our friendship has blossomed. We get together socially with our husbands, and we always have our writing projects to talk about. Yet, sometimes life events seem to interfere with our writing. Deborah tells how the obstacles play havoc on her determination to keep sitting in her chair in front of her computer. They are wise words indeed. How to Begin Your Daily Writing (when you just don't think you can) by Deborah Kalan There are three obstacles that often interfere with my writing. 1. Getting started 2. Going back to a previously written piece 3. Staying focused Getting Started Some days I'll flip open my computer and what do I see in front of me? No, not a blank page. That would be easy. What I see is my Yahoo page with a multitude of hooking … [Read more...]
Introducing my new writing friend, Deborah Kalan
Deborah and I met in Pilates class. We never said more than hello for about six months until one day I mentioned I had to rush away after class because I had a lot of work to do. She asked what I did, and when I said I am a writer, her eyes lit up. She said, I'm a writer too. And our friendship was off and running. I've read a lot of her stories, and I totally agree. She is a writer. I'm so happy to introduce her work to you. My Writing Life By Deborah Kalan I have been writing seriously since my eleventh birthday when I received a leatherette diary the color of blue Irises. The diary was secured with a little strap that had a gold lock and two gold keys. On the front of it were the words Dear Diary. Each page was divided into five sections of about five lines, which in my 11-year-old mind, restricted me to extremely brief entries. In those days, I mostly wrote about boys. The cute ones, the creepy ones, the ones that liked me, the ones that I liked who didn't like me. … [Read more...]
Introducing my guests
For a change of pace I'm going to devote the next three weeks to the voices of other wonderful and experienced writers and publishers. I've asked eight people whom I've either met personally or online to tell you about their writing, publishing, and marketing experiences. I feel so fortunate that they have agreed to be my guests here on Choices. I hope you will keep coming back for more and more. You'll find the information interesting and very helpful to your writing lives. Here's my guest lineup in order of appearance: Sharon Lippincott November 26 Sharon is the author of The Heart and Craft of Lifestory Writing, knows she's been successful. Her insightful questions and observations have challenged people in many areas for decades. Today they are primarily aimed at students in her lifestory and creative writing classes along with readers of her blog, forum posts, book reviews, and other publications. Kathleen Pooler November 29 Kathy is a … [Read more...]
