What’s happening?

Isn’t it funny how some of us start conversations with people these days with this question: “What’s Happening?” And then the poor person being asked the question is in the hot seat having to come up with a quick and meaningful answer. Well, my answer today is: writing is happening in my life. I feel like I’ve been at my computer these last few days since the new year and even before the holidays, almost non-stop. And that’s a good thing. I gotten myself back into writing small stones, which are a couple of lines about anything. This month I started writing one every day, concentrating on a theme that has to do with something I observe in nature. By the way, I’ve written small stones for years, but recently took a break from them. I’m glad to be back. There’s a Facebook group in case you’re interested in joining in. This month they’re called January resolutions – the name changes every month. My main project, however, is my new memoir about aging. I wrote a list of thirty topics … [Read more...]

Wine while you write

Ha ha! Needless to say I'm thinking about a glass of wine as my alcohol fast ends in a few days!   … [Read more...]

Comparing writing a proposal to writing a book

I finally have a break from work. Yes, it's Sunday and I have the day off. For the last five weeks I've been knee-deep in working with a team of engineers writing a proposal to the U. S. Air Force. And, I'd like to share some of the steps they have gone through some very similar to those we take as fiction and nonfiction authors and some not. Plan. Start with an outline or a plan the engineers produced annotated outlines and planning documents called story maps that showed where on each page of their sections their graphics and text will layout on the page. I started both my memoir and novel with outlines. I know some of you are panzers, but I like to have a plan before I write. Review. We spent a lot of time reviewing these plans for compliance with the proposal instructions and technical soundness. I was very fortunate to have a friend review my original memoir outline and another person review my revision plan when I was getting it ready for publication. Having fresh eyes … [Read more...]

My life changed in an instant

I started my long-awaited consulting job this past Wednesday and with that my life's daily routines  changed in an instant. I get up more than an hour earlier so I'll have enough time to workout before I have to be at work at 7:30 am!!!! Also, the amount of time I have to train for the Boston Overnight walk in June has been cut in half. I drive to work rather than walk downstairs to my home office. I need to be dressed in business clothes with makeup on rather than in my grubbies and no makeup when I work at home. I haven't watched any television for the last several days I sure miss my daily dose of Jeopardy nor have I read one word of any of the books stacked on my beside table. But most important of all, most of my writing time has been snatched away. So far I'm clinging to daily journaling usually right before I go to sleep, but my other writing has stopped. I was going great with the April Poem A Day prompts until this week. Though the prompts stopped on … [Read more...]