Paying it Forward, Writer’s Style

Donna Judy Curtin Leave a comment
Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

You may have heard the saying, Paying it Forward. Similar sayings include… to pass it on, sharing kindness, or repaying in-kind. This means that when someone does something nice, instead of paying it back directly to the person who performed this kindness, you do something kind for someone else.

In the writing world, Paying it Forward is a core component

of the writing community. It can include things like volunteering on a committee, organizing meetings for a writing group, planning writing retreats, beta reading, participating in critique groups, writing book reviews, making book recommendations, attending book launches, supporting other writer’s online messages, or BUYING THEIR BOOK. Many of these actions are the foundation of how the writing world thrives and survives. Read more

On The Edge

Kelly Babcock Leave a comment

Me, retired.
Retirement is taking up all my time.

I thought that when I retired I’d write.

I mean, I’ve always written, but I thought I’d “retire to writing full time.” it seemed like a no brainer.

I figured people would be asking, “Where’s Kelly?” and others would answer, “Oh, he’s writing. Can’t tear him away from it.”

That’s what I thought

But something else happened Read more

Screenwriting

Bernice Connell Leave a comment

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley was the first novel I remember visualising as a film while reading it. I first read it when it was published, in the early nineteen eighties.

I don’t know how to describe the feeling exactly but somehow I was totally involved with the characters and the story. I know I felt transported to a mystical world of castles, cliffs, raging seas, desolate locations and fierce female characters I could never have imagined. The imagery was so vivid and unlike anything I had read previously. The experience has always stayed with me.

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Thriller Author Spills Secrets at Bookapalooza

Lori Twining 2 Comments
Authors Ruth E. Walker and Linwood Barclay at Dominion Hotel and Pub, Minden

If you know me, you know I am obsessed with books. If I’m stressed or nervous (work stress, hospital surgery, a dentist visit, etc.), I pull out a novel and start reading. It takes my mind off all my problems, even if only for a few minutes, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Kudos to the authors that can keep me focused on reading their stories. If given the chance to meet one of these fantastic authors who can entertain me for hours, I don’t hesitate to take it. 

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Scrabble tiles spelling Grace with flowers.

A Writer’s Grace

Donna Judy Curtin 1 Comment

I’m late.  (not PREGNANT… just late, at life – everything, but specifically, this blog is late)

We set a blog post deadline. We give ourselves this deadline and ask that we keep to it as practice… practice in professionalism. How will we ever be expected to meet submission deadlines, editing deadlines, a launch deadline if we cannot keep to our own blog schedule?

Woman looking into the fog.
Photo by Devin Justesen on Unsplash

Then my brain starts to hummmmm… maybe I shouldn’t be a writer, maybe I don’t have what it takes, why is my brain so foggy, maybe this is that pesky-peri-menopause thing again, perhaps this is all just too much, I’m letting everyone down…

I’ve known the due date for weeks… MANY weeks in truth. How? How did I fail to get it written?

I enjoy writing these blogs. Very much so.

I’ve got every excuse in the world and yet no perfect excuse. I knew the deadline. I saw it coming.

Sure, I was on vacation. Sure, I was busy caring for others, then pretending to care for myself. Sure, I was distracted by family obligations, a sudden health scare with a beloved family member, the completion of a memorial for a deceased furry loved one…

I was immobile, incapable, tongue tied… is this, dare I say, writer’s block? Read more