Paying it Forward, Writer’s Style

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

Thriller Author Spills Secrets at Bookapalooza

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

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

You Must Not Hop On Pop

I’ve never lost a crew yet

In the Dr. Seuss book, Hop On Pop there is a page that shows two rambunctious children and a father looking quite worn out. The words say,

“Dad is sad.
Very very sad.
He had a bad day.
What a day dad had.”

My son enjoys that book. I enjoy reading it to him.

My son loves books, and at 20 months of age he is even starting to recognize two or three simple words in print.

How does that make me feel?

Ha, I’m sure you can guess. I’m elated with him. He is a gift and I am one of Read more

Ascribe Bloggers

Ascribe Writers- Photo by Taylor Rebecca Photography

I love reading blogs that focus on writing. Especially the blogs produced by our local writers’ group. This is a shout-out to my fellow Ascribe Writers who consistently take turns providing a weekly blog that is shared on the website. Because membership in the group has been fairly consistent for many years, reading their posts is like catching up with good friends over coffee or a glass of wine.I always look forward to the Monday ritual of checking out the most recent post.

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Piecemeal

ONE OF THE BIG THINGS about creative writing  is how much a part of one’s self shows up in the work, even when the theme is something completely fabricated.
      I liken writing to a piecework quilt: beyond the grammar and words one selects to stitch everything together (although that can colour everything), in most of what we write, what we design – plot, theme, characters – everything originates as a pastiche of everything we have lived and learned. Just like those quilts that use symbols of colour and form to send a message, our minds gather up all those elements that we have to hand from our experiences and knowledge, even when we’re creating something uniquely from our imagination. Read more

Don’t Look Up!

eclipse
Inspiring, right? Right?

Did you know there’s going to be an eclipse this afternoon? Well, depending on when you read this it may have already happened. I’m not in the path of totality, which means that at no time is it safe for me to look at the sun during this eclipse.

And no, I’m not relocating. I have enough to do these days with diapers and the like to keep me busy. I don’t need to chase astronomical phenomena.

Here’s a funny story

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