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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Disappearing Between the Pages of a Summer Romance

How often do you sit down and read a book from cover to cover without doing anything else besides taking a pee break or foraging your pantry for more snacks?

Hardly ever, right? Who has time for that? We all have task lists as long as the Canada-USA border. We can’t just disappear from our busy lives to read a book.

Well, sometimes, I do.

People can try to shame me or make me feel guilty with their “Wow! Must be nice to do absolutely nothing.” And guess what? I don’t care. It is nice. I finally finished the big-girl quilt for my granddaughter’s birthday present (it took me a year) and I had a time to relax for a few minutes. I’m living my life how I want to, because we will ALL be dead soon (sorry to break that news to you), so why not spend my time the way I want to.

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Riding the Query Coaster

How is it almost June? JUNE! 

Now I ask you, fellow writer, considering we are half-way through the year, have you achieved your writing goals?

Photo by Conor Luddy on Unsplash

I haven’t.

At the outset of this year, I set a goal to start querying my Adult Speculative with Romance. The roller coaster that is querying began for me as I was propelled into querying, tricked in truth, into joining the line for a monstrous amusement park ride, the kind of ride that induces nausia, forcing me to lay out on the grass and ponder why on earth I would ever, ever to do that to myself. But somehow we forget and then find ourselves once again entering those line ups, too embarrassed to skip out at the last moment… but maybe we should. Read more