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.
Ha, I’m sure you can guess. I’m elated with him. He is a gift and I am one of Read more
It’s summer! Officially time for vacations of many variety: family reunions, sunny days at cottages, long weekends, camping adventures, dinners on a patio with friends, and there’s no time to write! Or is there…?
Maybe it’s the best time. One the great characteristics of June is that it provides extra long days. Sunrise today is at 5:40 am and sunset at 9:10 pm. That’s 10 and 1/2 hours of daylight. If you travel further north, you get even longer days. I love this month. Put those extra daylights hours to good use.
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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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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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To write, or not to write, that is the question. Read more
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?
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
I’ve been wondering lately if I’ll ever actually succeed as a writer.
I mean, yes, I’ve worked as a writer, but those of us who write see success differently from just earning a wage. We see it as more of a sense of … well, a feeling of … okay, dammit. We want Read more
A new novel has the thrill of discovering new characters and the fun of anticipating and being surprised by plot twists. Re-reading a favourite book has a different kind of joy. It can feel like sitting down with old friends, catching up with the characters again and sinking back into a familiar and comfortable place. During stressful times in my life, I find myself more likely to return to a previously loved book rather than tackling something new. Perhaps it is because there is comfort in this; no surprises as I know the outcome. It is a steading force in a time of turmoil. Perhaps also the reading will help trigger remembering a good time in my life. Nostalgia has been shown to enhance mental wellbeing and improve feeling socially connected so re-reading could have the same effect. Or maybe even just the re-reading a good book is like enjoying the same delicious meal again: it was so good the first time, why not repeat it?
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