Tag Archives: author
Newsflash: everyone has writer’s block, not just authors whose livelihood depends on their capacity to churn out amazing poetry or prose. If you’ve ever written a memo, created a proposal, drafted a lesson plan or used the written word to communicate, then you’ve experienced writer’s block. I’m not sure what causes the syllabic logjam preventing thoughts from traveling from the brain through the fingers onto the page (or computer screen), but I have learned how to break it up. When…..
My mom died on January 27, 2020. Grief is a strange experience. Grief is also NOT linear. Even though she has been gone for three years, there are still memories of her that appear at random times, popping to the top of my consciousness like errant butterflies flitting across a garden full of flowers waving in the breeze. That’s her in the picture—the brunette nestled next to her dad. She was the elder of two “oops babies” that arrived when…..
Today is writer Virginia Woolf”s birthday. Born in Kensington (a London residential district) 140 years ago, her writing remains as relevant today as it was when she first committed her thoughts to paper. This quote of hers in particular resonates with me as a writer: “If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.” ― Virginia Woolf Writers are observers, and while some writing can be classified as nonfiction, all writing that has…..
One of the best features of Twitter is the opportunity to connect with other people around a specific topic via online chats using a hashtag to “sort” the conversation stream apart from the rest of the flow of general tweets. These interactions expand my horizons, introduce me to other minds and concepts and also give me an opportunity to refine my thoughts about any given topic. Today’s post is about blogging, but more specifically, what inspires us to write. There…..
[ALT TEXT: Did you know: The first poor grade I ever received was from Mrs. Ring in the fourth grade. It was for my penmanship, which she deemed, “borderline illegible.” I vowed to improve my technique. A lesson I took away from that experience is that even the best message is useless unless it can be effectively communicated]. I lived in Iowa when Barack Obama was running for president (both terms). As someone with over three decades of media experience,…..
Today, while walking around my neighborhood, I overheard a child’s voice call out, “Excuse me!” My mom instinct kicking in, I paused and looked over my shoulder, looking for the source of the voice. It was a little girl, about seven years old. She wasn’t trying to get my attention. Instead, I saw her untangle herself from her bicycle and step toward a young woman who was standing next to her dog — a full-grown Golden Labrador Retriever. “Excuse me!”…..
So many of us have been taught that it’s immodest to “toot our own horn” or that talking about our own accomplishments is bad. When promoting yourself on social media, it’s common to see the phrase “humble brag” associated with anything remotely connected to publicizing achievement or rolling out an offering (e.g. a new book, webinar, speaking engagement or job promotion). October is National Self-Promotion Month, so today we’re going to focus on a few ways that you can begin…..
Hi everyone, I wanted to share this with you as a general backgrounder, since you may have only “met” me through social media. This member spotlight of me in the Ellevate Network gives a bit of history of who I am, what I think and how it relates to this blog, and why I am so committed to helping others. For the greatest accuracy, I cut and pasted the profile, including the actual link below: 1. Introduce yourself to our…..
During a recent Zoom call with a business consultant who is helping me to edit a messaging video for my upcoming happiness trainer coursework, a revelation occurred to me. While others can help us reach our goals, ultimately, any forward progress depends on our own efforts and actions. Thusly inspired, after our call, I spent time framing out the workbook content. Today, I’ve been culling my notebooks for snippets and thoughts I’ve kept in my journals—wading through years of content,…..
When your life is topsy-turvy and upside town, consider it as an opportunity to start afresh or perform course correction. Dr. Seuss is a master of the whimsical, so today, I thought I’d share some of my favorite quotes of his. I was born with a congenital heart defect, and so I spent a LOT of time in hospitals until I had, at age five, the final open heart surgery operation, Tetralogy of Fallot, that corrected my malformed ticker. With…..