The story I started over a decade ago is finally complete! I printed the first complete draft of MS:T and it is a beautiful thing. It's a first complete draft that I can say I am really proud of. The things that came out in the writing, those surprises that I didn't plan for even... Continue Reading →
Letting 2020 Go
Oh my dear readers. We are getting ready to say goodbye to the year and what a year it is has been. I spent this past week setting up my plot board and dry erase boards for the new year. My plot board is full of index cards, one for each chapter of MS:T, with... Continue Reading →
Completing a Goal
I finished the complete revision of MS:SB and it felt so good to complete the goal before 2020 ended. This was a project I started way back in the beginning of the year and I almost let it go. I knew if I did, I would only be slowing down the work I want to... Continue Reading →
NaNoWriMo Prep 2020 Week 3: Believe
The most important thing a writer takes with them into the NaNoWriMo challenge, is the belief in themselves as a writer. Owning that belief in ourselves as writers is so incredibly empowering and important. It’s important because many of us for a very (sometimes very, VERY) long time will be writing without knowing when or... Continue Reading →
Getting Ready: Same Goal, Different Circumstances
Preparing for the NaNoWriMo challenge is, like most annual events happening in 2020, familiar and very different. National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is the challenge that writers take on to complete a 50,000 word manuscript in the month of November. The writing only takes place in the month of November which breaks down the word... Continue Reading →
Have Patience, It’s ALL a Phase and a Process
Last week I needed to remind myself of this each and every day. I needed to remind myself to have patience with myself and with the pace at which I will need to work toward my goals. At the beginning of this year, like everyone, I set my goals with a different kind of world... Continue Reading →
Managing Expectations, Goals, and Writing
August 2020 is done and we are into September. Still 2020, but a new month, so I’ll take it. Ending August was rough. We left summer vacation mode and jumped into full remote learning for our daughters. That meant we had to fully deal with the reality that the fall was going to be a... Continue Reading →
What is the Writing Process? Step 5
Step five in this process? I hope you’ll forgive me, because it requires caps. DO NOT GIVE UP. Seriously, it is that important and cannot be ignored. Don’t give up on your story. No matter how many times you get frustrated and want to walk away, which is sometimes helpful, you need to return to... Continue Reading →
A Year in Review, Second Edition
Starting this blog two years ago turned out to be a natural evolution of chronicling my past. I have journals from the past decade and a half that are a record of the things that have happened to me personally, the evolution of my relationships and family, and the catalog of my goals and dreams.... Continue Reading →
The Books
I've been fortunate these past few weeks to find myself in several bookstores. When I was a kid, my favorite birthdays were the ones where I received several gift cards to bookstores. My dad would take me and while he was lost in the fantasy section on his own adventuring for paperbacks and hardcovers to... Continue Reading →