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The Balanced Life?

Guest Post by Jennifer Maggio Yeah right! Some of you may be thinking.  The elusive balanced life that many of us aspire to seems harder to achieve than ever before. We are balancing soccer practice, house cleaning, full-time jobs, family duties, friendships, church functions, writing, and more. How do we manage our to-do lists while still finding a…

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A Funny Thing Happened On My Way To Thanksgiving

Oldie but Goodie Repost 2012   Last year I wrote about listing your Thanksgiving “Lessons-Learned” to track those once-annual thoughts of adjusted recipe measurements and where the fancy serving platter is stored. (Mine was in the guest room closet. Obviously.) I’m sharing my notes from this year’s feast, because sometimes the best you can be…

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Leave Martha off Your Guest Thanskgiving Guest List

Oldie But Goodie There are two words that send my normally calm husband into panic as Thanksgiving Day approaches – and they are not “dry turkey” or “lumpy potatoes.” The two words that make him break out in a cold sweat are “Martha Stewart.” My husband knows how easy it is for me to get…

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Professional Writer?

by Ron Estrada At some point, the average writer will make a decision: to continue writing for pleasure and occasional payment or to make it a career and become a professional writer. Either is fine. Some of you may not want the stress of producing words to keep your finances in the green. It’s no…

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Thanksgiving and Community: Who Will You Invite to Your Table

Oldie but Goodie Repost “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is begotten of God, and knoweth God.” 1 John 4:7 I used to dread the holidays. Sometimes I still do. I grew up in a NY Italian family that celebrated every holiday together. Then I…

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Getting by with a Little of Help from my Friends

I’m just back from a ten day trip, so I’m still recovering mentally and physically, but I just wanted to give a shout out to my amazing critique partner in crime who  helped me stay a float at Writer…Interrupted. Ron Estrada  is off celebrating with his bride of 23 years in the Big Apple! He’s…

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What I Learned While NOT Writing

As I race toward a self imposed deadline, I’ll be posting some “Oldies but Goodies” on Mondays, unless inspiration hits! Be sure to read until the end for my thoughts today! Jan 2007 Ten months ago I placed my writing on the altar, realizing that publication had consumed my life and my writing had become…

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Top 5 NonMarketing Things I Learned from the MacGregor Literary Marketing Workshop

As I get ready for the MacGregor Literary Marketing seminar in Chicago this weekend I’m reminded of that first MacLit gathering a few years ago in 2011. And while looking for some content to fill my blog while I’m away I found this half finished post from 2011 in my draft folder and decided to…

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Monster Mash Book Bash

It’s back! The second annual Monster Mash Book Bash will commence on Tuesday, October 29 -31st. That’s tomorrow! What is the MMBB? Glad you asked. It’s a group of mystery/suspense/thriller authors who will gather for discussions on “shedding light in a dark world” and offer book giveaways. There are all sorts of discussions and time…

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The Heart of a Lonely Writer

Sometimes I swear I’m masochistic—committing  to a career fraught with rejection, with anonymous spews disguised as reviews, and a wait that rivals the time it took to build the Great Wall. Still. I’m here. I’m in this. And I’ll be the first to admit it can get insanely lonely. Yes, social media has provided wonderful…

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