Blog
Evernote: Helping Caregivers in their Writing
As a member of the Sandwich Generation, caring for the elderly parents in my family and babysitting grandchildren, I am constantly interrupted. As I always tell my senior mom when we are making plans, “Everything is subject to change with little or no notice.” As you can imagine, all those interruptions can make it very…
Breathing Life into Your Setting
Setting in a fictional novel, if done well, can take on a life of its own. In order to create a setting that is almost like a character, there are two basic points to know: 1) Know Your Setting, And 2) Know How Your Setting Influences Your Characters. To Know Your Setting, you must first…
How to Play Our Roles
Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faith fully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone…
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
A satire on two generations of Americans and the American dream (or, more accurately, dreams), Jonathan Franzen wrote a book that at times seems more case-study than novel. Because of this, for a good part of the book, the characters seem almost more caricature than individual. Of course, the big twist in the end is…
Divine Patience
“He has made everything beautiful in its time and that there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under Heaven. “ Ecclesiastes 3:1,11 Recently one of my girlfriends informed me that God was placing “divine patience” in me, despite my resistance to receiving it. I’d been going through a tremendously hard time…
Best Mother's Day Poem EVER
My daughter (9 next week) grew up watching her mom at the computer. I’d often hear “you’re always on your ‘puter” come from her as she wiggled up on my lap as I typed at the keyboard. That’s when I really started to take a look at how I could manage my dreams with my…
Drumroll Please: Writer…Interrupted is HERE!
Well, not here…it’s here! So what are you waiting for?
Taxes and Writers
Do I need to file taxes as a writer? The simple answer is it depends. Here are a few considerations in deciding whether or not to put your writing on your tax return. Did you receive any income? Many people think you need a certain amount of income to have to file, however, this is…
The Passionate Writer
Home and family, my passions, swirl through everything I write like a cinnamon ribbon spirals through breakfast bread. I stand at the kitchen sink, my brain ticking off Fifteen After-School Snacks that Spell Love to Your Teenager. I separate the t-shirts from the socks ruminating on Five-Minute Recipes to Romance Your Husband. I walk to…
Confessions of a Schizophrenic Writer
I recently had one of those moments when I was misunderstood. This “advice”, from a well-meaning, but far too hasty mentor, was just a suggestion. One, if taken at face value, meant little. But nevertheless, it was a “poo-poo”-ing of my grand idea and it stung and continued to sting for a long time. It…