Monthly Archives: November 2014

Thanksgiving Blessings!

Today, I am thankful for all the many blessings in my life. The love of my beautiful family and dear friends (whom I consider extended family), being able to come together to celebrate this day, our home, the ability to do what I love for a living, for peace and safety in the place I live, for YOU, and for always having enough–MORE than enough! I may not be rich according to U.S. “standards,” but I am blessed abundantly with everything I need and a good many of my “wants.” For all of these things, I am deeply grateful.

May you and your loved ones, wherever you are, know such abundant blessings. I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving! cornucopia

Compassion Applied to Writing Novel Characters

I saw this clip this morning and thought, “Wow, this is cool. I need to make sure I write my characters as if actors will be performing them.” In the video, Tom talks about how actors (and, by assumption, readers) connect with a character, and how compassion is the key.  Applied to writing, it means (to me) connecting in the same way and then loading my pages with a character’s root motivation as well as their reactionary emotions so that my reader feels what the character feels and makes a genuine emotional connection based on understanding where that character is coming from.

I always feel my characters as I’m writing them, but then they live IN my head until I get them out in words. My job is to make them come alive in yours. The way he puts it  made some dots connect for me in a new way. Very thought-provoking.

…And it’s Tom Freaking Hiddleston.

 

Veterans Day

Jessica picIn observation of Veterans Day, my friend and fellow author Jessica Scott is donating 50% of net proceeds from the sale of her novel “All I Want For Christmas Is You” for the month of November to Project Sanctuary!

This is a Colorado based charity that supports military families through family based retreats in the Colorado Mountains, away from cell phones and other distractions. Their website says that 90% of those who have attended retreats are still married. They also follow up with their families for two years – a really great way to make sure that the families remain in touch with people as they’re moving through difficult periods.

What a great way to support our uniformed men and women! Join with us in supporting this program today!

My Blog

I can remember thinking that working at home would be soooo relaxing, especially once the school year started and the progeny was off to the wonderful land of learning. My idyllic weekdays would consist of waking up at a leisurely hour, brewing my cuppa, eating my breakfast while posting on social media, and then enjoying an uninterrupted day of transferring stories from head to screen.mutant_laundry

I’m not sure where you are but wherever it is, you can probably hear me laughing. Yes, some days are like that, but they are few and far between. All the crucial stuff I used to cram into my short evenings and weekends is now spread out across the entire week. Not only that, but that “stuff” magically multiplied.

The dirty clothes have mutated, developing rabbit-like reproductive capabilities. The dirty dishes followed suit. Groceries must still be bought. Meals must still be made. The progeny’s toys still migrate throughout the house. The feline overlord’s litter box still has to be cleaned. The school calls, the hubby needs an errand run, the neighbors or cable salespeople come a-knocking when I’m bra-less, etc., etc. A million little things crop up over the course of the day to tear away my focus. My life is way more hectic now than it ever was when I worked at an office Monday—Friday. That was snooze-ville compared to this.

But you know what? It is so worth it, because in between the chaos and confusion, I get to do what I’ve wanted to do since I was four years old and learned about how books came into being. I get to do what I LOVE. I get to write—and all of my stories have happy endings!