It’s hard to believe sometimes that 19 years have passed, but then I remember I have a freshman in college. I’ve been teaching at Stevenson University since 2000, when I was pregnant with my first child. I remember getting the job and being excited to be teaching at a four-year institution. I’d been teaching at…
Fiction Friday: An Update
* I’m not exactly sharing a fictional story today, but I’m sharing with you the crazy writing journey I’m on at the moment as I write my fourth fictional novel. In December, after National Novel Writing Month ended, I was 45,000 words into a new story, one that I had set in the hills of…
8 Tips for Living With a Creative Person
People often say I don’t cope with reality too well. I’d like to beg to differ. I think I have a pretty good handle on people, reality, and situations. Sometimes I just choose to ignore them for the betterment of my health, that’s all. But when it comes to being a creative person—a writer, nonetheless—I…
A Little Fashion Friday
Next week, it’s back to campus, and back to being a little more professionally dressed than wearing leggings and jeans every day. It’s been a comfortable month, but I am always excited to see my students’ faces and be back in the classroom with them–and to have a reason to wear some of my new…
Why I Will NEVER Break Up With Coffee
*** Let’s face it: Starbucks just might be one of the smartest businesses on the planet. It totally understood what was happening in the working world when it blossomed into something reliable and omnipresent. People were working longer, harder, and were busier than ever before, especially in corporate America. And their brand offered us…
For the Love of Postcards (and other written correspondence)
I’m romantic about travel. I’m also romantic about writing. Actually, I’m kind of romantic about everything. I have a really bad case of hopeless romanticism, and have been accused many times by people who know me that I tend to see the world in an unrealistic way. That may be true, but I also do…
What Blogging Has Meant to Me
* “You’re still blogging?” “Wow…you’ve been blogging for a while?” “How often do you blog?” “I didn’t know you had a blog. What’s your blog about?” “How do you come up with ideas for your blog each week?” “You’re still blogging?” * That’s pretty much how it goes most days when I mention that I’m…
The Most Difficult Part is Getting to the Finish Line
A couple of days ago, I read a blog about writing books. As the blogger presented information about how many indie and traditional books are published a year and that it’s a daunting task to even consider writing a book, because, let’s face it, the market is flooded with all kinds of books, he struck…
Coming Up With A Book Title
* One of the most challenging things to do as a writer is to come up with the name of your book. I’m in the process right now of brainstorming ideas for a title for my current work in progress. No one in my family seems to like the current working title: Life with Nan….
Coffee…Magic..and Your Soul
I just wrote a scene from my newly revised novel, and I am feeling pretty good about myself. These days, I have to budget my time wisely: time to write for pleasure, time to research and write the second edition of our academic textbook, and time to get my ducks in order for the upcoming…
Travel, Interrupted
Lesson learned in 2018: Perhaps avoid planning travel excursions during the holiday season when people are getting sick and germs are running rampant. Last week, the day after Christmas, for the second year in a row, we had planned a trip to Asheville, North Carolina, with two days in Williamsburg to follow at Christmas….
Life Philosophies, Not Resolutions This Year
This year I decided to do something different. Instead of making New Year’s Resolutions that we forget two weeks into the year, I decided to adopt some life philosophies full of wisdom and put them into action the whole year long. I love quotes, sayings, and the ability that people have to say succinctly what…
