Stories that Matter
Life
Breathe!!
| 6 Comments
Today's Featured Author is JoAnn Durgin!
| 4 Comments
That's All She Wrote…
| 12 Comments
Dare To Be Different…A Lesson In Teacups.
| 9 Comments
Listen To The Music…
| 8 Comments
Meet Author Gail Sattler!
| 2 Comments
Vacation…
| 4 Comments
Meet Author Kathi Macias!
| 2 Comments
Don't Talk To Me, I Don't Want To Be Your Friend!
| 8 Comments
I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m fine. Maybe you’re familiar with the mantra? It’s easy to say. Easy to repeat. And easy to convince yourself of. Because if you say something enough times, eventually you begin to believe it. Even if it’s not true. So last week I wrote about change, and how I was going…
read more...
“You gain strength,courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” — Eleanor Roosevelt. So we…
read more...
Happy Mother’s Day to all the amazing Moms I know and love. Those with us and those who have gone before us. This day is hard for some of us, I know. I miss my Mom too. But I’m grateful for the memories. Grateful for the legacy she left us. And grateful that I got…
read more...Not on the rocks. Not with a splash. Maybe a twist, that’d be fun. But don’t water it down. Write what you want to say, write from you heart, and write, for the love of everything, like you mean it. If you don’t mean it, don’t waste your reader’s time, or yours. After 20 something…
read more...
Can I be honest? Groups scare me a little. Anything larger than my husband and I, and two other couples is just a bit out of my comfort zone. Even when our group of eight, all close and fun friends, gets together, the house is just a bit too loud. And that’s kind of funny…
read more...Words fail me. Lately. When I try to sum up what this thing is that I do and why I do it and why I can’t not do it and why some days the words won’t come . . . words fail me. And the question rattles hard in my head. Is it . .…
read more...
Sharing some thoughts on writing, and life. So I’m asked this a lot. Mostly in author interviews, occasionally in an email from an aspiring author who just wants a break, wants her words to be seen, heard. “What’s the magic formula?” I’d tell you if I knew. Honest. So this is the part I could…
read more...
The stories make me sad. So terribly sad. And angry. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve seen them too. All over social media. The hashtag #MeToo Sometimes no story at all. Sometimes more than we may want to know. But they’re all connected. Women. Women who have in some way, been violated. Been…
read more...
Thirty one years. Today. I stood before him in a long white gown that cost more than my father wanted to spend, but he bought it for me anyway, because it was the one and he was ‘the one’ and my Dad would have bought me the moon if I said I wanted it. I stood…
read more...
That was a text I got from my daughter a few hours into labour. “Is it supposed to hurt this much?” I wanted to laugh, but I didn’t. Because, yes. It is. And it does. And it will continue to. With every challenge that comes with being a parent. Being a mother or father or…
read more...Breathe!!
Okay, I’m back!! After plunging into edits on my latest novel over the past two weeks, I am finished! So ready for a break! Good thing summer is almost here, right?
First things first – I have to announce TWO WINNERS! The winner of Nicole O’Dell’s The Embittered Ruby, is Elaine Stock. Elaine, let me know how to get in touch with you!
And the winner of my novel, Yesterday’s Tomorrow, is Caleb Rocke! Ditto Caleb.
So as you can imagine, it’s been a challenging time for me, trying to whittle down words and re-write scenes, all the while wondering why in the world I wanted to be a writer in the first place. 🙂 It’s easy to get discouraged when you feel overwhelmed, isn’t it? I have to admit, I plunged in feet first and then had a major freak-out attack midway through. Suddenly the whole thing sucked. Fortunately for me, I have no problem having a good whine on Facebook, as you do, haha, and soon I had many friends and authors sending me oodles of encouragement. My agent told me to CHILL OUT. And I needed to.
I took a few days off. Sat in the sun. Went swimming. Walked. Played with the dog. All the while my brain was still processing what I had to do, but in a calm, logical manner. I began to believe what everyone said. I COULD DO THIS. When I went back to work on that book Monday morning, I had a plan and I put it into action. And I think I succeeded.
What do you do when you feel snowed under? Do you have a particular place to go to get away from it all? I love to look at the ocean and that’s usually where I spend my time complaining talking to God. He’s a pretty good listener, even though I’m sure He has that eye-roll down pat. One of the big things I got out of my time of angst the past couple weeks was a big reminder of Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. God breathed life into me some almost 47 years ago – He had a plan for me then. He has a plan for me now. He wants me to succeed. Isn’t that amazing? No matter how bad things get, no matter how out-of-control or overwhelmed I may feel, I know God’s got this. And He’ll help me get through.
All I have to do is breathe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfQktHzNccE