Category: musings

Letters to Follow – Unsent Letter Part Two

letters home / Letters to Follow / musings

Letters to Follow – Unsent Letter Part Two

Lynne story, in LTF, Letters to Follow-A Dancer’s Adventure, contains post cards and letters she sends to Marta and her new friend, Noel. Below is part of a too-long letter I didn’t use in the book. (Space is a luxury when I write such long books!) This apartment is the tiniest in the world. It’s much, much smaller than my old garage apartment with three people living in it. I sleep in a trundle-bed and stare up at a super high ceiling. The hostess is a slob. We (Arty and I) have no privacy except for a sheet hung on...

3 C’s of Effective Communication

details in writing / musings / writing / Writing's distinct voice

3 C’s of Effective Communication

When you talk face-to-face with others or provide your feedback, use the 3 C’s to improve your communication skills. Use: Collaboration, Creativity, and Critical Thinking  Collaboration: work with the goal of listening to others (voices or written words)before you speak.  Creativity: share your original ideas when the other person desires your input. Critical Thinking: use considerate, careful judgment in your suggestions. Be careful not to trample on other’s ideas in your excitement to share your thoughts.      

Fortune Cookie Advice

Challenge / musings

Fortune Cookie Advice

Here are a few tasty, thought-provoking fortunes most of us could use:   You are the master of every situation. Your efforts will be worthwhile. You tend to look at the practical side of situations. It’s time for a differernt dance. Stertch yourself. Take a risk.   Your turn! Write one or two fortunes you’d like to receive. Send them as comments so others might read them.

My Favorite Children’s Books

musings / reading

My Favorite Children’s Books

Last month I asked you about how early children’s books may have influenced your adult reading. As I shared the partial list, I thought a lot about my answers to the questions I posed. Here are a few of my reactions, marked PE. Question #1: Which newer titles have you read and were able to identify with? PE: I love the stories that create strong visual images (Where the Wild Things Are), those with deep emotion (The Velveteen Rabbit), and ones with the humor as in The Day the Crayons Quit. Question #2: Which newer titles left you wondering what...

Why We Write

musings

Why We Write

For every writer… there is always the impulse, realized or unrealized, that binds us one to another through the power of language. Every time a person writes, for public or not, he or she is connected to all who have ever felt that magnificent charge of communication through the written word- whether carved in hieroglyphics or glowing in code across our computer…there will always be the brilliant conspiracy between author and reader. Betsy Lerner The Forest for the Trees

What are Your Favorite Children’s Books?

book reviewing / Challenge / musings

What are Your Favorite Children’s Books?

I recently found a list of a hundred top fiction books today’s elementary students should read. Many are relatively new on the book shelf; a few are old enough that I read them as a child, decades ago. The list includes: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Alice in Wonderland Matilda The Chronicles of Narnia We’re Going on a Bear Hunt Where the Wild Things Are Black Beauty Flat Stanley Winnie the Pooh Funnybones The Hobbit Green Eggs and Ham Grimm’s Fairy Tales Artemis Fowl Diary of a Wimpy Kid The Secret Garden The Borrowers Coraline Cinderella Kidnapped The Wind in...

Quote about Writers

musings / quotes / writing

Quote about Writers

For every writer… there is always the impulse, realized or unrealized, that binds us one to another through the power of language. Every time a person writes, for public or not, he or she is connected to all who have ever felt that magnificent charge of communication through the written word- whether carved in hieroglyphics or glowing in code across our computer…there will always be the brilliant conspiracy between author and reader. Betsy Lerner The Forest for the Trees

GUEST POST from Mindy Halleck

guests blogs / musings / poetry

GUEST POST from Mindy Halleck

  (Since I made a boo-boo with the links, I’m resending this guest blog. Apologizes for my brain lapse. Enjoy Mindy refreshed!) Mindy is an enthusiastic, creative person who writes across a variety of genres! Today I have the opportunity to share her thoughts with you. I know you will enjoy her ideas. I hope you will become an online follower as well as a reader of her work. PEger Do You Want To a Better Writer? Read Poetry ~ by Mindy Halleck My husband woke up this morning to the sound of my crying. He turned over and saw...

Ending and Beginnings

details in writing / editing / Letters to Follow / musings

Ending and Beginnings

My trilogy is ending as 2016 begins. It’s a bit nostalgic to think I’ll soon be stepping away from Marta, Lynne, and their friends and families. I say that hoping that their stories will continue on in reader’s minds when they think of real dancers, teens, growing up, making life-changing and life-shaping decisions. Since I’ve lived with the characters for so long they are as real to me as you, my readers. I’ve hoped to share their dreams as well as their day-to-day reality, their ability to wiggle out of tense situations and their joy of dancing and life. As...

Resolutions

book reviewing / details in writing / musings

Resolutions

Resolution: a resolve, a declaration, a decision to make a change. Authors make resolutions every day as they develop and write their character’s lives. True, they are not usually to lose weight or read a certain number of books; they revolve around day-to-day decisions with the intent of moving their stories forward. Will Marta recover from her injury? Will Steve get a job? Will Lynne keep her position with the Intermountain Ballet Company? Will Madame ever explain to Marta or Lynne why she was hard on them? Those are the fun elements in stories that need to be shared before...