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Computers and Internet

computers and internet / musings

Computers and Internet

It’s a love-hate relationship! I love all the (basic) ways I can use them, but when they run into problems (or when I run into problems) I turn to an expert. My web person, Julie, is a true gift. She’s set up and manages my website, helps me add new skills, and lately she’s been the person to rescue me when my website was hacked and rehacked this past month. I have a total awe at what she can do. She knows what an old-lady I am about the bells and whistles online, so she graciously assists me. THIS time,...

Letter to Follow – Unsent Letter Part Three

letters home / Letters to Follow / musings

Letter to Follow – Unsent Letter Part Three

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!) Markets are fun. The vegetables for sale in the summer are colorful and I may try a few new things, like eggplant or squash. Strange things like snails crawling up the stall posts and dead chickens and ducks hanging from cross-beams is taking a bit of getting used to, but I look down, watching...

Quotes Worth a Second Look

quotes / reading

Quotes Worth a Second Look

The measure of a man comes down to moments spread out like dots on the canvas of life. Kristin Hannah, Angel Falls p. 149 Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward.   Soren Kierkegaard She stood in the hallway,blinking back the latest rush of tears, and wrestled with the monster-sized ball of stubbornness and terror that stuck in her throat. Susan Donovan  Knock Me Off My Feet  p.277 She developed a profound desire to stay as if her center of gravity was so low it connected her directly to this particular patch of earth. Ann Patchett ...

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.      

Letters to Follow – Unsent Letter Part One

letters home / Letters to Follow / new works

Letters to Follow – Unsent Letter Part One

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!) Dear Marta,      I arrived safely after a smooth sail. Northern France is flat as a long-play record. No mountains to help me get my bearings, only the hot sun. Hope I don’t get lost in Paris. The streets are spokes and higgity-piggity instead of straight rows like back home. It’s a bit scary...

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.

Letters to Follow – unused setting pages

84 Ribbons

Letters to Follow – unused setting pages

Writing a novel often forces you to leave out bits and pieces. In the case of Letters to Follow-A Dancer’s Adventure, the book is written for young adults (and the young at heart). Teens today want action rather than descriptions. I love descriptions and sensory details. So, when I get “carried away,” I save those bits and hope to use them elsewhere. This is one such elsewhere place! Nazaré, Portugal: a scene   The warm sand slid between her toes as she walked toward the waves. If she closed her eyes, she needed to listen hard to hear the water’s...

Revealing Quotes : A Glimpse into Authors’ Thinking

quotes

Revealing Quotes : A Glimpse into Authors’ Thinking

 “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” “You have to write the book that wants to be written. And, if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then write it for children.” “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter/computer and bleed.” “What really knocks me out is when I’m done reading a book, I wish the author was a  friend of mine and I could call him/her up and talk about how the...

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...