Did you know that your early family relationships influence your current lifestyles? In writing, we always look for a character’s motivation, a core decision that sparks her reason for doing what she does. Birth order may play a big part in a person’s motivation and is worth taking a look at when creating a literary […]
Birth Order is a good source for characterization Read More »
My ancestors Colonel George Waller, whose son settled in Tennessee, and Private Thomas Martin, whose wife settled in Kentucky after his death, fought for our independence in the Revolutionary War. My great-great grandfather Jonathon Scarbrough fought for the Union Army in the Civil War. My father and his two brothers served in World War II.
July 4th—It’s Up to Us Read More »
When my granddaughter was five and started taking horseback riding lessons, she learned that “there is no crying on horseback.” If the horse goes a little too fast, you don’t scream and cry—you do what you need to do to slow the horse like pulling back on your reins or putting your seat firmly in
There’s No Crying on Horseback Read More »
This week I’ve stepped back in time to my early thirties. That’s when I was mom to a five-year-old boy and his slightly older sister. For the first time since then, I have another five-year-old boy spending the week with me. He’s one of my seven grandsons. It’s been an odd re-education, one that brings
Time Travel: Back to the Future Read More »
I’ve written a few books and stories in my life. Some have taken years to finish, others a few months. By now I have a method that I go through when I start a story. I take out one of my plotting worksheets, a conglomeration of various classes I’ve taken over the years, and start
Inspiration. Where do the ideas come from? Read More »
Back in the day, I went to group therapy every week for eighteen months. It changed the way I looked at life, and I’ve credited it for “saving my life” in many respects. Being the perfectionist only child that I am, I took notes about the things I was learning, and later I typed them
Notes from group therapy: happiness and depression Read More »
Writers have been advised for years that they should stick with what they know when they sit down to write a book. I checked the Internet and learned this advice is a quote from Mark Twain. “Write what you know.” ― Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer/Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ― Source Goodreads I recently was lectured
Write what you know Read More »
Back in the day, I went to group therapy every week for eighteen months. It changed the way I looked at life, and I’ve credited it for “saving my life” in many respects. Being the perfectionist only child that I am, I took notes about the things I was learning, and later I typed them
Notes from group therapy: relationships Read More »
It happened last Saturday, May 4, 2013, when Stuart Janney III and Phipps Stable’s favored Orb charged to the lead in the stretch of a sloppy Churchill Downs strip to win the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands. “It means everything to me,” trainer Shug McGaughey said. “It’s a race I’ve always wanted to win,
Do dreams come true? Read More »
Back in the day, I went to group therapy every week for over a year. It changed the way I looked at life, and I’ve credited it for “saving my life” in many respects. Being the perfectionist only child that I am, I took notes about the things I was learning, and later I typed
Notes from group therapy: parenting and feelings Read More »
