It was spring when we met. Phone calls, online chats, a blind date at Chili’s. Two days before the first day of summer? “Want to get married?” “You know it!” And it began. A whirlwind of planning, moving, jobs, and babies. And here we are 8 years later. Please, God, just take them outside. I … Read more
Getting the juices flowing to write a blog post — to write anything — can be exceptionally difficult. When you have a chance to collaborate with someone or even just be in the same room with other writers, the excitement can get that blogging juice moving. Having spent many years working with students and leading … Read more
When we write, our purpose for writing falls into one of three categories. Let’s look at what those are. Three Purposes in Brief Entertain – This means that, for the most part, we’re writing for the sake of writing. The only goal is to give our audience something to enjoy. Perhaps it is in the … Read more
It’s summer time. Summer is always a good time to slow down, write some poetry, and wax rhapsodic. Here’s my stab at a little summer time poetry: In the dog days of summer when my kids are tired, sweaty, whining, crying you smile at me from above. I hear you laughing. “Enjoy this beautiful day,” … Read more
How long should my blog post be? I get asked this question a lot. I’d like to take credit for this awesome response, but this isn’t my analogy. Still the answer is the same: Your blog post should be like a skirt: long enough to cover the important parts but short enough to be interesting. … Read more
Writing is hard. Blog writing can be even harder. For most, it takes planning and revising and editing. And for most of those folks, the effort weighs down and makes them not want to share their thoughts and feelings. When I talk to people about what I do for a living and mention that I … Read more
My blog visitors tend to be moms in my same stage of life: busy, kids, working (at home or out of the house), struggling with messy houses, wearing yoga pants, wishing they could get to the spa but feeling lucky they painted their toenails a fresh color. I know my audience. I know to whom … Read more
What does it take to get you to keep reading something? One of my friends asked me about how to start a blog post. When you’re new to blogging or new to writing in general, getting started really is one of the hardest things to do. Let’s take a second and look at some extremely successful authors. 124 was … Read more
Cold air kisses the nape of her neck taunting her pulling her abruptly from sleep to the sound of piercing cries echoing down the corridor. She slowly emerges heart racing eyes blurry trying to follow the slivers of light that seep under the bedroom door. In just two steps she feels blinding pain shards of … Read more
Verse to ponder: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17 For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a published author. As I child, I wrote story after story … Read more