Freelance writing has offered me today what most people work their lives to be able to have. We have a nice home, a great family and time to enjoy it all. We are living out our retirement instead of waiting for it to come. I might still be working, but does it really count when…
I quit trying to sell my books yesterday. I discovered that even with all of my efforts, my books sold no more than those times when I made no effort – so why bother. But this “quit selling” does not mean what you think it means – that is my nod to the “Princess Bride.”…
Working from home – no matter what the job – can be difficult. It is too easy and convenient to say “I’ll do it tomorrow” and tomorrow so rarely shows up. Instead you end up getting farther and farther behind until it is just easier to quit. Now that I think about it, this is…
Getting a kick in the pants is usually what it takes to get me going again when I slow down. This morning the kick came – over and over and over. It just seemed that every word I read (from my prayer book for my children to the devotionals that I receive online to the…
“He’s down there again.” Jeannie’s neighbor stood by their dorm window and looked down at the quad below. He was sitting at a picnic table, right under the street light. He had his back to the dorm, but it still felt like he was watching. Jeannie did not even bother to get up. “I’m getting…
Most of the people that have been successful in their fields will tell you that they love what they do. One of the quotes I have on my wall say “Find out what you like doing best and get someone to pay you for doing it.” I live the life that most people dream of…
I have learned to motivate others to get to where I want to go. The more I reach out to help others, the further I find myself down my own path to writing success. Helping others – in that pure of heart helping others and not that devious I plan to get something out of…
You have to write – no matter what you are trying to accomplish with your writing career or what your niche. Writing is the only required element for being a successful writer. I began pursing writing full-time several years back. I started out writing content for other websites, found my way into a local paper,…
“Where do you get your ideas?” The question gets poised to me at least four times during every event I attend as an author. “I would run out of ideas.” They often add. “I just look around.” I tell them. It is true. The idea for the stories can be everywhere. I once wrote a…
The book launch “Mystery Rock,” the first in a series of tourism fiction novels aimed at families and middle school readers, began in earnest at the first of the month. Preparing for the book launch began MONTHS earlier. Despite all that I have done, I am learning that there is always something else that should…