Writers are a peculiar lot, and I’m not just talking about how we look. For the most part, people who choose writing for a career don’t worry about what other people say about them. They wouldn’t survive long if they did. My two older boys recently entered a local writing contest. It was the first…
To plant a successful garden, you must prepare the soil, know what you are planting and how much space to allow it, and keep the weeds out. Most people I know that play around with a garden try to skip or ignore steps. By the end of the summer, the grass is covering the garden,…
Interesting – maybe. Eye catching – for some. People Magazine has announce that Matt Damon is the “Sexiest Man Alive,” but I have to admit that I don’t get it. He’s too brotherly to be sexy – if that makes sense. These kinds of things don’t really interest me all that much, but it did…
The banks are trying to pull a fast one on the consumer. Even those of us who are trying to save are having the wool pulled over our eyes. It’s a conspiracy, I tell ya. Yesterday a friend asked me to help with some finance articles – one about savings accounts in particular. Over the…
The pastor at First United Methodist Church was on fire. “We are in this world, but not of it.€ He was calling me peculiar, but I don’t know if he realized it yet. I’m not supposed to be normal. I’m designed to stand out – to point to a better way. He recently took a…
Writers, as a group, are peculiar people. They talk differently. They dress differently. They hide in caves and do things like read and write. Who else, on their own initiative, would come up with the idea of writing 50,000 words (actually formulated into sentences and paragraphs and coherent thoughts) in just ONE month. November is…
Every church facility I have ever attended had players – actors even. These are the people who wear the right clothes, know the traditions and customs, and have just the right words for the right moment. Some of them even know the scripture inside out. They play the part of churchgoer like their lives depend…
There is a certain picture that most people get in their minds when they think of freelance writers. I always pictured my uncle – wild hair, free spirit, just a little off. It wasn’t until I launched my own writing career that I began to see freelancers in a whole new light. Not only are…
Tradition is far more powerful and memorable than any gift you could ever give. Every year, my family gathered around the free cut tree to decorate. Every year, we drove by the “House of Lights†(one that was so decorated a lit up that you literally could see it for miles) on the way to…
Staying at home may make it impossible for you to take a “real†job. It may even keep you from finding regular work because you don’t know what your schedule will be like from day to day. There are ways – on your own time – that you can make some money. While you may…