Recently my husband urged me to read a book. I was standing in the dining area of the apartment, surrounded by boxes and chaos. I was also having something of a mild anxiety attack. I had worked eight hours, trotted my happy little derriere off to work another three hours at the past-job-that-won't-die, had made... Continue Reading →
Campfire Sparks
I'm exhausted. I know I've written enough essays here, and on my personal blog, about fatigue and it's detrimental effect on the human mind, that I don't need nor want to rehash that all again. Suffice it to say, I can haz a dumb. I'm forty hours into a fifty hour workweek and by the... Continue Reading →
What Would You Do?
No, I'm not talking about the ABC program. Although, now that I think about it, the premise of the program sort of fits here. We're all living a scenario that most of us would never have considered trying to write six months ago. A "pandemic" that really isn't. (Yes, I know. Covid-19 is real and... Continue Reading →
Okay, but. . . .
I don't know about you, but I'm ready for the world to go back to normal. I'm not talking about masks (although I hate them) or the constant media barrages about how we're all going to die if we don't do this or that. That sort of crap's always going to happen to one degree... Continue Reading →
A Little Cannibalization Doesn’t Hurt
Like many of you, I grew up in a household that valued reading. My parents were both avid readers--Mom still is. They read to me every day until I could read to myself. Even then, they'd read me bedtime stories until I became "too old" for it. It wasn't unusual to find us sitting around... Continue Reading →
Read, write, review–and not necessarily in that order
Once upon a time, in a forum far, far away, an aspiring author commented that they never read anything in the genre they wanted to write. There was the online equivalent of a gasp, followed by stunned silence. Then a lone voice asked this author why? Why didn't they read the genre they wanted to... Continue Reading →
On reading and listening and books in general
It's no secret that most, if not all, of the bloggers here at MGC believe that story is king when it comes to writing. We do our best to write stories that will pull our readers in and send them soaring to new places and times. We want our characters to be real people, not... Continue Reading →
Taking Responsibility – A Blast from the Past
(I am up to my eyebrows with editing but, worse, I am also up to my elbows with wet carpet and possible sprinkler repairs. So I have no brain. However, a conversation I had over the weekend got me thinking about how we, as parents or simply as adults, need to set the example for... Continue Reading →
I’m a Quitter
Hangs head, shuffles toe in the dirt. So, um, yeah... About that. I picked up the habit over thirty years ago. The deal is, once you start, you can't stop. Not that anyone ever taught me that. They don't say these things to your face. It's just expected, you know? Once you crack one open,... Continue Reading →
Reading on a Budget
As we were working on the family budget last night, I looked at the line item for Kindle Unlimited, and pondered canceling it for a moment. I haven’t been reading since… August. Maybe even since late June. I just haven’t had much time. The First Reader shrugged when I asked him what he thought “I... Continue Reading →