Sometimes I stare in the mirror on Sunday mornings and wonder why I bother. Why put on the makeup, why wear the cute skirt? Because when we see each other Sunday morning, our children bouncing up to us, the makeup covering the tired bags under our eyes–that’s not real relationship. We exchange hellos and compliment…
Throughout the generations, civilization’s story has been passed on verbally, carved in stone, and scratched in pen and ink. Sometimes it is the layers of earth that uncover the record; sometimes it is within the covers of a book that the story is found. But my generation’s story is being recorded in pixels and in…
Some rules were made to be broken. Especially when it comes to writing prompts and blog link-ups like Five Minute Friday. Each week I participate in a link-up hosted by Lisa-Jo Baker. The idea is to write for five minutes flat about the prompt of the week. But the very idea of writing for only…
Dear Ruth Ann, You are my eldest, my artist, the one who keeps me on task but forgets to stay on task. You have your daddy’s laid-back personality combined with the typical traits of an oldest, but oh you have your mother’s penchant for getting so lost in your art that you forget everything else….
“E, B, E, B.” He was saying each sound slowly, with great concentration when I found him. His finger tracing each letter, he was “reading” the brand name on his sandal strap. “E, B, E, B, C.” He’s two years old with two big sisters who are learning their letters and sounds. And he’s determined…
“Was it hard, moving away from your family?” they ask. “Weren’t you homesick?” I always smile as I shake my head. I’d been homesick for him for so long that I couldn’t be homesick when we were finally making a home together. Yes, there were the adjustments of a new town, a new job, finding…
Dear Mary Kate, There’s no way to put into words the giggle in your voice, the lilt in the way you pronounce words. A photo can capture the sprinkling of tiny freckles across your button nose, but it would take a non-stop video camera to record everything that makes you Mary Kate. You are developing…
Despite all the new social media platforms, one thing hasn’t changed: the permission to get into people’s inboxes is still one of the most powerful tools you can wield when it comes to marketing and communication. Facebook posts are getting seen less and less, Twitter feeds are getting more full, Pinterest is exploding in popularity and pin quantity—but everyone still checks their email.
In fact, for an author, an email list may be even more important than a blog. And it’s never too early to start building your email list.
Everywhere authors and bloggers turn, they are being consistently advised to do one thing: create and build an email list. Looking for more personal connection with your blog followers? Create an email newsletter. Want to write a book? Build an email list.
“I find jar.” He said it repeatedly, in his serious, emphatic way. And of course, the f’s and j’s are a bit hard to understand from a two-year-old’s little lips, so it took a few moments before I could interpret his sentence. Context always helps. And we’d just read The Blessings Jar out loud for…
There’s a lot of talk these days about being fully present in every situation. Put away the smart phone, just enjoy the moment. Or as Jim Elliot put it (long before cell phones, let alone smart phones): “Wherever you are, be all there.” But I’m not sure if it is possible for writers to ever…
Whenever I am getting ready for company, I start seeing my house through another’s eyes. The bookshelves are stacked to the overflowing, and the desk looks just like the shelves — except it is papers and files that are cascading all over the desk. Dust bunnies lurk in the corners and can always be found…
The End.
The End.