Image by DAntony, via Pixabay History Hidden in Diaries My neighbor Della was 65 years old when she discovered that she was not her mother’s biological daughter. Della was the child her father, a mill owner, had with the mill’s bookkeeper. “I was reading my mother’s diary, the one I found while cleaning out her house,” Della told me, “And was marveling at how to fold cloth diapers and the pattern my mother used to knit my blankets, when I discovered a page that was splashed with water.” Tears. Della’s mother was presented with the baby one Tuesday afternoon when her husband came home carryin ..read more

First, the result of the giveaway: Georgette is the winner of The Author’s Checklist. Thanks to all who replied, one way or another. * * * * * Digital work overload? Some makes life easier, but some becomes a side hustle we didn’t ask for. Image: Johnhain via Pixabay You can do it all online, of course: buy shoes, kitty litter, paints, food. It shows up at your house. But we do so much more–there used to be travel agents who arranged our fights and banks that dealt with our cash and bill-paying. Now that is our job, too. So is buying movie tickets online, making restaurant reservations and s ..read more

The whole title is even better: The Author’s Checklist. An Agent’s Guide to Developing and Editing Your Manuscript. The author is Elizabeth K. Kracht, who is an agent and has seen her share of mistakes, missteps, and bad ideas. She’s helped authors fix them, and the book will help you do the same. (The giveaway is at the bottom of this post, but you may want to read what you are signing up for!) In the foreword, written by John Grogan, (yes, the author of Marley and Me)  Grogan gives this advice: “Don’t try to go it [writing and editing a book] alone. Reach out. Ask for help, for feedback, for ..read more

Being curious is what writers do. Or are. We are curious about odd things–how far around the horizon does the sun move from Winter Solstice to Summer Solstice? Do spiders have lungs? (Not like people. And some breathe through their feet.) We are curious about how things work and don’t work. That curiosity leads to wonderful discoveries. Doing research for The Invisible, Visible World (my next book), I fell down a rabbit hole. No idea what the original push was, but I came across the vegetable lamb of Tartary. This myth that began in the 1300s didn’t end till 400 years later. All this without s ..read more

Who can be ready when a whole new year starts in the middle of a week in the middle of winter, and people are squabbling over when the decade really starts? It’s easy to want to go back to bed and try starting another year on a different day. Grass growing determinedly through a tree stump. Even if that is impossible, the grass doesn’t know. Sometimes my friends think I’m super organized (there is a difference between controlling and organized) and ask me about resolutions, journaling, and coaching. This is what I do: First I’ll explain, then you can decide if you want to join me. No charge ..read more

Wrapping paper. No matter how beautiful it is, my skills can’t keep up. I envy people who wrap with perfect corners, lovely bows and matched patterns across every overlap. Yes, Pinterest and Instagram influencers have made me hang my head in shame. Luckily, I got over it. Newspaper ads, stock reports, or lists make wonderful gift bags. Plasticized wrapping paper gets torn off just as fast as any other covering, and it winds up in landfills, where the plastic sinks into our water table. This year, I’m making gift bags–my favorite gift presentation. They are made out of newspaper, glued-togeth ..read more

Thanksgiving–that time of year we get to argue with friends and family at dinner, stir the pot with family problems, and regret we learned the word “gratitude.” It’s a thing. This grass stalk was overwhelmed by water runoff. It held on and survived. Good to know. In the past few weeks, a trickle of anti-gratitude became a tidal wave. Coaches, psychiatrists, therapists, and yes, bloggers, began to turn their backs on gratitude. Keeping gratitude lists are now accused of making you feel worse about not being happy. Gratitude was never meant to be a happiness switch. It was never meant as a pun ..read more

The difference between a bunch of scraps and a tree trunk is organization. The tree organizes its trunk as it grows, shedding what it doesn’t need. The writer’s request. A friend sent me a vignette she had written in her first creative writing class and asked my opinion. I hesitated. When someone asks, “What do you think?” they generally want praise or reassurance. I asked what the next step was for her. (If she is starting another draft, she wants suggestions.) But no, she wanted to know if I could “polish it a bit” so she could send it out for publication. My eyebrows shot up. A first draf ..read more

Perfection. It’s a goal at work, where business thinking stuck in the past thinks perfection is 1. achievable and 2. better be achieved soon. This technique is called Notan, and I broke quite a few rules because I wanted to experiment. Of course it’s not perfect. It’s an exercise in creative risk-taking. Because I own a business and teach adults writing and creative problem solving, I pass through companies and get a taste of their corporate culture. The companies with the healthiest culture, where learning is welcomed and employees are willing to experiment in my class, are also the compani ..read more

Once I see faces scrunching up in class, I know people are learning something new that won’t be  immediately welcomed back in the office.  It could be the tortured convoluted phrases that won’t go away but sound as if they came from a 19th century drama:  “As you may remember . . . ” (generally a signal you aren’t remembering what the writer wants you to remember) or “Per our conversation of this morning, attached please find . . . ” You wouldn’t talk like that; don’t write like that. It’s much clearer to say, “Here is the X you asked about this morning.”) Using what you learned in class is c ..read more