“I always entertain great hopes.” ~Robert Frost, poet Are you entertaining hope? Indulge me for a minute while I play with that word “entertain.” Have you invited “great hopes” (plural) into your life? Anticipated the arrival of great hopes? Thrown the door wide open and embraced great hopes telling them, “I’m so glad you’re here! I’ve been waiting for you!” …
Contemporary Romance Writer: Romance Always Sells — But Why?
Reader alert: The publishing industry has experienced nonstop upheavals for the past five years or so. Some people would say the industry is convulsing. Others would say it is dying a slow, painful death. (I’m mentioning this for those of you who’ve been walking around in some sort of daze. Or who never read the news–not even just the headlines.) No …
In Others’ Words: Decisions, Decisions
“I make a decision, and if it’s wrong, I make another one.” ~ Dave Ramsey, American financial author, radio host, motivational speaker Every time I read that quote by Dave Ramsey, I have to take a deep breath. I mentally step back and think, “Dave, you are one gutsy guy.” The guy makes a wrong decision and just … …
A Grateful Attitude
“Gratitude … goes beyond the “mine” and “thine” and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to …
In Others’ Words: Alive
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ~Howard Thurman, theologian My friend, Lindsay Harrel, shared this quote with me. Now when I say Lindsay is my friend, I must confess we haven’t met. Yet. We’ve connected via …
In Others’ Words: Life
“The way to know life is to love many things.” ~Vincent van Gogh, Dutch impressionist painter Loving many things = knowing life. Hhhhm. There’s a Greek word for “know”: epiginosko, which means to become thoroughly acquainted with, to know well, to percieve, by sight, by hearing … to understand. Expanding that initial equation a bit (which is a reduction of van …
Contemporary Romance Writer: Do You Read Debut Novels?
How do you feel about debut novelists? Not personally … I mean, do you read a novel by a debut author? I’m not asking for myself. Really. I have other friends wearing the title “debut novelist” too: Lisa Jordan (Lakeside Reunion, available now!) Camille Eide (Savanna’s Gift, available Dec. 3, 2011!) Gina Conroy (Cherry Blossom Capers, January 2012) …
In Others’ Words: Forward Motion
“I am not discouraged because every wrong attempt discarded is a step forward.” ~ Thomas Edison, American inventor Things didn’t go as planned yesterday. (Well, actually today. But when you read this post, it will be yesterday. Sorry. Digressing.) I put a lot of time and effort — and also utilized someone else’s time and effort — into something. And …
Contemporary Romance Writer: Disaster-ed to Death
Most stories have a certain rhythm to them — I’m thinking of something beyond the basic beginning, middle, end structure. Most stories, whether in novel or movie form, have a bad-badder-baddest structure. In other words, as the story progresses, things go from bad to worse to really, really, really bad for the characters. However — and this is a key …
In Others’ Words: Worry … or Not
“Worry is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere.” ~Erma Bombeck, American writer & humorist So … I worried some this past weekend. To be honest, I went several rounds with worry. And while I wouldn’t say worry won, there were times that worry backed me into a corner. I kept reminding …
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