I’ve written just over 29,000 words on this blog since I started it a year and a half ago. That’s the same number as you’ll find in my Home-Front Heroes children’s books! I’ve written 83 posts, each ranging between 300 and 450 words, in about the same amount of time it takes me to research,...
Tag: authors
You Gotta Know the Rules to Break ‘Em
Last week I put up a post, “The Foibles of Self-exploration,” knowing full well that I was using the word “foible” incorrectly. It refers to a minor weakness in a person’s character, and cannot, therefore, apply to a practice. I knew some of my word-loving friends might call me on it, and one of them...
The Foibles of Self-exploration
“Self-exploration is my favorite hobby,” my new friend said. And I nodded vigorously, glad to have found a kindred spirit. In the past year, though, I’ve been trying to make some life decisions and finding that all of this personal study has left me a bit confused. Is it the Leo in me that makes...
The Human Side of Celebrity with George Takei
Yes, this is a picture of actor/activist George Takei holding my children’s book, The No-No Boys! I heard him speak recently at the National Speakers Association convention. When he came out on stage, everyone expected him to talk about his role as Mr. Sulu on Star Trek or his pop culture persona or his enormous...
Greater Must Our Courage Be
I’ve been a Shakespeare buff all my life. There weren’t many cultural events in Boise when I was growing up, but we did have the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, and my family went every summer. Two years ago, I was contemplating a major change in my business and feeling hesitant, no, scared, about whether I should...
Know Your Genre
Okay, this post is mostly for my writer friends, but if you love to read, you may find this topic of interest too! Click below to view my newest writing video from my YouTube channel. This one is on understanding the difference between various genres in literature. It’s a confusing topic for new writers, but...
Art Cafes – Great Ideas Giveaway
Think of Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald hanging out in Parisian cafes in the 1920s. Think of all those writers and critics and actors exchanging barbs at the Algonquin Round Table in New York City. Think of the many movie stars, singers, and musicians who waited on servicemen during World War II at the Hollywood...
My Regards to Broadway
It’s impossible to talk about Broadway musicals without sounding corny. So let’s acknowledge that and move on. I’ve been obsessed with musicals for as long as I can remember. Why? Because on Broadway, the dreamers were the heroes. And they were not head-in-the-clouds dreamers, they were people who took action and changed everyone around them...
Do You Dream of Agents?
I have lots of writerly dreams that may or may not come true. I dream of seeing the words “based on a novel by Teresa Funke” roll by on the silver screen. I dream of being the first self-published author to win one of the prestigious literary awards. I dream of keynoting at a major...
Are Gatekeepers Still Relevant?
Several times over the past few years, I’ve listened to colleagues tell me that an editor who loved his/her work had called, sometimes in tears, to say they could not make an offer on their book project. Why? Because the marketing and sales departments at the publishing house decided that the book, though good, was...