In my ongoing efforts to declutter and Feng Shui my house, I got rid of 96 more books in the past week. In the process, I tackled a bookshelf that I have so far mostly avoided, the one containing my massive World War II collection of books that I used as reference while writing seven...
Tag: books
Loving the World Through Story
A while back I was listening to a podcast, or maybe an NPR interview, I’m afraid I can’t remember. The guest speaker said something about stories helping us fall in love with the world again, and that’s all that stuck with me. Not the rest of the interview, not the name of the show, not...
Books Are Not Sacred
I gifted a nonfiction book to a friend I knew she’d like. She texted me to say she was loving it, so much so she’d actually dog-eared a couple of pages so she could come back to them later. I texted back: “Books are not sacred. Dog-ear it, underline it, write in the margins, put...
Passion is Life – Cheers, Dani Rojas
Dani Rojas, a soccer-playing character on the TV show Ted Lasso, is known for his motto, “Football is life!” Dani is a Mexican national playing in England, hence the word “football” rather than soccer. He’s the team optimist, the good guy, the one who reminds everyone else to bring their love of the sport to...
Not All Writers Are Narcissists – Revisted
This post first ran on April 17, 2021 My book club recently reached a full consensus about a book: none of us liked it. In fact, four of the ten chose not to finish reading it. The conversation about the book was entertaining because whenever there’s agreement, people can speak freely, and some of their...
What Change Are You Resisiting?
I’ve been trying a new technique that my holistic lifestyle coach and I have been calling “bookending” my day. As someone who is naturally a bit “wound up,” it’s good for me to ground myself now and then. So, we started by working on a morning routine. Ways to settle into a good mental and...
How 3.5 Book Clubs Helped Me Grow This Year
For most of my life, I avoided invitations to join book clubs. I had way too many books on my “to read” list already. Not to mention all the reading I was doing as research for my work. Then along came the pandemic, and I accidentally found myself in 3.5 book clubs. The first started...
The Art of Making Money (Or Not)
I’m preparing to lead a discussion on the book, It’s Not Your Money, by Tosha Silver, for a local writing organization to which I belong. Money is a constant source of worry, debate, motivation, and frustration for artists of all kinds. How much do we give away for free? How high can we raise our...
Beyond Your Wildest Dreams – Revisited
This post was originally published March 30, 2019 It occurred to me the other day: – If I’d been more focused all these years, I could have written 20 books, not just 8. – If I’d been more organized, I might not have let so many potential prospects slip away. – If I’d been more...
Don’t Just Leave It On the Porch
The other day, a woman I’ve never met e-mailed me because she’d heard about the Little Free Library I donated to a local mobile home park. She wanted to know how to get me some books for the library. I thanked her profusely and in true pandemic-habit mode, I told her she could leave them...