“A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.” I found that quote by Italo Calvino on Goodreads the other day, and it struck me that at no other time of the year is that saying more true. The holiday season brings us so many beloved classics in all...
Tag: books
Does Your Art Pass the Relevancy Test?
Yesterday, I was reading Jon Morrow’s blog post on the seven tests every blog must pass in order to grow and thrive. He argued that if the blog missed the mark in even one of those areas, it was doomed to fail. I bit my knuckle and read the rest of the article. Fortunately, my...
Black Friday Deal for Aspiring Writers
I’m straying a bit from my usual posts this week because I know you are all in shopping mode and I’m excited to share a deal regarding my new ten-part course, “How To Write Your First Novel.” This course is available through my partner, Curious.com, which is the best online learning center in the world...
Just Another Grateful Day
“It’s not happy people who are thankful, it’s thankful people who are happy.” I found this quote on the internet the other day. A friend encouraged me to start a regular gratitude practice, and since I have, I’ve noticed that no matter how foul my mood, my gratitude practice lifts it every time. I tick...
Have You Dreamed a Dream Lately?
You know the clip on YouTube featuring Susan Boyle singing “I Dreamed a Dream” on Britain’s Got Talent? I’m sure you do. It has over 177 million views, and I think at least 50 of those are mine. This is my go-to video, the one I watch anytime I want a pick-me-up or I feel...
The Folly of Failure
What if failure didn’t exist? No, I’m serious. What if it’s just a word someone invented because he was feeling down about his work and the word stuck. It’s not hard to imagine a time when this word didn’t exist. There was a time when none of the words we use today existed. But at...
You Can’t Say That Word!
A couple of weeks ago, the sitcom Black-ish tackled a subject I’d been hoping they would address, the n-word. If you haven’t seen Black-ish, it’s a clever, funny, heartfelt take on a modern African-American family navigating the tricky waters of diversity. It quite often brings up important conversations, including this one . . . when...
A Penny for Your Words
The Authors Guild recently released the results of their study on author incomes. They polled their nearly 1,700 members, most of whom are full-time or part-time authors. The results showed that 56% of respondents earn below the poverty level of $11,670 per year. And the medium income for authors has dropped 24% since 2009. They...
29,000 Words
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,...
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...