Tag Archives: writing

Freedom to Write

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Not much of a blog post this week, because I’m writing this on the 4th of July (very late), and I’m feeling lazy.

But as I was trying to decide what I could write in my tired and lazy state, I reflected on how blessed I am to live in a place and time where I have the freedom to write what I want, when I want.

Of course America is not the only country with a freedom of press. But on this American holiday, when we celebrate our freedoms, I’m grateful for the freedom to write. I can write whatever I want, and publish it in any format I want, whenever I want. The freedom to write, publish, and distribute should not be taken for granted. And I do not want to squander that freedom that I have.

No matter where you might live, if you have the freedom to write, do so. Celebrate your freedom and write!

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Used Book Stores – Good or Bad?

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I personally am a big fan of used book stores. I even worked at a used book store after college.

Used book stores are great for readers, because you can get books cheap. A lot of used bookstores have a trade-in program, so you can treat the store kind of like a library; if you bring books to trade, you can basically get new books for free. Used books stores often have a selection of out of print or other hard-to-find books that you can’t get at Barnes and Noble or even on Amazon. In short, used book stores are a book lover’s heaven. 

But what about the other side of the coin? Do writers love used book stores as much as readers do? Now that I’m a writer with published books for sale, I have to think about this from the business side of things. (Granted, my books are currently only available as ebooks on Amazon, so the used book store debate doesn’t directly affect me at the moment.) But still, I’m thinking about this from an author’s perspective. Continue reading →

New Roads

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Sometimes in life, things change gradually; and sometimes, everything changes at once.

I’m at a point somewhere in between the two, but definitely more towards the “everything’s changing at once” end. All in a good way, though.

I’m not going to go into a lot of detail in this post, but here are a few of the things that are changing in my life right now: I’ve done some major revising of my writing goals that I set a mere month ago at the beginning of the year, I’m getting ready to publish my first novella, and I’m moving. And apparently I thought that doing all of these at the same time would be a good idea.

So, nothing bad, and nothing truly earth-shattering in the grand scheme of things. But still, enough to keep me on my toes. I will keep blogging, Tweeting, and building my brand, though, because I want to continue adding value to my readers and connecting with people all over the world.

I’m excited about following these new roads, and I hope you’ll come along for the journey!

Year-End Wrap Up

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It’s time for the obligatory “looking back at the past year” post. On the writing front, for me it’s been a good year. I launched a newsletter. I published a book. I’ve done more content writing professionally than ever before. I’ve connected with people, both online and in local writing groups, and made some new friends. I may not have hit all my goals that I made at the beginning of the year, but I’m pretty happy with the progress I’ve made.

I hope that all of you, dear readers, have enjoyed reading my blog this past year, and have been inspired or instructed in some small way. My aim as a writer is not merely to have my words read, but to have my words entertain others, inspire others, and make them think. I hope I’ve done that in some way, and I hope to do much more next year.

So with that, here’s a very happy new year wish to all of you! May 2017 be your best year yet! May you read all the best books, write better than ever, create more art than ever, and accomplish all your goals and dreams.

Happy New Year!

5 Little-Known Facts about Me (That Have Nothing to Do with Books or Writing)

Posted in Music, Movies, and other Muses by

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, then you probably know some of my favorite things: Peter Rabbit and Beatrix Potter, The Wizard of Oz, fairy gardens, Babylon 5, and world folk music, among other things. Well, just for fun, I thought I’d share five little tidbits about me that have nothing to do with writing, fantasy, or geekery in general. So if you want to get to know me better, read on!

I love rabbits

Kal-El, performing the trick known as Dead Bunny Flop. No, he was't dead here - just very relaxed. He was good at being relaxed.

Kal-El, performing the trick known as Dead Bunny Flop. No, he was’t dead here – just very relaxed. He was good at being relaxed.

I have a pet cat at the moment (and I’ve almost always had at least one cat as a personal or family pet for my entire life). But I also love pet rabbits, and I owned rabbits for a good twenty years. I’m taking a break from bunnies for a few years, because they’re really a lot of work (much more work than cats and dogs put together). But rabbits are entertaining and intelligent animals and life is never dull with bunnies in the house. (Remind me to tell you sometime about my bunny who could open doors, or my other bunny who was a climber.)

Even though I’m shy and try to avoid confrontation, I signed up for safety patrol in 5th grade and loved it

To this day, I have no idea why I did this, nor why I was apparently a successful safety patrol officer for the entire school year. Granted, I was assigned a side hallway and all I ever had to do was make sure that no one snuck out the back door to the playground. But still, I cheerfully told people not to run in the hallways, and I was never confronted by the more aggressive students. Maybe it was me acting out my desire to be acknowledged and respected? I was painfully shy, so I guess the badge and belt gave me confidence. Continue reading →