I often refer to my real life vs. my writing life. It’s really not a good description but it’s the best one I have for now. My real life is a three-dimensional, loud, messy combobulation of people, schedules, cleaning, cooking, laundry, work, budgets, parenting and marriage. It’s boundries are unclear and constantly changing. It requires juggling, quick thinking and the [...]
Archive for the ‘about me’ Category
28 Mar
Microwaves, Playdoh, Slinkys and Post-it notes
I’ve been out of town for spring break and since I’m taking my own advice about balancing life and writing, I haven’t posted. But now I’m back and still thinking about my ongoing struggle with trying to fit 30 hours of tasks into a 24 hour day. Last post, I cited an article that noted [...]
14 Mar
Time Management (and where does the time go?)
Time for an update on my Winter Read-athon. The snow is not fully melted, but is 90% gone, so I’m calling this experiment in reading efficiency complete. Since I first decided to challenge myself to increasing my reading on 2/15/2010, I have read twelve books (nine MG, two YA, 1 adult). But my experiment also [...]
4 Mar
Does your day job help or hurt your writing? Part One
Back in school, one of the tasks I had to do was called a “Pie of Life.” Pretty simple concept. Draw a large circle and divide it into three. One section is work. One section is play and one section is self-care. You were supposed to sort your daily activities into these categories by the amount [...]
28 Feb
Never Stop Learning
My brain is tired. This week I’ve been continuing my Winter Read Out (supposed to be a word play on White Out btw). Last night, I stayed up too late reading BLOOD BROTHERS by S.A. Harazin. I plan to stay up too late finishing it tonight. I feel like I’ve been seeping my brain in excellent writing, [...]
22 Feb
The Stuff That Everyday Life is Made of
“Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.”– Seneca I’m back from a fantastic weekend in Chicago. What a great city. Very easy for a Midwestern girl to blend in and enjoy without too much stress. In fact, someone even asked my friend and I for directions! Now that’s good camouflage. The [...]
15 Feb
Winter Read-Out
To the left is a picture of my kids sledding the drift that reaches the top of the eight foot privacy fence in our backyard. It had started to melt, but today, a new storm drifted more of the white stuff to the top of the fence. Again. Hooray. (That’s sarcasm if you missed it) Since the [...]
25 Jan
Good News
Like most writers, I’ve always written. But moving away from everyone and everything you know has a way of moving writing a children’s book from “someday” to “now.” When we moved to Minnesota from Ohio almost four years ago, I was home all day with my youngest, didn’t know anyone and was dealing with never-before- experienced [...]
21 Jan
Up the Down Staircase
When I was in high school, I had the lead in our high school’s production of UP THE DOWN STAIRCASE which is more ironic than anyone but me will ever know. UP THE DOWN STAIRCASE is a play based on a book by Bel Kaufman (and was published the year I was born–another irony). The [...]
