My mantra is “Life is too short to be miserable.” So when I saw this, I immediately fell in #SIGNAGE-LOVE. Am I right? Don’t you just LOVE this?!?! I’m thinking this will make a great high school graduation gift for my niece. Add some cash and a copy of Dr. Seuss’ Oh, the Places You’ll […]
Yesterday I had one of the proudest moments as a parent. My demure tween auditioned for a play!! This is the same child who can barely order a burrito at Moe’s and who doesn’t raise her hand in class. Late last year, she announced she wanted to try acting. I said cool and we talked […]
The splashes of colorful blooms sprouting in my yard are sure indicators that spring is almost here. Believe it or not, we’ve had daffodils blooming since early February. I love the pop of color the flowers provide against a dreary winter landscape. I pull out photos like these when I’m writing and need some inspiration. […]
In high school, I floated between a few “cliques.” I ran track, so was sort of a jock. I took honors classes, so was sort of a braniac and proudly sat with my artsy friends at lunch. I was definitely confident in my own skin and felt comfortable with who I hang with. I don’t […]
I never had Valentine’s Day until I was nineteen years old. It’s not due to some glamorous notion my parents had that Valentine’s Day was a “Hallmark Holiday” and chose to buck establishment. The reality was that I grew up in a religion – uhmmm cult — in which all holidays are pagan, therefore evil […]
For my latest young adult novel, I needed to give my heroine a hobby with some backstory. I’ve always had an affinity of all things celestial, and thought it would be fun to research, so I gave her, drumroll please… astronomy. My first in-depth glimpse at the stars was in elementary school when we took […]
I’m pleased to welcome author B. L. Bates to TL’s DreamWorld. Growing up reading speculative fiction, B. L. Bates received a BS in electrical engineering and worked for several years in the computer industry. When a head injury left her totally blind, she turned to writing speculative fiction to stay sane. With her youngest child […]
Writing has a lot to do with the flames of passion. There’s the passion for the craft and path to publication. Why else would one embark on an uphill journey with tons of boulders rolling down the mountain toward you? Just when you out maneuver one, here comes another that tries to knock you down. […]
I have a confession… this book is the very first YA digital book I’ve ever purchased. Sure I’ve downloaded many a free book on the craft of writing and a few free romances that I have yet to ever open, but this is the first I’ve actually paid cold hard cash, errr charged to my […]
I know this has happened to you writers out there. You’re writing a scene that’s highly emotional or approaching the climax of the story. Your characters are almost to their low point, their black moment, all hope is lost. You are crushed for your characters. You have to keep writing…get them out of their quandary […]
