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Showing posts from April, 2020

From humiliation to jubilation: Following the process works!

Hello, again, In my previous blogs, I admitted to some very painful, and illuminating, mistakes that I’d made in my journey to achieve my dreams of becoming a published writer. But it wasn’t all bad, I assure you. As with any adventure, there will be stumbling blocks, detours and landslides that will befall you. The ones I’ve previously shared, were just a few of the more notable incidents that I’ve encountered. With each challenge that I faced, I had to make a choice: Do I stop here? Or do I find a way to resolve the issue and rectify the problem? I’ve come to understand that there are steps that must be taken in every situation. Unless, of course, you are magically inclined and, like Samantha Stevens from the Bewitched television show, you can twitch your nose and make it happen. As the saying goes, “each journey begins with the first step.” I’d like to share with you some of the steps that I’ve learned over the years. Most of the points I’ll be sharing with you, I lea

To Edit or Not to Edit, that is the question . . .

Hello friends, In my last blog, I discussed some of my past humiliations and why I was now grateful for some of them. I’m sure many of you can relate to a few of my more embarrassing moments from childhood. The best part of making mistakes is that most of us learn from them and, hopefully, don’t repeat them. And this thought leads me to the topic of today’s blog. Is a professional editor really necessary? In a word: ABSOLUTELY! Let me tell you a little story about how I came to learn this lesson the hard way. Once upon a time, in the not so distant past, there was this woman, (me of course), who had a dream of becoming a writer. I worked diligently on my storyline, researching my subject matter and building my characters into who I thought they should become. Then, finally, after months of writing, rewriting and revising the plot and story arc, my novel was finished and I typed the final two words: THE END. I celebrated with a glass of wine and called my BFF to tell

The humiliations of my youth and why I'm thankful for them.

Hello friends, old and new, Over the years I've learned many truths. But, the ones that have helped me through the most trying times in my life is that no matter how bad things may seem, tomorrow has the potential of being a much better day, so don't give in and don't give up. Another of those truths is the old saying, "Every gray cloud has a silver lining," is more true than we can possibly imagine. As you can see the title of my new blog is Writing Is My Passion . In all honesty, it hasn't always been that way, which is why the subtitle of this post is Humiliations of My Youth and Why I’m Grateful For Them. I grew up in this tiny little town in Indiana called Freedom. (It's about ten miles from another small town, though larger than Freedom, called Spencer, which is about fifty miles south of Indianapolis.) We lived on a small farm in Freedom and my first experiences with school was in a classroom that accommodated first through the fifth g