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Tag: writing

Off to the Editor: It’s Alive!

#Row80 Check-in I’m just gonna dive right into my check-in this week. Here’s how it’s going with my writing and blogging goals: Finish my quirky Texas travel book by January 31, 2014: OK. I got the draft done and I sent it to my editor yesterday. As the pages churned out of the printer, I caught several errors right away. Isn’t it funny how much easier it is to spot typos in print than on screen? Does that happen to you, too? Full disclosure: my editor is my dad. Lucky for me, that was his profession before he retired. Like…

As Excited as a Strutting Cherub

#Row80 Check-in Like much of the south, it’s chilly here in Texas. I’m currently wearing fingerless gloves and a scarf as I type. Can’t complain, though, because there’s food in the frig, my espresso machine works fine, and – best of all – I’m making great progress on Unexpected Texas, my quirky travel guide with tips for visiting offbeat and overlooked places in reach of Dallas and Fort Worth. Speaking of writing, here’s my weekly #Row80 check-in: Finish my quirky Texas travel book by January 31, 2014: The book is coming along, but it’s not quite done. I am really…

How to Avoid Death by Writing

Sitting is good. No, wait! It’s bad! I know it’s obvious, but here you go: Writers write. It’s that simple. If you want to call yourself a writer, you had better spend a bit of your time putting words onto the page. As Mary Heaton Vorse summed it up, “The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.” But herein lies the rub. More and more studies are coming out which say that sitting for long periods of time is bad for you, really, really bad for you. If you don’t…

Mystery of the Missing Mummy Head

My Week: Mystery of the Missing Mummy Head I haven’t posted anything personal on my blog for a while, but I’ve decided to get back into that habit. After all, one of my mottoes is that, “even home is a travel destination,” so why not share a little more of my world with you?  Here you go: It’s not often that I have, “find mummy head,” on my to-do list, but such was the craziness of last week, that I found myself tucking that odd phrase in between, “buy sunscreen” and “hang laundry” on my note pad. It all started…

My Big Re-Discovery: Pleasure Reading!

Not all reading is the same If you’re like me, you spend a lot of your day reading. But how much of that time do you spend on pleasure reading versus task-oriented reading? When I was a kid, the majority of my reading time was pleasure reading. Now, however, the majority of my reading time is task-oriented. Seems like I’m always troubleshooting programs or hunting down specific information rather than kicking back with a great story, or leisurely reading other people’s blogs. Don’t get me wrong; task-oriented reading can be a lot of fun. I especially enjoy researching travel articles…

Row80 check-in: Keeping it Short & Sweet for Valentine’s Day

What is ROW80? ROW80 is an online writer support group created by the author, Kait Nolan. ROW80 is kinda like AA, except that we’re here to enable each other’s creative addictions! I find ROW80 to be an excellent tool for making and keeping track of creative projects. Plus, I enjoy following other people’s progress through their blog posts and the Twitter hashtag #ROW80. For details on how you can play along, as well as a more serious explanation, check out: the official ROW80 website. My Row80 Goals First off, Happy Valentine’s to all, y’all! The above photograph was taken on…