Books & Writing
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You Become What You Believe
“You become what you believe. To find your purpose–pay attention to the life you are leading now.” Oprah Winfrey I was going to make a cake for the blog first thing this morning and then tackle my to-do list. While I stood in the kitchen waiting for my coffee to brew I felt a knowing that I must follow a different plan for the day. My mind screamed that it was Wednesday (posting day) make the cake! My heart said believe and follow. So, I sat at my computer and within a few minutes found what I was meant to hear today. It came from one of my favorite teachers. Oprah Winfrey. “What…
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Summer Reading List for Middle Grade and Young Adult
Summer Reading List for Middle Grade and Young Adult I’ve been so busy working on my next two books that it’s always a pleasant surprise when someone emails me and asks for an author visit for MYSTIC. I get to be surrounded by happy kids and talk about two of my favorite subjects reading and writing. I have three visits in the next two weeks. Woohoo! I’m ready! During my author visits I always share some of my favorite books. I tell the students that I’d love for them to enjoy, MYSTIC, but I know my story isn’t for everyone. The goal is to find what you love to read. Please feel free to leave a comment…
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All is well
“All is well.” Esther Hicks My grandmother used to say it all the time. She told me that when she was little someone would walk down the street ringing a bell calling out, “It’s 12:00-0- clock and all is well!” I miss her. Virginia Keen–my grandmother–my rock. She taught me to think positive and follow my heart. Thank you, grandmom. All is well. MYSTIC For those that have read MYSTIC now you know where Keen came from. Queen Fredonia (the grandmother) lives in Keen. A bit of MYSTIC trivia. All is well in my world. Arielle is on her way home for spring break. I just had a four hour breakfast…
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When My Husband Came Home With a Surprise
When my husband came home with a surprise I learned a valuable lesson. Happy 400th post to me! I hadn’t paid much attention to anything more than was it Wednesday or Sunday, my usual posting days. 400! Immediately, I did the math to see how close I was to reaching my 10,000 hours. Have you read THE TIPPING POINT by Malcom Gladwell? 400 posts only puts me around 1,200-1,600 hours. Add six years of working on MYSTIC…yeah, I still have a way to go. September 15, 2008 was my first post. I thought I was mainly going to write about writing. It evolved into a blog about our family, my thoughts on…
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I love, love, love, this video!
I love, love, love, this video! If you’re a writer, teacher, parent, student or coach I highly recommend watching this video. It’s 13 minutes and twenty seconds of inspiration. Lessons To Remember Repetition, repetition, repetition. Persistence, persistence, persistence. How do we get good at anything? Practice. Whether it’s writing, athletics, teaching, parenting, or learning to be a successful student, we must be willing to fail and try again…and again, and again! Our thoughts influence our actions. Several months ago I joined a spin group at our gym. For the holidays our instructor bought us all wristbands that say: I Can And I Will. This has been her mantra especially when challenging…
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There Are Seven Cats In My Bathroom!
There are seven cats in my bathroom! December 31st I wrote a post about meeting goals. Well, it’s the end of February and I’m grading myself on my progress in each category. Education I’ll begin with my worst, Education, in which I’d give myself a D. I set a goal to practice learning Spanish every day and well… I’ve only completed 3 of my Duolingo lessons and my Rosetta Stone remains untouched. The only reason I didn’t give myself an F was because I’ve been studying up on self publishing, owning my own business and marketing. That has to count for something. Fitness and Writing Fitness and writing I strive to work towards daily. If…
