On Blogging...

 On Blogging…

When I began my journey as a writer, I attended a writing conference in Wheaton, Illinois. The advice coming from the podium and in nearly every workshop I attended was simple: “If you want to publish, you must blog.” 

That was in 2012. I didn’t even know what a “blog” was…I mean, seriously. To me it sounded like a swamp of words. Maybe it is.

The notion behind “blogging” was to practice writing as well as build an audience for your books. Some people are good at it. 

Some authors blog… Every. Single. Day. Not me. But I did leave that conference with a plan to blog. I have put my blog out every Wednesday since. I called it “A Novel Creation.” I wrote about …writing. I wrote about crafting my first novel. I started to get a following, but to be honest, those first posts weren’t for everybody. They were for writers only. No one else would be interested.

I AM a Novel Creation

When my first book, Breathing on Her Own, was published in 2014, I shared that news on my blog. Not only was it the natural thing to do…it was expected of me by my publisher. 

As I crafted my second novel, I shared recipes I would use in the coffee shop called Libby’s Cuppa Joe on my blog. It was fun. 

My husband, Tom, died in 2014, a few months after Breathing on Her Own was released. I was devastated. I managed to keep the blog afloat with the help of guest authors and such, but it was hard to write. 

I could barely breathe. 

The blog changed when I moved to Kosovo for a year. I wrote about my experiences there. It was a healing time for me. That was in the 2017-2018 academic year. 

Although the blog follows my life and changes as I change, it is still a piece of being an author. 

Since marrying Mike, I have been writing books again. He is good for me and encourages me. I am not only writing, I am  excited about it.

I am now writing a book I consider to be perhaps the most important story I know to tell. It is about a teacher. I spent  twenty years teaching elementary aged students and fourteen and a half years as a professor of teacher education at the university level. 

The best advice any author will give you is to write what you know.

So...If you were to write a story, what would be the focus? What do you know? And what would you put in YOUR blog?

 

A Stroll Down Memory Lane

 

A Stroll Down Memory Lane

This week has been a week of friends… A week of memories.

Mike’s oldest and closest friend, another Mike, and his wife, Sandee, came to our house for dinner. They live in Tampa. Though we have been able to connect a few times at other venues, this was the first time they have visited us since we moved to Inverness. 

My Mike chose the menu. Spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread. Sandee brought dessert. 

Hey, entertaining “decision free” is pretty cool. 

I loved hearing the two Mikes talk about times gone by. 

·   There was the time Mike L. wrecked his motorbike on the gravel road and my Mike’s mom patched him up. 

·   Mike L. told me how he walked with my brother-in-law, Ronnie Waters from Adams Junior High to Bob and Ernie’s Bait and Tackle after school. (the Waters family business)

·   Mike L.’s profession was a horse trainer. Stories of training horses with my Mike’s assistance were fun to hear.

     It was a wonderful evening. That was on Thursday. 

If you read last Wednesday’s post, you know I painted a lake picture. If you missed that, you’ll find it HERE. 

The artist I studied under for that painting, offered to help me frame it at her studio this week. 

It turns out her studio is in Dunellon, Florida on Riverbend Road. Interesting. My parents once lived on Riverbend Road. I took Mom with me.

We stopped for a sandwich at The Front Porch, a longtime favorite restaurant started in 1986 by my mother’s oldest and dearest friends. They no longer run the business, but their fingerprints are all over it. The Front Porch remains a favorite among the locals. 

After lunch, we located Briget’s studio and in short order headed back down the road, my framed painting in hand. The area has grown. Changed. We slowed down as we came to Mom and Dad’s house. It has changed a bit, but the memories haven’t. 

“Do you think we could maybe drive down by the cabin?” Mom asked.

Many years ago, my parents and some friends built on adjacent properties. Mom and Dad’s was a cabin for weekends and such. Ed and Treva build a larger place. My daughters have wonderful memories of that property. They loved to feed the foxes and explore the land. And every afternoon, Mom and Dad took them swimming in the icy cold Rainbow River. 

As we drove, we spoke of old times. It was a wonderful afternoon with my mom.

Like I said…This has been a week to stroll down Memory Lane…well not exactly. 

Memory Lane was the name of the road I lived on during my teen years. Trust me...that would be an entirely different post!