Aspiring Novelists

It's been a while since my last post.  I accompanied hubby to a Expo in Vegas last week and his schedule kept me hopping. There are so many interesting things to do and see there that I'd need a few months to make the rounds.  I was introduced to and interacted with dozens of new people.  During our conversations, I couldn't help but notice the characteristics or traits that made each person unique.  For example,I met a smart, cute, southern blonde woman with a bubbly personality.  I soon learned that she was a stay-at-home mom.  Most of our conversation revolved around soccer, baseball, school and grades.  She had strong religious beliefs which I learned about in the first five minutes of conversation. At first I thought her a simple person, but as I got to know her, I learned that she liked fine wine, enjoyed gourmet food (who doesn't???), read a lot and was informed on local and national news. Though at first, her soft, southern manner, simple at...

Last week my two older sons came home from college to break bread with us.  During the meal, the subject  of female heroes came up. When I asked which were among their favorites, the boys named Vasquez (female Marine) and Ripley (M.C.) from  the movie Aliens.  Others ranged from The Kill Bill series featuring Beatrix Kiddo (Uma Thurman) to Underworld,starring Kate Beckinsale (I'm sure her pleather suit didn't hurt anything either). After determining my son's definition for "Cool as Hell,"  I deduced that the character's physical and mental strength, combined with their fierce  independence, were qualities that most appealed to my boys.   Interestingly, when I asked hubby (who is an avid reader) and my sons (sometimers) to name female characters from novels they liked, no one could think of any.  (Though, hubby did say he'd heard good things about Lisbeth,  M.C., in the novel,  The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo  by S...

I t's time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group post.  I am always amazed at how easily I can list the things I'm insecure about, but ask me to add something positive, and I'm at a loss for words.  No matter how much I accomplish, I never stop to enjoy the spoils of my hard work. Instead, I tend to focus on the obstacles I've yet to overcome.  After giving this some thought, I concluded that I am a Negative Nelly. For some reason, which is beyond me, I find that it's often easier to see the bad, than to acknowledge the good.  For example, if my son brings home a B on a test, I say, "Next time, lets try for an A."  Wouldn't it be better to acknowledge his effort, and be happy it wasn't a "C"?  If another writer praises my work-in-progress, I immediately think they didn't read it.  Wouldn't it be better to say thank you and enjoy the compliment?  Life's too short to look down on ourselves. How can we e...