I’m struggling today. Whereas most people come back from a retreat or conference inspired, I come back with my head full of self-doubt and discouragement. I’m not as business savvy as other authors, I’m not as connected, I’m not as successful, I’m not as productive, I’m not as organized, I’ll never be as good as,…
Tag: writing life
Of Atomic Habits and Tendencies: Battling Resistance Part 2
Update from last week: So far, so good. With the exception of one morning when I was delayed by a conversation with a colleague, I made it to my office by 9 am. I did not unload the dishwasher. In fact, I even left dishes in the sink until lunchtime. You have no idea how…
Promises to Myself: A Blog about Writing Resistance
Every night when I go to bed, I promise myself that tomorrow will be the day I show up to write at 9am. I think we all know how the next morning goes. Why else would I be making the same promise night after night since 2009? No matter how many times I promise myself…
Behind the Scenes: The Picture that Started it All
I can’t remember if I shared these photographs with you or not. It was the summer of 1984. My friends and I had the day off from our summer jobs and, as drama majors and creative types are wont to do, decided to conduct photoshoot around our hometown. We pulled out some of our hippest…
A Few Thoughts on Biographical Fiction
One of the hottest trends in historical fiction right now is biographical fiction, particularly of unsung females in history. Readers, if Goodreads and Amazon are to believed, love them. Me? I’m on the fence. There have been a few books that have blown me away (looking at you Island Queen), but for the most part,…
Retro Cocktail Recipe of the Month
Writing The In Crowd has had me immersed in midcentury culture, and nothing epitomized the 50s and early 60s like the classic cocktail. Since I love a good cocktail as much as the next person, I thought that each month, I would share a recipe for you all to try at home. Note: Drink responsibly….
Chill the F— Out
Two weeks into the new year, and already I’m falling behind. This blog was supposed to be up this morning. I’m going to take a deep breath, however and not stress out over one late blog post. After all, I’m pretty sure the ten people who read this blog won’t mind. More importantly, I’m going…
The Great Northeast Blackout of 1965
On November 9, 1965, the 80,000 square miles of the northeastern United States went dark. It began at 5:16 when a surge in in electrical demand tripped a relay switch at a power station near Niagara Falls. Cut off from their supply, power lines up and down the Eastern seaboard slowly drained to a stop….
Playing The Long Game Part 3
AKA You’re Probably Not Reading This and That’s Okay “How many people read your blog?” my friend asked. “I don’t know,” I replied, before adding silently, “Very few.” Look, I know blogging feels like a futile waste of time. I know Google discontinued its RSS reader and dumps most RSS feeds into gmail folders. I…
Barb’s Recommended Read: The Island Queen
Doing something a bit different this month because I got sucked down a rabbit hole of non-fiction reading. I’m posting my review of Island Queen today. Another post, compiling the various followed by a special philosophy next week. And now, without further ado…. THE ISLAND QUEEN Those of you who read my recommendations each month…