8 Tips on Surviving an Outing with a Toddler 1.) Don’t go. Really. Don’t go. If you don’t have to go out, don’t. It’ll save you time, energy, money and stress. Mostly stress. And hassle. Send your husband, wife, or partner to the store. Or, better yet, go when the little one is asleep. But, if you do have to go… 2.) Only make one stop. If your child gets as cranky as mine does/did, then one stop is about…
There was flour everywhere. Literally. The walls were coated in flour dust, there was a fine layer over the floor, the countertops, the cabinets, the windowsill. Thankfully, a quick charm could clean up the white powder, but the damage was done. The toddler sitting in the middle of the mess was laughing hysterically and waving her Mummy’s wand all over.“No no, please!” The tired mother, Audrey, was carrying a tiny infant against her chest. It’d probably been three days since…
This year, 2014, my daughters turn 2 and 5. I’ve seen a lot of posts on Facebook and other social media where people post about “on this day, x years ago, I went into labor…” where parents–mothers, mostly–remember fondly the time that led up to their children coming into the world. I don’t really remember much of my life before I had kids. I know it’s weird to say, and probably a little sad, but in all honesty, I don’t…
My Heroes First Installment: Amy Leigh Strickland I’ve decided to write a blog post every month about someone who inspires me. A hero in one form or another. As so much of my life is based around reading and writing, many of these heroes are bound to be writers, bloggers, creators, artists and musicians. Though I’m sure I’ll put other people in here, too. The first in My Heroes is a gal who is constantly an inspiration to me in…
I’ve participated in several rounds of NaNoWriMo (nanowrimo.org) and won the last three years running. I’m planning on writing something new this year*, so I’ll need to brush up my “Zero Draft Writing” skills. I figure, it’s helped me win NaNoWrimo 2011, 2012 and 2013… so maybe these notes will help someone else with their fiction writing, too. *Note: Steps 1-8 need to be completed BEFORE November 1 if the process is to be used for NaNoWriMo 2014. This means…
I attended a class yesterday on Internet Marketing for writers, by Bob Cohen (bobology.com). It was informative and inspiring. It made me think that it’s time to get off of my backside, and get in gear. I want to create marketable content for others to enjoy so that when I do end up publishing my work I will already have some people following who are likely to purchase said work. It sounds weird when I put it that way, but…
After reading a few articles about what writers should blog, I decided to make a brainstorming post with some of their ideas, that way I can reference it quickly when doing my own research. Half the time I open up my blog and go to make a post, and have no idea what I should write about, or where to start. I know I’m going about this the completely wrong way, so here’s a step in (what I hope is)…
Five Sentence Fiction: Radiance. Breaking through the top of the clouds was quite a bit wetter than she imagined, though just as easy. The view was spectacular; pinks and purples of the setting sun bouncing off the ocean and shining up through the heavy cloud layer and casting the whole evening in a magical glow. When she took a breath of the chilly air, her heart thundered and she realized there was no turning back now. Her life had completely…
Re: Chris Brogan’s post on the 97 Ideas for Building A Valuable Platform This post inspired me to write something today about the over-saturation of social media. I already told you Who I follow, and Why but now it’s time for me to admit that I don’t /really/ follow as many people as my social media networks say that I do. While I love to read the articles and blog posts that everyone posts, and I’m all too ready to…
Just like so many of you out there in the blog-o-sphere, and on all of those social networks, and on friends lists and in circles, I have far, far too many accounts on different social mediums. I have a twitter, a facebook, a Google+, a blog, a Goodreads account, and several others I either can’t think of at the moment or am too lazy to type. I try to keep them all updated, and often visiting my Klout.com account reminds…