preparing, storing,

for that which may not come,

worrying,

about things,

that may not happen,

imagining scenarios,

and gaining our

honours degree,

for all the difference

that will make.

If you are like me and writing science fiction and fantasy, take a gander at  the link at the end of this post about world-building.

I am not a huge world-builder.  I mean, I have thoughts on what is going on…

 Fatty fatty two by four...can't fit through her own front door!!  That's how I felt for the past couple of weeks.  Honestly, I'm just trying to have some humour with my chubby self that can't fit into my fat clothes from last year.  Ya I know, I'm pretty, I'm fun, I'm not fat, and all those other empty things that people say to make you shut up!  I'll stop it, but come on....we all feel like that once in a while. Give me a break!!      OK, so I just slapped myself out of my feel sorry for…

I was asked to write an article for a magazine: Cocktails Fiction and Gossip magazine.

I talk about where my ideas from my stories in Man Theory and Other Stories come from.

Check it out at: http://www.wix.com/cocktailsmagazine/fictionandgossip#%21issue-11…

Some may say "I look great in pumpkin", other may say, "not for me Thanks" Would you wear just a little to create a discussion with a stranger, a unique pin or a scarf... to help make a point to your community, "Why Orange this April is so important....."   

...... Orange. A past student of the arts, an art lover, and won’t pass up the opportunity to visit our art galleries…

Here is my latest post about the distractions of Spring.

http://www.neetswriter.com/2012/03/does-good-weather-distract-you-from.html

Regards,

Anita

As promised, as an addition to my Bonanza today, a repost from Julie Hammonds.  Her blog: Words4Wildlife: Notes from the field.

I worked on a piece of writing over the past weekend. It was the first new writing I’ve done, of any substance,…

When I first moved to New Orleans from Mississippi, my new friends told me that I had a thick accent. I thought this was funny because in my mind everyone else was speaking with thick accents. It was during a stage speech class that I was able to recognize my speech patterns and realize that I indeed spoke with a lazy tongue that drawled out "dog" to "dawg".

I began to speak without an accent because I learned to snap my tongue with each word. That is until I moved to Texas and my new…

Hi She Writers!  Today I have a bonanza, so keep checking back.  Thanks, Natalie, for these words of wisdom!

TEN BEST LESSONS LEARNED THE HARD WAY:

1. Write what you know. Writers get sick of hearing this, but successful authors keep repeating it, because it's true. I spent (wasted) a lot of…

Poetry, painting, book arts. TED courses, and California are the subjects of today's finds. You'll particularly enjoy the video feature, an animated visualization of van Gogh's "The Starry Night".

http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com/2012/03/saturday-sharing-my-finds-are-yours_31.html

'Yes but what is my talent?' I can remember asking my mum this question occasionally as I grew up. She always said that each of us had God-given talents and that one day they would become obvious. Well I waited and waited. MY brother was an exceptional pianist and my sister sang country songs, they were both very talented. Me? I was just me. Nothing I did struck me (or anyone else) as particularly talented.

Here I am fifty years young and I think I may have…

I come here late, hospital pyjamas,

was it body or brain paralysis

that kept me there, tired

lace curtains drawn,

I lay as a child, arm high

tracing patterns and bows,

thinking in the wind,

when there is no wind?

to the door i find

earth smell, light rain

and music from the overflow.

little toads still hazard,

everywhere, everywhere,

i warned you yesterday,

tread very gently my dears

Back at the coffee shop with the daughters this afternoon....waiting too late and didn't get any of the special pesto pasta :-(.  Oh well, the chicken salad sandwich and  peanut butter cookies were delicious, and the latte, of course, was its usual fantasmic!

It's Friday.  I did a smidgen of writing today and plan to do more as the girls play and goof off for the rest of the afternoon.

I finally wrote a scene that I had been having a hard time getting into my head - for a month…

For all the friends and family in my life (especially Mark):

A Writer’s Apologia 

1.

Although I love you, I may not see you for hours or days or weeks, even if we live or work together.

2.

When writing, my inbox and voice messages pile up around me until I forget that they are there. My intention is to get to them, but in all probability, they will be lost. I appreciate your efforts to send me repeated messages. I…

  At my age I hear this all the time from my fellow femmes and man friends.  Everyone seems to be doing it...having bad sex.

(picture, courtesy of VABook Fest)

Greetings Shewriters - Get out your highlighters for some sound advice!

Bella Stander is the proprietor of Book Promotion 101 and publisher of Bella Terra Publishing. For the past dozen years she’s worked with the Virginia Festival of the Book, where she…