In the last couple of weeks, all the parents I know have been preoccupied with getting their kids back to school again. They’re doing back to school shopping for supplies and clothes, thinking about first day outfits, and rearranging schedules. For a long time, school wasn’t a happy place for me. I was always forgetting things, and other kids didn’t

Update: I accidentally posted this early—I was traveling and set it up to go live on Wednesday, but I had the date wrong! Ah well. 🙂 Hi, friends! It’s the first Wednesday of the month! That might not mean a lot to most people, but around here, that means it’s WIP Wednesday. I share an excerpt of a work in

People have been asking me for this list for such a long time! If you write horror, suspense, mystery, or any kind of fiction with a scary scenes, you need to know how to describe fear. This list can get you started. It’s a lot of phrases describing fear, including physical reactions, physical sensations, facial expressions, and other words you

It’s been a few years since I’ve written about Lughnasadh, and it’s on my mind today. What is Lughnasadh?  It’s an ancient Celtic harvest festival honoring the sun god Lugh, and it inspired Lammas Day, a festival in Christianity that celebrates the harvest of wheat and other early crops.  I’m always interested in somewhat obscure holidays, and I was especially

If you have a website, a blog, a tumblr, or an Instagram account that you approach in a semi-professional or artistic way, you might want to figure out your brand colors or create a personal color palette. It can tie everything together, make design decisions easier, and convey who you are. I’m not a designer, and I know some of

On Saturday I worked on my novel-in-progress for hours, and then we went to the beach. I’ve written about this before, but sometimes I have trouble taking a break and going to a park or the beach, and I’m always glad when I do it. Honestly, for me, connecting with nature is a key to happiness.     It’s easy