Pile Police: Are they after YOU?

Get help sorting out your writing piles with my latest article on 4RV Publishing's blog. Cut and paste this link: http://4rvreading-writingnewsletter.blogspot.com/2012/04/pile-police-are-they-after-you.html#comment-form

Bon Voyage!

My high school freshman daughter, Erica, boarded a plane last night for a group trip to Paris and Barcelona. The kids, about 25 of them, were jumping through their skin with excitement. Parents held a mixed bag of emotions, nerves and envy for their weeklong trip to see some of the world's amazing sights. Book: Entre Nous, A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl" by Debra Ollivier To get in the spirit francais, I pulled a book off Erica's shelf that I had found six months ago when she first signed up for the trip. Erica devoured Ollivier's take on French Women's savoir faire faster than a chocolate croissant. I can see why. Like a fine pastry, the book is layered delicately with quotations from famous in-the-know writers, personal anecdotes, movies with characters who personify these ideals, and fun lists of things like "What's in a French Girl's ideal closet?" French women feel comfortable with themselves in ways American women may never achieve. So much fun to read while my budding teenager walks those cobblestones in search of herself.

To Blog or Not to Blog . . .

. . . that is the question. I am scanning blogs and websites online, dissecting what makes them work. Or not. The blogs that have the most life are the ones that are purpose-driven, that give the reader a reason to stop by. A friendly neighbor popping in for a quick chat or to drop off a borrowed book. What's the curb appeal of your blog? Is it inviting and welcoming? Does it say, "I'm home, and would love your company? If you stop over, I can offer you coffee and cookies or whatever literary equivalent you're after? With a second novel nearly completed and a lovely, inexpressibly fabulous contract-in-hand for my picture book story, Willard the Dragon: Sneeze-Fire with 4RV Publishing, I've set a goal to get a website up and running and to refresh the look and purpose of this blog. The blog will focus each month on how to add more JOY to the daily journey. Have you noticed how putting more effort into something gives you more joy out of it? What kinds of little things do you do to add joy to your life and the lives of people around you?