Dealing with Changed Plans I turned sixty early in December. The original plan, made back in 2019, was to travel to Bali, to be someplace warm, possibly on a beach, celebrating my big day. Then 2020 happened. That plan, plus the plans to travel to Guatemala in spring of 2020…

Books I read in 2021 that I’d recommend I love to read. As a kid, I devoured entire libraries. One year, I built myself a treehouse, then rigged up a pulley system with a box, so that I could haul large amounts of books up after myself, and just sit…

Continuing Series on Story Structure NOTE: This is part of a series on story structure. I will be collecting them all up and putting them into a book once I’m finished, as part of my Business for Breakfast series. Last but not least, there’s the classic story plot of tragedy…

More Writing Technique People who are familiar with my first drafts might be perplexed that I would try to write something about information flow when it comes to fiction. I do not always get information flow correct. I frequently will write a description out of order, starting with the last…

Continuing Series on Story Structure NOTE: This is part of a series on story structure. I will be collecting them all up and putting them into a book once I’m finished, as part of my Business for Breakfast series. The classic comedy plot is not necessarily comedic, or funny. In…

Accepting Your Limits NOTE: Okay, so most of the people who know me personally are giggling at that tagline about accepting your limits. It isn’t something that I’m known for. In fact, I generally am always railing against my boundaries and pushing as hard as I can. But I have…

Continuing Series on Story Structure NOTE: This is part of a series on story structure. I will be collecting them all up and putting them into a book once I’m finished, as part of my Business for Breakfast series. The rebirth story structure is sometimes listed as one of the…

Wiser Energy Management Anyone who knows me in real life might use the word “stubborn” to describe me. Or possibly even “tough.” I have a dear friend with whom I went to a writing workshop, out on the Oregon Coast one spring. He still refers to the walk we took…

New measures for new times A friend of mine recently posted on social media how she’d just had a melt-down at her husband. In the end, the causes of the melt-down were A) Pandemic Fatigue and B) Risk Assessment. I’ve written about pandemic fatigue before. It’s real. I’m seeing it…