I started The Juggling Writer in September, so I only have a few months of blog posts to pull from. Here are my 10 favorite posts of 2009: 10. The Gift of Reading: One of the best gifts an adult can give a child is a love of reading. Here are 10 reasons why. 9. […]
Archives for 2009
Sherlock Holmes
My wife and I saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie today. We loved it! I haven’t read all of the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels like my wife has, but I’ve read enough to have cringed when the movie was first announced. Guy Ritchie? I thought. Oh, sure, the boxing scenes he directed in Snatch […]
Backing it Up
Yesterday, I wrote about how a layoff can be good for a part time writer. I said I would show readers that I follow my own advice. Here it is… Seven years ago I was laid off. I didn’t mope or panic about my situation; instead, I pitched a local travel article to the Dallas […]
2010
Hopefully you’ve been thinking about 2010 and your writing plans. If you haven’t, there’s still time in 2009 to give it some thought. Call it a resolution — call it a plan, but it’s important to look at next year and decide what you’ll make happen with your writing. * * * I could come […]
Layoffs, a Blessing in Disguise
We let out a sigh of relief when “the other guys” are shown the door instead of us. We hope the proverbial pink slip never comes our way, especially in a time when the unemployment rate is over 10% and when many of the 90% working are underemployed. It’s not a good time for a […]
The Gift of Books
Yesterday, I wrote about giving the gift of reading. In yesterday’s blog entry, I wrote about how my mom is one of the people who made me love reading. We had a very rare white Christmas in north Texas. (I haven’t seen a white Christmas in 25 years, when I used to live north of […]
The Gift of Reading
Some of my fondest memories are of my mom reading Carl Sandburg’s Rootabaga Stories to me when I was a kid. My sister read…a lot! It’s natural for a younger sibling to do what an older sibling does, so I became a reader, too. One of my favorite Christmas gifts ever was when my dad […]
5 Writing Lessons in Last Night in Twisted River
I recently finished John Irving’s Last Night in Twisted River. Irving has been one of my favorite writers since I was a kid. I will never write like him; I have no desire to write like him. But I love reading his books. Even if you’re not an Irving fan, here are five lessons from […]
Ebooks vs. Books
In August, 3 million people read ebooks on their iPhones. A school library in Massachusetts went digital. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, and other companies are investing more in ebook readers. It looks like ebooks are finally becoming accepted. I’ve been buying more ebooks than regular books, lately. At first, it was non-fiction. I vowed […]
Giving Thanks
It’s Thanksgiving in the states. I think about things I’m thankful for quite a bit (because I’m a big sap like that), but I don’t think I’ve ever made a list off the top of my head of the things I’m thankful for when it comes to writing. So here goes: I’m thankful for my […]
The Patience of an Oyster
A good friend used to manage a music store. A regular customer was looking for a second job and applied for a position at the store. On the application, where one could list various skills and traits, this person wrote this and nothing more: “I have the patience of an oyster.” I’ve been told that […]
Speak Up! (4 Ways to Improve Your Public Speaking)
Novelists have a reputation of being reclusive. Non-fiction writers have a reputation of being salesmen. There’s nothing wrong with being reclusive (although it may take longer to make it—if you make it), and there’s nothing wrong with working hard to sell books. The average book (fiction or non-fiction) doesn’t receive the publicity most authors would […]
My Muse
Wednesday, I wrote about killing the Muse. If I have a Muse, this is what he looks like: He’s a short, gruff guy with a big heart. He wears a yellow hardhat and chews on a cigar. He has a pop eye and says stuff like, “Come on, kid—get your ass in gear! This building […]
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 5
- Next Page »