Wednesday Wisdom for Writers and Those Who Love Them

"It's in literature that true life can be found. It's under the mask of fiction that you can tell the truth." — Gao Xingjian


I love this quote. (Happy birthday to me.)


It's all better with friends.

What I Want

Happy New Year!

Doesn't 2016 have a great ring to it?

Here's what I wish/want for each one of you:

First of all I want you to have the freedom to desire. So many, in other countries and even ours, don't. They can't imagine the option to imagine. To dream. I want that for you.

Then I want each of you to find the courage to step off the edge of the top floor of the high-rise and replace your fear with love. To trust you can knit your wings on the way down. Step out in faith.

And if that doesn't work, and you land with a splat, I want you to pick yourself up and climb those steps again. And while you walk up those steps, consider what you'll do differently this time. Failure is okay. Failure provides information that success doesn't. Which sort of means that failure is success. Use it.

I believe that each of you has a mission, a story to tell, other lives to impact. Trust the process. Trust yourself.

Be stubborn. Be focused. Be determined.

And I'll be right there wtih you.




It's all better with friends.

Wednesday Wisdom for Writers and Those Who Love Them

"Progress isn't always what we expect." — Peg Brantley


When I considered boxing up my last manuscript it felt as if I'd be taking a huge step back. Turns out,   after the deed was done, I was way ahead.

It's all better with friends.

Wednesday Wisdom for Writers and Those Who Love Them

"We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect." — Anaïs Nin



Even a suspense novelist/thriller writer can identify with this one.


It's all better with friends.

Wednesday Wisdom for Writers and Those Who Love Them

"I hate writing, I love having written." —Dorothy Parker

Some days there's nothing more true. Other days? It's magical. Those are the days I live for. Still, it's a wonderful feeling when I'm finished.

It's all better with friends.

Wednesday Wisdom for Writers and Those Who Love Them

"Virtue has a veil, vice a mask." —Victor Hugo


Current news underscores this quote. The question is, who's wearing the mask?

I'm deep into research on the topic of human trafficking. For me, safe and secure in my insulated world, it's easy to spot the masks. Unfortunately for many, not so much. I'm excited about this new project and continue to trust I'll get it right.



It's all better with friends.

Wednesday Wisdom for Writers and Those Who Love Them

"To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life." —W. Somerset Maugham


How many books will you be giving as presents this month? (Including the ones you give to yourself.)



It's all better with friends.