My daughter Jordan and I are very different. She loves One Direction. I like One Republic. Her fashion sense is more urban while I am more classic. I am a touchy feeling kind of person, she…is not. Although we are different, I often try to find ways to celebrate how our differences can bring us together. Here is one such example. I love the television show Downton Abbey and it is no secret, if you know my teen daughter, she is obsessed with the boy band, One Direction! The girl is so enamored by them, I felt I needed to…
Valentines Day Scrooge? Yep, That’s Me!
I am not a lover of Valentines Day. I think it goes back to high School when all my friends boyfriends made them feel special…giving them boxes of chocolate, cards, perfume, and flowers.Every year they were shower with love and attention from their boyfriends while I could only wish it was me. I never knew what it felt like to have that special someone want to do something for me on Valentines Day so I dreaded it every. single. year. In college, I was so hung up on one guy, I turned down Valentine’s dates twice because I hoped he…
Experiencing The Places My Novel’s Charecters Explore
Almost as much fun as writing my first novel was recently visiting the places I have brought to life. In Liberty Layne and the One-Girl Rebelution, my middle grade fiction novel, Liberty and her bff Calliope and cousin Lincoln head to San Francisco to audition for a singing competition. Familiar places to me are used to create my character’s stories, a scene at Pier 39 is one such example. I experienced Pier 39 for the first time my senior year in High School with some of my best friends, Michelle and Caroline. The following year, I drove from California Baptist University…
Did You Know Social Media and Breathing Are One In The Same For Teen Girls?
Did you know social media is just as important as breathing for most teenage girls? It’s true! Girls are relationally wired. Relationships with their peers are one of the most important things to them. Social media has opened wide new avenues for teen girls to “relate” or communicate with each other. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram are the most widely used social media sites. Unfortunately, teenagers are not emotionally mature and so many lack the communication skills necessary to use these social media sites responsibly. This is why girl bullying is quickly becoming an epidemic. These sites are not only used…
Writing A Novel? Reality Check!
I was under the impression writing my first novel was going to be the hardest part of writing a novel. Then, once it was written, the rest would be easy, right? Wrong. Reality Check! I have come to find writing my book was the easy part. Getting it published is going to be the hard part. I was blessed with positive feedback the first time I showed my novel to publishing houses at a writing conference last year so my experience has been very positive but with so many people writing ebooks and many consumers buying them, it has changed…