Who wouldn't choose a mental float down the river of denial rather than drudge through ankle thick mud of reality? Self-preservation rationalized not posting on a critique forum when I read the ruthless (yet insightful) comments made about other writers' work.  Before this mental exit, I did a lot of book soul-searching in an attempt to decide which manuscript to bring …
The Power of the Little White Stool: Perspective
Have you ever tried to search for something on a top shelf when you were too short to reach up that far?        You cannot grasp what you need, let alone see, so you fumble around wishing your fingers had eyeballs.        I keep a little white stool alongside my refrigerator for times like these.        Unfolded …
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Painletting
"Maybe that's where you put your pain."   This past weekend swirled with activity. My children, their friends, and I went to the beach on Saturday to enjoy time together before my daughter flew back to Korea.    Then we ate dinner before taking Elya to the airport. I walked away from my precious daughter watching her wipe tears from her …
A Puppet and the Alabaster Jar
Today is fresh with possibilities. I want to learn more about the craft of writing so I can paint beautiful words upon the canvas of life. Yet more than this, I want to be become real because I know what God can do with real. He can take our humanity and mix in His Spirit and create healing oil. …
…those plastic smiles
"Her two worlds collided and there she was, enjoying them both." Last night in a dream, I saw my arm as if an outstretched branch of a tree with leaves. The color started going out of the picture moving from right to left leaving the right side a black and white image. I awoke and …
Baby Steps
Growth steps do not have to be big in order to count. In fact, my most prized achievements resulted from taking those "baby steps." I borrowed the concept from the hilarious movie "What about Bob," starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss. This movie is a must for learning how to laugh at your eccentric tendencies as you watch the neurotic behavior of the main …
When something beautiful my way comes…
Two gardenia plants snuggle up against my home outside the window facing the patio. I can see them from where I write. Recently, the tips of their leaves turned a sickly brown and large areas of stem lost their foliage altogether. "What's wrong with these plants?" My husband muttered. "I don't know. Maybe they're getting …
The Dance of Delight
The genre of memoir captivates me and the desire to push forward in exploring this style steadily grows. Yet, I have so much to learn about writing that at times my mind enters a temporary paralysis of thought: fiction techniques to enhance my nonfiction, writing a nonfiction book proposal…the list seems endless. I must resist the …
In the Valley of Publishing Decision…
I'm in the Valley of Publishing Decision and this barren wasteland stretches out as far as my eyes can see. Back in March, I bought a self-publishing package from Createspace, Amazon.com's new self-publishing company.                  I've gone back and forth struggling between whether to draft a nonfiction book proposal and try to pitch my first book …
JoDee Luna Art 