Category Archives: Recent Posts


Helicopter Worldview

Do you remember the OJ Simpson Bronco Chase? On June 17, 1994, most of America got to see a low-speed chase from a helicopter view. OJ Simpson, driven by his friend Al Cowlings in a white Bronco, led police, lights and sirens blazing, down the highway. Detective Tom Lange was able to contact Simpson on his cell phone to try to reason with him. Simpson had a gun and was refusing to toss the gun out the Bronco. He was obviously under distress because he knew he was about to be arrested. He was going to lose it all and Read more…


Fitness Goals

My daughter and I recently started a free 7-day trial at a nearby fitness gym. Our first visit to the gym involved a sit down with the manager/owner of the franchise. He was great at his job and asked us a series of question intended to help him learn where we were at in our fitness journeys. These questions were among those he asked. I’ll share some of my answers. What are the biggest obstacles? Pain is my number one obstacle to fitness. I have rheumatoid arthritis. Part of my treatment for over 4 years was prednisone, a steroid notorious Read more…


the future

Looking into the future is extremely difficult for me—almost impossible, in fact. How do I do that when my husband has a terminal illness? Do I imagine a life without him and plan accordingly? Do I dream the dreams we’ve had for our lives, the ones that cancer threatens to steal? Although they are unlikely, they are preferable. It might seem obvious that someone whose spouse has cancer, would have trouble looking into the future. But it can be hard to imagine for people who haven’t experienced it firsthand. To have and to hold… Our lives are so intricately connected. Read more…


The joy of Knitting

I’m still stuck on the last post about disrupting the rules. These prompts are really hard for someone who doesn’t like to rock the boat and has no desire to invent anything. But, I recently was able to witness something awesome: 2 young people learning the joy of knitting.00 This past December My daughter’s boyfriend, Ray came to visit for a couple of weeks. After seeing some YouTubers learn how to knit over a weekend, they decided that they would take up knitting. Ray used chopsticks and Summer used bamboo skewers. Summer warns that this is a bad way to Read more…


Jack's Caregiver Klatch

This is definitely the toughest A to Z post I’ve written this year. I’ve written several different drafts, only to have my kids scoff at me because they didn’t disrupt the rules enough. I guess I haven’t hit my rebellious stage yet. But, I think I finally landed on an idea that works. It has to do with a group that I facilitate called the “Caregiver Klatch.” Men are Caregivers, Too. In the past 15 years, nearly twice as many men are assuming a caregiver role. While they face the same emotional and physical challenges as women caregivers, they are Read more…


discover new connections

Today’s prompt encourages us to discover new connections in order to increase creativity. By looking at things outside of your field, you can be inspired to think in a new way. This is why TED Talks are so inspiring to so many people. In fact, if you go to the TED Talks website, you will see the slogan, “2900+ talks to stir your curiosity.” Cloudy with a Chance of Bias Dr. J. Marshall Shepherd is a meteorologist. His field is the science of weather. His TED talk was born out of the question, “Dr. Shepherd, do you believe in climate Read more…


Badge for Insecure Writer's Support Group

It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. The amazing co-hosts for April 3  IWSG are: J.H. Moncrieff, Natalie Aguirre, Patsy Collins, and Chemist Ken! This month, I’m talking about action scenes. The IWSG Day question for April is: If you could use a wish to help you write just ONE scene/chapter of your book, which one would it be? (examples: fight scene / first kiss scene / death scene / chase scene / first chapter / middle chapter / end chapter, etc.) Action scenes are really hard for me. I don’t even Read more…


beginner's mindset

A child’s favorite question is invariably, “why?” They will also throw in a “who, what, when, where, and how”, as well. They want to know more. Having a beginner’s mindset allows them to see the world with new eyes. You can use that same beginner’s mindset to take a fresh look at any hurdles that are in your way. Children are learning machines. They are born with the innate desire to create and to experience the cause and effect of the world around them. I remember when my first child was about two years old. She discovered the stereo and Read more…


Challenge your assumptions

I remember the week before I started art school. At age 16, I had just moved into the dormitory where I would live Monday through Friday, and then go home for the weekends. I soon made a few friends. The art school was no different than other schools in the way that students quickly clustered into cliques. There were also some outcasts, about whom, assumptions were made. One of them was a guy named Rikk. Alright, that was the first problem. He spelled his name with 2 Ks which came off as trying too hard to be cool or unique. Read more…


Writing Assessment

Have you ever assessed your writing and who you are as a writer? Recently, Creative Writing Now sent out a Writer’s Assessment Worksheet to their e-mail list (which I happen to be on). Here are my answers: What kind of writer would you like to be? I want to be the kind of writer whose work people don’t want to put down. I want to write fascinating characters whose lives are transformed by the end of the book. Of course, this question is really trying to ferret out my genre of choice.  Mystery/suspense novels of a historical nature are what Read more…


It’s that time of year again! This April, I will be participating in the A to Z Blogging Challenge. Every day (except Sundays) participants will post to their blogs something that pertains to a specific theme (usually) and corresponds to the letter of the alphabet assigned to that day. Today is the day when participants reveal their chosen theme. Last year my theme was “Creativity.” This year I’m going to expand on that theme and challenge myself by using prompts from Brainsparker’s free Kickstart Course email series. Heather Erickson Author/Writer/Speaker’s theme in 2019 is… Thinking Creatively Often, writers, musicians, artists, Read more…


App Review

As a writer, it’s essential for me to have a constant spark of creativity. So, whenever a tool comes along that helps generate ideas, I have to try it out.  I’m excited to share my favorite creativity app with you. It is called the brainsparker app. I can’t think of a better name for it. “Brainsparker is a creativity app designed to spark your imagination, disrupt your routine thinking and trigger your brain to come up with new ideas and better solutions.” What I love about the brainsparker app The brainsparker app is easy to use and it puts creativity at your Read more…


Book Review Template

As I wrap up my series on how to write a review, I want to share my favorite tool with you, as well as tell you how I use it. It’s a review template. This particular template is for a fiction book review, although I’ve included a couple of questions for nonfiction books at the bottom of the list. Feel free to copy this template and use it. I encourage you to create your own template to match your own personal style. You could make one for nonfiction books, one for fiction, one for physical products, one for services, etc. The Read more…


How to Write a Book Review

Writing a review doesn’t have to be intimidating. All you’re really doing is sharing your opinion about a book, product, or service. Today we’re going to look more in-depth at how to write a book review. We will look at the different styles of book reviews you can write. Some people use a variety of styles, depending on how they feel about the book they are reviewing. Others prefer to stick with one style. How to write a book review at it most basic We have all seen book reviews that say, “I loved this book! The characters were great.”  Read more…


Amazon has made writing reviews easy

Last week I shared some of the reasons we should write reviews of the products, books, and services we purchase. This week we will look at one of the easiest and most popular places to do this—Amazon.com. The online retail giant has helped make reviews a routine part of shopping online. In fact, it has become such an integral part of the shopping experience that 72% of Americans will wait to make a purchase until after they have read the reviews.[1] Thankfully, Amazon has made writing reviews easy. The first way that Amazon has made writing reviews easy When you Read more…


writing a review

When you buy something on Amazon (or any other online retailer), do you skip reading the reviews, or do you use them to help you decide whether you should hit the “buy” button? Do you make a habit of writing a review for books, products, and services you buy? Over 95% of us check the reviews before buying. In fact, if a product or business has at least 5 positive reviews, a customer is 4 times as likely to purchase than if there are fewer. [1] Yet, 31.5% of consumers say they never get around to writing a review.[2]  Reviews Read more…


Badge for Insecure Writer's Support Group

It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. I encourage you to check out their website and even sign up for the IWSG Newsletter. This month I will be discussing carving a duck decoy, as I answer the Insecure Writer’s Support group question for February 6th… Besides writing, what other creative outlets do you have? When I was younger I easily could have answered this question. I was actually a talented artist. I especially loved watercolor painting and drawing portraits. It’s been years since I’ve done either (although, I Read more…


social media and internet use

Social media and internet use have become as much a part of our life as cooking, watching television, going to work, and participating in your favorite hobby. In fact, they often augment and even replace these things—and more. While social media and the internet arguably can enhance your life, there are also ways in which they impact your life negatively. For many people, social interaction can be difficult. Social media and the internet use take some of the discomfort out of this by allowing users to have a certain level of anonymity. It helps people feel safer, less likely to Read more…


take control of your inbox

What makes email such an asset is how cheap and fast it makes sending a message, and even longer attachments. It doesn’t matter when you send the email, or where the recipient is, in relationship to you. Your message will arrive in the recipient’s inbox and they can then respond when they are available. Unfortunately, these same qualities also make email a burden on its users. Because of how easy it is to dash off a letter, people and companies send email every day that no one wants. It clogs up their inboxes, tempts them to spend money, and wastes Read more…


attached to our cell phones

In the palm of our hand we can hold a library filled with books, stacks of CDs worth of music, movies and videos galore, a flashlight, a scientific calculator, information on anything you could ever want to purchase, news, the ability to send someone a letter, a short message, or a phone call. In fact, we can take and send pictures—even talk to loved ones through a live video feed. You can mix audio feed and play complex video games. You can even take classes online—all of this in a phone that weighs a few ounces. It’s no wonder we’re Read more…

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Reviews by
Heather Erickson

I’m an experienced reviewer of books, products, experiences-You name it! Sometimes I am given a product or book in exchange for an honest review. I always say whether or not this is the case, in the review itself. I always give my honest opinion.  Learn More

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