I love books about writing. Sometimes, though, you need to wade through a lot of fluff to find great ones. I’ve put together a list of writing resources that I purchased and read/used in 2017–and loved. Though this list could be much longer, I’ll limit it to 6 of my favorites. Resources For Fiction Writers Fiction writers can’t go wrong with the following writing resources by K. M. Weiland. I have read them all and have found them incredibly useful for getting the timing and tension right in my fiction writing. She’s an engaging writer whose books on writing Read more…
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. Today I will look back 2017 and consider my successes and failures, as I answer this month’s IWSG Day question: As you look back on 2017, with all its successes/failures, if you could backtrack, what would you do differently? Rating My Successes and Failures My writing life is comprised of several different aspects. I’ll share a few of them and how I view my successes Read more…
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. Today I will share my experience with NaNoWriMo and critique groups, as I answer this month’s IWSG Day question: Win or not, do you usually finish your NaNoWriMo project? Have any of them gone on to be published? NaNoWriMo 2016 Last year, I participated in NaNoWriMo. It was a great experience. I did win. I completed my VERY rough draft of about 75,000 words during the Read more…
When you or a loved one are diagnosed with cancer, survival tops your priority list. As time passes, you meet other cancer patients. Some of them survive. Some of them die. Learning that one of your friends has died of cancer, always brings with it a sadness–and sometimes, guilt. It’s a phenomenon known as survivor’s guilt. Encouragement As a 5-year -survivor of stage IV lung cancer, my husband, Dan, tries to encourage others on their journey. I, in turn, try to encourage caregivers that there is hope. There are new treatments and new tools in the palliative care toolbox to help patients Read more…
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. Today I will share about how spending time with the local police and firefighters has helped me make my characters and scenes more realistic, as I answer this month’s IWSG Day question: Have you ever slipped any of your personal information into your characters, either by accident or on purpose? What do you know? I love the old axiom “write what you know.” Unfortunately, that Read more…
Do you remember the last time you went to the doctor? If it was within the past couple of years, chances are, you were asked to “rate your pain on a scale of 0 to 10 with 0 being no pain, and 10 being the greatest amount of pain humanly possible.” What does that even mean?? I’m going to shed some light on this enigmatic pain scale, so the next time you or a loved one goes to the doctor, you can get the best care possible. Patients hate the pain scale You are suddenly put on the spot. The Read more…
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. Today I will share about how hard it can be to make changes in your writing as I answer this month’s IWSG Day question. The IWSG Day question for September is: Have you ever surprised yourself with your writing? What has surprised me are the times when I have made changes, despite how difficult it is to do. Artists, including (perhaps, especially) writers, get very Read more…
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 IWSG Day question for July is: What is one valuable lesson you’ve learned since you started writing? My answer: Take Time. This is the perfect topic for me to write about right now. I just got back from our family’s annual “Erickson Cabin Week.” About 25 of us (the number varies slightly each year) go to Woman Lake Lodge where we spend time together, swim, read, and play games. I recently had surgery on my foot and can’t bear weight Read more…
Do we need to “have it all together?” So many tragic things happen in this world and in our personal lives, that require us to have faith. What happens when the faith we have is imperfect? The truth is that we all have imperfect faith. The good news is that even with imperfect faith, our prayers make a difference. A Parent’s Perspective When one of my kids comes to me for help, I don’t require them to have everything in their life together before I respond to their need. If you have kids (of any age) I’m sure you feel Read more…
Today we will look at why people blame God for trials and sufferings in life. This is the second post that looks at Job from the Bible to gain insight into suffering. A few weeks ago, we explored the common (though often subconscious) idea that a person diagnosed with a life-altering illness, such as cancer, must have done something to cause it; smoking, drinking, unhealthy eating patterns, etc. You can check out that post here. I concluded the post by sharing how to be a supportive friend when someone is going through a trial, rather than one of Job’s comforters, Read more…
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. This June, the question insecure writers are writing about is: Did you ever say I quit? If so, what happened to make you come back to writing? When my husband and I were first married, Dan was working part time as a Realtor and thanks to the housing market implosion, a full-time bus driver. I was a contract sewer. The kind that sews things, not the thing waste water passes through. I also was homeschooling our 3 daughters. It Read more…
In part one of The Who Cares for the Caregiver series, we learned who caregivers are, We also looked at the affect caring for someone who has cancer or another serious illness, has on them. In Part two, we learned specific ways you can help a caregiver. In today’s post, the third and final installment in the caregiver series, we learn about the effect of caring for caregivers. Hearing Crickets I’m a very private, introverted person. At the time my husband, Dan was diagnosed with cancer, we hadn’t been married long. I was a stay at home mom and didn’t have many strong Read more…
Less than a year ago, author, Jacqui Murray’s book, To Hunt a Sub, made its debut. She’s now releasing the sequel, Twenty-Four Days. I’m so excited to share this with you as part of her book release blog-hop. Here’s the Short Synopsis of Twenty-four Days: A former SEAL, a brilliant scientist, a love-besotted nerd, and a quirky AI have twenty-four days to stop a terrorist attack. The problems: They don’t know what it is, where it is, or who’s involved. What sets this story apart from other thrillers is the edgy science used to build the drama, the creative thinking that unravels Read more…
For this post, I will take a refreshing break from writing about cancer. Today is the first Wednesday of the month. That’s the day when members of Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh‘s Insecure Writer’s Support Group post an article answering the question of the month. This month, I will share about the importance of research as well as my recent interview of a Wisconsin conservation warden. May’s IWSG Day Question: What is the weirdest/coolest thing you ever had to research for your story? Without further ado…My answer: My interview of a Wisconsin Conservation Warden I’m working on the revisions of my Read more…
On March 29th, I saw a post about the A-Z Challenge in my Facebook feed. At the time, I was publishing one post once a week. My website was in serious need of resuscitation. Could I do it? Blog every day for a month (except for Sundays)? How would I come up with a topic for every letter? My blogging habits were terrible and I already had a lot on my to-do list. Should I even attempt the A-Z Challenge? For a list of links to my A-Z Challenge posts, go HERE. How I began The first thing I had to Read more…
This is my final A to Z Challenge post, and it is perhaps, my most difficult. What can I write about that starts with Z? I decided to take an actual term, Z Factor, and slap a new meaning on it, all while sharing what has given us peace of mind throughout my husband’s cancer journey. So here it is…The Z Factor of Living with Cancer. Survival Rates There are many things that go into survival rates for people living with cancer. Often how well a person is doing on their treatment seems to defy logic. We’ve seen some patients Read more…
X-Ray An X-ray is the most commonly used imaging scan for most people since it is simple, safe, and low cost. Doctors use x-ray to diagnose injury and lung issues, from bronchitis to lung cancer. An x-ray uses radiation in small quantities. The radiation (or x-ray) passes through the body, capturing an image. The rays are blocked by dense tissue, bone, and objects in the body. Radiologists look at the x-ray picture and send a report of their findings to the doctor. CT Scans CT stands for Computed Tomography. It’s a painless scan that combines the power of x-ray with Read more…
One thing all cancer patients do is wait. From the waiting room, on, waiting becomes a huge part of life when you’re living with cancer, Waiting room My husband and I had monthly visits to the cancer center for 5 years prior to his diagnosis with stage IV lung cancer. I received infusions for rheumatoid arthritis there. The day we went to the cancer center for his first oncology appointment, the waiting room became a whole new word for us. We saw the other patients who were waiting, in a whole new light. For the first time, we knew their Read more…
This post about visiting someone who’s ill is from chapter 3 of my book, Facing Cancer as a Friend: How to Support Someone who Has Cancer, Here’s what Jesus had to say about it: “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.” Matthew Read more…
Undifferentiated, A Definition (1) A term used to describe cells or tissues that do not have specialized (“mature”) structures or functions. Undifferentiated cancer cells often grow and spread quickly. This is a somewhat scientific post. Keep reading because it’s very interesting. Tumor grade is different than cancer stage. After the doctor biopsies, suspicious tissue, he or she sends it to a pathologist. The pathologist then determines whether the tissue is malignant. Furthermore, they can tell what kind of cancer it is, as well as what the tumor’s stage is. Your doctor may also ask the pathologist to also check for specific Read more…
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