As much fun as blogging can be, I wish I could just sit with you in a cafe, Dear Reader, and talk about books and the literary life for awhile. –Shelley Burbank What do you think of the Oz earrings? Aren’t they cute? I adore them, not least because my friend Wendy, a fellow writer… Continue reading The Earrings of Oz
Tag: writing
Heading Over the Rainbow
Writer’s Brain I don’t know about other writers, but if I spend too much time researching, reading, recharging, or goofing off rather than tapping away at my keyboard doing actual writing, I get as agitated and depressed as a Kansas farm girl watching her balloon-ride home drift away into the heavens. This is my state… Continue reading Heading Over the Rainbow
Something Sparkly in a Little Velvet Box
Just for you, my dear readers, a Valentine’s Day short story with a happy ending. XOXO, Shelley SOMETHING SPARKLY IN A LITTLE VELVET BOX ******** “I have bad news.” Henley’s voice faded in and out, the cell service in that part of Florida spotty. I pressed the phone against my ear. “What did you say?”… Continue reading Something Sparkly in a Little Velvet Box
Part IV: In The New Year
Photo Above: While strolling through the Liberty Station Arts District around Christmastime, Hubby & I, along with Dear Daughter and Boyfriend, stepped into La Galleria. I turned to Hubby and said, “If you ever want to buy me a gift, anything in this shop will do.” You can check out some of their offerings on… Continue reading Part IV: In The New Year
Witchy Woman: Q & A with Nancy Gardner
Nancy Gardner, whose new novel, DREAM STALKER just came out in both ebook and paperback, likes to garnish her mystery stories with a paranormal twist. DREAM STALKER is the first in a series of three books the New England author has planned. It tells the story of Lily Scott, a modern-day Salem witch who is… Continue reading Witchy Woman: Q & A with Nancy Gardner
A Model Writing Life
An Interview with Former NYC Runway Model and YA Author, Nicole Gabor “I think it all started with a feeling of what I wanted to say,” Nicole Gabor types as we begin our online chat interview. Although it would have been fun to dress up and meet in person somewhere in New York City–at a… Continue reading A Model Writing Life
Cozy Butterfly Project
[UPDATED March 2022] So, awhile back I had the idea of starting a comfort shawl project that would allow myself and others to encourage women engaged in the hard work of transforming themselves and their lives. A couple years ago, as an enthusiastic but scattered knitter with basic to intermediate skills, I’d been drawn to… Continue reading Cozy Butterfly Project
3 Cool Ways to Work Around Procrastination
Procrastination. As a writer, I’ve built elaborate scaffolds of procrastination, making work that is really an avoidance of the work of novel-writing. I’ve built a website. I started a blog. I created a new Facebook account. I began writing female-empowerment flash fictions to post on Facebook. I made an Instagram account. I took photos of… Continue reading 3 Cool Ways to Work Around Procrastination
Simplicity, Luxury, Refinement
This morning, I grabbed my usual cup of coffee and my current read, and headed out to the balcony. This is how I start my days, with coffee and books and music. Today I cued up a playlist of opera arias and visited the English countryside with Wilkie Collins’s mystery novel, The Woman In White. … Continue reading Simplicity, Luxury, Refinement
Success: What is it Good For?
I’ve been thinking about success a lot these days–what it means, what happens if you fail, what happens if you don’t fail. Is the journey really the point, or are we just making ourselves feel better about our failures when we invoke the journey? Is it better to aim high and land somewhere south of… Continue reading Success: What is it Good For?