The LAST Word

March 3 is the day dedicated to encouraging literacy through reading. It used to be known as Reading Across America. March 3 was chosen because it was Dr. Seuss' birthday. He was instrumental in increasing literacy among American youth. This year, many areas chose not to include Dr. Seuss books in favor of ones that are indoctrinating children with an agenda instead of teaching them how to read. This is wrong for many reasons.  As a journalist and author , I am concerned about the precedent set by taking Dr. Seuss from schools and libraries. Banning books is the first step toward having a government telling us what we are allowed to read, what we are allowed to think and what we are allowed to say. His books might offend some people, but they have a right be available. He is allowed to have his say. And, the replacements might offend more people. When does it stop? Huckleberry Finn will be next or To Kill a Mockingbird will be found offensive, but at the times they were w

  Happy new year, fellow writers. I am often told by new authors that they think writing a book is too much work or too daunting a task, yet they always tell me that they think they should write a book. To start the new year, I thought it would be good to give some tips on reducing your stress over writing fiction. 1. Set Goals -- January is the perfect time to set goals for the year. This applies to all writers and business owners. You want the goals to be realistic. For example, "I will write every day." Set a date for when you want it completed. Set another date for editing and marketing . 2. Break Down the Project -- Before you start your work, break down the big project (a completed book) into smaller parts: outline, 10 pages a day or one chapter a week, first draft completed, edited draft, completed manuscript and published. This helps to make it not so daunting a task. Remember, a book is either 6x9 or 8.5x5.5, which means those 10 pages are really half

    I am going to have some fun with my blog today. Here are things I want this Christmas. I put it in the 12 days of Christmas song. On the first day of Christmas, my colleagues gave to me: a contract for editing On the second day of Christmas, my colleagues gave to me: two press releases On the third day of Christmas, my colleagues gave to me: three blogs to write On the fourth day of Christmas, my sports stars gave to me: four #Eagles wins On the fifth day of Christmas, my company gave to me: five thousand dollars On the sixth day of Christmas, my colleagues gave to me: six ways to market On the seventh day of Christmas, my customers gave to me: seven times the pay On the eighth day of Christmas, my dentist gave to me: no more procedures On the ninth day of Christmas, my family gave to me: nine days of laughter On the 10th day of Christmas, my customers gave to me: 10 book reviews On the 11th day of Christmas, my family gave to me: 11 hugs and kisses On the 12th day of Christmas, my

    In June, rainbows are used for ugly references to people who do things they shouldn't. Instead of using rainbows as symbols for that, try using rainbows for inspiration for your writing. 1. Beautiful Colors -- If you have ever seen rainbows after a storm in the sky, the colors are vivid against a dark stormy sky . These can make you think of colorful descriptions for your settings. Everyone knows the seven colors of a rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and indigo). However, the colors of the sky can range from a bluish gray to a deep charcoal when a rainbow appears. Those bright colors against the deep charcoal can be impactful.  2. Resilience -- They also can represent resilience of your characters. When a rainbow appears, it is usually after much destruction has happened. In your stories , the characters might have had to endure something similar and came through the problem with stronger life. They are shown to be resilient. In addition to fiction, rainbows

  I love spring . It has beautiful colors, lots of sunlight and warmer weather. Earth Day is part of spring too. Throughout my journalism career , I studied and wrote writing about the environment. Because Earth Day is coming, I thought I would share some of the myths associated with saving the environment. While I am in favor of saving our natural resources , I save the environment with balance, prayer and patience . You might not agree with me. That is fine. This country was founded on the principle that everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. Here are some environmental myths. 1. Go Solar -- While it is a good idea to get solar for your home and generate renewable energy, solar power is not as simple as everyone thinks. Adding solar to your home could cost you $15,000 to $50,000 up front. There are tax credits and rebates available from the states and federal government, but those programs almost always require you to shell out the money and then get reimbursed. Also

  Easter is just a few weeks away. Instead of writing about marketing or editing tips, I thought I would highlight some Christian books that you could buy for gifts. The Thief, the Harlot and the Healer tells a fictional story of strength and courage in 33 A.D. of a woman who had no rights. The main character by Mike E Clements was abducted as a young woman and forced into prostitution. She has the courage to leave the brothel and is looking for salvation, but she doesn't believe her life is worth saving despite what people tell her. The story leads the reader to Rachel kneeling before the cross and understanding how much God loves her. Words in Red: Witness for the Prosecution thinks about the people around Jesus and what they did for a living. The main character is a scribe for a leader in the Jewish religion who is trying to get evidence he can use to prosecute Jesus to death. The writer follows Jesus throughout his life and listens to His teachings. Colin Rank captures how

  We are coming up on the spring season. This is a wonderful season. It is as colorful as fall, but plants, trees and animals are coming alive, not dying. You will see purple, pinks, white, yellow, light green, blues, red, orange and lavender. Spring is a time of renewal on the Earth and in your soul.  But, with spring also comes the dreaded Daylight Savings Time. This is a system we do not need and should outlaw. First, the name is incorrect. We aren't "saving" daylight. We are moving it to be later in the day, but the number of hours that are bright is the same in EST or EDT. During June, it is about 12-14 hours of daylight whether that day starts at 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. Second, it was started for farmers and to save energy, but most of us live at our computers inside an office instead of on the farm. I would also argue that farmers would prefer light in the morning when they have to get up to milk the cows. I would also argue that we use the same amount of energy by turnin

  It started when libraries banned Dr. Seuss . This is violating the 14th Amendment. Now, "Sensitivity Committees" want to rewrite Roald Dahl's books to make them "sensitive" to today's audiences. How can they know what Dahl wanted his characters to be. They are his characters. Only he knows what they are thinking and doing. No one can say, "It was meant to say this." That is the first problem.  The second problem is that if "Sensitivity Committees" rewrite characters and books, they are making everyone the same. That will read quite boring. In the real world, people say negative things, do negative things, do not care about being sensitive or politically correct, and act whatever way they want. Most people know what is right and wrong. Therefore, fiction should reflect life. That is why these stories stand the test of time. They reflect life, and readers can relate because they know people like the characters. The third problem is rewri

When you are looking for ideas for stories, blogs, poems or press releases, you should consider holidays, such as Valentine's Day or Presidents Day. You can find ways to use them in your writing or business marketing.  You might be surprised to know that I write romance novels but hate Valentine's Day. This might seem odd. I write about love, but I don't like the day dedicated to love. The reason I don't like Valentine's Day stems from being alone in high school and college. In high school, one of the fundraisers was to sell heart-shaped lollipops with messages on them. It was hard to watch many of my friends get messages and I didn't. In college, everyone on my floor was given something for Valentine's Day except me.  To me, Valentine's Day is set aside to make those without a significant other feel bad about himself or herself. Even after I met my future husband, I asked him not to give me anything on Valentine's Day. To this day, he will give me

    People who know me, know that I love football. I went to Eagles games as a kid with my grandfather and father. I still support my Eagles. I supported them when they didn't win games, and now, they head to divisional playoff round. However, I think we can pull some ideas from football to improve your business marketing and your writing . 1. Get First Downs -- In football, the goal is to get into the End Zone for a touchdown, but before that, you need to march down field 10 yards at a time. This relates to business. You have keep moving, being consistent with your marketing and being patient to trust your marketing will work in the long-term. Nothing happens overnight. Many people think they can get a quick score. Sometimes, in football, that happens, but usually it doesn't. Same is true in business. You can't expect people to know you and buy from you immediately. This is also true in writing. Your main goal is to finish a book, but you need to remember to break down

      January is a great time to start fresh on the year. I like to clean out my files on the computer that I no longer need, and I also move the file folders I don't need going forward in the new year. That gives me a new beginning for my writing and my business. I also re-evaluate what I do for marketing for the year. You can decide where to focus your marketing and what you can do differently. It always is a good idea to try something different in the new year. This is true whether you are an author, small business owner or employee. Although employees are told what to do every day, they do have to market themselves to land the job in the first place and to keep their job. Here are my tips for your market plans this year. 1. Do Video Marketing -- Authors often don't like being in front of the camera, but they should do some videos about their books. Having someone interview you on their podcast or YouTube channel would be great. Creating your own YouTube channel a

Writers are always looking for inspiration. They will use art, nature, family life and quotes. They even get inspired from other writers. Marketers also are looking for inspiration for blog ideas or places to sell your products or services. My favorite way to get inspired is through watching television or movies. Here are my favorites. Year Without a Santa Claus – This will inspire you to do whatever it takes to reach a goal. If you don't know the movie, Santa is sick and doesn't want to travel around the world to deliver the gifts. He thinks no one cares about him. Two elves, Jingle and Jangle, go to Southtown USA to find children who care about Santa. They have to get their reindeer from the pound, talk to the mayor and deal with the Miser brothers, but they are successful. The mayors declare a holiday for Santa and show him that children still care about him. They kept trying new ideas until they got what they needed. You can keep trying new things to be succ

  We visited Klamath Falls, Ore., at the beginning of May. We had hoped to see Crater Lake, which is about an hour from the town. Unfortunately, while we were in Oregon, a snowstorm, which was unusual for May, hit the state. The road to Crater Lake was blocked, and the National Park Service staff couldn't let cars through the gate to the lake. The staff had not plowed the road. We were disappointed, but we got to see the beautiful snow and landscape of Oregon. We were cold, but we enjoyed our trip anyway. This week in Florida, the Department of Transportation closed a highway to continue its work on the new bridge. While the roadblock was at 11 p.m. and didn't affect me, I started thinking about roadblocks. In business and in writing, you will be hit with roadblocks. How you deal with those roadblocks will determine whether you become a successful writer or business person. Figure Out a Solution When you are hit with a roadblock, take time to think through the problem. If it i

  Business owners and writers all have to market their products or services. Often, they throw mud against a wall hoping something will stick. This strategy works when you are trying to find new opportunities that you did not know previously. However, if you are trying to get your message across to potential clients, then you might be throwing money at a problem without knowing what the solution is. Writers know that they have to write to the person who is likely to read the book or novel. They are not writing for everyone. They are picking a person or type of person and writing to him or her. Business owners should adopt that strategy too and be persistent about it. They should define their message before they post on social media, in blogs or in printed materials. Here are some tips to help you define your message and earn more profits . 1. Know Your Potential Client -- So much is said about avatars and narrowing the demographics to figure out who is likely to buy from you. An easi

 I noticed that I have not been posting a regular blog. This has made me think about being persistent in marketing . Whether you are marketing books , a writing business or another business, if you are not persistent in how you market , you are probably going to not be successful. You want to use all your resources available to you , including blogs. I have been remiss in keeping up my blogs, which has been hurting my business. Sometimes, it is hard for writers to promote their own business when they are helping other companies and authors . This year, I plan to write my blogs more often even when I go on vacation . Here are reasons why you want to be persistent in your marketing. 1. Google Rankings -- When you are persistent in your marketing, you will consistently be on top of Google in search results. Regular and fresh content on your Web site is one of the criteria used to establish who comes up when people search. Without regular and fresh content on your Web site, you might d

 I did a video last night about fall colors and change . It is important that in business you change your thinking and do something new. When you change your plans, it puts new life and new energy into your business. Fall is perfect time to think about changing how you market your writing business for the next year. It is the last quarter. You know what was successful and what might need tweaking. So, I was thinking about my blog topic . To emphasize that change is never scary, I decided to write something new this time. By my calculations, my church needs about $200,000. I might be underestimating the amount, but that is a good number for now. The church needs a new air conditioning system, a new roof, a new sound system, a new sprinkler system and a new refrigerator. These are not things the church can pay with its weekly gifts . So I asked myself, "How can I help raise money for my church?" The answer was sell my books. Between now and Christmas, I am setting a goal to

   As a journalist and author , I am concerned about the precedent set by taking Dr. Seuss from schools and libraries. Banning books is the first step toward having a government telling us what we are allowed to read, what we are allowed to think and what we are allowed to say. His books might offend some people, but they have a right be available. He is allowed to have his say. And, the replacements might offend more people. When does it stop? Huckleberry Finn will be next or To Kill a Mockingbird will be found offensive, but at the times they were written, that was what common. You can't impose 2021 political correctness on 1960s or older books. Goes Against Constitution We have a Constitution and first amendment that guarantees free speech, which includes printed books, electronic books, information on the Internet and newspapers. While the publisher is within its rights to remove books from print and not sell certain books, the libraries are not allowed the same perm