The LAST Word

  I often from people that they want to write a book, but most of them never will publish anything. They aren't committed to creating a book. They think that some day, they might get something together. To author a book, you have to be committed to the project with your heart and soul. You have to be willing to follow through on the steps: idea, outline, research, compiling, book cover design, editing and marketing. Often, people are overwhelmed and think writing a book is daunting. It doesn't have to be that hard. Break up the project in to smaller pieces to make it less overwhelming. This is exactly what teachers tell their students who feel overwhelmed. The same is true with writing. Idea – Whether you want to write about ministry or persecution , think about your idea. Brainstorm how you can fertilize the idea. Write down the key points you want to make and determine whether your idea has merit. Pray about it.  Write about it in a journal . Eventually, you will se

This pandemic has changed how we do things. We can't shop or get our hair cut the same way we used to do. We have to be constantly on guard. It makes all of us uneasy. We don't feel like we are in control. However, the situation reminds us that success comes when we break from our comfort zone. Motivational speakers will tell you to do just that. Breaking from our comfort zone also is important to writing. If you are too comfortable or you have too much of a routine, your writing will get stale or you might not reach for that opportunity that could open doors for you. Here are ways to improve your writing and marketing . Go Online – The pandemic has moved almost everything online. Meetings, work and shopping are now happening from the comforts of our home. If you are afraid to market your book via online channels, you are missing a major opportunity to reach more people who might want to buy your book. Digital marketing has increased over the last f

My daughter was working on her computer. She came across artificial intelligence that is writing books for people. She told me about it and said to research it. AI is entering the world of books. Savvy writers should take advantage of it because it could be the future. Also, it could make writing books that much easier. Here is what I learned. Text Sounds Human In the past, machines would collate tweets and articles and compile into a semblance of a book. However, today, new machine-learning models trained on billions of words have given AI the ability to produce text that sounds human. They use human speech patterns and basic structures of grammar. They can generate sentences and paragraphs that are readable. They still don't create intentional meaning in the paragraphs. OpenAI GPT2 was released. It allows users to create specific styles, such as New Yorker or Georgic poetry. More to Come While, at the moment, it can't write a novel, the technol

Most people tend to look at the new year as a way to start fresh. They begin new diets, exercise more, plan vacations they’ve always wanted to take or invest in opportunities to be smarter with their finances. But what about your business? Have you ever thought of trying something new, but didn’t know exactly how to start? Have you ever wanted to motivate your employees, have closer relationships with your customers or learn to use social media to your advantage, but didn’t know where to begin? While I can't help with many of those issues, I could show you how to promote book events this year. Many business owners and authors believe all events should be promoted the same way, but as there are different types of events, there are different ways to promote them. Some examples of events are: online events, meetings, grand openings or book launches , seminars and workshops, conferences, book signings, book-selling opportunities and networking events. Now, how do you go

We are entering the last month of the year. That means that we are about to change to a new year and new life. People make resolutions, but they don't always embrace change in their lives. Now is the time to think about change and how to embrace it. Change is good for your psyche, business and writing. While everyone talks about the devastation caused by natural disasters, few talk about the good that comes from hurricanes, wildfires, blizzards, etc. The changes in the environment is often good. Mother Nature has a way of fixing problems in the environment herself. For example, wildfires burn out the brush and thin the trees, so all the growing trees are more sustainable. Avalanches reshape mountains and bring much needed snowfall to valleys. Hurricanes wash out the dead algae, seaweed, fish, etc. They change the landscape and rivers. They get rid of dead branches on trees, so the trees remain healthy. Even though these natural disasters are devastating, they serve a purp

I have filled this blog with tips on how to write your book, but for this blog, I am going to discuss the why you want to write a book, specifically, that you want to be courageous. Writing a book is often therapeutic for people. I have heard many times that people have used writing as a way to heal from something traumatic or emotional. In my case, my first novel, The 1776 Scroll , was completed because I needed therapy. Throughout my life, I have always used writing as a therapeutic way to deal with complex emotions. When I had a broken heart, I wrote. When my friends' mothers died of cancer, I wrote. When I dealt with death of people close to me, I wrote. When I was happy, I wrote. And, when I was lonely in Arizona, I wrote my first novel. Let me explain. At the time, my husband and I were living in Maryland, which was one and ½ hours from my parents and sister, and two hours from my other sister or brother. We also were 30 minutes from my father-in-law and broth