Jan 29
It’s a snowy last Sunday of the month. Where I am, at least. And I’m enjoying a quiet day watching the snow fall, while catching up on laundry. I’m also preparing to learn more about MailChimp and newsletter preparation. I don’t have a newsletter yet; I struggle to think of what I might include in …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.deborahsmall.com/snowy-sunday-and-newsletter-musing/
May 17
Well, it’s been a busy week. And a good week. I created more pages on my website, and I started reviewing (and editing, of course, because I can’t read without fixing) the sequel to Everything That Matters. All That Matters is about 3/4 complete (245 pages or so) and I haven’t looked at it in …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.deborahsmall.com/friday-round-up/
May 10
I joined Celebrate the Small Things Friday blog hop a while ago. The inspiration of Viklit over at Scribblings of an Aspiring Author. And great inspiration it is! I have much to celebrate this week. On Monday, I finished the second-pass polish edits on my novel, Everything That Matters, and on Wednesday I sent it to …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.deborahsmall.com/if-its-friday-it-must-be-time-to-celebrate-the-small-things/
May 02
I finished the edits on Everything That Matters (working title). At least I believe so. I still have to print off another hard copy and review, ensure I did not miss any nits found by my daughter, or miss–or double-up-on–chapter numbers, headings, etc., but as far as the heavy work goes (as in, rewriting the majority …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.deborahsmall.com/did-it/
Apr 30
Final day, final letter of the A to Z Challenge. This is… Z – END Thank you so much for sharing this challenge with me. You are the reason I write. Deborah It takes two flints to make a fire. ~Louisa May Alcott
Permanent link to this article: https://www.deborahsmall.com/z-is-for/
Apr 30
Second to last day of the A to Z Challenge, and I am almost all lettered out. And totally chuffed. I decided to sign up for A to Z to challenge myself—no, to prove to myself, that I was better. Healed. Well enough to pick up the stiff, dry and cracked reins of my authorial dreams, get …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.deborahsmall.com/y-is-for-yippee-and-you/
Apr 28
So close to the end of the A to Z Challenge…letter X today… Xenophobia = Chauvinism, intolerance, racism, prejudice; it makes or breaks character, and fiction. Martin Luther King Jr., Oprah Winfrey, Norma Ray, the suffragettes, gay men and women…past and present examples of real-life individuals and groups fighting for recognition, respect, and the same rights persons …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.deborahsmall.com/x-is-for-xenophobia/
Apr 26
A to Z Challenge nearing the end. It’s letter W, or Wow! Words. Wow. An odd word. A palindrome. What’s a palindrome? A word, phrase, or sentence that spells the same backwards and forwards, like tot, bob, peep, pop, damm’it I’m mad, etc. I know. Cool. And fun. Words are fun. My favorite games as a child were …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.deborahsmall.com/w-is-for-wow-words/
Apr 19
Q-day in the A to Z Challenge and today, the theme is Queries and Queens. Yesterday I mentioned the complexities of human behavior and emotions, how motivation is different for different people, how different people cope with similar situations, how novelists strive to write engaging—saleable—books. Today I share how one woman helped me cope when …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.deborahsmall.com/q-is-for-queries-and-queens/
Apr 18
My first day in Crim 105, otherwise known as Psychological Explanations of Crime, the professor asked us to describe our “profile” of a criminal, in particular, a murderer. The descriptions varied from tattooed gangster, to child molester, assaultive stepfather, car-jackin’ junkie, and accident-causing drunk driver. Our professor smiled and nodded with each—predictable—presumption, and then she …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.deborahsmall.com/p-is-for-pickle-jar/
