Make Me Think Monday Archives - Page 22 of 34

25 07, 2016

Are Naps a Waste of Time?

By judythemorgan|2021-07-17T10:55:17-05:00July 25th, 2016|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Nappers are often labeled as lazy. But are nappers the smart ones?

As youngsters, we fought naps until we collapsed in total exhaustion. These days social media can produce FOMO and like our younger selves we push on.

Unfamiliar with FOMO? That’s anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on a social media website.

We tend to power through our day, tired or not, because we feel compelled to get everything done that we think we need to do.

Interestingly, recent studies indicate the tendency to avoid naps or take breaks to relax during the day can actually reduce productivity and/or produce results that are less than our best.

Check out The New York Magazine video below. You may change your mind about napping. I did and now I’m off for a nap.

18 07, 2016

Five Ways to Attract Blog Readers

By judythemorgan|2016-07-14T13:14:13-05:00July 18th, 2016|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Today’s blog world is highly competitive. A quick check at Blogging Statistics – Worldometers shows over 2 million posts (and counting) for July 14, 2016.

With numbers like that, our blogs can get lost sea of options.

So what can we do as bloggers do to attract readers?

I suggest these five things.

An Irresistible Title

Something catchy that piques interest. Try one of these ideas:

Ask an open-ended question
Include who, what, when where, or how to
Make ’em curious– tease, contradict, challenge a belief
Offer a solution or benefit in the content

Plenty of White Space

Keep paragraphs short – no more than four lines is the guideline. Many readers use their phones and tablets. Lines and lines of text are boring and hard to read.

Captivating Graphics

What’s the quote: “A picture is worth a thousand words”? Include visuals that pull the reader into the blog.

But, always be sure to use legal-to-copy images. Last thing, any blogger needs is a copyright troll targeting your image.

Keep Your Posts Short

People are busy. Even 500 words can push a reader’s attention. I suggest my guest bloggers keep their posts under 500.

If your topic requires more than a 1,000 words to communicate the idea, maybe cut it into two posts by ending on a hook that will make the reader return.

Write Succinct Posts

Write posts specific to your target audience. Miller Farm Friday is a great example. Chicken Wrangler Sara’s posts are all about life on their urban farm. And, they are short!

Will these suggestions guarantee of success? Unfortunately, no. There are too many variables for guarantees, but I do believe these five things are extremely important to gain a reader’s attention.

If you want more ideas just Google “How to build blog readership.” I did and in .80 seconds, 341,000 results appeared! Lots of ideas on things to try to find readers.

Do you have ideas of your own? If so, please share in the comments.

11 07, 2016

What items work to regift and what doesn’t?

By judythemorgan|2016-07-02T14:11:55-05:00July 11th, 2016|Holidays, Make Me Think Monday|2 Comments

Christmas is officially six months away. It’s time to start thinking about gift giving. For me, that means checking my gift box supply for things to regift.

What’s in my gift box? Items I’ve received over the year(s) that really didn’t work for me. Things that might suit someone else that I can regift.

In case you’re not familiar with the term, regifting is the act of receiving a gift, and then after some time, wrapping it up and giving it to someone else.

It’s a way of recycling what you don’t want or can’t use.

The trick to regifting lies in knowing what’s acceptable to re-gift, what’s a definite no-no, and the cardinal rule of regifting:

Only regift NEW items not used items unless they classify as antiques.

Here are ten items considered acceptable to regift.

Candles – Designed to be used up and thrown away, are very easy to regift when unused and plastic remains.
Soaps, Lotions, and Bathroom Items -Soaps, hand creams, lotions, bubble baths are all fine to regift. Only if the items haven’t expired and haven’t been opened.
Games, Toys, and Puzzles -Perfectly okay to regift if intact. Do make a note of who gave what to whom, though. Last thing you’d want to do is give a game/toy/puzzle back to someone who gave it to you.
Some Clothing -Don’t risk a friendship or argument if you travel in the same circle of friends and the fact you never wear the gift will be obvious. Also, be sure all tags remain intact.
Wine and Spirits – Wine only gets better with age. Hard liquor does too. So if it’s sealed, you’re good to give.

Gift Cards – Make sure the balance never expires, or is still intact because some devious people out there operate gift card frauds.
Gift Baskets -As long as you haven’t removed half the contents, destroyed the packaging, or kept the basket so long the items have expired.
Fragrances -Perfumes, aftershaves, and eau de toilettes are all fair game for regifting provided they remain sealed in the original box.
Kitchen Items -Toasters. Blenders. Frying pans. Coffee makers. All very regiftable if in original packaging. Be careful not to offend anyone who might come to your home and cannot see what they gave you. Awkward situation you want to avoid.
Novelties and Gag Gifts -Perfect for those white elephant exchanges that abound in December or age-related parties. The fun of some white elephant exchanges is the same gifts appear year after year and become a running joke.

Now these four things should NEVER be regifted:

Personalized items even if you share initials
Anything with an inscription
Opened CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Rays
Anything universally awful unless used as a gag gift

What about you? Are you a regifter? What things do you pass along?

27 06, 2016

Wandering and Stories

By judythemorgan|2016-06-23T10:06:15-05:00June 27th, 2016|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Edie Melson’s graphics always grab my attention and stir my muse. She’s gifted and insightful and incredibly generous to allow sharing of her work.

The quote in this meme especially caught my attention. A writer wanders. And a once-lost story finds a home. I love that thought.

Are you a wanderer? I am.

I wander by foot, by plane, by bicycle and car. I meander through the house, the woods, the store, through cities and towns near and far.

You don’t have to go anywhere particular to be a wanderer. You can mosey in your yard, in your house, or across the ocean. Whatever way you stroll, wherever you roam stories will find you.

In fact, sometimes you don’t have to leave your front porch. Or, at least, that’s been my experience.

Once, sitting in a Dublin train station, an older woman sat beside me and began to share stories of her family and her country. She told me she was returning home after being with her daughter, who had given birth to their twelfth grandchild. Another grandson, she said with pride in her eyes. Yes, there were pictures and lovely stories as only the Irish can spin.

Another time, a young woman waiting behind me in the grocery checkout line patted the multi-colored headscarf she wore. “Chemo,” she said. Her eyes misted. I couldn’t stop myself I squeezed around my full cart of groceries and gave her a hug. She began to share her journey with breast cancer.

My dogs and I go for walks daily. Last summer a little girl playing outside one of the rental cabins nearby ask to pet the dogs. My Old English is old and well socialized. He loved on her. The Maltese jumped around all jealous then relaxed when she petted him too. As we walked away, the youngster plucked a purple wildflower and rushed over to give it to me.

Buried in each of those encounters, and so many more, are lost stories waiting to be told.

What about you? Do you come upon stories in your wanderings?

20 06, 2016

Summer at last!

By judythemorgan|2016-06-20T13:36:20-05:00June 20th, 2016|Make Me Think Monday|1 Comment

Summer officially arrives today. Each day forward, we will head to bed later as early dawns, long days, late sunsets, and short nights begin. Today will be the longest day of the year.

Of course, in our little neck of the woods that’s hard to believe. Temperatures in the thirties and forties greet us every morning.

Still today at 22:34 UTC or 4:34 p.m. in MDT the sun will reach its highest point signaling the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. Meanwhile, south of the equator, winter begins.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Summer solstice has been around since the world begin. Ancient cultures recognized that the sun’s path across the sky, the length of daylight, and the location of the sunrise and sunset all shifted in a regular way throughout the year. Stonehenge stands as a testament to their knowledge. The summer solstice sun rises directly above the heel stone at Stonehenge.

Psychologists have long suspected a link between our level of happiness and the amount of sunlight in the day. Studies discovered what truly mattered was not the absolute amount of daylight but the relative change in that daylight. Or, was the day longer or shorter than the day that came before?

When the change in daylight was positive (as approaching the summer solstice), people expressed significantly higher positive affect than they did when that change was negative (i.e., approaching the winter solstice).

Therefore, today should be a long, happy day.

Not only will we have more daylight, tonight is a full moon.

Indian tribes called the June full moon a Strawberry Moon while Europeans call it Rose Moon. Whatever you call it, it’s the Northern Hemisphere’s first summer solstice full moon since 1967, the summer known as the Summer of Love.

Personally, I missed the Summer of Love — something about my husband’s Army duty tour in Asia.

In case you missed that summer too, scores of hippies converged in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. The city became a melting pot of politics, music, drugs, creativity, and total lack of sexual and social inhibition. The birth place of the hippie movement.

Tonight’s phenomenon of a full moon and the June solstice on the same day won’t happen again until June 21, 2062.

Don’t know about you, but I won’t be around for the next event, so I’m going out to peek at the sky. Join me.

13 06, 2016

The number 13 and Triskaidekaphobia

By judythemorgan|2016-06-12T20:59:31-05:00June 13th, 2016|Make Me Think Monday|3 Comments

Today’s date, June 13, got me to thinking about superstitious people who believe the number thirteen is unlucky. When that fear becomes immersive and ongoing, it becomes Triskaidekaphobia.

I’ve considered making a character in one of stories triskaidekaphobic. It would be a fun character flaw that readers would relate to since around 9-10% of Americans are superstitious about the number 13. Of course, not all of those 10% are triskaidekaphobes.

Why is 13 considered unlucky, anyway? There’s no definitive reason, but a little research turned up these ideas.

Thirteen people were at the Last Supper. Judas Iscariot — the one who betrayed Jesus — was the 13th man to take his place at the table.
Traditionally, 13 steps lead up the gallows.
A hangman’s noose contains 13 turns.
The thirteenth Apollo space mission, Apollo 13 was an unsuccessful moon mission.
In Roman culture, witches gathered in groups of 12 where the 13^th witch is the ‘Devil’.
Old superstition says13 letters in your name, brings the devil’s luck. Slightly convincing when you consider the names of Charles Manson, Jack the Ripper, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all contain 13 letters.

In the late 1800s, a group called The Thirteen Club formed to debunk the legend that seating 13 people at a table would result in the death of one of them in the year to follow. Club members met on the 13th of the month for dinner with 13 people to a table. Members who showed up late were fined – you guessed it, 13 cents. For the next forty years, Thirteen Clubs cropped up all over the U.S. but then faded in popularity.

(Interesting to note, five U.S. presidents: Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, and Chester A. Arthur were club members. If you remember your U.S. history, two of these presidents were shot — one fatally. Kinda contradictory to the club purpose, don’t you think?)

The belief/superstition that the number 13 is evil and brings bad luck is so strong that many hotels, office, and apartment buildings skip numbering the 13^th floor. Airports usually don’t have a Gate 13 and airplane aisles omit Aisle 13.

The fear of 13 can be especially heightened when the 13th day of the month falls on a Friday. Many people don’t even leave their homes when that happens. Fear of Friday the 13 may stem from the fact that Philip IV of France arrested and slaughtered the Knights Templar, an ancient Christian military unit, on Friday, October 13, 1307.

By the way, fear of Friday the 13 is called – paraskevidekatriaphobia You’re said to be cured when you can pronounced paraskevidekatriaphobia. (Just kidding!)

To counter all of this undue hatred of the poor number 13, there is one very good reason to love the number 13: a baker’s dozen.

Yummy, we get an extra cookie!

6 06, 2016

Recharging the Writer’s Brain Well

By judythemorgan|2016-06-04T12:22:52-05:00June 6th, 2016|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

It’s been said, “When you stop learning, you stop growing.”

Or, as Albert Einstein put it “Once you stop learning, you start dying.”

Many professions recognize and require ongoing learning.

As a teacher, I needed 40 hours of professional growth per year.

As an antique dealer, I constantly read price guides, watched Antiques Roadshow, and friended Kovel’s on Facebook to keep up-to-date on antiques and pricing.

As a writer, I attend a writing conferences or workshop every year. Some are on-line or podcasts; others in person.

Those in person conferences are the ones I enjoy the most because I’m not only learning I’m meeting my people. We writers are a breed unto ourselves and networking with those who understand is a treat.

Over the winter, health issues made writing difficult. I sorta lost my momentum. My zeal to write. (In case you’ve wondered, that’s why you’ve been missing new blog posts here.)

I truly needed interaction with my kind and some brain filling.

In May I attended a mini-con presented by the RWA chapter, Colorado Romance Writers. This well-organized conference delivered. And, delivered superbly.

The fellow writers were warm, friendly, and oh so understanding. We spoke the same language.

The daylong lecture from Donald Maass, President of Donald Maass Literary Agency in New York, challenged and charged my muse, as I had expected.

I’ve been attending Maass workshops since 2006. After decades in the publishing business,The Donald truly knows his stuff. His well-used books on craft line my bookcase line my bookcase —Writing the Breakout Novel (2001), Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook (2004), The Fire in Fiction (2009) , The Breakout Novelist (2011) and Writing 21st Century Fiction (2012).

If you’re a writer looking to push your craft to the next level, you should check out opportunities at Free Expressions Seminars and Literary Services and/or subscribe to the Writer Unboxed blog, where Mr. Maass is a monthly contributor.

That weekend conference refilled my brain well and supercharged my muse. I’m back on course and busy pushing to have the final book in the Vietnam War Era trilogy released this year.

How do you refill your own brain well?

If you’re a writer, I highly recommend attending an in person writer’s conference or workshop.

28 03, 2016

Irish Blarney and the Writer

By judythemorgan|2016-03-18T16:34:54-05:00March 28th, 2016|Make Me Think Monday|2 Comments

Rivers in major cities all over the world have run green this month. Bars filled with people wearing fake beards, green top hats, and sunglasses shaped as twin four-leaf clovers. After all, with or without any Irish heritage, everyone’s Irish at least on St. Patrick’s Day.

For sure, there’s been lots and lots of craic (Irish fun) and blarney (talk that is not necessarily true, but eloquent) going on.

If you’ve read my Wednesday posts, you’ve read a lot of Irish blarney. Some words less well-known idioms and blessings, some more familiar and oft-repeated quotes and sayings of Irish humor and insight. I’m thinking some of the lessons were clearly learned the hard way.

SOURCE: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bunrattybig.jpg#/media/File:Bunrattybig.jpg

To receive the gift of Blarney, it’s said you should kiss the Blarney Stone located in the tiny village northwest of Cork in Country Cork within the Castle.

The castle itself was constructed in 1446, but the history of the place goes back two centuries before that time. The origins of the Blarney Stone as a magical stone is a mystery.

Some believe the stone at the castle is the stone Moses struck to produce water for Israelites during their exodus from Egypt. Others believe it to be Jacob’s Pillow brought to Ireland by the prophet Jeremiah and became the Lia Fail, or ‘Fatal Stone’, oracular throne of the Irish kings.

Still others tag it as the Stone of Ezel, which David hid behind while fleeing King Saul, and brought to Ireland during the Crusades. Ultimately to be used as the Coronation Stone of Scottish monarchs and St. Columba’s traveling altar throughout Scotland.

After Columba’s death, the stone came to Ireland to serve as the Stone of Destiny, the prophetic power of royal succession.

It is known that the word Blarney itself entered the dictionary during the time of Queen Elizabeth I, when Dermot McCarthy, castle ruler, kept delaying to surrender his fortress to the Queen as proof of his loyalty. When the Queen heard his excuses, she said “Odds bodikins, more Blarney talk!”

Shortly thereafter the Francis Sylvester Mahony, an Irish bard of the early nineteenth century, wrote:

There is a stone there, that whoever kisses,

Oh! He never misses to grow eloquent:

Is all that history true? Who knows? The Irish are, after all, the world’s greatest story tellers.

Whether any of the blarney is true or not, Blarney Castle and its magical stone attract hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

I’ve been.

And let me tell you kissing that stone is quite a feat. First, you climb up 90+ feet inside the castle stairway then execute a back bend that would cripple a skilled gymnast.

SOURCE: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blarney_stone.png#/media/File:Blarney_stone.png

The higher I climbed the more my fear of heights and dark, narrow stairways kicked in. I never made it to the top. Instead taking the first exit to enjoy the garden and gift shop.

Personally, I think there’s a touch of the o’blarney in all writers whether they’ve ever been to the isle and kissed the stone or not.

Don’t you agree?

21 03, 2016

Celebrating Saint Patrick

By judythemorgan|2016-03-06T10:50:52-06:00March 21st, 2016|Holidays, Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Last Thursday, we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day at my house. Our plates of corn beef and cabbage sat on woven place mats with shamrocks and Irish harps. A pot of shamrocks was our centerpiece. Not real shamrocks, but gloxinia, which has the clover-shaped leaves and little white flowers.

The corn beef and cabbage are totally an American-Irish tradition for St. Patrick’s Day. You’ll not find it served in Ireland.

While we ate, we talked of my recent trip to Ireland and all the St. Patrick legends I heard as we visited cathedrals and castles. Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and March 17 is, in fact, a religious feast day.

For those who didn’t know, St. Patrick himself was British, born in Roman Britain in the fourth century. In his teens, Irish raiders kidnapped him. He worked as a shepherd and “found God,” who called him to evangelize Ireland. Later he became a priest and spent years converting the Irish pagans. He died on 17 March. Over the following centuries, many legends grew up around Patrick and he became Ireland’s foremost saint.

Technically, St. Patrick was never canonized by a pope as saints of the modern day church are. There wasn’t a formal canonization process in the Church’s first millennium, so most saints from that period were granted the title if they were either martyrs or seen as extraordinarily holy. But Saint Patrick is revered as holy by the Irish. Pictures like this one can be found everywhere on the island.

One of the stops on my trip along the west of Ireland was at The Rock of Cashel, seat of the overkings of Munster where St. Patrick baptized the grandsons of Conall Corc. The legend says during the baptism the saint’s sharply pointed crozier pierced the son’s foot, who, believing it a part of the ceremony, suffered in silence. Since the baptism occurred in the 10^th century, who knows if the story is fact or fiction.

On the same trip, I went to Croagh Patrick, the mountain which overlooks Clew Bay in County Mayo. It is known as the holiest mountain in Ireland because St. Patrick fasted for forty days on the mountain summit in 441 AD. Now individuals and groups come from all over the world to climb to the summit and celebrate mass at the modern chapel at the top.

The first stop on the pilgrimage is Saint Patrick’s statue erected in 1928 by Reverend Father Patterson with money he collected in America towards the rebuilding of Saint Mary’s Church in Westport. Because it was late in the day and raining – not raining raining but what the Irish call spitting, we only hiked as far as the statue.

We also made stops at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin where legend says St. Patrick baptized converts at a well that once existed in the park alongside the church.

The most common St Patrick’s Day symbol is the shamrock, a representation of the Holy Trinity. St. Patrick is said to have used the three-leaved shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to Irish pagans.

While parades, dancing, special foods, and a whole lot of green are fun ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and our Irish heritage, it’s also good to pause and remember who Saint Patrick was.

14 03, 2016

Newsletter Sign Up Contest

By judythemorgan|2016-03-08T20:11:18-06:00March 14th, 2016|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

March is Irish month for me and for many who are of Irish ancestry. To celebrate, I’m running a newsletter sign up campaign.

Starting today, March 14, through March 31, subscribe to my free author newsletter to enter the contest.

WHY A CONTEST?

The way social media works, not everyone sees all my blog or Facebook posts and/or tweets on Twitter. When I post news about a new release or contest, you may miss out.

The only way to stay on top of new releases (there will be two this year) is a subscription to my newsletter.

Subscribers are the first to see new covers, hear news of releases and interesting tidbits I stumble across in researching a manuscript. Plus lots of fun stuff and giveaways.

WHAT DO YOU WIN?

Two lucky emails will be drawn from all NEW subscribers and receive souvenirs I bought back from Ireland plus a $5 gift card from Amazon.

HOW DO YOU ENTER?

Simple. Click this link and complete the newsletter form.

HOW WILL WINNERS BE NOTIFIED?

Winners will be announced April 2 on

FB author page

Here on the blog

Twitter @Judythe2

In the April newsletter

If you see your name, email me your snail mail address using my website contact link and your prize will be shipped.