On Monday, I blogged about my hope of summer’s arrival and how encouraged I was when the only daffodil of the fifty bulbs I planted last fall came up.
Today I offer this wonderful quote from Anne Lamott to encourage you to continue to hope for whatever you’re seeking.
Essayist Nora Ephron said it this way:
“Reading is everything!
Reading makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. Reading makes me smarter.
Reading gives me something to talk about later on.
Reading is the unbelievably healthy way my attention deficit disorder medicates itself.
Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it’s a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it’s a way of making contact with someone else’s imagination after a day that’s all too real.
Reading is grist.
Reading is bliss.”
I couldn’t agree more.
But I’d add writing doubles the pleasure because no matter how much you enjoy the world and characters someone else created it’s even more fun to create your own.
Last Thursday Brenda Novak’s 10th annual auction to support diabetes research began.
She started the auction when her youngest son was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes at the age of five. Check out her website of you’re not familiar with this remarkable mother and bestselling author.
I’m thrilled to be a part of the auction again this year! Check out these items in which you’ll find copies of my books:
Kindle PaperWhite WiFi #3: Various Genres (Military/Paranormal/New
Adult/Women Fiction/YA/Chick Lit)
Northwest Houston RWA Chapter Gift Basket
KINDLE and Summer Beach Reads from Northwest Houston RWA
And, while you’re there BID, if not on these items, on some of the other incredible items up for grabs.
It’s for a great cause. Let’s help her break last year’s record.
If you’re like me, your weather outside is not looking or feeling like Spring.
The snow is hanging on. It comes in flurries and sprinklings on the ground.
The temperatures warm up as the sun rises, but too many days begin with numbers below the freezing mark.
Who feels like wearing bright Spring colors and hiding them under winter coats?
It’s the last day of April. Where are the flowers?
Here around me in the Rio Grande National Forest the green is hiding underground!
Rather than be depressed, I suggest:
I recently attended a local book club meeting. Our population is small and the group was small. We shared a meal and talked about the book selection made by the hostess.
I wasn’t there as an author or even a member, only an invited guest. Membership is limited and word is someone must die before new members are invited to join.
Not that I wish death on anyone, but I had a lovely evening with the ladies. Their book selection was The Namesake: A Novel by Pulitzer Prize Jhumpa Lahiri, which chronicles an Indian family’s transformation into America culture.
Not a book I would have chosen to read on my own. It’s a literary novel and I read mostly commercial fiction.
FYI: The difference being literary fiction and commercial fiction is that literary novels center on the protagonist’s personal growth or destruction while commercial fiction (sometimes referred to as genre fiction) has a big hook plot that propels the story forward. I’ll be talking more about the differences in an upcoming blog.
Back to my book club experience, I found The Namesake a fascinating read. It’s a story about identity, cultural assimilation, and Gogol Ganguli’s name, which is a yoke from the past.
With a first name spelled Judythe, I could relate to Gogol. Fortunately, I don’t have to deal with cultural assimilation and identity. Only having people spell my name correctly.
Before you say book club choices are the reason you don’t participate in book clubs, let me say that’s the very reason to join a book club.
Book clubs expose some fantastic stories among the wide variety of choices available. And, you get to meet some wonderful people who like to read as much as you do.
If you don’t have a book club in your community, why not start your own? It’s easy-peasy. Follow these eight steps.
Here are some links for additional help:
Random House Book Reader Guides
If you’re not into group meetings, there are on-line options.
I hope you’ll consider participating in a book club soon. In my experience book clubs are a great way to socialize with other readers, discover amazing stories, and just plain have fun.
By dress, I mean what we wear generically. Not the specific ladies’ apparel.
Spring always reminds me of shopping for a special new church dress for Easter Sunday. I loved dressing up and wearing an Easter bonnet.
We don’t dress up for church so much in today’s culture. In my day, we dressed when we went out to church or anywhere.
I had two types of dresses in my wardrobe — a Sunday dress and a school dress, which were both removed as soon as I got home and hung in the closet before I got them dirty. I hated taking off the pretty dresses back then.
Last weekend I attended a writer’s conference and had to dress up. Okay it was business casual, but it still felt like Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes.
All grown up now, at the end of the day, I couldn’t wait to crash in my hotel room and get out of those fancy clothes.
You see, I don’t need to dress for my work. My daily wardrobe looks like this:
SOURCE for comic: Debbie Ridpath Ohi
YOUR TURN: How do you dress for work?
Monday I talked about readers writing book reviews. I only briefly mentioned critical reviews. Primarily because those who write negative reviews tend to be harsh rather than constructive.
Edie Melson came to my rescue with a perfect picture to demonstrate my point about criticism. 
So whether you are writing a book review or reprimanding someone verbally, be gentle.
Sandwich those tough words with praise.
I promise your criticism will be better received.
Warm days and chilly mornings hold the promise of spring blooms.
I love this e.e.cummings quote and Edie Melson’s photo of the Iris.
I’m anxious to hear the earth’s laughter, aren’t you?
btw, some of you might have seen this post on Monday. :) That’s because I can’t read a calendar. Hope you’re enjoying Edie’s picture and cummings’ words a second time.
Tomorrow, March 20 spring arrives with the vernal equinox on at 12:57 P.M. EDT.
To say good-bye winter, I offer this fabulous Piano Guys video actually filmed on the ice in the snow.
Let It Go (Disney’s “Frozen”) Vivaldi’s Winter
I don’t know about you, but I’m very, very happy the snow and the ice will soon be gone.
I can’t wait to see the little daffodils popping out. How about you?
