Rejections are a big part of life, especially to a writer’s life like mine.  We receive them quite frequently. Usually they are some standard, boring reply that says your work was not selected but to try submitting again. But every now and then, you receive something off-the-wall, like this one I had in my inbox …

Do you have an appreciation for art?  Can you spend an hour or longer in a museum admiring another person’s creative work? Or do you look at pieces hanging on the wall and wonder…what the heck is that?  What in the world was the artist thinking?  Depending on my mood, I might spend an hour …

My city and community have faced a terrible disaster this week.  A severe rainstorm dropped over 26 inches of rain in some parts of this northwest Florida region on April 29 and April 30, 2014. The rainfall totals beat previous tropical storm and hurricane rain amounts that have come through this region.  In fact the …

I see a new trend emerging in my area.  Well, perhaps it’s not really new at all but it is gaining attention by patrons and news media… There are more and more “gourmet” food truck vendors in my community.  Hungry customers are lined up outside them paying over ten dollars for a meal too. Some …

My youngest daughter just turned two years old.  She’s a feisty, spirited red-head full of passion, love and emotions.  She rocks our family’s world in so many ways. The other day I captured this image of her staring out the back door listening to sounds and watching her daddy cut the grass.  She can go …

Have you ever met a couple who you really liked and admired?  I did.  After spending some time with them, I decided to write about them.  Fortunately they let me.  And even more fortunately, I convinced a local publisher to print a small feature on them.  It’s only a small portion of the original piece …

I’m going to share funny things my children say from time to time here.  Why? 1. Because they really are hilarious, and 2. So I won’t forget them and what they’re like at their current age. ———————————————————————————– Conversations with my Kids: “Pimples” As I was completing my bedtime routine the other night- washing my face, …

After weeks of waiting to hear back from publishers, I received two responses from two different editors within the last two days.  I will admit, I performed a little happy dance after I read positive emails from each person. I love hearing how I made the editor laugh OR how my spirit was still conveyed …

This week is National Library Week.  The University of West Florida Library has been hosting a series of special events for students, faculty and staff to be involved in.  Since I work on the main campus of UWF, I was paying attention to their festivities. One of their events caught my eye numerous times.  They …

I entered the Florida Humanities Council Micro-Fiction Contest a month ago.  When I saw the ad for it in Forum Magazine, I couldn’t wait to learn more and enter. The micro-fiction contest offered up one sentence, “They named the gator…” Then contestants like me had to finish the story in 250 words or less.  This …