The fairy-tale dream of Susan Boyle

 

I dreamed a dream -
The fairy-tale launching of Susan Boyle
by Janet Lane
 

 
Who hasn’t heard of Susan Boyle, the homely woman with the angelic voice who inspired the world? She stood before the Britain’s Got Talent judges, enduring their eye-rolling and other visible expressions of dismissal. Patient and gracious, she answered their questions, revealing her age [...]

Success – are you a tortoise or a hare?

Hold onto the joy
by Janet Lane
I’m always delighted to learn of a good friend who lands their first book contract. If you’re one of them, I’m thrilled for you.  If you’re from the other group, hovering on the brink of selling,  I wish you steady faith and continued diligence.  Keep writing, keep trying.
Focus on your [...]

Murder mystery dinner made fun birthday surprise

I planned a surprise birthday party this past weekend for my husband, John, at Brook Forest Inn, a glorious inn drenched in mountain sunshine and rich with history.  The theme: Lords and Ladies, a nice nod to our wedding at Colorado’s Renaissance Festival in Larkspur almost 24 years ago.
Linda, our master planner, created a devious, [...]

“Safe sex” with tiny URLs – know where you’re clicking

Have you heard about the danger of clicking tiny URLs?  Tiny URLs are great when using Twitter, Facebook and other networking sites because of the 140-characters-or-less message limitations.  Tiny URLs are generally about 25 characters long, while many URLs can run 50 to 75 characters in length.
THE DANGER – without employing an easy-to-access feature of [...]

Mother’s Day Poem for Mother-in-law

I posted a Mother’s Day poem yesterday, and I’ve received requests for a mother-in-law Mother’s Day poem.  I adore my mother-in-law, Dot, so it was a pleasure to sit back and reflect on the many wonderful memories we’ve shared since I first met her. With the spirit and energy of beagles, she and I have [...]

Colorado Romance Writers conference a winner

I’m energized and inspired after the first day of the “Romancing the Rockies” fiction writer’s conference. It’s being held this year at the Radisson Graystone Castle, so appropriate for me since I write historical romance set in 15th century England.
My character workshop went well. I was nervous before presenting _ I always am. Perhaps it helps [...]

My Mother’s Day Poem

She can be your mother, your grandmother, your aunt, your adopted mother, or an older sister.  She’s so many things to us – nurturer, lecturer, coach, lifesaver, homework helper.  As Mother’s Day approaches, we may recall specific tantrums we threw, arrows of anger we shot, directly or indirectly, at her.  We may recall the strange [...]

The power of dreams and free characters

I’m presenting a workshop today at the Colorado Romance Writer’s conference.  It’s my first time at this, the Romancing the Rockies conference.  My presentation is called “Range Free Characters,” and it’s a craft workshop aimed at making fiction novels stronger by freeing a novel’s characters to pursue their own dreams, learn from their own mistakes, [...]