June 2023
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Hi, All!
Sprinklers. Beaches. Pools. It’s official. Summer is here.
The arduous chore of bringing plants inside and out during a cold and frosty spring has paid off. My well-cared-for flowers are thriving with beautiful blooms, and the vegetables look like fresh salads are in my near future. Summertime never seems to disappoint.
What’s On My Desk
Bear with me as I flashback to the past. I do not doubt that when I do, your mind will go there too—
When I taught elementary school, I had large, colorful posters on my classroom wall that presented the Six Traits of Writing: Ideas, Organization, Word Choice, Voice, Conventions, and Sentence Fluency. If it’s changed since I taught third grade, then my apologies, but I still use these traits to this day, not only while writing but especially when I get to the revising process.
Image source: Smekens Education, 2023
Oh, the revising process—remember those “steps of writing” posters, too? You may have despised the rewriting phase of a perfectly good story when you were a kid. You simply wanted to hand it in. Done! And maybe I was that kid too. Let’s face it. Our minds are focused on recess when we are eight.
Today, I enjoy this stage of writing. My brain automatically returns to those posters on my classroom wall from years ago, forcing critical questioning and allowing for improved clarity, structure, flow, and experience of the written word. Or, in other words: Tone. Personality. POV. Are narratives peppered with dazzling word choice without the fluff? Does the writing move characters forward? How’s the flow? It’s quite fun.
Are you ready for that monthly sneak peek into another character's life from my upcoming novel?
Meet Tilby Smith—an enslaved father of a motherless child.
Fourteen-year-old Tilby is captured, sold, purchased by James Worthington, and brought to Huntington Plantation to work in the fields. There he meets Simone. Remember Simone? She is Charlotte’s best friend and also lives on the plantation. Tilby and Simone become confidants, keeping secrets from the other enslaved people on the plantation— and even Charlotte. Tilby will do anything for Simone—until he finds himself in a dire situation. Could he still run for freedom, or has loving Simone changed everything?
What I’m Reading Now
I love book recommendations— here are a couple I’m reading now.
The Good Earth
by Pearl S. Buck
Girl, Forgotten
by Karin Slaughter
Books On My Nightstand
If We Were Villains
by M.L. Rio
Verity
by Colleen Hoover
From the Dog’s POV
Wait-A-Minute! Did I just hear my human say what I think she said? If I’m a good boy for juuuuust one more minute while she edits a few sentences, then we’ll go for ice cream. Oh, boy! Dairy Queen hands out the best doggie cones. I’m in. Yes, I AM IN! I can be a good boy for a minute. Hmmmm. But exactly how long is a minute? Should I go lie down? Should I sit pretty and stare at my human? This trick usually works miracles. When I sit pretty and glue my eyes to my human, she cannot resist paying attention to me. Besides, it ensures she doesn’t forget about my treat.
It might sound like I’m sitting pretty for my benefit, but it is for my human, let me assure you. If it weren’t for me, she’d forget she’s got a life other than writing. Okay, her other life is ME, but really, my human tells me she loves me, so it works between us.
Then it happens. Poop hits the fan when my human exclaims, “Let’s go, Bo!”
I lose control of my tail. It’s wagging so hard that my front feet are airborne. My human jingles the car keys. She’s opening the passenger door. “Hop up!” she says…. I leap into shotgun mode. And we’re off.
Good Vibes
Today, it is a beautiful sunny day in the Chicagoland area. I’m unsure if it’s the sun, the mild temperature, or just feeling happy, but I was thinking of recent and past presenters that changed my thinking over the years. Here are two you might like.
I recently listened to Michael Singer, author and speaker, on The Tony Robbins Podcast. The episode is called “Let It Go.” If you’re interested, you can listen here.
Michael Singer explained how word choice could change our perception from what we may think as unfavorable to a positive vibe.
“Next time you get a sunburn,” Singer said. “Call it a star burn.” Or, instead of “It’s so hot outside.” Say, “It’s incredible that we can feel the warmth of a single star from ninety-three million miles away.”
It is the little things that matter. Like Admiral McRaven said while addressing the 2014 graduating class at the University of Texas at Austin: “If you want to change the world, make your bed every morning.” You can listen here.
As always,
Your support of my writing and novels has always brought me joy, and being invited to book clubs, school events, presentations, and Zooms is a pleasure.
Julie