I’ve never been an avid gardener, but I have always wanted to be one. I truly enjoy getting my fingers in the soil, digging in the dirt, planting new life, watching it grow. There’s a deep connection with the earth when your hands are buried in it. I even like to watch the bugs and the worms that crawl around under the surface of the world, in places we don’t see, an entire other universe going on beneath our feet to which we are completely oblivious, most of the time.

As much as I like the process of gardening, I’ve discovered I’m not all that great at it. I mean, I can grow flowers in the yard, for one season. I can even make tiny little carrots grow and miniature watermelon. I can actually grow some killer squash and zucchini too. Green onions are my specialty, a variety of their wild cousins growing in my front yard without any effort at all.

But when it comes to indoor houseplants, I suck at gardening. I always end up killing the plant in the end. Read the rest of this entry »

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When I was a child, about three years old, my parents owned a fast-food restaurant. You know the white and yellow papers hamburgers come wrapped in when you order them from a burger joint? Those come in ‘reams’ packaged a lot like printing paper, and I used to take it and draw pictures on the non-shiny side (the shiny side wouldn’t take crayon or pen on it because it was waxy) and I would then carefully cut and glue or staple the pictures together and make books. I guess this was my precursor to self publishing LOL

I wrote poetry and personal stream of consciousness type writings most of the time as a child. Weird things, silly things, things that went off on tangents. I wrote a lot of poetry as a teenager. All angst-filled, sad, dark stuff, which was funny, because I wasn’t angst filled or dark at all. I was a goody-two-shoes kid, never got in any trouble, never rebelled, nothing. Well, at least until I ran away from home at 15, but, hey, that’s another story altogether. Read the rest of this entry »

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Recently, in my personal life and professional life, there’s been some negativity. I put a lot of energy into that negativity too, stewing in it, letting it eat me up inside. That’s not who I am or how I want to be at all! So I started meditating again, and spending time doing things I love and enjoy… finding pleasure in the simple things again. I remember someone last year asking me how I stayed so focused and positive and upbeat all the time. Apparently, this episode proves I don’t do it all the time. However, I am that way more often than not — at least, I used to be and I will be again.

The important thing to remember with negativity is this: negativity breeds negativity, and then it builds, exponentially, upon itself, until it can eventually spiral out of control.

I slipped for a time; we all do every now and then, but I’m back, and it’s time to tell negativity the cold hard truth: I’m not allowing it into my life anymore.

So I decided to share an article I wrote about three years ago that is more powerful today than it was back then.

When Bad Thoughts Happen to Good People Read the rest of this entry »

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I read on three different blogs today how hard it is, these days, to make a living as a writer. Then I laughed hysterically at the grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes in the blogs that commented about that. Probably is hard for them.

I want to tell you a story about the time I walked 10 miles, barefoot, uphill, in four feet of snow just to sell one article.

Before the internet, before email being what it is, as recent ago as a few years, writers didn’t have the opportunities to write and sell their writing the way that we do now. The internet has changed–and some might not agree for the better–the face of writing as a whole, and in particular, the meaning of what it is to be a freelance writer. There was a time when freelance writing meant you actually went on location, interviewed, researched, dug deep and then wrote, revised, edited, perfected, and then edited some more, before you dressed in your best interview clothes, trekked your way in person to an editor’s office, praying to get your foot in the door, on the off chance you MIGHT make a few bucks on your writing. If you didn’t go in person, then you typed it up, printed or typed it out, carefully put it in a large envelope, meticulously wrote and edited a query and cover letter, addressed the envelope, added the appropriate postage and trekked your way into the post office to deliver the package. Then you waited, and waited, and waited, and waited.

This was the face of freelance writing for the newcomer not so long ago. Read the rest of this entry »

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Yesterday, I woke with chills and cold sweats, and ended up spending most of the day in bed, but was too uncomfortable to sleep. So I read.

I’m not a big Dean Koontz fan, at least for his writing style, but he tells a great story. So yesterday, I read the book The Taking, by Dean Koontz. I won’t reveal the entire plot, but basically, the end of the world is upon us in this story, and it’s told in the most unusual way. It took me about five chapters or so to really get into it, to lose myself in the story, and that wasn’t good. On my busier days when I’m feeling well a story that takes me that long to get into probably isn’t going to be read. I’m glad I read this one, though.

See, it taught me some things.

The first thing I learned is that I am never going to write a story with the title “The Any-other-single-word”. That is, no The Taken, The Taking, The Rising, The Lost, The Whatever. Nope, never. No ‘the’ anything.

The second thing I learned from this requires I tell you a little story.

I was about five chapters from the end of the book, maybe seven, give or take. I was in bed, reclining comfortable, shivering under a pile of blankets. My dog was wandering around the house, and I could hear the click, click, click of his nails on the hard wood floors. This book has some amazing dogs in it, let me tell you.

I’m engrossed in the book, the sunlight is fading outside the window and there’s only one small lamp on in the room. I’m turning pages quickly. Click, click, click. What’s going to happen next? Click, click, click.

Turn the page while the sun outside the window quietly slips below the horizon, leaving me in near darkness.

Clickety, clickety, clickety. The dog chases the cat, the cat hisses and spits, the dog runs up and jumps on the bed.

I scream.

Literally, I scream out loud.

That’s when it hit me.

I want to write books that can make people, editors who can usually figure out the plot twists before they happened, the seasoned veterans who have seen a lot of writing… I want to write books that can make people scream.

Or cry.

Or laugh out loud.

In spite of themselves.

I don’t want to be the next Dean Koontz. That’s not my style. I don’t want to be the next Rowling or Grisham or Roberts or Jackson.

I want to be the next me… and I want to write novels, the kind that can make people scream without wanting to, cry without realizing the tears are streaming from their faces, to laugh out loud while everyone else in the room looks at them askance.

I want to write best selling novels that move people, that make them feel something and think something they might not have felt or thought without me putting it into words.

I’m not there yet.

But I will be.

Love and stuff,

Michy

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Teri wrote this fantastic post about promoting your blog based on her own personal experience with her blog. I told her to make it into an article, and I’d post it on my blog as a guest blogger, and here it is! This is great information based on what’s worked for her, so if you’re trying to promote your blog, I hope this will help you! Thanks for sharing, Teri!

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How to Promote Your Blog, by Teri Smieja

Since I started to look beyond my family and close friends as the main readers of my blog, I’ve learned a few things about successful blogging that are worth sharing. Read the rest of this entry »

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