Writer’s Resource: Goodreads

We all know that Goodreads is a great place to find books and share them with fellow readers, but did you also know it’s an excellent resource for writers?  If you’re interested in connecting with other writers, learning from authors, or creating your own author presence on the website, check out today’s Goodreads blog.  You’ll find gems of advice like this:

Write something—anything—for 15 minutes a day

“Here is my advice: I get out my kitchen timer and set it for 15 mintues. I am not allowed to stand up until the 15 minutes are over. During that 15 minutes, I write something. Anything — a letter, a poem, a list of people you hate, a prayer, all my favorite words, a childhood memory, a dream. Something. I might even sit there for 15 minutes writing, “I don’t know what to write!” but I learned long ago that a “bad” day of writing is still a good day.”

-Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love

If you’re a member of Goodreads, pop over and visit me – I’d love to connect!

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Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!  I thought I’d take a minute to share a few of my favorite things from this week.  I hope you have a wonderful and restful weekend!

Favorite Photo

 

 

 

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Favorite Quote

“Make choices based not on fear, but on what really gives you a sense of fulfillment.”  ~ Pauline Rose Chance

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Favorite Finds

Book description from Amazon:  “In Taking Flight, you’ll find overflowing inspiration–complete with a kindred spirit in author and mixed-media artist Kelly Rae Roberts. Join her on a fearless journey into the heart of creativity as you test your wings and learn to find the sacred in the ordinary, honor your memories, speak your truth and wrap yourself in the arms of community.

Along the way you’ll be inspired by:

• Step-by-step techniques–learn the most-loved mixed-media methods of the author and seven talented contributing artists, and combine them in fresh and unexpected ways.
• Thought-provoking prompts and quotes–along with encouraging stories, insights and gentle guidance for finding your bliss, whatever your art or craft.
• Plenty of eye-candy–pages and pages of the author’s endearing artwork, along with the varied works of the contributors.

Of course, learning to fly isn’t entirely a step-by-step process–sooner or later, you just need to take a deep breath and spread your wings. With Taking Flight as your guide, there’s no doubt that when you do, your creativity will soar.”

Sophia’s Baby Album

This is the first page of Baby Sophia’s scrapbook album.  Little Sophia joined the world a few weeks ago and resides in Sweden with her parents.  A friend asked me to make the album as a holiday gift.  Of course I said yes!  I rarely get the chance to play with so much pink and frills!

The hand-stitched flowers were a lot harder and more time-consuming than I thought they would be!  But I adore how they turned out – I keep touching them because I just love the texture they give to the page.

Sophia was given the nickname of “little bug”, so of course we had to add some butterflies.  I will be adding lots of other cute bugs to the rest of the album too.

Welcome to the world, sweet little Sophia!

Three Little Pumpkins

Earlier this week I posted a quick peek at a paper crafting project I’ve been working on called Three Little Pumpkins.  Well, I’ve finally finished it, and I’m pretty pleased with the result!  I took some pictures from start to finish, in case you’re curious about the process of making this little cutie (just click on the images for a closer view).  And make sure to check out the fabric version of this project on Christina’s blog The Sometimes Crafter.  Happy crafting!

Today…

Today is a new day.  Thank goodness!  I’m very relieved that I get to start fresh because yesterday was rough. 

Today I’m really excited to get my copy of Kristan Higgins’ newest novel Until There Was You.  I absolutely love her writing, and have been looking forward to this book for months.  I’ll be standing by the mailbox all afternoon.  🙂

 

 

Today I’m putting the final touches on this paper crafting project that was inspired by this blog post.  The Sometimes Crafter is one of my new favorite blogs – such cute stuff there!  It was really fun to work on my own “Three Little Pumpkins” project, and it was such a good distraction since I needed a break from writing.

Today I signed up for a beginner’s crochet class at a local craft shop.  The  talented Emma Lamb and lovely Natasja of crocheTime have inspired me with their gorgeous crochet work.  I don’t know if I’ll have the patience to create anything very big or beautiful, but I’ve really wanted to try crocheting for a while.  So I’m going to give it a whirl!

Today I am loving this quote by Leo Tolstoy.  It is such a good reminder of something so simple:  “If you want to be happy, be.”

apple pie & pumpkin patches

Fall is my favorite season.  I love the breathtaking colors, the visits to apple orchards and pumpkin patches, the smell of freshly baked apple pie.  I pull the fuzzy sweaters out, relishing the cooler temps, and find such comfort in snuggling by a crackling fire.

I hope you are enjoying the season too!

Blog awards!

Sometimes I worry that my blog is a little too… random?  scattered?  perhaps showing signs of ADD?  Because some days I blog about writing, others about scrapbooking, still others about the chaos of my household.  I often wonder, what is the purpose of my blog?

So you can imagine how pleased I was when C.B. Wentworth, a writer and blogger friend that I really admire, gave me a couple of blog awards – one of which is for being a “versatile blogger”.  Whew!  So it’s okay to blog about a lot of everything!

One of the rules when receiving these awards is that I must provide seven random facts about myself.  So, here you go:

 

1. I studied international business administration in a Danish school during college.
2. Then I returned to the States to get my bachelor’s degree in Geography.
3. And never used either of these subjects in my post-college career, choosing instead to teach special education.
4. And now I’m a romance writer.  How’s that for random?
5. I’ve traveled in nine different countries.
6. I’m married to a Welshman.
7. I wear purple writing glasses.

And now I’d like to pass these lovely awards along to other very deserving bloggers.  Here are five new writing blogs that I have recently discovered and really enjoy following:

Don’t Pet Me, I’m Writing.  Tawna Fenske is hilarious.  I haven’t even read her new romance novel yet, but it’s on the top of my list – and if it’s anything like her blog writing, it’s gonna be gooood. 

Wilde Life.  Lori Wilde was the instructor for my very first writing course.  Ever since then I have been in love with her books, and her blog is fun and full of good writing advice.

Grab A Pen.  I think I may have linked to Tahereh Mafi before, but she’s worth mentioning again (and again!).  Tahereh’s blog is always entertaining along with being chock-full of writing inspiration and advice.  Her first (highly anticipated!) book is coming out this fall.

The Sisterhood of the Jaunty Quills.  This blog is co-written by a number of published authors, one of which is my favorite Kristan Higgins.  What I love most about Jaunty Quills is all of the prizes that readers can win!

Journalize This.  Okay, this isn’t a new blog to me.  It’s actually one I’ve followed for a long time, written by my very good writing buddy Kristen Fairgrieve.  I just couldn’t resist because she’s already received the award once and now she’s going to want to kill me for sending it to her again.  Ha ha!  Hi Krissy! *wave, wave* How ya doin’?  🙂