What would Atticus do?

One of my favorite books is To Kill a Mockingbird. I remember reading it in my 8th grade English class, where it made me feel terribly adult. It was the first real piece of literature that I embraced.

A summer reading challenge

What do Captain Underpants, Fifty Shades of Grey and Beloved have in common?

Breaking in

I had the pleasure of attending a happy hour with a group of other writers and editors, most of whom I had not met previously. We introduced ourselves to one another, discussing what we liked to read or write or edit and where we performed these tasks professionally. We cracked jokes that people who are not writers or editors maybe wouldn't appreciate or find funny.

Multitasking and Writing: Just Say No

How many things can you do at once? When I think of "multitasking," I immediately think of the commercial with the kid showing that he can "wave his hands like this" and "shake his head like this." After a few seconds of doing it, the kid gets dizzy. That's not the point of the commercial, but that's the point that stuck with me.

When did you know?

This week of Valentine's day, everyone's talking about love and meaning. I've seen a few posts here and there about that moment when you just know. So I had to ask myself, when did I know? But beyond my relationship--having celebrated my 20th wedding anniversary in 2012, I've recently revisited that meme, I wondered, when did I know that I wanted to be an editor?

Wisdom

We’re all familiar with the Serenity prayer, right? Asking for the serenity to accept what can’t be changed, the courage to change what can be changed and the wisdom to know the difference.

Well, I’ll give you a hint—the only thing you can really change is you—your reaction to a situation, your behavior. Try to change anyone else or change the situation without changing your behavior, and they call that insanity in another commonly used idiom. Seems simple enough, yes?

"Stay Gold, Ponyboy"

In the past month or so, in this series of blog posts, I've touched on five basic areas of freelance writing:

1. Researching markets
2. Researching/writing articles
3. Pitching the right story to the right editor
4. Handling rejection
5. Getting published & working with editors

So what else is there to cover?
Oh my gosh--so much! I don't know that I've really even scratched the surface of the topic.