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A Writer’s Midlife Crisis

In Getting Personal, History Entrepreneur

There is a lie we tell our children. It goes something like this: “If you set your mind to a goal, you can achieve it. Anything is possible if you work hard enough.” We tell our kids they can be an astronaut, a ballerina, a basketball player, a physicist, or even the president. It’s not true. At least it wasn’t for me. I …

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2016 Wrap-Up

In Getting Personal

Happy New Year’s weekend, everyone! Welcome to my year-end wrap-up, along with a few recommendations for amazing stuff to watch and read that I discovered in 2016. Although this year kind of sucked for obvious reasons, it wasn’t all bad. Here’s the proof. On to the wrap-up! In 2016, I published: The Dante Deception (thriller, Natalie Brandon #2) The Carmelite Prophecy …

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Trip Report: The Petersen Automotive Museum

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Museums have a tough job – they have to engage the mind of the knowledgeable visitor and entertain or stimulate that of the ignorant. On a recent trip to L.A., the hubby and I visited the Petersen Automotive Museum. Visiting car and motorsport museums is something you have to do when you marry someone who loves cars as much as …

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Scared Straight by Empress Elisabeth of Austria

In Getting Personal, Royal History

To many people, Elisabeth of Austria was a free spirit – a woman longing for independence who chafed at the restrictions of court life in Vienna in the 19th century. Wild and beautiful, they think of her roaming Europe in search of fulfillment on a physical and spiritual plane she just couldn’t reach with her courtiers, subjects, family, children, or …

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How I Got Started as a Writer

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Lots of writers get asked about their origin stories. For some reason, people want to know what prompted that all-important life-changing moment. What makes a person take that crucial step? It has to be something compelling, something important, something meaningful…right? For me, it was a soap opera. A soap opera with an alien. I kid you not. General Hospital circa …

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Guys, I Have a Webcam

In Getting Personal1 Comment

If you’ve seen the classic chick flick 10 Things I Hate About You, you already know how I feel about this post. Remember that part when Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is trying to persuade Patrick (Heath Ledger) to have another try at dating Katarina Stratford (Julia Stiles)? “Sacrifice yourself on the altar of dignity and even the score,” Cameron says. “Don’t …

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I Have a Theory

In Getting PersonalLeave a Comment

What if all the things you’re afraid of are things that killed you or hurt you in a previous life? I had a lot of irrational fears when I was little. Among them: spiders (okay, maybe not so irrational) lighting matches heights lightning One day, I started trying to figure out why I was terrified to light a match. Grown-ups …