Kids love roller coasters. Moms don’t -- well, at least not the ones that take place inside our homes! I’m talking about the “spike and crash” syndrome that describes the rapid ups and downs of children’s blood sugar levels when they eat too much sugar and overly processed carbs, especially on ... Views: 3454
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
--Thomas Edison
Once my first novel was published, I was astounded at the number of people who asked me for advice. I want to be helpful. Many people helped me along my way, so I give my advice with ... Views: 1111
Writing fiction is like allowing yourself to be the ugliest person in the room and the most beautiful person at the same time. The ‘beautiful’ you swans into the party, garnering admiration, presuming that everyone else will be interested in what you have to say -- about anything. The ‘ugly’ you ... Views: 2098
When a child is admitted to the hospital, pediatricians have the same concerns that families have: make sure the child stays safe, comfortable, and as emotionally secure as possible.
In my childcare book The Portable Pediatrician, I talk about the emotional meaning of hospitalization for ... Views: 1085
“If I don’t sell this novel, I’ll open a shoe store.”
That’s what I told my husband, and I meant it. Shoes were easy and fun -- I quested for them on an intuitive level only a shoe lover would understand -- whereas my career as a novelist, another passion, had been a struggle. My first two ... Views: 850
Non-fiction is very much in the news these days. Capote, the James Frey debacle and the even creepier Nasdijj scam have raised the kinds of questions that plague many a memoir writer: how much can you really remember? How much can you ethically invent (creating dialogue, for example, from a ... Views: 1354
“A fairytale is an imaginary garden with real toads in it.”
I don’t know the source of this quotation, but I take it as my starting point for this account, because the opposite definition applies to my novels about the Celtic Mary Magdalen. Maeve is an imaginary character, with no claim to ... Views: 1152
I know the moment I realized who I was supposed to spend my life with. It was a Sunday in August 1987. He was a friend who shared my penchants for B-movies, Monty Python, and the band Rush. We were driving back to my house after spending the afternoon at a nearby park. I looked at him at some ... Views: 1056
Love
He may not look like it, but that Elmo's a love machine.
When parents tell me, "My child lives for Elmo," I tell them that Elmo lives because of their child's love for him. I don't just mean that Elmo is alive in their child's imagination, though that is certainly a part of it. That child ... Views: 1081
Millions of us don't feel as good as we should because we don't drink the eight or more glasses of water we need daily. Water is an often overlooked nutrient, one that's involved in practically every bodily process.
I know that if I'm dehydrated, I feel really tired. But when I drink water ... Views: 1174
We often want to believe that shame is reserved for the unfortunate few who have survived terrible traumas, but this is not true. Shame is something we all experience. And, while it feels like shame hides in our darkest corners, it actually tends to lurk in all of the familiar places. After ... Views: 1211
Charles left her, just left altogether with no satisfactory explanation. Just announced, after six months of a hot-house infatuation that had swept her off her feet, “Sorry, Miranda, this isn’t working” -- said it not even kindly, at that -- and said he wanted out. He wasn’t interested in ... Views: 1317
“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”
Virginia Woolf
There are several life skills my mother taught me before I set off into the world: how to properly separate my laundry; how to balance my checkbook; how to prepare red meat in an assortment of ... Views: 1206
Negotiation is never the only option for addressing conflicts. Therefore, parties considering negotiation need to ask:
Is negotiation the best option for addressing our issues and problems?
What are the alternatives to negotiation?
Parties should assess their Best Alternative to a ... Views: 2695
Imagination is more important than knowledge.
Albert Einstein
I’ll tell you something that you already know: writing is work. It is work that requires structure and rules: subjects, verbs, semi-colons, question marks, diagrammed sentences, outline plots, character dossiers, synopses and query ... Views: 1107
I was never much of a reader until one day, in the early eighties, I picked up a copy of Helter Skelter, by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry. This is an often used adage, but I couldn’t put it down. The author’s attention to detail fascinated me. After that, I was hooked on novels depicting ... Views: 972
From Aaliyah to Zvi, the range of name choices is dazzling. If you're a sleepless parent-to-be, it can look like a vast landscape with no roadmap. To make sure you keep your bearings, here are some basic principles for understanding names -- and finding that one perfect name that speaks to your ... Views: 990
Below are some specific key words or phrases you can use in saying No to the other's demand in a way that flows naturally from your Yes, your power, and your respect. Remember that your tone and underlying intent need to be congruent with your words if they are to have the right impact.
"No" or ... Views: 1004
“Everything happens somewhere”
-- Pieter Haag
Where does your book take place?
Of course, on one level, it takes place in the hearts, minds, and imaginations of your characters. On another level, it might take place in Omaha. Or Venus.
Nicolson Baker once set an entire novel (I ... Views: 1069
We grow up being told to “write” what we “know”, but history is the unknown. You have to learn almost everything about a period and the social customs just to get your characters out of their beds (or off of their skins), and feed them breakfast.
Rule #1: Sweat the Small Stuff.
The ... Views: 1165
Like many folks, I do my cardio on a treadmill. But because the pounding of running makes my back hurt and tightens my hips, I created this 30-minute treadmill routine. Now, I'm passing it on to you. Some of the moves can be tricky at first, but that's a good thing, especially if your current ... Views: 991
We’re going through a sticky patch in hospital care. Patients and their loved ones often feel that there are too many doctors (and you rarely see the same one twice) and too few nurses (and it’s hard to get their attention). Worse: it’s hard to figure out just who is in charge -- or whether ... Views: 927
Divorce is an emotional task unlike any other in modern society, and different people experience it in different ways. While some individuals go through nearly all of the extreme emotional states that we describe here, others have an easier time getting through this period and will maneuver ... Views: 2420
Those singles who can't stand ambiguity from the very beginning develop a more direct dating approach. Meet, for instance, Steven Kaplan -- as several of my girlfriends did. I was on yet another blind date -- my third in the last two weeks. Here we go again, I thought, as I walked out my front ... Views: 1262
The second most asked question of any writer after: Where do you get your ideas from? is: How do you think up your characters? The answer to the first question is that they just pop out of my diseased brain. The answer to the second is more complicated, but linked to the first.
I am a great ... Views: 983
The process of writing a book starts, for me, with a place in time that I find intriguing. I begin to do a little research -- if possible, with novels written at the time -- and then, if all goes well, I experience a kind of flash of complete understanding a few weeks later. Every character, ... Views: 800
Ever since my first book, She’s Got Issues, got published, the first question everyone asked me was, “How do you think up your characters?” At first I lied. I said, “Um . . . I don’t know, I guess they’re a composite of people I’ve met over the years.” I thought that sounded good. I’ve heard ... Views: 809
Unlovableness is a subtle beast. Most of us think we can detect it right off the bat, right there on the surface. We spot things like a tendency to pause too long before answering a simple question or a bad dental smell, or a habit of telling long, boring stories over and over again; or a simple ... Views: 1964
Waiting? OK. But will a lightness of heart ever come? Does time really heal all wounds? Mothers who have experienced child death assure us that "it will get better." Friends and loved ones may tell us that "it is time to get over it and get on with life." We hear about closure, but researchers ... Views: 1220
Vision is fuel, energy, passion -- or, as I like to suggest, as important as water to a garden. Unless that vision is clear in your mind, it is hard, if not impossible, to complete the process of refining your dream into an actionable plan. Furthermore, without clarity of vision the hard work ... Views: 1214
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Types of Pain - by Ann Berger, MSN, MD, and C. B. deSwaan
Types of Pain
It's clear that pain is understood by anyone and that everyone feels it a bit differently. Overall, pain is an unpleasant sensation that occurs in varying degrees of severity and is a consequence of a number of processes. In order to manage pain, doctors discern its intensity and ... Views: 1133
We women in the twenty first century are the most accomplished, talented, educated women in history. But are we as charming or mysterious as women we read about from the past? Do we flirt and fascinate? I don’t mean just flirting with men. Do we flirt with old ladies, the butcher behind the ... Views: 1149
Using the label "organic" to distinguish one tomato from another is a big stretch from the word's original meaning, for until the middle of the twentieth century it simply meant something living or derived from living matter. In that sense, the idea of an "inorganic tomato" is a contradiction in ... Views: 1235
When someone asks why write? My answer -- writing is like making love. When they ask how to write? Same answer. For each writer the act of writing is as individual as his/her own personality.
I write because I have to. I have to because I want to. I want to because I love it. When I was a ... Views: 993
You’ve heard this story before.
The writing bug comes early. You’re a kid with ideas, with a desire to get them on paper, and one day you realize that you’re not ever going to stop. You also realize that some people actually make a living writing books, and since you’re going to be doing it ... Views: 840