Nosy Neighbors and Other Stock Characters
One popular stock character in books and film is the nosy neighbor.Have you had a nosy neighbor before? They collect a hodgepodge of random and fairly useless information about their neighbors. If you've had plumbing problems, dirty carpets, or electri

Paying Attention
I’m not sure I’ve ever been great at paying attention to the world around me. It has to be pretty spectacular for me to notice it. When I was a college freshman, I headed off to an afternoon cl

Giving the Reader What They Want
I was putting my daughter to bed the other night and she said, “I want to stay with you forever!” Of course I told her she was sweet, and continued tucking her in. But she held onto my hand and said, “I really, really do, Mama. Can’t I always live here, even wh

Facebook
I’ve gotten a couple of questions lately about using Facebook, so I thought I’d do a post on it. If y’all have any other questions, please feel free to comment or shoot me an email so I can answer them (or find out the answer if I don’t know it.) I’m including some really basic info here, but I’ve also got

Telling the Story—Making it Good
My daughter would balance on the slippery edge of the bathtub for what seemed like an eternity before stepping out onto the mat. No holding on to the side for her. “Oh my goodness, you are scaring me to death!” I’d