Posted in authors, Baer House Inn, blogging, books, Fiction, fingers, goals, grammar, humor, inspiration, Jansen Schmidt, motivation, On Common Ground, On Hallowed Ground, reading, resolutions, success, words, writers, writing, tagged candles, comfortable, crafts, desk, desk chair, fountains, gentlemen's parlor, incense, ladies parlor, music, office, office space, office supplies, parlor, parlors, private space, scents, sherry, tea, whiskey, writing space, zen on December 9, 2019| 3 Comments »
I kind of have an office now. Sort of. For the past couple of years I’ve been writing either in the kitchen or the basement, neither of which are really conducive for writing. It’s been working, but it’s not comfortable. Or pretty. Sometimes you need pretty.
Posted in authors, blogging, books, Family, Fiction, friends, humor, inspiration, Jansen Schmidt, motivation, resolutions, social media, success, writers, writing, tagged authors, book reviews, books, brave, bravery, courage, courageous, Cowardly Lion, critisicm, Dorothy, failure, intimidation, query, scary, success, Wizard of Oz, writers on November 18, 2019| 14 Comments »
“Alright, I’ll go in there for Dorothy. Wicked Witch or no Wicked Witch. Guards or no guards, I’ll tear ’em apart. There’s just one thing I want you guys to do…talk me out of it.”
We’re all familiar with the sweet cowardly lion from the movie, “The Wizard of Oz.” I mean who didn’t smile when he raised his big fluffy paws and said, “Put ’em up, put ’em up?” Or when he said, “I do believe in spooks! I do believe in spooks! I do, I do, I do, I do!” and yet he soldiered on with the rest of his oddball gang. How could you not love his devotion to Dorothy? And didn’t you just melt at the end of the movie when he said, “I never would have found my courage if it hadn’t been for you?” (more…)
Posted in authors, awards, blogging, books, Family, Fiction, goals, grammar, Jansen Schmidt, reading, romance, short story, social media, success, words, writers, writing, tagged #amwriting, #writerslife, awards, classes, cliches, computer classes, different, education, learning, membership, seminars, story tropes, tropes, unique, webinars, workshops, writing awards, writing classes, writing groups, writing organizations on October 21, 2019| 4 Comments »
As a writer I’m always challenging myself to learn new things so that I can keep things fresh in my writing. I have this fear of running out of clever new ideas or that somewhere down the road my books might end up coming out looking suspiciously like some of the other books I’d previously written. Or worse yet, like someone else’s book. This popular saying come to mind, “There are no new stories, just new ways of telling them.” I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but most people in the business of writing tend to feel that way. (more…)
Posted in acting, authors, Baer House Inn, blogging, books, breakfast, food, friends, humor, innkeeping, Jansen Schmidt, sports, success, theater, theatre, tv, writing, tagged A Piece of My Heart, actors, All-Stars, autographs, award shows, baseball, celebrities, community theater, Dark Shadows, Dharma and Greg, fangirl, film, Hollywood, Jessica Chastain, Mitchell Ryan, movie stars, movies, politics, Sacramento, tv on September 30, 2019| 6 Comments »
Thanks for sticking with me. I hope my teaser last week inspired you to come back today. Cooking For the Stars is a little like Dancing With the Starts, except it’s cooking instead of dancing, and “for” instead of “with,” and there’s no audience phone-ins, or Judges scores, or a giant set, or dazzling bright lights, or microphones, or celebrity hosts, but other than that, it’s exactly the same. So, since I promised good things, let’s not waste any time. (more…)
Posted in blogging, cancer, Family, friends, goals, humor, inspiration, Jansen Schmidt, laughter, love, motivation, redneck, resolutions, success, writing, tagged don't give up, don't quit, drop out, faith, family, father, fathers, Goalcast, inspired, keep standing, love, On Common Ground, On Hallowed Ground, school, smart, third grade, video, wisdom, wise, wise man, Youtube on September 16, 2019| 4 Comments »
My blog today comes courtesy of YouTube (Goalcast). I didn’t have anything prepared last night so I consulted the internet for inspiration of some sort to share with you and I found this amazing video. It’s long (about 10 minutes), but so worth it. (more…)
Posted in blogging, Family, fingers, friends, health, Jansen Schmidt, sports, success, writing, tagged analogies, baseball, caregiver, crisis, emergency, Home, home run, life, life change, little league, normal, parents, pitching, sports, surgery, unexpected, upheaval on July 22, 2019| 8 Comments »
Life is a lot like baseball. I’m not a fan of baseball really, although I did play little league when I was around 12 or so. It was fun. I played second base. I was pretty good. Our team took the second-place trophy the year I played. (I still have my trophy.) I’d like to think it was because of me, but really it was because of our short stop. She was really good. She was the reason we won many of our games. Baseball used to be a normal childhood thing for me. (more…)
Posted in beach, blogging, Family, food, friends, Holidays, Jansen Schmidt, resolutions, success, travel, vacation, words, writing, tagged America, American Civil War, American flag, BBQ, confederate, fallen soldiers, family, heroes, history, Memorial Day, military, patriotic, patriotism, picnics, remember, sacrifice, servicemen, soldiers, veterans on May 27, 2019| 4 Comments »
I believe I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating, I am very patriotic. I love patriotic songs. The patriotic holidays are some of my favorites. I have the utmost respect for our country, our flag, and the incredible people willing to sacrifice their lives to protect the freedoms of everyone living in this country. And I don’t mean just the Americans either. I mean EVERYONE living in his country.
I believe patriotism is in my blood. Why? Well, because “Patriotism or national pride is the feeling of love, devotion and sense of attachment to a homeland.”(en.widipedia.org) That’s how I feel. Despite the flaws, I love this country. I feel a sense of devotion to the homeland that I have grown very attached to. I consider myself lucky to be living in this great nation. (more…)
Posted in blogging, Disney, Disney World, Family, Fiction, friends, goals, gratitude journal, health, humor, Jansen Schmidt, laughter, social media, success, travel, vacation, Walt Disney World, writing, tagged complainers, complaining, complaints, Disney, Disney busses, Disney hotels, Facebook, parking, travel, traveling, ungrateful, whiners on May 20, 2019| 11 Comments »
I don’t like perpetual complainers. I don’t understand people who always find something to complain about. I don’t get it. Why go through life looking for the negative stuff? How depressing. How much nicer it is to see the silver lining even in the darkest places. It’s not always easy to see the positive side of things, I get that, but there is always something to be thankful for. The truth is, most of us have some challenges in our lives to deal with. But, we don’t have to harp on them. We all have good things in our lives as well. (more…)
Has It Been That Long?
Posted in authors, blogging, Family, Fiction, friends, goals, grammar, humor, Jansen Schmidt, social media, success, words, writers, writing, tagged analytics, blog followers, blogging, blogging anniversary, comments, first blog, followers, history, knickerbocker, new tricks, no way, patterns, technology, titles, words on November 4, 2019| 13 Comments »
While I was composing my blog for this week, I was having trouble coming up with a clever, cute, catchy title. I don’t know why because usually the title is the least of my blogging woes. But, for some reason I just could not decide on a title. So, I decided to scroll back through my previous posts and see if I could see a pattern or find an old post that I could resurrect or change the title a bit. And that’s when I found something I just couldn’t believe!
(more…)
Read Full Post »