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| 6 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 Autumn, blooms, books, bucket list, cowboys, desert, deserts, Fiction, inspiration, Jansen Schmidt, mystical, On Common Ground, On Hallowed Ground, travel, vacation, words, writers, writing, tagged American Civil War, Arizona, Battle of Picacho Pass, cacti, cactus, Civil War, cliff dwellings, Confederate States, copper mines, copper mining, Copper State, evergreen trees, Flagstaff, forests, ghost towns, Gleeson, Goldfield, Grand Canyon, history, horseback riding, horses, Jefferson Davis, Jerome, mountains, Oak Creek Canyon, On Common Ground, On Hallowed Ground, Picacho Pass, Sedona, silver mining, snow, veterans day, western states, winter on November 11, 2019| 8 Comments »
The last of the contiguous states to be admitted to the Union, achieved statehood on St. Valentine’s Day, 1912. It is part of both the western and the mountain states. It is the 6th largest and 14th most populous of the 50 states in the United States of America. The southern most part of the state is desert, with extreme high temperatures in the summer. The northern part of the state is mountainous and often sees significant snowfall in winter. (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 Autumn, Baer House Inn, blogging, breakfast, Family, food, friends, humor, innkeeping, Jansen Schmidt, laughter, travel, vacation, words, writing, tagged America, American government, breakfast, extroverts, foreigners, government, guests, introverts, jerks, New Zealand, opinionated, opposites, people, personalities, personality-types, politics, religion, rude, taboo, taboo subjects, travel on September 2, 2019| 8 Comments »
I think it’s pretty safe to assume that we all know we should not discuss religion or politics when in the company of strangers. I also think it is safe to assume that most people are either somewhat introverted or somewhat extroverted if not completely so. We all know people who are one or the other or some mutant form of both. And, of course, we all know a know-it-all. You know, those people who have an opinion about EVERYTHING and usually express it loudly and in such a manner so as to sound like an authority on the subject. The people who make you eventually go: (more…)
Posted in Baer House Inn, Family, friends, humor, innkeeping, Jansen Schmidt, laughter, social media, travel, vacation, Vicksburg, words, writing, tagged Americans, crazy, different, diversity, foreigners, hotels, motels, people, personality, politically correct, tourists, weird, weird people on July 29, 2019| 8 Comments »
Times they are a changin’ my friends. I can’t tell you how often I’ve had conversations with people about how things were so different when we were kids. I’m sure this is nothing new. I’m sure my parents probably had these same conversations with their friends and I’m pretty sure the next generation will have these conversations with their friends. And so on.
Posted in acting, authors, beach, blogging, books, camera, Family, Fiction, friends, grammar, humor, Jansen Schmidt, laughter, social media, travel, words, writers, writing, tagged discovering, facts, funny, funny songs, funny video, Google, learning, parody, rabbit hole, research, time suck, wasted time, Youtube on July 15, 2019| 4 Comments »
As a writer I spend copious amounts of time researching. Yes that’s right. Even though I write fiction, there are things that still have to be researched because, unless I’m writing about a completely made-up world, people are going to know if I’m not describing a person, place or thing correctly. Ergo – research.
Posted in authors, blogging, Disney, Family, Fiction, friends, humor, Jansen Schmidt, laughter, reading, trivia, Uncategorized, weird facts, words, writing, tagged astrology, birthstones, Donald Duck, Elvis Presley, facts, history, John Wayne, June, Mythology, national nude day, nude, rock and roll, south, southern, summer, trivia on June 10, 2019| 10 Comments »
Yes, it’s HOT!! The long hot, sweaty days of summer have arrived. I know, I know, it’s still officially spring, but tell that to the weather. There is no mercy here in Vicksburg after about 11:00. June has come in with a vengeance. (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!
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