Talya Tate Boerner's Blog, page 46

Saying NO, the power behind it, and news!

The power of saying no.

NO is a powerhouse of a word that opens up space for yes. A million years ago I majored in economics. And while I understand the concept of opportunity cost, I find it difficult to apply to my writing life. I want to write all the things. All the things take time.

My husband’s former co-worker (RIP B. Bowden) had a beautiful way of saying NO. “We have no interest in this deal on any level.”  I love this and always thought it was the equivalent business-speak for “Bles...

Hello Fifty-Five.

Hello FIFTY-FIVE, and happy birthday to me. Today I’m celebrating another trip around the sun. I happen to love birthdays, and I’m not one of those people who despairs over her age, BUT, I do declare there seems to be something a wee bit supernatural going on. I mean, the orbit is the same each year yet the ride whips by more quickly.

Doesn’t it?

And sometimes, the lap bar holding me inside doesn’t feel quite so secure.

When I was a kid, every birthday felt oh so significant, the actual num...

Fayetteville Find: Dirty Apron Bakehouse

Ooooh! We know dreamy things come in small packages and that’s certainly the case with Fayetteville’s newest bakery. Dirty Apron Bakehouse opened in April, and I finally got around to visiting a few days ago. This tiny spot is located off Dickson behind Nightbird Books.

Dirty Apron bakes small batch naturally leavened sourdough using a French, mid-nineteenth century fermentation process. This process is said to result in more digestible and flavorful bread. In addition to freshly baked loav...

Summer Favorite: Adventure!

Next up in my Summer Favorite Series: ADVENTURE. Summer is the ideal time for adventure, big and small. Kids are out of school (or in my case—grown and gone), days spread out long and warm, nights twinkle with the flicker of lightning bugs. Adventure is tucked behind every tree.

See Where the Day Leads

Some of the best summer adventures are unplanned. Those see-where-the-day-leads adventures. A couple of weeks ago, my friend Becky and I had a mini-adventure in Siloam Springs. She and her hus...

that time I visited Apalachicola, Florida

Last June (as in 2016 not yesterday), I spent a few days in Apalachicola, Florida, a small port town located on the gulf and at the mouth of the Apalachicola River. Of all the places I visited last year, Apalachicola was one of my favorites. There’s something extra special about a port town and shrimp boats and folks who live and breath by the tides. The whole experience felt very “old Florida” to me. Nostalgic and dreamy. On the peaceful end of the relaxation scale.

I wanna go back.

History...

Grace Grits Reads: June 2017

June Book Reviews:

My June reading adventures began in Iceland (literally), where I traveled to Belize (figuratively) in a beat-up, broken down car with a character named Ray Midge. Mid-month, because of my trip to Iceland, I became absorbed in the Mid-West, primarily in a one room schoolhouse in rural Iowa with brief escapades to Venice. And June moved on from there. Arkansas blogger / author Jerusalem Jackson Greer took me inside her head, heart, and home in Little Rock. I visited a Cathol...

Summer Favorites: Porch Time!

This is the first in a series of posts (irregular at best) about my favorite summer things. I’m starting with PORCH TIME!

I think of our porches as additional rooms, the best rooms, rooms that provide extra space and extra peace, whatever we need in the moment. A bit like Hogwarts’ Room of Requirement. In case you truly have been living beneath a rock, the Room of Requirement only appears when someone has a true need. It stands to reason that porches are always there because we always need a...

How hard is it to write a book? Let me count the ways.

Forgive me while I complain for a moment. The truth is, writing a book is difficult under the most ideal circumstances, when the words are flowing and the light is faultless both inside and out, when I’m swimming in the deep end of creative waters. BUT. Writing a book is impossible when Japanese beetles are chomping away on my rose bushes.

Yesterday, I planned out the whole day—an entire luscious day with nothing to do but work on the book I’m writing. But you know the saying. The best laid...

Summertime, and the livin’ is joyful.

With the turn of the calendar page, summertime is here! And I’m dropping in with the happiest of greetings.

Watermelon is my spirit fruit. (And other fun news from last week.)

It’s true, watermelon is my spirit fruit. But first, Happy Sunday and Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there in the blog-o-sphere. (Yes, if you are reading this, you are part of the blog-o-sphere