Barbara Fradkin's Blog, page 17

Off To A Slow Start

 I'm very late posting today, which is not the greatest way to start the New Year, but it is a way. Here we are again, at  the beginning of a whole new cycle. December has always been a momentous month in my life. Besides Christmas, when I was growing up, my family celebrated my mother’s birthday, my grandfather’s birthday, my sister Carol’s birthday, and my birthday. My mother and

Happy New Year!

I have been very remiss in posting this past month, although in fairness, it's been a very busy month with holiday activities and also abdominal surgery stuck in the middle. But here I am, just in time to wish everyone all the very best for 2025. I can't believe we are a quarter way through this century when it seems only yesterday we were all worrying about the computers crashing and the world

2024 – The Year I Discovered True Crime Podcasts

 Catherine DiltsThis year had the usual ups and down. Some more sad thanusual, like my father passing in March at the age of 89. Some stressful, like remodelinghalf our house.Under the column listing happy events was discovering thewonderful world of podcasts. Especially true crime. I’m often late to theparty, whether it concerns technology or current entertainment. I don’t knowwhy

What Are We Afraid Of?

I was recently asked to judge a writing contest called “Winter Hauntings”.  Local writers were invited to create eerie stories with a local flavor.  The most difficult part?  It can only be about 1,000 words. On January 29th, the winners will be announced, and local community theater actors will read the three finalists. It’s a great event with music and it was sold out last

Writer Anxiety

 You don't have to scratch a writer very deep to have them vent about writer anxiety. I suppose that most everyone involved in a demanding activity, particularly one in which we expect a public payoff, suffers from this type of anxiety. It's known by other names such as stage fright or pre-race jitters. What drives anxiety is fear, and for writers it's an acute fear of rejection and fear

Five Ways to Empower Yourself Regarding Social Media in 2025

By Shelley Burbank I'm adding art journaling to my life in 2025The new year is just a few days away. As 2025 rounds the bend, many of us will consider changes and improvements we’d like to make in our lives, both personal and professional. I’ve known for a while a major change I wanted to make for both personal and professional reasons, and all of a sudden (or again?) I’m seeing other

Merry Day After Christmas

Merry Day After Christmas, Type M-ers.I hope that you’ve enjoyed time with family and friends and you are enjoying vacation days this week. Having a week off provides time to reflect and look ahead. This is the time of year when I always try to look forward and set some writing goals for the upcoming year.A note about setting goals: They have to be obtainable. Here are mine.Write 15 pages a week.

Book Mania

 By Charlotte HingerEvery Christmas our family goes all out to support the publishing industry. We buy books like crazy. A friend asked me recently if I read fiction when I'm writing and if that interferes with my own work. No, reading while writing doesn't affect the work in progress, and giving up reading when I'm writing just makes me cranky. When I read a book with great description

Every Day Is Saturday

By Steve Pease/Michael Chandos.      I’m a day late with my blog because I don’t know what day it is.      When you have a job, you have structure, and your day is defined by that structure. On Monday you get up at 5 or 6 to drive to work, on Saturday and Sunday, you don’t. You bowl on Tuesday, eat lunch with your office section on

How the Sausage is Made

 I read Tom's entry about letting your newly-finished MS rest, below, with great sympathy and understanding. Mainly because I am doing the exact same thing right now. I've been writing on a new book, a stand-alone, I think, for over a year. For me, at least, it takes a long time to really get to know a brand new set of characters, a new setting, a new time period. I used every minute it