Laura Benedict's Blog, page 12

Sunday, 1 October 2017

Young miss Nina on a bed just her size.

Sleep is the best meditation. –Dalai Lama

 

Not only is sleep a perfect method of meditation, it’s also critical for us to maintain our health and sanity. Of course, I am my own best enemy when it comes to getting enough sleep. That should probably change–for me and for everyone who burns those candles at both ends. Here’s a great piece on sleep a very good friend sent me today. Food for thought.

Happy October!

The post Sunday, 1 October 2017 appeared f...

Saturday Serendipity, 30 September 2017

Serendipity makes a life worth living.

 

Happy last day of September, my dears. I hope you’re ready to say hello to fall since it really, truly, officially began last week. Here’s some links to bring you some Saturday smiles.

Random Bits

The Australian Wedge-tailed eagle can’t get enough of downing drones that show up in their territories. Gotta say I’m kind of cheering for the birds. (It’s a WSJ link. If it gets covered up w/ a subscription ad, the ad should go away if you click it closed.)

...

Where Did You Go, Halloween Spirit?

Pumpkins, skeletons, and candy corn

Gourds, gourds, gourds

On Sunday it will be October first. When my kids were young, we loved to decorate for Halloween, and in the beginning I started early. It seemed perfectly normal to me to have a houseful of pumpkins and witches and black cats from the first week of October on. We even had a plastic skeleton head that would repeat what you said to it in a creepy electronic voice. When my son was three or four it would make him laugh so hard he would ge...

DEAD ENDS is Here! (With a Special Guest Who Knows All About It)

I’ve been waiting months to tell you that DEAD ENDS: Stories from the Gothic South is here–and it finally is! I’ve read every one of the stories, and even wrote one myself. I can’t wait for you to read this book–If you like your stories a little scary this time of year (or any time, really), you will be crazy for it!

I adore introducing you to new folks at the Handbasket, so today I’ve invited Amy Kerr, the charming, dead clever co-publisher of Two Tales Press to drop by. 

Enjoy!

Sylvie think...

It’s Author Photo Time

 

 

If I could get away with this as my author photo, I would definitely use it. Perfect makeup, professional styling, Viking helmet.

 

Ah, the author photo. It’s that time again for me. Actually it’s been that time for about the last five years. My last one was around 2009. And before that, it was late 2006. Back in the day I believed author photos had to be taken pretty much every other year. But you have to spend money to get really good, professional photos, and it becomes a big investmen...

Summer Sunday in Cincinnati

 

Since I took the summer off I have quite a few photos I haven’t shared on the blog. These are from a lovely summer Sunday I spent in Cincinnati, my home town, with my parents. Most are from the riverfront park. There are some amazing multi-person swings that sit on a ridge  overlooking the river, but they were very busy. Someday I’ll go back in the middle of the winter so I can sit on one!

BTW–There was a mix-up over on the Familiar Legacy blog, so I won’t be there today, as I thought. But...

Writing Mercies

“What? I was sleeping.” –Sylvie

 

I had so many hopes for today’s blog. But here it is after midnight, and I’m only now getting a post together. And that’s with a list on my desktop of things I plan to write about.

The truth is that I took today off work, for the most part. Which means I started working at 8 p.m.

Tonight’s work: Finishing up Tuesday’s blog for the Familiar Legacy site (Trouble the Black Cat Detective for the initiated.). Fixing an ebook file mixup that took lots of document c...

Sunday, 24 September 2017

 

“What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

I’m thinking a lot these days about the interior life–the life that no one else sees. It has to be nurtured and cared for just like our bodies. It’s a risk to look inside, but the rewards can be lovely and sustaining. We are born with so much.

 

*Remember to come and tell us about your favorite mystery novel(s) on this recent post before midnight on Wednesday, Septemb...

Saturday Serendipity, 23 September 2017

Serendipity makes a life worth living.

Happy Saturday! It’s apparently a good news, bad news Saturday for us all who are reading this. The Rapture was supposed to happen today, but I guess there are at least a few hours left. (Personally I’m a “we know not the hour nor the day” kind of person, but some aren’t, I guess.)

We shall carry on. It’s back to editing for me…

Random bits

Important news first: Krispy Kreme has a limited edition Reese’s Peanut Butter Doughnut. Yay or yuck?

All blue-eyed...

Happy First Day of Autumn, and Prezzies, too.

 

Only a smidgen of my books. Many of my shelves are 3 books deep.

 

Today is one of the most bittersweet days of the year. Despite what the weather people say (we’ll have a high of 90 degrees for the next six days), it’s the first day of autumn. I don’t know about you, but I am welcoming it with sneezes, courtesy of whatever flora is propagating itself outside my (closed) windows these days. Autumn is when I have to start writing with my happy light shining over my shoulder to stave off SAD,...