Heather Sunseri's Blog, page 3

processing grief and its many sides

Photo Courtesy of the John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove, Montgomery County Audubon Collection, and Zebra Publishing

This post was originally written and published on February 26, 2022 via Substack.

It has been a tough week globally. My heart hurts for the people of Ukraine and every other person who will be affected by the atrocities of war. I k...

Joy on a Tuesday (Ode to Joy)

Photo Courtesy of the John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove, Montgomery County Audubon Collection, and Zebra Publishing (I chose the Louisiana Heron for this post as a prayer to those suffering from Hurricane Ida.)

This video, “Flashmob Flash Mob – Ode an die Freude ( Ode to Joy ) Beethoven Symphony No.9 classical music,” was published on YouTube shortly after my mom passed away in 2012. I don’t k...

On Turning Fifty

Photo Courtesy of the John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove, Montgomery County Audubon Collection, and Zebra Publishing

I thought I would hate typing the title to this post. I didn’t.

I have what many people call a “big birthday” coming up this year. I know a lot of people who are bothered by the big birthdays. I’m bothered by a lot of things as I grow older, especially given the situation the wo...

My Twitter app: Should it stay or should it go?

I’ve been more active on Twitter recently, but I’m considering deleting the app from my phone and possibly from my life. Again.

In the early days of my experience with Twitter (about the year 2011), I was part of a community of writers who helped each other with achieving writing goals, brainstormed website ideas, and conversed over morning coffee before diving into a day of writing.

Twitter was fun in the early days—a positive experience most of the time. With each tweet limited to 140 charact...

Habits Formed over Long-term Prove Extremely Useful

If you’ve been following me for long enough, especially on social media, you know that I have a golden retriever, Jenny, that I love dearly. I mostly post pics and stories about her on Instagram and Facebook, like this one and this one.

Well, my sweet golden, Jenny, is going blind. In fact, she is close to 100% blind, I’m afraid. I’m pretty sure she can see light and shapes, but for the most part she is finding her way by using memory, long-formed habits, her sense of smell, and commands from Mi...

Writer’s Block and Twisties Have This in Common

I used to say that I didn’t believe in writer’s block. I always had this attitude that writer’s block wasn’t a thing. It just meant that the writer needed to sit down and push through whatever was keeping him/her from writing. My opinion has changed over the years.

I realize now that my attitude about writer’s block started with my upbringing by parents who were extremely disciplined small business owners and dedicated workers in their fields. My parents fought hard for everything they had in l...

I thought science was the answer. I was wrong.

I’ve always been curious about people and how they react to certain life events. If you’ve ever lost someone who meant a lot to you, just pay attention to how people around you react to the same loss, or how they respond to you during that time, and you’ll learn a lot about the nature of people. I mean, people say the darndest things at funerals.

This post is not about funerals. But it does make me curious. Why do people react so strangely during times of discomfort and uncertainty? Sometimes th...

Do Just One Thing Every Day

I’ve been repeating the same mantra to myself every day since starting down the road to publishing my first book. And every book since.

And any time my kids are struggling with a long-term project, I tell them the same thing.

And when writers write to me and ask me what my one piece of advice is for writing a book when the world is screaming at you to do so many other things, I tell them this.

Or when my friend tells me she wants to change careers or learning something new, I tell her this.

So,...

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

One of the best things to do when you can’t create your own art is to consume someone else’s.

And if you’re a fan of suspense from page one to the very end, The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave is a perfect book for you. This book was full of plot twists, intriguing characters, and storyline that hooks you in on the first page and doesn’t let go until the very last word, which nearly made me gasp.

The story begins when Hannah’s hus...

Q&A: Have you ever started a book you couldn’t finish?

Question from Lauren: Have you ever started a book that you couldn’t finish? Whether it be because of content and something?

Thank you, Lauren, for replying to last week’s The Weekly Thrill with this question. Honestly, I’ve never understood people who make it a rule to finish every book they begin. I mean, I guess I understand giving each book that you purchase or pick up the recognition it deserves. Someone put their heart and soul into that book. Or did they? I guess it’s possible that the a...