Terry Odell's Blog, page 315

The Power of Transformation

Today I welcome award winning author, an instructor of online writing courses and a world traveler to Terry's Place--all in one guest. Robie Madison shares some (not so) random thoughts on transformation—a vital component of the Journey Cycle. First, thanks to Terry not only for the invitation to her blog, but also for her ongoing series about her hunt for a new house. As you'll soon see, the

Writing is more than Writing

What I'm reading: Heaven on Earth by Lori Avocato; Untraceable, by Laura Griffin.I'd received an alert that a local author acquaintance, Beth Groundwater, was going to be doing a program at one of the branches of the Pikes Peak Library District. I figured it was time to mingle with people interested in reading and writing, and plugged the address into my GPS. With only one or two moments of

Friday Field Trip - all around Italy

Today we're going back to Italy, courtesy of some great photos from my mom. She took up photography after we kids had left the house and moved from black-and-white in a bathroom darkroom (which was made easier since we kids had vacated the premises) to color, and then to digital. Welcome, Mom! Keep Reading...And, of course, what trip to Italy would be complete without this one:

Grumble Day

First -- the excerpt survey is still open and active. Hope if you haven't already done so, you'll read the excerpts in Monday's post and then take the survey.Inspection report. The inspector filed his 52 page report with our Realtor, and she's going through it, point by point, to present our requests to the sellers. So, things are still in limbo until they respond. And for those of you expecting

Inspection Day

First -- if you haven't read Monday's post and taken the survey, I hope you'll take a few minutes to scroll down and help.Thanks to Amber for being my guest and making everyone feel welcome yesterday while we were up at our potential new home. Looking at only the superficial aspects of a home wouldn't be wise, so we met with the inspector yesterday. After all, even established authors who sell

Yoga As Muse

Today my guest is Amber Polo, romance author who loves travel and uses location to spark her novels, shares the magic of her recent trip to Taos, New Mexico. I'm pleased to turn over the reins to Amber while I'm off dealing with the inspection of our (potential) new home.I'd like to thank my hostess, Terry, for graciously allowing me to share a place close to my heart on her blog. Thanks, Terry.I

Help Wanted

What I'm reading: The Summer Hideaway, by Susan Wiggs.What makes you pick up a book? For many, it's the cover. For others, it's the teaser on the back cover. One of the required tasks of Five Star is to complete a multi-page "Ancillary Materials" form. This includes things like author bio, complete synopsis to be used by the art department for cover design, "catalog copy" which they will include

Friday Field Trip - Portugal & Italy

What I'm reading: Requiem for an Assassin, by Barry Eisler.A number of years back, the hubster had two meetings in rapid succession: one in the Algarve in Portugal, and the second in Genoa, Italy. While he was busy, I roamed around. These pictures were taken back in the days of film, and then scanned. I didn't think about sizing them for enlargement. Hope they're still acceptable. But first, I'm

Downsizing

Early on in my writing, when I was submitting, someone I'd send my manuscript asked if I'd ever considered writing category romance. If you're not familiar with the genre, these are the stereotypical "romance novels", virtually synonymous with Harlequin. There are dozens of imprints with several titles in each, and they're released each month. They're also short. I'd be passing my own halfway

Writing and Real Estate

First, thanks to Joan Maze for her thought-provoking post yesterday, and to everyone who dropped by. As you'll see below, we were busy while she played host at Terry's Place.Yesterday, we signed a contract on what we hope will be our new home. As with the selling process, however, nothing is a done deal. Our first and highest hurdle will be the inspection scheduled for next week. Sellers are