The Fourth of July is almost here and many Americans, including me, are on vacation this week in conjunction with the holiday. So this week, instead of writing and publishing…
I am blessed to have many good friends that I have known for a long, long time. They can best be described as falling into a couple of different groups,…
Writers are constantly looking for story ideas and sometimes they are literally right in front of us — when we look into the mirror. But how much personal information should…
Are there times when the use of hyperbole in our writing is appropriate? Certainly, when employed to convey a compliment or express a desire, deliberate exaggeration of the facts can…
Stereotype: A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image; One that is regarded as embodying or conforming to a set image or type. “North Country” is a 2005 movie…
Have you ever created a fictitious identity in order to access an Internet site? If so, you may have violated a federal criminal statute. Megan Meier, aged 13, thought she…
Federal and state laws prohibit discrimination, harassment or retaliation in the housing market, workplace, and when a business establishment provides goods or services. But do those statutory schemes apply or…
“Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter.” So begins “The Tale of Peter Rabbit.” So begins “The Tale of…
LOL. ROFL. POS. TTYL. TTFN. Do you recognize each of those abbreviations? If not, they stand for: Laughing on line. Rolling on floor laughing. Parents over shoulder. Talk to you…
In a recent meeting with my colleagues, we all sat around a conference table, our identical Blackberries in front of us. As one by one the Blackberries chirped, clicked, chimed,…
Here in California, it is unusually cold for late April, but that was fine with me. I settled in last evening, wrapped in my favorite blanket, to watch the seventh…
This past week, I was contacted by a reporter from the Stockton Record. She interviewed me for a story about women here in California’s Central Valley who blog. She has…
Last night over dinner, one of my oldest and dearest friends mentioned that she had spent some time yesterday writing a letter to her daughter who is attending college in…
My generation is comprised of folks who remember life without much technology. Sometimes we joke around about it. My girlfriends and I laugh about how our parents used to make…
Recently, another blogger wrote about the intersection between his real and online lives, in particular his recent connection via Facebook with a coworker. He declared that now his “writing life…
Your Online Writing Life: Protect Your Reputation — and Future (Part Four) Pseudonym: A fictitious name used by an author to conceal his or her identity. Lots of authors have…
Your Online Writing Life: Protect Your Reputation — and Future (Part Three) It wasn’t that long ago that blogging was a concept embraced only by the ultra-techy. How quickly the…
Last week, I wrote about the importance of selecting an email address that will appropriately convey professionalism and good business sense. But what about how you use that email account?…
Did you know that more and more companies are using Google and other online resources to conduct, in part, background checks on prospective employees? And stories of folks whose employment…
. . . write today. I don’t feel like it. I haven’t been feeling like it for a couple of weeks now. As parents, we often hear our children say…