As writers, we are often advised to write daily, same time, same place, and to meet our daily word count. Showing up on a “bad” day and still getting words down separates the true writers from the imposters. I beg to differ. Yes, daily writing matters and helps, as does daily reading, and walking. But…
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Writing Tip Wednesday: my third published short story
I am happy to announce that I have published another short story! “The Red Shoes” is included in the Back Roads Literary Review Spring 2026 anthology (link for purchase on About Me page). When I saw that the theme for the Spring anthology was “the moment when,” I realized I already had the beginning of…
Writing Tip Wednesday: Head-Heart-Gut Polarization
Writing-manual author, Matt Bird offers a detailed explanation of why and how writers can create an ensemble of characters with different personalities. In The Secrets of Story, Bird explains how secondary characters can act as advisors to the protagonist, each in their own way. To illustrate, I will use the classic kids’ movie, The Sandlot.…
Writing Inspiration: Eudora Welty
In graduate school, I read Eudora Welty’s One Writer’s Beginnings the first time. I did not consider myself a writer then, and it was not a goal of mine at that time. My professional goals evolved around teaching English to middle school students. At that time, I do not think I connected with Welty’s book…
Writing Inspiration: A Writing Retreat in Provence
A writer’s world can be a lonely one. Spending hours at a computer or with a notebook, imagining conversations and events taking place, is not the same as interacting with friends face-to-face. As a writer, I miss the camaraderie of working with fellow teachers, or other colleagues, despite belonging to various online writing groups. To…
Writing Inspiration: My Jewelry Box
I have just had the privilege of publishing my second short story, “The Pin,” on the Academy of the Heart and Mind website (on September 19, 2025). This was a fun story to write and revise – much more fun to revise than the novel I am currently working on. The inspiration for the story…
Writing Tip Wednesday: creating a hero readers will believe in
In his writing manual, The Secrets of Character, Matt Bird advises writers to create characters their audiences will believe in. This makes sense, doesn’t it? Why invest time and attention on a character you do not believe in? Matt (feels strange to refer to him as Bird) offers many devices and tricks to make main…
Writing Resource: The Secrets of Character by Matt Bird
I can’t say enough about all the advice Matt Bird crams into The Secrets of Character. This writing manual is full of tips, tricks, and examples for writers to use just within the first ten pages. That’s right, the first ten pages, because Bird knows that agents won’t read past that if they don’t love…
Writing Resource: Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody
There is much to say about Jessica Brody’s Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, but today I will focus on one specific detail: assembling the troops. In her novel-writing manual, Brody breaks down the grand finale into five beats, or moments, so that writers have a checklist of sorts to follow. The first of these…
Reading for Reflection: Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Posted on Author Jill M SmithPosted in Care Givers, Reading for Reflection, What I'm Reading, Writing InspirationLeave a Reply
Who among us has gone to the ocean and found peace, energy, joy, and rest? Any of us lucky enough to visit the coast, any coast, I would wager. We go to the beach not necessarily looking for an answer, but we find answers none the less. What will we feel? What will we learn…