How Do You Want to Be Remembered? Yesterday, I went to the memorial service for a gentleman who had been in my Orlando writing classes...

Whenever I tell someone I help people write their life stories and family histories, they always say: “That’s so interesting. How did you end up...

Florida Is Weird, But... Florida is weird. I’ve lived in Orlando just about as long as I lived in South Louisiana, so I feel entitled...

The memoir I want to share with you this week is Heart in the Right Place by Carolyn Jourdan. I enjoy passing on books I...

Lessons in Letting Go, Part Two Follow this link to read last week's Sunday Story, Lessons in Letting Go, Part One. One hotel chain has...

How do you write the hard things, the emotions you’d rather avoid? Today, we’ll try our hand at it together. From an unlikely source, we...

Lessons in Letting Go, Part One Recently, I had two lessons in letting go. The first involved the Costa Rica writing retreat I had scheduled...

When drafting a story, does it bug you to no end to see a typo or the wrong word in the paragraph you just finished?...

A Literary Geek, Part Two Warning: This Sunday Story is long, but you’ll want to read it. Last week, I began the story of meeting...

On this, the fourth Thursday of the month, we answer your writing questions. Today’s question comes from Phyllis Pociopa, “How do I know when I'm...

A Literary Geek, Part One It’s a drizzly Saturday afternoon as I write this. I sit on the second floor of one of my favorite...

Studying--not just reading--a well-written memoir is like taking a master class with the author. Today, we learn from multi-award-winning author, Mary Karr, who reviewers have...

What's That Sound? I kept hearing this loud squawking at dawn every morning and again after dark. I mean, really loud, and I couldn’t tell what bird...

On the second Tuesday of the month, we write in response to a prompt, so grab your laptop, pen and paper, quill and scroll, whatever...

Marie and Me Thank you to those who missed my Sunday Story last week and asked where it was. I felt excited to hear you...

Do you remember the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray and Andie McDonald? In it, Murray keeps experiencing the same day over and over. So...

Welcome back. On this, the fourth Thursday, we answer your writing questions. Today’s question is, “What if my family’s memories don’t match my own?” You...

I Love Pelicans I’ve mentioned before how fortunate we are to live on a lake near downtown Orlando thanks to a generous landlord and the...

Do you want to be a strong writer? Reading will help you achieve that goal, which is why we look at a specific memoir and...

New Eyes A couple of weeks ago, a friend told me a story a buddy shared with him. This buddy served in the navy aboard...

Welcome to our second vlog of January 2023. That means it is writing prompt day! Grab your pen and paper, laptop, or whatever you use....

Tiny Is Good Next door to the condo complex where my husband Bob and I live is a tiny house community, the largest neighborhood of...

Can you believe it is 2023? Ready or not, here we are. A new year can be a catalyst for new things, like writing your...

I Have a Decision to Make I have a big decision to make today. I was a failed journaler for decades, always buying beautiful new...

Today, we have the rare treat of a fifth Thursday vlog with writing advice from an accomplished writer. Our spotlight falls on a quote from...

Sounds Surround Us Most mornings, I do a short guided meditation to start my day. I don’t sit on the floor in a lotus position...

Today is the fourth Thursday, so our focus is on answers to your writing questions. I’m often asked, “What’s one thing I can do to...

How well do you write similes? On this third Thursday, I share a recommended memoir and what you can learn from it. The writer is...

Have you heard the phrase cat got your tongue? As life story writers, I suppose it would be more like blank page got your pen....

How do you know where to start writing your life story? Need help figuring that out? If the thought of writing your life story from...

Mark Twain's Writing Wisdom One of the United States' favorite bards, Mark Twain, offers us great writing advice in the way only he can--with humor....

No Time to Write All the time, I hear, "I want to write my life stories, but I never find the time." I understand. Finding time never...

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls To be a good life story writer, I believe you have to be a good reader, especially of memoirs....

Sounds of the Night In episode three of the Life Writers vlog, we are going to dip into a little book of writing prompts I...

The only way to do this wrong is to not do it at all! When a woman in my class asked me to write a...

Welcome to the Life Writers Vlog! If you're not sure what a vlog is, this video answers that question. Plus, I tell you what to...