Category Archives: self-growth

Blog Tour Visit #21: Unsinkable Western History

I like to think of myself as unsinkable. That’s probably a good thing, given my affinity for water. An ocean-lover at age three along the Connecticut coast, I became a competitive swimmer at my school in Tokyo (where I grew up), and always knew I’d live along the California coast someday. It sure came in handy to think of myself as “unsinkable” when I crewed on a Greenpeace voyage to save whales. And I’d say it’s been an even more useful quality during the heaving storms of a career in the entertainment business.

We can’t think of the word “unsinkable” without thinking of Margaret “Molly” Brown.… Read more

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Blog Tour Visit #19: Blood Red Pencil

Writers have a quasi glamorous reputation in the world. We’re seen by some as being eccentric but disciplined; reclusive but willing to take center stage when necessary. The comment I hear most often is how “creative” I am. It’s as though some sort of magic is involved by which we writers make prose and poetry flow through our fingertips onto keyboards or pads of paper.

The truth is probably as unglamorous as it can be. Why? Because half or two-thirds or three-quarters of what we do is edit and re-write. Believe me, it’s a ruthless process for most of us, one that leads to expressions like “kill your darlings” (your most perfectly wrought sentences).… Read more

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Blog Tour Visit #18: Essential Garden

Most of the year I spend a fair amount of time on airplanes. I come well-equipped with a set of Bose headphones to tune out the noise of the world and enter a writer-world where I can hear what my characters are saying today. I adore these special times: views out the window to surpass those from the castles of Europe; precious hours when phones can’t ring; and someone even brings me cold water and hot coffee.

So now you know the secret of my introspective side, the side that gets a pretty big volume of writing done day by day.… Read more

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Blog Tour #17: Boomer Brief

You pretty much know the moment you see the logo that this site will deliver some tongue-in-cheek humor. “It’s a Baby Boomer World, Baby.” In case that slogan’s designed to make us feel both right at home, and also powerful, it works! We Boomers number 80 million or so and are the wealthiest, smartest, most entrepreneurial and savvy folks on the planet. So there, so there.

To quote the founders,  “BoomerBrief.com is written by Boomers for Boomers.  The brains behind BoomerBrief.com are Bob and Charlotte (Hill). Bob is a slightly-graying public relations exec with a database brain and an opinion about everything. … Read more

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Blog Tour Visit #16—Women Speakers Association

When the prospect of writing a guest post for a site called Women Speakers Association came up, I was immediately intrigued. Since I write Women’s Fiction and speak primarily to women, I knew this would be a match.

Women are up to something interesting in the world these days. We like to connect, rather than compete; we like to compliment and complement because this way of behaving creates a background of relatedness, which lays the groundwork for agreement and synergy. My post today, for example, is the Who, What, When, Where, Why of creating a Speaker’s Platform.

Drawing not only on my journalist experience, but also from one of the key themes from my novel-series, it was fun distilling this information down to a few bullet points that will help others who are creating a speaking career.… Read more

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Blog Tour Visit #15: Girlfriend Books

There’s nothing in the world like Girlfriends. I’m talking about Girlfriend with a capital “G”, the fond appellation that signifies the way one woman feels about another woman she trusts, respects, and loves.

Women’s Fiction, which is what I write, exists in the Girlfriend Zone. Why? Because it sparks conversations, reminds us of our escapades, engenders the kind of reflection that inspires growth and encourages self-esteem. So my new novel What the Heart Knows and my conviction that as I write my books I’m having a conversation with women friends, made me a perfect match for the wonderful GirlfriendBooks.com blog.… Read more

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Blog Tour Visit #14: A Latte and Some Words

Certain things just go together: spaghetti and tomato sauce; summer and cricket song; December and pine-scented candles. Lattes and words are like that. For we writer-types, one often leads to the other. That’s how it was this Sunday, being a guest on A Latte and Some Words.

I’ve been known to seek out cafes—during their off hours preferably—and create a mini-office, a bubble where time doesn’t pass at the usual pace, the rest of my to-do list is missing, and a space opens that I can fill with my creative surge. These days, I grab my netbook and head to the nearest Starbucks, where the latte is superb, the atmosphere designed for the likes of anyone needing a personal bubble in a public space all of which encourages the Muse to pull up a chair at my table.… Read more

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Blog Tour Visit #13: Dad of Divas

My father—affectionately known as Pere, thanks to the French part of our heritage—is the happy dad of two daughters. And, with both of us being in the entertainment biz one way or another, one might even say he’s the father of two Divas, though both my sister and I try to keep our drama on the stage, rather than anywhere else.

When did Pere find out he was a dad of divas? Was it when, at age three, I insisted on performing a show each evening on the hearth? (I thought it was a stage.) Was it when I came home, at age twelve, with the lead in “Cinderella in Flower land?”… Read more

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Blog Tour Visit #11: A Traveler’s Library

Imagine a magical portal, a room of polished wood and gleaming windows, each of which frames an exotic view: Florence to the right, Kyoto the left, Kenya over your shoulder, the northern lights arcing upward to the ceiling.

Such were the images conjured by the very name “A Traveler’s Library.” And the beautiful website doesn’t disappoint. There are plenty of websites for researching and booking trips. But this is a site to cause dreams, then help fulfill them.

Vera Marie Badertscher founded her beautiful website in January 2009. Why? “I love to read and I love to travel,” she explained.… Read more

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