May 11, 2014 Lifehack, Writing books, goals, manuscript, words, work

Lifehack & Peanuts

Happy Mommy’s Day to all the mommy’s who may be reading this! It’s been a week since I became a Lifehack contributor. In that time, I’ve had 3 articles published and I’ve been assigned another that I’m working on. This is good and bad! Writing for them is like eating peanuts… it is very hard […]

April 23, 2014 NaNoWriMo, Publishing, Writing books, creating, fiction, fruitfulness, goals, kids, life, manuscript, novel, productivity, progress, words, work

Being a Prolific Writer

The word ‘prolific‘ is one I’d love to be labelled with… Oh look, she’s turned out another bestseller book! What a prolific writer she is… I’ve aimed at ridiculous wordcounts per day, I’ve pantsed and plotted and settled into a happy combination of both. I’ve changed my sleeping habits, tried NaNoWriMo, read a ton […]

February 4, 2014 Writing being mom, books, Christianity, dreams, fiction, fruitfulness, kids, publishing, words

I’ve waited 10 years for this email…

A decade ago, I started writing. I practised my signature thinking it wouldn’t be long till I found myself tucked between Peretti & Decker signing my books. Then I heard Jesus clearly whisper, “You’re going to have to trust Me more than you ever have before.” NO! Surely not! My insides squirmed even as my heart […]

January 24, 2014 Odd bits & pieces, Writing books, fiction, goals, God, inspiration, novel, words

Published? No… Available to read? Yes!

Friends, this is Shackles. You know, the one I thought would be paying the bills 2 months after penning ‘the end’? Yeah that one… I wouldn’t call it published, I prefer to think of it as being available online to be downloaded, read and (crosses fingers) enjoyed. It is slowly filtering through the system and should […]

November 12, 2013 NaNoWriMo, Writing books, creating, creativity, deadlines, dreams, fiction, fruitfulness, goals, manuscript, novel, priorities, productivity, progress, words, work

Na-NOOOOOOO!-WriMo

I signed up for Nano again this year. Can you read the stupid tattoo on my forehead? Yeah, thought so. You see, I write slowly. For a slow writer to sign up for Nano is like being lactose intolerant at an all-you-can-drink-milkshake bar. Sooner or later there will be pain and suffering. Right now […]

November 3, 2012 Writing books, dreams, fiction, focus, freedom, fruitfulness, goals, God, humour, inspiration, kids, manuscript, novel, priorities, productivity, progress, words, work

Can 20 minutes change your life?

A few weeks back I would have laughed and said no ways! Now, I know that it can. Just to be clear – I’m not talking about car smashes or connecting with God for the first time. I’m talking about the humdrum of normal life. You know – the parts that never make it into […]

October 13, 2012 Writing adverbs, creating, creativity, dreams, fiction, goals, hope, manuscript, novel, progress, publishing, waiting, words, work

There’s an elephant in the room

This past week I revisited the first three chapters of my first novel for the sake of querying just for fun. I’ve been around the block with this one, each time they were requested, those three chapters would dust themselves off and play ambassador for the chapters waiting in the wings, hoping for their turn. […]

September 19, 2012 Writing books, creating, deadlines, despair, dreams, fiction, focus, fruitfulness, goals, humour, inspiration, kids, life, manuscript, novel, pressure, priorities, productivity, progress, words, work

Amazing in utero photo for writers

You know when your friends get preggy and suddenly facebook is littered with murky scan pics that could just as easily be elephants or aliens? Well I’m proud to share MY latest in utero pic with you … Everyone… meet Finding Mia… She is 1/8th of the size she’ll be when fully grown. Much development […]

July 18, 2012 Odd bits & pieces, Travel, Writing books, Creative Arts Conference, creativity, fiction, humour, inspiration, life, words, work, writing class

Inspired by… THAT?

So the grody thing in todays exotic photo is a dishevelled black satin sash that I took with me to Conference on a whim. It was lurking in between two dance costumes and I turned a blind eye and let it creep in. It found its way into writing class one morning. Who knew an […]

March 30, 2012 Family Stuff, Writing books, creativity, deadlines, despair, dreams, family, fiction, focus, freedom, fruitfulness, God, hope, humour, novel, priorities, productivity, progress, waiting, words, work

Creature of the Night

I’ve always been an owl not a fowl, but with my kids on holiday – my nocturnal tendencies are getting out of hand. My days are filled with wipe this, feed that, mop this, carry that, tidy this, cook that, find this, pick up that, pick up that again, all to the tune of non-stop […]

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