Monthly Archives: August 2011

President’s Column: Ineffable Twaddlings

Posted on August 31, 2011 by avatar

It is the end of the month (almost) and I want to dedicate this space to a quick wrap-up of our very successful writers conference in Valley Forge as well as tell you about our upcoming Retreat.

The Catholic Writers Conference LIVE was a smashing success. We had 40 paid attendees plus an uncountable number of CMN attendees who came to our presentations, plus 17 volunteers and 20 presenters who all added up to a power-house event. Our booth was well-represented with many, many terrific books and authors signing them. Our first-ever Catholic Arts and Letters Awards (Lilies) were presented to Michelle Buckman for Rachel’s Contrition and Regina Doman for Alex O’Donnell and the 40 Cyberthieves in front of all the retailers and vendors who attended the trade show breakfast banquet. CWG is tremendously grateful to all our presenters, volunteers, attendees and, most of all, Our Lord for being a part of event. We couldn’t have done it without you. (Meanwhile – we need volunteers to help administrate the CALA for this year - please contact Karina Fabian at karina (at) fabianspace.com if you are interested.)

One very important note on the conference: We need your input!! There’s talk of changing the dates for the Catholic Writers Conference Live next year. Would you take this 3-question survey to help us decide? Follow this link and answer the three questions and it’ll help a great deal!

Our next big event is Your Word is My Delight: Catholic Writers Retreat – October 5-9, 2011 at the St. Francis Retreat Center in DeWitt, Michigan. I did send out a separate e-mailing on this event, so many of you have this information, but I want to reiterate that it looks to be a fantastic experience that is different from our writers conferences. With this retreat, we’ll work on our souls, contemplate God’s calling to us as writers and grow as writers through one-on-one critique sessions. And, because this is a writers retreat, you will be given a lot of time to just write! Please consider coming, and pass on this information to those you think might be interested. Post it on your blogs, twitter and facebook. If we don’t get more registrations for this event quickly, it may have to be canceled and we’d hate for that to happen.

Meanwhile – keep praying for our success, and God bless you all!

Posted in Catholic Writing and Publishing | Comments Off

Are you making yourself a better blogger?

Posted on August 31, 2011 by avatar

I blame this weekly column for the folder in my Google Reader entitled “Blogging.” Before this column, I operated mostly by observation, relying on some of my favorite podcasts and blogs to keep me filled in on the geeky stuff I should know.

Now, however, I have hundreds of blogging columns to read.

That’s one way I try to make myself a better blogger. I haven’t been able to read very many of any blogs lately (much to my chagrin–I miss them!), but when I do, I try to skim through some from my blogging folder.

Among the feeds I follow are Copyblogger, Daily Blog Tips, ProBlogger, and Two Hour Blogger. I don’t read every single thing they write (though I’d like to), but I zip through and read the titles that catch my eye (or I read nothing, if I’m in the kind of whirlwind I’ve been in lately).

I’d love to hear what you have to say about this. What do you do to make yourself a better blogger?

–

Sarah Reinhard is the author of Welcome Baby Jesus: Advent and Christmas Reflections for Families. You’ll find more of Sarah at her blog, SnoringScholar.com. You can also connect with her on Twitter and Facebook.

Posted in Blogging | Tagged | 11 Comments

Catholic Writers Retreat Set For Oct 5-9; Register by Sep 28

Posted on August 30, 2011 by avatar
NOTE: We need more people to sign up by the 20th or we have to cancel, so if you know you want to go, please register before then!


Catholic Writers to Enjoy Special Spiritual Retreat

Lansing, MI: In collaboration with FAITH Catholic Publishing and Communications, The Catholic Writers Guild, will sponsor Your Word is My Delight, a Catholic writers’ retreat, Oct 5-9, 2011. Come and delight in God’s word and sacrament, and pray in a beautiful and serene retreat setting.

The retreat’s key presenter is Pat Gohn, Catholic columnist, podcaster and catechist (link: http://www.patgohn.com/patgohn/About.html) . Other presenters are Father Charles E. Irvin, David Krajewski, Father David Rosenberg and Father Larry Delaney.

Writers will enjoy five spiritually-enriching days of daily Mass, adoration, the sacrament of reconciliation and many hours of writing time. Talks will explore how God speaks to and encourages writers through Scripture, papal writings and other topics in order to promote faith-filled writing.

Opportunities for networking also will be offered through an informal “book bash and social hour” Wednesday evening and Faith Catholic’s one-on-one “pitch sessions” that give writers the chance to sell their current writing projects.

Cost for the four-day retreat is $450, which includes meals and accommodations. Deadline for registration is Sept 28. A nonrefundable deposit of $45 is required at registration.

Posted in Catholic Writers Guild | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Finding Writing Time, Homeschool Mom Edition

Posted on August 30, 2011 by avatar

This is week three of homeschooling for our new school year, and I’m writing more than ever.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Vacation = Less Writing.  Homeschooling = More Writing.

It isn’t a magic trick.  I realized that if I was going to meet my writing goals, I was going to have to take charge of my time and make it happen.  And since I needed to organize and take charge of the daily routine to get school done, I decided to write writing time into that same schedule. 

It worked, and I’m thrilled, and I wanted to share with you what that reality looks like, and how I made it happen:

Good Bye Internet.  You may have noticed my near-disappearance.  I’ve cut back on my own blogging, on e-mails, and on blog surfing and commenting.  I love the Internet.  It is like a giant non-stop cocktail party for writers, only you get to choose who you mingle with, and never have to be stuck in a corner with the guy who wants to tell you all about his surgery. 

But you can’t write a book while you stand at the buffet and chat.  Eventually you have to go home, and sit in your chair, and work on the book.  So I cut out a lot of my recreational reading and writing, to prioritize the serious stuff for a while. 

For me, this meant making a rule that I wouldn’t check e-mail or Google Reader or any other fun stuff until I met my day’s writing goal.  I don’t always keep this rule.  But when I do keep it, I almost always get in a good writing day.

Only one thing at a time!  I am so, so tempted to multi-task.  The kids are doing their homework, can’t I quick go write up just this one idea?  It will only take a minute, right??  NO!  No, no, no.

What ends happening is that my “quick” idea takes forty-five minutes.  And during that time, little people are coming to me to check homework, to answer questions, to explain why they can’t find their shorts . . . and I am losing my temper at all the interruptions. 

Doesn’t work.

What does work, is setting aside specific times for specific activities, and being 100% focused on that type of activity.  Now is breakfast.  Okay, now is school.  Now is lunch.  Now is clean-up.  Now is more school.  NOW we write.  Not “try to write while the kids finish breakfast”, or “try to work with the boy on math while the girls get their lunch”.  This doesn’t mean everyone is eating breakfast elbow-to-elbow at precisely 7:14, or reading one chapter of literature at 10:47.  But we do need to all be doing the same type of activity at the same time.   Otherwise it is just too crazy.

–> I keep a sheet of paper on my desk, and jot down notes about my writing ideas when they strike.  Then at writing time, I have a list waiting for me of what to work on that day.

Work the kids all morning.  You’ll notice the schedule isn’t “First, writing time.”  That’s because I don’t wake up at 5AM while children sleep for two more hours.  Once the kids are up, they are going to need me.  Proven fact.  But here’s what’s really cool: Kids don’t like to work.

–> So if I fill the kids up to their heart’s content with a morning full of school work and chores, by mid-afternoon they are ready to hide from me.  And then I can write. 

[If you have little people -- my youngest is five, so pretty much a big kid -- you have to wait for a natural nap/quiet time in addition.  More complicated.  Also note: I schedule 1.5 hours of writing time, in order to achieve 1 hour of writing.  "Uninterrupted" is a relative term.]

Pare down the schedule to essentials.  We have eliminated about 300 activities from our schedule.  It pains me to miss out on some of these.  But honestly, my kids are happier.  They don’t thrive on running around from place to place every day any more than I do.  They need the long stretch of uninterrupted quiet that we get from afternoons at home.

My habit in the past was to look at the calendar, and if there was an open spot, say “yes” to filling that spot.  What difference does it make if I sacrifice, say, half an hour of “nothing” time that I otherwise would have spent pottering in the garden or reading a magazine?

The difference it makes is that we all need time to rest, and to think!  Hauling kids around town is work!  If I cram the schedule full, what happens is that I don’t have the mental energy to cook dinner, or sit down and work on a real writing project, or even pray a half-decent Rosary.   The time might be there, but the person has been spent. 

And wow, it’s a lot.   Getting serious about my writing has been exciting, but it sucks up time I could be spending on something else.  At the end of any given day, I’m pretty happy if I’ve done the minimum of prayer, school, basic chores, and put something on the table for dinner.  Even exercise (which I enjoy) is hard to squeeze in, even though in theory the time is there. 

–>  You just can’t work at what amounts to a part-time job, in addition to your regular vocation, and still expect to have time free for lots of extras.  Writing is my ‘extra’.  But I love it, and love seeing my work go from ‘great idea’ to something I can submit to a publisher.

I’d love to hear in the combox what works for in your vocation, to find the time you need to meet your writing goals.

Posted in Catholic Writing and Publishing | 4 Comments

10 Tips & Tricks for Writing on Demand

Posted on August 30, 2011 by avatar
So, you’ve finally set aside the time to write, but those fingers just aren’t moving. Maybe it’s just too much pressure to have to write on demand.

But soon, Life will come roaring at you again with errands, obligations, and appointments, so you need to get those fingers moving now.

Here are 10 tips to help get those digits flying across the keyboard or notebook.

1. Start in the middle. If you can’t think of a lead sentence that’ll captivate readers to check out your post, article, or chapter, then skip it. Work backwards. Write the second paragraph, the ending, the sixteenth sentence, whatever. Don’t get stuck on the first sentence. You can always write that rocking first sentence later.

2. Use props. Pictures can inspire a scene for your story, the manner of dress for your characters, settings, etc. (I’m a fan of snapping photos with my BlackBerry when a place, person, outfit, or place strike my fancy.) Fellow CWG blogger John McNichol already wrote about using pictures of characters to prompt your description. But in addition to using photos, consider what you can do to your writing space to make it feel different and inspiring. Open a closed window, close an opened one. Light a scented candle. Put on fuzzy slippers. Do what you need to do to get relaxed and writing.

3. Do a quick outline. Not sure of what you want to say exactly? Do a superfast outline. Maybe an old-school outline with roman numerals, if you want. Or just a quick sketch. (Here’s one to fill in. It’s for an essay, but it can help with articles and blog posts.)

4. Focus on one point. Sometimes, our fingers grow still because there’s just too many ideas flying through our minds. To write a coherent blog post or article, focus on just one point. You don’t want to write about the life of Jane Austen in a blog post, so just focus on one part of her life. Even if your article assignment is huge (say, the papacy), focus on one part of it at a time. Write in baby steps, not seven-league boots.

5. Spin some mood music. Movies have soundtracks to move our feelings in a certain direction. Why not do the same when you’re writing? When writing dance scenes for my novel, I drenched my writing room with the strains of the Argentine bandoneón and tango orchestra. When writing thoughtful pieces at work, I crank up Radiohead, Enya, or Natalia Clavier. Sometimes, I cobble together a play list at my fave (and free) Grooveshark.

6. Change font or font size. Yes, seriously. Just a change of font can sometimes make things pop out more at you. I switch it up among Verdana, Times New Roman, and Arial. Make the size bigger, make the size smaller. Sometimes, just the visual difference can get your fingers moving.

7. Make the highlighter your friend. When you’re writing and get stuck, just write a highlighted sentence of what should be there and keep going. For example, say you’re writing about the work of James Stewart at a furious pace, but then get stuck in describing The Philadelphia Story. Stop for a moment, write Insert description of The Philadelphia Story with background info, and keep writing. You can do this with your articles, blog posts, and even rough patches in your novel. Dash off a line of what needs to be there, highlight it, and then go back when you’re inspired.

8. Fast write. Just write. Who cares if it’s crummy? Just get it all out. And everyone knows that the first draft is the cruddy one. It doesn’t matter, though. That’s what rewrites and editors are for. No one ever gets it right on the first draft. (And if they tell you that they do, they are liars, liars, with their pants on fire.)

9. Tell someone. Imagine telling someone what you want to write about. (You can call up a writing buddy, too, if that helps.) I talk to myself when writing (don’t tell!) because it helps clear my mind. Talking aloud helps. Just by telling someone what your article, blog post, or book is about can help you gain clarity in your vision for the piece. (Consider telling St. Maximilian Kolbe, too; he’s the patron saint of editors.)

10. Change your format. Is the blinking cursor on the page getting to you? Turn off your machine, and pick up a notebook and pen. Or if the pen and notebook are bugging, switch to your laptop. Sometimes, writing in long hand is just what you need. The sensation of a favorite pen on good old-fashioned paper can be therapeutic. Or if your hand is moving too slowly in your Moleskine, hop on the laptop.

Have any other ideas that you’d like to share to get start writing? Jot ‘em down in the comment box. I’d love to heard them!

Verónica Maria Jarski has more than 15 years of writing and editing experience. Her current mission in her day job is to capture the story as a MarketingProfs senior content writer and the editor of the Daily Fix blog. In wee hours of morning, she works on her personal writing projects. Her “Celebrating Blessed Miguel Pro: Games, Crafts & Activities” book is published by Behold Publications. Plus, her articles, poems, and stories have appeared in major newspapers, educational presses, and university publications. Check out her personal blog at Station 6.

Posted in Catholic Writing and Publishing | 8 Comments

Just Words, by Kathryn Cunningham

Posted on August 29, 2011 by avatar

[Editor's Note:  Kathryn Cunningham is a new member of the CWG -- you may have met her in the combox.  She sent in this guest post to fill our 5th Monday.  Enjoy!]
As writers we can get preoccupied with drafts, proposals, being published or not.  It is an easy road to distraction from our “real purpose in life”.  We are wordsmiths and it is critical that we never forget the gift of writing carries with it responsibility that was laid out in a classic published a really long time ago.
“Because”, “I Promise”, “I love you”, “I’m fat”, “I’m ugly”, “I can’t”, “ I won’t”, “I hate you”………  In real life what’s the truth about our words? Our society has become desensitized to the power of the word and we publically hear and speak things that ears should never be subjected to.  We have disregarded the energy and effect that is contained in the word weather spoken, heard or written.  Experts tell us that the long term effect of physical or verbal abuse is no different.  As a long time teacher I was the most annoyed when a student would speak a blatant unkindness and excused themselves with; “I didn’t MEAN it”.  …………too late!
The first line of the bible teaches that the way that God created was with the word!  The book of Hebrews tells that the word is so powerful that it is able to divide soul from spirit. Jesus taught by the spoken word. Saints and martyrs were tortured and killed for what they spoke not for what they thought. There is no question that the word can maim. It needs to be handled with care and as much responsibility as a loaded weapon. “So I tell you that for every unfounded word men utter they will answer on Judgment day, since it is by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words condemned” (Mt. 12: 36-37).
Copyright© 2011, Kathryn M. Cunningham, all rights reserved.
Kathryn is a retired teacher who went to the Catholic Theological Union as a “retirement project”.  In addition to graduate work she is a trained spiritual director.  With a heart for informing the “people in the pews” she writes for online sites as well as local church publications. Check out more of her take on the journey @ www.atravelersview.org
Posted in Catholic Writing and Publishing | 4 Comments

CWG Prayer Chain Post: August 29, 2011

Posted on August 29, 2011 by avatar

The CWG Prayer Chain Post is a weekly post for members to include their special intentions by adding a comment.  

Psalm 86: 5-7

Lord, you are kind and forgiving, most loving to all who call on you. Lord, hear my prayer; listen to my cry for help. In this time of trouble I call, for you will answer me.

The power of prayer and the power of people praying.

July/August Intention Prayer 
 

PRAYER FOR ALL NEEDS
We beg you, Lord,
to help and defend us.
Deliver the oppressed.
Pitty the insignificant.
Raise the fall.
Show yourself to the needy.
Heal the sick.
Bring back those of your people who have gone astray.
Feed the hungry.
Lift up the weak.
Take off the prisoners’ chains.
May every nation come to know
that you alone are God,
that Jesus is your Child,
that we are your people, the sheep that pasture.
Amen.                  Clement of Rome

 
Please leave a comment with your intention. If you have problems adding an intention, email it to Mike Hays at coachhays@gmail.com and I will add it.  God bless. 

Posted in Catholic Writing and Publishing | Comments Off

Picture It! by John McNichol

Posted on August 27, 2011 by avatar

[Editor's Note: This is John McNichol's first column for our Catholic Fiction Saturdays.  John blogs at Young Chesterton Chronicles, and is the author of The Tripods Attack and The Emperor of North America, both now available in e-book format at Amazon.  He is currently working on the third installment in the series.]

            
     Remember Health class? When they talked about social skills and the image you were projecting? Back in 1982 I was in the 7th Grade at Darcy McGee School in Toronto, Canada. Then, Mr. Tierney told us that something like 90% of all communication was non-verbal, and most of that 90% was visual.
            Humans are basically visual creatures. It’s part of the reason the Catholic faith has such a beautiful tradition in the visual arts, and I think it’s why God chose to give His mercy through seven tangible means that all have visual as well as material and spoken components.
            For me, as a right-brained male, it’s part of the reason I use something else I learned from Mr. Tierney’s class.           
            Mr. Tierney taught me more about creative writing than any teacher before or since. And one of his most important lessons came from an ancient filmstrip with a wobbly-voiced narration tape. One frame and one sentence of this film encouraged us aspiring writers to find pictures of the people they were writing about, so that details would be clear to us and thus, clearer to the reader.
            True, it isn’t 100% necessary to have a photo lineup to write a compelling story. I’ve just finished reading my third novel in a row by Michael Crichton (State of Fear, then Rising Sun, and Timeline), and while he writes compelling and thought-provoking novels, as far as description his main characters are as interchangeable as Barbie and Ken dolls.
            For me, though, a clear picture of the character is essential. You can find samples of pictures I’ve used for my published characters in the June 24th, 2011 post of my blog, www.youngchestertonchronicles.com, titled Ideas, Tricks, Tips.  Just as artists will often use a live model for a painting, a photo helps me visualize a character’s actions, expressions, speech and other important aspects. Jimmy, for example, the linguistic genius in the prologue of The Tripods Attack, wears a black bowler hat, needs a shave and has a missing front tooth. For dashing, wanna-be ladies man Herb Wells, I found a still of a young Jude Law with short hair, piercing eyes and a strong jaw. Most of us have seen someone like this either on TV or in real life. Adding just a few details like this, the kind your mind may forget but a picture can provide, allows the reader to fill in the gaps for themselves. 
     Sometimes it can take a while. I made many Google Image Search runs before I found the ‘right’ one for my villainess in Emperor, but eventually I did. I knew the character I was writing had long, dark hair, and had an evil streak that at times made the Joker look like a kiddie-party clown act. Eventually, I found the one that hit the right tone, and it stuck like no other picture did.
     Later, I’ll put that pic up on my blog.
                 For now, you Catholic writers go find yours. And enjoy.
  
           
Posted in Fiction | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

CWG NEWS

Posted on August 26, 2011 by avatar

STEPHANIE MANN ON “THE GOOD FIGHT”

This Saturday, August 27, Stephanie A. Mann, author of Supremacy and Survival, will be on Barbara McGuigan’s “The Good Fight“ radio interview/call-in show. She and Barbara will be discussing three great Catholic martyrs of the English Reformation: St. Margaret Clitherow, St. Margaret Ward and St. Anne Line. 

Barbara McGuigan has already sent Stephanie a great list of issues and questions to examine the historical context of their martyrdoms and their witness to us today. These three women saints share the same memorial on the liturgical calendar of England and Wales: August 30, the date of St. Margaret Ward’s execution in 1588. You can call in and ask Stephanie a question: toll free: 1-877-573-7825. The show airs live from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Central Time.

“The Good Fight” live radio show with Barbara McGuigan explores saints — past, present, and future –every Saturday at 2:00 pm EST on EWTN.

Stephanie Mann is the author of Supremacy and Survival: How Catholics Endured the English Reformation (Scepter Publishers, 2009). Supremacy and Survival tells the story of the Catholic Church’s survival and restoration in England from the Sixteenth Century to today. It serves both as a lesson and a warning of the risks to faith and freedom when absolute power is given free reign. You can learn more about Stephanie’s upcoming events at her website supremacyandsurvival.com.

ELLEN MARIA VIDAL MADE BOOK REVIEWER

The Historical Novel Society has made CWG member Elena Maria Vidal a book reviewer for their journal, The Historical Novels Review. The Historical Novel Society promotes all aspects of historical fiction and provides services for writers, readers, librarians, booksellers, and others involved in the publishing industry. The Historical Novels Review is a quarterly publication devoted to reviewing every new work of adult historical fiction in the U.S. and the United Kingdom. Selected works from Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well as children and young adult titles, are also reviewed. 

Elena Maria Vidal is the author of three historical novels:  Trianon (St. Michael’s Press, 1997; The Neumann Press, 2000), Madame Royal (The Neumann Press, 2000), and The Night’s Dark Shade: A Novel of the Cathars (Mayapple books, 2009). She also blogs at http://teaattrianon.blogspot.com/. Amidst her new work for the Historical Novel Society and her blog, Elena is also working on a historical novel about her Irish ancestry. Find more about Elena at her website.

NEW CHILDREN’S ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS REFLECTION 
Sarah Reinhard’s newest booklet, Welcome Baby Jesus: Advent and Christmas Reflections for Families, is available now through Liguori Publications. Welcome Baby Jesus is written to capture some of what’s intended by the liturgical season of Advent. Each day has a Scripture quote from the Sunday gospel readings, a brief reflection, and an action to complete. Sarah hopes in designing the booklet, that with each passing Sunday, your Advent Wreath will grow brighter, your family’s faith will grow stronger, and the true meaning of this season will be discovered.

In her review, Ellen Hrkach, author of In Name Only and Stealing Jenny, describes Welcome Baby Jesus: ”Each section encompasses three different activities: Think, Pray and Act. Each Sunday has its own theme. The First Sunday of Advent and the week following is ‘Get Ready.’ The Second Sunday and following week is ‘Repent.’ The Third Sunday’s theme is ‘Love,’ and the fourth Sunday, ‘Anticipate.’ The Christmas season has its own theme: ‘Rejoice.’ There are also stories and activities for the Feast of the Epiphany. 


What sets this apart from other Advent preparation books is that it has reflections and activities for the entire family (parents included) so that both parent and child can prepare for the celebration of Christ’s birth. ”


Catholicmom.com Lisa Hendey states, “I highly recommend this book for families, for teachers, for those who work in ministry with children, and even for adults who simply want to recapture some of the childlike wonder that rightly should accompany a season when we prepare to welcome the Christ child.”


Welcome Baby Jesus is available through Ligouri’s website, local Catholic bookstores, and Amazon. You can follow Sarah at her blog, SnoringScholar.com. Her other books for Catholic families, including Welcome Risen Jesus: Lenten and Easter Reflections for Families,  are also available through Amazon.


CATHOLIC WRITERS’ RETREAT

Check out the new video for Your Word Is My Delight Writers’ Retreat at the Catholic Writers Guild website.

St. Francis Retreat Center, in collaboration with FAITH Catholic Publishing and Communications and The Catholic Writers Guild, will sponsor Your Word is My Delight, a Catholic writers’ retreat, Oct 5-9, 2011. Come and delight in God’s word and sacrament, and pray in a beautiful and serene retreat setting.
The retreat’s key presenter is Pat Gohn, Catholic columnist, podcaster and catechist. Other presenters are Father Charles E. Irvin, David Krajewski, Father David Rosenberg and Father Larry Delaney.
Writers will enjoy five spiritually-enriching days of daily Mass, adoration, the sacrament of reconciliation and many hours of writing time. Talks will explore how God speaks to and encourages writers through Scripture, papal writings and other topics in order to promote faith-filled writing.
Opportunities for networking also will be offered through an informal “book bash and social hour” Wednesday evening and Faith Catholic’s one-on-one “pitch sessions” that give writers the chance to sell their current writing projects.
Cost for the four-day retreat is $450, which includes meals and accommodations. Deadline for registration is Sept 28. A nonrefundable deposit of $45 is required at registration.

And for more information, please visit www.stfrancis.ws.


And Don’t Forget

Sunday night chat live at www.catholicwritersguild.com from 9-11 pm EST. Nonmembers welcome. Look for chat under the logo.
Posted in Catholic Writing and Publishing | 1 Comment

Lack of Sleep = Lack of Blogging

Posted on August 24, 2011 by avatar

There’s nothing like a night of no sleep to put life firmly “in the way” of my blogging and writing, let me tell ya!

My answer to that this week was to put up a “out of office” post and just forgive myself…and try to appreciate the lack of screaming, thanks to the miracle of modern medicine now that the ear infection has been identified as such.

In other, more useful, news, I’ve had some success, in the last two weeks, with a daily email with a writing accountability partner. We thought about posting that dialogue here, but decided it might be too much.

So that’s my useful tip this week: find a writing accountability partner…and if it’s someone who writes and shares some similarities with you in your station in life, all the better. If you’re looking for someone, you might check out the forums at the Catholic Writers Guild website.



–

Sarah Reinhard is the author of Welcome Baby Jesus: Advent and Christmas Reflections for Families. You’ll find more of Sarah at her blog, SnoringScholar.com. You can also connect with her on Twitter and Facebook.

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