I knew Helga Schier for a couple years before she became the editor for Ghost Tamer, and I liked her immediately and grew to love her, as I think everyone who knew her did.
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A visit to my old neighborhood was sweetly painful, and a boost to my soul that I sorely needed.
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I remember having one ghostly visitor when I was around ten or eleven. I don’t remember another one that I had in high school, but my sister clearly remembers me being bothered by him. Now I’m wondering if I subconsciously wrote him into Ghost Tamer. (And I think he may have ended up on the special edition cover!)
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Like it or not, virtual panels are here to stay. And while authors used to merely have to throw on something nice to make appearances at signings and live events, now everyone needs to learn how to behave in front of a camera.
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It’s possible—okay, probable—that I’ve always been an anxious person. The more I learn about anxiety and it’s patterns and coping mechanisms, the more I recognize them in myself. But by and large, I’ve always handled it. At least to the point where I never worried about it. However, we’re spiking now. In the event that it may help someone else, here are the patterns of behavior I’ve been made aware of and some things I do to fight them.
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I don’t really like the term “writer’s block” but I have experienced periods of extreme low motivation and feeling stuck in a particular place in the manuscript with no clear vision of how I’ll move forward. Here are a few ways to write past it.
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I really enjoy productive friend dates. I think the ‘raising the barn’ type stuff that we do together is just as important as going out for coffee.
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You’re waiting for an answer, you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop, or… maybe for reassurance that it won’t drop and all is well, and it’s draining. But because nothing is physically wrong, you feel like you should still be able to perform at your best.
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When I was younger, I used to ask what was the point of decaf. Sadly, I am older now, and I am acutely aware of the point. And I hate it. However, I wish more places had it.
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The very publicly covered romance between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce was really not anything I cared about. Until I noticed that the way Swift was treated really put a spotlight on how women in general are treated when they express a mild interest in sports.
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There’s something about an official Snow Day that feels different. It’s not like a sick day, or a holiday, or even a random day off. It’s like nature throwing a curtain over the birdcage of the world and telling everyone to calm down.
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2023 was a bumpy landing, forcing some change in 2024.
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PSA: Those cute pictures of kittens playing with balls of yarn are false. Cats and string can make a deadly combination.
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The list of foods that I can have is much shorter than the list of ones that I cannot.
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Recently there was a huge kerfuffle in the book world. I don’t want to get into that, but it punched up a feeling I’ve been having for a while. A blog I’ve started to write several times but stopped, unable to get a good grip on what I was trying to say. I think I’ve got it now.
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I’m a list-maker. I’m a practice-run person. I like to do “just one more take.” In short, I like to get things right.
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What is so magical about existing in an empty home for hours, days, or weeks at a time? I have a few theories.
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2023 has flown by and honestly, I feel like I need a nap most of the time. But this weekend I’m trying to slow down enough to appreciate what’s around me.
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People often express amazement (or shake their heads at how insane I am) when I get up early before whatever events are happening to squeeze in a run, but for me the run is part of the trip. I find such amazing things on early morning runs.
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I have done everything I can to make packing easier for myself. These systems invariably help. So why do I still hate packing more than just about anything else?
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