Wordless Wednesday: House Staging

Michael Hyatt Interiews Jane Friedman

Hi, folks. I'm busy finishing up staging our house for the market (we're meeting with our Realtor tonight) so forgive me for delaying an original post here for a couple of more days.

In the meanwhile, here's a terrific interview with Jane Friedman carried out by Michael Hyatt. These are two people I respect very highly in the publishing world, so I hope you'll get a cup of coffee and sit back and watch for the next 12 minutes.

Have a great Monday!

CNF Workshop Updates

I just got home from Denver last night after a wonderful week visiting my kids and grandchildren. Sorry I haven't had time/energy to blog, but I'll be back at it next week.

For today, if you're interested, please hop over to the 2011 Memphis Creative Nonfiction blog for today's post:

"101 Best Websites for Writers & Complimentary BBQ Dinner."

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures from my granddaughters' joint birthday party last Saturday in Denver. Grace is two and Anna Susan is one. Aren't they wonderful?

Have a great weekend!

The Denver Zoo

Today was my first day visiting with my children and grandchildren in Denver. Well, last night I had supper with the whole crew, but today I went to the zoo with Jason, See, Grace (2) and Anna Susan (1). It was a beautiful day.. just cloudy enough to keep cool. And none of that Memphis humidity. ahhhh.




I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Wordless Wednesday: Barbie at 50

The Good Wife, A Good Blog and the Toxicity of People-Pleasing

It's my turn over at the Southern authors' blog, "A Good Blog is Hard to Find." Check out my post:

"The Good Wife: What a Novelist Can Learn from a Hit Television Show's Deleted Scenes."

And introductions continue over at the 2011 Memphis Creative Nonfiction blog today, with an intimate glimpse into a woman's brokenness:

"Introducing Alexis Paige of Randolph, Vermont."


Another busy week here with painters working in the house, new refrigerator being delivered (and cleaning out the old one!), and getting ready for my trip to Denver to visit children and grandchildren on Thursday. Hope everyone has a great week!

Introducing 3 CNF Workshoppers!

Another busy week with car selling and buying, house staging (roofers, painters, automatic gate folks) in progress, and continued work organizing the upcoming 2011 Memphis Creative Nonfiction Workshop, September 23-25.

So... in lieu of an original post here today, I'm offering the following links to this week's guest posts over at the creative nonfiction workshop blog. Even if you're not a writer, these posts introduce a diverse trio of emerging writers, and I think you'll enjoy reading them:

Introducing Creative Nonfiction Workshoppers:




Judy Beaird of Memphis











NancyKay Wessman of Jackson, Mississippi










Sheila Vamplin of Memphis








These are just three of the folks registered for the workshop. To be sure and not miss future guest posts, subscribe to the 2011 Memphis Creative Nonfiction Blog and enjoy future postings.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Wordless Wednesday: Happy New Car Owner!

After much research and deliberations between the 2009 Camry at Carmax and the 2011 at Performance Toyota, at 8 p.m. last night we purchased the new one. It had 4 miles on the odometer! Some good incentives like 0% financing for 60 months and excellent warranties sealed the deal. LOVE the aloe green color (both cars were this color) and the only nice feature I lost was the new one doesn't have a sun roof. I guess I'll just roll the windows down and use my imagination. Excellent service (at both places) and kudos to Jimmy Rooker at Performance Toyota. If you decide to buy from him, please tell him I sent you:-)


Here's a better view of the car (well, not MY car, but the same model and color) in a showroom.

AAA: Angels All Around

So... Saturday I drove down to Brandon for a funeral and Jackson to visit Mom, and as I was leaving to return to Memphis, my car started making a loud, knocking sound. Then it started missing. Then it started slowing down.... just as I went past the County Line Road exit. (That was the last exit for Jackson.) I knew it was several miles to the next exit, so I started praying. It was HOT outside and I was picturing myself standing by the side of the road in the heat, waiting for help.

I know my guardian angel was with me, because the car made it to the Gluckstadt exit and into an Exxon station, where it puttered to a stop. I called AAA, and the first thing the lady said was, "Are you in a safe place?" She was efficient and kind. "Joe," from the wrecker company was there in 30 minutes and towed the car (and me) back to Jackson to a Toyota dealership, where the service department had just closed. But Joe was super nice, and might even buy the car himself. And the two and a half hours I spent in the (air-conditioned) Toyota showroom weren't so bad. I did some research on cars and read half of a book on my Kindle, which I keep in my purse most of the time for days like that one.

Fortunately, some other friends who had driven down for the funeral were still in town and gave me a ride back to Memphis, where I've been waiting for the bad news from the service department, who just called. The engine is gone. It's a 2002 Camry (which I got brand new in April of 2002) with 132,000 miles, and a used engine would cost about $4000. I'm going to miss her... we've been on lots of wonderful road trips together.

Here's my dream car. It's an '86 Mercedes-Benz 560 SL. (A friend Photoshopped me into it a few years ago.) But I'm probably looking for another Camry, maybe just 2-3 years old with low mileage. I looked at the hybrids but was sad to discover they have hardly any trunk space. No way it would hold my stuff for beach trips!

So, we're doing our homework again... Kelley Blue Book, Carmax, Auto Trader, and the dealerships.... Maybe I'll have a picture of me in my new ride for Wordless Wednesday. We'll see. Today I'm thankful for AAA and answered prayers.