Feeling Grateful

I try to practice being grateful every day, but it’s important to put it into words sometimes. Today, these are some of the things I’m grateful for.

  • An extended family, most of whom live close by. They’re my best friends, (and I don’t have to travel on holidays).
  • A part-time job and 2 steady freelance clients. No immediate money worries.
  • The life circumstances that allow me write novels. Because telling stories makes me happier than anything else I do. Read more

More Books for the Blind

It is serendipitous that I became aware of the National Federation of the Blind’s complaints against Kindle just days after deciding to make my novels more accessible to visually impaired readers. NFB is filing a lawsuit claiming that Kindle’s lack of a voice menu makes the device impossible for blind people to use. Several universities are supporting  NFB by boycotting the product as a replacement for text books until Kindle makes the e-reader more accessible to the visually impaired. Read more

NaNo Inspiration

I’m participating in National Novel Writing Month for the first time. To hit the goal, I need 1667 words a day for 30 days. Right! But I’m in it  for the motivation to write as much as I can every day for a month and finish the draft of my novel in progress. Today I rewrote a scene because it was wrong, losing some words in the process. Tomorrow I’ll interview a SWAT  leader, then rewrite the scene again. Both rewrites will be a setback to my NaNo word count, but they’ll bring me closer to my goal of a finished Read more

Why I Love Eugene

Characters everywhere! You can run into the most interesting people just cruising around, but as newspaper writer, I get sent to interview them. It’s wonderful! One day last week, for example, I interviewed Omer and Dave Orian, red-afro-sporting Israeli brothers who operate Off the Waffle out of their home (and a cart near the UO). “Obsessed with waffles” is how Dave describes them and their business, which has a very loyal following. (You have to click through for the photos!) Read more