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Fast Five: Why Non-Readers Need Libraries

Jan3

As a reader it’s no shock that the first thing I scope out when moving (after groceries and gas) is the library. It is a great community resource even for non readers.  Here’s your Fast Five for why Non-Readers should be going to the library.

  1. Kids & Teen programs. Libraries have several kids programs, from story time to arts. Some even have service dogs that will sit and listen to a child read aloud. Most also do things for teens, including homework help, crafts and more.
  2. Access to technology. Can’t afford a computer, a new printer or WiFi? You can afford a library card, which is generally free to locals. There may be a nominal fee for the printer, but the computer use is free.
  3. Meeting other adults– my local library has a craft day for grown ups. This Friday, I’m going to attend a Murder Mystery party. They are supposed to also be starting a meet time for adults to come in (kinda like a grown up play date with no safety issues and no booze).
  4. Services & Classes. Mine has a notary for a small fee. They will also proctor exams. What services does your have? They may also have classes on things like: using the computer, coding, gardening, caring for elderly family members. I have seen all of the above at a library. For free.
  5. Other things (non books) to check out. Almost everyone knows about DVDs and CDs. My local library also checks out STEAM kits for kids, puzzles, telescopes, fishing poles and binoculars.

While libraries are great for books and magazines, what they are the very best at? Being the center of the community.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably a reader. What other things does your local library offer that surprised you? It shocked me to learn mine has telescopes and fishing poles 😀

Also, make sure your non-reading family and friends know the services that are available to them.

Here’s to keeping the Libraries open and thriving in 2026!!!!

No Kings

Jun14

A poem in progress

No Kings

Our military does not vow
To protect Kings nor Queens
Instead their vow belongs
To the Constitution
Which exists to blanket
(US) us in safety.

And should an enemy come
Forward and make complaint
Against the words,
The very page and ink, that
Forged a nation under God
Then shall they raise
Sword and shield to defend.

Lady Liberty will keep watch,
Her flame burning bright
Watching as her sons and daughters
Defend the rights
Laid down by our forefathers.

Checking In: Fast FIVE

Apr10

Oohhhh here we go! This fast five has to do with me, Myself and I. Lol. Just a quick check-in on how the writerly and readerly things are going

  1. Still reading an absolute MONSTER amount of books. Instead of constantly adding to the books read total, these past few weeks I’ve been rereading old favorites. At 140 out of the 350 I put on the 2025 challenge– I think I’m gonna be ok.
  2. I am currently grooving on the Ladies of Horror flash project. You can find it HERE. It explores a darker side that I find I really like. It makes it easier to explore some things– whether social or emotional. You should go and read all the fabulous poems and stories that are over there!
  3. Still doing a poem a day and making it to my 4pm writing date with the absolutely fabulous Rie. She has a substack where she does many types of poetry things. Here is a link to her post about one of my favorite things to hoard– blank note books!
  4. I’m getting better… I’d had a brutal  case of bronchitis and am slowly getting everything back on track. I’d let a lot of things slide while sick: housework, writing, all the stuff.
  5. Including my OTHER creative outlet– the planner journals. At first I started writing it in a journal but then stopped that too. And I’m not starting back up because it seems like so much work to back plan a MONTH. Maybe though… Maybe I should do what I do with my writing. Give myself a little bit of grace and start where I’m at. I can always go back and do the other weeks with my journal…

So there’s my current Fast Five. What would your current Fast Five include?

Not gonna lie…. Almost did a 6 but there’s nothing sinful to put on the list!

Odd Duck

Mar20

Lately I’ve been feeling like an odd duck, swimming in the ocean.

Let me back up. Life up and heave-hoed me in 2023. My dad died, the one who kept me tethered to where I was, through love for him while honoring a promise to my mother.  I moved from Northern California to Missouri a year and a half ago. I started out here with my teen son, but now I’m suddenly an empty nester. I’ve started attending church. I’ve been around family more. I started working from home.


Holy crap. No wonder I feel like a duck in the ocean.  Feet paddling just as fast as I can.


That has been reflected in my writing. I quit writing—heck I quit reading—for a while. Even the cards I used to send out were few and far between.

I’m writing more now. I’m writing a variety of things, too. I had been firmly in my short story era, but I’ve branched into drabbles, poetry, flash fiction and essays. And I’m submitting that work.


What I haven’t done? Gotten anywhere close to completing a novel. Or heck, half way through a novella. Will I? Maybe. I have in the past, but that was decades ago. Am I heart broken? Not really.
Because this odd duck is writing.

And sometimes that’s all you can do.

5 Things to do when not writing

Mar6

So… There are lots of reasons why we don’t write. Sometimes it’s scary like a writing block (OH NO! Will I ever write again?). Oftentimes, it’s just life. You’re sick. You had to go to Aunties house for whatever reason. Sometimes, our brains just hurt. It’s easy though, while not writing to lose the habit of writing.

The following five help boost my creativity and still have an element to help with writing in them.

  1. Art Begets Art. I will die on this hill. Whether you go to a museum and view works of art or make your own– art helps us access our creative side. That goes for painting, drawing, music– all sorts. Want to exercise that writer’s brain? Write a story based on a picture. Or, write a rebuttal to a song. It worked for Miley.
  2. Read. This one seems like a no-brainer but you’d be surprised. But I’m not just talking about your own genre. Read non-fiction and learn something new. Read poetry that touches your soul. Read a mystery or a romance or a collection of humourous historical facts. What ever tickles your fancy. You never know what will spark.
  3. Go outside. This one is hard for me, personally. I’m an indoor girlie. But I feel better when I go outside. And Mother Nature? She knows how to soothe our souls. The peace that wishes over me in the forest, when I’m able to just breathe is precious.
  4. Play. Play a game. Seriously. Make it something fun, though. Enjoyable. Not a time waster. I use solitaire with a deck of cards and it allows my brain to empty.
  5. Write. Write letters. Write stupid poems or stories. If you go to the zoo, is that zebra kinda shady? How would a giraffe tie their bow tie? Write lists. Write in your journal.

What kind of things do you do to reclaim your creativity? Your writing?

Making Words Count

Feb28

Many times, people near & dear to me wonder where my fiction ideas come from. The stories that stick, the ones I finished.

Why are they different?

The easy and hard answer is that they mattered. They mattered to me. A humourous story about a young female wizard who gets things wrong? Came from a place of insecurity with my own voice. Another story was paranormal with vampires and witches and druids  and dealt with missing my friends, as well as how shitty it is to have a loved one with addictions. A dark fantasy where I dealt with having the same (non-cancerous) tumors as my mother, being a mother myself and knowing she died shortly after the surgery. (I made it.)

I’m all over the place. Both with completed and incomplete stories.  I’ve been bouncing from story to story lately, circling what I want to get out of me and into the world. Because that’s what I, personally, do. I work my demons out through writing.

Whether it’s funny or bittersweet depends on the story.

But writing stories is where I slay my demons.

I think I just forgot for a moment that my pen is my sword.

Let’s battle up!

Authors who Challenge  you

Feb19

As readers, oftentimes we have triggers that we just can’t cross. That mess with our mental health. We adhere to those boundaries to protect ourselves.

Now, I don’t read books about cheaters– either male or female. It isn’t a trigger though– I just have little to no respect for the characters. There are exceptions, but it’s a generally held line.  I just don’t see the appeal .

Triggers are different. The reason for not reading those stories has more to do with your own mental health. About content that can cause you to spiral. For many of the women I know, that includes violence (in all forms) against women. In addition, I have triggers that have to do with drug and alcohol use. Those mentioned above are actually my personal biggest triggers.

However, I can no longer say I will not read a book with those triggers. I’m just very very careful about which authors I’ll trust with those issues.

Jillian West.

Jenn Bullard.

Jillian West pushes sometimes on my drug use trigger. Not often, but it does happen. It was handled so well, I started reading everything she wrote. Most of her work doesn’t phase me, but when it does she has trigger warnings outlined and it makes sense in the book. Honestly, like probably 90-95% of her work gives me the warm fuzzies. They are like stepping into a movie with your besties.

Jenn Bullard is a different beast entirely. And I do mean beast. If Jillian is like going out with your bestie– Jenn is the friend who is going to push you to your limits, hold you when you fall apart and then put you back together again.

Why am I telling you this? Welllll….. Jenn Bullard has a new book coming out in two days. In a previous book, “Forget”, oh it took me so long to pick it up and a little while longer to open it. In the forward, she tells readers it’s going to be a rough journey. Be careful of breakable objects. She ends the forward with “Okay, deep breaths, friends. Come yell at me later.”

I needed those deep breaths. Her work wrecks me in the best way possible. Bullard does what so few others can do– break a readers faith in a character and then bring them back into a reader’s good graces so we start rooting for them.

Jenn’s books mean many tears for me.

They are cathartic.

Oh, so cathartic.

Bad things happen to good people and still they survive. They find a way to thrive. To get to a Happily Ever After. And sometimes that HEA includes therapy, and that’s ok.

Her newest comes out on the 20th. I won’t be around for a bit– maybe I can be brave and meet it on Day 1 this time.

So, my Lovelies, do you have authors who break you & put you back together again?

Talk to you soon!

Something New

Jan8

I have 2 Happy Planners that I use for creative journaling. The problem is with my hermit tendencies, I have a problem filling up one let alone two.

So this year I started doing something different.

I’m using one as a creative journal, the other one tho… It has become my Writing planner.

What is a writing planner you might ask. It’s a good question. It can be anything you want to be, but for me a writing planner is….

A place to celebrate writing

Write the poem I wrote that day

Note any submissions I’ve made

Write my wins in bright colors, bold letters (like I wrote  2K words yesterday!)

Keep track of the days I blog

It can be anything you want or need it to be. For me, myself and I, seeing what I’m doing laid out with stickers and colors feels good. I look at each day that is filled out and pride creeps in. I don’t often feel pride as a writer. Most of the time I feel like a failure. But seeing each day fill up with the fact that I wrote? Yes, please!

What would you keep track of in a planner of your art form?

Talent Vs Hard Work

Jan3

I love to write and I’ve discovered I’m getting better as I write more and more. I’ve also discovered that sometimes it takes me 5 different manuscripts at the same time before I find the one with a skeleton the story can hang off of.

I’m putting in the work. Not knowing if I’ll get better or get published or anything. Just doing it for the joy. For the story I want to read.

My son is 18. No longer a princeling, or boy-child (even if he Always will be to me). Something he has always enjoyed is drawing. I encouraged it– it’s great for self expression and art is a form of therapy for me. And many others, I’m sure.

The problems come in with others. His dyspraxia makes holding pencils difficult. Mechanical pencils are the norm for him. The problem doesn’t come from his heart, from his enjoyment or even his dyspraxia. It came from others.

His fine motor skills made writing difficult in the education system. Teachers and peers can be cruel. They can take your love for your chosen art form and make you feel small. I hate that.

I hate that people who will never pick up a pencil and draw can make him feel less than confident. I hate that people who wouldn’t know how to write a thank you letter come after authors who have written a whole novel.

Just because you don’t appreciate it doesn’t mean it isn’t art.

Being an artist is about leaving a piece of yourself in the world. Regardless of the form, whether pencil or paint, music notes or words, art has soul to it.

And the thing about art? The more you do, the better you get. Talent is only maybe 10% of the equation. The rest is just doing it. Getting better. Finding your voice.

Finding you.

Know this, my Lovelies — if someone doesn’t appreciate your art, they aren’t the intended audience.  It will find a home.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown

Jun22

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert is a romance novel that opened my eyes up in regards to writing in the characters viewpoint.

We all know about POV and perspective. At least I assume we do (if not, as with my last post, ask your question! Well get it answered! No fuss, no miss, no hate).

The male lead in the HEA is Red. Red has long, red hair, tattoos and relationship baggage. He also has an artistic talent that permeates his character. We know he’s an artist not just by the paint under his nails, but how he thinks of Chloe. He thinks of her in color and texture and warmth and light. It’s not just Chloe, either. Somehow Hibbert just slips us into an artists mind and it feels great.

But it also reminds us writers that there is more to writing in a charters perspective than just the nuts and bolts. We need to take the time to think through what a character’s passions will do to the way they think of the world. It’s both terrifying and liberating as a writer.

As one who isn’t that great as fleshing out details it’s scary. As one who loves a puzzle, it’s kind of intriguing and exciting.

Ta, my lovelies. I have a villainous hero who I need to flesh out.

It’s going to be so fun!