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Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash Let me establish from the get-go that I love love candles. They create a relaxing ambience in any room and there’s nothing so romantic as a dinner with tall, flickering tapers, even if the meal is a boring plate of baked beans. I’ve read that famous Victorian authors like Jane Austen and Charles Dickens wrote by candlelight, as did Mark Twain and other writers who grew up without the luxury of electricity. Surprisingly, even 20th centur

Dear Santa, Guess where I am? I know you’re busy, so I’ll tell you. I’m at the Candy Cane Writing Workshop at Faith Camp Meeting Grounds and we’re actually writing with real candy canes. Well, not actually. I can’t lie to Santa. They’re really pens that look like candy canes. They were inside the red and white velvet stockings they gave us at the door. Well, maybe they’re not real velvet. Nobody’s told me one way or the other. That is the beginning of a letter that 8-year old

There’s a famous scene in the movie, Mary Poppins , where Mary, Bert, and the children jump into one of Bert’s chalk paintings on the sidewalk, resulting in a jolly holiday with the magical nanny. Wouldn’t you love to do that? In my imagination I can, but reality is a different matter. (I guess I need a magical parrot head umbrella.) Still, I’ve found Art to be an amazing tool for writing, one that helps stimulate ideas and improve my observation skills. Getting creative I’m

If you’ve read my book, Write Awake: A Conscious Path to Creativity and Change , you know that I did not follow the "traditional" path to becoming a writer. I was a professional singer until I was about 23 years old and I always thought singing would be my career for the rest of my life. When I think about it, I doubt I’ve ever done anything traditionally. For example: I didn’t go to college immediately after high school. I didn’t marry until I was nearly forty and I didn't w

One of my favorite writing spots is the observation deck at Scarborough Beach in Narragansett, Rhode Island. It's cool, covered, and where I wrote the entire script for my Joywriting with the Dolphins teleseminar. Once I watched a little girl playing in the waves. She had a long, brunette braid and wore a hot pink and black wetsuit, screaming in delight as the waves teased and tickled her feet. Each time a foamy white cap approached her, she’d jump, squeal, and bob up and d

Hot. So. Darn. Hot. I’ve never been a fan of the dog days of summer, so I am very grateful that Nick installed our air conditioners before I seriously began to melt. But there’s one thing that’s really driving me crazy: I’m having a serious banana and coconut craving! Ever since the temperature crept up to 90 degrees last month, I’ve been on the lookout for that lovely banana/coconut aroma that seems to only be found on suntanning bodies at beaches farther away than ou