Day: August 18, 2014

On Your Mark … Get Set: Wait Am I a Starter or a Finisher?

horses raceAre you a Starter or a Finisher?

To some degree, you’re probably both. However, I’m sure you lean one way or the other. It’s important to look inside and ask yourself that question. It could save you a lot of headache down the road.

If you’re a starter, you always come up with new ideas, new projects and a great new story. You jump in with both feet and pound out something amazing … until the moment you realize you have to finish. The details of finishing are what slow us down. You’d rather be starting a new project. Continue reading “On Your Mark … Get Set: Wait Am I a Starter or a Finisher?”

Featured Book: Wild Nights

Wild NightsWild Nights
by Mary Ellen Courtney
Genres: Contemporary fiction
Available from Amazon.

After outrunning a crazy childhood, Hannah Spring thought she had her life together. Then her grandmother dies, and Hannah leaves her safe lair to oversee the burial. Nothing, except perhaps her childhood, could have prepared her for the year of wild nights that follow, or for finding the real Hannah.

Excerpt:

“Alan Watts?” he asked. “What’s that, an enlightened alias?”

“He said it’s his name. His parents were into Zen. They had their moments.”

“So did ours, but they didn’t name me Ringo Spring.” He was shaking his head as he punched in the last of the information and walked into the office with the funeral director.

“That was lucky,” said Anna.

“Yeah. Ringo Spring is seriously schlocky. But Mom was in love with George Harrison. George Spring isn’t too bad. Dad would have named him Jerry Garcia Spring.”

“I wouldn’t have married someone named Ringo. I’m not sure about Jerry either,” said Anna. “But I meant the truck is lucky.”

“I guess. Now I’m worried that bad car karma has run amuck, and Grandma’s been shanghaied by an enlightened criminal who does a mean Texas Two Step.”

“We’ll know soon enough,” said Anna. “At least she loved to dance.”

What others are saying:

“Reading the book was an absolute joy. . .Everything that makes us human is condensed in this amazingly crafted story.” Lit Amri – Readers’ Favorite

Follow That Dream?

Fail-1Several months ago I had a dream. (Hah! I’ll bet you thought I was going to write about the dream of writing, in general.) Nope. This is about a real dream. I actually remember this one vividly – an unusual experience for me as that almost never happens. I knew from the start that this dream had within it the skeleton of a really interesting story, if I could only get it on paper. My last book had been sent on its way and I was ready to begin something new, something different from the trilogy that had occupied the last seven years of my life. Continue reading “Follow That Dream?”