Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m back today after a three day Writer’s Conference that I thoroughly enjoyed. It gave me the extra incentive I needed to tackle a couple of projects that I’ve been thinking about and I’m going to start on those soon.
I’ve finally finished my personal editing process for my fourth novel and I’m excited about it. It’s a coming of age novel and it’s grittier than my past work. I’ve branched out into new territory and that’s exhilarating for me.
I’ve also been reading more too. I’ve just finished Rainbow Rowell’s “Fangirl.”
It was a great story; however, I didn’t like it as much as “Eleanor and Park.”
The main thing that I enjoyed about “Fangirl” is the fact that the love story between Cath and Levi wasn’t instalove like you find in other young adult books. This is important, in my opinion, because it gives a more realistic view of what love is supposed to be like for our young people.
Instalove or love at first sight is unrealistic and if the stories that portray it are the first glimpse of what love is like for our young girls, I think it sets them up for disappointment. They’re looking for something that doesn’t exist.
In my opinion, love at first sight should actually be called attraction at first sight. I agree we can become attracted to someone just by his or her physical presence, but this should never be mistaken for love.
As parents and educators, we need to teach this to our girls. Boys need to learn it too, but many of them don’t read the instalove books that young girls do, so they don’t receive the same misconstrued message.
In my opinion, we need to teach our teens communication skills that will help them negotiate the turbulent emotions they’ll feel when they embark on that treacherous trail of love. Especially that first love. Nothing will burn as deep as this first one.
Both of Rainbow Rowell’s books do this. Another book that shows us that love starts out as friendship is “The Fault in our Stars” by John Green. Real love always starts out that way.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my post. What are your thoughts on instalove in our books for teens? I’d love to read them, so leave a comment!
Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you! I’m back today and I have a book review for you. Yes, I was able to sneak one in with all my writing and editing! It’s a great way for me to unwind when I’ve been working hard all day. 🙂
The book I’m talking about today is “Eleanor and Park.”
Bono met his wife in high school, Park says. So did Jerry Lee Lewis, Eleanor answers. I’m not kidding, he says. You should be, she says, we’re 16. What about Romeo and Juliet?
Shallow, confused, then dead. I love you, Park says. Wherefore art thou, Eleanor answers. I’m not kidding, he says. You should be.
Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love—and just how hard it pulled you under.
I absolutely LOVED this story!
It’s about a young girl who doesn’t fit in anywhere. Her name is Eleanor. She’s picked on and bullied because she’s different. She rides the bus every day to school and ends up sitting next to a Korean boy named Park.
It’s a love story that starts out with Eleanor reading comics over Park’s shoulder. The next thing you know he’s bringing her comics to read and then it progresses to Park creating tapes of his favorite music for her.
When I started reading this, I thought it was going to be one of those cute, bubblegum romances, but it isn’t. There’s an element of danger that rears its ugly head and at first, you don’t really see it coming.
I loved the twist at the end. I don’t want to say too much more because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but this story is one of my most favorite so far. The character development was incredible and so was the plot with its giant twist at the end. It brought tears to my eyes. It’s a great story that helps you remember what young love was like.
Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’ve been sitting here spinning my wheels trying to come up with a topic for today’s blog. After four attempts, I’ve found one that works for me. Yay!
According to the above article, there’s an underlying trend in our society where attractive women are railroaded. I know what you’re thinking; they’re smart, attractive, and capable. How can they be railroaded?
It’s kind of a mob mentality. I’ve seen this happen in places where I’ve worked and I’ve seen it happen to women who aren’t goddesses by any means, but they all seem to have one thing in common. They have high self-esteem.
When women get into the corporate environment, they bring their issues with them. It’s unfortunate, but true. And one of the underlying issues for women seems to be low self-esteem, or she has more self-esteem than me. This underlying competitiveness among women is why men say, “women can’t work together.”
Let me explain how this works. Let us say poker chips represent our self-worth. So, the more self-esteem you have the bigger your pile of poker chips. If you have a big pile, you’re carefree, relaxed, and even willing to give one or two chips away. You’re generous with your self-esteem and don’t have a problem offering a compliment or a pat on the back.
However, let us say your self-esteem is low. Let us say your pile of chips is small. If this is the case, then you’re not going to give any of your chips away. You’re going to horde them and may even try to steal someone else’s chips. I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this. You’re going to try to steal someone’s self-esteem by belittling their efforts, maximizing their mistakes, and minimizing their contributions. In addition, if you’re in an environment with other women who have low self-esteem, those other women are going to join the cause too. Everyone wants a bigger pile of chips and if you’re the one with the biggest pile, well…you’re pile is the target.
I’ve seen this happen more than once. So how do we turn this trend around? Well, if you recognize that you may be someone with low self-esteem, all you have to do is increase your pile of chips. 🙂 I know, easier said than done.
Here’s a few ideas.
First, you have to accept yourself. That’s right all of the positive things about you and the negative ones too. Once you’ve accepted yourself you’re on the right path.
Second, you have to become internally oriented. What I mean by this is you have to decide for yourself what moral code you want to follow and then follow it. I feel by doing this, you’ll stop comparing yourself to those around you, because you’re living up to your own expectations and not anyone else’s. Therefore, you’re less likely to feel anxiety when a co-worker belittles your accomplishment because you won’t be looking for her approval, you’ll be looking for your own.
Third, recognize when someone has a small pile of chips and help her out by giving her a compliment. By performing random acts of kindness, you’re not only helping someone else’s self-worth, you’re helping your own. Please keep in mind this also applies to yourself. It’s okay to perform these acts of kindness for yourself, especially when you feel your self-esteem slipping a little. When you perform these for yourself, it may take the form of a bubble bath or maybe going for a walk, anything that makes you feel good about yourself.
Fourth, take care of yourself by eating right, getting enough sleep, and getting enough exercise. When you’re physically healthy, it really does help on those days when you’re feeling down.
Fifth, set a goal for yourself and accomplish it. It can be a goal about anything, finding a job, asking for a raise, deciding to have a better relationship with your son or daughter, or choosing to exercise more. Once you make the decision, take action to accomplish the goal. And remember every setback is a learning experience that will point you in the right direction and bring you closer to your goal. Don’t beat yourself up if you have a setback. Learn from it.
So, there you have it, my ideas on how to improve your feelings of self-worth. Do you have any ideas you’d like to share? If you do, leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you.
Hello Everyone! I hope all is well with you! I’m so excited that I’m going to be on Nicole O’Dell’s radio show this Friday, February 1st at 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time!
Here’s her website http://nicoleodell.com/
I’ll be talking about my books and how they can encourage parent/teen interaction!
I’d love it if you’d tune in and chat with us!
Here are the book covers and blurbs that we’ll be discussing! 🙂
This book opens in a small town in Michigan where fifteen-year-old Sarah Cole is stuck spending the summer at her Aunt and Uncle’s with her sister, Lacey. She’s not happy with the situation until she befriends a girl named Jackie. The three girls stumble upon the ruthless murder of a reclusive neighborhood woman. One of the officers investigating the crime believes the girls are responsible for her death. Fearing that this officer will frame them for the murder, the girls organize their own detective squad. They become the Super Spies and start their own fact-finding mission. The Super Spies can’t understand why anyone would want to murder the “Cat Lady” until they start digging into her past and discover a horrible crime that happened thirty years ago. They uncover a connection between the two crimes and attempt to bring this information to the police, only to be reprimanded for meddling in the inquest. Not only are the girls upset by the admonition, but they also struggle with the fact that their exuberant investigating could provide a legal loophole allowing the killer to go free. To make matters worse, the police don’t even believe them. Frustrated by this turn of events, the Super Spies realize it’s up to them to snare the Cat Lady killer, or die trying…
This book opens in a small town in Michigan where Sarah and her sister Lacey are now living with their Aunt and Uncle. Still reeling from the fact her parents have disappeared, Sarah starts the school year with her new friend Jackie Jenkins. When Sarah learns the school has been bombed, she’s filled with dread. Uncle Walt is a teacher, and he was in the school when the bomb exploded. Taking matters into her own hands, Sarah decides to search for him. The rest of the Super Spies are right behind her. When a fireman chases them away from the school, Sarah becomes suspicious. She decides to investigate. The FBI arrives on the scene. Sarah realizes this bombing could have even bigger implications. Searching for the bombers, Sarah is introduced to the world of terrorism. She fears that the bombing and her parents’ disappearance are connected and terrorists are involved. To make matters worse, the bombers are determined to finish the job. Can the Super Spies find the bombers before it’s too late?
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you’ll tune in and chat with us!
I hope all is well with you! I’ve just learned something exciting and I wanted to share it with you right away.
Astraea Press, my publisher, has just started something new. They’ve organized a Book Club.
Now the purpose of this Book Club is to bring Readers and Authors together. I know, you’re asking, how are they going to do that?
Well, here’s the answer, they’ve created a Facebook group called, yes you guessed it, “The Astraea Press Book Club”.
The exciting thing about this is that each month they’re giving one book away FREE for the entire month. Wow! How cool is that! Wait there’s more…
At the end of the month readers and reviewers can chat with the author and get the inside scoop on a lot of things, like the writing process, what they do when they get writer’s block, where they get their characters, etc.
I know what you’re thinking…how do I join. Well, I’m here to tell you that you can join by clicking on this link!
