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Using Her Gifts to Help Others

The most recent article I had published in The Southwest Orlando Bulletin is about Ashleigh Ciambriello, an active local teenager who is in her first year at Ithaca College in New York.

Living Her Dream

Early last year, I had the pleasure of meeting Barb Simon, who was embarking on a new phase of life and starting her own radio show. (Article here.) Well, Barb is moving up in the world and continues to positively glow about the wonderful things that are happening in her life. Here's an article about some of the recent changes in her life and career.

Hotel Go Boom

You may remember way back in May when we went to watch the implosion of the Colony Plaza hotel in Ocoee. I wrote an article for the Southwest Orlando Bulletin about that special event. Check it out here.

A Chat with a Teen Leader

Katherine Pulker is a college freshman with a unique view of the world. Click here to read the article I wrote about her for the Southwest Orlando Bulletin.

In Memory of Kathy Heenan

Recently, I had the difficult task of writing a memorial piece for a very special lady who died too soon. Kathy Heenan was a devoted teacher, wife, and mother who lost her battle to breast cancer. She could certainly teach us all a few lessons about living.

The Movement to Stop MS

I'm a little behind the times posting this article link. In the March 5 issue of The Southwest Orlando Bulletin, I have a short piece about some local MS Society events.

A Place of My Own

Every writer needs a place to put words to paper. Over the past couple of weekends, Keith and I have worked hard to make my little office a far more appealing place for me to be in while I put words on paper. Because it is so beautiful, and because Roger asked so nice, I thought I'd share a photograph with you.

What we did:

• Removed the old stained carpet and installed bamboo flooring.
• Removed the old 3" baseboards and replaced them with 5+" baseboards.
• Framed out the doorways to the foyer and the kitchen with some lovely casing.
• Painted the new trimwork and touched up the wall paint.
• Bought and installed a new shelving system with drawers and doors to hide clutter.

And it looks great. You will notice that everything a growing writer needs is close at hand: Apple laptop, printer, calendar, iPhone, house phone, water, and tournament bracket.

Treebute

In the current issue of The Southwest Orlando Bulletin is an article I wrote about Windermere's annual Treebute celebration, which features fun and educational experiences for people of all ages. If you're in the area this weekend, go to downtown Windermere and learn something about trees.

Keeping the Faith

While I have been wandering around the American Southwest, my latest article was posted by The Southwest Orlando Bulletin. This article is about a woman I recently had the privilege to interview. She is a true inspiration as she journeys through a fight with breast cancer.

An Author with the Midas Touch

The August 21 issue of The Southwest Orlando Bulletin features the article I wrote about author James Sheridan and his treasure hunt designed to help promote his book, The Pandora Prescription, and reading in general. (In case you've already forgotten, I loved the book, and here are my thoughts about it.)

During the interview, I was definitely a fangirl. It's difficult not to be when you find yourself in the presence of someone whose book kept you enraptured for two days.

Here's an interesting note or two about the photograph. The Italian version of the book had just arrived, which was an exciting point for Sheridan and his publicist. In addition, Sheridan said that for every hour of actual writing he achieves, he probably spends five hours in his thinking pose. I'm considering adopting a thinking pose that entails something besides staring all glazy-eyed out the window of my office.

Hope Springs Eternal at HopeSpring Church

Today's issue of The Southwest Orlando Bulletin features another of the business profiles I wrote last month. This one is about HopeSpring Church, a satellite location of St. Luke's UMC.

AllState Business Profile Published

My friend Toni Daylor writes a good many of the business profiles published by The Southwest Orlando Bulletin. When she took the month of July off, our editor asked me to write two of those pieces. Of course, I accepted, even though I was a little anxious about a business profile, as opposed to the very human-interest-type stories I have been writing.

It turns out that the business profiles were fun, too. In the writing, I just had to hold back on some of the fun detail that I would probably add into a different type of article. Other than that, all the interviewing and researching and writing the article were basically the same.

The first of those business profiles was published in the issue of the publication that hit the stands today.

And as it turns out, Richard Kerr picked up the clients of our AllState agent when she closed her business, so our interview turned out to be the first time I actually met my insurance agent.

A Cause and a Climb

On Sunday, Chuck Norman was scheduled to begin climbing Mount Rainier in Washington State in order to raise money and awareness for the National Multiple Sclerosis Foundation. I had the privilege of interviewing him and his wife Elena and their son Victor at a nearby Starbuck's a few weeks ago. If you're interested in reading about his motivation and passion for helping people, here's the article I wrote after our meeting.

The Best Life Barb Show

A few weeks ago I had a lunch interview with Barbara Simon and her radio co-host Lou Caracci. The lunch was maybe too much fun for the short piece I wrote about Barb.

The most difficult part of writing human interest-type stories may be having a lot more information than you can fit into your allotted space. At any rate, Barb and Lou were excellent lunch companions, and I wish them much success with their radio show.

We Celebrated 20 Years with DPHS

Another article, this one about the 20th anniversary celebration of Dr. Phillips High School, was published online today. My friend Lisa and I attended the celebration and enjoyed it very much. Bill Spoone, the school's first principal and the night's guest speaker, had us rolling in our seats laughing. And I'm a sucker for a good laugh.

In Print

The article I turned in last month is now on the publication's web site. Yes, I am very happy to see it in print. Yes, I have been waiting anxiously for the issue. And, yes, Keith and I are going out to celebrate tonight.

A Few Lessons Learned

Six weeks ago, I accepted an assignment to write a feature article for a local paper. I did my Internet research, went to the play written by this lady, and conducted several interviews.

Then, I wrote a horrible article. I rewrote it. And had another horrible article. In my attempts to force all the facts into the article, I left myself with a dried-out, shriveled-up lifeless piece of paper with words on it.

At that point, I sat down with my friend, Toni, who gave me some excellent advice. She told me to ignore my ideas that I needed to get all those facts in, sit down with a blank piece of paper, and write the article I want to write.

So yesterday, with today's deadline looming ominously over me, I sat down with the very old-fashioned legal pad and ball-point pen and wrote the article that had played out in my head as I conducted the primary interview. What I wrote made me happy. I hope it makes my editor happy.

I plan to make a lasting note of the valuable lessons I learned from this experience:

1. Six weeks gives me way too long to edit and chew the life out of an article.
2. I need to always trust my own voice, the voice that speaks to me as I get to know the real subject of any article.
3. One of the most important tools any writer can have is a writing friend who will tell you the truth about your writing and can then advise you on how to clear your head and write from your heart.

One Campus, One Book

As part of the ongoing theme to my week (which involves meeting people, in case you missed it), yesterday afternoon, I went with some friends to a lecture at Reformed Theological Seminary to hear Lauren Winner speak about her latest book, Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity.

Unfortunately, none of the bookstores on my side of town had that book, so I was unable to read it prior to the lecture yesterday. Fortunately, the campus bookstore was able to help me out. After the talk, I got her to sign my books and snap a photograph with me and my friend Debby (in pink).

For an hour, Winner spoke about what motivated her to write the book, as well as some of the lies she tries to dispel in the book. She also answered audience questions. While wanting the book to be "more theological," Winner also worked to make it culturally relevant and contemporary, even going so far as to say that if the book isn't dated in ten years, she feels she did something wrong.

One of the parts of the lecture that fascinated me was Winner's discussion on her regrets about the book, what she wishes she had included, what she would change or add in a revised version. It never dawned on me that she might feel great shame--her word--about leaving anything out of a book of this nature. She does, though. For instance, the book does not address sexual violence and the ways in which the church responds or doesn't respond to it. Approached regularly by people who have been affected by this issue, Winner wishes she had the foresight to address it in the book.

A strong believer in community as the most important shaper of morality and character, Winner advocates that rather than trying to figure out how to talk to our kids and each other about sex, focusing on belonging to a strong, supportive community will facilitate those discussions in healthy ways.

I'm an avid believer in the power of community, as well. I've just never given much thought to the idea of how community shapes ideas about sex. It just feels like too many people in the room, doesn't it?

Another NaNoWriMo Approaches

For those few of you who don't keep up with my calendar, NaNoWriMo fast approaches. Up until this morning, I had six (6, a half-dozen) ideas. Then, this morning I got an idea for a seventh. Oh, the difficulty in narrowing them down. Oh, the brain spasms.

Then, I had my monthly standing lunch date with my good friend, Toni, who has decided to take the insane challenge of also writing 50,000 words during November. She volunteered her excellent services in helping me to narrow down the choices. While she was wildly amused that I have such a high dead body count in my idea file, she thought another of my ideas would be better.

But when I whipped out the latest, Number 7, we both nodded our heads in agreement that I should venture far afield and try my hand at something completely different than anything I've tried before. All the work I've done on the other ideas: Useless for next month's adventure. The work I have ahead of me in the next two weeks to get myself prepared for NaNo: Lots (technical term).

So instead of some heavy, emotional, dark stuff, I'm shooting for something lighter in tone. Toni thinks I can even have a dead body, as long as I make it--the body or the circumstances--funny.

A Thought on Character

This morning, I had to be across town for a 9 o'clock meeting. At that time of day, I was on the road with a significant number of my neighbors. Fortunately, to get there, I was not stuck on major thoroughfares; I take all surface streets to get there.

I had to wait several iterations for a particularly irritating light with no turn lane or signal. As I sat staring at the car in front of me, I noticed that the driver of this little blue Chevy good-gas-mileage car was bobbing and weaving and dancing in his seat. At first, since his hands were by his face, I thought he was having a vibrant speaker-phone conversation. Then, I realized he was playing a harmonica. Possibly to the accompaniment of the radio.

This struck me as a wonderfully quirky trait for a character in a book. A man who entertains himself in heavy traffic by becoming a member of his favorite bands. I spent the rest of my drive putting him in different settings and situations to see how that harmonica would fit in.