Move Forward With SMART Goals for 2021

By Suzy Leopold

    With a new beginning many review and reflect on the 2020 year and then move forward into 2021 by making personal and/or career resolutions.

    Did you make resolutions or did you set goals as a new year was ushered in?

    Resolutions can be defined as a promise or a wish to do better. Most often resolutions are made with good intentions, purpose, and determination. However, by February many resolutions are left behind. They become abandoned resolutions.

    Most often goals include tangible objectives and plans for what one intends to accomplish all through determination. Goal setting provides direction to achieve desired outcomes. 

    To be more precise—set SMART goals.

    What are SMART Goals?

    Setting SMART Goals is a concept to achieve results.

    To achieve a successful end result with creativity on your side, consider establishing SMART Goals. 

    They are tangible, specific goals that are measured, possible, and achievable. They are relevant goals to match your needs in a timely fashion.

    Begin by identifying three or four goals. Make sure they meet the elements of a SMART goal. Are they concrete and specific? Can you quantify and measure them? Can you achieve them realistically? Are the goals relevant to your ultimate goal? Adjust as need be to make the dreams and desires come true. Set the bar higher if you discover the SMART goals you set are not challenging you. Fine tune and recalibrate goals if they are not practical. Consider long-term and short-term goals.

    Examine these SMART Goal examples and non examples.

Can you identify which ones will achieve the best results for success? 

An estimated 188.9 million American adults are determine to better themselves in 2021 by:

• Learning something new 
• Making lifestyle changes
• Setting goals

Another interesting fact: 

• 71 % of Americans are feeling hopeful in 2021.

For additional information:

Ready or Not. It’s Time to Show Up

What Good Writers Do

Writing Goals: 2021

    If you made resolutions or goals for the new year, you may want reconsider. It’s not too late to consider SMART Goals to achieve successful results. SMART Goals can be written as personal or professional goals anytime. Take these ideas and make them your own. SMART Goals are unique to each individual. 

    Celebrate your success along the way as you continue to move forward through the year.

    May you find insight and inspiration for your writing and/or illustrating journey by setting SMART Goals. May your promises to achieve with purpose equal success in 2021.

    Every new year is a time for renewal and a new beginning. Start 2021 off right by reading, writing, and creating with established SMART Goals.

 “You are the key to achieving your goals.

No one else is going to do it for you.

Go find your star and make it shine.”

~Mike Ciccotello, author and illustrator

ANYWHERE: The Place Ideas Live — Part One by Carol Coven Grannick

As I think about the school visits I hope to do after Reeni's Turn (my MG novel in verse) arrives in the world, I anticipate a child asking a question so many writers hear: Where do you get your ideas?

As writers, we know for sure that working hard to find ideas may not the most productive way of discovering ideas.

It's a seemingly simple, but actually complex question, because it involves our brains. And we don't really mean 'ideas', which by definition are thoughts or opinions. We mean thoughts or opinions that are unique, new, or completely different. They turn us suddenly onto a new path with a delightful shock, or slowly with awe and wonder. We can feel the difference!

I found myself thinking about the where-ideas-come-from question during a recent walk in the Mary McDonald Woods at the Chicago Botanic Gardens. It's a place in which I feel my brain clear out and open up as soon as I enter.

That day, my husband and I strolled along the winding trails, quiet, taking in the soft feel of the path, the almost-bare trees, the clean smells. After awhile, I stopped to take photos here, there, up into a tree.

I'd click, then tuck my phone away and pull out a small notebook and pen and scribble in a word or phrase. It wasn't something I planned. But it was something I was prepared for.

My mind popped with ideas for poetry inspired by a leaf,

Frozen in Time

young trees growing in a group,

Family Portrait

and two trees in 'conversation'.

My Nest's Bigger Than Your Nest

I believe it happened because my brain was open to two important aspects of discovering and receiving creative ideas: 1) noticing and 2) surprise.

Who forgot to sweep the floor?

 I Promise, It's Up There!!

May I Lean On You?

The outdoors offers many opportunities to notice, and according to research, to allow our brains to "open". And I do believe that time outdoors impacts the brain. But I also believe we can experience an open brain, receptive to noticing and to surprises, anywhere.

One of my indoor places that's loaded with opportunities to notice events, comments, and interactions is my favorite early childhood center.

Words spoken by the two, three, and four year-olds light my brain up and whisper, Surprise! And suddenly there's a new idea for a poem, a short story, or a picture book.

Creative ideas can happen in relaxed moments, or in response to a sensory, internal, or external experience so compelling that it pushes the brain into a state of attention, reminding it to find delight and poetry in a thing, an event, or an interaction.

Or they may occur during the routine chores of everyday life—folding laundry, cutting up veggies, mopping the kitchen floor.  It's not hard to love these times, the small, routine activities of daily life, when they become opportunities for receiving surprising ideas that float or pop in.  

It's as if the absence of looking for creative ideas—or even needing them—allows them to arrive in our brains, as long as those brains are open to the world around us—anything, everything, and anyone in it. 

Any moment we're alive in the world and open to noticing, our brains may also open to the surprise of a creative idea. Those wonderful new ways of experiencing anything in the world happen anywhere we are.

And then all we have to do is grab the nearest piece of paper and write them down.

Which means keeping paper everywhere...and especially, Anywhere.

Where or how do you find your Anywhere?

(Part Two: coming in February)

Welcome to our newest blogger, Carol Coven Grannick! ~ by Patricia Toht

The GROG has added a new blogger to its roster:

Carol Coven Grannick!

PT: Welcome, Carol! How did you get started as a writer?

Carol: As a child, it seemed natural for me to write, to put thoughts and emotions to paper. From childhood on, poetry and wonderful stories delighted and moved me, and the most natural thing in the world seemed to be for me to create the same. I suppose without putting it into words at the time, it felt like this - this thing, this experience is 'me.'

As far as I've meandered from full-time writing, being a writer has always figured into my multi-faceted identity. But there did come a time, once I was writing for children in a committed way, when I said to myself that whether or not I ever became book-published, I was a writer, and would keep writing. For several years, I put submitting on the back burner, and that freed me to write exactly what I needed and wanted to write. I still do. The deepest joy is in creating and re-creating.


PT: What inspires you?

Carol: Everywhere I go, everything I do, every moment of my life, can inspire a poem or idea for a picture book. It could be something a child does or says, something I observe or experience during the day, but it's always something visceral and something that my brain sees in language. An idea comes from this kind of response to anything - always something that catches me, sparks a sensation of wonder, even awe. Something tiny, but breathtaking, whether beautiful, joyful, painful, sorrowful, will catch my attention, and I'll hear an opening line of a poem, a title or opening lines for a picture book.

Advice Image source and CC link

PT: You've written quite a bit for newsletters and blogs. What are your favorite bits of advice for writers?

Carol: It's true that I've written lots of articles on the writer's inner life for newsletters and blogs. In fact, before I had a professional interest in the writer's inner journey and the strengths needed for persisting on the journey, I wrote columns for my high school paper, and later longer papers and articles that always leaned "internal." 

I never offer advice that I don't take myself, and so the small pieces of advice I'd offer - as a writer and clinical social worker - are these overarching things:

1. trust or learn to trust your emotions and refrain from judging them; 
2. if a pessimistic framework seems to inhibit your work, choices, and life, learn - with help and practice - to reframe language into a heartfelt, optimistic framework; and
3. when preoccupied with the self-absorbing issues of working at being creative, make certain that your life has "other-balance" - focusing on what you can do for others or the greater good.

PT: Which books and authors are among your favorites?

Carol: Many authors have impacted my writing life, from the ALL OF A KIND FAMILY books I received as a child and classic picture books like BLUEBERRIES FOR SAL, MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS, and THE STORY OF FERDINAND, to the extraordinary books I discovered at Skokie Solomon Schechter Day School, where Irene Sufrin had created and shared a magnificent K-5 library that took my breath away and turned my writing journey toward children. I read and re-read Jerry Spinelli, Linda Sue Park, Katherine Applegate, Kerry Madden, Karen Hesse, Lois Lowry, Claudia Mills, Deborah Wiles, Frances O'Roarke Dowell, Richard Peck, and so many more I don't have room to mention.

PT: Tell us a little about your upcoming book. What was your path to publication?

Esther Hershenhorn

Carol: My middle grade novel in verse, REENI'S TURN (Fitzroy Books, 2020), is a story of becoming, as one of my mentors, Esther Hershenhorn, so aptly said - really, a story of a shy, self-conscious preteen girl becoming the girl she'd like to be, without giving up the person she already is. It is a body-positive story that challenges the cultural notion that who we are, what we achieve in our lives, and what we even allow ourselves to want, is dependent on the size and shape of our bodies. 

The seed story for the novel appeared in Cricket Magazine in 2001, and inspired the award-winning experimental film, La Folia (Filmelodic, 2018). For now, I'll say that REENI has been through many years and more drafts and versions than I could have imagined, with me facing plenty of obstacles not unique to our business, but important to learn from, and to share. The degree of help and support I received from so many people in so many different arenas was a true gift. I took a turn toward independent, traditional publishers in early 2019, and found my good (and best) match with Fitzroy Books and publisher/editor Jaynie Royal.

Carol spent time this summer on a creative retreat, led by
Esther Hershenhorn in Landgrove, Vermont.

PT: Do you prefer the initial writing or the revision process?

Carol: I prefer revision, hands down! I love revising and have learned to revise with the eyes of a stranger. The benefit of putting away a manuscript for some period of time cannot be overstated. Our brains need the distance in order to see clearly.

PT: What's next for you?

Carol: I believe I've circled back to where I began my writing life - with poetry, whether verse or poetic prose, it feels like where I belong.

Heidi Bee Roemer

Poetry for the very young is my primary focus right now. When I began writing full-time, for the first time in my life, in July 2018, I took an intensive class with Heidi Bee Roemer. I felt like my brain exploded into a garden. I couldn't stop writing poetry for the very young, and I didn't want to! My inspirations were, and still are, the beloved children at the cutting-edge early childhood center where I'd worked for six years, and continue to serve as a volunteer story-reader. Heidi is a wonderful teacher, and a loving and supportive mentor. My classmates and I continue to exchange valuable critiques online.

I'm also working slowly and carefully on a poetry chapbook for adults that deals with an experience in a major hospital that jeopardized my husband's life, and had a major impact on me that I'm still processing.

PT: Wow, Carol! What an interesting journey you've had. Your path and persistence are an inspiration to me. We're so looking forward to having you join us on the GROG!

Hello, Carol!

************ WINNER ALERT!!! ************

Congratulations to Andrea Page,

the winner of Michelle Schaub's

new picture book/poetry collection,

FINDING TREASURE!

Andrea, please contact Michelle via her website
HERE.

A Creative Life: Book Recommendations for Writers

by Suzy Leopold

When something makes you want to do something and when something gives you an idea about what to create, this is inspiration. Writers need inspiration. Clever ideas create sparks in a writer's mind along with feelings of emotion.

And this book does just that.

BIG MAGIC: CREATIVE LIVING BEYOND FEAR
by Elizabeth Gilbert

Riverhead Books
2016

The instant #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestseller

BIG MAGIC: CREATIVE LIVING
BEYOND FEAR
by Elizabeth Gilbert

Many may recognize Elizabeth Gilbert as the author of EAT PRAY LOVE.

In BIG MAGIC: CREATIVE LIVING BEYOND FEAR, Elizabeth Gilbert "digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective on creativity, offering potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration".

Inspiration is needed to be a writer. This book is inspiring.

Elizabeth Gilbert writes about the mysterious nature of inspiration. She offers attitudes, habits, and ideas for living a creative life. She encourages creatives to look within for the strange jewels.

The book is divided into six sections and includes:
Part I     Courage
Part II    Enchantment
Part III   Permission
Part IV  Persistence
Part V   Trust
Part VI  Divinity

Enjoy listening to the first chapter, Hidden Treasure pages 3-7 of Part I, Courage.

And if you want more, here's more to read as a pdf.

Discover what you were meant to do. Hope you feel curious, encouraged, and most of all inspired to live a creative life.

Writers will find inspiration in this book, too.

THE MAGIC WORDS: WRITING GREAT BOOKS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS
by Cheryl B. Klein

2016
W. W. Norton & Company

THE MAGIC WORDS: WRITING GREAT BOOKS
FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS
by Cheryl B. Klein

Perhaps you recognize Cheryl B. Klein as the Editor Lee & Low Books.

"Insightful, enlightening, and practical, The Magic Words is a book that belongs on every writer's shelf. Loaded with concrete examples and specific strategies, it's likely to end up dog-eared and well worn--that favorite book on craft that writers revisit again and again with each new project."
Kate Messner, author

Do you note my many Post-its?

It's like a master class inside a book. It's like a handbook with useful tools for writing children's and YA fiction.

The author guides writers on a practical writing journey from writing principles, crafting a strong story, and publishing.

Take a few moments to check out her excellent web site, blog, and many resources. You'll note additional book titles Cheryl authored along with two picture books.

WINGS made its debut in March 2019 and is illustrated by Caldecott winner, Tomie de Paola. Read more about this book in a dual interview with Cheryl and Tomie. The book is written with one dozen rhyming words: wings, clings, flings, stings, wrings, dings, things, brings, springs, sings, rings, and zings.

WINGS
by Cheryl B. Klein
Illustrated by Tomie de Paola

In September 2019, look for THUNDER TRUCKS. Cheryl partnered up with Katy Beebe are the a dual author team of this book. The bright, bold illustrations are by Mike Boldt.

THUNDER TRUCKS
by Cheryl Klein & Katy Beebe
Illustrated by Mike Boldt

While we know creating a picture book is a team effort between author and illustrator, have you ever considered writing a book with a writerly friend? The idea is something to consider.

"If you have a writer friend whose strengths complement yours,
AND you can manage your respective writerly egos,
consider drafting a book together to use both of your types of genius."
~Cheryl Klein

The idea is something to consider. Just ask fellow GROGgers Christy Mihaly and Sue Heavenrich. Together they wrote and co-authored DIET FOR A CHANGING CLIMATE: FOOD FOR THOUGHT.

DIET FOR A CHANGING CLIAMTE
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
by Christy Mihaly and
Sue Heavenrich

May these books inspire and encourage your writing journey.

Read, write, and create
Every day

###

From the desk of Sherri Jones Rivers:

Jillanne Hoffman

is the winner of:

NO BEARS ALLOWED 

By Lydia Lukidis

Illustrated by Tara J. Hannon

From the desk of Kathy Halsey:

Whispering Pines' Writing Retreat

A Working Retreat

October 25-27, 2019

For more information click here and on the New England SCBWI site.

Inspiration from the local "happenings" column

by Sue Heavenrich

For a number of years I wrote a weekly column for the local paper. “It’s a social column,” the editor said, “about who’s doing what in town.” It’s what some of us call “hyperlocal news” and what other people would refer to as town gossip – sans snark.

For those of us in town, the column was a way to share the good stuff that’s happening: the Wednesday evening dinners at the Methodist Church (free eats and good conversation), the snowmobile club meetings, the golf tournament that raises money for the Ambulance Squad. I reminded moms about Tuesday morning Library Story Hour, announced public hearings, and shared upcoming historical society programs. Every week I got to talk to the plain ordinary folks who make our town what it is.

For a writer, social columns in small town papers – and the “about town” items in the New Yorker – can provide a treasure trove of writing ideas. Within the narrow confines of two-point-three-inch wide columns one can discover:

• The church that provides free meals just got a new dishwasher and stainless steel sinks through a bequest. The guy (as reedy thin as his name would suggest) ran a sawmill in his back yard and sold wooden crates to apple-pickers.
• The “amigos” are a bunch of special education students who meet every Thursday after school to do something for the community. Their current project: baking dog biscuits for the local animal shelter.
• A boy scout who discovered an old cemetery hidden beneath weeds and shrubs. He adopted it for his Eagle project, cleaned it up, built an entry way.
• One of the streets in town is named after a Civil War Hero who died in the battle of Gettysburg clutching a family photo.
• The bed-and-breakfast was a stop on the underground railroad, and may be haunted by spirits.
• The guy at the farmer’s market who grew up in the south can tell you ten different ways to eat kudzu.

 Not that one should write biographies about these folks, but they can inform the characters in your stories. These are just ordinary people doing ordinary things.

Turns out, local newspapers are a wonderful source of inspiration. They are written by people who live in the community, people who walk the beat and talk to the citizens. What seems mildly eccentric to the folks in town could make for a character quirk in a story. Street names may lead to biographies or, at the very least, great character names. News stories present authentic life situations that can help when you’re stuck on plot points. Even the obituaries provide a wonderful source for interesting story prompts and names.

So next time you’re in the library, check out the small town papers – or even the city dailies – and go on a field trip through the newspaper archives.

Filling the Creative Well

by Sue Heavenrich

Earlier this month Christy shared a passel of great ideas for what to do to “blast through writer’s block”. Reading her post reminded me of the “artist dates” that Julia Cameron advocates in her book, The Artist’s Way. 

Cameron encourages writers (and other artists) to take time for themselves in doing activities that “fill the well” of creativity. She calls these once-a-week encounters “artist dates”. The thing is, Cameron explains, that they are things you do to explore something that interests you, fires up your imagination, sparks whimsy, encourages play. They are activities that “feed our creative work by replenishing our inner well of images and inspiration,” she says.

There are no rules about how to do artist dates other than to ask yourself: what sound fun? And then allow yourself to try it – even if it is something you have never done before. In that spirit, I share a year’s worth of artist dates I have done or intend to try, plus those gleaned from fellow writers and illustrators. Try one; try them all – and add your own ideas to the list. 

Around the home and yard:

• Listen to classical music (or the Hamilton sound track)
• Read a book – even cartoon paperbacks
• Put on some dance music and move
• Find streets/ buildings/ places in your town you have never been to before
• Bake or cook something
• Watch a movie
• Grow a mini-garden in your kitchen
• Make a blanket fort, snuggle in with books and hot cocoa
• Find some postcards; then write notes on them and mail them to friends

Take a field trip:

• Visit an art museum or gallery
• Meander through a used book store or library book sale
• Turn a map upside down and see where it takes you
• Attend a local festival
• Hang out in an ethnic shop
• Visit a zoo or botanical garden
• Visit a museum
• Visit a historical building
• Look at doors or stairs on houses you walk by
• Visit a farmer’s market
• Explore an antique store
• Ride on a bus

Outside/ nature:

• Walk in the woods or a park
• Meditate on a beach or river bank
• Go on a walk to look at flowers growing in yards
• Lay on your back and watch clouds
• Watch leaves spin and fall
• Follow a butterfly or bumble bee

  

 Make Something:

• Make a collage from old magazines
• Make a sculpture from junk
• Paint on something that is not paper
• Make a greeting card for someone
• Make or cut out paper dolls
• Make a journal or notebook
• Take your camera for a walk
• Write haiku or other poetry
• Make something that could hang from a window or Christmas tree
• Let a cookie fortune inspire you
• Create sidewalk art with colored chalk
• Make a map of a story that’s tickling your mind
• Paint with berry juice
• Capture a sunset with watercolors

 Play:

• Build with legos or blocks
• Start a collection of stones, marbles
• Play in the snow
• Make some play-dough and play with it
• Finger paint
• Play with a kid’s toy you enjoyed
• Learn some words in a new language
• Do a jigsaw puzzle
• Try origami
• Go fly a kite
• Invent new words with scrabble tiles

STILL A FAMILY - Book Review and Interview with Brenda Reeves Sturgis Part 1 - by Kathy Halsey

The connection I made  to Brenda Reeves Sturgis via Tara Lazar's Storystorm community made today’s post  possible. STILL A FAMILY by Brenda Reeves Sturgis has a book birthday tomorrow. Today I review the book and begin a two part interview on Brenda. Read Part 2 of my interview onThursday, February 9.

BOOK REVIEW

STILL A FAMILY is a timely picture book that shares what some folks deem a "difficult" topic" for children – homelessness. Yet, the book is upbeat and honest. Brenda sprinkles facts and dispels myths about the homeless in this sweet story of a young girl and her parents who navigate the hard truth of being apart, yet together. Children and some adults may not know that there are very few shelters where families can remain intact. Men usually live in a shelter just for them, while women and children are housed in another.

Check out the book trailer above for another book look.

Author Sturgis picks just the right details and tone to share in this young girl's story. She makes friends, has a doll named Molly who is always in tow, and meets her father in the park for family fun, just like most families do, homeless or not. But, reality is portrayed realistically. Our main character misses her own bed and the quiet of her home; she stands in soup kitchen lines, and she wishes her shoes weren't so tight. Her parents look for work daily, and sometimes when it rains, they must create a lean-to. The young girl's refrain, "We're still a family" will reassure young readers that love prevails even in hard times. Jo-Shin Lee's compelling, child-like illustrations will also make young readers feel a part of the narrative. 

The Author's Note and Resources section in the back matter further illuminate the problem of homelessness and what we all can do to help. Finally, even though Amazon indicates age ranges as K-3 grade, I feel that students grades 4-8 could also appreciate this picture book. Innovative teachers will find a way to incorporate social studies and service learning/community projects into a unit with this book.

Author Brenda Reeves Sturgis

How We Can Help

1. Brenda suggests sharing or buying a copy of this book for your local homeless shelter. She sent me a free, autographed copy for review purposes. (A percentage of every copy of STILL A FAMILY will go toward helping homeless shelters.)

2. I plan to buy a second copy to donate to my downtown Columbus, Ohio shelter. I'll contact the shelter and see if I can conduct a story time with the children there. Since my burgeoning bookshelves need a weeding, I'm going to also donate a variety of gently-used children's books, too. (You may want to do the same thing and brush up on your read aloud skills. It's a win-win for all.)

3. Brenda speaks from her heart when she says, "My goal is to touch a million hearts. And my ultimate goal is for those million hearts to do SOMETHING, anything, to help. Even one small thing can help somebody: purchase socks, buy a bus pass, donate money, or a book.  We see homeless people on the streets and we avert our eyes, we put our heads down, we fidget with our radios, we lock our doors.  Most of us do this BECAUSE... it is scary."

4. You can purchase this book via Amazon (click here) or at your favorite book store.

Q & A with Brenda, Part One

K: Before you wrote STILL A FAMILY, did your research include visiting homeless shelters or talking with homeless children? What opened your heart to this topic?

B. I have not had the honor of speaking to children in shelters yet, however that is my biggest goal and my life's upcoming mission. Although I have made several calls to shelters, I have not been able to get "in" the door yet. Shelter staffs are always so busy helping day in and out.

Once the book comes out, I plan to go to shelters to read and share it. Fourteen years ago, at the beginning of my writing career, I did create a book drive for shelters and children's hospitals. Many authors sent me copies of their books, which I sent to shelters across the country. This serious problem has been on my heart for many years, and now I can actually do something to raise social awareness.

K : I was impressed by your ability as a writer to broach a so-called "tough" topic. How did you get the tone right and what other craft considerations came into play?

B: Kathy, this is a great question! Thank you for asking it. At first, I wrote this book in rhyme. The opening stanza started like this, "In the hubbub of the city, under brisk and starry skies, I plumped my chilly pillow and arranged our scarce supplies." As a rhymer, this was where my heart wanted to go with this story. However, the rhyme did not fit the story AT ALL.  It was too upbeat. BUT...after thoughtful editorial feedback, and trying to find the right tone, I knew it had to be rewritten in prose. Prose to me has always been like pulling teeth. BEYOND DIFFICULT.

K: What other members of your personal writing community helped you make this book shine?

B: My editor, Andrea Hall, Albert Whitman & Company, gave me wonderful direction with tone and clarity. In the first draft, the family hit tough times, Dad lost his job; the electricity was cut off. I liken these events to a tornado that picked up speed and landed this family in the shelter. After many rounds of revision, Andrea asked for something different.

Now my brilliant critique partner, Carrie Clickard (MAGIC FOR SALE) said, "Brenda, they don't want to know how they got into the shelter, they want to know how a family stays a family while living in a shelter." And just like that, the light bulb came on; I wrote the story; Andrea was correct in her vision. (K's note - a great editor is key - we need to listen up and understand what they and our CPs are telling us!)

K: What advice do you have for us non-rhymers?

B: Writing rhyme is so tough. Your meter must be 100% spot-on, and it's hard to sell. (Think foreign rights, translation, and salability in the foreign market.) People told me, "If you never want to be published, write in rhyme." I'm a tad stubborn and didn't believe them, so I pushed on and did sell 10 TEN TURKEYS IN THE ROAD to Marshall Cavendish and then to Scholastic. THE LAKE WHERE LOON LIVES, a cumulative rhymer, sold to Islandport Press, and TOUCHDOWN is published by MeeGenius. (Find all my books on my web site here.)

K: And now a few rapid-fire questions and answers:

K: Favorite dessert? B: Creme' Brulée

K: Favorite author? B: Lisa Wheeler, Kelly DiPucchio, the late Linda Smith, Carrie Clickard, Jenni Bielcki, and Mona Pease.

K: Favorite place to write? Always in my yellow sunshiny office.

More about Brenda's journey as an author, more advice to writers, and more folks she'd like to thank on Thursday, February 9.

K: We writers can be chatty, but Brenda's parting words to GROG readers today are, "Don't lose heart. Keep on. Keep believing that your dream can happen. Do the work you need to do. Use everyday to help somebody because you get back what you put out ten-fold - whether it's good or bad, it all comes back."

K: Thank you, Kelly. Remember, more inspiration on February 9. Until then, Brenda and I ask you to go make a difference for others however you can.