Month: August 2015

A Writer's Helper, Interesting People, Writing Life Stories10 Comments

The Foibles of Phonetics and Dialect

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How we pronounce words influences our ability to spell them correctly. I’ve moved around enough to pick up and combine a number of dialects. There have been times I’ve spelled a word so wrong that I cannot even find it in the dictionary. This is a highly embarrassing situation to find yourself in, especially in a work environment where people are watching your every move and wondering how come you haven’t finished typing the bosses letter yet. The word spelled is a case in point. By now, I know the correct way to spell spelled is spelled, yet I type … Continue reading The Foibles of Phonetics and Dialect

A Writer's Helper, Writing Life Stories8 Comments

Writing Related Projects

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August 27, 2015 Hello Dear Readers, As I wrote to another blogger this past week, a quote from a fairly well-known movie came to mind. Our discussion dealt with writers bloc. (I never suffer from writer’s block, by the way, just so you know. Way too much to write about.) However, the quote was from The Shining and it wasn’t “Here’s Johnny.” (I watched that movie in high school, viewing the scariest parts while peeking through the window of the door from within the lobby. It wasn’t so spooky there, with the lights on and all.) The quote I’m referring … Continue reading Writing Related Projects

Days Gone By, photo1013 Comments

Red Sails in the Sunset

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August 20, 2015 There was a World War something song we had to learn in the sixth grade. Red sails in the sunset. I couldn’t help but remember that song this last weekend while we spent an evening along the shores of the Salish Sea. The spectacular sunsets we’re experiencing here in the west are due to all the forest fires. My heart goes out to the families who’ve lost their loved ones as they bravely battled the blazes and I salute all those who fight the fires. Where would we be without your sacrifice? Here’s to you. ADDENDUM: Just … Continue reading Red Sails in the Sunset

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Treasure Hunts and Bizzyness

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The swallows were out yesterday, two or three whole families of them swooping, diving; youngsters practicing their new found freedom within the wind currents of the thundershower as it rolled through. Fearless the storm and even of the family of hawks that also live here but were suspiciously silent and unseen. I haven’t posted in a while and I thought I’d and tell you why. I wrote a book. I didn’t write it in a week, it’s a project that I began scribing back in 1986. But it’s about to be printed and the company I’m using caught a few … Continue reading Treasure Hunts and Bizzyness

photo101, Science and God, Writing Life Stories8 Comments

Mind Your Beeswax

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Recall the photos I took of the rose gardens? Well, at Point Defiance there were other flowers blooming too, and all were abuzz with friendly pollinators. A happier more content bunch of busy bees I’ve never seen. Oops, wrong bee. Hang on. And my personal second favorite: May our bees always be here. So many are dying off. Every one of them is so special. Continue reading Mind Your Beeswax

Interesting People, Science and God, Writing Life StoriesLeave a comment

I’d Like You to Meet

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I’d like to introduce my readers to some people who are inspiring and wonderful. Their entire stories, which I encourage you to read, are found in my blog page “Interesting People.”  But, their stories happened to be the first blog posts I published and I haven’t noticed anyone visit there. (Yet.) Kind Reader, here they are: Doctor Mary Groda Lewis and Jill Foster, two extraordinary women. Famous Doctor Opens Doors to the Heart By Leneé Cobb First published 2001 in the Sequim Gazette Although I interviewed Dr. Mary years ago, she remains in my heart and continues to inspire so … Continue reading I’d Like You to Meet

Days Gone By, photo101Leave a comment

Point Defiance Gardens and Zoo 2

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July 26, 2015 We’re at Point Defiance, going through the zoo and the flower gardens. It was a muggy day and many animals hid from the heat in tall grass and shade. We really had to search to see some of them. The fox I photographed looks almost ghostly, as if emerging from some other dimension.   The walk along the Asian pathways into tiger territory was beautiful, filled with bamboo, orchids,  statuettes and flora. The air was heavy with the scent of orchids. Very heavy on such a muggy day. There is only so much I can tolerate as … Continue reading Point Defiance Gardens and Zoo 2

photo 101, photo1012 Comments

Things are not Always as We’re Told

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Roses aren’t always red and skies aren’t always blue, but I’m posting some photos I took for you to view. The rose gardens (must have been over an acre of them,) smelled like heaven to walk through. They had thousands of other types of flowers at Point Defiance. It was a wonderful day spent there. My camera battery finally gave out. Darn it. So many pictures to take! But I took more than these I’ll share at some later date. I took a lot of photos with bees in them. They were so plentiful and “beeing” so nice to all … Continue reading Things are not Always as We’re Told

A Writer's Helper, Writing 201, Writing Life Stories12 Comments

Making Your Book

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Part of my job, as a writing coach, is to help people create the final product for their writings, the book. There are many ways to achieve this and how a writer goes about it depends upon the particular project their working on. There are templates available from book designers. The costs vary depending upon use, whether it’s personal, multi-book, or commercial. Do you want a template for a paperback or an eBook? What size will your book be? Are there graphics involved? How many? What kind of paper do you want? What type of binding? I’m going through Booklocker … Continue reading Making Your Book