By some keystroke of luck, I got my hands on the popular typewriter keyboard from Five Below. I came across this keyboard in a Yahoo article that popped up in my recommendations and the timing couldn't have been better. I was thinking about replacing the Bluetooth keyboard I'd been using for about six years, as the batteries weren't lasting as long and it would sometimes disconnect from my computer or duplicate keystrokes in abundance; it's not exactly easy to write when yo

If there's one thing readers love, it's when a story is so immersive they're pulled right into it. When a book just flows so seamlessly and the hours slip away, and it's not until you've finished the last chapter that you realize it's somehow already half-past midnight. That's only one of the reasons your writing needs to be smooth. A disruption of that pace can be jarring for readers and throw them out of the story. Rather than reading on, they must first reorient themselve

With hits like Barbie , Oppenheimer, and Super Mario Bros., the return of Indiana Jones, and concert films from Beyonce and Taylor Swift , 2023 was a pretty good year for moviegoers. In the wake of these blockbusters, many were eager to see what films the holiday season would bring and what releases would be among the first to grace the silver screen in 2024. One that received a fair bit of promotion throughout the back half of 2023 was Wonka, a prequel to Willy Wonka and t

If there is anything 2023 showed me, it's how frustrating it can be when your carefully laid intentions are crumpled up and cast aside by forces beyond your control. The important thing is being able to persist in the face of the challenge and keep moving forward even when the wind is in your face and not at your back. As Dolly Parton once said, "We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails." And that's precisely what I plan to do in 2024! Now that we've rung in the

And just like that, another year is in the books! 2023 was, well... it was something, all right. I haven't written extensively about this on the blog or posted much about it on social media, but I spent most of 2023 dealing with health issues carrying over from getting Covid-19 in late 2022, which took a significant toll on my writing (and life in general). When I shared my mid-year check-in back at the end of June, my lingering Long Covid symptoms had resulted in me throwing