Write with TLC

I've been compiling my poetry into a book. It might be more accurate to say I've been struggling to compile my poetry into a book. I thought I had it done. Then I started to read through it and realized it was overwhelming, too many poems and too many directions. At that point I decided to divide the poetry into three books. I thought this would be easy !! Really I did. I started working on it and kept trying to make it perfect as I tend to do. People who know me well know that I have a tendency to expect perfection from myself. I could go into all the childhood roots this belief grew from, but I know what they are. It doesn't change anything, and this isn't a therapy session. So, we'll skip that. Just suffice it to say, there are roots and they get fed regularly by my expectations and the expectations of certain other people in my life. Then there are those people who don't expect me to be perfect, who remind me that perfection isn't all it's cracked ...

Audrey Austin, author and blogger, liked my poem, Granny , so much she asked to post it on her blog, Calling All Writers, for her readers! Thanks so much, Audrey!! While you're there check out her information on the Elliot Lake Writers' Fall Festival!

Confession: I hate workout groups. There I said it. I don't particularly like to work out in front of other people. I don't do classes. I don't go to the gym. I don't find groups of strangers to work out with. I guess I don't want other people to see me hot and sweaty and stumbling and messing up. I'm not athletic. Never have been. Working out with other people makes me keenly aware of this to the point of becoming self conscious. I don't like being accountable to other people for my workouts. I fear judgment if I slack off. I fear criticism that I'm not doing the "right" workout or the exercises the "right" way. I've tried many different workouts. I hate running. Let me make sure you understand. I despise running. You can't make me do it. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever. Don't even go there. Now, for those who enjoy running, more power to you. Keep at it and enjoy. I know many people who enjoy it. Don't try to c...

My poem, Granny, honoring my Grandma Cooper, who would've celebrated her 94th birthday today, is now available. Check it out !

Kindness is always a good idea. Kindness without expecting anything in return is an even better idea. Kindness that spreads from one person to another is an even better idea. Kindness that is genuine is one of the most important riches we can share with one another. Spreading kindness is not a new idea. The movie Pay It Forward was built around the premise of spreading kindness to create a better world. Several years ago, Oprah had a show about spreading kindness. I believe the show topic was "Random Acts of Kindness" and the idea was to combat "Random Acts of Violence" with positives in an attempt to change the world one "Random Act of Kindness" at a time. At least that's how I remember it. Books have been written about the idea of spreading kindness. Some promise if you spread kindness without expecting anything in return, good things will come your way. I happen to believe this. I also believe that anonymous acts of kindness are much better t...

Check out my poem, Caffeine . You might like it! :-)

I write about the human condition for one main reason, we are humans. We live in this world together. We all have that in common every single one of us. Regardless of skin color, religion, political persuasion, sexual orientation, gender, class, or any other labelling apparatus we use to create division between us. In the end, we are all human beings. The first time I had coffee with my friend and fellow author, Ray Ellis , I told him that my novel, All She Ever Wanted , dealt with racism. He looked at me for a minute then calmly and without judgment informed me, without having read a word of it, that it didn't deal with racism because there is only one race, the human race. It was a turning point in my life. I've never thought about racism the same since that conversation. That change in thought helped me find an even stronger conviction and desire to explore and understand the human condition. As human beings we hurt, we dream, we work, we play, we laugh, we cry, we love...