Category: A Writer’s Life
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My Go-To Stress-Busting Strategy
Simple knee pain that resulted in a week’s hospitalization, nights of pseudo-sleep curled into a hard, narrow futon, and protracted, increasingly urgent advocacy. A nagging fatigue that turned into a two-week-plus hospital stay, featuring an invasive test, major surgery, and endless observations. A subsequent heart-wrenching death in the family. And then the endless waiting… No…
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Where to Even Begin?
Hmm: A runaway mule team that nearly mows down two women? A quarrel between two sisters who claim to be pacifists? A public argument between a female Northerner and a male Confederate sympathizer? For several months, I debated about the best narrative hook for my novel based on the real family-heirloom diary of my ancestor,…
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Bring Back the Benton Bugle!
While I am away this week, please enjoy this throwback piece which ran on the Honor the Journey Substack in November 2024! My husband bemoans the lack of local newspaper reporting. There are still a couple of reporters, but our print news now comes mostly from the USA Today Network. As a former newspaper employee,…
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The Biggest Mistake Historical Fiction Writers Make – And How to Avoid It
Writing historical fiction is the dream of so many aspiring authors – but it requires real research! Back when my high school juniors were writing stories related to the American Civil War, it was the little details that tripped them up. One student wrote about a doctor reaching into the medicine cabinet and pulling out…
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How AI is infecting our lives: From students to writers and everyone in between
Retired teacher and writer Barb Miller and editor Sally Shideler talk about the perils of AI in daily life, in education, and in writing, and how we all must be careful consumers of its wares. Folllow me on Facebook: BarbaraSwanderMillerWrites
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From Classroom to Keyboard: My Writing Routine
My Social Media Manager/daughter Sally Shideler scolds me. She’s the one who uploads all the posts I create for Facebook and Substack and WordPress. She’s the one who looks at my analytics and discusses strategy for promoting my book to readers and publishers. She’s the one who does the stuff I don’t enjoy. It’s a…
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Did my ancestor suffer from seasonal depression?
Diary Entry: Saturday, February 3, 1866 The forenoon of today has been spent making a bonnet to wear, and owing to a headache feeling unable to do much more. Anna French is better today. At two oclock an ambulance wagon came round to take us out riding and eight of our family took passage for…
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Podcast 4: I hate the Facebook hoops!
What’s going on with all this Facebook publicity? Why do I have to wave my hat and draw attention to myself?
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I’m a 7 seeking balance
Since the start of December, I’ve been at two extremes: flitting around like a nervous flea or making dents in the family room sofa cushions. It’s been a weird couple of months. During the typical prep weeks before Christmas, we unexpectedly raced to California and back. We pressed hard, making the 4,000-plus-mile trip in seven…
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Podcast Episode 253: One Secret Christmas
Spreading Christmas magic, one family at a time.
