New Year's Promises

I love fresh starts and new beginnings.  The clean slate that every January 1st brings.  An opportunity to let bygones be bygones, a time for sweeping away old grudges.  As civil rights leader Bishop Desmond Tutu said, “Forgiving is not forgetting, it’s actually remembering – remembering and not using your right to hit back.  It is a second chance for a new beginning.”

Happy Holidays!!

Happy Holidays Everybody!

May all your wishes come true.

Barbara.

A Christmas Carol

The other night I watched what is possibly the hundredth version of the Charles Dickens classic, starring, of all people, Tori Spelling!  I loved it.  Although the story is always the same (a miserable, curmudgeonly person is visited by ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, and is ultimately changed by the experience) the myriad recountings of this beloved tale doesn’t always involve the usual “old man” Scrooge (although the most recent version starring Patrick Stewart is the best of that particular lot).  In one version, Cycely Tyson plays miserly Ebenita, and Vanessa Williams does a great mean-spirited diva named Ebony Scrooge in another.  My personal favorite is Susan Lucci as “Ebbie,” and now we have Tori Spelling in A Carol Christmas.

Alex Trebek

I was very sorry to hear that one of my favorite TV personalities suffered a heart attack on Tuesday.  Mr. Trebek has brought hours of enjoyment into my home by way of the popular quiz show, Jeopardy.  Alex (I feel I can call him that as he has appeared in my living room thousands of times) has always struck me as a very nice person, warm and amiable and gracious (well, he’s Canadian so that tells you a lot.)

Two For the Price of One

I am frequently asked for advice on how to write.  And just as frequently, I get requests for inspiration.  So here are two for the price of one.

While I do not write non-fiction, I do nonetheless strive for accuracy, realism and truth in my writing, because people believe the printed word.  And so my advice pertains to both genres, fiction and non-fiction: be sure of your facts and be prepared to back them up.  Don’t do shoddy research.  Be meticulous.  Readers are placing faith in you.

Lucky Number 13

As this is the thirteenth entry in the Blog of my newly upgraded, refurbished, re-designed, updated, modernized and beautified website (thank you Sharon, Carlos and Johnny!) I thought an exploration of “luck” was in order.