Real Life is Better Than Fiction

Trouble Making Contest Today's Flashback Friday is a little different. You often hear about my life, now I want to hear about YOU! My next book is going to be about cousins who are best friends and cause a little trouble together from time to time. This is where you come in. I want to hear all about trouble you have gotten (or still get) into with your best friend. The age when you got in trouble doesn't matter. You may have been a small child or an adult. For the contest you will need to submit your trouble-causing story (please, keep it clean and preferably funny - at least it's funny now!). If it is short you can submit it in the comments. If it is a longer story you may send it to me by email at oneilruth@gmail.com . I will write a blog post with some of the best stories and announce the winner. Now you may be wondering what the winner gets. The winning story will be included (maybe with minor changes) to my new book. The winner will also receive a free digita...

How Do You Fight Blogger Fatigue? I’m not sure I’ve had issues with blogger fatigue. In fact, it’s usually the opposite for me. I have plenty of ides, but implementing those ideas consistently is the issue. Fatigue implies burnout. One can hardly get burned out when there is a lack of regularity. As with any writing, most fatigue comes from a lack of ideas. How can anyone run out of ideas when there is so much going on in the world around us? Fatigue in writing can be solved by a change of scenery, a change of people to hang around with, or a change of whatever tires you out.   I usually have a running list of ideas and notebooks filled with scenes and characters for new books. No, I don’t recall ever having blogger or any other type of writing fatigue. Do you?

Show off Your Best 5 Blog Posts   This one is just funny and an example of a typical day in our household. April 30, 2013 - http://ruths-real-life.blogspot.com/2013/04/putting-fun-back-in-writing.html I like this one because it shows how much readers have enjoyed my book. That makes me smile! March 14, 2013 - http://ruths-real-life.blogspot.com/2013/03/reviews-of-come-eat-at-my-table.html I liked this one because I was able to give everyone a sneak peek. February 27, 2013 - http://ruths-real-life.blogspot.com/2013/02/and-nowthe-first-chapter.html I love my family and like to embarrass them from time to time. December 2, 2012 - http://ruths-real-life.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-dreaded-family-photo.html This is just a sweet story and I hope that all my kids can remain color blind. September 10, 2012 - http://ruths-real-life.blogspot.com/2012/09/colorblind.html 

On January 15, 1992 my mother walked into the Wednesday night church service, grinning from ear to ear, with a big announcement to make. She was waiting for the perfect moment to make that announcement.   She waited through announcements. She waited through the singing, feeling as if she was going to burst. She waited while one of her friends sang special music. That was all it took. My mother burst out in tears. Now, before you get too upset, you must realize these were happy tears. The woman who sang special music that evening was a mother of four little boys. The song she sang held a lot of meaning for her. The song was written from the perspective of a mother who was praying for some unknown little girl. You see, that girl would one day capture her son’s heart and he would marry her. B and her Grandma Doner The reason my mother was crying? It was the day her very first grandchild was born; a little girl. I was blessed to realize right from day one how important it is...

How Do You Choose What Book to Read Next?     Sometimes this is literally a game of eeny-meeny-miny-mo. There is a box of books next to me bed where I keep the “next batch.” Sometimes I just have to close my eyes and pick. Obviously, if I have to read a book for a review it gets moved to the top of the pile/list. I try not to read stories with similar plots/setting one right after the other. If I just completed a book that was deep, serious, and maybe even a little difficult to read or thought-provoking, the next book will be a much lighter read. How do you choose what books you’re going to read?

Why Do You Blog About Books? First of all, because I love books. In what other activity can you learn new things, meet new people, “see” new places, and escape the world? Hopefully by blogging about books I can inspire someone else to read, or someone to read more. There are so many good books out there that people may never find out about, except for reading it on my blog.

Write 15 things That Appeal to you    on Blogs     These are in no particular order; they are just how they came to mind. 1.        Good writing 2.        Interesting writing 3.        Hominess 4.        Family stories 5.        Book reviews 6.        Recipes 7.        Money saving tips 8.        Craft projects 9.        Godly articles 10.    Details 11.    Help/how to’s 12.    Comments from readers 13.    Real life stories/articles 14.    Friends 15.    Pictures What do you like to find on a blog?