In This Issue
Nichepert's Note - December Indulgence & January Regrets, Orlando Book Signing
Why So Many New Year's Resolutions Fail
Inspirational Quotes
A NOTE FROM THE PROCRASTIVITY NICHEPERT
Even though it’s the start of the holiday season and we’re inclined to take it easy and enjoy, most of us have experienced January regrets for having spent and eaten too much and having planned and strategized too little in December.
If you’d like to use the start of a new year to launch some g… Continue
Added by Kerul Kassel on December 1, 2009 at 3:50pm —
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It’s October and pumpkins are popping up on porches and entryways all over the USA and elsewhere.
How do you handle the pumpkin thing? Do you carve or paint your own? Buy one already decorated, or use a decorative faux pumpkin or gourd? Does your pumpkin go au naturale? Do you hate pumpkins and seasonal decorating? Maybe you’re overwhelmed and just don’t want to deal with the pumpkin thing, or you’d love to get to it but you’re just too jammed.
The pumpkin thing is a microcosm of our values an… Continue
Added by Kerul Kassel on October 8, 2009 at 10:49am —
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Okay, life has been a roller-coaster ride just recently so today I promised myself - promised, I tell you - that I would write. I have characters waiting and they're getting impatient. So far I've weeded the garden, answered email, joined groups, uploaded photographs, twittered rather a lot, rearranged the framed book covers on the wall, changed the kitty litter boxes...well, you get the idea.
I'm procrastinating.
What makes it worse is that I know how to NOT procrastinate. Heavens above, I ta… Continue
...from a global warming denier:
"That's human nature. Nobody does anything until it's too late."
~ Michael Crichton
I'll add that we rationalize our inaction or deny any problem. Crichton has written that global warming is a hoax.
Ironic, no? Continue
Added by Kerul Kassel on September 9, 2009 at 12:07pm —
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Do you ever set a deadline, not meet it, and then make yourself miserable? Been there, done that.
But I've learned a few things, and I'll illustrate by using an example from my own life. I'm almost half way through the doctoral program I'm working my way through and am now focusing on the comprehensive assessment, which I'd hoped to complete by the end of August.
While working on the three essays that comprise this required assignment I realized that my ideas were not as informed or cry… Continue
Added by Kerul Kassel on September 1, 2009 at 12:23pm —
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As I write this there are only 29 days left of the year. How has your year gone? Are you happy with how things have been going and with the direction and pace for the balance of the year and for 2009?
This is the time of year to spend just an hour or two (or half a day or more, if you have that much available - most of us don't, though) thinking about what you want your life to look like next year, perhaps even starting with a longer range plan. What changes do you want to make in your career… Continue
Added by Kerul Kassel on December 5, 2008 at 12:47pm —
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It's Election Day in the U.S. as I write this, and it also marks the first time I've ever run for a "government position", as a supervisor on my little town's board, sort of like a town council. This is the height of my political ambitions - I never would have thought I'd even be a "candidate" in a public election. Speaking of candidates, if you live in the U.S., please make the time to vote. My opinion is if you don't vote, you've abdicated your right to complain about the political situation.… Continue
Added by Kerul Kassel on November 4, 2008 at 12:22pm —
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As many of you know, I've just embarked on a doctoral journey. I'm making great progress, and am learning oodles. I'm blessed to have a wonderful "study buddy" for one of my courses. (More about this important procrastination-busting strategy below.) A discussion with my fellow student earlier this week made me realize how grateful I was for our relationship. Sometimes we take for granted the things that are working, right?
PROCRASTIVITY TIP / EXERCISENo matter what your goal or task, whether i… Continue
Added by Kerul Kassel on July 2, 2008 at 12:41pm —
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I am so not ready for Christmas. I just realized I don't have much time either. One good thing is the DH is off Friday and possibly all next week, so I can give him a few chores to do, which may help some. I'm counting on him to put stamps and labels on the Christmas cards, and do a few things around the house to straighten it out some. Unfortunately, I'm the organizer in the family, so I can't expect too much on the getting-the- house ready front. That's pathetic, since I'm not very organized. (g)
Anyway, I hope to get the house into decent shape before Christmas, when I do my annual meal for the family. There's also that Christmas list to get together. Time is ticking away.
What about you? Are you ready for Christmas? Or do you celebrate another Holiday? If so, are you ready?
One of the main reasons for writing "Cynthia's Attic" came from my failure - failure to appreciate my ancestors. Our family stories are probably no more or less interesting than most, and I went out of my way to avoid remembering most of them or asking questions about my grandparents lives.
For instance. Did I bother to ask my grandfather what it was like playing in the first night football game in America?
Or did I try to find out just which relative "supposedly" sold a city block on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles for $20,000? Guaranteed, I would not be sitting here writing a blog had that particular relative held on to the property.
Then there's the story, "Cynthia's Attic: Curse of the Bayou," of my great-great grandfather, Augustus Boilliat who disappeared in 1860 while taking a load of produce down the Mississippi River to New Orleans? Oh, sure I've read different accounts about what happened to him, but lost forever are the stories his grandson (my grandfather) could've told me about facts he'd heard from my great-great grandmother, Marie Julia, about her husband's disappearance.
I remember a few accounts told by my dad about his adventures as a teenage cave guide at one of the largest caves in the Southern Indiana area, Wyandotte, but I only have to guess at some of the adventures he must've had.
That's why I'm writing adventures I wanted my ancestors to have; adventures I can enjoy with them through the eyes and voice of my character, Gus.
The idea for Cynthia's Attic: The Magician's Castle came from detailed genealogy research done by my cousin, Betty. Long before the Internet, she traveled to Switzerland to search for documents that would tie our great-grandmother, Harriet Kistler, to Peter Kistler the First, President of the Republic of Bern, 1470-1480. I've tried to honor the Kistler family in the fourth adventure in Cynthia's Attic.
Thanks, Morgan, for having me as a guest!
Mary Cunningham
Mary Cunningham is the author of the award-winning 'Tween fantasy/mystery series, Cynthia’s Attic. She is proud to announce the release of book four, "The Magician's Castle," Dec 1, 2009. Her children's mystery series was inspired by a recurring dream about a mysterious attic. After realizing that the dream took place in the home of her childhood friend, Cynthia, the dreams stopped and the writing began.
She is also co-writer of the humor-filled, women's lifestyle book, "Women Only Over Fifty (WOOF)," along with published stories, "Ghost Light" and "Christmas Daisy," A Cynthia's Attic short story.
To celebrate the release of "The Magician's Castle," (Quake/Echelon Press, DEC 1, 2009), a winner will be chosen on each blog stop to receive a copy of the "Cynthia's Attic" short story, "Christmas With Daisy!" So, be sure to make a comment!
Monday, I'm over at my group blog, http://makeminemystery.blogspot.com/, where I'm blogging about the mystery of the missing checks. Come on over and find out what it's all about.
I'm firming up some dates for speaking engagements in 2010. One's tentatively set for March 28, at 1:30 at the Niles Public Library, another probably in mid May at the Schaumburg Township District Library.
Also, coming up is a radio interview at WJJQ again on May 7, at 9:35 a.m. before my booksigning May 8 at Cover to Cover Books in Tomahawk, WI.
I've heard that some people are more afraid of public speaking than of dying. Surprisingly, I find it easier each time I do it. As long as I have my cheat sheet with me to glance down at once in a while for security and I like what I'm talking about, I'm okay.
What about you? Do you like to talk or would you rather not?
December 12, 2009 at 6pm to December 23, 2009 at 7pm
Christmas Celebration at Whispers Publishing's reader's loop. Come meet authors, participate in chats, contests, read steaming hot excerpts, win books! Our grand prize this year is a basket filled with Godiva's Cocolates.
Come join the fun