Romy Sommer

I first heard of mash-ups from Kristen Lamb, and I think it's a great idea. (Not least of all because it's an easy blog post to put together since I surf the net way too much.) So today I'd like to share a few websites I've stumbled across that have inspired me: This one gave me chills. A fantastic reminder on what our priorities in life really are. The top 5 regrets people express on their deathbeds Britt Michaelian shares inspirational tweets on Twitter as @MamaBritt . I really love this blog post from her: How Inspiration Influences Your Success The post has some useful practical tips on how to practice inspiration. I bookmarked this sweet, humorous post at the beginning of the year, and would now like to dedicate it to the many, many wonderful wise women who inspire me (and yes, that includes YOU). Barbara Scully's Wise Women And finally, one from Kristen Lamb herself, with great tips for Publishers on how they can avoid a serious collision with th...

Aside from the comeback of mood rings, and the fact that there are even scarier things around than vampires, most of what I've learned from the addictive CW television series, The Vampire Diaries , is writing-related. It's been a year since I blogged about what we writers could learn from The Vampire Diaries over on The Minxes blog , and there is still so much more I'd like to share with you. So pull up a comfy sofa and a glass of your favourite drink, and get ready. First, here's a re-cap of the posts I've already done: The first posts were about the earliest lightbulb moments I had while watching Series 1. You can read An Awakening - Part One here , and Part Two here . My next blog post was on Motivation - the importance of ensuring that the actions and decisions of each and every character are well motivated. Then came Character Arcs - using examples from The Vampire Diaries to show how characters can change and grow. Next was a post on Acting out...

I've heard a lot of excuses from wannabe writers about why they don't write. There's not enough time. Life is too hectic. The day job is too demanding. I need to do house-work. I don't have space. I'm too young. I'm too old. The excuses are usually followed by 'when'. I'll write when I have more time. I'll write when the kids start school. I'll write when the kids leave school. I'll write when the house alterations are done, or when I have my own desk. If you're really looking for all 101 excuses, you'll have to find another blog. I'm bored already. The thing is, excuses are not the real problem. They're just symptoms. It's like when you're stressed at work but won't admit it, so instead you get headaches, stomach aches, the common cold. And no matter how many antibiotic prescriptions you get, you still stay sick. Why? Because you're not dealing with the core issue, which is whatever is causing you...

Those Victorians have a lot to answer for. Their determination that every member of society should walk the 'straight and narrow path' (while a noble attempt to raise us all to the moral high ground) has left most of us in the western world with a damaged psyche. Strong words, I know. After all, why shouldn't we have higher morals and strive for a better world? Well, of course we should. But not at the expense of our own selves. More than a hundred years after Queen Victoria died, we still feel guilty if we put ourselves ahead of others. I'm here to tell you right here and now that this guilt is CRAP. Yes, I just swore. That's how strongly I feel about this. We can't look after others if we don't first look after ourselves. We can't give strength to others, if we aren't first strong in ourselves. You can't give financial aid to others, unless we first pay our own bills. And we can't teach our children how to be whole, confident, ...