Wednesday, November 21, 2007

I've Been Tagged!

Mindy Schwartz tagged me and everyone that is "tagged" has to answer these 5 questions and tag 5 more people. Let's see what lurks in my psyche, shall we?

1. How long have you been blogging?
I believe it was the beginning of 2006....I remember I was blogging my "countdown" of when I could leave Corporate America. Ahhhhh, the stench of Corporate America is forever seared in my brain.



2. What inspired you to start a blog and who are your mentors?
The beginning of my FULL TIME writing career is what inspired me to start blogging.

One of my mentors is Paula McNeal. She truly showed me that NOTHING is impossible. If you can think it or dream it, then you can GO AFTER YOUR DREAM. Thank you, Paula.





Foster Winans-Ghostwriter, Editor, Lecturer

The fellow to the right is Foster Winans. He is the first well-known journalist to correspond with me and offer to look at my work. And WHOA did he look at my work. He ripped me to shreds, but he did it honestly and with integrity. It doesn't get any better than that.

Here are some snippets of emails he left me (not to mention he even called me on the phone, which almost left me speechless.)

Email Correspondence after sending my work to him:

"I scanned through everything and see that you have a broad range of interests and accumulated knowledge... I am a cruel and heartless editor who has had almost forty years of mistakes behind him, so I consider it my obligation to be honest. That's all it is, honesty. And the crankiness of age. I encourage you to challenge yourself more as a writer, and to be much more careful as a proof-reader...

There is too much starch and not enough protein in your writing. Even someone who is an expert on a subject needs to cite examples, details, stats, anything, to support their argument, to show they know the subject.Your nonfiction work lacks anchor points, and in their absence tries too hard to sound important. You are telling when you should be showing... You sound like a smart person who has an interest in growing. So I repeat–challenge yourself...

I will leave you with my standard homily: it's never a question of "Is it (or am I) any good?" The question should always be, "Is it the best I can make it and, if not, how can I make it better?" Keep plugging away, don't give up!"

Regards, Foster

3. Are you trying to make money online, or just doing it for fun?

Do what for fun??? LOL! Making money is the way to have fun online!





4. What 3 things do you struggle with online?

  1. First and foremost, spending too much time on answering or looking at emails. Most of the time I have to MAKE myself get completely offline when I work on a client's project.
  2. Secondly, TIME to explore and do everything I should do in a day. It's as if the days fly by...I always wish I had more time to work online.
  3. Thirdly, PASSWORDS to everything and anything! I hate it! My memory is shot, and I have to write down or keep old emails of logins and passwords to blogs, and everything else online.

5. What 3 things do you love about being online?

  1. I LOVE learning new things and finding little treasures along the way as I surf the net.
  2. I love the fact that information is at my fingertips.
  3. I love corresponding with friends and family instantaneously via instant messaging. I really enjoy getting emails from my friend, Alan in Beijing, China....it boggles my mind when we "instant chat".

I also love doing these little surveys!

Watch your email.....I'm getting ready to tag!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your book, "Mango Tree Cafe," is one of the best books I've ever read. From the first page to the last the book is difficult to put down. You find yourself not wanting the book to end. It is so read, yet mystical. You find yourself having thoughts you've never thought before. Your book makes you reach points of emotion that may not be familiar to you. All I can say is: BRAVO!

Joy Gipson

griefcase.blogspot.com said...

I love the way you weave your words. "Mango Tree Cafe" is one of the best books I've ever read. I am honored, proud, and excited as all-get-out *now there's a New York word* to be counted as your friend.

Much continued success,

Linda Della Donna
www.griefcase.blogspot.com