Tag Archives: blogging

Hello, Friends!

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Flowers in my backyard that are always in bloom!

Thanks to the amazing and compassionate Vicki from Victoria Ponders for nominating me along with 10 other bloggers for the “Sunshine Blogger Award.” This award was started by Kimberly Vargas Agnese. I usually avoid such things, but I found the questions intriguing and Vicki’s answers so thoughtful.

So here it goes:

What is your morning routine?

I follow Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way” which grounds me for the day. I begin with three pages of journaling. Then I listen to a Bible reading on my phone and pray for an ever increasing list of friends and family members. After that (or before if the weather is too hot) I walk three miles. I’ve been doing this consistently for 10 years. If there’s a day when I can’t do my morning routine, I feel out of sorts. 

What is your favorite season? Why?

Definitely summer followed by Spring. I have the best memories growing up in the Pacific Northwest in summer, which is such a beautiful season there. Raising my kids, we’d spend summer in Laguna Beach. Now we go to Santa Barbara for a few weeks up to a month. I love the water, yet live in the desert, so I look forward to being by the ocean all year long.

What is your favorite childhood memory?

Being with family on our boat in the summer. Enjoying fishing, digging clams and catching Dungeness crab with our mom cooking seafood on the boat within minutes of being caught.

Who or what has been your most unlikely teacher?

My kids. They taught me how to appreciate being present in the moment with them. Also, not to worry over things I cannot control.

Who or what are you most proud of?

Again, my kids. They are loving, kind adults and a joy to be with. 

What is something that surprises people about you?

How outdoorsy my childhood was thanks to mom and dad. I took a fly tying class and Power Squadron boating safety class with them. I picked Chanterelle mushrooms, fished for salmon, rockfish, and trout, dug razor clams and little necks and caught Dungeness crabs — enjoying Western Washington state’s lifestyle.

What motivated you to start blogging?

A fellow swim mom who read my children’s stories and YA manuscripts. She loved to read blogs when I knew nothing about blogging. She encouraged me to start bleuwater.me, which then opened doors to writing a weekly sports parenting column for SwimSwam, a swimming website with more than 8 million views per month. I wrote that column for more than five years.

What forms of entertainment do you enjoy the most?

I have always been a reader since I was a young child. I enjoy finding a new author. It’s like finding a gem. I’ll know there will be more good books to read. I also enjoy being outdoors, walking, hiking and taking pictures.

If you are a book reader, do you prefer a paper copy or a digital copy?

Paper copies. I prefer paperbacks, because I feel less guilty about turning down the corners. Also, they are less expensive, easier to carry and read than hard bound books. My arms don’t get tired with paperbacks!

What’s your favorite music genre, and who is your favorite singer?

I like rock and roll from the 1970s and 1980s which were my high school and college days. I have Sirius set to 1970s in my car and I love to sing along to old favorites. My favorite singer is Don McLean from “American Pie” because my mom listened to him nonstop in the 1970s. She was a Coloratura Soprano and music major. She loved McLean’s voice and poetic lyrics. Listening to his songs brings me closer to memories of Mom.

What societal causes do you care about the most?

Currently, my focus is helping sex trafficked victims in the Phoenix area. Phoenix is one of the nation’s hubs of sex trafficking — and our country is the first or second purchaser of children for sex in the world. Today, I’m visiting The Phoenix Dream Center, which is a residential facility that provides a safe, secure home complete with medical, mental health, and career training, to help victims return to a “normal” life. They are having a ribbon cutting for a new kitchen which my women’s group fundraised to purchase all the appliances. I’ll also be donating clothes after Spring cleaning my closet. I’ve volunteered in my community for different causes since college.

Now I get to tag a few friends:

John from Las Vegas Photoblog

Suz from Busy Bee Suz

Sadje from Keep It Alive

LA from Waking Up on the Wrong Side of 50

Wynne from Surprised by Joy

RiverGirl from River’s World

JoyRoses from Nuggets of Gold

Deb from Deb’s World

Janis from Retirementally Challenged

Eileen from Myricopia

PKAdams from Blue Skies Green Pastures

Don’t worry if you’ve already been tagged or if you’d prefer not to do this. I’m taking a page from Vicki and using most of the questions she asked and have thrown in a few new ones:

Here are the guidelines from Kimberly about the “Sunshine Blogger Award”:

• Display the award’s official logo somewhere on your blog.
• Thank the person who nominated you.
• Provide a link to your nominator’s blog.
• Answer your nominators’ questions:

What is your morning routine?

What is your favorite season? Why?

What is your favorite childhood memory?

Who or what has been your most unlikely teacher?

What is your favorite meal that you would never get tired of and why?

What is something that surprises people about you?

What motivated you to start blogging?

Would you rather spend a quiet evening at home or out with friends or a party? Why?

If you are a book reader, do you prefer a paper copy or a digital copy?

What’s your favorite music genre, and who is your favorite singer?

What societal causes do you care about the most?


• Nominate up to 11 bloggers.
• Ask your nominees 11 questions.
• Notify your nominees by commenting on at least one of their blog posts.

Thanks for reading and have fun with this!

What is one question you would like to ask?

No Experience Necessary

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Red hanging out with the pink flamingo.

Have you heard about this trend? You don’t have to be a writer. You don’t have to be an artist or an illustrator. You don’t need technical skills. But you can make money self-publishing children’s books on Amazon!

It’s called a side hustle. I talked to my kids about it and they said it’s a “thing” right now. They said there are numerous books, seminars, podcasts and youtubes that tell you how to make passive income with AI generated children’s books on Amazon. They’re unaware if anyone is making money selling children’s books, or if it’s the people pitching the “how to” deals who are increasing their monthly incomes.

I guess having a degree in journalism, a career in public relations, writing for magazines, newspapers and having a weekly column and blogging isn’t necessary to become a published author. I can toss my dog-eared “Strunk & White” good-bye.

I have written children’s stories and had small successes being published in children’s magazines, the LA Times, and even included in a text book by Houghton Mifflin. I won a couple competitions for children’s stories including children’s fiction for Writer’s Digest. I got a contract from a small book publisher — and biggest mistake in my writing career — I turned it down! Oh my. If I could only turn back time.

Now I understand my years of work is all for naught. Anyone can do it. And apparently they can make a living at it. And guess what else? It only takes minutes to create a book, thanks to ChatGPT and AI.

Check it out for yourself. Google something like “Make money with AI children books on Amazon.” You’ll find too many websites and youtubes to count that will give you all the secrets of success.

I wonder how this new AI trend will effect writers’ careers and book publishing? I know many of my blogger friends are writers and have either self-published, used traditional publishers — or hybrid. With a flood of AI books on the market, how do you think it will affect writing careers? Do you think people are making money at this?

Please share your thoughts on selling AI children’s books on Amazon.

Here’s a shout out to my published author-blogging friends — in no particular order:

“Surviving Sue,” Dr. Vicki Atkinson, Victoria Ponders

“Finding My Father’s Faith,” Wynne Leon Surprised by Joy

“The Bayou Heist,” Eve Marie, cupcakecache

“Grow Damn It!” Cheryl Oreglia, Living in the Gap

Yeshiva Girl, Rachel Mankowitz, RachelMankowitz

“Cora’s Quest,” “Ever So Gently,” and others, Lauren Scott, Baydreamer

Moments of Joy

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Olive cat staring at me
Olive the cat gives me the look that it’s time to eat.

Thank you to all my fellow bloggers who I follow as well as friends who follow me. Every day, I get joy from reading your posts. I love interacting with you through comments. I realize that is part of what I look forward to every morning.

It’s a bit of sanity in an ever changing, crazy world.

Most of the blogs I read are positive and you share recipes, birds, deer, pets, and relationships with your loved ones. Each of you has a unique personality. You add to the structure and fabric of my days.

Thank you!

Here’s a bit of joy in a video of Olive watching quail through the window:

What do you enjoy most about blogging?

Tips on how to catch typos

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Some of my most embarrassing moments have happened with typos. I’ve been writing professionally since college graduation. I won’t mention exactly how many years that is. But, it’s plenty. Plenty of time to make a few mistakes.

1. I made a typo on SwimSwam. I left out a number on my tips.

My process began with a small idea. Then I’d write a rough sloppy draft. Then I’d hone it down into something tight and simple. Along the way, I cut out one tip that didn’t seem to fit. But, the story didn’t automatically renumber itself. Making a mistake like that on a busy forum like SwimSwam was decidedly embarrassing. The readers most definitely let me know in the comments section that I had made a typo.

You can read that story here. 12 Parent Tips on How to Behave at Practice.

On the bright side, I got a RT by Natalie Coughlin. I was super excited about that, so the story still worked even if it was not perfect.

Natalie Coughlin
Natalie Coughlin

2. My second worst typo was when I worked for a PR and advertising firm. I wrote eight newsletters a month, plus three or four press releases daily. It was a busy, intense job. I was in charge of a fundraiser for abused women which was held at a local country club. In my press release that ran just about everywhere — I mistakenly put in my own phone number instead of the club’s to RSVP! There was no taking that one back. I lived through it by hooking up an answering machine.

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I felt humiliated though, when my co-workers relentlessly teased me.

3. My all-time worst typo was when I had my own PR and advertising business. I had some super-duper clients including the hospital’s cancer center and a local branch of a major Wall Street firm. When the boss at the Wall Street branch was promoted to corporate headquarters on Wall Street, he still used me for all of his work. I was SO excited! Then I made a typo on a Power Point presentation. It was on the new logo he had me create for the Western Region of the United States of America. Ugh.

He was so angry with me, because I made him look bad. I’ll never forgive myself for that one.

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The thing with typos is your brain can trick you into seeing what you want to see.

My tips to catch typos are:

1. Read the piece from the bottom, sentence by sentence.

2. Read it out loud.

3. Put it away for a few days to get a fresh view.

4. Have other people proofread for you.

5. Don’t forget to proofread the title and headers. Numbers, too.

What tips do you have to catch typos?

What’s the worst mistake you’ve made in writing?

Where do ideas come from?

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A flow chart my daughter made for me after she proofread an article I wrote for SwimSwam.

Shout out to Ally Bean of The Spectacled Bean for her post yesterday. It inspired me to write about where we get our blog ideas, plus reminded me of the flow chart above that I used in an article called “Does Your Child Want to Swim in College” for SwimSwam. Ally had a flow chart in her post called “Is it a penguin?”

I used to write a weekly sports parenting column for SwimSwam. I came up with an idea every week for five years from my personal experiences, parenting mistakes, plus observing other parents with their kids on the pool deck. I’d get ideas from coaches and interview Olympians and coaches. I even got emails from parents around the world asking me for advice, which started a Dear Abby-type column called “Ask Swim Mom.” I began swimming myself and would ask my coach for ideas while I was hanging onto the wall. I’d ask my daughter to read my columns before turning them in and she had great advice (like adding her flow chart).

Swimming is a sport that lasts 50 weeks a year with practice six days a week, with a couple two-a-day practices thrown in per week. You can imagine how obsessed and focused swimming families can become. My goal with my column was to let kids be kids and own their own sport. In other words, parents need to back off.

Now, that my kids have left the nest, I no longer have the desire to write about swimming or parenting. I began my blog writing financial advice for women. I realized within a few weeks that nobody wanted to read that. Then I moved on to swimming, parenting and things that were going on in my day-to-day life. I’m still writing about my daily life, but life has slowed down. Sometimes my posts are photos of birds from my Bird Buddy or sunrises and sunsets.

Where do you get your ideas for blogging?

How has your blog evolved through the years?

After the rain

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I woke up to thunder. The sky was dark and ominous. While writing my morning pages in my journal, there was a cloud burst and rain. My husband and I both ended up in the backyard. He left through the kitchen door, and I went out the bedroom slider, but we ended up together to experience rain.

It was a short-lived rainfall, but then there was that wonderful smell. There’s a word for it:

Petrichor: The distinctive scent which accompanies the first rain after a long warm dry spell.

I wrote about petrichor when I first discovered the word a few years ago. I wrote about it HERE

After a rain where we live there is a rich deep smell from creosote. Every region must have its own distinct petrichor, depending on plant life.

I took a look at what I wrote (link above) and what hit me was how many of the bloggers who I enjoyed reading and interacting with no longer are around. I clicked on their names and to read “page not found” or blogs with no new entries since 2021.

Do you find bloggers you followed have disappeared? Do you think it’s a coincidence it happened through the shutdown years?

Do you think that we should give our readers a warning if we stop blogging? Why or why not?

Moments after the rain.

Less is More

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Sunrise view during a morning walk.

With vacation coming up and a busy schedule of getting things done before I leave, I’ve decided to change my blogging schedule. Currently, I’m posting Monday through Friday. I’m going to cut back to Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I think the new schedule will keep my blog fresher and also allow me time to work on other projects like revising a novel.

After reading Ally Bean’s AMA (Ask Me Anything) post, I learned a good tip from her.

From The Spectacled Bean:

“As a newbie I wish I’d understood that LESS IS MORE. Early on I drove myself batty posting daily, often long wordy posts, because I thought I was supposed to do that. But I learned otherwise and scaled back to a  weekly-ish schedule. Readers seem to respond positively to less from me, than to more from me. That’s the lesson. “

I know many people post seven days a week. I don’t know how they do it. I have the hardest time coming up with ideas five times a week, let alone daily. I need days off to recharge my brain.

I’ll try this new schedule for the rest of the summer and re-evaluate it in September.

What are your thoughts about “less is more?” What is your schedule for blogging?