Category Archives: inspiration

Writer Wednesdays: Inspired Words with Jennifer Leeper

Posted on February 3, 2016 by Val

Today I had the chance to chat with fellow Barking Rain Press author Jennifer Leeper. Jennifer is the author of  Padre: The Narrowing Path (description at bottom of post), a book I very much enjoyed. Check out Jennifer’s advice on … Continue reading →

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Fantastic Friday: Life and Art—and David Bowie

Posted on January 15, 2016 by Val

Teaching English literature, I often encounter the theme of life versus art. Does art mirror life? Does life mirror art? I awoke to a shock this week—like millions of others—to learn that David Bowie had passed away after an 18-month-long … Continue reading →

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Fantastic Friday: First-Day (Finite) Fun

Posted on January 1, 2016 by Val

Happy New Year! I’ve had several discussions with people who dislike holidays that celebrate or designate the passage of time—New Years, birthdays, even Labor Day denoting the end of summer. At times, I even agree. But as my dad always … Continue reading →

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Fantastic Friday: Fall

Posted on October 2, 2015 by Val

I’m one of those people—you know the ones. I never complain about heat waves. I dread snow and cold. Putting on pants and socks makes me feel like I’m being mummified. I would love to retire somewhere tropical and warm. … Continue reading →

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Fantastic Fridays: To Allen

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Val

There are some people in life who always seem to look on the bright side of any situation. My father-in-law, Allen, was one of them. No matter what was happening, he was always the one making a joke or finding … Continue reading →

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Fantastic Friday: When Heather Comes to Life

Posted on April 24, 2015 by Val

Battle of the Books This year, I was honored that Loudoun County Public Schools chose my novel The Scarred Letter as one of its ten Battle of the Books selections. Battle of the Books is a competition in which students … Continue reading →

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Forging Freedom: Dimensions

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Val

For today’s “Writer Wednesday” feature, I wanted to highlight an anthology I edited called Forging Freedom: Dimensions. Dimensions was published by Freedom Forge Press, a company dedicated to celebrating stories of freedom (of all types). When the company put out … Continue reading →

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That Holiday Magic

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Val

I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about Elf On The Shelf again—that mischievous “game” in which parents torment their kids with “deeds” the demented-looking elf commits while the kids are sleeping. Though Elf On The Shelf wasn’t a thing … Continue reading →

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Thirty Days of Thankful: 2014

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Val

As I’ve done in Novembers of the past, I wanted to highlight thirty reasons I am thankful. It’s so easy to go through each day dwelling on the negative; in fact, it seems negativity spreads much more quickly than positivity. … Continue reading →

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Corgi Mania!

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Val

I feel blessed to be releasing two new corgi books so close to my birthday. They’re being released by different publishers, but their release dates happened to coincide! To celebrate their release (and my birthday), I’m giving away a copy … Continue reading →

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