Brava on Don’t Cut Me…

My sister is a midwife and has shared information like this with me and others for years. You are brave to expose this insidious practice. I hope others follow suit and book by book, article by article, we women are able, with informed consent, to finally direct our own health care.

Cheryl Pierce
Associate Editor, Battle Creek Shopper News
Battle Creek, MI

A Great Gardening Book

Angela:

If you don’t already own it, you HAVE HAVE HAVE to get a copy of Onward and Upward in the Garden by Katherine S. White, who was the wife of the awesome essayist, E.B. White. The book is a collection of essays that she wrote about Gardening. The New Yorker published them, one at a time, over a period of years. In her book, Katherine touches on seed catalogues, flower arranging, planting, gardeners, and everything you could possibly want to know about the art of gardening. You will definitely want to keep a notebook and pen handy when you read them. You will learn SOOOOO MUCH!!! (And as you probably know, they lived in Maine and mostly what she talks about is growing a garden in MAINE!!!)

I, personally, do NOT have a green thumb at ALL. In fact, I once killed a JADE plant and you know how hard it is to kill THEM. My jade actually turned BLACK. No lie.

But, after I got into Katherine’s book, I went online and ordered the Burpee Spring Catalogue and started prowling around my backyard and front yard wondering about the names of the resilient plants and bushes that persist in blooming around my house every year without so much as an ounce of support from yours truly.

Happy Flowering! (or whatever you green thumb people say!!) (smile)

Kathy

EDITOR’S NOTE:

I ordered a copy! I love reading gardening books and seed catalogs. Unfortunately, my seedlings developed mold last weekend. I researched online and found that putting a fan in there, and sprinkling cinnamon on them, would help. And it did! Also, Matt and Frank installed my plant light over them and they seem very happy. I also taught Max that talking to them will make them happy and that they’ll give him more green beans and cucumbers if he asks them. 😉

Writing… When You Don’t Think You Are

Dear Angela:

Greetings from Columbia, SC, and I hope spring is coming your way as
it has ours.

I wanted to thank you for your article, Writing… When You Don’t Think You Are. It’s true that documenting your experiences through blogs and/or journals is a wonderful way to find writing material in the future. I took several of my personal journal entries and turned them into short stories and devotionals. It has also helped me in my recent forays into fiction writing. Yes, it’s true – sometimes reality really is stranger than fiction! My journal actually helped me out of a major case of writer’s block with a story I was working on late last year. The story was loosely based on something that happened to me at work several years ago. So, when I got stuck, I went back to see how the “real life” situation resolved itself, and adapted the story accordingly. (Of course, I changed names, did research, and added a great number of details that didn’t come near reality, just to make the story exciting.)

Take care and keep up the great work!

Sincerely,

Sherri Fulmer Moorer
Author, Battleground Earth – Living by Faith in a Pagan World An inspirational book about applying faith to the battles we face every day.

It Never Hurts!

Hi Angela,

I just have to share a recent story of mine with you. I know a lot of people have been complaining lately about the fees they are getting offered for writing pieces, often for an online source.

I want to let people know that it never hurts to try and re-negotiate! I was recently offered $175 to do a 1,000-word piece on destination weddings. When I informed the editor that I don’t do work for less than $0.25 a word, and offered to do a 700-word piece for that price, he turned around and changed his offer to $250!

Of course it won’t work every time, but it’s worth a shot!

Name not published on request.