penny's pages
purposeful ponderings
In what way are you strong? The summer between my sophomore and junior year, I took a strength-training class at my high school. The first session was spent determining our maximum weight lifts on each piece of equipment. Then we spent the next six weeks doing short reps with increasing weight. By the end of […]
As I am nearing the end of my revising process before sending my poetry collection to my editorial and formatting team, I am trying to decide what to do next. Should I work on another poetry collection? Should I tackle the novel idea I started during NaNoWriMo? Should I do another journal-writing focus by continuing […]
In April, I was asked by a friend who teaches at a private school to answer her high school seniors’ questions about what it means to be a writer. While these answers were provided for a specific audience, I hope everyone viewing my video responses will learn more about the writing life.
What is a memory you would like to erase? Tempting, isn’t it? If we could scrub out bad memories the way we might change a misspelled word? If we could delete mistakes the way we might remove an extra comma? I don’t know that I would want to erase my memories. Even experiences that are […]
Here are the books I completed during the first month of my personal summer reading challenge. Out of the Deep I Cry by Julie Spencer-Fleming Five Stars I am enjoying Julie Spencer-Fleming’s Fergusson/Van Alstyne Mysteries. This is the third book in the series, and they are improving with each book. I think this one is […]
When I view the steps of the writing process–understanding there is purpose and delight in every part–I know I have appreciated most the process of revision. Some writers have a once-and-done approach, and maybe some can claim to getting the writing right on the first try. But, I have found that there is greater freedom […]
In April, I was asked by a friend who teaches at a private school to answer her high school seniors’ questions about what it means to be a writer. While these answers were provided for a specific audience, I hope everyone viewing my video responses will learn more about the writing life.
Can you imagine how different each of us and this world would be if we gave God the pen to write in the planner of our life? I read this question during my devotions this morning, and it caught my attention. Good thing, because my mind was not completely focused on what I had been […]
For the reader, two words signify the culmination of a literary journey. If the excursion through navigating the pages offers enough intrigue, adventure, and mischance, then those two words may elicit feelings of bittersweet satisfaction. If the experience is grueling, plodding, and outright boring to the point that the reader asks “Are we there yet?,” […]
Last week, I traveled with my husband and two of my sons to Crane Lake, Minnesota. The closer we got to our destination, the density of the trees increased, and our connection with the outside world weakened. This location is all about social distancing. Even if COVID-19 restrictions hadn’t limited our ability to visit tourist […]
