Do you pick up your marbles and go home?

February 4, 2019

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My mother used all kinds of clichéd sayings, many of them directed at me:           I have a bone to pick with you…           Don’t cut your nose off to spite your face.           Oh, so you’re going to pick up your marbles and go home, are you? Mom’s been gone for 20 years now and I can still hear her voice when she was disappointed and we were about to have a discussion that would portray me in a very poor light: “Linda Ann, I have a bone to pick with you.” I’d rather have been smacked, grounded, and…

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February insurance CE webinar schedule is now available

January 31, 2019

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I just uploaded the insurance CE webinars I’m teaching for A.D. Banker and Company during the month of February. Topics include: Cyber Security Disability Income Planning Annuity Suitability Homeowners Endorsements Medicare Driving into the Future: Uber, Drones, and Driverless Cars P&C Risks and Catastrophes Professional Liability For more information, or to register, click here.

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Can you use more kindness in your life?

January 28, 2019

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I think it’s normal for people to reflect about their youth as they age. Some of us remember special times and people we’ll never see again: our first loves, that summer vacation that just can’t be topped… And some of us are incredibly grateful we don’t have to relive sitting home the night of the prom or that godawful first job. Either way, I think most of us agree life was different then. No, we didn’t have to walk 5 miles to school in the snow, uphill both ways, but we all remember things our children and/or grandchildren never heard…

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What do you want to be when you grow up?

January 23, 2019

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I’ve always struggled with making decisions. Is it nature or nurture? Black or white? Free will or destiny? Over time, I’ve realized that nothing is always black or white. Yes, some nights it’s so dark you can’t see your hand in front of your face. And some days, the sun is so bright you can’t see for the yellow spots in your eyes. We’re always looking for answers … and we want those answers to be guarantees. We seek the absolute, because it makes us feel more secure. In reality, life is more often grey than it is black and…

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Perspective on Plotting

January 21, 2019

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When writing fiction, my plotting skills seem to be weaker than my skills at creating enjoyable characters are.  If I attend a writer’s conference, the first workshops I register for are those that reveal the speaker’s view about how to build an engaging, riveting plot. I attended the New England Crime Bake last fall, and (fortunately for me) Gayle Lynds’ plotting workshop was the first event I participated in. I walked away with an entirely different method of plotting because her advice actually enabled me to view plotting from a character-driven perspective. Here were my takeaways from her phenomenal presentation,…

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