If You Could Read Only One Author For The Rest Of Your Life, Who Would It Be? 18 Writers Share…

Read. Write. Read. There’s no writing without reading.

Some thought it difficult to select but here I share as Writers chimed in to Penguin Publishers’ public forum question:

If you could read only one author for the rest of your life, who would it be?

  • Stephen King
  • Don DeLillo
  • J. K. Rowling
  • Jane Austen
  • Agatha Christie
  • Margate Atwood
  • William Shakespeare
  • J.R.R. Tolkien
  • Virginia Woolf
  • Toni Morrison
  • Paulo Coelho
  • The Bible
  • John Green
  • Alice Munro
  • C.S. Lewis
  • Ernest Hemmingway
  • James Baldwin
  • Dickens

If you had to choose, who would it be? Do share. We would love to hear!

Cheers!

New York Times New Books: My Top 5…

Reading. The Thrill. The New York Times released its list of 17 New Books To Watch For. From the list I like 5. Here I share:

  1. Coventry: Essays,’ by Rachel Cusk

 

Care to share those you like? Whichever you choose, Happy Reading!

Cheers!

The Dreams That Tug…

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We all have dreams, goals and aspirations that consistently tug at our hearts. Some annoyingly, some quietly. We sleep, gaze, visualize, but the ideas just won’t go away. Most often we are stuck….afraid to take the leap. Here I share the story of how one dreamer who made the move that impacted generations. May it inspire you to never ever give up.

The cheesecake Factory story begins in Detroit, Michigan in the 1940’s. Evelyn Overton found a recipe in the local newspaper that would inspire her “Original” Cheesecake. Everyone loved her recipe so much that she decided to open a small Cheesecake shop, but eventually gave up her dream of owning her own business in order to raise her two small children, David and Renee. She moved her baking equipment to a kitchen in her basement and continued to supply cakes to several of the best restaurants in town while raising her family.

In 1972, with her children grown, Evelyn and her husband Oscar decided to pack up all of her belongings and move to Los Angeles to make one last attempt at owning her own business. With the last of their savings, they opened “The Cheesecake Factory Bakery” and began selling Evelyn’s cheesecakes to restaurants throughout Los Angeles. 

Through hard work and determination their business grew to a modest size and Evelyn was soon baking more than 20 varieties of cheesecakes and other desserts.

With a great foresight and intuition, their son David decided to open a restaurant to showcase his mother’s selection of cheesecakes. Somehow he just knew that guests would enjoy a restaurant with an extensive dessert menu. It was 1978 and he opened the first The Cheesecake Factory restaurant in Beverly Hills, California. The restaurant was an immediate success and today there are nearly 200 The Cheesecake Factory restaurants around the world that share the Overton’s commitment to quality and spirit of innovation and hard work.

 

May the delicious delicacy of the Cheesecake’s story ignite your passion to step out, go after your dream, and do what you have always wanted to do.

Have a dream? It’s never too late. Go get it.

Need help? Let’s connect.

Cheers!

 

Getaway To The Waves. The Sea. The Shore.

Waves splashing. Seas rough. Birds chirping. Softly. Quietly. Then louder as if composing a song. As if complaining … oh why so rough?

Now they fly. They soar. They meander. Still chirping high above beneath the sky. The white clouds embrace.

Waves calm down. Storm’s afloat. Passes by the outskirts as if to say, I’ll stop by next time…whenever that is. Behind it leaves weeds on the shore. Washed up. All aghast.

She Reads By The Sea

Book in hand she reads by the sea. Listening. Listening to the sounds of the waves. The birds. People shouting indistinctly in the distance. Soaking up the sun. Then softly covered by the clouds. Be still my soul.

Trees. Palm trees sway softly. Tenderly. Hear the birds call. The sun shines brightly against the afternoon’s wave.

The Right Time To Write

‘Tis the right time to write. To pray. To listen to the still small voice. Speak. Help me listen. Help me hear you. Don’t let me miss what you must say.

Peace.

My Alexander Terrible Horrible Bad Day…

So it was one of those Alexander Terrible Horrible bad day.

1.Disagreement with boss

2.Bigger boss got mad at other boss because of a crazy issue

3.Both upset so everything went wrong after that

4. Rushed out later to return my iPhone

5. Reached post office and iPhone wouldn’t delete my info, smh

6.Tried for over 45 mins (I never give up)! Oh silly me.

7.Rushed into post office continuing manual deletes

8.Did most of it after standing there for another 15 minutes (empty post office but don’t want it to close on me). Delete. Delete. Delete. Slowly but surely …delete.

9. Finally decided to approach the clerk who looked at the box because I asked. He replied “Sorry this is USPS. You need UPS”.

10.Heart failed! Shocked! But laughed out loud! Omgeee! What a crasses!! (Island peeps will understand)

11. My 5 min FB live for book promo done without a caption (important for me).

12. My Heart sank

13. Had to take it down even though it started getting attention

14.Went up to Walmart to pick up a quick item to exchange for another. They said they couldn’t do it at that location. Smh

16.Went home after a long day.

17. Still have iPhone. Gonna try to return another time.

18.Then first thing the next morning I heard of a family returning from Georgia. Parents, teenage twins and another child….drove into a truck. All died.

Then there’s Hurricanes and other natural disasters that create havoc for those in their path.

So today I thank God for my Alexander Terrible Horrible bad day.

May this encourage you that there’s always someone worse than whatever you’re going through.

Cheers!

The Hikes of Success

Hiking is like life. The Journey requires you to put one foot in front of the other …again and again. And if you allow yourself to be present throughout the entirety of the trek, you will witness beauty every step of the way, not only at the summit. ~Unknown

Success Strategies

Traveling in the slow lane, I  get angry. I get upset. Forgetting that I’m traveling in the slow lane. My progress is slowed. My destination eludes me and seem to get further away. My anger grows. My frustration… like a fuse lights up, ready to explode!

But that’s how it is with life. Missed steps, missed deadlines, procrastination. Failed  business, exams, twisted careers, and more cause us to feel like we  are driving in the slow lane. Our goals, dreams, aspirations seems unreachable. We get angry, frustrated, feel punished. But that’s because we have gone off course. We fail to plan. We fail to focus. We fail to keep our eyes on the goal. Milestones recede…ebbs away in the distance. One by one. We procrastinate saying I’ll get it done tomorrow…, but tomorrow never comes.

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But all is not lost. Achieving our goal is like a Hike. If carefully planned our long…

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17 Ways To Inspire Creativity…

Write. Create. Inspire to achieve.

Success Strategies

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Who would have thought a flock of birds would create such havoc? Yes indeed. Though extremely rare as one in a billion, it happens. The movie Sully shared the real life story of the pilot whose quick decision saved passengers on an aircraft he was flying. He landed in the Hudson River, and Miraculously saved over 150 lives. It’s a story of humility, bravery, admiration, fear, teamwork, leadership, and most of all calm in the midst of tragic circumstances. Doesn’t this story inspire you?

Who Inspires You?

Brian Tracy asked his audience “Who inspires you?” Many responded giving answers such as God, family including mom, dad, spouse, as well as leaders like Brian Tracy, Oprah, John Maxwell, mentor, teacher, coach, political leaders, and more. But surprisingly, one response stood out when a male said that he was not inspired by anyone or anything. Bewildered? Should this be reason for…

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If You Do Not Travel…

If you do not travel,

You start dying slowly

If you do not travel,

If you do not read,

If you do not listen to the sounds of life,

If you do not appreciate yourself.

You start dying slowly

When you kill your self-esteem;

When you do not let others help you.

You start dying slowly

If you become a slave of your habits,

Walking everyday on the same paths…

If you do not change your routine,

If you do not wear different colours

Or you do not speak to those you don’t know.

You start dying slowly

If you avoid to feel passion

And their turbulent emotions;

Those which make your eyes glisten

And your heart beat fast.

You start dying slowly

If you do not change your life when you are not satisfied with your job, or with your love,

If you do not risk what is safe for the uncertain,

If you do not go after a dream,

If you do not allow yourself,

At least once in your lifetime,

To run away from sensible advice.

~Martha Medeiros

Hope this speaks to you as it did to me. Hope it inspires you to step out and do something different today. Something that you have been delaying. Something that you have been putting off. It’s time,

Thanks Miss World Runner-Up Yendi Phillips for sharing. I couldn’t resist.

Cheers!

15 Things To Do By Yourself…

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Spending time alone is one of my absolute pleasures. I’m sure I’m not alone. You may also like to do that as well.  A few years ago I shared that I had some planning to do and decided on a whim to jump into my car and drive to the beach. A few hours later, I had mapped out plans for my top goals for the rest of the year! yea! I left feeling totally satisfied to get things done! What seemed like an drilling exercise turned out to be quite productive, in a serene atmosphere.

Self-Care

Jo Chunyan shared a list of things do alone. I decided to pull my top 15 to share.

  1. Journal. Write up a list of things you would love to do. Declare your dreams and intentions or simply empty out all your thoughts into your notebook.
  2. Spend a day at a museum or art gallery
  3. Meditate – sit. Be still and devote time to listen to your spiritual thoughts. Breathe.
  4. Have dinner on your own in a nice restaurant – take time to really enjoy the food
  5. Go for a walk and enjoy breathing the fresh air
  6. See a film at a cinema on your own
  7. Rearrange your wardrobe and discover old clothes again.
  8. Donate old clothes, books and furniture. Make room for the new by clearing out the old.
  9. Go somewhere in the city where you have never been
  10. Give yourself a mini retreat weekend…eat healthy food, go for a massage, spoil yourself and really relax!
  11. Sip a cup of tea and look out the window
  12. Be Athletic. Go for a jog or walk on the beach. Breathe in the salty sea breeze and watch the waves lick the shore.
  13. Study. Sign up for an online course in any topic you have an interest in and learn something new
  14. Take a photo to depict each hour of your day
  15. Travel on your own. Learn something new about yourself.

Can you add any? Do share!

Cheers!

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