http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com and Little Dozen Press Sun, 04 Jan 2009 23:35:38 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en This time I deleted all the comments back to September 24. How depressing! I should apparently not try to deal with spam when I'm tired. I feel bereaved ... http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/2009/01/did-it-again/ Do your conversations fall into patterns? I have one that repeats itself regularly. I say "Guess what?" "You're writing a book?" answers my fellow. "No, I -- well, yes, I'm always writing a book, but that's not the point ..." Writing books is a regular habit for me these days. This year I ... http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/2009/01/goal-setting-the-books/ I'm dealing with an influx of comment spam at the moment, and somehow this morning I accidentally deleted most legitimate comments all the way back to October. I apologize! My blog looks a lot lonelier now, and I don't want you to think you're not welcome around here anymore. *Sigh.* If anyone ... http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/2009/01/im-sorry-commenters/ While we're on the topic of setting goals, I thought I'd share this article by Melissa Mayntz, published in Writers Weekly. I read it this morning and really enjoyed it. Some of her suggestions I'm already taking; others have me thinking in new veins. It's worth reading! Here's a sneak peek ... http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/2009/01/thirty-one-writing-related-resolutions/ As I go over my 2009 goals, I note that the lion's share of them are business-related. This makes sense: I spend the lion's share of my time on business! This year, I want to do three major things, all of them interrelated: increase my income (by a specific amount, ... http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/2008/12/goal-setting-business/ When I was very young, my father taught my siblings and me that goal-setting should become a regular habit in our lives. For a while we were required to write out daily goals every morning and have them approved before the day went on. At the time it seemed rather ... http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/2008/12/goal-setting-the-plans/ As we come into the last days of the year, I have a distinct feeling of standing on tip-toe--trying to peek over  the edge of the coming year to see what grand and glorious things lie in store. Anno Domini Two Thousand and Eight has been an amazing year in ... http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/2008/12/standing-on-tip-toe-at-the-end-of-the-year/ For some reason, I'm pulling a late night. I've had a few involuntary late ones, so now my body doesn't want to go to bed ... and I'm a bit behind on marking papers, so despite an unexpected reprieve in their due date, I'd like to mark some tonight. It's ... http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/2008/12/very-very-late/ In mid-December of last year, I was visiting the Curreys, and Carolyn and I were looking over the year ahead and detailing our plans. Two ballet/performing arts productions to create, rehearse, and tour; promotion and publication of our book Tales of the Heartily Homeschooled, publication of my book Burning Light, ... http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/2008/12/home-again-one-last-burst-before-the-holidays/ Last night we performed Emmanuel at an Anglican church called St. John the Evangelist in Niagara Falls. It was a small crowd, but I really enjoyed the performance -- something about it was very warm. It's a privilege to be able to read the Word of God in these performances, ... http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/2008/12/the-songs-of-christmas/