Links to My Writing Pages on Facebook

Please also visit my Facebook pages:

Author's page https://www.facebook.com/beachwriternancyps


Sandy Shorts page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sandy-Shorts/1452154288388712

Victory!

Finally, my old blog can be my new blog!  Technology is a wonderful gift - except when we can't get changes made and, instead, get tied up into finding lost passwords and trying to convince email account providers that we truly are the owners of an already-established user name account.  Sigh.....  It has taken me almost two weeks of banging my head against the wall and searching for help.  You know how they say that the definition of insanity is trying the same method over and over and over again despite the same end results?  Well, I had two weeks of insanity according to that definition!  I'm back to my old self again now that Google and I are on "the same page" as to my user name and ownership of my blog.  Yea! Now, I may return to an effort at blogging. 

Another day of trying to get my old blog attached to my current Gmail name! 

Excerpt of new YA novel

My friend Chuck and I collaborated on a YA novel and have submitted it to a writing contest at Tuscany Press, a Catholic publisher.  The following link will take you to an excerpt of "Ghostly Whispers" that is posted on the Tuscany blog site:

http://www.tuscanypress.com/?p=2558

All the Writing I Thought I'd Be Doing

A writer friend once told me that "if you're meant to write, you'll write."  This, of course, was in response to hearing other people talking about how they had a book idea or that they plan to be a writer. 

A writer is driven to write; there is no choice if one is a storyteller or a word geek.  Yet, I find that blogging is hard for me.  It's not that I lack the dedication; after all, I did write a first draft full novel (over 50,000 words) in 22 days during a November in which I committed to NaNoWriMo.  The problem with blogging for me is that every second that I sit at the computer, I want to be writing a story or working on one of the novels, not writing about me or my thoughts.  Lately, I've been thinking that maybe a focus beyond writing and living at the beach might be the answer.  I have been a teacher for 38 years now (high school and college) and a theatre director/teacher for over 34 years; perhaps some of the exercises that I use as a writer might be worth sharing since they combine the worlds of writing and acting.  Or, maybe I should just post some the stories that didn't win writing contests but in which I still believe.  

Think...think...Stay posted for the answer.

Loss of a Hero - Day #4

Steve Jobs has died. I feel such sadness. I have been an Apple enthusiast since the Apple IIc. I can't think of the loss of his inventive mind, his imagination,and his courage.

A Visit from Irene - Day #3

Hurricanes and tornadoes?  Oh, my!  When we moved to coastal Delaware, we expected the occasional Nor'easter, but we never expected that we would be preparing for Hurricane Irene.  Who thinks of photocopying their marriage certificate and recent tax papers?  Yet, the information provided by the Hurricane Preparedness websites had those on the TO DO list, along with preparing the quick get-a-way bags that included a different kind of doggy bag - not the kind that comes home from a restaurant filled with yummy left-overs; instead, a bag with dog food, bowls, treats, thunder shirts, doggy butt-wipes...you got the picture?  We gathered the papers, the bags, and the flashlights. 

After all this was organized, and just as my husband and I were content with having successfully stuffed all the outdoor furniture into the shed and having secured the extra-large items with bungee cords, we heard the words "gas-powered portable generator" from the neighbors, and we caught the fever.  However, everyone else in the coastal area had also caught the fever, and they had done so sooner! So, just like the disappearances of D batteries and bottled water, the generators had also made a quick retreat, leaving the shelves empty.  

The hunt began.  First, we got our name added to a "call" list for Home Depot in case they got a delivery before the full-out attack of Irene.  Then, we got a gift from the angel of "Don't worry, be happy" - word that Lowes was currently distributing a fresh batch of generators.  Off like a (cliched) flash, we sped to the local Lowes, rushed to the check-out, handed over the Discover card ("It cost what?!"), sighed, mentally guessed the future minimum payments, and joined the line of cars that inched to the pick-up point with the same resignation as we'd had during the old gas lines of the 1970's.  Victory!  We were one of the last ones to score a generator.  

Now, here is the bottom line of this last preparation step: having a generator was more than just bragging rights; it was the guarantee that our community would not lose electric power because we had just paid the value of a future vacation weekend just to have that metal engine on wheels available. Our plan worked.  No loss of electricity in our part of Sussex county!  We had saved the day, rather than saved the money.