Writing for Good in the world

December 7, 2016 by admin
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I love to write when creativity strikes and while I would contend that is in a place of unbridled creativity that my best ideas come it is not usually where I can expect to write polished pieces. But what is writing for Good? Often the moments of creativity produce sparks and tangents that take time, control, and discipline to flesh out into fully developed arguments that flow. I often have to go back after I have posted to fix spelling and grammar mistakes, and to Continue reading →

So You want to be a Writer

December 6, 2016 by admin
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So you want to be a writer? This advice is from a letter C.S. Lewis wrote an American schoolgirl in 1959 who asked her for advice on developing as a writer. Writing is a craft and should be given the same amount of development effort as any other skill. More so, even, if this is part of your professional life. Turn off the radio. Read good books and avoid most magazines. Write with the ear, not the eye. Make every sentence sound good. Write only Continue reading →

Writing a Book Proposal

December 6, 2016 by admin
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While more and more writers are going the self published route, pitching book proposals is hardly a dying art! In fact, these skills are useful for any writer – no matter the genre. Prepar­ing Your Submission Step 1. Get ready for rejec­tion. If you can’t han­dle rejec­tion do not try to pub­lish books. Step 2. Write a pro­posal. Don’t bother with unso­licited manuscripts. Writ­ing a Proposal Pro­pos­als look a lit­tle some­thing like this: Title Short bio of yourself Sum­mary Audi­ence Need Com­pet­ing volumes Poten­tial endorsers Word Length Continue reading →

Military Related Commemorative Days and Months

December 5, 2016 by admin
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A military related list of awareness and commemorative days and months for military and military connected organizations, veteran and military spouse owned businesses and anyone else who wants to acknowledge the sacrifices of past and present service members! This list will help you by saving you significant time in researching the hundreds of awareness days and months that might connect in some way to issues that you want to raise attention about military, military family, veterans, veteran-owned business, military spouse owned business, or military non Continue reading →

Health, Wellness and Food Related Awareness Days and Months

December 5, 2016 by admin
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So you’re looking for ways to bring attention to your issue, organization or product? and it is health, wellness, or food related? I have a substantive (and pretty long) list of health, wellness and food related awareness days and months that will help shorten the amount of time needed to develop and executive a communications strategy around an awareness or commemorative day/month. This list will help you by saving you significant time in researching the hundreds of awareness days and months that might connect in Continue reading →

Making the most of Awareness Months and Commemorative Days

December 5, 2016 by admin
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A great way to connect with the media and with new customers is to share how your organization or product fits with one of the many commemorative or awareness months or days in the calendar. This doesn’t mean creating your own – rather, choose to connect with other organizations on topics where you have different perspectives or highlight the commemorative month or awareness day on your social media and community relations outlets. Which is where I come in – you can download your free printable Continue reading →

Words that Work

December 1, 2016 by admin
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My mother had a book I coveted. It was hard covered and had yellowed endpapers. It wasn’t particularly beautiful but it was the book I turned to most often for words that work. It was filled with synonyms and antonyms. It reminded me that words dance with each other, they define each other, they grow and change over time. The evidence for the definition of a word is best found in how it is used. Read that again: the definition of a word is not Continue reading →

EMPOWER: our monthly e-Newsletter

November 28, 2016 by admin
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Making a living and making your community a better place to live have a wonderful symmetry.  My goal, as a speaker, a writer, and a consultant, is to serve those who lead social enterprises, non profits, and those who are building businesses where their desire for a profit exists intertwined with their commitment to build a strong, vibrant community, with high quality communications strategy, advice, content, and execution. Personally, I seek to live a life of meaning and adventure! Not a Pedestrian Life! As part Continue reading →

Win one of 8 copies of Military Spouse Magazine!

April 25, 2016 by admin
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As part of being named Cannon AFB Military Spouse of the Year for 2016, I have 8 copies of Military Spouse Magazine to give away. Fill in the form to enter to win one of the copies! Entries close at 11:59pm on April 29 2016. [contact-form to=’annarabeevents@gmail.com’ subject=’Magazine Competition Entry’][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’What is your favorite part of being a military spouse?’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’What is the most challenging part of being a military spouse for you?’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form] ** Winners Continue reading →

A Writer’s Manifesto

April 24, 2016 by admin
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I’m a lateral thinker inclined to make connections between seemingly unrelated things. As my academic research found me immersed in the the writing about 19th century women poets and reflecting upon the challenges of their domestic lives in the midst of their creative pursuits. I became challenged by Joy Bennetts’s post reflecting on Billy Coffey’s thoughts on ‘naked writing.’ It got me thinking further about the function of my writing. As Billy Coffey quotes his writing instructor: “People write because they must. Because there is Continue reading →