By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills At writing conferences, there are moments of humor where professionalism, personality, and perfection take a break for laughter. Humor lightens the load for stressful and awkward moments, paving the way for writers to experience new and lasting relationships, critique partners, prayer partners, incredible memories, and lessons in behavior. Sometimes the unplanned breaks in the toughest of

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills This is not an article on ways remove stress from your life. Neither am I offering an instructional guide to eliminating stress by getting organized, exercising more, eating nutritionally sound, praying more, learning to say no, journaling your feelings, seeking counseling, taking prescription meds, or exploring the many ways to reduce stress. There are plenty of

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills After boarding a night flight from Houston to South Carolina, I removed my laptop from its sleeve and went to work, immediately losing track of everything around me except the story unfolding in my mind and on the screen. The time came for me to stow my laptop. I slipped it into its sleeve and placed

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills Most of us wander through life and occasionally something humorous happens. The memory of the event brings a smile to our lips . . . maybe a giggle. One of those funny happenings met me recently on a flight from Houston to Greenville, North Carolina. The hour grew late when I boarded the plane, and I’d

DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills Guest Blogger Tracy Joy Jones @tracyjoyjones1 I love the restorative quality of sunshine—all that vitamin D and not to mention the adventures to be had on a sunny day. That is, unless you’ve had any kind of skin cancer scare. I’ve had a couple of pre-cancerous spots burned from my face, so I’m a little timid to

By Rhonda Rhea @DiAnnMills This week’s post is from a writer-speaker friend, Rhonda Rhea Kids have super weird yet extremely discriminating palates. I know this to be true. I raised five of them. I’m telling you, I remember toddlers completely snubbing dinner, then half an hour later eating a dirt clod and washing it down with bath water. It’s not

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills Tweet this: Questions to Ask Before Getting Old I don’t recall taking a class in high school or college about what to ask myself before getting old. Psychology courses gave the textbook approach to ease our fears: this is what happens to the aging mind; what is lost, and what is retained. Frankly, I didn’t pay

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills Tweet this: Nine Things NOT To Do When Tired Two weeks ago, I returned from a writer’s high: I taught at a conference and afterward was Edie Melson’s guest. For six days we worked on a book project titled The Author Roadmap – Navigating the Social Media Highway. Oh, every moment of the 8 days was thrilling.

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills Tweet This: The New Years Bucket List This blog is for those who hate the idea of making resolutions. I have a better idea. Why not make a Bucket List for 2016? That certainly sounds more fun than trying to lose weight, exercise more, and resolving bad habits while establishing new ones. Boring! A bucket list

Tweetable – Latest From DiAnn’s Desk – A Funny Thing Happened via @DiAnnMills http://bit.ly/1FSJrYj #WritersLife (Click to Tweet) A Funny Thing Happened on the Way … Recently I attended the Write To Publish Conference in Wheaton, Illinois as part of the faculty. My job was to teach a continuing class on The Dance of Character and Plot. Fun! The idea of meeting up