inspirational Archives - From the Write Side

August Author of the Month: De’Shawna Yamini

One of the responsibilities of being a writer is giving back to the community that has nurtured me. One of the best ways to do that is to champion new writers when they begin their writing careers. It is always a privilege to discover someone whose passion for a topic had compelled them to write a story that will help others. So this month, I'm so pleased to introduce readers to De'Shawna Yamini. Yamini is a lifelong resident of the Dayton, Ohio, area and a [...]

By irvinjgdm|2023-07-31T15:53:36+00:00July 31st, 2023|Author of the Month|0 Comments

Find Your Summer Retreat

Because it's summer... Because you deserve to find joy... Because the world is truly "too much with us" these days... Find a place where you can retreat from the stress, pressure, cares, sorrows, a place where you feel your own life thrumming through your body. Savor the land and the sky, the mountains and the water. Inhale the fragrance of lilac, rose, and new-mown grass. Open every sense to the pleasure of residing in the moment and allow that peace to heal, if only for [...]

By irvinjgdm|2023-05-31T16:34:13+00:00May 31st, 2023|Blog|0 Comments

Are You a Word Warrior?

The arrival of May signals a change in the tempo of growing things. The garden beds warm, seeds germinate, the pond and prairie hum with exuberant life. A new set of goslings in the neighborhood delight with their fuzzy bodies as they follow their tribe across the lawns and into the water. While the young ones practice swimming, their parents, ever vigilant, remain on guard to protest the incursion of dogs off leash, eager to prove their hunting skills, or fend off hawks that swoop [...]

By irvinjgdm|2023-04-30T17:33:46+00:00April 30th, 2023|Blog|0 Comments

April Author of the Month: JOHN DESJARLAIS

April showers are probably not as welcome in parts of our nation as they have been in years past, especially given the bomb cyclones experienced by California since the start of this year. As I construct our interview for this month, my local weather forecast promises two to five inches of rain. Holy sump pump! But the rain can't dampen my excitement at introducing you to this month's featured author, John Desjarlais. John comes to us as a former producer with Wisconsin Public Radio and [...]

By irvinjgdm|2023-03-31T17:18:45+00:00March 31st, 2023|Author of the Month|0 Comments

December Girls

December girls stand arrow-straight, wear winter white, carmine and black, cool colors for red-hot thinkers, the doers in the darkest part of the year's final gasp. December girls love with fierce ambition and deep commitment, spend themselves on soul causes. They draw Sagittarian bows, release the fletched and sacred darts toward future fate not yet revealed, set their sights on a higher plane and soar, unsullied into the coming year. ~~~ May you join this December girl in welcoming a new year, new ventures, and [...]

By irvinjgdm|2022-11-30T18:35:56+00:00November 30th, 2022|Blog|0 Comments

July Blog: Sometimes I Just Want To Run Away…

READY? What's that old line about "the world being too much with us"? Sometimes the obstacles laid along the road create a wall too high to scale. Sometimes they force us to confront truths we would rather avoid. If you're a little like me, maybe they cause you to contemplate, if only for a moment, running away, and summer provides the opportune moment to try a faux escape. After all, it's July, summer's highpoint in the northern hemisphere. In this month of heat, humidity, and [...]

By irvinjgdm|2022-06-30T15:36:54+00:00June 30th, 2022|Essays|0 Comments

May 2022 Author of the Month: MELISSA W. HUNTER

Every once in a while a novel comes along that stirs your heart. Melissa Hunter's debut novel What She Lost is that kind of story. Based on the real-life story of her grandmother, the novel follows the efforts of a young woman to survive the Holocaust during WWII. Melissa is a Cincinnati, Ohio, girl who studied creative writing and journalism at UC, where she received a BA in English literature and a minor in Judaic Studies. She has been a blogger and contributed articles to [...]

By irvinjgdm|2022-05-10T10:51:23+00:00May 1st, 2022|Author of the Month|0 Comments

The Importance of Reviews

As the year 2021 reaches its conclusion, it's feel like the right time to nudge readers toward reviewing the books they read. The publishing world has become reliant on the numbers game...how many books sold, how many Likes clicked, the number of positive and negative everything. Your simple rating of a book can power an author's career or sink it for the foreseeable future. Why do writers always ask readers to write a review? Because our success in the business side of this art and [...]

By irvinjgdm|2021-11-30T13:05:37+00:00November 30th, 2021|Essays, inspirational|0 Comments

A World Turned Upside Down

Note: I drafted the following essay before our country erupted in chaos in protest of the police brutality and murder of George Floyd. I felt a need to add an uplifting look at the pandemic-infused world. Now, our nation is even more in need of healing. Next month, I may address this canker at the heart of our society, but for now, I offer you a breather in the midst of uncertainty. Thank you for being there...on the other side of my words. You are [...]

By irvinjgdm|2020-05-31T17:01:37+00:00May 31st, 2020|contemplative, emotive, Essays|0 Comments

Celebrating the Two-Headed Beast: A Toast to Time

New Year's Eve...one foot in the past, one in the future. We watch a ball drop, twine arms and sip champagne and the months of the old year wind out behind us like a scroll. January...weather alerts and bowl games. February...does he/she love me, does he not? March...the winds blow, carrying the faint aroma of rebirth before the cold clamps down again. April, T.S. Eliot's cruelest month...but you get the picture. Twelve months gone. Our past is written, at times in lyric poetry, often in [...]

By irvinjgdm|2015-12-30T15:35:39+00:00December 30th, 2015|Essays, motivational|0 Comments