Bring On Lemons

The following is a blog post I am preparing for the WOW! Women on Writing blog for Cinco de Mayo. I would love to hear your thoughts. Thank you as always for stopping by. May your paths be abundantly filled with lemons, sugar, sunshine, and reasons to celebrate! ~Crystal Celebrate YOU, today and every day! I was pretty excited when I found out I would be doing the WOW! Blog post on Cinco de Mayo. What better day to encourage fellow writers to celebrate than on what is observed in the United States as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride? Today is a great day to talk about pride in our vocation, and how we deserve to celebrate our successes. Author, Joel Osteen, said it eloquently: “When nobody else celebrates you, learn to celebrate yourself. It’s not up to other people to keep you encouraged. It’s up to you. Encouragement should come from the inside.” If you have always been confident in your writing abilities or have always been embraced by agents, publishers, and r...

Just in case you missed my guest post on the WOW! Women on Writing blog yesterday, here you go: Encouraging and Creating Young Creative Writers Before I get too far in today’s post, I should tell you a bit about who I am. I’m a wife, a mother, a writer, a musician, and a dairy farmer. I don’t know how all these go together, but I have a sneaking suspicion that each of them play into my role as a teacher when it comes to teaching young people about creative writing. I work on special projects with my daughter’s class. She is in Kindergarten, and some of her creative writing has already been featured on my blog, submitted as part of a college project for her teacher, and shared with many via social media. My daughter turned six at the beginning of March; so when I speak to you about creating a young creative writer, I want you to know that a child is never too young to be creative. The first stories that a child hears are simple spoken tales shared by their parents. Hearing develo...

Looking for a great read by a fabulous female author? Check out What Matters Most by Author, Bette Lee Crosby. She is running a promotion right now with a  New Release sale for fans & followers $2.99 click here for details:  http://ow.ly/jI0uL Review of What Matters Most Review by: Crystal J. Casavant-Otto Book by: Author, Bette Lee Crosby What's not to love about Clay and Louise Palmer? They're just like my parents, my friend's parents, and so many of my neighbors growing up. They've been living almost separate lives for years and Clay has no idea how his decision to move would throw Louise into a panic. I remember thinking 'she's so stubborn' about Louise at the beginning of the book. As author, Bette Lee Crosby developed the characters, I realized the things I didn't like about Louise were the same things I don't like about myself. As Louise worked through her issues, I had an opportunity to look at myself more objectively. By the en...

Interestingly enough, not everyone is interested in living my life. Of course, I knew that ... in fact, I wasn't particularly excited about my life a year ago, and sometimes things work like that. Here's an example that may help you understand: My ex-husband would plan these elaborate vacations and I would fight him tooth and nail. Of course when I got to the destination or while I was enjoying the carriage ride through historic Charlotte, NC or touring the Vaderbilt Mansion, I was loving the vacation. I would often say "honey, this was such a great idea; thank you!" and he would sort of roll his eyes at me. Apparently I was so difficult during the planning stages (and even during the travel) that he had considered never letting me leave the county. That's just how I'm wired. Now that I've been to those places, the thought of going back makes me smile and I'm relaxed about it. I think it's a sort of stage fright and it applies to my everyday life. ...

I can't wait to read this book and learn more about it's author, Bette Lee Crosby. Stay tuned for more information about WHAT MATTERS MOST http://betteleecrosby.com/2013/03/14/the-book-youve-been-waiting-for-is-here/

Don't get too excited by the title ... I am NOT the person to talk about taking inventory of items or possessions. My mother and husband would be happy to tell you that I keep weird stuff and get rid of all sorts of things I shouldn't (vehicle titles often end up missing, and yet I have enough books to start my own library ... some things I can't part with and other things I just end up throwing away because I'm not a clutter person). Anyway - that's the disclaimer for today's post. I take a daily inventory of my life and I am incredibly thankful that I do. A friend of mine recently mentioned that I should share this technique with others, so here goes...enjoy! Take Inventory of Your Life Do you do things that aren't fun? Do you do things just because you've always done them? Have you lost sight of your goals? Do you have any direction at all, or are you just trying to get through the day? I'm going to start by telling you about my previous life...