Picturepocket's Blog

Tag: writing

  • Know & be Known

    Know & be Known

    Now that I have been published for a minute, someone has invited me to teach a group of seniors about writing memoirs. This blog notwithstanding, I’ve never published one, but I have read a ton of them.  To get your memoir published these days, you have to have one of three things; already be famous,…

  • Bookseller Bingo

    Bookseller Bingo

    Three months ago I self-published a book of devotionals. It’s relatively easy to become a published author these days because most books for sale only exist virtually. They are posted online and can be downloaded onto devices or printed on demand.  Any and all bookstores may sell you my book, if you know how to…

  • Evil-ish 

    In fiction, the villain is often self-aware, and when cornered, will be quite forthcoming in their diabolical plot as they laugh at the suffering of others. In real life, more often than not, no one sees themselves as the bad guy either before, during or even after they get caught.  On the small scale you start…

  • Finding the Courage to be Yourself

    I recently spent some time with my cousin’s teenage daughter. She was telling me about all the trends that the girls and boys her age followed in school. My cousin and I laughed because we remembered brands that were popular when we were teenagers. We remembered how important it was to have jeans made by…

  • A.I.Pocalypse

    I haven’t had a scary dream in years, but I had one recently. It was the kind that had me shook.  I dreamed that a computer virus went through all the files and redid them all in the style of artificial intelligence art and ChatGPT writing. The result was that everything looked and sounded similar,…

  • Things that Keep me up At Night

    Most nights I crawl into bed, totally physically and mentally exhausted from the day. The living room and kitchen tidied and swept just enough to let them rest until the breaking of our next fast. The children have been bathed, brushed, bundled and rebundled in their beds. The dog has been walked around the block. If…

  • Halfway Out

    I managed to listen to Jinger Duggar Voulo’s book “Becoming Free Indeed” while being a stay-at-home mom this week. Billed as a tell-all book, it barely covers any of the behind-the-scenes of the Duggar household, but instead is focused on being a takedown of Bill Gothard’s Institute of Basic Life Principles. The audiobook is read…

  • The Human Struggle

    I am just finishing up listening to Demon Copperhead on audiobook. It was my commute entertainment for my summer course. I have to admit that got over halfway through the story before realizing that it wasn’t just familiar to another plot, but exactly the same as David Copperfield. Not the magician, but the Charles Dickens…

  • AI Bard vs. a Real Assignment

    I am putting together my upcoming Cultural Studies course for July. I thought I would run my first assignment through Google’s AI Bard to see what would happen. I have heard that students were using it to do their homework. I am both impressed and horrified. For my first run-through I typed in “500 word…

  • The Artist

    My dad once told me a story about an artist who made paintings. He didn’t sell his work, but just kept it all. They were too precious to him. The only exception was the one time he gave a painting to a friend for his birthday. Then one day, the artist’s house caught fire and…