Show, Don't Tell

I finished two books in the last month that I had been reading simultaneously, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and Killing Yourself to Live by Chuck Klosterman. They have completely different plots from each other, but have a similar theme. Both authors take the reader through an emotional and physical journey. One brought me through Italy, India and Bali while the other took me on a road trip across the US. I loved them both and learned from each of their experiences.

I also got the edits back from my editor for my novel manuscript this week. She had some good suggestions including working on a writing technique that I'm sure now will take me years to master, "Show, don't tell." I tend to focus more on setting and creating dialogue than describing the mannerisms of characters. For now, I am studying the techniques of writing the bones and making many revisions.

Roses, Tulips, Daisy's

Two bouquets, one from the love of my life and the other from a friend. My boyfriend knows me well and picked out the roses and tulips with a balloon, my favorite!

You say it's you're birthday...

Yes, today is my birthday and I've had the words to that infamous Beatles song in my head all day.

You say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too--yeah
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.
Yes we're going to a party party
I would like you to dance--Birthday
Take a cha-cha-cha-chance-Birthday
I would like you to dance--Birthday

Thank you to all my wonderful family & friends for the birthday wishes! I feel so fortunate to have you in my life and share the rest of the years of my life with you.

This is a picture of the cupcakes from Crumbs Bakeshop in Malibu that a good friend got me for my b-day. I've already eaten 4 of them!

Birthday/Memorial day wknd in Malibu

Happy Memorial day! I had a great weekend in Malibu. Me, my friends and Bella went to a dog-friendly beach in Malibu and then to dinner at Taverna Tony's at the Malibu Country Mart. While at dinner, we enjoyed a celebrity filled meal. We sat next to Ryan O'niell and his ladies, Jeremy Piven walked in with his entourage, ran into Anthony Hopkins and chatted with Rosanna Arquette in the bathroom. Pretty weird.

The best part was being able to have Bella share the time with us.

Thank you to my amazing friends!