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New Chapter By Denise M. Colby

June 12, 2019 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as Family, Graduation, New Chapter, writing

Two graduation caps one blue one black with 2019 tassel new chapter blog post by Denise M. Colby

Books are written with chapters. Some books organize thoughts and points by chapter. Others are just continuing the story either from a different POV or a new plot twist, which makes us want to continue reading, wondering what will happen next.

Our lives are a little like this as well.

Some can be really long chapters and some can be short. A lot depends on what we are doing in the middle of the chapter and our control over whether we are starting fresh or not. Sometimes a new school year can be a new chapter, sometimes a new semester, or sometimes it’s changing schools or graduating. All these stages in life can be a new chapter.

All three of my boys have new chapters this year – they are graduating something.

The oldest had his a few weeks ago from the Community College he has been attending. And today we celebrate the other two – my youngest graduates 8^th grade, while my middle son graduates high school. Both on the same day. It’s been a bit nuts the past few weeks. Lots of lasts, lots of goodbyes, lots of getting things ready for the next year, whether it was math placement tests, or turning in paperwork for college. It has been so fun to be on this journey with them, but I’m also very excited to turn the page and see what happens next.

At my age it’s a lot easier to reflect back and know what an exciting time this is for all three of them. They can do anything they put their minds to. Many doors will open and some will close. It will be up to them to make it all happen. And it’s interesting to see how quickly something can change or an opportunity presents itself.

Kind of like our characters do in the books we write.

It makes me think about my writing and somehow trying to put that same expectancy on the page. So that when we read we can’t put a book down because we are excited for what’s around the corner and we don’t want to miss it.

I sort of forget how flexible we all were when we were younger. Not so set in routine and order. Maybe that’s something I should keep in mind when I’m working on my book.

Happy Graduation boys. Mom is super proud of you!

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June Featured Author: Denise M. Colby

June 7, 2019 by Denise M. Colby in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Featured Author of the Month tagged as Christian Historical Fiction, Denise M Colby, Marketing, Social Media, writing

Denise M. Colby loves to write words that encourage, enrich, and engage whether it’s in her blog, social media, magazine articles, or devotions. With over 20+ years’ experience in marketing, she enjoys using her skills to help other authors. She treasures the written word and the messages that can be conveyed when certain words are strung together. An avid journal writer, she usually can be found with a pen and notepad whenever she’s reading God’s word. Denise is writing her first novel, a Christian Historical Romance and can be found at www.denisemcolby.com

She’s a member of RWA, OCC/RWA, Faith, Hope & Love Chapter of RWA, ACFW (where she is a semi-finalist in the Genesis contest Historical Romance Category), OC Chapter of ACFW, and SoCal Christian Writers’ Conference (where she will be teaching two workshops in June – Brand and SEO Marketing for Your Website).

In addition to Denise’s column The Writing Journey on A Slice of Orange, you can read some of her magazine article here.

Denise M. Colby’s Books

SHORT and SWEET’S FAMILY ALBUM

THE SHORT & SWEET OF IT: When the Right Word Is a Short Word

WHEN PLANS GO AWRY

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June Featured Author: Denise M. Colby

June 1, 2019 by Denise M. Colby in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Featured Author of the Month tagged as Christian Historical Fiction, Denise M Colby, Marketing, Social Media, writing

In addition to Denise’s column The Writing Journey on A Slice of Orange, you can read some of her magazine article here.

Denise M. Colby’s Books

SHORT and SWEET’S FAMILY ALBUM

THE SHORT & SWEET OF IT: When the Right Word Is a Short Word

WHEN PLANS GO AWRY

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It’s A ‘Short And Sweet’ Mother’s Day!

May 12, 2019 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby, Writing tagged as books, Mother's Day

Today is Mother’s Day. I was very excited when I realized my monthly post fell on this special day. I knew immediately what I wanted to write about. So first, I want to wish everyone a Happy Mother’s Day, whether you are a mom or you have a mom (which we all do, even if they are no longer with us!)

This is my first Mother’s Day since my mom passed.

I have to admit, it’s really weird. But as a mom myself, I’m celebrating with my kids and my mother-in-law, and thinking about my mom in so many ways.

A quote for Mother's Day by Mitch Albom - Behind all your stories is always your mother's story. Because hers is where yours begin

I’ve actually written a lot about her this past year. Writing is therapeutic, so maybe writing about her has been part of my healing process. So given it’s Mother’s Day, I figured you wouldn’t mind if I wrote about her, again.

After all, she is my mom!

Book Cover for Short and Sweet's Family Album By Susan Cheeves King. Article #47 Thank You Mom by Denise M. Colby — A collection of stories with special emphasis on mothers, fathers, and grandparents.

Even though I miss my mom, I have much to be thankful for this Mother’s Day, including a new article published in the 6^th edition of the Short and Sweet series, titled Short and Sweet’s Family Album. All of the articles and poems are written about family members and each article is in one word syllables.

My article is all about my mom, titled Thanks To Mom.

I had originally wrote it as a poem a few years back (which I posted last July in the post Smile and Be Grateful In The Little Things when my mom passed away).

Since it was not included when my first article was published in the 3^rd edition, which I wrote about in this post, I was quite excited to be contacted for this issue.

The back cover of the book Short and Sweet's Family Album by Susan Cheeves King, Includes article by Denise M. Colby titled Thank You Mom — 60 authors wrote each piece using only one-syllable words or words of fewer than six letters

The editor asked me to rewrite it in prose vs a poem, so it’s completely different than the poem, even though the underlying theme is the same. I was even able to include a picture of my mom and myself.

It’s special to me, that I’ve been able to write about her in such a permanent way.

And it’s special to me, that I have yet another publishing credit to my name! I love being a part of the Short and Sweet family.

And Mother’s Day is a perfect time to celebrate both my mom and my writing.

Have a blessed day!

Denise

A quote for Mother's Day by Abraham Lincoln - all that i am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother

Books by Denise Colby

SHORT and SWEET’S FAMILY ALBUM

THE SHORT & SWEET OF IT: When the Right Word Is a Short Word

WHEN PLANS GO AWRY

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Writing Magazine Articles: Writing is writing, right?

April 12, 2019 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby, Writing tagged as publishing, writing, writing milestones

Magazine articles may not be a full novel but I have found the process in writing smaller articles to stretch me in ways I didn’t expect.

The Need to Write Something

As a writer, it’s one thing to write down your thoughts, ideas and inspirations. It’s another to hand it over to someone who is going to take it and print it. Doesn’t matter if it’s a full-length novel or smaller articles.

I’ve always loved writing, and had many experiences in the corporate world creating pieces for our customers to use with their customers. But these were always product related and the specifics were crafted by a team of people.

To have something that I wrote from the beginning to completion on my own, is a completely different experience.

You never know where opportunities are going to come from. Because I need to find a way to generate an income if I want to write full-time, I thought to look into other areas. Last spring I happened upon a booth for a regional magazine and inquired about writing articles for them. She gave me the contact for the editor, I reached out and submitted some writing samples. She offered me a choice of some articles and in the July/August 2018 issue, my first two magazine articles were printed. Little did I realize they would be cover stories!

Magazine cover articles written by Denise M. Colby for Westcoast Magazine July 2018

They even used a few of the pictures I submitted, which made it all very exciting!

Denise M. Colby receiving her white roses for writing magazine articles at the Orange County Council of Romance Writers of America September 2018

And then I received a precious rose!

See, in our Orange County Chapter of RWA, roses are awarded for publishing. Different color roses represent different types of works. Novels are Red, and so on. For articles they are white. I have been watching for YEARS, waiting for the day I would receive a rose, so it was so meaningful to receive roses for these two articles plus one more for the next issue.

Three white roses for three magazine articles - Denise M. Colby

Each time a new issue publishes, I’ve been asked to write for the next issue (picking from a list already decided upon by the editor). It’s been great writing experience writing different types of topics. I feel my writing is growing stronger. I’m gaining experience in working with an editor, meeting deadlines, submitting and the concept of letting go (which we all know is difficult to do).