(BTW: Happy new year from another part of the planet.) The Masaka kids are celebrating the new year by creating a music video — with song, clever dance moves, and instrumentals. Where they’re missing anything, as you’ll see, they just sort of make it up: I wouldn’t know how to translate the words, but their performance seems to [...]

Can you plan where you’ll land? As you can see, the Nutcracker is leaping bravely into whatever’s next. And the music in his head goes like this: We can only guess what would have become of this leap if the young Tchaikovsky hadn’t left his career as a public servant to pursue the uncertain craft of composer. Anytime [...]

Where do you want to go? Taking a tiny house on the road is one way to make sure you always feel at home. Click to see a couple of tiny house fans create their own world: The picket fence may make the house look like it’s rooted to the spot, but when it’s time for a change [...]

Can you pull a horse out of a hat? Whether this is a cure for insomnia or a middle-of-the-night inspiration, watch artist Lee Cross make something out of (almost) nothing: There’s joy in making something out of nothing -- whether it’s a story or song, a batch of cookies, a freshly-painted room, a backyard deck or a painting. [...]

The joy of starting things. And, it's Free Story Month. As a jump-start for your day, you might like this cover of an old-favorite Cat Stevens song by the MonaLisa Twins. I love the fresh harmony. [With thanks to Scott Saks for the link.] You know the joy of starting a new creation -- whether it’s a poem [...]

Why are the vast sweeps of dunes in the desert so attractive? Maybe they’re not, to you.  Having just finished another story with a desert setting, I realize that such places are fascinating to me. I’m not sure why that is. Maybe it’s the exotic nomadic cultures that have existed in such areas. (Or maybe it’s because I currently live [...]

The Northern Lights are stunning from Reykjavik. Iceland is a great place to get a close-up look at them. But what if it’s the wrong time of year? (Yep. It is.) You could book now for a December getaway in Reykjavik and sit tight. Or you could find a good story today, and make a health-promoting instant escape out of [...]

One cool spot when you need a getaway is WeekiWachee, where the mermaids smile and wear no scuba gear. Even a fast look at this quirky spot, a piece of Florida history, can be entertaining: https://weekiwachee.com/about-us/history/ Vacations are health-promoting. And that’s what stories are for too, really: a health-promoting vacation. If you can fly to Paris to meet your friends [...]

Indie publishing your book: It's not so easy, but it works and it's worth doing. That's my message this month: that indie-publishing is a known pathway and you can do it. Because I've just published a fourth book, the pain of publication is still fresh. I'm not going to tell anyone it's so easy you can do it from your [...]

It seems to be true: you never outgrow your need for escapes. That’s what stories are for.  Now of course if you can hire a yacht, fly to Greece, or visit Machu Picchu this weekend, those would be OK too. If not, stories make great escapes— inexpensive and always convenient. Reminder: The Emperor’s Golden Carp and Other Stories has released, [...]