Welcome to meryl’s notes blog (this here place you’re lookin’ at) in Plano, Texas. We’re honored to be a stop in Laura Cross’ WOW! Women On Writing Blog tour. We’re giving away a prize. Read on to see what you can win. About Laura Cross: She is an author, screenwriter, ghostwriter, freelance book editor, and writing [...]

Thank you to all that nominated and voted for the top 25 books for writers on writing. The list is in order beginning with the book that received the most votes. It’s a great list as I’ve read or heard great things about many of the books. The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and [...]

My dad passed away two years ago. Today would have been his 79th birthday. Nominate a favorite social media book. If you receive this post by email, please tell me what’s the best time of the day you’d like to receive these. It used  to go out in the mornings, but I felt overwhelmed by emails in [...]

Image via Wikipedia The day before a state-wide math assessment test, my husband humorously asked our oldest who took algebra at the time, “Do you remember how to add, subtract, multiply and divide?” “I don’t know. When I do a math problem now… if the answer is simple, I think it’s wrong because it has to be [...]

I haven’t entered a writing contest in ages. Then I came across Editor Unleashed/Smashwords “Why I Write” essay contest and gave it a go. Popular ranking is now open for you to rank the many submitted essays. You can vote with 1 to five stars where 1 is terrible and 5 is excellent. To rank [...]

I avoid in-person events as much as possible. It’s not because I’m an introvert. It’s not because I look hideous. (Although we should know better than to let our looks get in the way of meetings.) It’s because I’m deaf. Most people understand me when I speak. It’s the other side — the more important [...]

I avoid in-person events as much as possible. It’s not because I’m an introvert. It’s not because I look hideous. (Although we should know better than to let our looks get in the way of meetings.) It’s because I’m deaf. Most people understand me when I speak. It’s the other side — the more important [...]

Image via Wikipedia Growing up in Fort Worth, we always had a day off from school at the end of January and received a free ticket for the Fort Worth Stock Show and Radeo. You didn’t have to go or use the ticket. I went a couple of times to the cattle and sheep barns to [...]

I had a whole box of party favors leftover because I overestimated the number of kids attending. I contacted the company to ask if I could return the unopened party favors for a refund. The company said to keep it, and they’ll issue a refund. Sure, it may cost more for me to send it [...]

Can You Be Personal and Professional in Social Media? discusses how to balance the personal with the professional. Mixing the two makes sense for most freelance writers because we’re in business for ourselves. Who we are is what makes us unique. No one can copy our formula that makes up our human brand. And that [...]

Sunday is my middle child’s 11th birthday. The biggest of my three babies, he weighed 9lb, 1oz and measured 21 inches long when he made his arrival one Sunday morning. This big guy (he’s the older of two boys) loves sports cars with his favorites being the Lamborghini, Bugatti, Koenigsegg, Aston Martin and Saleen. Vote [...]

Martin Luther King Day is an important holiday as well as a school holiday. I had planned to complete my usual work activities. Instead, I spent the entire morning working on one story and didn’t finish it. Writing the story felt clunky, awkward and pointless despite my knowing first drafts were supposed to be like [...]

Do you believe what you read in Twitter? This is from an ABC News story on Twitter: Despite the micro-blogging site’s [Twitter] many successes — as a lifeline during emergencies, a direct line between the famous and their fans and an open line for anyone with something to share — Twitter’s instantaneous nature can make it [...]

If you read this blog, you most likely have an interest in social media and books. A great combination to ask for your nominations for the Top 10 Social Media books. More and more books on social media keep hitting the streets, but we can’t buy them all. So let’s help each other out by sharing [...]

Yesterday was my husband’s birthday. I wish I could come up with some other way to say this, but it’s true though cliché. I’m lucky to have him in my life and that we grow together as we encounter new phases in our lives. We enjoy spending time together in simple ways such as our [...]

In her latest issue of The Prosperous Writer, Christina Katz asks, “On a scale of one to ten, how’s your self-respect? Can you say no? Do you say yes to yield to social pressure and supposed-tos and then suffer for it? Are you catering to too many other people’s needs but burning out in the [...]

Most folks use Facebook for one or the other, not both. However, many freelance writers and I use Facebook for both personal and business. After all, when you hire us, you get our personalities and styles. I take care to watch what I post by remembering a future client, a former boss and family member could [...]

My maternal grandfather died on this date in 1987. My favorite memory of him was siting in his living room and listening to him tell a story about his life in Poland before he came to the U.S. in 1925 at age 18. A little administration. You may know I have game reviews and news happening [...]

Streamlining has emerged as a theme with a few writers. Christina Katz said good-bye to several newsletters and her fun Back-to-School Giveaway that I participated in for all three years. Kristine Meldrum Denholm, Mary Jo Campbell and Pamela Wilson also write about streamlining and finding your direction and clarity. Freelance Switch shows how to start of your new [...]

Chris Brogan tweeted a great quote that hit me, “Want to improve in 2010? Stop comparing and criticizing and focus on the change YOU can affect.” I’m a competitive person. Part of it comes with playing sports for all of my childhood — it was my “thing.” Part of it comes with being born deaf [...]