Author: Theresa

  • You Know That Feeling When…

    You know that feeling when you’re nearly done writing your second novel and your third and fourth are bouncing around in your brain and then you’ve got a whole trilogy in a completely different genre saying HEY LOOK AT ME and all the destinations you visited during an epic year of travel are tugging on…

  • Discovery Writing is Weird

    Discovery writing is weird. And amazing. And weird. And fun. And WEIRD. I’m a list-making type-A type of person, so when I first decided to write fiction, I thought I’d be a plotter. I’d know what was going to happen, to whom, and when. I tried that with my first novel (Squeee! I still giggle…

  • The End

    I am a novelist. Four and a half years ago, I wrote my first book and became an author. Yesterday, I wrote The End and became a novelist. Like so many other authors, I’ve wanted to write a novel for as long as I can remember. I’ve had about 45 years of anticipation, of buildup,…

  • Intention is Everything

    Intention is everything. January, 2017, I went to a bookstore in Asheville, North Carolina. I looked at the travel section and said “I will write a book, and it will belong there.” It was published in October that year. In 2018, I said “I want to be known as a road trip expert.” In January,…

  • The Only Resolution You Need

    The Only Resolution You Need

    Every year, like most people, I think about the things I want to accomplish during the next 365 days. Get in shape, eat better, lose weight, make more money, save more money, expand my business, expand my world, write more, love more, clutter less, worry less, be a good partner, be a better friend, be…

  • One Kindness at a Time

    One Kindness at a Time

    More shootings. More hate. More anger and destruction and fear. It’s overwhelming. Even walking out the door feels dangerous. The violence is happening anywhere, everywhere. No place is safe, not school, not movie theaters, not nightclubs, not airplanes, not the street. It’s escalating and it’s terrifying, and for those of us, the incredible vast almost-everyone majority of…

  • The Magic of Journals

    The Magic of Journals

    Journals are a special sort of magic. I adore those bound blank pages just waiting to be filled. I love the feel, the texture, the unlimited possibilities for imagination and creation that each one offers. But only if you write in it, only if you actually fill those pages with thoughts and ideas, musings and memories, frustrations…

  • I’ll NEVER Get It All Done – And That’s OK

    I’ll NEVER Get It All Done – And That’s OK

    One of the hardest parts of being an entrepreneur is knowing that you will never, ever, ever finish everything on your to-do list. You can start the day with the intention of completing all your tasks; you can pare it down to what you think is a reasonable number. You can schedule specific times to work…

  • Reset, Refresh, Renew

    Reset, Refresh, Renew

    Six years ago I began this blog to provide an outlet for my writing. I write prolifically for The Local Tourist but that writing is for a specific niche. I wanted a forum where I could explore beyond Chicago and exercise my chops. Unfortunately I’ve never been very consistent. In the last two years I’ve written five…