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Author: The Reluctant Author

The Reluctant Author, a user of words, has spent a lifetime writing words and storing them in notebooks, computer discs, digital files, and has now decided to step out into the light and start sharing some of those words with the world. (The Reluctant Author is Kendra Cooke's pseudonym)
One Of These Is Not Like The Others

One Of These Is Not Like The Others

Last weekend I made a side trip to my local Office Max, mostly because it was enroute to the other errands I had to run. I’d mentioned that I needed a ream of paper to print my manuscript out on so I could read through it. And, as I was clearing one intersection and headed towards the next I saw the glowing red sign and made a split second choice to run in. The thing is, there’s just no such…

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Tacos Gone Hot

Tacos Gone Hot

When we moved into our temporary home in 2021, it took me a while to wrestle the new space into usefulness. We’d come from a very large home, with an expansive kitchen that included a walk-in pantry, multiple drawers to hold all my kitchen goods, and even a couple of spare floor to ceiling cupboards for overflow. Our temporary home has exactly 6 drawers, 7 cupboards, and one small pantry that’s located around the corner from the kitchen. Now, this…

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A Writer’s Mind

A Writer’s Mind

Since December 1st, I’ve been in edit mode. Sloppy edits, tight edits, spoken edits. Edit. Edit. Edit. Some days I’m editing edits of edits I thought I’d tightened up and could leave in the final draft pile.  It’s all part of the process, and while it may not be the most glamorous, or best part of writing, it can still be fun. After all, things can still emerge about characters. For instance, each time I think I’ve sorted who is…

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That One December

That One December

There’s this crazy family story that runs through our house nearly every single December. It’s not the traditional story of presents, tinsel, and snow. It’s one of those true stories that somehow becomes family legend as more years go by. You see, seven years ago we did this crazy wild thing called buying a house. We’d been bumping from rental to rental at an alarming rate, and that particular year found us, once again, caring for Nana.  Now, I confess,…

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