Have you ever pondered the miracle of popcorn? It starts out as a tiny, little, compact kernel with magic trapped inside that when agitated, bursts to create something marvelously desirable. It’s sort of like those...

The actual secret to success: Be a better friend today than you were yesterday.

It’s been a harsh fight.You’ve been pummeled and knocked down. Your body aches, flesh torn and bruised. Your eyes can hardly see through a stream of blood. But you are cognizant and alive; therefore, you...

My pain builds like storm clouds―massive, dark, and heavy with teardrops. Moisture falls torrential as if my world is a violent, eternal downpour; however, at long last the source runs dry and the bitter storm...

Reality depends a great deal upon one believing what he sees—or seeing what he believes. Either way.

Your efforts extend like ripples on the ocean, much further than you know.

A real treasure becomes such only after it’s been desperately sought after.

Life is a test. It was designed to be so. It is where we taste the bitter and the sweet; where we feel pain and pleasure; where we learn right from wrong; where we pass...

WRITER’S NIGHTMARE””I felt a grip on my arm that shook my body, forcefully pulling me toward a tunnel of darkness. The threat of consciousness stole my steady breath. For a moment I believed myself to...

Don’t give up.I know you’ve made a thousand attempts to reach your goal, but look at it this way: after repeatedly banging your head against the wall, you ought to be numb enough break through...

Evil exists in this world because it has its place. For had you never sat blindly through the darkness of night, your eyes wouldn’t turn toward the sunrise to appreciate its warmth and illumination.

If we were always given a choice as to every path presented us in life, a multitude of roads leading to priceless treasures would forever go untraveled.Be grateful for your adversities. From toil and triumph...

The sweetest melody that playsOn starry nights and wintry days,Most soothing to my listening earsAnd calming to beleaguering fears,I call a symphony on air―The song of sweet, still silence rare.

Ian was a good man—honest, trustworthy, loyal, and of honorable character. His desire to keep his promise to Angelle and to be a respectable servant of Harrowbeth would always take president over any personal feelings,...

Mr. Cat and Mr. Dog were neighbors who fought like, well, cats and dogs. That is until Mr. Rat moved in. It’s fascinating how easily two enemies ally at the introduction of a third.

Nothing else has the power to calm, comfort, and care for you better than home.

Oh, how clearly I see your faults! Such distinctly highlighted flaws; it’s as if the sun and moon mean to keep them illuminated in my eyes. My mind is quick to spell out a simple...

Christ was born in Bethlehem asHeaven sang with joy.Roaming shepherds came to see theInfant, swaddled boy.Several wisemen sought him out,Traveling from afar.Mary wondered, looking skywardAt a bright, new star.Sacred was the Christ child’s birth.Sacred is...

How insane we are as humans when having received a nasty offense we return the same awful offense. If given an apple found to be rotten and wormy, would we not toss it aside rather...

Every now and then I sit and watch the sun rise to remind myself how it’s done—peacefully, steadily, warmly, and in beautiful color.

Comparisons are like rigid fingers—eager to point at a subject but unwilling to grasp it.

A snake bites your ankle.Recoiling, you scream.Fearing poison, your mind slips into a dream……where a man bites your ankle.Expecting no guile, ‘Again,’ softly falls from your lips with a smile.Yet, the man and the snake...

I shall ne’er chase rainbows again, Knowing no pot o’ gold awaits at the end. My Irish treasure is not there. For ye, my love, abide with me here.

BIG books are better. There, I said it and it’s true. 

Courage to me is doing something daring, no matter how afraid, insecure, intimidated, alone, unworthy, incapable, ridiculed or whatever other paralyzing emotion you might feel. Courage is taking action…..no matter what. So you’re afraid? Be...

A whiff of fresh mintthat tastes like strawberry pie.Your kisses tempt me.

World peace, true love, and happily-ever-afters amount to wasted wishes, failed endeavors, and most precious dreams.

A good dose of fantasy is exercise for your sensibilities; it keeps your avatar strong.

Happiness is seeing blessings in disguise, beauty under camouflage, and love amid conflict.

That’s not true, Eena. I can always listen.

Someday my children will look fondly on the annoying things I did and see them clearly as evidence of love.

The written word can make one pause and contemplate. It can make a reader sigh to dream or question a belief in considerable depth. But all of that is nothing if those words fail to...

Even among familiar faces, people often feel invisible and desolate, like an island in cold waters or a shadow apart from the crowd. Be the reason another never feels alone.

We never think lightly of those who walk with us on our uphill days.

The power behind living a dream lies in either believing it’s a dream or knowing it’s not.

Knowing the path through the forest doesn’t make the trip any less daunting. Knowing the steps to your dreams doesn’t make the climb any less of a challenge.

The greatest gift you can give is your time. Not money, not items, not food, not pretty cards with handwritten sentiment, but time. People need your presence. The way you can help a soul the...

If you’ve put a smile on someone’s face today, you’ve done more good than you know.

Trying again is okay. Trying again and again and again is okay. It’s sort of an infinite thing because the alternative is failure, and that’s not okay.

There is no other company in the world I’ve found more pleasurable than my own. For no one else has ever been as accepting of me or as thoroughly entertained by my quirkiness. It is...

Christmas, when observed with the right spirit, still has the power to call miracles from Heaven to Earth.

The fact is, the man who’d begotten me didn’t want me. In his eyes I should never have been born. And perhaps that would’ve been best. As it was, my existence had proven to be...

There are no real start-overs, only start-from-heres.

The least effort is the feat most likely to be accomplished.

I write so others might contemplate things that are out of the ordinary. I write to make people feel—to cause laughter and tears and anger at injustice. I write so the world will imagine and...

Dare to forge your own path. Even rocks can roll.

Do it again.Play it again. Sing it again. Read it again. Write it again. Sketch it again. Rehearse it again. Run it again. Try it again.Because again is practice, and practice is improvement, and improvement...

Though it pained me, I gave in. Why was it that I repeatedly succumbed to the first whisper of a promised maybe? How did the enticer, hope, always find my heart unguarded? There was no...

True love asks no question of the heart. It knows with surety.

There are days when writing is within my power and a story unfolds along a course I’ve already chosen. And then there are days when the words breathe on their own and take me by the...