Stop Focusing on What’s Wrong

Posted on June 24, 2026 by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

A long-time fan of bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff, I look forward to reading their emails and blog posts. Here’s an excerpt from a recent post:

The bottom line is that almost every situation imaginable has hidden beauty in it if we are willing to open up to it. For example, in the past, even as Angel and I coped with the death of loved ones, we discovered opportunities for us to appreciate life more, to celebrate the lives of those we’ve lost, and to tune in to the priceless time we’ve had, and still have, with people we love.

We do our best to embody this same mindset in every difficult life situation we encounter. When we get ill, it’s a chance for us to rest. When some unforeseeable event postpones one of our business projects, we spend more time with family. When our adolescent son throws a temper tantrum, we see that he’s expressing himself, asserting his individuality, and being human.

We choose to find what’s right, even when it’s hard to see. And we can all practice this on an average day. Try to use frustration and inconvenience to motivate you rather than annoy you. You are in control of the way you look at life.

Instead of getting angry, find the lesson. In place of envy, feel admiration. In place of worry, take action. In place of doubt, have faith. Remind yourself that your response is always more powerful than your present circumstances. Because while a small part of your life is decided by completely uncontrollable circumstances, the vast majority of your life is decided by your responses. Again, where you ultimately end up is heavily dependent on how you play the hands you’ve been dealt.

Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website

Welcoming Summer

Posted on June 21, 2026 by Joanne Guidoccio

Known as the UK’s best-selling living poet, Donna Ashworth first rose to prominence during the 2020 lockdown, when her poem “History Will Remember When the World Stopped” went viral and helped raise funds for the NHS. In the years since, her work has continued to resonate, offering reflections on resilience, connection, and hope.

Here’s one of my favorites…perfect for the season:

Fun Friday!

Posted on June 19, 2026 by Joanne Guidoccio

Spotlight on Moccasin Trace

Posted on June 18, 2026 by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome multi-published author Hawk MacKinney. Today, Hawk shares his new release, Moccasin Trace.

Blurb

…it was about the land.

It is July of 1859, a month of sweltering dog days and feverish emotional bombast. Life is good for widower Rundell Ingram and his hazel-eyed, roan-haired son, Hamilton. Between the two of them, they take care of Moccasin Hollow, their sprawling ancestral plantation home in the rolling farming country outside Queensborough Towne in east Georgia. Adjoining Ingram lands is Wisteria Bend, the vast slave-holding plantation of Andrew and Corinthia Greer, their daughter Sarah, and son Benjamin. Both families share generations of long-accepted traditions, and childhood playmates are no longer children. The rangy, even-tempered Norman-Scottish young Hamilton is smitten with Sarah, who has become an enticing capricious beauty—the young lovers more in love with each passing day, and only pleasant times ahead of them.

…but a blood tide of war is sweeping across the South, a tide that will forever change everyone and everything.

Excerpt

Ben paced back and forth on the porch with worried glances in the direction of the corduroy Milledgeville Road. At first the sound was faint, the muffled clank and rattle of harness and teams breaking the heavy stillness. Shuffling ones and twos were the first to appear, then slogging lines emerged through the murk, followed by sleek prancing mounts, bulging saddlebags, silver candlesticks poking out of more than a few. Behind them were the creaking wagons, clanking artillery and ammunition caissons pulled by well-fed hefty teams. Teamsters on ordnance wagons, confiscated farm wagons filled with pillaged spoils, war booty for a wife, a sweetheart, sold or bartered for ready poker ante or whorehouse favors. The more they stole, the more they wanted, locust scouring across fields, lanes, roads. Tents set up here and there, cooking fires fed with fences, sidings from barns and outbuildings, fruit trees, hundred-year-old oaks and elms…part of the old order going up in smoke, part left in the ashes.

Author Bio and Links

With postgraduate degrees and faculty positions in several medical universities, Hawk MacKinney has taught graduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem. His professional writing includes articles on chordate neuroembryology, and aerospace research on muscle metabolic behavior in multi-orbital environments.

In addition, Hawk has authored several works of fiction including a historical romance Moccasin Trace which was nominated for both the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award. His Cairns of Sainctuarie Science Fiction Series and his Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series have received national and international attention. He is currently working on a series of horror/suspense novels.

Website | Amazon

Giveaway

Hawk MacKinney will award a $15 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly selected winner. Find out more here.

Follow Hawk on the rest of his Goddess Fish tour here.

Reasons for Writing

Posted on June 17, 2026 by Joanne Guidoccio

In a recent post on Writers Unboxed, author and coach Kathleen McCleary shared her reasons for writing. Here’s an excerpt from that post:

The answers to the Why do I write? question are as varied as we are, we writers, we joyful, tormented souls. You can find a great compilation of quotes from well-known writers on why they write here. When I really thought through this question for myself, I came up with this list:

I write to process my own feelings. I became a novelist in my forties, when my husband and I made a cross-country move and I had so many intense feelings about leaving behind our home in Oregon—the first house we’d ever owned, the house we’d brought our babies home to, the neighborhood where we’d established deep, life-long friendships—that I didn’t know what to do with it all. So I started writing a story about a woman who had to sell a house she loved because she was getting divorced. I could pour all my sadness about the move, my passion for my house and my hopes for the future into that character. And a side effect of processing your emotions honestly in fiction is that what you write rings true for readers. Crazy as my main character was (a little crazier than me), I found an agent and sold it in a pre-empt very quickly because it had an emotional truth that resonated with people. I can’t tell you how many readers and reviewers wanted to tell me about the houses they’d loved and lost. No matter what feelings you’re processing, you’re not the first or only human to feel that way, and that resonates.

I write to connect. Author Jami Attenberg said “I write because it is the thing I have to offer, the sharpest skill I have. I write to make people—and myself—feel less alone. I write because I want to communicate messages with the world.” It’s deeply gratifying to have readers respond to what I write because it resonates for them, as with all the people who wanted to tell me about their beloved houses, and makes them feel seen and understood. One reader wrote to me: “You managed to describe thoughts and feelings I couldn’t even begin to put into words. I found myself saying to myself, YES. That is exactly how it feels.’” Do I write to elicit that kind of response in readers? Well, hell yeah.

I write stories so I can control my own narrative, give my characters some of the experiences, choices, and emotions I wish I’d lived. We can provide our fictional characters with the deeply empathetic parent we wish we’d had, the lover who “gets” us on a soul-to-soul level, the wild career success we wish we’d enjoyed, the son we wish we’d had—not to mention creating characters with qualities we wish we embodied. George Saunders (Lincoln in the Bardo) says, “The result of [the] laborious and slightly obsessive process [of writing] is a story that is better than I am in ‘real life’ – funnier, kinder, less full of crap, more empathetic, with a clearer sense of virtue, both wiser and more entertaining.”

Read the rest of the post here.

Book Blast: Move Me by Lynn Crandall

Posted on June 15, 2026 by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome multi-published author Lynn Crandall. Today, Lynn shares her new release, Move Me.

Blurb

An Aeon by birth, Diane Butler knew when she walked away from her fellow Aeons that she wanted certain things: wealth, power, acceptance. But she’d come to realize she didn’t belong with Dark Sides and joined in the battle to save Auralia from darkness. But when her past comes after her, she understand that she can’t escape it with a simple name change.

A surprise encounter that turns ugly pits lone Emmett Forrest against thugs determined to hurt Cassie. With each threat out cold on the ground, he believes he’s done. But when the men report the incident to the Auralia Police Department, he can’t avoid the drama or the intrigue surrounding her.

Excerpt

“Anyone else bored as sin? We stopped the Irish mob and Dark Sides from taking over Auralia in December. January and February, we took some time to recover from Dark Sides’ Project Reckoning. I know you all have been tending to your personal lives, your relationships, and your careers, but for me, those two months were the epitome of boredom. Now March is almost over, and still boredom reigns.”

“Diane—” Braden started.

“Cassie,” she interrupted. “Try to remember, Braden. I’ve told you so many times that I’m using my middle name now. I’m not Diane anymore.” She pouted her lips.
Braden nodded. “Yes, sorry. You’re Cassandra Butler now, not Diane Butler.”

“Cassie. I told you, Cassie for short.” She swept her gaze around the living room at Braden and Payson’s house and flung her hands up. “I swear, it’s not that hard to remember my name. I made a change, I’m not Diane. I’m not that woman any more. I’m aligned with light and love. I’m Cassie. Cassie. Cassie Butler. Gauzy, gossamer, and open, not rigid, harsh, or angry Cassie.” The rock lodged in her gut weighed her down. Was she different? Truly? She’d been putting in the work with her counselor, Claire Eve Kelly, to make the change permanent. But with the chaos of the past not far behind, she ached for the excitement of the life she had. The parties, the conniving to get what she wanted. It had all been so mesmerizing.

Author Bio and Links

After cutting her writing teeth as a feature writer for commercial and trade magazines, a reporter for newspapers and radio, and an executive editor for a communications company, award-winning author Lynn Crandall tuned her voracious appetite for stories to writing contemporary and paranormal romance, women’s fiction, and romantic suspense. In her books, she enjoys taking readers on emotional journeys with relatable characters who refuse to back down, and face challenges and tribulations with heart and soul. She believes every love has a story, and hers is with one handsome husband and a large, beautiful circle of family, including her cat Winter.

Giveaway

Lynn Crandall will be awarding a $25 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Lynn on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

Blurb Blitz: Unmasking the Marquess

Posted on June 12, 2026 by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome multi-published author Pamela Gibson. Today, Pamela shares her new release, Unmasking the Marquess.

Blurb

He was a licentious rogue, or was he?

Aubrey St. Clair, Marquess of Leisterbridge, a notorious rake and society fribble, abandons his bride on their wedding night to spite his father, the man who coerced him into the marriage. When his intrepid bride turns up at his personal estate to quash the scandal, they call a truce and finally get to know each other.

Lady Catherine Sturbridge considered ending her betrothal. But a threatening letter sent to her by a convicted criminal whom she chanced upon in London, changed her mind. Marrying the powerful Duke of Gresham’s heir would keep her loved ones safe, even if she must tie herself to a frivolous rogue.

When, despite her silence, her enemy abducts her godchild, Catherine is forced to confide in her husband who agrees to help her. But can she trust him to know what to do when a child’s life is at stake and they’ve been warned not to go to go the authorities?

As they work closely together, they succumb to the passionate side of their marriage. But Catherine is wary, despite finding a different man under the guise of a society dandy, and when Aubrey reveals a long-held secret, she must protect her heart because betrayal is the enemy of trust and their fragile, new-found love is about to shatter.

Excerpt

Why would a stranger in the village be asking about his lady wife? When they spoke of it before, Catherine had said she didn’t have any unrequited suitors. Would she tell him if she did? Perhaps he should ask her again.

Aubrey hurried back to his study and found Catherine still seated in front of his bookshelf.

“Remember our conversation about a lovelorn swain who may have followed you here?”

“Yes. Why are you bringing this to my attention again? I told you, there are none.”

“What other reason could there be for someone to be looking for you? Apparently the man is still here and has been staying in the village somewhere. If I knew his whereabouts, I would ask him myself.”

She stilled and peered directly into his eyes. He caught a flicker of fear before she masked her expression. “I cannot imagine anyone following me here for any reason.” She rose. “I didn’t even know I would be traveling here until I discovered you had…”

“Abandoned you on our wedding night?”

“Yes.” She lowered her eyes. “Am I such a—? No need to respond. I believe I shall read in my bedchamber and take a dinner tray there later.” She hurried out of the room.

Aubrey, who’d told many falsehoods in his lifetime, knew exactly when someone was not being truthful.

My dear lady wife is afraid of something, and I am going to find out who or what it is.

Author Bio and Links

Author of eight books on California history and twenty-three romance novels, Pamela Gibson is a former City Manager who lives in Southern Nevada. Having spent several years messing about in boats, a hobby that included a five-thousand-mile trip in a 32-foot Nordic Tug, she now spends most of her time indoors happily reading, writing, cooking and keeping up with the antics of her latest rescue cat, Lady Diana, a dignified senior. She loves red wine, all kinds of chocolate, old Jimmy Buffett sailing songs, and curling up with a good book.

Thank you for reading. If you are so inclined, we would love for you to leave a review or rating.

Giveaway

Pamela Gibson will be awarding a $10 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Pamela on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

Your Creativity is Calling

Posted on June 10, 2026 by Joanne Guidoccio

In her latest book, Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life, New York Times bestselling author Maggie Smith breaks down creativity into ten essential elements. Here’s a thought-provoking excerpt:

Tenacity means sticking with it even when it’s not making you feel good. Even when your ego isn’t surfing a big, wonderful wave. Maybe your ego has been pulled under and is being trashed around.

This is where patience comes in: You have to keep trying, persisting, without instant gratification. We have to press on even if the conditions are less than ideal, even if we experience pushback, even if we don’t have the time or materials we wish we had, even if it’s taking longer than we expected. Remember that progress is often gradual, incremental, sometimes two steps forward and three steps back. Transformation rarely happens in some eureka or aha moment, because this isn’t a movie, it’s life.

When it gets difficult, stay with it. Don’t use difficulty as an excuse to “take a break”—because we all know that in this life, it’s all too easy to be sidetracked. To close the laptop or the notebook, to pick up your phone or the TV remote, to go make a snack, to do those chores you’ve been meaning to do. An intended fifteen minutes can turn into two hours, or a day, or weeks.

STOP. The laundry can probably wait, the clean dishes in the dishwasher aren’t going anywhere, there’s nothing good streaming (and if there is, well, it can wait). Your creativity is calling. It needs you. Work on your endurance and stamina. Wring your mind out like a rag over a bucket, until it’s bone-dry. Get every drop.

Remember: Attention is a form of love.

Source: Dear Writer, pp. 205-206

Book Blast: What Remains After

Posted on June 3, 2026 by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome Canadian novelist Pauline J. Grabia. Today, Pauline shares her new release, What Remains After.

Blurb

SOME STORIES DO NOT END WHEN THE DANGER PASSES.

Beth Clark has not returned to her hometown in decades, since the childhood she survived there nearly destroyed her.

When her estranged mother dies, Beth comes back to rural Alberta for a funeral that feels carefully rewritten. The eulogies are tidy. The past is sanitized. But inside the abandoned bungalow where she and her brother once lived, Beth finds objects that shatter the illusion—and awaken memories of abuse, neglect, and the systems that failed to protect her.

When Beth’s younger brother is critically injured in a sudden accident, the present collides with the past. Keeping vigil at his hospital bedside, Beth is drawn back into the summer that changed everything: the violence in their home, the silence of those who should have intervened, and the foster family whose quiet faith offered the first real safety either child had known.

Told across dual timelines, What Remains After is a literary psychological suspense novel about trauma and memory, belief and betrayal, and the long, unfinished work of survival. It asks what it truly means to forgive—and what remains when the truth is finally spoken.

Excerpt

Coverville Baptist Church smelled musty and old, like the memories trying to escape the recesses of Beth’s mind. That’s all that remained now of her mother. Like her life, nothing at the church had changed in over forty years. It had simply aged, with splintered oak pews and grubby carpets that had been there when she was growing up.

It was unnaturally quiet in the church, which she remembered used to almost roar after a service with the lively voices of congregants discussing the sermon or what was coming up in their week. Children used to run around, shrieking and squealing in both joy and frustration. Now, it was still. Eerily so.

Beth ignored the stares from the other mourners who had arrived early for the service. When she tried to meet their gazes to say hello, they looked briefly, with pity, before looking away. She stopped looking at people. She had only arrived when she had to so she could find Otto and talk to him before it started. He wasn’t in the lobby. Maybe he was in the sanctuary.

She waited in line at the guest registry, attended to by one of the funeral directors. When it was Beth’s turn, her hand trembled as she picked up the ridiculous feathered pen and hesitated before writing down her name. Should she use her married name or her maiden name? Her ex would have a conniption if she wrote down his, and she was changing her name back anyway, so she entered “Elizabeth Clark.”

When Beth had seen her mother’s obituary on Facebook, she’d realized that, despite her hesitation, she would go to the funeral. The only other attendees were townsfolk—mostly members of Virgie’s church—and family. She suspected that most came out of curiosity rather than grief. Beth’s reasons were less clear. Her hatred for her mother had lessened over the years, but had never completely gone; still, she felt an odd urge, almost a duty, to attend. She told herself it was just an excuse to see her brother, Otto, not the urn.

Author Bio and Links

Pauline J. Grabia is a Canadian novelist whose work explores trauma, memory, faith, and the moral consequences of silence. Writing under the Stories of Consequence banner, she is drawn to stories that face difficult truths without spectacle and seek light without sentimentality. What Remains After is a literary psychological suspense novel rooted in rural Alberta and shaped by questions of survival, forgiveness, and what endures.

Website | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon Buy Link

Giveaway

Pauline J. Grabia will be awarding a $10 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Pauline on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

Where Are You Going?

Posted on June 3, 2026 by Joanne Guidoccio

Here’s a thought-provoking reflection from international speaker and bestselling author Joyce Meyer:

In your effort to enjoy life, you need to have a vision—a clear picture of what you would like to have in the future. For example, what would your life be like if you felt energetic and had excellent health? What would it take for you to reach your goal? Or, what would it be like to be debt-free, and how can you work toward that?

God has only one gear: forward! He has no park and no reverse. He wants you to start progressing toward your goals, but before you can do that, you must get a clear image of those goals. Don’t merely “wish” things were different in your life, but have a clear goal and work toward it.

If you are hung up on your past disappointments, you are never going to escape them. Think and talk about your future, not your past! Talk about the new you that you are becoming. Every successful person starts off by envisioning his or her success.

Create a vision of the ideal you. Writing down your goals helps bring them into the real world and makes them solid. Keep your vision and a list of your goals somewhere handy so you can consult it periodically and see how you are doing. Your list of goals can serve as stepping stones on your way to becoming your ideal self.

It’s time to get out the road atlas of your life, pick your destination, and slide that transmission into gear: forward!

Source: Trusting God Day by Day by Joyce Meyer