patbertram Profile

Latest Blog Posts

• Being Strong
  on Dec 18, 2016 in culture life being vulnerable vs being strong code of the west saying you're okay when you're not strong person what is a strong person
  There is a saying making the rounds of Facebook that I can’t get out of my mind: Strong people know how to keep their life in order. Even with tears in their eyes, they still manage to say, “I’m okay” with a smile. Are these reall...
• A Special Treat
  on Dec 15, 2016 in life breaking a wrist elbow replacement external fixator falling injury taking a walk
  Such a wonderful treat today — I took a walk! The past few weeks have been trying — first the fall that shattered my wrist, the hospital stay, surgery, and then the demoralizing discovery that things were worse than expected. The first su...
• On the Road to Healing
  on Dec 9, 2016 in life broken elbow broken wrist external fixator new elbow
  I think I am finally on the road to healing. For the past three weeks, ever since I tripped over a parking curb in the dark, doctor visits have only served to add complicated discoveries to an already complicated injury. Originally, I was told that m...
• The Beauty and Amusement of Writing
  on Sep 4, 2016 in fiction life writing having fun writing Hawaiian dancing he said - she said inspiration from life lapse of memory
  I have been enjoying being a character in my book, enjoying even more finding inspiration in the small matters of my life. For example, yesterday I wrote in a blog post: I tend to believe my memory. Whenever I have gotten into a he said/she said or s...
• Flawless Characters
  on Sep 3, 2016 in being me writing character flaw character traits vs flaws death in dance class flawed characters flawless characters Persian flaw unreliable narrator
  Everyone who knows anything about writing or reading novels knows that you have to start with a flawed character. Well, everyone but me. I don’t believe in flawed characters, just characters that come alive. Tell me honestly, except for a few physi...
• Coming Home
  on Sep 2, 2016 in being me internet writing 250 words a day blogging vs fiction writing feeling conflict free internal conflicts stream-of-consciousness writer's retreat writing online
  I am creating another writer’s retreat for myself this weekend, but to tell the truth, right now my whole life feels like a writer’s retreat. I continue to feel conflict free, partly because I have put off worrying about the future and what is to...
• If You Want To Help Me, Buy My Books!
  on Aug 27, 2016 in being me grief writing a helping hand how to help a writer how to help the grief stricken needing help to help or not to help
  People often say that helping others makes you feel better, and it’s true, you do feel better. I used to try to help people, but then a rebellious thought hit me. Wasn’t it a bit arrogant to assume we know what other people needed? Has anyon...
• My Writer’s Retreat
  on Aug 25, 2016 in being me writing 250 words a day being grateful cultivating gratiude feeling blessed internal conflicts living in the moment writer's retreat writing fiction
  I’ve been wondering if I should do some sort of writer’s retreat to get me back into writing fiction, and as it turns out, all unknowingly, I created my own retreat. Last weekend, beginning Thursday afternoon when my last dance class was over unt...
• Getting Back to the Fundamentals
  on Aug 19, 2016 in being me writing 3 R's fundamentals of education fundamentals of my life leap from not writing to writing weight training
  It’s always seemed odd to me that when it comes to the fundamentals of education, people talk about the three R’s — reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic. Or is it reading, writing, and arithmetic? Either way, out of a possible three, th...
• Raining Ashes
  on Aug 16, 2016 in life brush fire in California flooding in Louisiana smoke and sinuses smoke cloud
  We are having a cloudy and rainy day today in the midst of a heat wave, but that is not as pleasant as it sounds. The clouds are huge billows of smoke that blot out the sun, and the rain is not water but ash falling from those murky skies. Not many a...
• Open Letter to Blog Readers
  on Aug 15, 2016 in being me blogging grief writing censoring myself letter to bloggers triggering grief what you do to me belongs to me you own everything that happened to you
  To Whom it May Concern: This is my blog, and I am allowed to say whatever I wish. When I first began blogging, the posts were impersonal — comments about the books I was reading, the books I was writing, and writing hints I garnered along the w...
• Heavy Heart
  on Aug 14, 2016 in life relationships Louisiana disaster Louisiana flood Louisiana losses due to flooding Mother Nature villains worst villain of all
  My heart is heavy today for my friend in Louisiana. We have been sisters in sorrow for many years, shadow mirrors of grief, since so many of our devastating losses occurred about the same time. My brother, her brother. Her mother, my father. My soul...
• From Bruising to Blessing
  on Aug 12, 2016 in being me life Brother Cadfael mysteries Ellis Peters feeling blessed Miracles from Heaven Pacific Crest Trail fire Pilot Fire
  This has been a strange week. It started with a bruising and ended with a blessing. Now that I think about it, the week actually started with the Pilot Fire, a nearby forest fire that completely burned the area on the Pacific Crest Trail I hiked not...
• Getting older? Here’s an App.
  on Aug 7, 2016 in writing
  Originally posted on Mickeyhoffman's Blog: These days I feel like my body has become a foreign entity which does whatever it wants. I’ve almost given up trying to keep control. Bits and pieces, parts and systems go awry without advance not...
• Best Selling Author Makes Me Sick to My Stomach
  on Aug 3, 2016 in culture writing Alex Cross appeal of Sue Grafton cookie cutter stories Danielle Steele evil villains James Patterson
  Periodically I read the entire oeuvre of a bestselling author to try to see what it is that so many people finding interesting, and so far, I haven’t a clue what makes hordes people buy the books they do. Even if I did figure it out, I don’t thin...
• No More Bad Roads
  on Aug 1, 2016 in culture life bachelor digs bad roads Blue Belle Inn B&B and Tea House divorced man cliche room mates sharing a bathroom. sharing a room
  I moved out of the room at the end of the bad road. I was too afraid for my car. I kept envisioning a sort of cartoonish mishap, where I would be sitting on the seat holding the steering wheel, with the rest of the car in pieces on the ground surroun...
• There is Magic
  on Jul 31, 2016 in Adventure life ESP finding happiness and contentment magic at my fingertips special gift what the future holds
  When I was younger, I always wanted to have a special gift — ESP, maybe, or an ability to see ghosts. Or perhaps to have a touch of magic at my fingertips. Now I am just as glad not to be special, glad to be mostly down-to-earth and pragmatic.
• Women Adrift
  on Jul 29, 2016 in life grief relationships death of a soul mate designated daughter taking care of the elderly uprooted don't belong
  I hadn’t been posting my blogs about my internal journey lately. For the first time, I’ve actually deleted a post or two without publishing it, not wanting to look as if I were unbearably pathetic. Although it might seem like it, I am not really...
• The Miracle of Grief
  on Jul 26, 2016 in grief life crying in the night grief diminishes literary death references loss of a spouse after eight years virtual vigil why doesn't grief grow
  Today is the sixth anniversary of the death of a dear friend’s life mate/soul mate, and I keep thinking of her and the sorrow this day is bringing her. Not that keeping her in my thoughts will help her get through the day — or maybe it will.
• Refreshment
  on Jul 21, 2016 in Adventure life Deep Creek hiking with a friend Pacific Crest Trail piriformis muscle refreshment
  I had a great day yesterday, but then, I always have an especially good time when hiking. Hiking is my therapy, my peace, my freedom. And when I have the perfect companion, hiking is bliss, even when the temperature hits a hundred or more. Although m...