Tag Archives: fight or flight

Interview: Award Winning Science Fiction and Fantasy Author Jay Lake

One thing I love about being a writer is getting to know other writers. And I have met some wonderful people and made some wonderful friends in the last few years! My writer friend Jay Lake is an amazing person. He’s won the John W. Campbell Award for best new science fiction and/or fantasy writer. He’s got a list of publications that’s about a mile long. And he graciously agreed to an interview about his writing and the animals in his life. Aimee: What kind of things do you write about? Jay: I mostly write speculative fiction — fantasy, science … Continue reading →

Interview with My Fellow Pets Blogger and Mystery Author Courtney Mroch

Recently, Courtney and I decided it would be fun to interview each other. After all, we’re both writers and pet lovers. So read on, and learn something you maybe didn’t know about my awesome blogging partner, Courtney Mroch! Aimee: What kind of things do you write about? (Genre, subject matter, themes, what have you.) Courtney: I’m not prejudiced to any form of writing except maybe poetry (and that’s only ’cause I suck at it) so I pretty much write everything. Essays, short stories, novels, articles… Whatever notion my muse strikes me with, I run with it. As far as genre … Continue reading →

Interviewing Sandra Worth on Marriage, Commuting, and Writing

Have you ever had a remarkably gifted friend or acquaintance? One you just knew would “make it big” someday? I’d like to introduce you to a friend of mine like that, Sandra Worth. She’d tell you she’s far from such a person, but that’s only because she’s modest. I’m here to tell you otherwise. I first met Sandra when I was an editor for NovelBooks, Inc. I edited mysteries and romances mainly, but I ended up agreeing to edit her book (which was a historical) to help catch up on backlog. She made my job very difficult. Not because she … Continue reading →

Q&A with PetPop.com

Last week I wrote Comparing Online Pet Sites: Dogster and Catster vs. PetPop.com. I had deduced that both sites were fairly similar but each also had their own distinct flair. Well, this week I have the honor of presenting to you an interview I conducted with Anthony Ngo, a Service Representative for PetPop.com. I asked him directly what makes PetPop.com different and he certainly provided wonderful insight on that. So without further ado, I present to you the interview. Courtney Mroch: When did PetPop.com launch? Anthony Ngo: PetPop.com launched in June of 2006. CM: How many members do you have … Continue reading →

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers

I do not particularly like Math. In fact, when I finished my bachelor’s degree, I did everything I could to avoid taking a single math class, or a science class that required much math. I am just not keen on having to work with numbers. Now, as all of you other home business owners out there know–there is just no way to run your own business, without having to do some work with numbers. Even if we cannot stand math and don’t consider numbers to be our friends, we do have to learn some basic bookkeeping, money management and for … Continue reading →

A Small Gift With a Big Impact

Christmas shopping this year was made a little easier. Along with the gifts bought for family and friends, I included for each person a copy of ‘The Singing Silence’ by Anne Hamilton. Earlier this year I felt privileged to have been asked to edit this book. It’s only a little book but it packs a great wallop. It is filled with interesting detail and information. I was blown away by what I read. You can read a review of it up on my ‘Write and Read with Dale’ blog or under non fiction at Aussie Reviews-a great site that reviews … Continue reading →

Doing Radio Interviews

I have written before about working with the press and using press releases to promote our home businesses, but I was working with a client recently to prepare the company for doing a couple radio interviews and I thought this might be a good topic for us to talk about here. It does not always have to be print and newspaper press that you generate for your business, the radio can be a great way to promote your home business. When you send press releases to radio programs and stations, you can let them know that you are available for … Continue reading →

The Ugly Kitty

A crafty friend of mine asked if I’d heard of The Ugly Kitty. I hadn’t, but with a name like that I had to track this shop down. I sat down (virtually) with Renee and asked her about her business, her pets, and her favorite causes. Aimee: Let’s start with the pets in your family. Renee: Keiko (aka NormalKitty) is a sweet but whiny short-haired charcoal kitty my friends found as a stray. She’s been part of our family for about 3 years. Quasi (aka UglyKitty) is the star of the show. Due to a cleft pallet, she has a … Continue reading →

Do You Need to Brush Up on Your Math Skills?

I have been able to get by for most of my career with the most basic of math skills. But, with the advent of starting my own small business, not only did I need to re-learn some math techniques, but I needed to brush up on some basic accounting and geometry as well! I am of the opinion that math is NOT like riding a bicycle. If you don’t use all those formulas and skills you learned in high school and college math classes, I think they do just fall out of one’s head—especially for a non-mathematically inclined English major … Continue reading →

Counting Money and Making Change

The other day, my eldest daughter and I went to the bank prior to walking through our downtown farmer’s market. My eldest daughter is marching on the way to eighteen-years-old I’ll have you know, but after making my deposit and withdrawal, I handed her the stack of bills to count what we had out of pure habit. She chuckled and confessed she’d always loved the “verifying” job and we got to reminiscing about the easy and stealthy parental ways I taught my kids about handling money, making change, and counting… When my kids were younger, every time we’d go to … Continue reading →