WORK OR PLAY? by Deborah Elliott-Upton “Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.” — Attributed to James M. Barrie Last night, I was up later than usual trying to decide what my main character wanted. He’d been stubborn and not fit into the little place I thought so perfect for […]

SOMETHING DIFFERENT by Deborah Elliott-Upton Every once in a while, I try something different – or at least different from the same old, same old. Nothing newsworthy, but something to shake up the routine. This last week, I painted my nails a non-traditional (for me) cotton-candy pink instead of my usual Hot! Hot! Hot! red. […]

ALL THE MONEY by Deborah Elliott-Upton The phone rang and I was surprised to hear a male voice asking if was Deborah Elliott-Upton, the writer. I usually don’t get business calls at that particular number. When I answered, “Yes, I am,” he said he’d gotten my name and number from another writer who thought I […]

BRAIN FREEZE by Deborah Elliott-Upton I check the thermostat and find is something less than freezing temperatures outside and we aren’t even talking about the wind chill index. Even though it is February and the groundhog promised us six more weeks of winter, I didn’t expect such a temperature shift overnight. I am wearing my […]

PASSION IS EVERYTHING by Deborah Elliott-Upton At a writer’s conference, an agent said, “The more passion you have for your writing project, the easier it is to sell to an agent or editor.” She was absolutely right, but your writing better be pretty good, too. I know many writers whose work is so/so, but they […]

TO BE CLONED or NOT TO BE CLONED by Deborah Elliott-Upton It’s been a decade since scientists cloned the first animal from an adult cell rather than an embryo. The result was worldwide headlines and a sheep named Dolly became more known than many heads of state. The cell used was a mammary cell and […]

WEATHER OR NOT by Deborah Elliott-Upton As nice as it is to find a brand new calendar with a brand new year to begin (once more) anew with perhaps not-so-brand new resolutions, sometimes inclement weather accompanies January like unexpected guests at a designated seating wedding reception. Unfortunately, good weather or not, there seem to be […]