5 questions that have helped redirect my life
Here are a few questions I’ve been thinking about over the past year or so. I admit, the older I get the deeper I go, but I think it is good to sometimes take...
Murphy Writes Blog
Thoughts on losing a job
“Getting fired is nature’s way to telling you that you had the wrong job in the first place.” ~ Hal Lancaster, in The Wall Street Journal I want to talk about job loss. These...
Agent Pitch Sessions: like a job interview on steroids
(graphic source) “Every time an Oscar is given out, an agent gets his wings.” ~ Kathy Bates In my lifetime I’ve pitched my mom on why she should let me stay out later, potential...
“Momisms” book finally published
“You’re running away? Let me help you pack.” ~ Mom My first book, “Mother Knows Best – Wit and Wisdom From Idaho Moms,” is now being printed and will be in my sweaty little...
10 tips from a magazine editor: How to pitch a story
(graphic source) “There are, it seems, two kinds of editors. The first kind cares mainly about himself, about how his editing performance reflects on him and getting ahead or getting stroked or getting to...
Dealing with an unexpected ‘break’ in my writing
I’ve often wondered what would happen if I ever became incapacitated and couldn’t do my writing. What if I broke a finger or an arm or my wrist? How would I do my...
Working with editors and word counts
“Why write in a few words what you can write in many.” ~ Patti Murphy Over the years I’ve fretted over meeting, as close as possible, the word count my editors give me when...
Looking for story ideas? Here’s 8 places to find them
“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” Â ~ Sylvia Plath...
Following the Yellow Brick Road into 2011
“The road to success is always under construction.” ~ Lily Tomlin I’ve always felt there is a “path” that I am destined to follow in my life and if I just found that path...
Reverb 10: Achieve
Today’s prompt is from Tara Sophia Mohr: Achieve. What’s the thing you most want to achieve next year? How do you imagine you’ll feel when you get it? Free? Happy? Complete? Blissful? Write...
20 words, sayings and catchphrases I could live without in 2011
This is the time of year when all the lists are trotted out as a way to look back and tell us what we did, said, thought, ate, and wore in the past...
Marshmallows and the meaning of life
The campfire crackles and spits sparks into the black night sky and I watch as the tiny orange dots float up, up, toward the silvery moon and stars, like little fireflies lilting and meandering...
Reverb 10: The power of friendship & family
“Friendship is a sheltering tree.”  ~Samuel Taylor Coleridge I’m participating in a month-long blogging challenge called Reverb10 during which I am posting a response to a writing prompt from 31 different authors. The goal of the...
Reverb 10 : 5 minutes to remember a year
“God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.” ~ James Matthew Barrie, creator of Peter Pan I’m participating in a month-long blogging challenge called Reverb10 during which I am posting a response...
Reverb 10: Turning ideas into actuality
“We think good ideas to death, when we should be acting them to life.” ~ Brian G. Jett “A new idea is like a child. It’s easier to conceive than to deliver.” ~ Ted...
26 expressions of gratefulness
One of my favorite movies is the 1946 holiday classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The movie centers on George Bailey, a kind man who has always been there to help others, but has grown...
The meaning of success
“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will be become the person you believe you were meant to be.” George Sheehan Success… Is it a place we arrive at, or is it made...
Is a “Portfolio Career” in your future?
“Job security is gone. The driving force of a career must come from the individual.” ~ Homa Bahrami If you have left your full-time job and found yourself piecing and patch-working an income together...
“Write drunk, edit sober” ~ Ernest Hemingway
“Write drunk, edit sober.” ~ Ernest Hemingway One of the biggest challenges facing a lot of writers including myself is to “let it all hang out” as we are writing. In fact, as...
20 things I learned from digging in the garden
You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry, and stop to smell the flowers along the way.” ~Walter Hagen This past summer I was puttering around in my garden  —  pulling weeds, snipping...
