All posts tagged: experts

Fiction Friday: Joe and Annie’s Marital Spat

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By Leslie Lindsay Here’s a new excerpt from Slippery Slope.  The main characters are having a marital spat…due to her, uh…indiscretion, but no one knows just how slippery the slope can be.  A work of original fiction.           “Joe is in the master bedroom unpacking his suitcase from New York.  He hangs his garment bag over the closet door.  The tension is thick as I open and close drawers to our dresser, putting laundry away.            “She called me, you know,” he said abruptly.         I shook my head–confused, distracted, “Who called you?”         “The other day…Madi’s principal.”         My whole body grows cold, like ice.  My head feels dizzy, my mouth dry.        “Where were you?  Why were you late?”         I shove some socks into a drawer, turned to close it with my hips, “I….uh…was just running late,” I offered.         I fiddled with the laundry basket–that funny little piece that had broken off, flapping like a broken appendage—thinking of an excuse on the fly—or look distracted so I could concoct a better …

Fiction Friday: Progress Makes You Insane

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By Leslie Lindsay I am feeling a bit nutty these days as my novel is nearing a turning point: the end.  My female protagonist may be losing a little bit as well.  Remember, this is original work from a novel-in-progress…please do not take as your own.  And here we go… some old stuff I dusted off for Slippery Slope:  “I breathed in the crisp fall air.  The leaves falling gently in golden hues as the sun sparkled in dainty brightness.  I parked the van, got out, and slammed the door with a thump.  Stupid minivan.  When could I get a real car again?  I walked into the waiting room.  The space smelled like paper and vanilla, the Muzak pumped out classical tunes from the sound system.   A white noise machine sat tucked in the corner, camouflaged by a plant.  I slid the glass divider window, revealing a pinched-faced receptionist.         “Insurance card.”  It’s not a question, but a demand.  Her bony hand reaches forward and snaps the card from my grip.  She turns to make a copy …

The Teacher is Talking: The Whole-Brain Child Continues

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By Leslie Lindsay (image retrieved from Amazon.com on 9.4.12)  The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson (Sep 11, 2012) We have been discussing the book, THE WHOLE-BRAIN CHILD by Dr. Daniel J. Siegel and Dr. Tina Payne Bryson.  The premise:  if you “speak” to both sides of your child’s brain (right=emiotion-driven and left=logic-driven) through 12 strategies, then you may have a better chance at picking your battles, helping your child, or problem-solve.  And who wouldn’t like to get better at those things?  Last week, we focused on strategies 1-6, today we’ll tackle the final 7-12 strategies.  Here goes: Strategy #7:  Remember to Remember–Making Recollection a Part of Your Family’s Daily Life.  For some, remembering things is well…a no brainer.  For others, it’s a little more challenging.  It’s an exercise, if you will–the more you work it, the better your memory.  Give your children practice with remembering things.  Telling and retelling a story works, so does remembering a list of letters or numbers (+/- 5 …

The Teacher is Talking:

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By Leslie Lindsay I have been off-track today.  I am blaming it on this cold I have been sporting since–oh, I don’t know.–the trees bloomed back in March!  I think it started as allergies then morphed to a cold and then cleared up and is now back.  Lucky me. I should have been working on some articles today for various publications, but I am not.  I stopped at Trader Joe’s and then to Two Bostons Pet Boutique (nothing fancy for this hound, unless you count the Greenies to freshen her breath and the rice/pototo-free food to tame her toots).  And then home where I really thought I was going to get some good “work” done.  Alas, I started a load of laundry, folded another and futzed around too much on Facebook.  You know how it goes. So do the authors of “The Winner’s Brain,” Drs. Brown and Feske.  In fact, they aim to say that focus is actually “Win Factor #3.”  That is having it [focus!] is what really factors into the equation to get …

Apraxia Monday: Whew–it’s wearing me out!

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By Leslie Lindsay It’s been a long time coming.  This apraxia thing is wearing me out.  Here’s the deal:  when my daughter wasn’t talking like every other Carson, Chloe, and Caden I was beside myself.  When I was told by the first SLP who saw her that she had “a delay,” I was scratching my head…well of course, she does, but what do we do about it?  When I was told by the second SLP that she had childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), I wanted to know what the heck is that?!  And then I wanted a book about apraxia–a real book that I could hold in my hands and reference when I felt like I needed it.  I didn’t want to sift through everything on the Internet (now isn’t that ironic?!) And now that my daughter has come a long way from when she was first diagnosed, I am still eating, thinking, and breathing apraxia.  I get emails about it, I send emails about it, I get connected to others all around the globe …

Write on, Wednesday! Writing (and editing) a Book

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By Leslie Lindsay “Hey, I’m busy over here–I’m writing a book, ya know?!”  Here’s the thing with writing a book:  It’s a BIG job.  Most folks don’t realize how big it is till they really get into it.  And the bottom line is most people don’t get into it. In fact, I read somewhere that out of 100 people who want to write, only 10 actually do.  Of that 10, 9 will get rejected or give up.  One person is left with a manuscript and a contract and a finally a book.  One out of 100 want-to-be-writers actually end up with a book in hand?  Yikes.  Why bother?  Well…it has to be something you are completely 100% passionate about.  One has to have drive, ambition, good skills (and I’m not just talking writing skills here…but also negotiating skills, creativity skills, professionalism, etc.), persistence (but politely so), the desire to continue learning, the innate ability to obeserve the world (and the people in it), and to have a thick skin.  There’s probably more, too but this is …