Daily Courage

Today is a long awaited day. It marks the full orchestra, get-dressed-up-in-your-ball-gown, debut of Blogging for Bliss by Tara Frey. The party hostess is Kari Ramston from Artsy Mama. Thanks for having us Kari. 

The Red Lips 4 Courage team produced this book with Tara, and we have been waiting for months to see this unfold!

I blog for bliss because I love to share stories and connect creative women. I used to love sitting down to write the editor’s letter for each issue of Romantic Homes. Since starting my own little boutique book making venture, I have spent most of my time working on other people’s writing. I miss those days of personal connection, and the blog is giving me that chance once again. It feeds my soul.

Personally, I find myself getting drawn into intensive time-suck sessions because I become bound and determined to figure out much of the formatting and CSS  I can do myself. What is it about that? I’m like a primal cave woman on the prowl for the thrill of the kill. I’ll troll the web for hours for tips and solutions, and will try tweaks over and over to try to get things just right. I have a long way to go to be in the leagues of the women who are included in the book. But there is a certain unexplainable pleasure that comes from learning something new everyday.

The business camp I live in tells me WordPress is the true blog religion. But I manage a beautiful blog for a friend in Blogger, and find it a joy to work on. I have another little startup blog in the works on TypePad, so soon, I’ll be confused by all three platforms! A true Unitarian of blogdom.

I Blog for Bliss because of the connections it brings to creative kindred spirits and amazing women I would not have otherwise met.. I am a DYI kind of gal, so I spend far more time than I care to admit on the prep and code. But in the end, just like a project from my craft room, I love sitting back and enjoying knowing I did it myself! And I like to think it takes courage to venture into new realms, so its about that too…

Tara cheers to you and to all women who accepted the invitation to be a part of Blogging for Bliss!

I have TWO copies of the book to giveaway. Just leave me a comment and I will use Tara’s random number generator to determine the winners. I’ll post the lucky ducks over the weekend. No need to write a long post, but I’d love anything you’d like to share.

There is lots of talk about the importance of “finding your voice” in blogging. Experts will tell you that you need to talk about things of interest, have a unique message, be transparent, etc. Being a print journalist by training (I could date myself talking about things like waxers, and I don’t mean for your legs), I place high value on the importance of communicating a clear message. Like all of us, as this new age of social media unfolds, I have wondered where I fit and what messages would be worth someone else spending the time to read. 

The clouds parted over the weekend, and I had the moment of creative syncronicity I have been waiting for. The Red Lips 4 Courage  blog-Daily Courage-is going to do what I have always done best. Tell the stories of regular everyday women who have had the courage to create. While I was editor of Romantic Homes magazine, I had the opportunity to introduce our readers to many wonderful women and to tell their stories. This created an intimacy among women who would not have otherwise met each other. It allowed the real life experiences of real women to inspire others. 

Not all days are happy ones. Some seasons are filled with angst. What pulls us through is faith and courage. Often, we have to look outside of ourselves and into the lives of others to see how we can find our own way. Daily Courage will tell the stories of women who have had the courage to create. They have had the courage to go against the odds, to appreciate their great gifts, and to have the confidence, and yes, the courage, to share them with others. 

I may have wandered while searching, but I have found my voice! Again. Stay tuned for some amazing stories.

It takes courage to stick together. Today I had some time to be thankful for the courage girls… My experience in publishing has covered many diverse topics, my favorite of which was the material I worked with at Romantic Homes

and Victorian Homes magazines.  I was happily in the height of my mommy days when a chance phone call pulled me back into the magazine world. Next thing I knew, Romantic Homes had been acquired, moved to the west coast, and there I was in the middle of it all. For over six years a wonderful team of editors and designers nurtured the magazine from six times a year to monthly, and nearly doubled its circulation. 

Those years were filled with many wonderful experiences, and even better, introduced us to many of the creative friends we have today. Cathy Yarnovich Risling was the first to join the team, and today she is our director of editorial for all the books we produce.(That’s Cathy on the right and me on the left) Rebecca Ittner (on the left in the shot on the right, at her birthday party) joined the gang not too soon afterward, and today is our mistress of styling, photography and book editing. 

(Rebecca on the left, Cathy on the right, celebrating Rebecca’s birthday a few years back. Sometimes the photo editing stumps me, can’t figure out how not  to cut her in half!)

Erika Kotite was the editor of Victorian Homes, and she has worked with us in this new venture too. I had a long talk with Erika today. (Erika with her beautiful family in the loft of their barn, below.) Despite her now living in New Jersey, we can easily foresee creating more projects together. It reminds me that even though communications and information delivery is changing so fast it is confusing, the technology has kept us working together, doing what we love.

All these ladies are an integral part of the Red Lips 4 Courage team that now provides creative communications services to book and magazine publishers, among other the other things we do. 

Romantic Homes had a few hiccups awhile back, but under the direction of Jacqueline deMontravel working with Hillary Black and a talented team, it is once again in full bloom. Check it out…