Doree Anderson

Airborne mycotoxins may be thriving in your home. Tiny spores pass through our nasal filters causing numerous medical symptoms. The root of this evil is not indestructible, Mold can be avoided or removed. Mold arrives innocently enough. The moist sweat shirt from the fall drizzle is tossed into a plastic container. It sits, damp and forgotten for a few months in the corner of the laundry room. With the assistance of a few environmental ingredients; temperature, nitrogen, oxygen, and moisture, we have the perfect recipe for mold. Feed it with doses of oil and dirt. Before long, this fungi will adhere to wood, sheet rock, insulation, fabric, Styrofoam, fiberboard or drywall, and proliferate causing an unclean environment. Mold has become a prime factor in several health issues. Family complaints include dizziness, flu-like symptoms, breathing difficulties, and memory and hearing loss. In some incidences, allergy suffers are unaware that they are breathing in mold spores. It may begi

Ode to Tomatoes... I love tomatoes. Juicy red tomatoes. We wait all summer long for our plants to mature. And then, yes sir ree. There it is. The first one of the season. You quickly pick it. Run it into the house. Show it to everyone, those who could care and those who could care less, even the dog and cat. Remember, it is the first one. Drum roll please. You cut it up. (one slice because it's the first one and about the size of a cherry). With flare and excitement, you place your cut on a plate, add salt and pepper, (not too much) and take a taste. Nirvana. Oh my gracious. The juice drips down your throat. The acid alerts everyone of your thousands of taste buds. They stand, they taste, they cry. Heaven packed into a small piece of fruit. And, the following morning, you have been blessed with the biggest cancor sore ever....with just a tiny little blister above your lip. And, as the cold sore enlarges, ask yourself this; was it worth it. Oh! Heck, yes!!! Thank you to all the tiny

Happiness is... Do you remember the song from "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown?" I was thinking about it the other day and though, what a grand idea. Lets do a "Happiness is... for today. Look at the good side of life and smile. Show the world that your today is going great! Happiness is... waking up in the morning. Happiness is... good health for you and your family. Happiness is... the time to write Happiness is... the sun that's shinning. Happiness is... the fresh smell of cut grass in the morning. Happiness is... Life. As I was walking through Murray Park, the last of the migrating ducks were hanging out and watching us very carefully. They have been so spoiled with people feeding them bread that I think they though I was going to toss them some bread. Yes, it made my little heart break, cause I had to tell them that I was empty handed. So, if you go into the park today, please take a surprise. The ducks are hungry and we've been feeding them, so let

What would you do? I don't want to spend no more stinking monies for a group of ladies to read my story and tell me it can't win ANOTHER contest. Thirty, forty or fifty dollars circling the drain and it's only a little flush away to watch it go bye bye. Yet, I open my mail and find at least three more contests begging for entries. It's like a alcoholic in a liquor store. On Sale, your choice of Whipping - I've never actually read, "This might not be the correct vocation for you." But, when that happens I have every intention of finding a rock and hiding under it. Shoot, I can read between the lines. I just can't write the actual lines :-) Gee, wasn't that fun? I feel better. I am trying to come up with a rock solid plan. A plan that has my butt in the chair, daily. I can make up some real pissy excuses when it comes to doing work. Don't get me wrong; I love writing. It's just that my muse really loves vacationing. The little sweetie has

Check Me Out... I've been caught. That's right, I am now also writing on a new blog sight called www.plotmamas.wordpress.com The title says it all, we are some fine mamas. Sugar, Gnome, Hot Lava, Swan, Spinner, Dragon and me; Grand Mama, and we speak out about, about, yeah, life as a mom or grandma knows it, when trying our darnedest to write. The fun everyday challenges that we go through. Let's face it, kids are a unique commodity. Cute little buggers who do things that are so hilarious that we can't help but write about them. Granted, my 'kids' are grand kids, but I too have found them to become my muse for a day, quite often. So. if you get a chance, check us out and hear what other women with children are talking about. From feeding to freedom and when you are able to find that fifteen minutes of peaceful quite that you can pound out a line or two. See ya there! www.plotmamas.wordpress.com

Let's chat about critiquing. This seems to be the most popular time of the year for writer's to jump on the contest wagon. Every where you look, some chapter, somewhere is holding their "Fall in Love", Best Line, Best First Page, or First Meeting contest, etc. And for a small price you can send in your "however many pages they want," and you'll get a top notch critique on your work. Well, I will say that I am usually delighted to get all the feed back I can on a submission. Winning is not the reason to submit. I think of it as a small price to pay to see where I'm at and what needs tweaking. I do not know if I enjoy the rather rude comments that I've received and so, let's chat. Critiquing is not an area for one frustrated writer to rip into another one. It is for beneficial criticizing. In other words, I didn't pay money to have another writer whine about something I wrote. I did pay money to receive constructive criticism! If you sign u

I got a request ---- ye'haw. That's right. Caren Johnson Estesen Literary Agency asked for my manuscript "Excuse Me, Do You Smell Feta Cheese? .... I'm so beside myself that I had to take a few days to let it sink in. And now that it has, I feel like I'm holding my breath - that's the wait part. I'm handling it pretty well, though. I can now go a few days, oxygen deprived and I'm sure it will be a lot more to come - bring it on. What do they say - What doesn't bring pain, wasn't earned. It's all about the job. Authors must really like a roller coaster ride, because we hop on board more times than we care to admit. Honestly. Silly people, I say. Oh wait, I'm one of them! And I'm loving it. :-) Anyway, I finished the manuscript and then, what do I do? I tear it up. Yep, that's the disease. See, its this good, we think, but it can be this much better. I removed the part about Dani's brother Maxwell because, he's the star of