Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Tonight on "Talk To Me..."

Tonight on "Talk To Me...Conversations With Creative, Unconventional People"

This week on Talk To Me...Nina Vecchi and Julie LePoer, founders of the Wachusett Vegan Society. “Our mission is to inform the community of the health benefits and world saving qualities of a plant-based diet.”

Tune in, Call in, Live! 347-327-9158 and talk to me...and Julie and Nina!

Can't tune in tonight? This show, and all my interviews, are available in the archives. Simply go to Talk To Me...Conversations With Creative, Unconventional People. www.blogtalkradio.com/rita

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Join Us Today 9/24 Multi-Author Book Fair

Join me and a few dozen more authors today at the Hamilton-Wenham Public Library, 14 Union Street, for a terrific book expo. A chance to talk with authors about their work, pick up books for your reading pleasure, holiday gifts, etc. Event begins at 3:00 p.m. I'll be signing both Sweet Bitter Love and Painting the Invisible Man.

Stay for the reception for the keynote speaker -- which just happens to be me, ;-) -- at 6:45 p.m.
The keynote address begins at 7:30 p.m. Hope to see you there! Hamilton-Wenham Public Library, 14 Union Street, S. Hamilton, MA,

Friday, September 18, 2009

This week on "Talk To Me..."

My guest this week is author and Boston's Channel 7 investigative news reporter Hank Phillippi-Ryan. Winner of 26 EMMYs, and dozens of other regional, national and international honors for her hard-hitting investigations, Hank and I will be talking about her critically acclaimed Charlotte McNally mysteries: "Prime Time," "Face Time," and "Air Time."

Tune in, Call in, Live! 347-327-9158 and talk to me...and Hank!

Can't tune in tonight? This show, and all my interviews, are available in the archives. Simply go to Talk To Me...Conversations With Creative, Unconventional People. www.blogtalkradio.com/rita

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Politics Aside, An Inspiring Message...

In 2001, KidsTerrain co-founder and president Maggie Moran wrote a book for children about finding one’s magic. The Magic In Me offers a simple, yet vital lesson for our children, helping them identify the talents and abilities that represent the magic in each child.

Eight years later in his address to the school children of our nation, President Obama said, “Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is.”

Now, aside putting all the political controversy, when you get right down to it, the message was a good one…and one I would think that every parent would, should, and ought to teach their children. The message was really quite simple: you’ll never know what you are good at (what your magic is) if you don’t try, if you don’t embrace the concept that failure is a necessary part of success.

No baseball player hits the ball every time; no ice skater executes a new jump perfectly at the start; no author writes a book from beginning to end in one take. A baseball player batting .333 (which is pretty darn good) is actually only hitting the ball 33% of the time. When a champion figure skater begins to learn a new jump, spin, or lift, he or she fall hundreds of times. And every author, every writer knows that rewriting is essential to honing a story.

“No one’s born being good at things. You become good at things through hard work,” the President reminded us. He also said that asking for help “is not a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something” and a willingness “to learn something new.”

Whether you agree with his politics or not, President Obama offered an inspiring message: To be the best that we can be, to pick ourselves up and keep moving forward when we stumble along life’s paths, and to encourage our children to discover and nurture their talents…their magic.

Written for KidsTerrain.com. Published here with permission.