Summer is pretty much over, and we’re having lovely early fall weather these days. My “enforced vacation” due to my fractured elbow is over (though I’ll still be working on some soft-tissue injuries for a while to come), so my life is getting “back to normal” — well, my normal, that is! Some folks would suggest I’m not a totally normal Norma 🙂

This week has seen my tutoring students returning, and a variety of editing jobs … and meetings! A sure sign that summer’s over. Strata council, various meetings with clients, local writers’ group inaugural meeting (which also involved a lot of communications with potential members and such), board meeting of the Okanagan Archive Trust Society … and a late birthday lunch with my good friend, Yasmin!

Of course, tutoring students returning means lots of preparation for the upcoming year’s lessons and goals–and even some fun reading children’s books that I may be using with them, such as The Bully Boys by Eric Walters (an historical novel based on real events during the War of 1812 between Canada and United States, written from the point of view of a 14 year old boy). If you’re looking for a book middle-school-age boys would enjoy, this one is a good bet.

As for my reading and writing activities:

• continue reading from The Art of the Personal Essay anthology
• Write blog posts, such as “Clergy and Lay People” on My Church Journey
• Listen and take notes from a series of webinars from the “Speakers Lab Summit.” With a variety of speaking engagements coming up for me in coming months, I want to improve my abilities and learn how to be a truly helpful speaker for my audiences, and these webinars featuring well-known speakers have been incredibly helpful. The ones I have listened to so far are:
  • Rory Vaden: “How to Build a Speaker Business Beyond Yourself”
  • Scott McCain: “Lessons Learned From 30 Years as a Professional Speaker”
  • Chris Brogan: “How to Stay Relevant as a Speaker”
  • James Clear: “How to Use a Blog to Build a Speaking Business”
  • Carrie Wilkerson: “How to Build Your Speaking Business and Maintain Your Sanity”
  • Dan Miller: “How to Use Speaking to Build Your Coaching Business”
  • Paul Evans: “How to Turn Your Story Into a Message”
• And of course I’m continuing to work on preparation for those upcoming workshops I’ll be speaking at! The first one is sponsored by the Okanagan-Shuswap branch of The Word Guild, and  takes place in West Kelowna BC on October 22. I’ll be doing presentations on:
  • Platform and Brand: what it is; why it is necessary; knowing yourself and your audience; choosing your niche; platform avenues–ways to market and choosing what will work best for you
  • Christian authors and the business of writing: your “calling” as a Christian writer; Christian values and goals in promotion and marketing; creating your business plan; the Christian marketplace and publishing opportunities

Remember, you’re always welcome to contact me, and I’d love to read your comments below and chat with you about your thoughts and ideas.