Mary Lynn I. Archibald's Blog
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Feb.08.2009
The next thing I need to know, is how to delete duplicate postings, on my blog and anywhere else. Didn't find that in the FAQ.
Any help appreciated, from a fellow writer. Also, I might mention that the Accidental Cowgirl site is up and running again. Slow but sure. I am such a wuss when it comes...
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Jan.11.2009
I only allow myself to watch television on Sundays, though I have a small color set in my office. Somehow I feel guilty if I'm not doing something else at the same time. Know what I mean? Today I'm torn between watching a movie of The Phantom of the Opera on television and answering e-mail. I must...
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Jan.01.2009
A little hung over? Not me. I just didn't get enough sleep.
We stayed up till midnignt and laid out our goals for this year, after reviewing the high and low points of 2008 (Taos Writers' Spa and book promotion tour and turning 70 were some of the highlights for me; remodeling the barn into a...
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Dec.28.2008
Need marketing ideas? Turn to the RedRoom "Tips" page. Karen Dionne and others have lots to say about book trailers, just when I'm looking for new ways to market my book, Accidental Cowgirl. The first six months I did a lot of personal appearances, talks, readings and signings. Now I'...
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Dec.17.2008
The first wave of houseguests has departed, leaving in their wake more yummy, fattening, fabulous gourmet food than we can possibly eat before New Year's Day. Already, my jeans don't fit.
Somehow, all those wonderful ideas for holiday abstemiousness went out the window really fast, and we are...
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Dec.10.2008
...a big mess!
I'm told that most folks have some sort of family drama around the Christmas season. I guess it's inevitable. Especially when you get more than one family involved, it seems impossible to please everyone—or maybe to please anyone. I'm also told that maintaining one's "boundaries...
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Dec.03.2008
Well, of course you've heard the old canard, "You never appreciate something until it's gone," but I'm here to tell you, it's true. I have been without the Internet, that easy, if not intimate, way of connecting with friends and colleagues alike for twelve days. It has been murderously...
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Nov.26.2008
We are fortunate this year to have Carl's son and his new fiance´with us for Thanksgiving Dinner this year. Both Carl and I, like most Californians, have families that have split and reformed, with ex-wives and husbands, but in our case, we even like each other.This year, we are blessed to have not...
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Nov.15.2008
Of all the methods I've tried to market my book, none beats establishing a relationship with bookstores. I used to be shy, especially when it came to meeting new people, and especially when doing anything remotely connected to sales, and particularly when it had anything to do with selling...
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Nov.05.2008
Just got back from a long car trip to Vancouver Island, B.C., where Carl and I were guests for five wonderful, relaxing days at the Sooke Harbour House on the shores of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which has some of the best food anywhere (and great art and rooms with fireplaces, decks and views),...
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Sep.19.2008
My friend Gil Mansergh did his master's thesis on creativity in children, and his e-mail brought up some interesting points. He said:
"Researchers have attempted to quantify 'creativity' for over 80 years, but so far, no test administered to children has proven to accurately predict who will...
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Aug.30.2008
Where does it come from, and how do we call upon it, nurture it and sustain it?
Having taught art and writing for many years, I've come to the conclusion that once we call it forth, it feeds on itself, like a hurricane over open water.
The trick is coaxing it our of hiding in the first place, and...
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Aug.27.2008
For those of you contemplating a pilgrimage to Taos, NM, in search of the muse, please be warned that, unlike 30 years ago when I visited last, it has—like so many places—changed. Not necessarily for the better.
It's still gorgeous country, laid as it is at the feet of the Sangre de Christo...
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Aug.26.2008
!["Los Gallos," Mabel Dodge Luhan House](http://redroom.com/files/images/"Los Gallos" at MDL House, Taos_0.100x150.jpg)
...and I am a lot more human than I thought.
I've been meaning to talk about my experiences at the Taos Writers' Spa 2008 for the last two weeks, but it has taken me a while to process them. I know I should have written about it as it was happening, but I was pretty overwhelmed by the richness of...
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Jul.24.2008
I don't know about you, but I'm a great believer in rewarding myself for major accomplishments, such as writing books, finding the same person fascinating after 20 years, having a MAJOR birthday, etc.
Consequently, I'm taking myself off tomorrow to a "Writers' Spa" in Taos, NM, at the...
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Real-Life Ranch Tale Serves as Warning to Weary Urbanites.
Everyone has a story to tell just from living. But the key is in the storytelling.
By that paradigm, Mary Lynn Archibald is one great storyteller, and her memoir is at the same time sad and funny, but it is a story worth reading. It is the story of a couple of crazy urbanites who dream of escaping the dreary existence of the rat race, and become (sic) country squires on 120 acres of lush rural beauty called Twin Creeks Ranch...
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—Published by Capital Press: The West's Ag Website—by Bill Duncan
About Mary Lynn
Mary Lynn Archibald is a freelance copywriter, editor and author of two memoirs: Briarhopper: A History, and Accidental Cowgirl: Six Cows, No Horse and No Clue.
A former interior designer and teacher of art, design and autobiography, Mary Lynn has been a...
Connections
Causes Mary Lynn Archibald Supports
Battered Women's Shelter, SPCA, Healdsburg Animal Shelter, Nature Conservancy
Mary Lynn’s Favorite Books
Siddhartha, A Man In Full, Interpreter of Maladies, Sea of Poppies, Water for Elephants, Green Grass-Blue Water,
Mary Lynn is a fan of
