Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Emotional Resilience, Expat Transitions & Change, Family & Friends, Holidays, Life Balance, Light Bulb Moments, Repatriation, Travel, Writing, tagged 'in the moment', 2013, Adapt and Thrive Across Cultures, being present, change, Christmas, continuous intentional observation without judgment, deaths, emotional resilience, expats, expectations, family, grieving, holidays, illusion of perfection, intermezzo, Jane Dean, Jo Parfitt, Lisa Hall, loss, mindfulness, mourning, New Year's, reflection, Repatriation, solitude, Summertime Publishing, The Emotionally Resilient Expat: Engage, transitions, travel, turbulence, turmoil, wanderlust, writing on January 6, 2014 | 6 Comments »
Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been taking it easy. Really easy. As in not doing much of anything other than what absolutely, positively needed to get done. For example, that time spent pulling together receipts, filling out reimbursement claims for our international health care provider, making photocopies of the entire stack and then standing […]
Posted in Blogging, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Emotional Resilience, Expat Authors & Others, Expat Life, Writing, tagged Adapt and Thrive Across Cultures, Amazon, Americans in Britain, blogging, book reviews, CCKs, cross-culturals, Expat Arrivals, Expat Authors & Others, expat book reviews, expat books, Expat Focus, expat genre, expat life, expat websites, Expatica, expatriate, expats, ExpatWoman, ExpatWomen, global living, global nomads, IAmExpat, Jo Parfitt, Julia Simens, living abroad, living overseas, magazines, memoirs, novels, repats, Riveting Expat Reads, short stories, Summertime Publishing, TCKs, Telegraph, The American Hour, The Emotionally Resilient Expat: Engage, writing, Xpat on October 1, 2013 | 13 Comments »
At the risk of sounding entirely self-serving, I am going to share with you a development I hope expats*, cross-culturals, current and adult TCKs/CCKs, global nomads and repatriates alike will find heartening: the rise of books chronicling all and sundry aspects of expatriate life. I know my mentor, Jo Parfitt, will find this gratifying as […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Emotional Resilience, Expat Authors & Others, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Family & Friends, Life Balance, Netherlands, Sandwich Generation, Travel, United States, Writing, tagged author, blog, blogging, book, building a new life, career change, editor, fiction, home base, Jane Dean, Jo Parfitt, layout design, leaving, Lemonberry, Lisa Hall, Netherlands, publication, Repatriation, Ruth Van Reken, Summertime Publishing, transitions, US, writing on June 18, 2013 | 42 Comments »
I’ve often wondered what I would say in a post like this. I’ve played it out in my mind before, I just never thought I’d be writing this now. You see, it’s time for that kind of post. Not the kind where you tell everyone you’re moving on to another expatriate experience, although there were a […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Authors & Others, Expat Life, Riveting Expat Reads, Third Culture Kids (TCKs), Expat Teens, Travel, Writing, tagged adult TCK, Antoni Gaudi, architect, ATCK, author, Barcelona, Catalan, Catalunya, crime, cultural values, desperation, economic downturn, England, From Barcelona: Stories Behind the City, frustration, Gaudi, Jeremy Holland, love, Native Spain, Netherlands, pickpockets, relationships, religion, Saudi Arabia, short stories, short story collection, social mores, Spain, Summertime Publishing, TCK, the Philippines, US, writer, writing on April 11, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
Time for another review of a book written by, about or for expats. Not only does Jeremy Holland’s From Barcelona: Stories Behind the City happen to be all three, it’s also a collection of short stories. To non-literary types, they sound surprisingly simple: just rattle off a quick tale about someone who did something (or had […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Authors (Other), Blogging, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Emotional Resilience, Expat Authors & Others, Expat Life, Writing, tagged Aerosmith, author, Back in the Saddle Again, blogging, book, books, business cards, cover design, cover mock-ups, crying, done, editing, emotional, emotional resilience, FIGT 2013, final, ISBN, Jane Dean, Jo Parfitt, layout, Lemonberry.com, Lisa Hall, nonfiction, printing, publishing process, recalcitrant, regular blogging schedule, Stephen Tyler, Summertime Publishing, testimonials, writing, writing routine on March 27, 2013 | 18 Comments »
I have been thinking about this post for days, weeks, even months. I’ve longed to be able to write it, but made myself wait. There were times I never thought this day would arrive. Now that it’s here, my thoughts are a (barely) coherent mess and the words are tumbling out on the page. Well alrighty […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Authors & Others, United States, Writers on Writing, Writing, tagged @Home in Dubai, Anne O'Connell, Anne The Writer, author, blogging, book launch, Canada, courtroom drama, crime thriller, debut novel, Dubai, expat novel, first novel, hot flashes, humor, Jo Parfitt, menopause, Mental Pause, murder mystery, nonfiction, novel, PR experience, public relations expert, Summertime Publishing, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United States, writer, writing, Writing Just Because! on March 7, 2013 | 7 Comments »
Today’s a special day for Anne O’Connell, one I’m excited to share with her and with you. Fourteen months ago I reviewed her nonfiction book Riveting Expat Reads: Celebrating @ Home in Dubai. Anne’s been busy since then, relocating from the United Arab Emirates to Thailand and writing up a storm. Not only is today […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Authors & Others, Expat Life, Riveting Expat Reads, Writers on Writing, Writing, tagged An Inconvenient Posting, Apple Gidley, blogging, depression, editor, expat author, Expat Life: Slice by Slice, expat memoir, Jane Dean, Jo Parfitt, Laura J. Stephens, publisher, stories, Summertime Publishing, The Telegraph, topics, writing, Writing a Book on February 23, 2013 | 15 Comments »
A few months ago I reviewed longtime expat Apple Gidley’s terrific memoir Expat Life Slice by Slice. I knew many readers would find it interesting to hear about how a newly published author goes about her writing. Our interview follows. * * * I asked Apple to start by sharing when she first realized she had a […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Emotional Resilience, Expat Authors & Others, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Identity, Repatriation, Riveting Expat Reads, Writing, tagged adrift, An Inconvenient Posting: An Expat Wife's Memoir of Lost Identity, anxiety, blogging, book, Brit in Texas, cross-cultural, culture shock, depression, depressive episode, downward spiral, emotional resilience, emotionally healthy, expat life, expat transitions, grieving loss, Houston, identity, journaling, Laura J. Stephens, loneliness, mental health, pain, positive mental health, recovery, recuperation, Repatriation, self-care, Summertime Publishing, therapist, therapy, writing on January 10, 2013 | 8 Comments »
We’re already into double digits (gasp!) in January, and fortunately my New Year’s resolutions for 2013 are going swimmingly. I say this because I want you to know that I have not neglected you, my Adventurer community. (See how neatly I just tied you back to one of my resolutions? Impressive, I know.) It’s just that I’m recently […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Emotional Resilience, Expat Authors & Others, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Family & Friends, Forced to Fly (2nd ed.) Book, Identity, Repatriation, Riveting Expat Reads, Travel, Writing, tagged Adventures in Expat Land, Apple Gidley, Bitten by Spain, creativity, culture clash, culture shock, Deborah Fletcher, emotional resilience, empathy, Expat Apple, expat life, expat transitions, Forced to Fly, Forced to Fly: An Anthology of Writing That Will Make You See the Funny Side of Living Abroad, funny stories, going abroad, humor, I Was an Expat Wife, identity, innovation, Jack Scott, Jo Parfitt, laughter, Linda A Janssen, living abroad, living overseas, Maria Foley, Niamh Ni Bhroin, Perking the Pansies, Repatriation, Riveting Expat Reads, Robin Pascoe, Summertime Publishing, The Singing Warrior, travel, wordgeyser on October 5, 2012 | 10 Comments »
It is an exciting day here in Expat Land: we’re madly flapping our wings for take-off, determined to catch the wind currents, achieve flight and soar. ‘What’s with the flight metaphors?’ you ask. ‘They’re flying left and right.’ Heh heh. Today marks the book launch of the second edition of Forced to Fly: An Anthology of Writings That Will Make […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Writing, tagged author, expat writer, Italy, Jo Parfitt, Posaro, publisher, residential writing course, Summertime Publishing, writing mentor on February 27, 2012 | 27 Comments »
I was all set to go with another topic in today’s post, but have decided to set that aside for the moment. Why, you ask? I wanted to share with you some news from Jo Parfitt, my writing mentor, expat author of 28 books and publisher (Summertime Publishing) of the non-fiction book I’m trudging along […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Authors & Others, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Riveting Expat Reads, Writing, tagged author, Bodrum, expat life, gay life, Jack Scott, Jo Parfitt, Perking the Pansies, Summertime Publishing, turkey, writing on January 17, 2012 | 12 Comments »
One of the absolutely best aspects of the internet is the ability to find all kinds of information at your fingertips. Those of you who remember life before the ‘world wide web’ know exactly what I mean; those younger can just roll your eyes and skip the next paragraph. It continually amazes me that you can […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Authors & Others, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Riveting Expat Reads, Writing, tagged @Home in Dubai, Anne O'Connell, expat book, expat survey, Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing, United Arab Emirates, writing on December 13, 2011 | 4 Comments »
Congratulations to cyber friend and talented writer Anne O’Connell who has just done what only a small percentage of people ever do: write a book and have it published! Despite being launched just two days ago, Anne’s book, @Home in Dubai: Getting Connected Online and On the Ground, is now the must-have book for […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Authors & Others, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Guest Posts, Riveting Expat Reads, Turning Points Book, Writers on Writing, tagged author, Corrie Ten Boom, fear, God, Holland, Jo Parfitt, Kate Cobb, Qatar, Sarah Koblow, stress, Summertime Publishing, TheTurningPointsBook.com, Turning Points book, writer, writing on November 2, 2011 | 6 Comments »
The following is a guest post from my lovely friend and fellow co-author of Turning Points: 25 Inspiring Stories From Women Entrepreneurs Who Have Turned Their Careers and Their Lives Around (Kate Cobb, editor, Summertime Publishing, 2011), Sarah Koblow. Sarah lives with her family in Doha, Qatar and blogs at Count Only Sunny Hours. You can catch […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Authors (Other), Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Authors & Others, Expat Life, Riveting Expat Reads, Writing, tagged author, fiction, inspiration, Jo Parfitt, Non-fiction, novel, realizing a dream, Summertime Publishing, Sunshine Soup, writing on October 2, 2011 | 18 Comments »
Each of us harbors a dream, a fiercely held flame of hope and desire that burns quietly yet brightly deep within us. It can be something we’d like to do or see or experience, someone we’ve always wanted to meet, somewhere we really want to visit. Or something we create. Often we hold it as a secret. […]
my read shelf:
