VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

  Welcome back, dear readers! I reconnect with you after a transformative period in my life with great excitement and a sense of renewed purpose. As we dive into this new chapter, I want to share the multifaceted journey I've embarked upon, where motherhood, advocacy, academic pursuits, and creative endeavors converge. When I first started this blog 18 years ago, I was a new mother with a passion for writing. Over time, my journey took an unexpected turn as I delved into public service as a victim advocate, dedicating myself to supporting and empowering those who had experienced trauma. During this period, my writing and creative pursuits took a backseat, but my commitment to making a difference in the lives of others only grew stronger. As my children have grown and reached significant milestones, I find myself at a pivotal moment. Driven by a desire to further my knowledge and expand my capacity to help others, I decided to return to school. Currently pursuing my master's deg...

As you know I've been trying to get a few projects off the ground for a few months if not years now. Many things have happened between idea, concept and even personal life. My plans for my YouTube channel and even this blog haven't panned out and recently I underwent a surgery that had me laid up in bed for a little over a week and two weeks off work. Add in the holidays on top of all that and here we are in the New Year. Things just happen but we can't let that stop us. We have to stop and reflect on what got in our way, what we can do to change, where we have been, want to go and where and who we want to be. So many things can go through your head when you reflect and planning can only take you so far. But let's stop there for now as that is a topic for another time. What lead me to this path I am on currently, is our topic today - REFLECTION. Something I do often and I have done a lot lately to remind me why I have chosen the path I am on. My current demands in...

VS Grenier is back with Jared Quan as her guest to discuss Leadership September 20, 2019 at 9 AM Pacific - 10 AM Mountain - 11 AM Central - 12 PM Eastern Listen to the Podcast at https://www.blogtalkradio.com/michiganavenuemedia/2019/09/20/vs-grenier-is-back-with-jared-quan-as-her-guest-to-discuss-leadership   What is a good leader? A great leader posses a clear vision, is courageous, has integrity, honesty, humility, and clear focus. A great leader doesn't have to be an Alpha personality - just someone who wants to help people reach their goals, are not afraid of lifting other up or working with those who may be better at something over them and take pride in the accomplishments of those they help along the way. About today's guest: Jared Quan is published in genres from Spy-Thriller to Horror/Supernatural. To Fantasy-Comedy. He served the community in crucial roles with League of Utah Writers, Storymakers, Cultural Arts Society of West Jordan, EMAA, Big...

Come join VS Grenier and Marsha Casper Cook at 9 am Pacific - 10 am Mountain - 11 am Central - 12 pm Eastern LIVE on July 24th! The topic is Creating Your Author Platform. Why is this important, and what is a platform anyway? It is your visibility as an author, your life support. The wider your reach, the more readers you connect with, the more books you can sell. What you do with your platform speaks about you as an author (in an authentic way) as you try to reach your target audience. It's all about connecting with people -- on a real level. It's not about shouting, "Buy my books" all over the place. VS Grenier plans to dig in deep on you can build your platform from the ground up or from where you are right now. Questions will be answered from callers as well throughout the show. Call in during the live broadcast at 714-242-5259. Learn more about the host at http://vsgrenier.com For more information about our shows visit http://michiganavenuemed...

Come join host VS Grenier along with Marsha Casper Cook and   Crystal L Gauthier at 5 PM Pacific - 6 PM Mountain - 7 PM Central - 8 PM Easten http://www.blogtalkradio.com/michiganavenuemedia/2019/06/14/books-to-movies-and-tv-with-vs-grenier From classics like Little Women to modern-day bestsellers like Pulitzer winner The Goldfinch, there are plenty of upcoming dramas to choose from and ones to catch up on. However, does it always work? Books can let you imagine the setting or events happening in the story. They are also more detailed than movies because movies sometimes leave out some essential details. 5 Reasons Why Books Are Better Than Movies or TelevisonSeries Imagination. When you just go out and see the film you're showed what everything looks like, you don't get to imagine it Movies Leave Stuff Out. You obviously can't get every detail of an entire novel into a roughly 2-hour time frame Books Are Portable The Story Gets Lost Movies Intensify Everyth...

Do you keep or have you kept a journal or diary? If so, you probably already know some of the benefits of journaling because you've experienced them. You know that your journal helps you make sense of the senseless side of your life. A journal can be an emotional lifesaver when you go through a hard time. But did you know that scientists believe journaling can even keep you physically healthy? The release of pent-up emotions you pour into your journal every day actually helps reduce the symptoms of arthritis and asthma, and strengthens your immune system. This really makes sense if you consider that much illness is exacerbated by stress, and a journal is one of the best stress reducers out there. Journaling gives you a record of your emotional growth like no other. While it can be useful at times to be able to look back and see just when your neighbor moved in or when you started suffering from headaches, the intangible changes in you can be even more fascinating to look back...

You're sitting at your desk, staring at a blank sheet of paper or a blank word document on the computer screen. You actually want to write, but just can't bring yourself to it. You have no clue what to do with your characters next, and they don't seem eager to tell you. Or perhaps you have a deadline, but you're aimlessly typing random letters on the page, none of which seem to make sense, and you're getting more and more frustrated as every minute passes. That deadline that you have in two weeks seems to be coming round very quickly and, at this rate there is no way you are going to make it! Whether you are experiencing this for the first time or for the hundredth time and you're at a loss as to what you should do, don't despair. You can consider yourself as having a case of writer's block or being stuck in a rut; it can and does happen even if you haven't been neglecting your work. Other writers experience this too. Your muse needs to ...

It's said that a problem or premise can be viewed from two distinctive points of view -- the observer viewpoint and the merged viewpoint. Today's creativity method focuses on the second viewpoint. The merged viewpoint occurs when you become the object of the observation. You become the subject of your observation, and you observe from the point of view of your subject. This is referred to as projective identification. Projective identification can be purely fantasy: What's it like to be a potato about to become French fries? How does it feel like to be a gum stuck in a shoe? Imagine what it's like to be an ink cartridge. Or it can be empathetic: Seeing the situation through a laborer's eyes Getting inside the skin of an AIDS victim Being in the shoes of a chronically depressed person For your creative activity today, write 2 short texts (100-200 words) using projective identification for the following: Fantasy: What's it like to be a pict...

Journaling Topics -- They're All Around You! Do you ever sit down with your journal and find yourself fresh out of ideas to write about? Virtually anything can be a journaling topic. If you are finding it hard to think of something to write about, here are some ideas that might get those creative juices flowing for you. Pithy sayings A never-ending source of ideas to write about are the wise words of others. You can find these statements anywhere. If you read the Bible or other inspirational literature every day, choose a statement, paragraph, or thought from your day's reading, and expound on it. What does it mean to you? How could you apply it in your own life? What changes might be required? What improvements might you see in your own situation if you applied the wisdom in the pithy saying to your own choices?   Nature Are you near a window? A view to the outdoors can provide a myriad of writing possibilities. Even if all you can see is the sky, look for words ...

If you've ever struggled in coming up with creative ideas, welcome to the club. For most writers, discovering new writing projects involves conscious pursuit of their thought trails. But where do we start on our quest for inspiration? Here are a few places you can find new ideas for writing. 1. The world around you. Just like a photographer, you must start looking at life through your own personal lens. You will get a tremendous amount of writing material if you start filtering your own experiences. Soon you will start noticing ideas everywhere around you. Very often the muse will come at strange times and from unusual sources, so be prepared. The world is full of surprises that can materialize in your next book or article. 2. Writers' associations and networks. If you are a professional writer, you probably belong to an association or writer's group. Generating new ideas will feel much easier after meeting other members or attending writing workshops and conferences. Y...