Just a dad ...

#GirlsRock: An interview with author, freelance writer, and editor Crystal Schwanke 🍳

Do you know what it means to be a writer?

I’ve known kindergarteners who make a claim on it and grown people who are reluctant to articulate it. They both do the work. But what it boils down to is how you feel when you’re doing the actual writing.

Meet Crystal Schwanke — editor, freelancer, and writer.

Crystal and I struck up a conversation on LinkedIn a good while back and stuck with it for this interview. It’s aged well! Please give her a warm JAD welcome. You’ll enjoy learning about her journey as much as I have.

#GirlsRock: An interview with fiction book editor Kristen Hamilton 📚

I have a book in the works.

Okay. Four books. If one can get through to see daylight, it’ll be a miracle. (Baby sea turtles face a similar fate.)

#AtoZChallenge: M is for MBA: A #GirlsRock interview with RN, BSN, MBA Lauren Boldizar

When I first met Lauren Boldizar, she was a writer.

But she evolved. She was also a runner (still is) and adds aspects to her life the way I add toppings to my tacos — with careful consideration, yet unyielding enthusiasm. One day, after she checked in to say happy birthday on LinkedIn, I asked what she’d been up to.

Oh, just went back to school for my MBA, she said, as nonchalant as I would announced I’d gone back to the taco buffet while you blinked. She’s today’s interview for #GirlsRock, and I think you’ll like her. She tells her story much better than I do, so check it out. Give her a warm JAD welcome.

#AtoZChallenge: L is for Life of Pi, largeness, and whether I like Britney Spears 🐠

The girls asked about colorful sea life, expanding vocabulary, and complex yet strong starlets. #GoAskDaddy #AtoZChallenge — Daniel Cheung photo (Upsplash)

Let’s see how many words starting with the letter L I can let loose in this lead-in, and shift this losing landscape. (I’ve lost lots of time in the #AtoZChallenge. I’d like to at least land this post later tonight.)

Leave it to me to lag behind for so long.

I’ve not had to learn to labor about lies to myself about why I linger. Is my lateness a lifestyle flaw or lack of preventing leaks? In light of how lonely writing can look, let’s leave well enough alone.

So I’ll limit this lecture and let you in the loop past this lengthy lead-up, and let’s click the link live link below. (I love that I got 37 words from the L list loaded with literature (now 40!)

#AtoZChallenge: K is for Katherine Ward, copywriter and grief and loss blogger — a #GirlsRock interview 💔

I love a story in which our hero not only navigates adversity but also discovers ways to make the world better.

Katherine Ward is such a hero. This talented blogger and copywriter’s life changed when her father died in 2017. Losing a parent, I contend, is one of the most permanent events in a person’s life, having lost my father in 2000.

Katherine turned her own grief into a forum to help others who’d suffered losses, too.

I’m proud to introduce Katherine Ward to you today in #GirlsRock. Please give her a warm JAD welcome! She’s an inspiration of strength and kindness.

#AtoZChallenge: J is for Johnston – an interview with writer Kate Johnston ✍️

So, I’m a little behind.

I’ll keep the pace in this #AtoZChallenge, without shortchanging any posts. I want to make sure to give this one especially it’s due. Today’s post is an interview with writer and writing coach Kate Johnston.

She’s a published author who devotes time to making scribes like you and me even better.

She believes in a principle I’d love to make a staple in my life. That if we make a daily practice of positive thinking, we can enhance our creativity and lessen the weight of obstacles that have held us back. (Writing #GratitudeAndShit every Friday is a good start!)

#AtoZChallenge: I is for Inspiration 👩‍🎤

I’ve always been a David Henry Thoreau guy.

It began in college. Because of course, it did. I read Walden and connected with a man in the wilderness with a plan and a journal.

His quotes hit home and his logic made sense.

His quotes have stood as the ones that inspire me most. It’s the one I’d write down, live by, try and impress the girls with. (As if.)

#AtoZChallenge: H is for Hayden, headphones, and happy hour #GratitudeAndShit 🎧

Just grateful to be kicking it with Western Conference All-Stars.

Is it possible that being grateful that I’m not THAT far behind in life sounds sarcastic?

Or that I’m grateful the Rockies haven’t lost ALL their games? Or that the pollen hasn’t ACTUALLY killed me? These are all viable items of gratitude if you ask me.

It’s the day for giving thanks for stuff in my life so let’s get on with it. Oh, crap. Today has to start with Hs, too.

#AtoZChallenge: G is for Getting behind a cause 🎗️

I found my way to the polls last election cycle, as many of you did.

Contrary to my kids’ belief, I did it for more than the free donut at Krispy Kreme. (Although, yum.) Regardless of how the results came down, I did my part, expressed my voice, and that was enough.

It’s important to support causes: Getting behind something you believe in.

It’s two main causes. One, platelet donation. I try to go every week, and it’s humbling to know I can sit still for 2.5 hours and save a life. The second is the area Humane Society, especially the Trap Neuter Release program.

#AtoZChallenge: F is for football questions for Go Ask Daddy 🏈

Fuuuuu…

Guess what I just did? I wrote, like a fool, a full post of the wrong frigging letter. It’s after 2 a.m., and I’ve been distracted by Rockies’ implosion on their home field.

I wrote the post with Gs, not Fs.

And for that, I deserve an F. So, I’m going to do this one on the fly, friends. For those who don’t know, you’ll find questions my daughters have helped me fill a spreadsheet with. I choose a handful at random, and because this is an A to Z Challenge post, I needed them all to start with the letter F.

NOT G. (Although I managed to get a fabulous 10 F words in this lead, and, amazingly, not the supreme F word. Because I’m effing tired right now.