Barbara Custer October 14, 2024 0 Comments

The Virtues of Self-hosting?

    Back in September 2012, I began to self-host my websites, extolling the virtues of self-hosting in a blog. Well, two weeks ago, I quit self-hosting my website and moved it back to WordPress. My Mylar balloons have been urging me to do so, but I had two book releases forthcoming, so I gutted […]

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Barbara Custer October 14, 2020 4 Comments
Barbara Custer's brand

Romancing the Balloons

Since April, when I wrote my first post on the pandemic, gyms and hair salons have reopened, albeit with restrictions. Some of my friends are jumping into activities full force. Others remain in quarantine. Per the discussions with my Mylar balloons, the activities are okay if I can take the risk from a level 10 […]

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Barbara Custer October 12, 2020 4 Comments

Killing your Darlings

This year, I’ve been taking Your Novel Year with Kathryn Craft, and among other things, I am learning what it means to kill your darlings. No, not my balloons. My Mylar balloons are darlings, and they’re staying right where they are. I’m referring to the darling scenes I have in my WIP.  The trouble was, […]

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Barbara Custer October 10, 2020 8 Comments

The Great Pumpkin—Exploring the Senses

Amidst my counting masks, paper products, and other supplies to wither the Great Pandemic, my butterfly Mylar balloon whispered, “How about baking a cheesecake? A pumpkin cheesecake. After all, it’s that time of the year.” “What time of the year?” I rolled my eyes. “The Great Pumpkin’s coming.” My balloon had it right. So I […]

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Barbara Custer May 6, 2020 2 Comments
author of Night to Dawn magazine

A Lift to the Apocalypse

Many folks stare and gasp when I inform them that a Mylar balloon has found its way into my shopping basket. “The balloon’s contaminated,” they warn me. True, I don’t know where that balloon or any other product I buy has been. This is why I wear a mask and gloves to the supermarket. At […]

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Barbara Custer June 13, 2019 2 Comments

PWC2019 Days Two and Three.

When I got on the train on Saturday, the conductor said hello. I smiled and shouted, “Choo choo!” The other passengers burst out laughing; then someone noted that new lines were being painted on the parking lots. I piped up with, “Yes, and they’re also painting Mylar balloons on these lines so that people can […]

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