Tom Aplomb

03/22/2023

New from Christmas Lake Press!

Becoming Visible to Myself: An Unexpected Memoir, by Kathryn L Kaplan, PhD.

"This book comes at a time when all people, especially women, need to find wholeness within themselves. Kathryn's search for her own acceptance of her many talents—intellectual, emotional, creative—serves as a model. Her approach is well organized, practical, and poetic."

— Sandy Prins, MS - ECSE, Grief Counselor
"An epic poem of self-reflection to be savored page by page, chapter by chapter. It's like a dense piece of chocolate—best enjoyed in nibbles."

— Stephen Stept, WordsWorthWriting
"This multi-talented author skillfully weaves together accounts of how she came to grow from, rather than resist, her own vulnerabilities. Any professional who has labored to better understand herself will find confirmation and consolation here. Kathryn's memoir will inspire you—with its examples of courage, healing, and grace."

— Janet Bickel, MA, Leadership and Career Development Coach, and author of Equip Your Inner Coach
This is a book that will move you, motivate you, and inspire you to become a better version of yourself.

Available now.

Becoming Visible to Myself: An Unexpected Memoir

05/01/2022

Love...is live!

The Alphabet of Love: A Primer for the Language of the Heart

04/06/2022

My friend Ella Hicks of Rebel Thriver is running an amazing workshop. For more information, go to www.rebelthrivertribe.com.

02/14/2022

Happy Valentine's Day, Everyone! ❤️

My little book on love, coming this spring, is now available for pre-order on Amazon.

As my gift, the first 10 people who pre-order the ebook will also receive a signed copy of the paperback. After you order, just send me a message with your order and contact information, and I'll add you to the list.

𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥. 𝘠𝘦𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯-𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘵. 𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴; 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳-𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘪𝘯𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘭𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤, 𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘣𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦. 𝘌𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴, 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥, 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺-𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Love is in the air—and soon to be in your hands! 🤟

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09SDJMRKX?ref_=pe_3052080_276849420

01/24/2022

Early Morning Monday Motivation! Schedule when to do your exercises and plan out adjustment dates to stay ahead of pain! 💪

01/18/2022

It’s early, but you think this one might be ‘the one.’ ..nd you don’t want to screw it up. Here’s the one skill you need to ensure your…

12/29/2021

My little book on love is free this week on Kindle. Enjoy!

What Is Love?: A Guide for the Perplexed to Matters of the Heart

03/31/2021

Just over 48 hours left to submit your for a chance to win $250 in the Rising Stars Flash Fiction Contest. You just need a piece under 1,000 words.

Submit your story of under 1,000 words, either using our prompt or writing freeform, for the chance to win a $250 cash prize!

03/20/2021

I don’t believe that we should never “burn our bridges.” I think sometimes we need to burn that sh*t down to ashes and never look back. Seeking closure from toxic people almost never never pans out the way we hope it will, and reopening the door for them only prolongs our suffering and healing. If we’re honest with ourselves, closure is often only an excuse to hang on to them; to the hope that they’ll show up for us this time, that things will change, that they’ll realize how wrong they were and miraculously become who we’ve wanted etc... When someone’s go-to is to treat you unwell, choose you and keep that door closed. No matter how hard it is at the time, you’ll absolutely thank yourself in the long run. ♥️Leila⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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03/18/2021

Some of you may be familiar with flash fiction: short, short stories of under 1,000 words that, despite their lack of length, tell a complete and satisfying tale. They are fun to write, and even more fun to binge on, since they are bite-sized.

Being in the business of encouraging writers, the workshop Julia Bobkoff and I run, Christmas Lake Creative, is sponsoring a flash fiction contest, along with one of our workshop members, Dale Thomas Vaughn, who came up with the idea.

Here are the details on the Rising Stars Flash Fiction Contest:
Submissions are now open.

The submission deadline is 2 April 2021.

We'll announce the winners on 16 April 2021.

The entry fee is just $20.

Your entry will be:

– under 1,000 words
– your own work, never published
– submitted in .doc format

Entries are in one of two categories, and you can submit to both, (with payment required for each entry).

Category 1 is "Flash to a Prompt," and you must include the prompt (as close to verbatim as possible) in your entry.

The prompt is: Roger pulled in to what he knew was his driveway, but his house wasn’t there.

Category 2 is "Flash Freeform." Write anything you want.

**There are two cash prizes! $250 to the winner of each category.**

Also, if we have enough submissions, we will short-list the top 5 entries in each category.

Entering contests is a great way to get your writing out there, and if you win or place, a great way to establish your credibility as a writer.

Finally, we're offering feedback on your story (for an additional $20 fee per entry), which is a huge bargain, as professionals often charge hundreds of dollars to read and comment on your work.

So we welcome your entries and look forward to reading them. (FYI, Submissions are blind (the judges won't know who the writer is.)

So give it a shot. Who knows, you just might win!

A link to the submissions page is in the comments.