A place for my thoughts

Brandi Easterling Collins, independent author

  • Home
  • Welcome: About me
  • Bookstore
  • Newsletter/Contact Me
  • Luminesce Publishing
  • Home
  • Welcome: About me
  • Bookstore
  • Newsletter/Contact Me
  • Luminesce Publishing

Archives

  • April 2026
  • January 2026
  • November 2025
  • September 2025
  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • April 2025
  • February 2025
  • December 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • June 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • July 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • September 2022
  • July 2022
  • April 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • September 2021
  • July 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • January 2021
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • August 2019
  • June 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
General Thoughts

The loss of my stepfather

My father died when I was little, and my mother remarried Ronnie Campbell. Ronnie was born on March 17, 1954, St. Patrick’s Day, and he died on June 7, 2009. He…

read more
March 10, 2017
Essays, General Thoughts

I’m a liar

Hello, my name is Brandi, and I am a liar. But we all are. I can’t think of any person unless they are an infant or non-verbal child or adult…

read more
December 27, 2016
Essays, General Thoughts, Novels (my writing updates)

The Life and Times of a Not-Starving, Starving Artist

Only a certain number of artists are significantly wealthy, and I am definitely not one of them. When I refer to “artists” I mean people who produce art in the…

read more
January 16, 2020
  • Woman typing on laptop
    Essays,  General Thoughts

    Self-editing a Story: What it Takes

    January 16, 2021 /

      Independent publishing takes perseverance, time, guts, and high self-esteem. It also takes money if you need to hire people for services such as book file setup, cover creation, and editing. I’m fortunate that I work as a professional editor in my day job and that I have graphic design experience. Because of these skills, I am better equipped than some indie authors when it comes to setting up my own book files and creating my own covers. Editing is a HUGE step in publishing a novel. Reader reviews can be brutal, and nothing spells amateur quite like publishing a book full of grammatical errors and typos. Of course, no…

    read more
    0 Comments

    You May Also Like

    A scary topic: suicide

    April 11, 2017

    Back to school

    August 12, 2018
    Insurance policy on a clipboard shielded by an umbrella

    And They Didn’t Even Buy Us Dinner First: Property Insurance Woes

    March 24, 2024
  • General Thoughts,  Pop Culture

    2020 in Books and Other Worldly Things

    January 9, 2021 /

    I set a goal to read 125 books for the year 2020, which was 25 fewer books than the number I finished in 2019. I went lower because I knew I’d be finishing my fourth novel in 2020. Little did I know that a pandemic would hit the world a mere two months later and that the year would be the strangest on record for me. While I didn’t meet my reading goal, I did manage to finish 116 books, which is great.  If you’re interested in seeing my reviews of these novels and the others I’ve read in the past, you can check out my Goodreads page here. Here…

    read more
    0 Comments

    You May Also Like

    Taking Back the “Nerd” Label

    June 23, 2019
    Mary Higgins Clark

    Rest in Peace, Queen of Suspense

    February 2, 2020

    A New Family Member: An official introduction

    March 29, 2021
  • Essays,  General Thoughts

    To All The Pets I’ve Loved Before

    September 11, 2020 /

    I’ve grown up with pets for as long as I can remember. My Easterling family seemed to have an affinity for the feline and canine variety of pets and the Russell side, especially my Aunt Diana, whom we sadly lost about two years ago, loved dogs. The first dog I remember loving was Lucy Ann. She was a little mutt puppy I named after a character on a TV show that I believe was called The Littles. I was 4 or 5 years old at the time. I know she died soon after I got her, but I’m not sure how, but I sure loved that little dog and missed…

    read more
    1 Comment

    You May Also Like

    Unexpected Employment Changes

    July 25, 2021

    How I became a novelist in twelve (easy) steps

    April 7, 2019
    Woman apologizing

    Apologies and hurt feelings

    September 16, 2021
 Older Posts
Newer Posts 

Categories

Tags

Anxiety Artwork Assignment Books Broken Heart Caroline's Lighthouse Childhood Children Covid-19 Dad Dark and Twisty Death Depression Dream Family Fear God Got an "A" Healing Heartache High School Hurt Indie Authors Indie Publishing Inspiration Jordan's Sister kids Loss Love Mom Music New Novel Novels Pain Published Reading Sadness Sex Stars Suicide Thanksgiving Truth Writing writing update

Recent Posts

  • Movies I Will Watch Again and Again
  • 2025 in Book Reviews
  • Embracing the Holidays
  • Four Hearts: Coming soon
  • My Favorite Holiday Movies and TV Specials (Even the Guilty Pleasures)

Sharing

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail
All material ©1994-2026 by Brandi Easterling Collins.
Ashe Theme by WP Royal.