I know being the head of a country is a big deal, but that doesn’t mean a president always deserves a capital letter. This grammatical rule trips up many of us. A formal title is only capitalized if it is used in direct connection to that person’s name. “The president of our country is Barack Obama.” “The head of our country is President Barack Obama.” Do you see the difference? Think about it this way – would you capitalize the word “doctor” in the middle of a sentence if his or her name didn’t follow? That would just look goofy. Stay tuned for more gems! Amy amyhagberg.com

I’m cursed. I have trouble reading books or listening to speakers because I feel the need to dissect their grammar and usage. What a nerd I have turned out to be. Here’s an example. Last Sunday I had trouble focusing on the sermon because the pastor had such bad grammar. One of his most noticible grammatical sins was his misuse of the word “staff.” He said something like this: “The staff are going on a retreat next weekend.” Sound perfectly okay? Well, here’s the rub. The word “staff” is actually singular (it is one thing), which means it should be treated this way: “The staff IS going on a retreat […]

“If you see 10 troubles coming down the road, you can be sure that 9 will run into the ditch before they reach you.” ~ Calvin Coolidge

  POTVALIANCY (noun) – the bravery that accompanies being drunk (Use this word in a sentence for a chance to win a free book)  

“The acquisition of riches has been to many not an end to their miseries, but a change in them: The fault is not in the riches, but the disposition.” ~ Seneca

NUMEN (noun) = a divine power or spirit often identified with a natural object, phenomenon, or place (Use this word in a sentence and you’ll be entered in this month’s drawing for one of my books!)

Every marketing guru on the planet (including me) recommends authors develop active blogs with killer content to expand their audiences and push book sales.  Since the dawn of the Internet, the quandary has always been deciding what to write about. For those of us with multiple projects in the pipeline, choosing a topic is definitely easier said than done. I have scores of magazine articles in circulation on topics ranging from faith and family to business, health and women’s issues. My specialty has always been celebrity profiles. I have eight books on the market, do a fair amount of speaking, and have decades of business of experience. Clearly, I wouldn’t have time […]