Tag Archive for: Marie Kondo

Clicking Our Heels – Spring Cleaning

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It’s time to think about spring cleaning and what we might consider getting rid of. Anything you put at the top of your list for spring cleaning?

Dru Ann Love –  I do year-round cleaning, but with spring I do a thorough purging of items.

Donnell Ann Bell – Yes! Please! I welcome anyone who wants to come and help me.:)

Robin Hillyer-Miles – I spring clean after the biggest dump of pollen has fallen. I start with the back patio since outside is my favorite.

Saralyn Richard – I believe in “spring” cleaning all year long. The change of seasons isn’t as important as the act of getting rid of unused things. I start with cleaning out old emails, spam folders, and computer files.

Gay Yellen – Non-perishable food that has been neglected in the pantry either gets donated or eaten (at last).

Kathryn Lane – Spring cleaning? Never heard of it!

Lois Winston – Since we moved 800+ miles not quite two years ago, I took care of all my spring cleaning for the next decade when we got our NJ house ready to go on the market. The only items that made the move with us to TN were ones we routinely use. Everything else was donated.

Lynn McPherson – I love de-cluttering. The first thing to go is always clothing. I like to think donating things I no longer wear will make someone happy and give the clothes another run.

Linda Rodriguez – Winter’s clutter. I can’t clean if there’s too much stuff in the way.

Barbara Eikmeier –  I don’t keep most books I read so in the spring I donate a box of books to the Friends of the Library annual sale. Then I go to the sale and buy more books. Sigh.

Mary Lee Ashford – I love spring cleaning and generally approach it with great enthusiasm. Now, whether that momentum lasts or not is another thing. But in any case, the first thing that I start with is the master bedroom closet. Are there items that I thought I’d wear but as it turns out I just keep ignoring? If so, maybe someone else would love them and they go straight into the donation box. (Once the donation box is relatively full it goes to the car and I drive around with it in my car for a month or two, but eventually it gets to one of my favorite thrift shops.) From the closet, I move onto the bedroom and cleaning out drawers, washing and storing heavy blankets, etc.

Shari Randall/Meri Allen – I generally clean BCCO –  before company comes over. The first thing to go has to be the inevitable stack of mail order catalogs.

Anita Carter – I love spring cleaning! I tackle all the closets and end up making a few trips to the local donation drop-offs.

Bethany Maines – I do believe in Spring cleaning but usually that’s because I can’t take it anymore.  The first thing that has to go is all of my family’s accumulated crap. My crap is fine, but why are there so many bits of their things EVERYWHERE???

T.K. Thorne – I don’t believe in cleaning; I just do it when I have to.

Debra H. Goldstein – I’ve always been a sporadic rather than seasonal cleaner. I things seem like utter chaos or I’m in need of a distraction and can’t think of anything else to do, I clean my desk, drawers, and closets. Luckily, it doesn’t take much for me to things are straightened or to find another distraction.

Clicking Our Heels – Simple Joys

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Clicking Our Heels – It’s a New
Year with lots of resolutions, but considering everything going on in the world,
we thought we’d share something simple that makes each of happy or brings us
joy (think an expanded Marie Kondo concept to life).

Barbara Kyle – Singing! I’ve sung all my life, in shows
when my profession was acting, and now, for the last few years, in choirs.
Music is pure joy.

Lois Winston – Spending time with my grandchildren.

Saralyn Richard – Seeing something I’ve planted bloom.

Kathleen Kaska – The biggest joy in my life is seeing my
husband smile at me. Coming in second is spending time with my great-niece and
great-nephew.

Dru Ann Love – A quiet day all to myself.

Debra H. Goldstein – When words flow.

Kathryn Lane – I have two simple activities that bring me
great joy – watching elk in the mountains of northern New Mexico and Zen
meditation. My husband participates with me in both pursuits.

Debra Sennefelder – It’s simple and it’s small, but I do
find joy in my first cup of coffee in the morning.

T.K. Thorne – What a great question to ponder! It gives me
joy to discover a new character or aspects of a character that I’m writing that
I didn’t know; to dance to music while cleaning house; to offer support or
connections to a young writer; and to sit outside on my front porch and watch
lizards and hummingbirds while I write.

Anita Carter– Laughter has always, and will continue, to bring me
joy and positivity.

Linda Rodriguez – A pot of nice hot tea, a sock to knit
mindlessly (since I’ve made so many), and good conversation with my husband.

Shari Randall – A message from an old friend, clean
windows, sunlight sparkling on water, when a favorite old song comes on the
radio…simple things, but all make me happy.

Mary Lee Ashford – Family brings me joy. I think I always
knew that but have a new appreciation for not just the family get-togethers and
celebrations but also for those mundane family moments where you touch each
other’s lives in so many ways. This past year has been so difficult being away
from family members and one thing I know for sure is I’ll never take that for
granted again.

Bethany Maines – My dog. Kato is my eleven year old puppy
and he’s as goofy now as the day we brought him home. And even though we’ve
both reached an age where people tell us that we “still look good!” he brings a
joyful bouncy spirit into the house.

Gay Yellen – Watching my husband cook.

Donnell Bell – Looking at pictures of my grandchildren, playing
cards with my very competitive husband, or sitting on our back patio watching
the quail and the New Mexico sunsets.

Decluttering – The Time Has Come

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by Sparke Abbey


This past year we’ve learned a thing or two about decluttering and downsizing. In this era of minimalism, we don’t need as much “stuff” as we might have once believed. And just as we didn’t want to inherit a menagerie of ceramic owls or metal butterflies from our mothers, our children weren’t interested in our amazing book collections, stylish size-seven shoes, or cabbage soup tureen. 



Three garage sales, and more trips than you can count on one hand to local donation centers, we not only decluttered our own homes, we downsized Abbey’s parents’. The process took time, was hard work, yet highly rewarding. And in a crazy way, reminded us of editing or “decluttering” our stories.



Like the rest of America, you’ve certainly heard about Marie Kondo’s “Tidying Up method.” 

  1. Commit yourself to tidying up.
  2. Imagine your ideal lifestyle.
  3. Finish discarding first. Before getting rid of items, sincerely thank each item for serving its purpose.
  4. Tidy by category, not location.
  5. Follow the right order.
  6. Ask yourself if it sparks joy.

Six easy steps, right? Heck, the first two don’t even require physical action. But here’s the reality—the process is never that simple. While the KonMari lifestyle doesn’t “spark joy” for everyone, there are some principals that can be applied to storytelling. So we thought we’d put our spin on Marie’s six steps and create the Sparkle Abbey writing decluttering method.


  1. Commit yourself to unclutter your story. You have to be ruthless. Don’t be afraid to put your writing under a microscope and edit. 
  2. Keep in mind the story you wanted to tell. This will serve as your compass as you unclutter your story. Everything must enhance the story or bring it “joy.” If not, it has to go.
  3. Declutter by category.
    1. Plot – Does your story structure make sense? Are there plot holes? Do your scenes unfold in a way that escalates conflict? Are all the plotlines resolved at the end of the story? 
    2. Subplots – Do your subplots enhance the plot and relate to the overall story goal? Are there too many subplots?
    3. Characters  – Do your characters serve a purpose? Do they have goals, motivation? Do they bring conflict? Are there too many characters? Are the characters unique?
    4. Clarity and Concise – How’s the pacing? Are you showing or telling the story? Is there too much or too little description? Is there too much or too little dialogue? 
  4.  Does your story spark joy? – You’ve carefully decluttered your masterpiece. Does it still bring you joy? It should. Remember step number two. Be careful that you don’t edit the life out of your story.

This isn’t a comprehensive list, but it’s a good start to tidy up your story. Whether you’re tidying up your home or your writing, the process requires you to make a judgment on what is important and what’s just “stuff” taking up space.


Have you jumped on the “tidying up” wagon? We’d love to hear any tips you have for organizing your home or your story! 

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Woods aka Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the neighbors.) 

They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, their favorite social media sites.Their most recent book is The Dogfather, the tenth book in the Pampered Pets series.
Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website.