“So, is there a dog in your story?” “No, the main character is an ambitious, hard-charging businesswoman who doesn’t have time for a life, never mind a dog.” “All the more reason why she needs one — she doesn’t have time for a dog and then a dog shows up and then she gets a life…” “Thanks,… Continue reading Write a Dog
Author Photo My writing group is lively, fun, supportive, smart, and one of the very best things that came into my life in 2017. A couple of weeks ago, a member suggested that we each post a Christmas drabble, a story of exactly 100 words, starting with Clement Moore’s “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” Already,… Continue reading A Loving Christmas Drabble
Photo by Suvan Chowdhury on pexels.com Occasionally, but often enough to notice, I short circuit the world around me. Lightbulbs suddenly flare bright, go dead when I flick on a light switch. An appliance light flickers, brightens, darkens forever. Everyday events like these can be common in an old house. I stock every kind of… Continue reading Blowing Lightbulbs
Photo by Min An on pexels.com It’s going to happen It can happen anywhere, but most often at a party when you meet someone for the first time or the tenth and you’re still only on a polite smiles/light chatter basis. You will find yourself cornered with someone who has the absolute best idea for a… Continue reading Create a Diversion to Save Yourself
Author Photo: Exceptionally rare and fine Bolt-Nosed Flying Pig (sus volantes, ictu nasum) In an old house, random is normal. There are creaks, sudden fails (and resumption of function), and things that happen on their own. Books fall off the library shelves and open to the section you need, skittering in the walls suddenly stops when… Continue reading The Accidental Aardvark
Photo by Alex Mihis on pexels.com “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” — Robert Frost While you might be fascinated by your subject, impressed by the intricate plot you have woven, thinking is not enough to sustain meaningful, powerful story, whether it is… Continue reading Passion in the Writer, Passion in the Reader
Author photo, with temporary loan from generous, watchful dog It was one of the best meals I ever had. We were in Tuscany at a renowned restaurant with antique chestnut chairs and pine chests, wrought iron fixtures, attentive waitstaff, and starched white linens. Our day had been filled with driving, sightseeing, going wherever we wanted at… Continue reading The Memory That Remains
Photo from pixabay on pexels.com This year’s NaNoWriMo novel is tucked safely to rest, but all is not quiet. It is noisy, raucous, rude, and rowdy with stories erupting, brawling, and pleading for me to choose them to work with next. The most pathetic and forlorn of the stories hover around the edges. Hanging… Continue reading Story Ghosts from NaNoWriMo Past…
Photo by Author, in direct violation of the walk promise All it took was deliberate blobs of grape jelly. This perfect peanut butter and jelly sandwich was built the way my mother used to do it: accidental pockets of jelly in an otherwise carefully built sandwich. Raised during the Depression, she made school lunches the… Continue reading Ways to Thrive: Take the Dog for His Walk
It’s the morning after. It’s the morning after closing down a first draft. It feels like a morning after that will last all day. I’ve read about this, I think. Yeah, there was another writer on Medium who wrote about the sudden, desperate onslaught of emotion when you type THE END. She or he mourned the… Continue reading Ways to Thrive: Sorrow at the Finish Line
Louise Foerster 