“With great power comes great responsibility.” Uncle Ben (Spiderman) The American Constitution and Bill of Rights has given its citizens the great power of free speech. But with the freedom to say what we need or want to say comesRead More… WITH WRITES COME RESPONSIBILITIES
I VANT TO BE ALONE
In the 1930s movie Grand Hotel, Greta Garbo says those words, or a variation depending on the source. A decade later she gave up acting and disappeared into private life. Over the last several months, the vast majority of theRead More… I VANT TO BE ALONE
REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE
It’s been 7 weeks, 1 day, 12 hours, 15 minutes since I’ve touched another human being besides my husband. For huggers like myself, this is painful, but thank God this pandemic didn’t happen in the Seventies. Back then we wereRead More… REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE
CREATIVE CROSS TRAINING
Professional athletes, trainers, and coaches tout the merits of cross training: doing a variety of activities that develop different areas of fitness. A tennis pro may lift weights to beef up her back hand. An NFL running back may takeRead More… CREATIVE CROSS TRAINING
Blank space
“Class, take 5 minutes and write anything you like.” For many writers this is a dream come true—no rules, just write. For me that blank page is a glaring spotlight that sends my imagination scurrying like a mouse into theRead More… Blank space
What, me worry?
Long before Bill W. and AA, the Serenity Prayer hung on a wall in my Aunt Myrt’s kitchen. On the windowsill in the same room, she also placed a small, sky- blue clay figurine, a squatty cross between a vultureRead More… What, me worry?
TO DO OR NOT TO DO – THAT IS THE QUESTION
“Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow.” I really should needlepoint a pillow with those words. It’ll match the unfinished daisy afghan my mother-in-law gave me on my first Christmas as a married woman—47 years ago. Yes,Read More… TO DO OR NOT TO DO – THAT IS THE QUESTION
How to Write Pulp Fiction
Way back when… in the first half of the 20th century, a market for mass audience fiction magazines and books was created and printed on cheap “pulp” paper. These stories were collectively called “Pulp Fiction.” The pulp fiction era gaveRead More… How to Write Pulp Fiction
IT’S A BOOK!!
November 5, 2018 at 11:11am. I deliver my first-born. Her name is OB-LA-DI, OB-LA-DA. She weighs in at 1.4 pounds/381 pages and is 6″ by 9″ in length. She is attended by her mid-wife, Kindle Direct Publishing, and her godparents—John,Read More… IT’S A BOOK!!
Sea of Yellow
I manage to harrumph between breaths, my feet still trudging over rocky terrain. The sun burns my neck and my moist shirt clings to my ribs and back. “We’re almost there?” Hank groggily asks. He is probably rubbing his eyes,Read More… Sea of Yellow