Category: blog

I often write for fun and because I really like to goof around, but the combination of Nelson Mandela’s death and the coming holiday season has me thinking about serious topics.  There are many songs that I find inspiring, such as From a Distance by Julie Gold and also Soon Love Soon by Vienna Teng.  There are short stories that mean a lot this time of year such

It’s Friday. Max just got off work at the ____________. He’s on his way home, driving his ___________. Waiting at home for him is his ________, whose name is ____________. Halfway home he sees a ________ in the ditch, clearly having slid off the snowy blacktop. There is movement in the _________, so Max pulls over. “____________,”says Max. “I think I’d better ______________.” Too bad I won’t be

There are many scenes that fall into the cliché, or what I call, the Readers Digest category because writers like to pretend they are evolved people who can rise above it all and see the profound meaning of life. I’d like to give an example of one of these and then the more realistic view. I invite you to post a pair of your own. Readers Digest Scene

I’ve used words for the writing process like “wrestling” and “struggle” and “doubt” but the good news about all those words is that we use them when we ARE writing. There are certainly worse tortures than those for writers. Can you tell the story of one of your worst moment of writing torture?

I can’t help but think that together we could populate a TV sitcom that would be tons better than anything out there. I’ll give you some basics below and a few characters to get you going, but we need many more personalities to make our sitcom memorable. See what you can add: Location: A Workout Gym in a Small Town Characters: –Steve Lemming: A middle aged guy who

I have many favorite words. I like the way they sound. Thwap. Burgle. Wiemaraner. Quartile. Grumpy. Bankrupt. Okefenokee. Fubar. Sinister. Tamarack. And that’s only a few. I’m sure you have many as well. Just for fun, close your eyes and copy down as many of your favorite words as you can think of. Have fun. Go for quantity. Open your eyes and edit your list so you end

Certain things are easy symbols. Thunderclouds suggest trouble ahead. A warm fire in the fireplace is welcoming. Five inch heels suggest an interest in hooking up. A rusty pickup truck signals a struggling farmer or rancher. A German Shepherd dog is trouble. A poodle is not serious. A waning moon means someone is failing. A tuxedo means wealth. Sunrise is hope. And so on. None of these associations

Sometimes I want to write more about John and Martha. They tax me; they are my white whale, having broken into my life and stolen every bus stop scene I ever wanted to write. If I want to describe true love and beauty, they creep into my mind and kick all the adjectives out. But the real problem is that they hate me. They feel manipulated. They have

I’m always looking for stories.  Some people hate the fact that their body has been damaged by events.  I happen to think scars are a way to capture a moment.  Do you have any scars?  How did you get them?  What were you doing at the time?  Was this an interesting point in your life?  Show us.

Hello Friends and Writers! It’s coming up to holiday season, and this is the time of year I like to suggest that you look into purchasing a copy of “Onward is Best:  A Christmas Journey.”  This is a book written by my little sister, an artist, before she died.  My other two sisters and I completed the writing for her, and my daughter did the layout and book