I grew up in a suburb outside Charlotte curious about everyone and everything from a place located anywhere but there. I wanted to know what people ate, what they believed and why they believed it. One constant in all of my travel, friendship and life experiences is the appreciation of landscape, cityscape and what people cultivate. When I write, my favorite… Continue reading No Matter Where
Author: Corrie's Mom
They say teacher turn over is high right now, and many teachers will leave the profession in five years or less. I will enter my seventh year as a full-time teacher, and my 12th year in education after I'd started as a sub and teacher assistant. I was the student in the 1990s you did not want in your classroom because I was diagnosed with ADHD and did not know how to socialize with other kids. I was due to be tested for autism, but this was considered an ostracizing experience for a child then, especially a girl. I am a third generation teacher and author of seventeen creative works.
Thurspiration: Bullet for a Book
Raise your hand if you've taken a bullet for your books. Raise your hand if you've taken a bullet for your education. Raise your hand if someone has threatened you because you deserve that right. Courtesy of http://www.vitalvoices.org/node/3341. In case you did not catch Time's 100 Most Influential People edition, one teenage girl was on the… Continue reading Thurspiration: Bullet for a Book
Days of Our Reading Lives: This Rock, Book Review
This Rock by Robert Morgan tells the struggle of a family in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Rating: Sum It Up: Powell brothers, Moody and Muir, faceoff in a struggle to become men without a father. Ginny, their widowed mother, pushes younger brother, Muir, harder to work on the farm. Ambitious, Muir wants… Continue reading Days of Our Reading Lives: This Rock, Book Review
Thought for the Night: Simplicity
Write simple words. Mold them, shape them. Keep them simple. Who will read them? The greats. Sure. There are the greats, but they sit on thrones above. The ones who want a break from work. The ones who want a break from bills. The ones who want a break from screaming children. The ones who… Continue reading Thought for the Night: Simplicity
Days of Our Reading Lives: This Rock, Part I
Inspired by Pat Conroy's The Reading Life, I created a new themed post, Days of Our Reading Lives. Why is it important? Reading for a writer is sensual. It is an endurance of an author's passion over a long period of time much like a strong relationship. Books connect you to people, open new doors and… Continue reading Days of Our Reading Lives: This Rock, Part I
Friday Night Lights: The Thing about Why
Shots echo. Not many. Just enough. Congress votes down new gun law. Children dead – six year olds remebered from Sandy Hook. Once smiling faces not enough to move men and women in big boy and big girl suits. Yesterday, an armed man threatens the school where I used to substitute. The police… Continue reading Friday Night Lights: The Thing about Why
Write like a Turtle, Edit like a Fox
Courtesy of http://fadingamericans.wordpress.com/featured-animals/green-sea-turtle/ The sea turtle, box turtles and large land turtles take their time getting somewhere, but they choose different paths, have a hard shell and get where they're going. Courtesy of http://www.frmheadtotoe.com/2012/10/fox-halloween-tutorial.html The fox watches, waits and listens. Those are essential to editing. When you think you're ready to send a piece out,… Continue reading Write like a Turtle, Edit like a Fox
When We Write Letters, Part VIII: Letter to Mom
Dear Mom, Will you walk with me for a few minutes in the garden? Photos taken on my father-in-law's farm late last summer where many beautiful plants and trees grow. I think of you walking with me in the garden. Instead of shopping for dresses, we will look at ripples in the river. Don't you… Continue reading When We Write Letters, Part VIII: Letter to Mom
Thurspiration: Strength to Stand
Spring has taken it's time this year. It waits beneath the fallen leaves and frost at the end of March. As April begins, we try to remember the last time we experienced a spring starting late in the Carolinas. Maybe the seasons want us to wait and remember. See death was not done collecting lives… Continue reading Thurspiration: Strength to Stand
InspireMe: Where You Find Your Story
The house settled by the Ogle family in the Great Smokey Mountains near Gatlinburg, Tenn. How will you create your place? Where is it located? How often have you traveled there or visited this place in your imagination? Do you miss it when you go? A downtown view of Gatlinburg, Tenn. The truth is that… Continue reading InspireMe: Where You Find Your Story
Corrie's Season 