Sometimes when we write, ... we're really writing for someone else. Authors write for ourselves, too, otherwise: Why do it? Now, I am grateful to add poet with my author achievements because two of my poems will be published later this year. My therapist asked me what she thought was a strange question: "Can I… Continue reading When and Why We Write
Category: Books
The Plot is in the Poem
Let's talk about Lucy. I have a lot to say about this book, so there will be more than one post. While everyone else is discussing our boy Coriolanus Snow in their reviews, I want to write about Suzanne Collins's character, Lucy Gray Baird. I got the book, the Kindle version, and audible. The old… Continue reading The Plot is in the Poem
A Love Affair with Book
It happens so often. We have a love affair with a book. It's even better when it is a series. I felt this way about The Hunger Games, Scythe series, and Peculiar Children. Last summer, I read through Born Survivors and other books about the Holocaust. For a long time, I continued to read. I… Continue reading A Love Affair with Book
Craft a Smaller Collection from your Longer Chapbook
Poetry's dead, man. No one wants to read it. Chill. I'm kidding. I don't know. Some people may argue poetry, like rock-n-roll, is dead; on it's way to a recycle or scrap yard like newspapers. As an poet alone, the truth remains--unless by some magical knowledge you know of and I don't--that books of poetry rarely sale. … Continue reading Craft a Smaller Collection from your Longer Chapbook
Why We Need to Talk about our Non-fiction Writers
Choose your writing content like a long term relationship... if you want it to last. When I started writing as a child, I wrote fiction and poems. I never imagined writing non-fiction. Something I read in a Facebook writing group and on Twitter made me think. Nonfiction authors are writers who tell a true story… Continue reading Why We Need to Talk about our Non-fiction Writers
Let’s Catch Up: How You’re Doing and How I’m Doing
I found this online and wanted to share it with you. Courtesy of http://collegeessayeditor.com/home/2011/08/10/the-writers-sense-of-humor/ Have you ever been in a situation where your mind goes blank and you forget to use your or you're? It is like the use of their, they're or there. Last week, I was writing a short essay for my English… Continue reading Let’s Catch Up: How You’re Doing and How I’m Doing
Legends of the Edisto: How to Say Goodbye … For Now
Courtesy of http://edistofriends.org I stand by the black river. It is the longest black river in the United States. Nothing special about it when you first look. Comparing the river to another is like comparing the Tarboro River to the streams in the mountains of North Carolina. It is murky, slow and ancient. Unless sun… Continue reading Legends of the Edisto: How to Say Goodbye … For Now
Seventh Publication in The Copperfield Review
Courtesy of The Copperfield Review, http://thecopperfieldreview.com. The Copperfield Review publishes historical short fiction and poetry. The Copperfield Review published my poem, From Red Loam, in its Summer 2013 edition. The poem is the intro for the story collection Red Loam, which is connected to Sons of the Edisto. It is the third publication from the… Continue reading Seventh Publication in The Copperfield Review
Take on the Worlds: Dreamscape
You never went before. Or, maybe you did. Somewhere between the worlds of memories, dreams and what writers understand of reality is your story’s landscapes. You may write Sci-fi, paranormal or realistic fiction, but no tale begins without the sense of place. An important topic in writing is: Do you know the world where your… Continue reading Take on the Worlds: Dreamscape
Telling A Boy’s Story
How quick they grow. Feet push up. Hands grip the couch. Soon the cliché pitter-patter turns to bam-bam. You realize how out of shape you are, or even if you're a marathon parent, you cannot keep up with the little creature. When potty training, he unravels the toilet paper. Around the table, you're family debates where… Continue reading Telling A Boy’s Story