I am a die-hard college football fan. I cheered as loud as the college kids on television when ESPN's College Gameday came to the home of my team, the South Carolina Gamecocks. Before the big game, I prep a football-worthy meal, and on Sunday I go to church for my 2 year old son's baptism. Everything… Continue reading The Unfortunate Cycle: What is the Affect of Sports Worship in Writing?
Category: Family
Time Enough to Write
Ti You might have missed me. Maybe you missed my words, or maybe you didn't. I borrowed today's title from one of my husband's favorite books, Robert A. Heinlein's Time Enough for Love. While the 1970's award-winning, Science Fiction book examines the life and loves of Lazarus Long—the oldest living man—the book caused me to consider an… Continue reading Time Enough to Write
The Man who Started it All
He was a man of faith. He was a man of science. He was the man who stood at the train station in Alabama one day after being fired. This man saw the manager who let him go. "Did you come to see me off?" he asked the manager. "No," he replied. "One hour after… Continue reading The Man who Started it All
Why We Need to Pay Attention to Men and Boys
JD Bannister wants attention. Not just anyone's attention. He needs his father to care. In the opinion of my character, Andrew Bannister, his son has everything. He provides JD with a big house, playroom, and expensive toys and clothes. A main character in the manuscript, Sons of the Edisto, JD experiences another kind of desertion.… Continue reading Why We Need to Pay Attention to Men and Boys
Write it Honest
Take up the pages. They belong to you. It does not matter what the subject is. The matter belongs to you, too. Since the last week in July, my schedule has been abnormal. I chose to take one month off from writing to take time with the boys, John and Charles, and to train for a… Continue reading Write it Honest
Coming Back – What Does it Mean to Return Home?
I am back. Back from road tripping and one week of training for a new job. I return to the keyboard, as I have many times before, to write. Ideas came to mind as I drove past peach trees and a restored house constructed either in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. New peach… Continue reading Coming Back – What Does it Mean to Return Home?
Under Exposed: The South Carolina Upcountry
The twenty-first century fades on the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway. Known for the Gaffney Peachiod, early American history, and the Blue Ridge Mountains and foothills, automobiles drive past landscape seemingly unchanged with exception of the road. Before you pack up for Orlando or California, consider what you might find on roads less explored. There are… Continue reading Under Exposed: The South Carolina Upcountry
Why We Need Mustard Covered Faces
Three hotdogs were not enough for the two-year-old. Yellow mustard covered the boy's face. He laughed when I took the plate away, and looked around for a fourth hotdog. Every morsel he devours astonishes adults and older children. But, the little tongue licking ketchup and mustard off the plate to the point of painting his… Continue reading Why We Need Mustard Covered Faces
Runs in the Family: Lisa See’s Shanghai Girls
By Rebecca T. Dickinson “We all look around until we come to my mother, who has not said a word since the men entered our home. I see hardness in her I’ve never seen before. Maybe we’re all like that with our mothers. They seem ordinary until one day they’re extraordinary.” (p. 58) … Continue reading Runs in the Family: Lisa See’s Shanghai Girls
Corrie's Season 