Cell phone alarm rings again. You wake up slowly and grab your clothes in the dark. Maybe you forget to check whether clothes match. Going outside, you realize it's raining. You're already behind the time it takes to get to work or to school. You race to the car. Just before you turn into the parking… Continue reading When We Write Letters, Part VII
Category: Literature
When We Write Letters, Part VI: Letters from Grandma
Letters arrived at camp. The post man delivered them to my parents’ mailbox. Letters came all the time. Now they never come. I miss her letters. Only three or four remain. Paper slightly aged, and cursive letters written into the page. I feel where my grandmother’s pen pressed down. I called my grandmother “Dick Dick,”… Continue reading When We Write Letters, Part VI: Letters from Grandma
Friday Night Writes: Goodbye Shame
Courtesy of http://msn.careerbuilder.com/Article/MSN-1612-Job-Info-and-Trends-10-Modern-Blue-Collar-Jobs/ Frost covered the ground. Tips of naked tree branches above the silos began to unfreeze on my ride to work. I listen to the radio. A woman tells a story about another who spent most of her life living in a trailer park. She worked at McDonalds. "Don't get me wrong," the… Continue reading Friday Night Writes: Goodbye Shame
Friday Night Writes: Who is the Baby No One Wanted?
Photo taken October 2012 by R.T. Dickinson outside Bamberg, SC of my father and son. He was no one's child. He was everyone's child. Wrapped in his first blanket, the baby lay in a crib carved by the pastor. The man smiled. Eyes – the color of ashen storm clouds at dawn – stared at… Continue reading Friday Night Writes: Who is the Baby No One Wanted?
When We Write Letters, Part II: Cover Letters to Magazines
Courtesy of http://ja-nae.net/blog/the-power-of-letter-writing/how-to-write-a-letter. I read today story collections are almost extinct. Few people read stories. An agent would be a fool to represent it. I am one of the only writers at a writing group that puts some focus into story composition; not just a novel. Yet, many literary magazines, ezines and blogs fight to… Continue reading When We Write Letters, Part II: Cover Letters to Magazines
Friday Night Simple Samples: Elliot McSwean, Finding Cinderella
If Mom put as much thought into my birthday parties as she did for my three sisters, kids at school might pick me third or perhaps second when we played basketball. My two older sisters and I believed Mom treasured Jillian the most since Dad’s first words after her birth were, “Alright, that’s it.” The… Continue reading Friday Night Simple Samples: Elliot McSwean, Finding Cinderella
The Mommy Scribbles: How do Mommy writers manage time?
The debate about whether working mothers or stay-at-home moms are better parents continues on television. The world is large enough for all mothers. Homemakers who write and working parents who write all have a place with their words and children. I have been a homemaker and writer and now a working mom and… Continue reading The Mommy Scribbles: How do Mommy writers manage time?
Writing Goals in 2013
A writer begins with more than one goal. Goals for a writer's blog cover more than one territory. They could be, in the words of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord Elrond, "scattered, divided, leaderless." Each writer's personality, style and multiple goals are their own. It is up to us to pull those ideas together. If you are… Continue reading Writing Goals in 2013
The Bannisters: A New Beginning
Part 4 of The Bannisters April 1877 Joey Langston tried to forget his wife. When his daughter, Adelaide, moved from Missouri to Bamberg; the memories returned. She looked just like her: fawn eyes and dark brown hair. Little ringlets brushed Adelaide's neck. Mrs. Langston liked ringlets. An occupying Union soldier stopped Mrs. Langston on the… Continue reading The Bannisters: A New Beginning
Les Misérables Review
Television broadcasters and movie reviewers recently commented on the length of movies released during the holiday season. During the time of Old Hollywood, movies like Gone with the Wind and Sound of Music featured an intermission. The audience had a short break. Beginning in the 1980s, movies lost something. They lost minutes. They lost audiences, and… Continue reading Les Misérables Review
Corrie's Season 