I’m feeling particularly nostalgic this time of year, as my mother passed away at the end of October. She left behind a lot of magical memories, hers and mine, that…
Making Magical Memories at Christmas
The Help: Black and White and Red All Over
The 60s was a time when the relationships between the Blacks and the Whites grew embarrassingly red for many. The shame of it all is brilliantly captured in Kathryn Stockett’s…
Hemingway, A Master of Less Is More, More or Less
Ernest Hemingway was the master of saying a lot with less. Everything I read suggests novice writers—and some published writers—use too many words to get their point across. They use…
The Many Paths of Inspiration
I’ve written about inspiration before, but I gave it short shrift. The Encarta dictionary defines inspiration as: “stimulation for the human mind to creative thought or the making of art”.…
Hereafter, Heaven, and Afterlife
Afterlife As this year draws to a close, I’m reflecting on other endings, chiefly the afterlife. With my mother’s passing, I’ve become preoccupied with questions about death and heaven, if…
Death’s Many Faces
My tears now come at unexpected times, like a rogue wave. I buried my mother on Nov. 10th. The funeral went well but I worried about my grandchildren—her great-grandchildren——ages 10-15,…
It Wasn’t Supposed To Be Like That
I have this void in my life right now. My mother passed away on Oct. 27th at the age of 96. I had a habit of calling her twice a…
Harry Brown Meets Network
Some writers seem clairvoyant. Gary Young the screenwriter of the film, Harry Brown, certainly seems to be one of them. He showed inequities in one country’s social system before they…
What Price Beauty?
What lengths would you go to try and live up to the popular media’s conception of beauty? Judging by what is going on in society today, it seems that many…
Writing About Yearning In Fiction And Memoirs
Everyone wants a book that keeps them glued to the page. The ones that have me reading past bedtime are stories about family or some kind of skewed relationship or…