The writer in me, wants to challenge myself to figuring out a new approach to an old genre—the spy novel.
Tag Archives: Writing Prompts
My Dog Has Extra Sensory Perception. Does Yours?
I was having difficulty staying asleep. The room felt hot. I kept tossing and turning. Worrying about my grandson’s upcoming surgery. Worrying about manuscripts I’d emailed to various literary journals, wondering would they eventually result in publication? Finally, I resorted to the one mental exercise I turn to when attempting to initiate slumber, which isContinue reading “My Dog Has Extra Sensory Perception. Does Yours?”
Lindy Hop, Swing, The Spanish Ballroom and Learning to Let Go
Saturday night I went swing dancing. I didn’t see any zoot suits, but being that it was St. Patrick’s Day weekend, I saw men in green derby hats sporting suspenders and women wearing emerald glitter headbands, full skirts and short crinolines. We weren’t just anywhere, we were at the Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo locatedContinue reading “Lindy Hop, Swing, The Spanish Ballroom and Learning to Let Go”
What Does a Mote Spoon and a Red Violin Have To Do With Creativity?
This year’s AWP ( Association of Writers and Writing Programs) conference was held in Seattle, Washington and it ran from Thursday March 8th through Saturday March 11th. Even though I wasn’t there, I felt like I was, because my email box kept filling up with notices pertaining to everything that was going on: workshops, readings,Continue reading “What Does a Mote Spoon and a Red Violin Have To Do With Creativity?”
The Joy of Being Published
Writers are writing because they have a compulsion to write. They want to be heard. More important to writers than money, is a following of readers.
Finding The Right Words to say I Love You
It is Valentine’s Day tomorrow and traditionally it’s a day when love is often expressed in the form of a poem. The one, constantly used and overused goes: Roses are Red Violets are Blue Sugar is Sweet And so are You! The original old English version from Gammer Gurton’s Garland published in 1784 sounds aContinue reading “Finding The Right Words to say I Love You”
Writing Tools to QuickStart Your Memoir
I was straightening out a bookshelf and I noticed a gift I’d forgotten about, a large hardback with a floral cover I’d catalogued with the cookbooks. The title, “A Mother’s Journal.” Divided into sections, it has questions such as “Where I lived” and “What I remember about my family home” and “How Your Father andContinue reading “Writing Tools to QuickStart Your Memoir”
My Favorite Place To Shop
It doesn’t matter how many times I go to a Farmers’ Market it always feels like the first time. And maybe it is the first time I see the fresh mustard greens or the bright yellow squash for sale that particular day. I stop at each booth. I ask questions. What is your favorite wayContinue reading “My Favorite Place To Shop”
Coloring Inside the Lines or Outside the Lines? What Works for You?
I have this memory of sitting outside on the grass, waiting for a country auction to begin. A warm summer day, my mother sat on a white folding chair studying the mimeographed catalogue. From my vantage point I could see two other children, who like myself had been given coloring books. I watched them, toContinue reading “Coloring Inside the Lines or Outside the Lines? What Works for You?”
Trading Places as a Literary Device on a Freaky Friday
See the world, if only for a few moments through someone else’s eyes, and you gain both empathy and knowledge.
Writing a Story, What Pictures Tell Us and What They Leave Out
A picture can become a starting point for inquiry.
The Creature in the Basement and Other Secrets
Everyone loves a mystery. Whether it is locating something hidden or unveiling the true villain, when we read something, book or blog, we want to be entertained. I’ve always found animals to be very entertaining. I love to watch them and I love to interact with them. Animals, any sort of animal, can be aContinue reading “The Creature in the Basement and Other Secrets”
Onion Soup, Recipes, Writing and the Five Senses
We’re cleaning out the garden. Stripping out the last of the tomatoes before the frost arrives and I’m thinking up ways I can use up some of the many onions in the large net sack on the bottom shelf. It’s soup weather and already I made chicken soup with the bones of a roaster lastContinue reading “Onion Soup, Recipes, Writing and the Five Senses”
Writing About Unlikeable Characters: Household Words by Joan Silber
In the quest to find novels that focus on families, loss, and conflict by female Jewish authors, I recently discovered Joan Silber. In May, her novel, Secrets of Happiness, was reviewed by Joshua Ferris in the New York Times. Ferris refers Silber’s signature style as “the relay narrative” and this intrigued me because I likeContinue reading “Writing About Unlikeable Characters: Household Words by Joan Silber”
Nadja Maril, Writer & Author 