“Do you suppose we took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in Brigadoon instead of Essex, Connecticut?” Whitney stared out the front window of the BMW with the rapt attention of a moviegoer at an old fashioned drive-in; except the big screen she was watching was the heart of a real small town. “No… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Writing
Things That Go Bump!- ‘writing about what haunts us’
A recent Opinionator article by Peter Orner in the NY Times, titled “Writing About What Haunts Us”, stuck a commemorative thorn in my side. His piece addresses guilt as a motivation for writing fiction in general, and a particular incident in his young life that haunted him so deeply he had to turn to non-fiction… Continue Reading
Oh Maggie
Wake up, Maggie, wake up! The little girl cried out to her mother; loud enough to be heard but not to shock. She climbed on the windowsill and opened the blinds to deliver her message. We’ll miss the bus and be late for school again if you don’t. Oh-h-h, her mother groaned, tossing a forearm… Continue Reading
Shifting Gears
The New York Society Library, affectionately known as ‘the writers library’ because of its impressive roster of accomplished author/members, has a wonderfully supportive assistant head librarian in Carolyn Waters, who makes us all feel appreciated and cherished with her Writing Life series of lectures. Bending over backwards to supply us with the tools we need… Continue Reading
For Whom We Write
When I graduated from college the first time with an Associates degree there was no such thing as a Department of Continuing Education. I had an awareness of and affinity for lifelong learning as I reached for my diploma on that sunny June day; but my first matriculation was so long ago that academia hadn’t… Continue Reading
Editing Life
by Sidney S. Stark January marks the beginning of a new calendar year with parallel fresh initiatives. NO, I didn’t say resolutions. Happily, I’ve learned not to rule my life with ‘shoulds’ anymore. But starting something new is often energizing, and the beginning of my new writers’ workgroup is living up to that promise. It’s… Continue Reading